Student's Work, Openwork

Received this lovely email and a picture yesterday:

Hi there
Here is a pendant made based on your tutorial. I filled the cells with liquid clay and ink.
The reverse is in clear colours. I joined two spheres together.
Thanks so much. I am going to try one with the new flexible soufflé clay.
Kind regards
Sue


Thank you, Sue! I really appreciate when other artist share with me pictures of their creations made based on my tutorials. Love the idea with the liquid polymer clay inside the open-work cells.  Looks cool!

Find the tutorial that Sue followed to make this beautiful pendant in my: Etsy shop

Don't Break My Heart - Openwork Necklace

Polymer clay openwork heart pendant

I just finished this new polymer clay openwork  pendant and decided to name it "Don't Break My Heart!".

This heart is actually much stronger than it may look, but I think it still reflects the idea that we are responsible for those who loves us.

This pendant will be my donation for the silent auction at Cabin Fever 2016, which begins tomorrow in Laurel, MD.

Openwork Pendants: Experimenting with Colors, Shapes, and Settings

Polymer clay openwork pendant, red

Polymer clay openwork pendant, turquoise

Polymer clay openwork pendant, hot pink

Polymer clay openwork pendant, dark green

Polymer clay openwork pendant, sapphire blue

Polymer clay openwork pendant, coffee brown

Polymer clay openwork pendant, turquoise

Polymer clay openwork pendant, scarlet

Polymer clay openwork pendant, multi-color

Openwork Pendants: Now in Color

 Experimenting with adding colors to my openwork pendants.

How to make these shapes is described in my tutorial Openwork Pendants: Under a Microscope.

I am using the coloring techniques shown in my other tutorial, Polymer Clay Cabochons Sea Creatures.

New Polymer Clay Necklace

Tide Pools, Statement Polymer Clay Necklace

Done! 

I am very happy with the way my new organic polymer clay necklace turned out.  Not only is it pretty (if I may say so myself), but it is also surprisingly comfortable to wear.  I will have to write a separate post to brag about the construction of this necklace.  For now, let's just admire my new creation.

Tide Pools, Statement Polymer Clay Necklace

The biggest polymer clay element is made using my openwork technique.  The flat green element is textured (stamped) with a round metal finding.  The brightest red one is a polymer clay disk with holes shaped over a domed form and backed with a flat disk. The remaining four are made using the techniques described in my Sea Creatures tutorial.  All elements were made out of yellow polymer clay and colored with acrylic paints and alcohol inks.  This process is also covered in my Sea Creatures tutorial.

Tide Pools, Statement Polymer Clay Necklace

New Necklace - Work In Progress

I am working on a new polymer clay necklace combining my Openwork Pendants and Sea Creatures techniques.

I think I will name it Tide Pools.

Here are a few (not all yet) elements for this future necklace.   I am so excited to see how it is turning out.  So many textures, patterns, colors, and yet it should all work together.

To give you an idea of the size of these elements, here is the biggest one in my hand:

I am a bit intimidated by the construction stage.  The design I have in mind is quite complex and unusual.  I hope I have enough engineering skills  to actually make it happen...

First Place in Bead Dreams Polymer Clay Category

My Openwork Necklace took the first place in Bead Dreams 2015, Polymer Clay Category!

Here is the link to the results page:
Bead Dreams 2015 Ribbon Winners.

I cannot wait to see the pictures of other winning pieces.  I bet they are going to be breath-taking!

Edited to add: Link to a few variations of the Openwork Pendants technique:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/eugenascreations/

Openwork Tutorials, Revision 2

I am happy to report that after multiple experiments I was finally able to find a way to reduce the waiting step in my Openwork Pendants and Openwork Bracelets tutorials from up to a few days to a couple of hours.   The Openwork Pendants tutorial now also has a separate troubleshooting section with explanations about possible errors and how to avoid or correct them.

If you purchased any of these tutorials through my shop on etsy (etsy.com/shop/PolymerClayTutorials), please expect to see an email from me with the new file attached.  If you do not receive an email within the next two days, please contact me.

