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

Student's Work, Pictures from the Class

A few pictures from my polymer clay class at Cabin Fever last week.

Polymer clay pendants in organic style made by the class participants.

Thank you, ladies, for being good students!  I hope you will use the things you've learned in this class in many of your future creations.

Student's Work, Faux Cloisonne

This beautiful polymer clay Faux Cloisonne heart was made by Rita Hammock, who took my class during Fandango 2015 retreat. 

Polymer clay and resin Faux Cloisonne heart by Rita Hammock

I love when people who buy my tutorials or attend my classes share pictures of their work with me.  Seeing how an idea conceived by one person evolves in the hands of other people is always fascinating. 

Although Rita kept the shape of the project I showed during the class, she came up with her own original design and a beautiful colors.

Thank you, Rita, for sharing this picture with me and for letting me use it in my blog!  Looking forward to seeing more of your works.

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.

Student's Work: Faux Cloisonne

Student work, Faux Cloisonne

 This morning, I received this lovely letter from one of my customers, Holly D.:

"I thought you might like to see my first cloisonné piece :) made this last night (it is with Lisa Pavelka's Magic Glos, rather than with resin... I was impatient :)"

There were two pictures in this email; they are on the left and below.

Student work, Faux Cloisonne

Holly bought one of my polymer clay Faux Cloisonne tutorials the day before.  I take it as a huge compliment when someone is so excited about my technique or a project!  I am happy to see how Holly's faux cloisonne piece turned out.  The color gradation is lovely!

Pictures from Fandango 2015

Fandango 2015 Retreat on Lake Yale near Leesburg, FL

Below are a few pictures I took during my classes at Fandango this year.  These are work-in-progress faux cloisonne pieces that my students were working on in the class.

 There were fifty ladies in my classes over the course of three days.  Each of them made more than one beautiful faux cloisonne piece.  I wish I took pictures of all of them.

There are a few more pictures from this retreat in my photo album on Facebook.

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.

More Student's Work, Openwork Pendants

It was nice to wake up this morning to this pleasant surprise: Polymer Clay Daily featured the work of Annette Kruger based on my tutorial Openwork Pendants.

Annette's creation is so beautiful!  I absolutely love how she mixed my technique with Melanie West's ideas and came up with her own amazing piece.

Seeing how other polymer clay artists are developing my ideas is one of the greatest pleasures of teaching.

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.

Student's Work, Faux Cloisonne

Faux Cloisonne is by far my most favorite technique, because it allows the most variation in design.  The latest examples of what can be done with this technique were sent to me yesterday by Stephanie Michaud, and they are simply breathtaking.

Stephanie is an equine artist, and her web site (http://www.studiomichaud.net/) has beautiful examples of her realistically-painted resin sculptures, with which she has been working for many years. 

Stephanie wrote to me that she is now looking for new artistic ways to have more fun with her work.  The pieces you see here are her first ones made following my Faux Cloisonne tutorial.  I am so impressed by her results!

 

 

 Now, get this: Stephanie listed all four of these pieces on Etsy yesterday, and all four were sold right away.  And did I mention that she had actually opened her Etsy shop the same day as well?  Amazing, isn't it?  I am so happy for her!

This last plaque is my favorite so far.  I cannot wait to see more of Stephanie's works.  She is planning to practice with my Crackled Metal Leaf Tutorial and promises to send pictures of her results. 

Thank you, Stephanie!  Looking forward to more pictures from you!

 

Student's Work, Faux Lampwork with Abstract Design

I received this lovely e-mail from Christine, who had recently bought my polymer clay and resin tutorial Faux Lampwork Beads with Abstract Design:

"Eugena!   I am soooooo excited.   I made beads with your tutorial this evening! I am NOT an artist...but look what you've taught me to make......I can't thank you enough for such clear instructions, that someone like me can follow!"

I have to admit, this e-mail just made my day!  I love seeing the pieces that my customers (my students?) make based on my tutorials.  This is my ultimate reward.  As a teacher, I am always thrilled to see how my ideas are used by other people.  Another thing is when I teach a class in person, I see people's reaction right away.  I can tell based on their reaction, which part of my explanations was clear, which one was not.  With tutorials, I can only hope that I made every bit of my instructions clear enough for other people to follow, but I often do not really know if that is true or not...  That is why a feedback from someone who followed a tutorial is so important to me.

 

Christine, thank you so much for sharing the pictures of your work and for your kind words.  I love how your beads turned out, and the bracelets you made with them are stunning.

Student's Work, Faux Cloisonne

I love, love, love it when my customers (my "students") send me pictures of their works done following my tutorials.

I received the sweetest e-mail from Donna P.  She wrote:  "Hiya Eugena,  I have been busy at work enjoying your tutorial. I found the directions thorough and concise and the corresponding photos excellent. Even I could follow them!..."

And then Donna included a picture of a few of her pendants she made following my Faux Cloisonne Tutorial.

I already told Donna (and I would like to repeat it here) that I especially like the one with a tree. She has a really nice a clever design here - the wire is used for the roots and branches, and everything else is painted with mica powders. I like how the wire gives just enough highlights for the design, but does not overpower it. Nicely done! This tree pendant is a perfect example how this tutorial may be used to learn a technique, not just one project (although Donna did a fine job with the three heart pendants made following the instructions for the Faux Cloisonne heart described in the tutorial).

Donna gracefully allowed me to use her photo and comments in this blog.

Thank you, Donna, and happy claying!