Who came first?

In the world of Chicks, there's always a race to see if indeed we'll ever finish, or if we will beat out the 'competition' which in this case is ... an egg.  No big deal, except of course if the race is downhill in which case the egg will win, presuming of course that it's hardboiled or in some other way not prone to breaking. 

In making this chick, (as part of a larger composition that I have planned) I utilized a portion of a  technique I saw on a recent episode of Beads, Baubles and Jewels.  Not one who's that into peyote or chevron bead stitching, I usually watch the show and then in a few minutes, it's out of my head.  I do like to see the pretty baubles that they show, and on occasion have seen a few techniques that I think I might use...someday...  But this past Saturday's show had something that I could actually use, immediately, in my polymer clay work! 

I have to state, right now, that I seldom see the show at its actual broadcast time which is quite early on Saturday morning, but thanks to my recorder, I can watch episodes at times that are more convenient.  So, when I saw the re-broadcast the next day, I immediately went to my clay table and did it!  It was the burnishing of foil atop an already leafed piece of polymer clay.  I had this foil (not leaf) that I had been trying to get to stick to the clay.  I had done this in a Donna Kato workshop years ago, but hadn't been able to get it to transfer properly to the clay.  I don't know if I was using a different kind of foil (I think we used Jones Tones in Donna's class) but I know I had tried the type of foil before, and I remember having much better results.  The secret was simple.  After burnishing the foil onto the already leafed clay that had fractured, the raw clay that was exposed had to be warmer to accept the foil.  Hence, the two toned effect in the colors of the clay. The foil adheres to the raw clay that's exposed after the leafing on the clay has been spread thanks to the passing through a thinner layer on the pasta machine.  It produces a multi-toned glitzy look, which is what some chicks are after.

This little chick (well she's about 3" by 4") has a bit of a pained expression about her.  Actually, I'm glad she looks a little concerned. It fits very well into the plan.  When all the finishing touches are added, and the piece is complete, I hope it will be clear why she's a little ... chicken about what she's going to have to endure!