Finally, a new mold. Sea Turtle Bezel and Teardrop Cabochon

A couple of years ago I did this very rough sketch, so poor that I wrote the word 'cab' and drew a line to remind me of the idea. (In all fairness I was trying to draw whilst riding in the car with Joe.)

In fall of 2011, a land turtle bezel [the top drawing] and cab were sculpted but the sculpts were destroyed when we purchased our new home in Maysville and began to pack for the move.

A few months ago I began anew, this time with the sea turtle [the lower sketch] but life kept interrupting and the turtle was often pushed to the back of the sculpting table for more urgent needs. 

After a few more attempts at finishing it, I took some photos of the WIP [Work in Progress]. I colored the cabochon in Photoshop to make it more interesting. 

The bezel is about 3 inches long by 2 1/2 inches wide. There is a subtle shell pattern inside of the bezel.

The teardrop cabochon is 1 3/4 by 1 1/4 inches [30 x 42 mm]. If properly released the mold can be used for clear resin. If using polymer clay, any number of patterns, canes or solid clays can be molded. 

Inspired by this antique pin that I saw on the web recently, I moved it to the front of the table and began working on it. 

Tonight I finished the sculpture and baked it. When cool tomorrow, I'll do what ever is needed to make them both mold-able and taper the more pointy end of the cabochon as the profile is too high for my taste.

 The bezel can be molded in metal clay, polymer clay etc.  The cabochon may be molded or cast in any color or material. 

If polymer clay I can see the bezel molded in deep green, baked and antiqued with a soft yellow color, wiping the excess paint off before the paint is fully dry. This will leave light creases in the fine detail, much like a real sea turtle.

The side view shows the fine detail and the smooth cabochon. Note that the flippers are flat and the head is flat on the bottom. This is necessary to allow the molded part to be removed from the mold. After molding these parts can be lifted, turned, moved and shaped before baking or firing.

 

 I tried to get a soft expression on the face as this giant of the sea is gentle in nature often allowing humans to hang on for a short ride as they soar below the surface of the sea. 

Now that the largest elements for the mold is completed, I plan to sculpt a smaller turtle and teardrop cabochon for the mold. After all, a girl needs earrings or maybe some beads for a necklace. :-)  If there is room, I'll add one or two smaller teardrop cabochons. 

This mold will do dual duty. 

1. Provide unique teardrop cabochons 

2. Provide an original, unique and trendy bezel. 

I'll post here when it is ready to ship. 

Thanks for visiting my blog. 

Penni Jo Couch

Designer and sculptor of 

Best Flexible Molds

Fur Babies and the Sofa Pillow

Like a number of 'retirees' we have fur babies, two little dogs, Sophie and Kanga. 

What pillow, I don't see a pillow!

Sophie is a Lhasa-poo, basically a heavy Lhasa Apso body covered in curly, blonde poodle fur. She is loveable, sweet, and obedient, mostly. She's never bitten anyone but, when aggravated will poke you with her nose. When begging for food, your leg will be massaged by a wiggly nose, an action that usually gets her a treat. 

Kanga, our other fur baby is an 18 year old Miniature Poodle. A perfect little poodle in miniature.  When he was younger he would hop on his back legs, up and down, like a kangaroo, hence the name Kanga.

You want the pillow? Huh-uh! This is my pillow!

 The funniest thing about Kanga and Sophie is they both claim that the little pillow on the sofa is theirs! The truth is, it's not either of theirs, it is mine. 

I brought the little pillow to the sofa one day to ease the small of my back while sitting on the sofa. Since that day I have had to insist that it is mine whenever I want to sit and watch TV comfortably. 

The first doggy on the sofa normally gets the pillow and when I want to sit down and give the corner a little tug to remind them that it's mine, I get the saddest expressions ever!  Sometimes I let them stay but not often. 

Don't I look so pretty on my pillow?

Our dogs are groomed at Pawsitively Purrfect in Purcell OK. They do very good work and we can usually get an appointment in less than a week. 

These photos were taken shortly after haircut day. 

Sophie has super thick hair so we get her clipped short on the body with long tail, ears and top knot. 

Kanga gets a standard poodle kennel clip. He is such a fun, smart little dog. He is expressive, affectionate, learns quickly and, now that his hearing is so poor, is learning to obey hand signals and respond to clapping. 

When Kanga doesn't have the pillow, he calls "dibs!" on the leather chair!

 By Penni Jo Couch

Creator and designer of Best Flexible Molds

Faux Heathergems in Polymer Clay

There is a lovely faux stone made from heather in Scotland. The heather is harvested, dyed, the dyed sticks mixed in color, bound together and covered with dark resin. The resulting slices cut across the many differently colored sticks making an unusually colored 'gem stone'. Left is a Heathergem set in a silver brooch. 

After watching how they were created on a show called "How It's Made" Joe suggested we try making something similar in appearance using polymer clay.

