If mistakes are proof that you are trying, I think I must be trying really hard! The last couple of weeks I’ve made more mistakes with my polymer clay work than ever.

I tried using wooden block stamps and loved the result but then got the cutting out all wrong and ended up with lots of scraps (that’s ok I love scraps)

I tried using some of my old mats from a Lino printing course – they weren’t deep enough so only showed the top two colours.

I restamped and yes it showed the other colours but the veneer was too thin and tore when I tried to add a background.

I tried to use the scraps to make an abstract veneer – it looked hideous.

I gave up and had coffee!

Today I tried to create a veneer where there was some black, but it didn’t overpower the other colours. As I wasn’t expecting it to work, I used bits of lots of stamps to see what each one looked like. Would you believe it – it worked but I then had a disjointed veneer as I’d just stamped anywhere!

However, I added a pale background and managed to make some small pendants and some (very) abstract hands for key rings, so it wasn’t a total disaster. The joy of polymer and Mokume Gane is that you never know what you are going to get but I’m enjoying making mistakes and learning along the way