Finished COPCG Guild Project

Two weeks ago I taught a Faux Embroidery class at the Central Oklahoma Polymer Clay Guild in Moore Oklahoma. Since I'm a member of the group I teach whenever I can and enjoy the many lessons brought by our members. What a great group! We meet the second Saturday of the month at the Hobby Lobby store in Moore, OK. It faces I-35 and is pretty easy to get to.

This 'embroidery' lesson teaches how scraps of Skinner blends can be used to make 'threads' and 'ribbons' that are variegated, going from light to dark or from one color to another and was demonstrated at the start of the lesson.

Sometimes when demonstrating a stitch or technique I get just enough finished to hit the highlights. I took the unfinished project home with only a vine with a brown to rose flower on it with a few leaves.

When we have a month with five Saturdays, if possible, we will have a play day. I hosted the one today and pulled out the started project and finished the design. Jane and Myra joined in on the fun. Myra working on her project for next meeting... Pandora Beads. Jane brought her unfinished embroidery and we were soon happily working away.

The piece I used for the demo started with a sheet of black clay (I chose a very dark background for the greatest contrast so everyone could see clearly.) textured the clay with burlap and cut into a heart shape. On the black project heart shape I showed how to create a number of stitches, the stem stitch #4, simple leaf stitch #5, large flower stitch #10, french knot #13, tendrils #1 and the border using scraps from all the colors twisted into a colorful rope #14.

Starting with a stem stitch vine on the left, I added leaves and curls. Buds were added to the end of the curls using three #10 Large flower petals. The calyx were added using step #5, the simple leaf stitch.

It was nearly finished but felt... hmmm, a bit boring. Jane had a beautiful blend of orange to yellow orange that she thought 'needed something'. We lightened one end with a light yellow and darkened the other end with burgundy. The resulting loaf was fabulous.

A slice was cut from Jane's orangey loaf and four butterfly wings were created. Black clay added the dots and swirls for a final effect.

Myra finished her tutorial and Jane made a bead as per the instructions while Myra took the step by step photos. It is so very exciting to see how the beautiful Pandora beads take shape and how they can be embellished.

I like my finished project very much but have no idea what to do with it. It seems to be too large for jewelry, 2 3/4 inches wide and 3 inches tall. Maybe a tiny wall hanging? Embellishment on the front of a handbag?

Hummm, gotta think about this a bit more. Any ideas?

Hope you find time to play this week!
Penni Jo