Faux Heather Stone Cabochons

We went into the studio where I gathered up bunches of scraps of solid colors of clay, many pearl and metallic and rolled them into ropes. Then the ropes were sponged with dark blue acrylic paint (the closest dark color) and allowed to dry. 

Like the real Heathergems the sticks of clay were gathered up, the colors sorted, then stacked. After some squeezing to press the sticks together, the bundles were cut across, at an angle and more.  The resulting slices were put through the pasta machine first on #2 then turned at right angle and put through again on #3.

Scrap clay was used to fill a number of our cabochon molds half way full, then de-molded.  The slices of Faux Heathergems were wrapped around the cabochons which were returned to the molds and the clay press very firmly to seal the clay slices to the cabochons. After baking, our 'gems' came to life and the colors popped with the application of a high gloss finish, just like the real Heathergems.

Faux Heather Stone Earrings

Left are a pair of my Faux Heathergem 'stone' earrings. The cabochons are set in bezels from Fire Mountain Gems.  They are not like the Heathergems as there is no wood grain in the bright colors but the overall effect is pleasing.

The cabochon molds used to create the faux stones were:

PJ001 Almond Cabs 

PJ002 Cabs and More 

Both are available on our website 

Best Flexible Molds

Faux stones and cabochon molds by Penni Jo Couch

For more eye candy and a video of how the Heather Stones and Heather Gems are created visit their website: 

Heathergems | Scottish Jewellery

I hope you enjoy the Heathergems website and beautiful jewelry shown there as much as Joe and I did. 

Penni Jo

Best Flexible Molds is now on Amazon.com!

We've all been cautioned about 'fishing' emails, folks who are trying to get us to write back, give info, etc. Like most web users, we are more than cautious when receiving any emails with lucrative promises.

So, when, starting the third week of January, I began to get, occasionally, an email from a person claiming to work at Amazon.com who wanted to bring us on board as sellers my super cautious senses began to tingle. Thinking this had to be a come-on and an attempt to separate us from our info and or money, I promptly threw them away. 

But about a month ago the 'Amazon' email I got did not seem to follow the type of email that was fishing for info so, after reading the signature that had the Amazon logo on it (this is easy to copy) and reading all of the info in the signature, Joe and I began an in depth investigation to see if this person was, perhaps, an actual Amazon employee. Everything appeared to be legitimate (this can also be duplicated).

So, after a great deal of thought we decided I should send a tentative letter to the man, Mr. Brown, telling him I had been throwing away all his emails as I was highly suspicious that Amazon would have an interest in our small company. He wrote back with more info about selling on Amazon and said he was also very cautious.  (Might be true but, after all, people do fib. )

One cautious email after another followed until we tentatively decided he was probably was actually working for or with Amazon and we asked what was needed to sell on their website, what were the costs, etc. etc. 

No problem ~~ We could upload our data, photos and more. 

Problem ~~ then they needed a bank account number for payment to us of sold items. Once again, the feet grew cold and the suspicion level rose greatly. Hummm, maybe we were at that point where we were at risk and decided not to do it. 

After a couple of days though it was decided that we'd open a bank account just for web sales and keep no $$ in it! If they were going to steal, they were going to get nothing!! Bank account opened, we completed all the work necessary and  a couple of days later, uploaded our images, info and more using a spread sheet set up for us by Amazon. 

That evening we had an order for two molds!! We'd been up less than a day and already had an order!!! Now, after three and a half weeks, we are enjoying the sales at Amazon. Joe's busy making molds, packing and shipping. I'm planning new molds!

The picture is a screen shot of one of our molds on Amazon. There is also a Best Flexible Molds store. Right now we are only shipping in the USA from our Amazon Best Flexible Molds Storefront, our choice, but who knows where it could go from here.

You can order our molds directly from us on our website 

Best Flexible Molds

We ship to most countries. 

Or~

 you can order our molds from our store on

Amazon.com

Posting by Penni Jo Couch
Creator and Designer of Best Flexible Molds

 

Longing for Spring

PJ having breakfast on the Patio

  The weather here in Oklahoma has literally blown hot and cold for the last few weeks. One day is balmy and warm, then two days later, ice and snow. If one were not expecting this weather, one could possibly become frustrated. However, after 32 years of Oklahoma weather, it's just "situation normal".

We moved here a year ago in January and when winter had given away to Spring we began to richly enjoy the beautiful weather and early summer mornings on the patio.


Breakfast was my favorite meal of the day and we often had small visitors. 

Sophie our Lhasa-Poo would check out any crumbs that had fallen and try to shoo away the very friendly butterflies. 

Joe tossed some water onto the pavement for the butterflies to drink and a slice of orange that was quickly discovered by one the butterflies. (Sophie had no interest in it) By some mysterious means the little one on the orange slice made known the presence of yummy, sugary goodness to a bunch of his buddies who came fluttering down for a breakfast of their own. 

This one on my hand found a drop of orange juice on my tray and after drinking it all, climbed onto my plate and then my hand.  This gentle little creature  made me smile and thank the Good Lord that He has blessed us with quiet enjoyment of simple things.   

