Pullin' out the ol' electric buffer. . .

I haven't used my electric buffer (a bench grinder fitted with buffing wheels) for quite some time. (One of the major benefits of making miniature food is that you don't really have to sand or buff that much.) So when I set it up and switched it on again, I had to remind myself how things worked. I was a little nervous. It didn't take long to get back into the groove, but even "the groove" isn't very groovy, when it comes to buffing. ;o) I love the incredibly glass-like shine you can only get by "power-buffing"-- and I like doing a piece now and then just for the fun of seeing the shine pop up-- but I wouldn't mind passing off the bulk of my sanding and buffing to someone else!

So, now that I've gotten the whining out of the way. . . ;o) . . .you may be wondering what I was buffing.

I started working my way through a small pile of mokume gane beads. I've had these things sitting around for I-don't-know-how-long. I know it's been over a month, maybe two. (They were probably sitting on my clay table for a month before I even got around to curing them!) I used a ripple blade a lot in this batch, as you can see from the rippling pattern in some of them. . . What else? I'm pretty sure this batch didn't have any leaf in it-- just various types of paints. The golden-green must be Dazzling Metallics-- Festive Green-- because I got that as a gift back at Christmas, and I wanted to try it out. As for the other paints, I don't remember which I used. Probably Blue Topaz from the FolkArt line of metallic craft paints. . . and a blue-green from Posh Impressions' Luminous Metallic Inkabilities. Oh, and some of my trusty four-colors-a-dollar glitter. (g)

Some turned out better than others, as usual with mokume gane. Maybe the colors were a bit too similar for maximum impact, but I do tend to like monochromatic and limited color schemes.

I also buffed a few "shell-shaped" beads I made a few weeks ago. Well, I call them "shell-shaped". A couple of them are nautilus-shaped pendants (with the wire bit taken out for the sanding and buffing stage), but the first one just makes me think of spiral seashells.

This is my first attempt at a bead shape I admired in Making Polymer Clay Beads. It's pretty simple to get this shape-- just make a snake that's relatively "fat" in the middle and "skinny" at both ends, then wind it around a skewer or rod to shape it. My technique still needs some work, but I had fun playing around. I used scrap clay-- a mostly opaque pale blue with flecks of aluminum leaf in it and a mostly translucent aqua with lots of glitter in it. (Aqua is one of my favorite colors, these days. It's perfect for summertime, I think, and a fitting color for sea-themed pieces.)



Next, here's one of the nautilus-shaped pendants. Again, I used the aqua-translucent clay with glitter, this time paired with a Skinner blend that goes from aqua to more of a periwinkle blue.


One last photo-- another nautilus pendant. This time, I used the same Skinner blend from above, but I switched the glittered clay out for pearl.


Incidentally, I think this was the first time I made a Skinner blend that I was actually happy with. I think I've only tried it once-- maybe twice-- before. (I know, it's shocking. How can someone have used clay for a couple of years without blending?!) Now that I know how to do it, I'm going to have to give it another try. I'm thinking of peachy-orange and pink-- or sunset pink and purple. . . more beachy colors for seashells. :o)

Still waiting...

Here it is the next day, and still no new tables. :o( Well, they're sure to get here sooner or later, but it looks like it's not going to happen today.

In other news... ;o) ...I buffed up a few of the beads I made a week or so ago-- the ones with crackled paint on translucent clay, placed paint down on black clay. I only buffed three of them, because so far, I've only sanded three of them. Oh my gosh, how I do hate sanding round beads!! It's so much worse than sanding other shapes of beads-- not that I love love love doing that, either. Maybe when we get the tumbler tumbling, I can leave the round beads for it to handle. :o)

Anyway, the beads buffed up beautifully, if I do say so myself. They have a gorgeous glossy finish-- without a finish. I do prefer to leave my clay "naked" whenever I can. The finishes just take more time (and trouble) to apply, and I don't like the feel of the finish as much as the feel of the polished clay.

However-- I did learn a few things in this process-- things I hope to remember when I try this technique again. Namely, the following:

• Sanding round beads is a major pain (as previously stated).
• But on the other hand, round beads are nice for a change from my usual bead shape choices.
• The paint didn't crackle enough for my tastes. Next time, I need to start with thicker sheets of translucent, so that there's "room to crackle". That way, more black (or other base color clay) will show through the decoratives strips and shapes, and I think the beads will look better that way.
• I ought to also try this technique with metal leaf-- with the original colors of the leaf, but also with pre-tinted translucent clay to alter the color of the leaf. (Of course, this will tint the whole piece of translucent clay, but that might not matter so much against a dark background color. Or... I could try tinting the leaf priot to adhering it. I wonder how well metal leaf would "take" alcohol inks...)

While buffing, I tried putting the round beads on a rod (copper wire), holding either end of the rod, and letting the beads spin freely against the buffing wheel. (I did them individually, but come to think of it, I guess there's no reason I couldn't have put multiple beads on the rod at the same time.) One of them worked out well. The other seemed to buff more in one place than in another, which I don't quite understand-- unless the bead was just that uneven. Anyway, it made the bead easier to hold, that way, so even though I still had to buff the ends (near the stringing holes) off the rod, I'll probably use that technique again, the next time I'm buffing round beads. (Which, given what a pain they are to sand, might not be often. (g))

I'm still thinking about how best to display/store my finished necklaces and other pieces of jewelry... It would be nice to have a way to keep them so that I can see what I have and keep them from becoming tangled or potentially scratched or otherwise damaged. I think I have the supplies already around the house to make one or two strips with cup-holder hooks for hanging jewelry. They'll only hold a certain amount of items at a time, but that's better than nothing, for a start.