Wearable art from the Craft Corral
is made from polymer clay, a man-made material of colored polyvinyl chloride. It is soft & malleable at room temperature and is then hardened and fused permanently with heat. It can be shaped like clay, carved like wood, buffed like stone and layered like glass. I mainly use KATO brand clay which comes in approximately 17 colors. From these colors, I can mix and blend to create endless custom color variations!
Some of my work is sculpted just like modeling clay (like my canine zipper pulls). These pieces are crafted individually, and can take up to 45 minutes to individually shape once I have all of my clay colors blended.
My other work, the more colorful, intricate patterns, are created using a technique similar to ancient glass millefiore canes. "Caning" refers to a log of clay with a pattern running through its length similar to slice-and-bake cookies. Each slice is identical to the one before it, and just like in a log of cookie dough, there are potentially many slices. This effect is created by using several colors of clay shaped into small "snakes" (which may be triangular, circular, flat, etc) and then the "snakes" are squished together to create the final design. Although it can sometimes take days or weeks to complete one cane, I am able to formulate several art pieces from one design. These become limited edition designs that are incorporated into a “series” of jewelry, trinket holders, pie server handles, and photo frames. The following link shows a great pictorial rendition of how these techniques are done: http://www.lauratimmins.com/Process.html
The horse ornaments are handcrafted also, using techniques similar to mokume gane and the caning method. These little equines make the perfect birthday, holiday, or Christmas gift for your favorite horse friends. They can be used to decorate the Christmas tree, seasonal decorative trees (like a "Love Tree" for Valentines Day or a "Freedom Tree" with patriotic ornaments for the Fourth of July), gift name tags, stocking stuffers, birthday gifts, gifts for riding instructors, or glue it onto a wooden plaque to decorate your horse stall doors!
Thanks for visiting - feel free to email me with comments or questions. I love hearing from new visitors and I also enjoy hearing about how you found the Craft Corral.