I demonstrated the new version of the Openwork Pendants technique at Philadelphia Polymer Clay Guild this Sunday.  The pendant I showed during this demo was ready in less than an hour.  Yay!

Student Work: Openwork Necklace and Earrings Set

I am very excited to share the pictures sent to me by Tamara Crum.  She made a spectacular polymer clay jewelry set following my Openwork Pendants tutorial.

I love how Tamara adopted the technique for her own designs.  She used Inca Gold and Pearlex powders to color the pieces, and the colors turned out simply gorgeous.

Tamara is in the process of setting up her shop on Etsy (www.etsy.com/shop/Welcome2alittleTLC).  She also has a few more pictures of her beautiful polymer clay and resin creations in her account on deviantart.com. 

I hope to see more of her works in the nearest future and wish her the best of luck both in her art and in her jewelry business.

How an Artist's Mind Works

During our last trip to Florida, I gathered a bunch of coral pieces on the beach.  I thought I would use them as texture plates and make a necklace similar to one of my Faux Metal Necklaces.  I even came up with a name for this future necklace: Fort Lauderdale.

Here are a few pieces from my newly acquired collection:

Somehow in my design I progressed  towards Openwork (again!), and this is what I finally made based on those coral pieces:

And here is my question.  Would anybody ever suspect any connection between these two pictures if I did not point it out?

Clay Fest-Cabin Fever Creative Arts Fest 2015, Jewelry with Openwork Canes Class

A few pictures from my class Jewelry with Openwork Canes:

FCFC 2015: Getting Ready

Getting ready for my class at   Clay Fest-Cabin Fever Creative Arts Fest 2015, I made a few new openwork pendants.  While the ones described in my tutorial are all made in white, this time I am experimenting with different colors and finishes.

I just realized that I actually did not work in this technique since the publication of my Openwork tutorial.  I guess I am too eager to move on to experimenting with the new things...

Student's Work, Openwork Pendants

Pendant and post earrings by Linda Britt

I was very excited to see the works of Linda Britt, which she did following my tutorial Openwork Pendants.

On her blog, lindabrittdesign.blogspot.com, Linda shares a number of her creations in this technique, including beads, necklaces and bracelets.

Each of them is interesting in its own way.  I especially enjoyed seeing how Linda is experimenting with this technique, coming up with her own designs and new uses for the openwork elements.

I had difficult time deciding which picture to show in my blog.  Finally I chose this one, because the pendant on the left is my absolute favorite of her works in this style so far.  There is something magical about it!  I hope Linda will continue working in this technique.

By the way, Linda mentioned in her post that she had to be extra patient with this technique.  There is a waiting step, which she said took her much longer than stated in my tutorial.  After a short discussion, I think we figured out what happened.  I hope Linda will try it again and report her results when she has a chance.  Meanwhile I want to stress out that it is important to follow the procedures described in the tutorial exactly as  written (especially for that tricky step).  They are there for good reasons! 

Thanks to Linda, I already edited my tutorial and added an explanation for each step.  I realized, if I explain not only what needs to be done, but also why is that so, than people will more likely pay attention to these particular instructions.  I still need to figure out how to notify everybody who bought the tutorial so far about this edition.

New Technique: Openwork Pendants

Take a look at these new pendants I just made. Can you believe this is polymer clay?

Some of these pendants do not even have any backing, and their walls are as thin as paper! Amazingly, they are strong enough to withstand normal wear as a piece of jewelry.

If you would like to learn how to make pendants, beads, and earrings based on these designs, explore my new tutorial.

I decided to offer this tutorial for a 20% off introductory price for three days only. The sale price expires on Monday, October 6, 2014 at 9 pm CST.

This new tutorial is available in my Etsy shop (etsy.com/shop/PolymerClayTutorials).

WIP Openwork Pendants

For the last few weeks I've been obsessed with an idea of creating a strong and rigid, yet airy structure out of polymer clay.

To some degree, I was able to realize this idea in my Openwork Bracelets, but it was not quite what I am aiming for this time.

After hours of experimenting and piles of wasted clay, I am finally satisfied with my results.

Here are a few first pictures, and more are coming soon.