I have been looking for a way to make my beadwoven pieces a little more unique - I really like the idea of mixing media - like these older brooches I made where I created little paintings on cloth and then finished them off with beadwoven frames. I have also been playing with creating my own cabochons made of polymer clay - I just made these earrings that have an antique flavor with some little cabs I made of black polymer clay and acrylic paint. I like the mixture of clay and paint - I am not really a sculptor, so I was delighted to find that you can paint and stamp with paint on uncured polymer clay and then cure the whole thing and the acrylic paint will not flake off. It bonds with the clay! I found this great metallic gold paint that I love, so of course I went out and bought a whole bunch of metallic acrylic paints for future experimentation. On a technical note - I waited for the acrylic paint to completely air dry before curing in the oven AND I cured these pieces on an old ceramic tile I had which spreads the heat nice and evenly. After curing I sanded some of the paint off to create a little texture and antique look - I then buffed them using an old piece of denim fabric which works great for adding a slight shine to the surface.
