As some of you will recall, I posted some pictures of some of the ornaments I was making for a custom order. I have more to share 🙂 2 dozen down, 1 more to go in the mail Monday. They are on their way to an old school friend who is with her hubby stationed at a Japan US AFB.
More of Those Ornaments For the Custom Order
18 Dec 2010 6 Comments
in From My Workbench Tags: balls, blue, cane, cane slices, canes, christmas, glass, gold, green, intricate, onlay, ornaments, polymer clay, red, silver, xmas
New Tutorial: Golden Lace Heart Pendant
12 Jan 2010 Leave a comment
in From My Workbench, Interesting Techniques, Shopping, Tutorials Tags: black, etsy, filigree, gold, how-to, instructions, jewelry, lace, necklace, pendant, polymer clay, Tonja Lenderman, tonja's treasures, tonjalenderman, tonjastreasures, tutorial
Just finished another tutorial called Golden Lace Heart Pendants. Just listed it in my Etsy shop. Great project fro beginners and advanced clayers alike.
Art Imitating Nature
03 Apr 2009 2 Comments
in Interesting Techniques, Polyclay Artists Tags: bangle, black, blue, bracelet, brown, clay, gold, green, jewelry, organic, polymer, white
Melanie West has a series of bracelets called Bio-Bangle. And are they ever beautiful !!! They do make me think of sea shells and ocean critters. 🙂 Her eye for design, texture and color is incredible. I’ve seen Melanie’s jewelry over the past few years really blossom into exception works of wearable art. Can’t wait to see what inspires her next.

BioBangle - Bamboo

BioBangle - Octopus

BioBangle - Sea Polyp

BioBangle - Sea Shell
Inro – What Is It?
30 Mar 2009 14 Comments
in From My Workbench, Interesting Techniques, Misc. Tags: blue, clay, Gane, gold, green, Hidden, Magic, mokume, polymer, red, scrap
An Inro is a small ornamental box hung from the sash of a kimono to hold small objects such as cosmetics, perfumes, tobacco or medicines, because traditional Japanese garb lacks pockets. Inro can be made from a variety of materials including wood, ivory, bone, and lacquer (and polymer clay of course :). They evolved over time from a utilitarian article into objects of beauty and craftsmanship.
I have been playing with a technique I call Scrap Mokume Gane and I love that I can use it to make colorful pattered Inros. Ironically enough, the Mokume Gane technique is also Japanese in origin. Translated it means “wood eye metal”. Many layers of different precious metals are laminated together. The stack (or billet) is then cut or carved into to create a pattern. The metal is then flattened into a thin sheet and used for jewelry, household objects, etc.
My Inros do not have the traditional look of Mokume Gane, but I love the designs and colors I get from using scrap clay as the base and rubber stamps or texture sheets for the design. Look to my past posts for a link to my short tutorial on making the Scrap Mokume Gane sheets.

Inro 1

Inro 2

Inro 3

Inro 4
Kathi’s ALA Dontion
27 Mar 2009 3 Comments
in Interesting Techniques, Misc., Polyclay Artists Tags: blue, charity, clay, gold, jewelry, organic, polymer, white
My pal Kathi made a stunning necklace & earring set and I adore the organic feel. She is donating it to the American Lung Association for an auction.