The horses are on the track!

Joystuff polymer clay shapes.

Yes, the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival has begun which can only mean one thing. No, I'm not about to get frocked up and have a flutter on the ponies.  What it means is that the end of year mad rush is about to begin.
It has been crazy busy around here for a while now, what with weekend sports and after school drama for my kids.  Real work, (by that, I mean the stuff that pays the bills) is taking priority over creating and my neglected garden is calling at me to come and pull a weed or two when the sun isn't too hot to do so.
And just to round out the already overstuffed daily schedule, I'm renovating/refreshing our caravan that has a very 80's vibe to it, and not in a good electric boogaloo kind of way, but in a brown suited maths teacher meets Laura Ashley kind of way.
Phew!
I've been going through my craft cupboards and trying to use some of the products that I bought for previous projects.  When Emily Green first burst on to the scene with her beautiful polymer clay necklaces, I purchased some Fimo in earthy colours with the intention of making my own, as I couldn't afford an original.

Emily  Green necklaces

But then I started seeing them everywhere and decided that I didn't want to be one of those creatives that blatantly ripped off another.  So they sat in a drawer.  Then I bought some more to make some tiki shaped beads for another project.  But that never came to fruition, so I had about 5 packets of Sculpey and Fimo just laying around, slowly hardening in their plastic wrappers.
A couple of weeks ago, I was trying to solve a problem with an idea that I was working on.  I needed a piece for a necklace that I was working on, but couldn't work out what material I could use.  I was thinking of metal or wood or even cork, but nothing was giving  me much inspiration.  I wanted something with a natural looking finish to it, like wood, stone or marble.  It was marble that gave me the inspiration to use polymer clay. So one afternoon I piled everything onto my desk, kneaded and rolled various colour combinations and cut shapes out with a bunch of cookie cutters.  I'm now in the process of sanding the various pieces, but I did manage to put together one necklace for a social event I was going to. ( No, not horse racing!)

Rough edges and unsanded, but wearable Joystuff pendant.

I like how the pieces turned out, but I need to remind myself that I want them to be part of a bigger project, and not just turn them in to a bunch of pendants.  There are many people doing a wonderful job of that already, like Kelaoke.

Kelaoke Necklaces

I hadn't seem her work before I made my own pieces, so I was surprised by the similarity in colour and shape.  But on looking at her stuff more, I was truly inspired by how she has given polymer clay and clean, modern feel with a slightly boho vibe.  I could only dream to create such consistently wonderful wearables!

I haven't pulled out the sandpaper since I worked with resin about 10 years ago.  I hadn't missed it, particularly after I took a few layers of skin from my fingertips!! So now I have a pile of half done shapes sitting on my desk, waiting to be included in something as yet unknown.  But they will have to wait. The curtains need to be sewn for the caravan, cushions recovered and window seals tracked down. Then I need to finish some bank reconciliations and start planning for Christmas that is only X number of weeks away. Phew!