Saturday, June 20, 2009

Summer Solstice- Rune tiles and beads



















Summer solstice the longest day of the year

Awed by the great power of the sun, civilizations in the northern areas have for centuries celebrated the first day of summer otherwise known as the Summer Solstice, Midsummer (see Shakespeare), St. John's Day, or the Wiccan Litha.


I love Runes. I like the way they feel and look and it brings me back to an ancient time.

I like pieces of polymer clay that look like they have been dug out of the ground or are replicas of a time gone way by. My pieces have been a reflection of that. I used to call my creations "Ancient Myth with a Modern twist".

These do have the modern twist.

I love letters and words also so this is just the ticket for me. If you have noticed I have been focusing on Pinata inks and this is a continuation of that too.

I also LOVE this lady's stamps. ERA Graphics
She has a rune stamp 246-001k
here is the link to her site, http://www.eragraphics.com/

Please tell Roberta I sent you. She is a talented artist and a nice woman trying to make her way in the world, just like me and I am sure, also a few of you!
It is also an Angel stamp company.
You can get stamps unmounted.


You will need:
Porcelain White Cernit
Pinata inks of your choice
5/8" round cutter
Lumiere or Ne-Opaque acrylic in the color/colors of your choice
Rune Stamp 246-001k from ERA Graphics

Products in Bold print are available from Clay Factory http://www.clayfactory.net/
1. Color your white clay with the ink.
as a matter of fact I am going to use some of the Lapis Lazuli to make some of the runes.


When your clay is colored with ink to the shade that you like, remember they will darken after baking so 3- 5 drops is great for most colors, but I probably used 15 for the Lapis Lazuli,

2. Roll out your clay on the thickest setting in your pasta machine and double the sheet to get a thicker sheet or roll out by hand to about 1/4" thick.

3. Cut out round shapes.
4. Roll into little barrels.
5. Cut the stamp into rows of Runes this way.
6. Press the little barrels on to the rune. You are pressing to make the impression not flatten so use a gentle hand.




If you get a little heavy of hand, recondition the clay and do it again or press gently with you fingers on the sides to push back in to a square shape. You can "drill" the holes with needle or needle tool before they are baked or drill with a small bit after they are baked and cooled.

7. Line up on a piece of cardboard and bake in a 275F degree pre-heated oven for 30 minutes. Shut off the oven and let cool.
After they are cool antique with the Lumiere or Ne-opaque
Here is how to antique your baked pieces. You can see the results of the different colors of Lumiere and Ne-Opaque above.

If you like heavier runes you can cover small light colored river stones or glass pebbles with the Pinata colored clay and stamp, bake, and finish by antiquing. Coming next post.

7 comments:

  1. Oh Marie! These are gorgeous. Will spend more time on your site tomorrow. So pretty!

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  2. Hello, Marie! Thanks for your generosity on teaching how to make these gorgeous runes! They're awesome!
    Kisses from Nydia.

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  3. Beautiful! I look forward to making these at some point. My craft to do list is amazingly huge lol.

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  4. absolutely awesome - thanks for sharing how to make them - love it

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  5. *runs out to buy clay and glass beads!* very kewl - thank you!

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I am so glad you stopped by. Please leave your words of wisdom. I look forward to them and I so enjoy reading them all.
Live to love, Love to create, and create to connect.
Marie

www.mariesegal.com
www.clayfactory.net