Polymer clay and wire week

Don't you just love that Dr Seuss! - I only read The Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham as an adult as he was'nt popular reading for children in India when I was growing up - but he gave me many hours of sheer pleasure reading it to a friend's daughter in my twenties. 
Just like playing with plasticine! - Polymer Clay is just that, but the stuff that can be made with it is amazing. I have to say I was rubbish at it as a child - but I am really surprising myself with my first experiments with the clay. I moulded it and coloured it and patted it, and put it in the oven with a paper 'tent' over it and held my breath for 30 minutes - then I had to wait for it to cool without opening the oven - and this is what I found - after some polishing and buffing I think it is quite pretty, and I am now off and away.
So, from these two

and a few other shiny ingredients, and a bit of anxiety while my baby baked in the oven, I got this!

Et voila!!

Magic, or what?? - I am going to eventually combine these pieces with silver and copper clay and make mixed media jewellery - of course, my favourite, wire, will have to be in on the act.
I made a bracelet for Jan, who is celebrating her 25th wedding anniversary in Barbados - she is an amazing midwife who used to be a seamstress before she did midwifery - needless to say, she repairs and renovates clothes for half the workplace, and I have had cause in the last couple of years to use her services - she has been ever so sweet, nothing was too much trouble for her. I hope she has a great time and that she loves the bracelet.

Bracelet with earrings to match

I used my Wigjig to make the links - have owned for an year but never used - actually quite a lot of fun to use, although not as easy as it sounds - but is anything?? The idea is that all the elements come out more or less alike, so repetition is easy - hmmm...... - OK, I suppose it is better than going freeform -the makers of the Jig seem to take themselves extremely seriously and even have an Internet based WigJig University, with free designs a nd ideas - may be thats why it took me this long to actually use it - I prefer a light hearted approach to my hobby!!

The WigJig Centaur

Tthe jig with jewellery elements

I also found the image of this vintage Paco Rabanne necklace on Ebay when I was sourcing vintage diamante pieces for Meghna's Rock Chick necklace - I loved the shape, so I decided to make something in wire in that shape, with a wire woven quartz cabochon in place of the 'G'. I liked the idea of one rounded side and one pointy side - it appeals to my love for asymmetry.
 I have called it the Sea Urchin Necklace. I used a blue rutilated quartz cabochon - it is so pretty, looks like a child has dipped a fountain pen in clear water. It is also very difficult to photograph.Rutilated Quartz is a transparent gemstone belonging to the Quartz family which has inclusions of needle like crystals of rutile which is mainly made up of Titanium dioxide. - It is meant to protect from evil and black magic - Oh well, you can't be too careful - but I bought it just because it was pretty and it reminded me of my childhood - dipping a brush or my fountain pen into water and watching pretty colours develop, instead of studying - anything for a bit of distraction!
And this is what it ended up looking like --- wire spirals embellishing negative space.

I have had this Tibetan Ghau prayer box pendant for a while an decided to do something with it - am quite pleased with the result, and some very discerning lady bought it from me - I hope she enjoys it as much as I enjoyed making it.