Cold Porcelain, Mica Powders, Resins and Nail Art

On my previous post, I had a recipe for cold porcelain. Many of you wanted to see some jewelry made from this recipe. I am happy to present this beautiful piece from Doughroses.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/32176572@N00/

Coral Rose Cluster Pin

by: Doughroses

This pin measures about 3" long and is made with cold porcelain.

See more cold porcelain jewelry at:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/1156910@N20/

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Pendant and Earring Set

By: Rose Petals

You can visit Rose Petals shop on Artfire
http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=Shop&seller_id=16446&op=new&body=1

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Mica Powders

I love Mica powders. They give a beautiful finish to your jewelry and or sculptured pieces.  I used green and pink 'Perfect Pearls' on the roses leaves, door and surround for this creation.

Mica powders are made from tiny particles of mica, mica powders provide a pearly, metallic look without metal. They are non-toxic and color fast, with a neutral pH, and though you wouldn't want to purposefully inhale them, they are less dangerous than metal pulvers. Available in a wide array of colors, mica powders have numerous uses for polymer clay artists as well as those who work in other media. They can be applied dry to the surface of raw clay, mixed into raw clay, painted onto raw or cured clay (though most will have to be mixed into a moist medium, first), and so on. Most surface applications will need a coat of polymer clay-friendly finish to prevent the powders from gradually rubbing off.

You can mix mica powder into clay to strengthen the effect of metallic clays or make pearly colored clay If you mix it into translucent clay, they tint it to lovely shimmering colors. Use it lavishly on liquid clay or varnishes to turn cured clay into glowingly glazed pieces.

See this tutorial on one way to use mica powder with liquid polymer clay and ink.

Examples

Pearl-Ex, from Jacquard--
Available in 40 colors, including pearlescents, interference colors, and duo-colors. Comes in .5-oz., .75-oz, 4-oz., and 16-oz. bottles, or in sample kits, usually with 3-gram bottles of twelve different colors.
http://www.jacquardproducts.com/products/pearlex


Perfect Pearls, from Ranger--
Available in six different 4-color sets, which includes one set of interference colors. Unlike other mica powders, Perfect Pearls has a built-in resin binder. This helps them to bond to clay during curing.
http://www.rangerink.com/product_perfectpearls.html

PCE Powders, from PolymerClayExpress.com--
Available on-line in 10-gram jars from www.polymerclayexpress.com. Comes in six different metal colors, in varying coarsenesses.
You can also purchase many of these powders at your local craft store.

Other Fun Ingredients

There are so many things you can mix into polymer clay, glitter, dried flowers, leaves, embossing powder and many cooking ingredients just to name a few.

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Resins

Tonja from Tonja's Treasures wrote a post on her blog about resins that is full of wonderful information. You will be delighted with all her research.

http://tonjastreasures.com/wordpress/?p=2505

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Polymer Clay Nail Art

polynail.com

Apply these exciting pre-designed images to your nails in minutes. Dozens of designs to choose from, they last from 10 to 14 days and can be changed as often as you like. Nail techs love our PolyNail nail art since the designs are easy to apply and appear to float when embedded in acrylic nail gel, but you can also create professional nail designs of your own at home in minutes!

Use the designs by themselves, or along with other designs for your own unique look!

PolyNail nail art is both sturdy and extremely flexible, which makes it last longer and a breeze to apply. Use our designs individually or mixed together to create your own unique styles. Available pre-sliced or in cane form, our PolyNail nail art designs can also be custom ordered to your specifications.

Easy Steps to Apply PolyNail Nail Art

Use nail glue to adhere the PolyNail nail art slices to the fingernail in the desired location, making sure to seal all the edges with glue. Just start with a small drop of glue and spread it around with the tip of the glue bottle - too much glue can make it difficult to place your slices.

Once the glue is dry you may sand the top of the slices lightly with a nail file if necessary to even the edges or remove any excess glue. Since the design goes all the way through the slice you won't mar the design if you gently file the top.

Apply a clear coat or a layer of acrylic or gel over the slices, allow to dry, and you're ready to go!

Remove the nail art by soaking your nails in acetone nail polish remover until the glue dissolves, then gently peel away any remaining designs.

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Arte de Vanessa Colon

http://www.nailsmag.com/style/nail-art/archive/26758/uas-hecha-por-vanessa-colon?p=941

You will find loads of wonderful pictures of nail art on the following link:

http://www.google.com/images?q=polymer+clay+nail+pictures&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&sa=X&ei=jHh1TfWuI5Oz0QGQsajoBg&ved=0CDEQsAQ&biw=1264&bih=835ou