First Cara Jane workshop

Some sample bead I made to give people some ideas

A lovely necklace made by a workshop participant!

Another lovely necklace made by a workshop participant!

You too could make your own unique necklace or bracelet in a polymer clay workshop. Contact me for more details - carajanecreations'at'gmail.com (replace the 'at' with @ to email - can't add it direct to the page or I will be overloaded with spam!)

New blog

I have been having a dilemma recently about wanting to provide my customers with a point of contact on the web but not really wanting them all here on my blog that I share with my polymer clay friends around the world. I want to keep this blog for what it was intended - a place to share my experience with polymer clay and not just an advertising space or loads of dates and venues that aren't relevant to you my current readers cause you live too far away (wish you all lived closer and we could play with clay together!).

So for the moment I am going to try out having 2 blogs - this one and my Cara Jane Contemporary Jewellery blog. I have only just set it up, haven't finished tweaking and so haven't promoted it to any customers yet (unless they have found this blog!). If any of you need an extra thing to do and fancy taking a peak and offering any constructive feedback please do!

I apologise for being quiet here I have been going back to basics designing some workshops suitable for beginners as people have been asking for them. I think I am nearly there with organising workshops so hopefully I will find some time to try out some of the ideas I have been dreaming of and using my new books! I hope you are all having a creative year

Cara x

Beginners workshop

I have just been trialling a beginners polymer clay workshop with some of my friends. I was aiming for them to make a bracelet like this from simple cane slices, threaded on elastic.

We have had great fun and they are all really pleased with their creations but we haven't quite managed to get to the bracelet stage so I either need to find a way to speed it up or make the class longer. I am doing them from home which seems to work out well as we have the space and it's comfortable and I can't forget to bring anything!!! Hopefully I can get some pictures of their bracelets when they have had a chance to string them.

One of the things I love most about polymer clay is that you can learn so much from working with others, even beginners who have never touched polymer clay before can show you a different way of doing things!

New Polymer clay books

I've recently acquired some new polymer clay books and am looking forward to trying out some new things. I haven't read any of them properly yet but I have had a quick look through and am very excited! Here's the new ones.

   

I already have several books my favourites being
 

and there are loads more I want to read! Let me know what your favourites are.

My latest spliced flower set

I made these beads ages ago but hasn't quite found time to string them. Finally now the kids are back at school I got a chance. They are sold already to a friend who came over looking for a present, I hastily grabbed a photo. I am pleased with the bright colours. I am looking forward to having time to play with clay and to sharing it with you. thanks for reading
Cara

Charming

A friend of mine was admiring my charm bracelet but doesn't wear bracelets so asked me to make a necklace for her. The original idea was to just add a bit of chain to either end of a bracelet but I made the charm section quite a bit longer in the end so it didn't look 'mean'. There are 6 different types of pearl and crystal beads in turquoise and green to pick out the colours on the petals. I am pleased with how it turned out (although I think I may have found a possible improvement, yes it could be even better lol - I'll try it out and let you know)

The charm necklace

Here's a closer view

Charm bracelet in same colours

I must thank Zuleykha for the inspiration and tutorials on her blog for this style of bracelet, I am a great admirer of her charm bracelets.

Happy New Year!

I would like to wish all my friends amd fellow polymer clay addicts a very Happy New Year!

May 2011 be filled with health, creativity and happiness.

We have had a lovely family Christmas and fun with friends for the New Years celebrations. I am looking forward to finally having some time to play with all the jewellery ideas that are roaming loose in my head in the coming weeks. I will off course share what I am up to with you.

Here's one of my custom orders that were keeping me busy before Christmas