Frustration, Fluster-Busters and Little Successes!

Yesterday was just one of those days. I had grand ideas floating around in my head and they looked oh-so-good. Then I tried to create them. And they looked oh-so-ehhh...

But I mean, that's fine. I know about frustration, and I actually embrace it these days. It's part of the creative process. You have to experience frustration at some point in order to have a breakthrough, you just HAVE TO.  But everyone deals with it differently.

Here are my go-to Fluster-Busters:

1. Keep doing what I'm doing (because sooner or later I learn something, either what to do or what not to do)
2. Do something else to give my mind a break. Go for a walk, do some yardwork, etc.
3. Eat. This has its own number because eating really is not giving your mind a break. It just causes a whole set of problems: what do I want to eat? leftovers? cook something? hey, didn't the Pioneer Woman have a recipe for a yummy chocolate something or other??

I actually ended up going to sleep. I guess that should've been #4.

Today was a better day, as I finished the 2nd crown from Tejae's tutorial. That was my first little success. Like I mentioned before, following a tutorial or project can be helpful when you're stuck in a rut. It actually gives my mind a break, temporarily (until lots of ideas and versions come flooding in).

Then I wanted to post a pic of the crowns, but I had taken the lazyman's way out and took pics of them on the kitchen counter. So what did I do? Played around with Photoshop (obviously not the lazyman's way to do things). This is the result, my second little success:

I tried to have fun without making it too cheesy. What do you think? I'm still quite chuffed with myself...that's me in the corner, queen of my own little world...

Do you have any fluster-busters to share? Any little or BIG successes? No? Then leave me your favorite recipe (or a link to it)! :)

An Enchanting Crown

Recently I felt stuck in a rut. Not inspired, not excited about anything.

Then I tried out a new CraftArtEdu.com tutorial, "Enchanting Crowns," from my friend, Tejae Floyde. Talk about a lot of fun!

Jeweled Crown by Jainnie Jenkins - tutorial by Tejae Floyde

What excited me was that I would be able to pull out my stash of paints and go to town. I enjoy mixed media pieces and I liked being able to add crystals and layer on all these metallic paints.  Tejae discusses how the options and variations are endless. In fact, I have lots of ideas brewing now!

Tutorials are a fun diversion when you don't feel inspired. Whether it's a technique or a project, you're bound to learn something new. Here's to more creative exploration and possibilities!

Have you used tutorials? Do you like online tutorials? Videos? Let me know. :)

Flower pendants and rings

Hello everyone!

It's been awhile, hasn't it? I hope you are all enjoying your summer. We have been having such warm weather here in Colorado with very little rain. I've been trying to keep my flowers alive and from becoming deer snacks! Even with "deer resistant" plants, like the garden store guy told me, "The problem is the deer don't read too good." Hah. I should've known!

Just wanted to share some pendants and rings I've made recently.  All deer resistant. :) Most will be listed on my Etsy site in the next couple days.

 

 

Spring beads

Spring beads - by Jainnie Jenkins

Just wanted to show the spring beads I made for the Mile High Polymer Clay Guild bead swap for April 2012.  The theme was "spring" colors.  This started off as a challenge in many ways for me.  First of all, I wanted to find a way to incorporate colors so it wouldn't just be pastel colored beads.  Then, I wanted to work a little more loosely or organically.  Lastly, I wanted to create some shapes for spring that might suggest blossoming or growth or just plain fun.  I also wanted to make 21 beads that were different, yet similar. I think I succeeded!

21 beads for spring bead swap - by Jainnie Jenkins

These beads were all made from one ball of polymer clay.  I pinched and formed the beads with my fingers, used wax-modeling tools and others to create the textures and shapes, then layered on pearl-ex powders.  Post-curing (in my clay dedicated toaster oven), I scrubbed off most of the pearl-ex leaving enough to accent the textures and shapes.  I must say that the Reflex Purple pearl-ex is one of my favorite colors to use!!

I really loved all these beads as a set, and I'm a little sad that they went to different homes.  But hopefully their recipients will enjoy them! These can be used with other beads, or used as a focal bead or pendant.  Maybe I'll have to make another set for myself!  I'm also envisioning these loose, organic shapes as ornaments!... stay tuned...

Flower pendants in polymer clay

I wanted to share a couple of pics of my favorite flower pendants in polymer clay.  Okay, granted I've only made a couple of these so far, but I'm really liking them. These are made with artist-grade polymer clay (a.k.a. Premo) and mica powders.

A good clay friend, Barb H., was giving me some feedback on the first piece, the pink one, and wondering if I could add in some flower buds or sort of sideways flowers.  Well, I think I did pretty good adding the flower buds on the second one, the gold one.  (You can click on the photos to see them larger)

Flower pendant with pink background - by Jainnie Jenkins

Flower pendant with gold background - by Jainnie Jenkins

I'll have to really start looking at flower pics!  I realize these are not really any specific type of flower, and my sometimes over-analytical nature has me thinking..."Hmmm, I wonder if these buds match this made-up flower?"  But I still think it's rather pretty.  To me, there is also a bit of an Asian feel to them.

It's really quite funny, I had posted a pic of the gold one in progress (on Facebook) and then said it was in danger of being overworked.  Ahh, that's what happens when you are just "going with it" and trying to feel it out as you go along.  It can be quite a tedious process, with figuring out whether you need one more flower bud, one more leaf, is there flow through the piece, is it too busy, what will "connect" each part (since they are not on stems)... but I secretly kind of love it!  Art is all about challenge and working through the frustrations.  It makes the end product so much more fulfilling, even if it can still be improved upon or have a different outcome.  But I have decided I really should start rough sketching what I want to do to see if that helps my process any.

As a sidenote, I wanted to say that if you view this picture larger, the shading around the flowers (on the gold background) may seem a bit imperfect, but I think it's just the photo I took with my phone.  It doesn't look like that in person! :)

Let me know what you think. I love to hear comments and I love critiques!