cont. Craft course

So, only three "lessons" left in the course I'm taking. Weird to think it's soon going to be over. It feels like it just begun.

Today, I got to varnish most of my 'beads', and some buttons I had made at home last week while I was ill. Trying to stay still enough - I was shivering like a crazy person! - while painting small details on a surface that drank it like *snap*
Needless to say, you got some interesting "splashy" areas on some of the buttons...

But, the artwork aside, I think it's been fun trying to design something usable with the clay. Even though I'm clearly not a "clay person". I can understand the fuss, because you get to see very clearly how good you actually are at designing something with your own hands, but I don't think it's for me.

Painted, dry and ready to get varnished.

If you look really closely at the photo, you'll notice that the teapot leans slightly to one side. The bottom isn't completely flat. Whups.

I got some of the alcohol-based varnish on my fingers.
When I returned from trying to wash it off in the WC,
I noticed my hand looked like I had a yeast infection.
It did flake away, later. But it was weird.

The consistent red beads in the upper left corner aren't mine,
they belong to the woman sitting on my left in the class.
All the rest though, they're mine.

This was how it looked like at home while I was painting the beads
and buttons I wanted to varnish "in class". The beadboard helped.
A lot.

Now, all of the above are made with the same crafter's clay. It dusts slightly when it's completely dry, but it absorbs paint and varnish really well. It's slightly messy when you sculpture it, and your hands get really dry, but for a cheap medium it's actually really versatile.

I'll tell more about the Millefiori-technique I also tried out today, but that's for another post.