Inspiration can come from so many places.  It can come from a garden, a movie, or a poem.  In this case, my inspiration started with the beautiful colors of this yarn.

 
I found the yarn in a cute little shop in Littleton called A Knitted Peace.

I’m not much of a knitter.  I’m still knitting squares of different yarns that some day may become a jacket.  I thought I might end up using this yarn to embellish a T-shirt or make a scarf.

The colors are so lovely and rich.  Reds, oranges, pinks, a little brown and olive green take on an energetic, lively palette.

My next inspiration for this project is a technique using polymer clay called mokume gane.  It means wood grained metal in Japanese.  It comes from a metal smithing technique where layers of metal are fused together and cut to show the different colors and layers.  Smart people figured out how to recreate the idea in polymer clay.

I was really happy to be able to use some of my color mixing skills I learned from a colored pencil class at the Botanic Gardens to recreate this gorgeous array of colors in polymer clay.

I have some ideas of some earrings and pins that I want to create with this technique.  I am going to have some fun playing with the process and see what happens.

If my playing turns out well, I’ll show you the results.  If not, I will have enjoyed the process!