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This dimensional flower was made using gradient blends of pink clay and my large Daisy Embossing cutter. Each layer was baked and then stacked from dark to light. The top layer is accented with glitter infused Magic Glos UV resin. The center of the flower is a SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS rivoli stone. "Magic Mirror" millefiori cane slices are cut in half and aligned like tiles along the rim of the lid.
Vintage Czech glass hearts are pressed into a background of Mokume Gane clay. A layer of water color-esque clay. A strip of "deckle" edged black clay wraps up and over the edge of the lid. A SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS chaton fills the center of the heart.
I've had this glass, doll eye forever. I'm not even sure when or where I bought it, but it was yet another gem in my treasure trove of creative odds and ends. When making a black and white gradient bull's eye cane, I ended up with a lovely, ruffled cane end which I set aside, also not knowing how I was going to use it. I usually compress the cut-off cane ends and mix them for a new color of clay or use them in one of my decorative scrap techniques. Occasionally, these cane ends are compressed and used for mold making, armature, or filler clay in other projects. The background is a paper rub-on over white polymer clay. This was covered with a thick layer of Magic Glos (tm) UV resin. The sides of the jar were made using the Sutton Slice technique over a deeply patterned texture stamp. The final touch is a length of ball chain, embedded into a snake of black clay that runs along the lid's edge.
...little butterfly! This sweet little piece was created using Magic-Glos (TM) UV resin and glitter over black polymer clay. The butterfly itself is made using my small Embossing Butterfly cutter. The background is textured Glue Foil that's been adhered to the lid with the curing heat of the clay oven. The hammered, embossed effect was achieved by stippling the surface of the foil-while sitting atop a rubber texture stamp- with a ball-tip stylus. Clay stripping and millefiori cane slices embellish the lid. The finishing touch are a few, tiny SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS chaton crystals at the upper wing tips and at the base of the butterfly's body.
The tiny canvas of the Carmex lip balm lid serves as the platform for an even tinier canvas - a vintage watch casing. It shows a tiny couple inhabit a micro world. It sits over a gradient and stamped clay background. Millefiori cane slices overlap along the edge of the lid for a dimensional and colorful border. The crystal of the watch case was badly scratched. I found that applying a layer of Magic Glos (TM) UV Resin over the surface and curing, made these scratches "dissappear."
A tiny metal bee (actually a JHB International button with the shank cut off), lives upon a polymer clay "thistle." This is a piece I started with another intention, but I saw another potential for the formation that resembled a thistle flower in my imagination. Of course the colors are not what you'd find in a natural thistle, nor is the formation identical. That's the beauty of artistic license. Millefiori leaf slices are set at an angle along the upper edge of the rim with a textured carmel colored base underneath.
One of my favorite contrasts is black and white elements against a bright background. These four and five petal millefiori flowers lay across a sunset-themed, gradient clay background. Black textured clay is added around the rim and dusted with copper colored, Perfect Pearls from Ranger, for a metallic finish over the raised surface. Small, SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS flat back crystals dot the center of each flower.
Strirated millefiori cane slices overlap one another to create a pointed center-point. A SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS briolette pendant is inserted down through the middle to create a spire-like protrusion. Clay millefiori cane slices dot the rim over a border of textured black clay. Small, copper spacers are pressed in between each of these for a decorative finish.
Today is a personal milestone in my 365 Days of Lip Service project. One of the pieces I conceived of creating was a working kaleidoscope. What a wonderful feeling to reach this goal. Millefiori clay elements cover the entire piece from the lid up.
A piece of costume jewelry is re-purposed for today's lid. I found the piece at a second hand store. I removed the chipped stone that filled the recess and replaced it with a slice of clay from a loaf made using the Mokume Gane method. The same is used as a veneer over the side of the lid. The base of the lid is a piece of black chintz. A border of alternating millefiori cane slices and SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS covers the lid's edge. Lastly, a layer of Magic Glos UV resin was applied and cured on the focal heart insert.
