Fun with watch parts

I've had my little baggie of watch parts for a couple weeks now. My original plan was to make some sort of a resin project. However, the other day I ran across a free tutorial by the awesome Christi Friesen. Some of you may have seen her books. We've carried them on occasion.  Once I saw her tutorial for a steampunk polymer clay heart...I knew I had to try it.

Some of you may remember me mentioning that any of my attempts at polymer clay in the past - looked....well, like something done in kindergarten class...at best :-)

This time, I followed instructions! I'll readily admit to not always following the directions. I'm a skimmer when it comes to reading instructions. I'll go back and read them fully, only after I've messed up the first time. This time I read them...quite proud of myself really ;-)  I had such a blast making the hearts....And they look OK!

The only thing I modified from the directions was the clay. She recommends Premo clay, but the only clay I had on hand was Kato. I found the Kato took a really, really long time to condition. Next time, I'll pick up some Premo, which I think will be much easier for this newbie to manipulate.

I now can't wait to try some of her other tutorials. The puffer fish look awesome!  Go have a peek at her site. Awesome stuff!

Here you can see my attempts at her steampunk hearts.