WCC 8/52 - Bronze Jalien Alpha

 

This weeks critter is another Jalien!! He is Bronze Jalien Alpha and is a Goldie Bronze pendant set with a 3mm lab ruby.

 

When I fired him and took him out of the kiln he came out with the most wonderful kiln patina, in the photo below. I did debate keeping this finish but when I put a sealer on it the colours dulled a bit, and also I worry that the high spots will wear smooth anyway and ruin the look. So he was duly polished and with a heat patina applied came out as above - and I really like him! )

 

Here is his poem - short but sweet!! lol

 

An alien face

From outer space
A Jalien race

 

Have fun!! :)

 

Joyx

 

Weekly Critter Challenge 2/52 - Rainbow Jalien

 

When I started the critter challenge I have to say I mostly had earthly creatures in mind, but then I decided to make an alien this week, and well... there you go, these things happen! Weird, eh? ;-)

 

I also decided that if I was going to keep making aliens (will I, won't I?) then I had better decide on a name for them, so this is my first Jalien. Why Jaliens? Well really I was thinking Joy's aliens. I went through several permutations and this was the option I liked best. When picking a new name for something it is always good to spend a little time on google, just to check your name does not mean something dreadful, maybe in another language. As far as I could tell the word Jalien only exists as a surname, but maybe you will tell me differently!

 

OK, back to the pendant. It is made using the new formula Art Clay Silver, which I really like. It is great for making tiny snakes and things like that as it holds the moisture much better and the fired silver polishes up to a lovely shine.

 

I was aiming for a cute alien, but people keep telling me this little chap looks creepy. Oh well, maybe my next Jalien will be cuter! 

 

 

I set a 3mm CZ which was fired in place, and then enamelled him, rainbow of course!!!

 

You can see that he is quite small.

 

 

As I was aiming for a unisex pendant (the wearer not the alien!), I made the back quite plain, but set a 2mm CZ for a little sparkle.

 

 

Writing a poem about an alien seemed quite tricky so I went with a haiku as they are quite short!

 

Something amazing
Traveller through space and time
A Jalien

 

Many thanks to Creative Glass for giving me some of the new formula Art Clay Silver to test!

 

Joy x

 

 

September Four A Month - Colourful Carnival Masks

 

Here are my Four A Month Challenge pieces for September. Four Colourful Carnival Mask pendants. They are all made in fine silver using Art Clay Silver and have Enamelled Accents. I have already posted two of these masks before, but my intention was always to make four new masks for a FAM entry so here they all are.

 

I am really enjoying making these masks now. They have come a long journey since the first one  I made (that I still use on my website, cards etc) back in 2009.

 

The first of the four is my little alien mask. OK, so maybe not so much of a traditional carnival mask but he is fun! I called him VMA - why? Well - because he is a Venetian Mask Alien!! :)

 

This little fella didn't hang around long and zoomed off to a new home on his first outing to a craft fair! I think I shall make more little aliens!

 

The next one I have called Cosmic Rainbow as she also seems to have something a little space age about her to me, but someone else who saw her could see a sort of 1920s flapper style in her. That is what I so love about this type of jewellery - we all see different things in it!

 

 

The next two masks I have blogged about before so I will just remind you of their names and you can look back on the blog if you want to read more about them.

 

This one is Japanese Mystery...

 

 

... and this one is Arcbaleno all Moda.

 

 

I shall be teaching a workshop on making these masks in June next year up in the beautiful North Yorkshire Moors.

 

I have also just taught this for the first time to two wonderful students and I shall be posting photos of the masks they made really soon!!

 

Have fun!

 

Joy x