Jainnie Jenkins

Fairy Door Swap

noreply@blogger.com (Jainnie Jenkins) — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 17:56:00 +0000

Fairy Door in polymer clay - by Jainnie Jenkins

In December, the Polymer Clay Swaps group did a Fairy Door Swap. Fairy Doors are supposed to be portals that fairies come through when you're not looking (how cute is that?!?) I was paired with a lovely woman named Sherryl. You can view my door, above, with a tree growing around it, and you can view hers below, with all of the precious details. Did you notice the heart-shaped stepping stones?

Fairy Door by Sherryl R.

I am involved in one more swap for February, which is texture sheets and hearts. That should be exciting. I'll post about it after my partner and I receive our pieces.

Polymer Clay Journal Cover Swap

noreply@blogger.com (Jainnie Jenkins) — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 20:50:00 +0000

Awhile back I signed up for a Polymer Clay Journal Cover Swap over at the Polymer Clay Swaps group on Facebook. I was paired up with a lovely gal, Pat S., in Canada. This swap was originally to be one journal cover that the recipient could attach to a pre-existing journal. But since Pat was great at binding journals, she offered to make me a completed one. I let her know that since I had maybe bound one book waaaaay back when, I would at least make her two covers and include some beads. She likes to add tassels of beads hanging from the spine (very cool!).

Although we had both asked each other about favorite colors, themes, etc., we basically let our creativity take over knowing that we'd each be happy with what we received. Here is the beautifully detailed journal that Pat sent me:

I love all the detail in her canework and texture! What a lovely combination of purples and blues. Thanks, Pat!

As always, part of me always complains after I've signed up for a swap. Sometimes it can be where you have to make a whole set/theme of something depending on how many are in the group. Other times, like this one, you swap with just one person. But if you have ever debated about doing a swap, I would say this...do it because it's a great challenge for yourself. Look at it that way. Make your best work possible with the focus on the giving, not the receiving. Sometimes you may enjoy and love what you receive (as I have, with Pat), sometimes it might not be your taste, but participate with the intention of giving away the best you can do. I have come across new ideas and ways of working due to these different swaps, and I might not have come across or been pushed to that point of an idea had it not been for these challenges. And as a bonus, Pat and I have become good email friends, and I'm sure we will continue our correspondence in the years to come.

Frustration, Fluster-Busters and Little Successes!

noreply@blogger.com (Jainnie Jenkins) — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 05:44:00 +0000

Yesterday was just one of those days. I had grand ideas floating around in my head and they looked oh-so-good. Then I tried to create them. And they looked oh-so-ehhh...

But I mean, that's fine. I know about frustration, and I actually embrace it these days. It's part of the creative process. You have to experience frustration at some point in order to have a breakthrough, you just HAVE TO. But everyone deals with it differently.

Here are my go-to Fluster-Busters:

Keep doing what I'm doing (because sooner or later I learn something, either what to do or what not to do)
Do something else to give my mind a break. Go for a walk, do some yardwork, etc.
Eat. This has its own number because eating really is not giving your mind a break. It just causes a whole set of problems: what do I want to eat? leftovers? cook something? hey, didn't the Pioneer Woman have a recipe for a yummy chocolate something or other??

I actually ended up going to sleep. I guess that should've been #4.

Today was a better day, as I finished the 2nd crown from Tejae's tutorial. That was my first little success. Like I mentioned before, following a tutorial or project can be helpful when you're stuck in a rut. It actually gives my mind a break, temporarily (until lots of ideas and versions come flooding in).

Then I wanted to post a pic of the crowns, but I had taken the lazyman's way out and took pics of them on the kitchen counter. So what did I do? Played around with Photoshop (obviously not the lazyman's way to do things). This is the result, my second little success:

I tried to have fun without making it too cheesy. What do you think? I'm still quite chuffed with myself...that's me in the corner, queen of my own little world...

