How to Choose Jewelry

Making jewelry is very popular among polymer clay artists, which makes us part-time jewelry stylists.  If not helping our clients with choosing the best earrings and necklaces, we are faced with the same questions for ourselves.

On a number of occasions I've heard polymer clay artists saying that they do not wear jewelry at all because nothing seems to look good on them (this is usually said with a sad sigh).  I am pretty sure that there is the right jewelry for every woman in every outfit (except when she is dressing for work-out, hiking, or some similar activity, to be exact).

Anyway, having polymer clay with its endless possibilities for creating any color, texture, or shape, enables us to come up with the perfect jewelry piece for any occasion while all other mere mortals have to hunt it down in shops, boutiques, and on-line.  There is only one question: what to make?

To answer this question, I want to share a very informative post from Imogen Lamport's blog Inside Out Style.  Imogen is a Melbourne (Australia) based blogger and internationally certified image consultant.  Her blog is packed with fashion and style information for real women.  Enjoy!

Click on the image to proceed to Imogen's post "How to Choose Necklaces"

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.

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

Super-Duper Tools

Happy New Year!  Wishing all my friends lots of creative energy in 2016!

Here is my first finished project for this year: a set of custom-made super-duper tools for polymer clay. 

People who buy my tutorials know that I love using knitting needles for sculpting.  I had a set of very short knitting needles in three sizes.  Finally, I made handles for them.  The handles are triangular in cross-section, so they are extremely comfortable to hold.  An added bonus: they do not roll on an uneven working surface.  I could not possibly leave the handles of new tools plain, so I decided to decorate them using my Wonder Stamps (I am supposed to be working on a tutorial for a project with these stamps, by the way).

And the other two tools are an X-acto knife and a needle tool.  For these, I covered their existing handles with polymer clay and finished them in the same style as the knitting needles.  Their handles are much thicker than those of the knitting needles, but still are very comfortable.

REGISTER FOR MY CLASS

Give yourself the gift of learning and come to the annual Cabin Fever Creative Arts Festival in Laurel, MD, this February. 

The list of instructors includes Lisa Pavelka, Maureen Carlson, Dayle Doroshow, Nancy Ennis, Natalia Garcia de Leinez and Daniel Torres, Lisa Haney, Lindly Haunani, Anke Humpert, Doreen Kassel, Robert Liu, Jana Lehmann, Ann and Karen Mitchell, Nan Roche, Lynne Ann Schwarzenberg, and me.

Each instructor offers full-day and 4-hour workshops. All workshops will be held in a comfortable Double Tree by Hilton Hotel. Please refer to the Creative Arts Fest's Blog for more information, class descriptions, registration forms, and hotel reservations: https://polymerclayfests.wordpress.com 

I am very excited to offer you two classes during this event. 

The whole-day class will be on Wednesday, February 17, 2016. It is called Organic Pendants From the Sea and is actually an expansion of my step-by-step tutorial Sea Creatures Polymer Clay Cabochons. In this class, I will demonstrate many additional textures inspired by corals, shells, sea urchins, starfish, and other aquatic creatures. We will explore various forms for polymer clay pendants, beads, and brooches that can be decorated with these textures. Then, we will color them with acrylic paints and alcohol inks - I want to show you how to combine these materials to obtain deep and dramatic colors such as those seen in my examples above. I will bring colorful ribbons and cords to this class and show you how to make striking multi-string necklaces with our organic pendants. By the ends of the class you will have an amazing finished necklace to wow your friends.

My 4-hour class, called Odds and Ends from your Craft Room will be on Tuesday, February 16, 2016. In this class, you will learn how to use buttons, ribbons, old zippers and other similar items in combination with polymer clay. It will be fun! 

YOUR ONLINE REGISTRATION CAN BE SUBMITTED BY CLICKING HERE.  

WORKSHOP DESCRIPTIONS ARE HERE. 

INSTRUCTORS' SCHEDULES CAN BE FOUND HERE.  

ONLINE HOTEL RESERVATIONS CAN BE MADE HERE.

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.