Mandala Gourd Purse

Last week, I started a new gourd purse.  I decided to go with a mandala theme.  I've only done the pyrography and cutting/cleaning so far.  If I have time, I might start the painting tomorrow.  Or not.  Hubby is coming home from the Denver Gem & Mineral Show tomorrow, so I suspect crafts will have a low priority.

Front

Lid

Back

Catching up - Part 2: Gourd Fairy

I was determined to enter something new into the California Gourd Society competitions at the Welburn Gourd Festival.  My original idea hadn't panned out as I envisioned, so with a week until the festival, I took another look at the competition categories and saw one of them was "Fairies."  That was it!  I'd make a little fairy out of jewelry gourds and whatever I had in my craft stash.  I finally found a use for some beads I had bought over 15 years ago!  They were strung on wire to become her arms and legs.  A couple of $1 scarves I picked up at a flea market set the color scheme and served as her skirt layers.  The only thing I went out of my way to buy was the hair.

Front view

 Here she is!  Her head, torso, hands and feet are made from four gourds.  

Back view

Her wings, wreath, and wand tip are polymer clay.
   

At Welburn with her ribbon!

She won second place in the Fairies category!   Not bad for something I finished at 3am the night before the entries were due.  :-D

Playing with extrusions

A few months back, I was playing with extrusions to inlay in a gourd.  The colors which looked so bright separately, ended up looking too dark together.  Not enough contrast, I think.  It seemed a shame to waste them, so I put some slices onto the turquoise clay I had used in the blend and brightened it up with some mica powder.  I'm quite happy with the result.

I've also been playing with making kumihimo cords to match.  They're fun to make.  I gave a demo on them at my polymer clay guild a couple months ago and we had a blast :)   The middle pendant is on a custom-made kumihimo cord.  I'm keeping the set with the rubber cord.  The rest I'll list on my Etsy store by next weekend.  For the pendants, you can have your choice of kumihino or rubber cord.