Do you have any fluster-busters to share? Any little or BIG successes? No? Then leave me your favorite recipe (or a link to it)! :)

An Enchanting Crown

noreply@blogger.com (Jainnie Jenkins) — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 09:26:00 +0000

Recently I felt stuck in a rut. Not inspired, not excited about anything.

Then I tried out a new CraftArtEdu.com tutorial, "Enchanting Crowns," from my friend, Tejae Floyde. Talk about a lot of fun!

Jeweled Crown by Jainnie Jenkins - tutorial by Tejae Floyde

What excited me was that I would be able to pull out my stash of paints and go to town. I enjoy mixed media pieces and I liked being able to add crystals and layer on all these metallic paints. Tejae discusses how the options and variations are endless. In fact, I have lots of ideas brewing now!

Tutorials are a fun diversion when you don't feel inspired. Whether it's a technique or a project, you're bound to learn something new. Here's to more creative exploration and possibilities!

Have you used tutorials? Do you like online tutorials? Videos? Let me know. :)

Flower pendants and rings

noreply@blogger.com (Jainnie Jenkins) — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 18:53:00 +0000

Hello everyone!

It's been awhile, hasn't it? I hope you are all enjoying your summer. We have been having such warm weather here in Colorado with very little rain. I've been trying to keep my flowers alive and from becoming deer snacks! Even with "deer resistant" plants, like the garden store guy told me, "The problem is the deer don't read too good." Hah. I should've known!

Just wanted to share some pendants and rings I've made recently. All deer resistant. :) Most will be listed on my Etsy site in the next couple days.

Spring beads

noreply@blogger.com (Jainnie Jenkins) — Sun, 06 May 2012 21:01:00 +0000

Spring beads - by Jainnie Jenkins

Just wanted to show the spring beads I made for the Mile High Polymer Clay Guild bead swap for April 2012. The theme was "spring" colors. This started off as a challenge in many ways for me. First of all, I wanted to find a way to incorporate colors so it wouldn't just be pastel colored beads. Then, I wanted to work a little more loosely or organically. Lastly, I wanted to create some shapes for spring that might suggest blossoming or growth or just plain fun. I also wanted to make 21 beads that were different, yet similar. I think I succeeded!

21 beads for spring bead swap - by Jainnie Jenkins

These beads were all made from one ball of polymer clay. I pinched and formed the beads with my fingers, used wax-modeling tools and others to create the textures and shapes, then layered on pearl-ex powders. Post-curing (in my clay dedicated toaster oven), I scrubbed off most of the pearl-ex leaving enough to accent the textures and shapes. I must say that the Reflex Purple pearl-ex is one of my favorite colors to use!!

I really loved all these beads as a set, and I'm a little sad that they went to different homes. But hopefully their recipients will enjoy them! These can be used with other beads, or used as a focal bead or pendant. Maybe I'll have to make another set for myself! I'm also envisioning these loose, organic shapes as ornaments!... stay tuned...

Flower pendants in polymer clay

noreply@blogger.com (Jainnie Jenkins) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 03:38:00 +0000

I wanted to share a couple of pics of my favorite flower pendants in polymer clay. Okay, granted I've only made a couple of these so far, but I'm really liking them. These are made with artist-grade polymer clay (a.k.a. Premo) and mica powders.

A good clay friend, Barb H., was giving me some feedback on the first piece, the pink one, and wondering if I could add in some flower buds or sort of sideways flowers. Well, I think I did pretty good adding the flower buds on the second one, the gold one. (You can click on the photos to see them larger)


Flower pendant with pink background - by Jainnie Jenkins

Flower pendant with gold background - by Jainnie Jenkins

I'll have to really start looking at flower pics! I realize these are not really any specific type of flower, and my sometimes over-analytical nature has me thinking..."Hmmm, I wonder if these buds match this made-up flower?" But I still think it's rather pretty. To me, there is also a bit of an Asian feel to them.