I sure am looking forward to that warm morning when we can eat breakfast outside again. 

Penni Jo

An old work of art turned up recently

Pocket Watch with cover removed to show detail.

Going through a drawer of jewelry I was tickled pink to find this pocket watch nestled in a corner. Seeing it again took me back to the 80's where it all started.

After discovering  Fimo and having fun with it making miniatures and then selling miniatures, my customers soon began to show a preference of the tiny, whimsical teddy bears that were dressed as characters.  These little character bears soon had their own name - PenniBears. 

Over seven years of designing and making them I eventually held copyright on close to 100 designs from 1/8" tall to nearly 3 inches tall. They grew more and more detailed as my skill improved until you could set up an entire wedding from Bride to Ring Bearer Or a Christmas scene from Santa decorating the tree with a tiny mouse helping, to elves, Mrs. Santa with a cookie sheet of gingerbread cookies to a little bear with stick tied to his head for antlers and wearing the jingle bells that the other PenniBears were hanging up as decorations.  


An empty watch case from a garage sale was languishing in a drawer until the Three PenniBears idea came to mind. 

Since I'd been a painter using both oils and acrylics the natural thing seemed to be that this watch case should be painted in clay and a three dimensional scene added to it. 

Background first: The pale blue sky color was smeared thinly over the entire back of the watch. Fluffy white clouds were shaped then smeared into the sky leaving a rounded edge on one side.  A row of tiny muted green trees were put across the bottom where the horizon line would be.

Papa PenniBear with Honey pot on his left.

Middle ground: a field and some larger trees were added, grass texture was very small and a tiny fence set the boundary of the middle ground. 

Foreground: Larger trees on either size gave scale to the change between the middle ground and the scene in the foreground. 

To make the gingham tablecloth I used slabs of clay, cutting and stacking the three values to make a block of gingham. Note that Papa Bear is wearing a blue gingham ribbon.

 After adding the richly colored green grass the gingham tablecloth was pressed into the clay and the tiny figures and foods were sculpted. 

The table cloth has a cherry pie on it and the super tiny ants are after it! Each ant is two incredibly tiny balls of black clay. I tried to make them of three balls, like a real ant, but the two balls were more effective so two it was.  

Momma PenniBear is getting a little shut-eye in the beautiful weather.

 Baby PenniBear is flying a kite. His kite has a PenniBear face on one side and, if you turn the knob, you'll see the kite sticks on the other side. 


It was created back in '86. 
The opening of the watch is 1 5/8 inches.

Below is a detailed image with notes.

Penni Jo Couch 

creator, designer and sculptor of 

Best Flexible Molds.

Followup from the San Antonio workshop

I had a most wonderful time teaching the Orchid on distressed Faux Bois backer board workshop last week at the San Antonio Polymer Clay Guild and wanted to share a photo or two.

The students were very talented and produced amazing orchids. Since  orchids are found in such a large number of colors and sizes, the color schemes chosen by each student worked beautifully and were rich in realism.

By the end of class there were a number of orchids 'growing' on old, distressed pieces of weathered wood.

The all day class was from 10 in the morning to 4:30 in the afternoon. 

 In the two hours before lunch we made a cane that, when sliced and stretched in the pasta machine, produced a sheet of old looking wood grain. From that boards were cut, shaped and distressed, ready to have an orchid 'planted' on it in the afternoon.

We started with the air roots, added the stem of the plant, the leaves and then the Cattleya orchids were the center of attention until the end of class.  

A cattleya orchid has three sepals and three petals. Two of the petals are alike and are simple compared to the third one, a modified petal. The modified petal usually forms a deep throat shape with ruffled edges.

Cattleya is a genus of 42 species of orchids. They are widely known for their large, showy flowers. The flowers of the hybrid's can vary in size from 5 cm to 15 cm or more.


Left, beautiful cane work orchid with skinner blend petals. 

These two dramatic orchids are exciting as the blue calyxs are support for the orange veined  and white petals.

The beautiful purples and golden yellows bloom richly on both wood boards and a bottle of hope. 

A cane in purple, yellow and lavender forms both the two simpler petals and the deep central petal. The colors of the orchids seem to vibrate against the cooler colors of the leaves and  backer board. Along with the pin/pendant, this student made a pair of earrings.

Once again, the contrast between cool and warm colors makes an exciting flower on wonderfully textured old wood. Here a pair of earrings and pendant are shown in bright colors with a white ruffled petal finishing off the design.

A blended bulls eye cane was made to give a pretty color change in the depth of the throat of the modified petal. A cane with tiny streaks of rose pink give interest and color to the simpler petals. 

This stem of blooming orchids created by myself embellishes a small piece of 'wood' that is about 3 inches tall. It will be finished as a pendant with matching earrings. 

Thanks for taking a look at our garden of orchids. For more information about my Classes check out this set on my Flickr Site.

Penni Jo Couch 

Creator and scuptor of 

Best Flexible Molds.