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

Cool Tools: Concave Forms for Polymer Clay

If you would like to make lentil-shaped hollow polymer clay beads or concave/convex polymer clay pendants, you will need some spherical forms.

Since the beginning of our craft, polymer clay artists developed a habit of looking at various household items as potential tools for polymer clay. That is why you can often see old incandescent light bulbs recommended in polymer clay projects as forms for convex pendants. This used to be a cheap and simple option, but with the spread of fluorescent bulbs, finding the old ones is getting more and more challenging.

The second option is also stemming from the same idea – trash to tools. If you cut out the bottom of a soda can, it can be used as a concave/convex form. The issue with this approach is that the obtained form is a bit more shallow (and it also has nasty sharp edges that you have to keep in mind all the time).

By now, there is a professional tool for this task available from Polyform. It is called Sculpey Hollow Bead Maker. Nice, but a bit pricey. I also do not like that it has a few forms on the same base and feels kind of crowded to work with.

Here is the best option I found so far (cue the drum roll): Aluminum Sphere Cake Molds. They come in a few sizes, cost less than a dollar per pair on eBay, and are very easy to work with. Enjoy!

P.S. These sphere cake molds (3" in diameter) can be used for my projects described in the following tutorials: Sea Creatures, Openwork Pendants, Faux Metal Necklace.

New Tutorial

My first tutorial in the series demonstrating how to use hand-made Wonder Stamps for different polymer clay techniques is ready for you to enjoy.

I am sure you are familiar with back-filling idea in general, but believe me, the Wonder Stamps really do wonders for this well-known technique. Following this tutorial, you will learn how to easily make pretty elaborate and delicate designs in different colors and even with color gradations.

I am showing this technique using a polymer-covered business card case as an example project, but the possibilities are truly endless.

Get your copy while this tutorial is on sale! The sale ends at 9 pm (EST) on Monday, February 22, 2016. 

Find it in my Etsy shop (etsy.com/shop/PolymerClayTutorials).

First Results!

Student Work, Wonder Stamps

Wonder Stamp Made by Kathryn Peters

I was so happy to find this picture in my email this evening!

Kathryn Peters made it following my new tutorial Wonder Stamps for Polymer Clay.  She had all the necessary tools and materials on hand and was able to try the techniques described in the tutorial right away. 

Kathryn wrote: "This has supplied an easy and inexpensive way to follow through on some projects that I've been batting around in my head".

It is so nice to have feedback from people who are using my tutorials, especially with such a positive result.

New Tutorial: Wonder Stamps for Polymer Clay

When my class Handmade Stamps for Polymer Clay at Master Class Camp was advertised this summer, quite a few people contacting me asking whether I have a tutorial for this technique.  I promised to have the this tutorial ready a few months after the class.

 The wait is over!  This long-anticipated tutorial is finished and available from my etsy shop.

The tutorial is currently being offered for a 20% off introductory price until until 9 pm (EDT) on Monday, November 23, 2015.

In this tutorial, I will show you how to make your own Wonder Stamps with very thin and tall walls. Not only will you have your own unique stamps, but you will be able to use them for countless different polymer clay techniques and variations of them: mokume gane, back-filling, cutting, carving, raised design, and more.

This tutorial explains how to make a Wonder Stamp based on ANY design. It does NOT explain how to use the stamps. I am sure you will be able to come up with many applications on your own, but I am also going to prepare a few project-based tutorials for these stamps in the nearest future.

Polymer Clay Lentil Beads

Fantastic Filigree beads

Just want to show a set of lentil beads made in my Fantastic Filigree technique.  These beads are hollow, framed with antique brass round links, about 1.5" in diameter.

Making convex framed necklace parts is described in my tutorial  Faux Metal Necklace.  Creation of a pattern similar to the one on these beads is covered in my Fantastic Filigree tutorial.

Fantastic Filigree beads

Fantastic Filigree beads, fragment

New Polymer Clay Tutorial Fall Leaves

Deeply textured and brightly colored polymer clay leaves look gorgeous as necklaces or brooches.  I just finished a new polymer clay tutorial for these projects.  It is available in my etsy shop.

The tutorial is on sale until Monday, September 28, 2015.

Polymer Clay Texture Ideas: Organic

Peach stones make excellent organic texture tools for polymer clay.

To transfer the texture onto the polymer clay, drape a sheet of polymer clay around the stone and press firmly.   When done, re-position the sheet of clay and repeat.  Actually, it is better to have a few of those peach stones to avoid obvious repetition of the texture.

To prevent the clay from sticking to the surface of the peach stones, spray the polymer clay sheet with some water first.  Other release agents could be used as well, such as mica powders or corn starch.  I personally prefer water.

Look for more ideas for various texture tools in my Faux Metal Necklace Tutorial.

Polymer Clay Texture Ideas: Leaves

Some leaves are better than the others for creating texture on polymer clay.

Look for smooth (with no little "hairs") stiff leaves with deep or protruding veins.

I found these leaves on a bush in Brookside Gardens.  Wish I knew the name of the plant...

What to do with your leaf-textured polymer clay sheet?  They can be used in many ways to make beautiful jewelry and home decor items.  A few ideas to get you started are described in my tutorials:
Polymer Clay Pendants Tutorial Leaf Imprints and Silver Frames

In this tutorial, I describe how to make and use both positive and negative texture plates using natural leaves, how to showcase their texture, and how to make pendants framed in hand-made bezels.  By the way, making the bezels, in my humble opinion, is the most valuable part of this tutorial: I am showing my extremely simple, no-soldering, method of making custom-shaped bezels, texturing them, and adding patina.

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!