It's really quite funny, I had posted a pic of the gold one in progress (on Facebook) and then said it was in danger of being overworked. Ahh, that's what happens when you are just "going with it" and trying to feel it out as you go along. It can be quite a tedious process, with figuring out whether you need one more flower bud, one more leaf, is there flow through the piece, is it too busy, what will "connect" each part (since they are not on stems)... but I secretly kind of love it! Art is all about challenge and working through the frustrations. It makes the end product so much more fulfilling, even if it can still be improved upon or have a different outcome. But I have decided I really should start rough sketching what I want to do to see if that helps my process any.

As a sidenote, I wanted to say that if you view this picture larger, the shading around the flowers (on the gold background) may seem a bit imperfect, but I think it's just the photo I took with my phone. It doesn't look like that in person! :)

Let me know what you think. I love to hear comments and I love critiques!

Beads with Blooms on Polymer Clay Daily!

noreply@blogger.com (Jainnie Jenkins) — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 15:09:00 +0000

I woke up this morning and what did I see...

Polymer Clay Daily featuring me!

Thank you, Cynthia Tinapple!

Catch the feature here: http://polymerclaydaily.com/2012/04/02/beads-with-blooms/

Some new pendants and a ring!

noreply@blogger.com (Jainnie Jenkins) — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 00:17:00 +0000

Hello,
Just wanted to share some new pieces!

Sangria Pendant - by Jainnie Jenkins

Taos Dream Pendant - by Jainnie Jenkins

It's a Cool Summer Pendant - by Jainnie Jenkins

Margarita Pendant - by Jainnie Jenkins

New work

noreply@blogger.com (Jainnie Jenkins) — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 19:47:00 +0000

Here is a peek at my new work. Just in time for spring!

new ring - polymer clay in metal

Earrings - #3 and #4 - faux turquoise and various beads

noreply@blogger.com (Jainnie Jenkins) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 06:22:00 +0000

I just spent all evening trying to get a couple pairs of earrings finished. *sigh* What a pain. I laid out the beads I thought I would use...and I thought it looked good on my table. But the actual combining of elements was a whole other story.

These use my version of faux turquoise. I haven't made faux turquoise for quite some time, but it was still okay for me. I used various turquoise and green colors of Premo polymer clay, embossing powders, and burnt umber paint.

Earrings #3 - Faux turquoise in polymer clay, red agate, sterling silver, various beads

Earrings #4 - Faux turquoise in polymer clay, sterling silver, freshwater pearls, various beads

I've only dabbled in jewelery techniques in the past and I have to keep reminding myself that continued work and effort will eventually show some improvement. Keep calm and carry on, right?

Earrings - #1 and #2 - polymer clay / mixed media

noreply@blogger.com (Jainnie Jenkins) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 03:40:00 +0000

Here are a couple of pictures of mixed media polymer clay earrings I made.

Earrings #1

These were made with polymer clay, Lumiere paints, Artistic Wire (permanently colored copper wire), and various Swarovski, glass, and wooden beads. I've also bought some wire working books which I'm hoping will help with my jewelery skills. Come back to see what I'm making, or follow me (using the link on the right) to get new blog posts via email. :)

Earrings #2

Recent texture sheet experiments

noreply@blogger.com (Jainnie Jenkins) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 09:15:00 +0000

Handmade heart using original texture sheet I created

Recently I tried out some Sculpey Bake and Bend clay, on the suggestion from my clay friend, Tejae. I've previously made texture sheets with regular 'ole polymer clay, and also the Super Elasticlay (which I'm not even sure is still available). I must say, it really does bend quite well! And you can run it through the pasta machine with a sheet of clay if you make the texture sheet thin enough.

Bake and Bend texture sheet on the left, polymer clay impression on the right

You do have to watch that you're not "warming away" the texture while forming your piece. I'll probably have to learn to let the clay "sit" for awhile to firm up / cool down, but I'm really not good at doing that!

