Saturday, May 1, 2010

Monarch Butterfly with Blue Morning Glory Necklace from Polymer Clay

Monarch Butterfly and Blue Morning Glory Necklace is currently for sale at MelodyODesigns at Etsy 
(*October 27, 2015, SOLD OUT, Because of interest from customers I'm in the process of making a few new copies of this necklace to sell at my Etsy shop with the intention of having them finished and listed by the end of November, 2015. If you'd like to be notified when they are ready please send me an email. Contact info link located on main page "view my complete profile".)

I love Monarch butterflies and the blue Morning Glory is my very favorite flower in the morning garden. I wanted to make a necklace that would combine them both and capture the joy of my garden so that I could remember the beauty of my garden in the depths of Pennsylvania winters. The dancing ladybugs were added as a whimsical afterthought and have become my shop logo. The Morning Glories, Monarch butterflies, stems, buds, curliqued vining and ladybugs are all made from artist quality polymer clay.

The Monarch butterfly was made from thin slices of a polymer clay cane I constructed. Once cured, the butterfly wing slices were added to a body and applied to a thin aluminum backing allowing for the wings to be repositionable and making the butterfly seemed poised and ready for flight. Caning is a labor intensive construction technique borrowed from glassmaking similar to making jelly rolls, where colored rods of clay are laid horizontally forming a complex pattern from which a thin slice is cut allowing the pattern to be seen. 

           The raw un-reduced Monarch butterfly Cane

The flowers were tinted before curing with Sennelier artist's pastels made into powder by grating and pounding and were applied with a paintbrush. The veining on the leaves was made from molds I made from real leaves. The ladybugs were made with polymer clay, liquid polymer clay, and acrylic paint. The individual components are attached to a collar made from sewn macramé cording.

Please click to see a blog post of the Monarch Butterflies on an Autumn Leaf themed Necklace.                                            

30 comments:

  1. I absolutely love everything about this stunning necklace!! Morning glories and Monarchs... what could be more beautiful?

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  2. Your Monarch butterflies are exquisite! Beautiful cane work as usual. I still need to practice my butterfly canes. And your morning glories really look just like morning glories...what a beautiful creation...love it! Thank you for your comments on my blog...you're too sweet!

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  3. Love the detail! Looks like that Butterfly could fly away any second!

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  4. Hey Anita, beautiful butterflies and flowers. Your cane is awesome.
    Thanks for the comments on my blog, like Lupe said you are really sweet.

    We need a clay day together.

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  5. of my goodness!!!!
    This is STUNNING !!!!
    A WONDERFUL bit of summer to wear !!!
    I LOVE LOVE LOVE this !!!!
    :) m.e.

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  6. Wow Anita! Wow wow wow! What a pretty necklace to wake up to on this Easter morn. I love the blue morning glories a lot, the nice muted shade of the green leaves, and of course the butterfly which is really beautiful. The ladybugs - your signature, are the final bit of cuteness. You're such a talent, girl. Happy Easter!

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  7. The colours in your butterfly are really vibrant. I like the way you have put all this together as well. Lovely work. I'll be back to see more.

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  8. Oh that is sooo pretty. I really love your butterfly. I made a butterfly cane several years ago and made so much I still have a tone of it left! I keep wanting to make more in other colors but never seem to get around to it.

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  9. What a beautiful and amazing necklace you made !!
    I love the way you used the butterfly on it!!
    great job!!

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  10. OMG Anita that is beautiful!!!

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  11. Since butterflies are one of my very favorite things, I absolutely love this necklace. Great job! It all looks so real!

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  12. Absolotely lovely! The butterfly cane is amazing and the flowers very pretty.

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  13. Beautiful necklace you have there. Very nice color. I posted the Lava Rock texture on PCC. Thanks for all the kind words.

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  14. Those colors are absolutely beautiful, it looks like a garland straight out of my grandpa's back yard--amazing!

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  15. Wow, this piece is magnificent! What a butterfly!-Marlene

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  16. WOW! That is one gorgeous necklace!

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  17. The composition of this peice is perfect, Anita...and, yes, as someone else mentioned, it looks as though that butterfly could flutter off at any minute. And, the colors!

    Your pieces seem to be such a personal reflection of _you_ - it's obvious that each part of each piece is mindfully created from _within_ and in concert with your passions and 'loves'. AND, the craftsmanship!!! What else can be said but that it's perfect! You are such an artist.

    Really, a breathtaking piece, my friend. As you would say, Brava :)

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  18. Saw you on PolymerClayDaily today. Congratulations! You do really onderful work!

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  19. Stunning piece Anita! The morning Glories are the perfect color and the contrast of the Orange Monarch against the Blue really pops! The tiny Lady Bugs are delightful surprises amongst the leaves. Such a fun piece!

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  20. Very nice design and elements and the colors are vibrant!
    I found you on Polymer Clay Daily. I am also a polyholic and musician-composer/flutist,piano and guitar. I would love to chat please visit my blog.

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  21. Has it been sold yet? Gorgeous.

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  22. nice, really nice

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  23. Pico asked if the necklace has been sold yet.(Pico, thanks for asking!) No, it hasn't been sold, but the necklace pictured is my own personal "not for sale" necklace. However, I plan to have my new Etsy shop up and running "soon"; as soon as I can get enough stock made. There appears to be a lot of interest in this necklace, so it will probably be one of the first 6 necklaces I plan to offer for sale when the shop opens. I will put up a notice here on my site underneath my profile once the shop is up and running. Thanks for looking!

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  24. What a beautiful composition.
    Perfect balance!

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  25. What a wonderful piece!!!

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