Thursday 16 March 2017

We’re All Ears March Challenge

Owls: “They represent wisdom and truth with piercing eyes that are all-seeing, even in the darkest of nights. Silent, secret and majestic. As a personal totem they symbolize the capacity to see beyond deceit, a heightened intuition and are harbingers of life transitions and change”

The We’re All Ears inspiration for March is owls, majestic, glorious owls. The above quote came from the Earrings Everyday Inspiration blog post for the March challenge


My muse drew inspiration from these three owls




I can see a bit of each of them in the texture I used, the circles around the eyes in the first, the eyebrows in the middle one and the dots on the body of the third owl

I made this pair first. It just felt like the little fellow needed a nighttime setting, perched on a branch, a dark inky sky behind him with the moon peaking over his shoulder. I used guilders paste to layer colour over the different polymer clay colours, added sterling silver loops that are well secured between 2 layers of polymer and sterling silver ear wires

I didn’t like the round shape that I made originally and tried to turn them into an oval shape without an actual oval cutter. They didn’t quite come out right but kind of have a rustic look

 
Country Owls
Next I decided to make a simpler pair, using the original round shape for the background and impressing the little owl directly into the circle. Again I used a second layer for the back and sandwiched sterling silver loops between the 2 layers. Three different shades of guilders paste were applied. The outside part of the circle needed something more so I carefully applied a texture, trying to imitate the appearance of bark. It’s only when editing the photos that I noticed both are missing one eye. Ouch!


Owlz

I decided to keep the earrings for myself as past works and samples of my progress, or perhaps lack thereof, working in polymer clay


Please visit the blog reveal to see what everyone else made

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day

14 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thanks Kathy. I definitely intend to get some oval cutters and give it another go
      Mona

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  2. Love the way you highlighted the owls with gilders paste. They almost look like metal!

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    1. Thanks! It felt like just the right touch
      Mona

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  3. Both pairs turned out beautifully! Your polymer beads are perfect for the challenge.

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  4. Great ideas for both pair. I like that the ovals in the first pair aren't perfect. It adds interest to the design. But oval cutters do come in handy from time to time as well. ;)

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    1. Thanks Tammy. It's hard to see past the flaws sometimes so I'm grateful for the encouragement
      Mona

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  5. I like where your experiments are taking you! I just discovered that you can make your own cutters for clay from soda cans...very carefully! But think of the possibilities! I like the way the Gilder's paste gives it a soft metallic sheen. Thanks for playing along with me! Enjoy the day! Erin

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    1. Thanks for the idea Erin. I have to admit though that the way I succeed in cutting myself on my tin containers makes the idea of using soda cans nerve racking. Who knows, maybe one day
      Mona

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  6. Ooh! I really like what you were going for...especially in that first pair with the moons. Really fun!

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  7. Thanks Sarajo. I definitely intend to give it try again.
    Mona

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