I FINALLY finished my big project for the Polyform, March "make it your own" contest.  It was very challenging and at times I thought I had bitten off more then I could chew.  I am glad though that I decided to push myself and do something big.  I learned alot about what works and what doesn't.  I figured out easier ways to do things and learned some new techniques.  In short, I learned things I probably wouldn't have learned if I hadn't done such a big piece.  I chose this piece to do because when I decided to make art a serious part of my life, I also wanted to make sure my environment inspired me.  These utility containers will hold different art supplies.  I bought the lazy susan on amazon.com. here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000QA2IJ0/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1  

It's a really big one, 16 inches.  The big container in the center is a large coffee can.  The 9 little containers are all empty cans of progresso soup.  (My husband and son helped me out by eating ALOT of soup in a short time. ;p).  I covered each can with a layer of black sculpey iii clay.  I wanted a base in case some of it showed through since I wasn't confident I could cover it evenly.  I made two large blocks of mokume gane.  I tried to make it as close to the same as possible so that you wouldn't be able to tell which can came from which block.  It didn't really matter since every can came out different and was dependent on what part of the block it came from.  I put the slices on as evenly as I could, I got a little bit better at the slicing towards the last six cans.  I also learned to run it through the pasta machine before putting it on the can, it helped to make the thickness more even.  I edged the cans with more black sculpey iii and textured it with a button I had.  I am not sure you can see it well in my photos but the edging came out looking like some sort of cloth I had molded into place.  Really cool effect and I will be sure to do it again.

The colors I used in the blocks of mokume gane were all from sculpey iii and consisted of:

Black, chocolate, hazelnut, tan, white, green apple, and emerald green. I used copper and silver foil as well. 

While researching mokume gane I came across quite a few different ways of doing it.  I was confused at first, until I realized that it didn't really matter how you made it, only what type of effect you were looking for.  I chose to layer stacks of color and distress them before slicing off layers.  I am sure that at some point I will try the other ways of doing mokume gane.  I had alot of fun doing these projects and will definitely use mokume gane again for other items.  Below you will find both a full view on the lazy susan and a close up of one of the containers.  I hope you all liked my little journey into mokume gane.  Stay tuned for more of my art experiments. :)

Stay happy,

Sharon