Polymer Clay Geisha

     I watched "Memoirs of a Geisha" the other day (one of my favorite movies) and was inspired with the colorful clothes and beautiful settings in the movie.  I instantly wanted to sculpt my own version of a geisha and after a clay doodle session, I came up with this:

     These were actually taken on a white piece of paper, but with the kids jumping around, I couldn't get the color settings just right.  This is close enough, though.  :)

     I named this geisha "Hatsumomo", not after the one in the movie (thank goodness, she wasn't the nicest person in the world), but because it means "first born" and "peach".  I found it fitting seeing as she was the first geisha I've ever made, and her head is most definitely round like a peach.  Hatsumomo is it!  She is 1.75" tall.

     She was made using Sculpey Studio polymer clay and Swarovski crystals.  After she was baked and cooled, I painted her face and obi and added just a touch of blush to her cheeks before signing the bottom (which I do with most of my polymer designs, though not all) and double-glazing her.

     Hatsumomo is going to be appearing in my Etsy shop.  That is, if the kids ever stop jumping on me!  :)

Handmade Color-block Swarovski Crystal Phone Case

     My mom's birthday is coming up and she (much like me) is all about the "bling".  If it's shiny, we're all over it.  After some not-so-subtle questioning, I found that her favorite color was orange.  I had been wanting to try rhinestoning for awhile and decided to give it a shot... starting with her blinged-out birthday present.

     The end result is a color-block iPhone case (though the technique can be done on almost any kind of hard-plastic phone case).

     The inside of the phone case looks like this:

     Here's a quick tutorial on how it's done.  (It is super easy so it doesn't need a lot of explanation.) 

Supplies
Hard Plastic phone shell-  (I found mine on eBay)
E6000 glue
Rhinestone setting tool- (mine is a simple one with beeswax at the end to easily pick up and place the rhinestones)
Bead tray-  (not absolutely necessary, but a HUGE help.  I used 4 different ones to organize my different-sized rhinestones)
Flatback rhinestones- (for this case, I used ss5, ss9, ss12, and ss20)
Glue syringe for glue application
Paper, pen, and scissors for pattern


Supplies.  I also have a rhinestone color card in the upper-left, but that isn't necessary.



Step 1- Prep all of your materials.  I did one color at a time, so my bead trays had the different sizes of that color rhinestone all laid out to be easily accesssible.  If you want to do a color block pattern, trace your phone case on a piece of paper and cut it out.  Draw lines where you want your color separations to be.  Fill your glue syringe with E6000.  (If your E6000 is kind of old, it's easier to use a "fresher" tube.  The application is smoother that way.  The glue doesn't gunk up.)

Step 2- Start gluing!  There are several different ways to do this, and you just kind of have to experiment with your technique.  What I started off with was getting all of the "tight" areas done first with the tiny rhinestones.  That way, they were out of the way.  Then, I randomly placed the larger rhinestones. 

Here, you can see where I put down random glue spots and started placing the larger rhinestones.  The "tight area" rhinestones" are also in place.

After the large rhinestones were glued down, I worked in rows, just randomly placing rhinestones that seemed to "fit".  I would set down a section of glue (about half the size of a dime or so), and then pick random sizes of stones to apply to that section.  When the section was done, glue and place another section.  Do not set out a large area of glue or it may dry before you can get your rhinestones on!  Small steps.

Step 3-  After you've filled up your space for a certain color, just continue on with the next color.... using the pattern lines as a guide.

Easy!  And very sparkly.  :)