I'm going to be making more texture sheets, so make sure to stop by and see what I'm doing. :)

A Variety of Ornaments

noreply@blogger.com (Jainnie Jenkins) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 07:38:00 +0000

Less than a couple of weeks 'til Christmas! Can you believe it? I've been making some different types of ornaments this year and it's been quite fun! These are all polymer clay over glass, with pearl ex powders and Swarovski crystals. I've also opened an Etsy shop, though some of the ornaments shown are already slated as gifts or have been sold. :) I quite enjoyed making the mini poinsettias and actually made a bunch for my clay guild's ornament swap. Those are only about 1-1/2" in diameter!!

Mini ice cream cones, slippers and candy lollipops!

noreply@blogger.com (Jainnie Jenkins) — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 03:46:00 +0000

Earlier this year I started exploring making some minis...ice cream cones, slippers (or "slippahs!") and some other little things. Now, these are not dollhouse scale or anything, but they were fun to do and make into pendants or earrings. And since I don't really have too much of my work posted here, I thought I better do so!

What I've noticed is that Premo clay can get awfully soft when you're working on something small...and gee, these are not even as tiny as all the work done by polymer clay miniaturists!! How do you guys do it?? I'm wanting to try my hand at making actual dollhouse scale minis, but for now I'm enjoying making these.

Santa Fe

noreply@blogger.com (Jainnie Jenkins) — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 02:26:00 +0000

This past weekend we took a road trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico. What a fabulous time we had! The shopping! The eating! The galleries upon galleries upon galleries! There was certainly no shortage of things to do there. Wrestling between shopping overload and food comas, we came away with a sense of rejuvenation and a longing to return soon...very soon!

So as Georgia O'Keefe reminds us to "take time to look..." I leave you with some memories of Santa Fe.

Sugar Skull masks - Dia de los Muertos - Day of the Dead

noreply@blogger.com (Jainnie Jenkins) — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 02:14:00 +0000

Sugar Skull mini masks

This spring, I participated once again in Sarajane Helm's polymer clay mask swap. If you aren't familiar with a "swap," I'll explain. Basically each swap participant decides how many groups they want to be in. For this one, we could choose 1, 2, or 3 groups. You then make 10 masks for each group you're signed up for, and these can be identical masks or a particular theme. For mine, I decided to do Sugar Skull masks...made with a Sugar Skull candy mold.

Sugar Skull masks - group 1

The mold I used had 3 different skulls on it which worked out great, since I ended up doing 3 groups (some people may not be able to finish for whatever reason, and I had been on a list in case they needed someone to fill in for a group or two). I first saw the candy molds in Taos, NM, but was able to get these in Colorado Springs from La Fuente Imports. They also have larger ones available!

Sugar Skull masks - group 2

If you've ever participated in a swap, you probably know all too well about procrastination and how you start off with a lot of enthusiasm but quickly run out of steam. I think I would've added even more detail and embellishments if I wasn't under the stress of having to get these done and sent in. When will I learn??


Sugar Skull masks - group 3

With the first group, I thought of adding some gold teeth...and that just stuck for the rest of them. I kind of like that little bit of "bling" and think it adds interest and fun! Here are some other pics of the masks...

Slippers for ornament swap

noreply@blogger.com (Jainnie Jenkins) — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 09:08:00 +0000

Here they are! I finished up the slipper ornaments for the PPPCG swap. We needed to make 11 -- 10 to swap and 1 for the silent auction (I think 1 from each person will be put together into a group and that will be auctioned).

After making the first slipper incarnations, as seen in my previous post, I got these down a little better. Made a template for the slipper "sole" and decided on twisty straps and plumeria flowers. I also chose reddish/orange/purple for the toenails and tried not to go overboard with using pearl ex! I'm pretty happy with these and hope my guild members like them as well!!

The raffia was used in place of ribbon, and I attached a tag I made with a little raffia bow. I'm just very happy with myself right now, and will be even more so when I get to making more of these for holiday gifts.

What's nice is that these do not have to be used as an ornament, per se, but could be a cute decoration on your wall or cubicle...to remind yourself to save up those pennies for your next vacation to Hawaii!