Drawing on a blank

In my last post I gave you a sneak peak at my new porcelain blanks. These blanks allow for the use of mixed media while having the nice weightiness of porcelain. The idea came to me one day while perusing the endless rows of scrapbook paper at my local Michael's. Much like my love of fabric, my hoarding of scrapbook paper is verging on an illness. I love all the patterns and colors. The problem is that I don't do scrapbooking (is that the proper terminology?). I don't do anything with the paper other than look through it, organize it, admire it. So I thought to myself "wouldn't it be great if I could somehow use this paper in my jewelry?" The answer is YES, it would! And then I started to think of all the other things that would be great to add; like stamping, collage, painting, drawing, guilding... you get the point. So this is what I made - pure white, smooth, highfired porcelain blanks in a variety of shapes. They can be glued on, stamped on, painted on and because they are porcelain they can withstand heat so they could easily be soldered. Oh the possibilities!

Below are some examples of what can be done. I made all three of these pieces in about twenty minutes. They were so easy and fun - absolutely anyone can do it! :)

This first piece is the simplest. I simply cut out this fancy shmancy lady from an antique magazine that was in terrible shape (I don't condone chopping up perfectly good vintage papers - it breaks my heart! If you find an image that you must MUST have then make a copy and use that) and glued her down with some Mod Podge (one of my all time favorite products!). She was then sealed with three coats of matte spray sealer. Done!

This piece makes use of some of my beloved scrapbook paper. After gluing the piece down I then used pastel pencils to give the paper a little more depth and interest. What was a flat, monochromatic paper took on a more painterly look with the added shading. Three coats of sealer and this piece is smudge proof and super durable.

This last piece was little more involved but still very easy and quick to make. I started with some script from my antique magazine, stamped a faded looking design over it and then glued the piece down. I carefully cut out a floral design and laid it on top of the script. It looked a little lost so I added a little green pastel to the background to make the the branch stand out. Sprayed with sealer and called it a day!
I will add some glueable bails, hang on a chain and voila! I've just added a fun new look to my jewelry line! (I'm sounding extra cheesy today. I don't know what is going on with me.)

I will be adding the blanks to my Extra shop just as soon as I am done writing this post. You will notice that some have holes in them and some don't. I prefer no holes but that might just be me. I would really appreciate some feedback as to whether or not you guys would like more holes, less holes, no holes or just a nice, big variety. Let me know what kind of shapes you would like as well. I am open for suggestions! :)

Comments

SueBeads said…
Those are fantastic, Nancy, and I just may have to add yet another crafty thing to make!
Rosanne said…
Oh boy Nancy! I have stacks of scrapbooking paper too, although I did do some scrapbook stuff for a while. We had a store in town that went out of business and they were selling their stock for pennies a sheet...so of course I got the ones liked best (and then some). I do make my own cards...so that helps. Those are such great pendants...I like the woman the best.
I really love the blues and depth of the second one. I know absolutely nothing about scrapbooking and totally admire someone as crafty as you for coming up with this idea!
peacockfairy said…
These blanks are great Nancy! I do some scrapbooking, but my friend and I are also expert paper collectors!
laurelmoon said…
Oh wow, these are just fantastic! What a great way to show off beautiful images. Very, very cool!
SummersStudio said…
These are great. And I really like the idea of mixed media using ceramics.
Joan Tucker said…
Nancy, I have offered porcelain blanks at some shows in the past year around the country. Some altered art folks like a hole and some do not.They use dominoes alot and other materials like formica for their substrata. I think you should make some of both styles. I have collaged them and added charms etc and embellished they look really cool.
Good luck. I will post something on my blog about your blanks - the blog is connected to the altered art folks. Joan Tucker,Off Center Productions
Gaea said…
That is so much fun! I've been trying to think of a way to put my original art on a pendant and the whole photo transfer idea seems too exhausting but your idea is fantastic! I'll have to check these out in your shop! I also have a fabric sickness! Your designs are lovely!
Barbara Lewis said…
What a great idea -- to incorporate your love of fabric and paper with clay. Very nice designs. I can see these items being used in a number of ways. Congrats on your artistic designs and for using your noodle!
planettreasures said…
Haha! I can relate to being a collector of papers and other scrapbooking and fibrous materials.
I'm excited by your porcelain blanks!......off to check out the shop.....
Dani said…
AWESOME!!! From one hoarder to another...rock on!!
Beth said…
I love them and am going to buy them as soon as I put some money in the bank.I like both. I like the hole to use as jewelry but I also like the ones without to use for a variety of purposes.

Beautiful!
Nancy, I am positive I left a message for you about these wonderful pieces.. I do not see it ( i had to come back again and take another peek) So I will leave another!
THEY ARE WONDERFUL! You do such a great job and the pieces are so smooth and super perfect, as usual. I believe these are going to be a BIG HIT!

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