Ornamental/elemental polymer

Yes, this cut and folded ornament was made in polymer by London’s Carol Blackburn. Based on a clever paper or felt geometric pattern, Carol proves that the same design can be done in polymer. Her gold and silver metallic blends pump up the drama.

See how she assembles even more pieces into larger wall art in this picture on Facebook.

Ornamental/elemental classes

If Carol’s precision is too much of a challenge, ease into new ideas with one of this week’s Craftcast classes. How would one of Doreen Gay-Kassel’s jiggly jointed characters look dangling from your tree? Join Doreen’s class tonight (Nov 30) at 8:00 ET.

You say you’d rather use your brain for jewelry? Jump into Lorrene Baum-Davis’ class on Saturday, Dec 3 at 12 noon ET. Using Skinner blends, brain canes and other tricks, you’ll learn tricks to create consistent sizes and add rich new looks to your work.

Dizzying patterns in polymer

Sometimes we polymer artists just want to sit and admire the work that goes into a series of canes like this lovely black and white grouping from Meg Newberg. And she doesn’t extrude!

Meg has a brain made for caning. She knows how to break the process down into bite-sized pieces that she shares in monthly tutorials. Take a look on Etsy, Facebook and her site.

Breathe in and let your eyes dance around the patterns. Feel better?

Polymer stash jar

Who doesn’t need a Stash Jar like this one by California’s Brandee Blank?

She’s covered a lidded glass jar with imitative succulents in polymer. The wide lip of the pot camouflages the top of the jar and makes it a perfect hiding place for whatever small treasures you’d like to hide.

Brandee started making them for her friends who admired her live succulents but couldn’t seem to make the real ones survive. What a terrific holiday gift for garden-challenged friends.

See more of Brandee’s hiding spaces on her blog, Etsy, and Flickr.

Polymer under the surface

These wintery leaves from Germany’s Vera Kleist-Thom rely on extruded polymer strings for their color. The oblique cuts at the edges reveal Vera’s palette of dark reds and blues highlighted with a dash of bright yellow. Like the leaves at our feet, seemly simple leaf earrings are more fascinating upon examination.

Look at her Flickr pages and you’ll see that cut, gouged and sanded extrusions figure prominently in all Vera’s experiments. She likes to reveal what’s under the surface. Look on Etsy and Facebook too.

Cut it out

Yes, you could cut this shape out by hand, slowly, carefully, patiently in polymer. But once you see what a die-cutting machine will do, you may reconsider. Join me on Saturday at Craftcast to see what’s happening in the world of die-cutting.

Give thanks for

Enjoy Leslie Blackford’s Thanksgiving dinner and your own feast if you’re celebrating in the US today.

In many families, going around the dinner table with each person saying what they’re thankful for is part of the day’s traditions.

I am very grateful to you for joining me to make the world brighter and more colorful. Thank you for being part of PolymerClayDaily.

May love, joy and happiness be yours in abundance this holiday season.

Cranberries in polymer

Are you thinking cranberries? Even if you don’t like the taste you gotta love the color. The UK’s Clare Lloyd captures mouthwatering berry colors beautifully.

From deep pinks through reds, burgundies, and dark currants, each of Clare’s colors is luscious.

A look at her palettes on Folksy, Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook may prompt you to mix your own batch of winter reds.

Curio Curious?

Can you imagine cutting these polymer pieces by hand? Today’s die cutting machines make delicate cutting much easier. Join me for a Craftcast online class this Saturday to see how.

Polymer in delicate balance

The delicate balance of this 16″ polymer mobile entitled Nara from Santa Fe’s Tory Hughes makes its mid-air dance look easy.

But the suspension of the varying colorful shapes and the distribution of their weight is tricky and precise. It’s part of Tory’s newest series and she finds the challenge exciting. “We all love to look up, enchanted by the light and air above us,” she says.

The mobile comes in several colors and you can see more examples and designs on Facebook and her website.

Cutting up

If you’re interested in what may be a next big thing in polymer clay art, join me on Craftcast this Saturday and we’ll explore the possibilities of cutting raw clay precisely with a Silhouette cutting machine.

The online class begins at noon on Saturday and will be available for download.

Thanksgiving tokens

Who better to get us in a thankful mood for Thursday’s Thanksgiving than Florida’s Heather Millican (Swoondimples)? These charms and tokens remind their owners to pay attention and breathe deeply.

Need more inspiration? Try Heather’s work on Instagram, Facebook, and Etsy.

What do you have to be grateful for?

Off-kilter polymer

The way these beads join looks impossible and all wrong. But that same unexpected construction makes the necklace from Greece’s Arieta Stavridou look so very right.

Her polymer patterns are a jumble of color and shapes as well with the lines clearly scribed and then accented with paint.

She has lots more examples of her upbeat, off-kilter combinations on her Big Fish Facebook page and on Pinterest.

It’s just the thing as we cruise into an upbeat, off-kilter weekend.

Join us for more behind-the-scenes frolicking through the polymer world on StudioMojo this Saturday morning.

Tolerant polymer

The spectacular physical beauty of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque inspired Heba Bazari to create polymer art that celebrates islamic design elements. Fantastical flower designs are inlaid in the floor and the columns of the mosque.

The flower sculptures symbolize love, tolerance and mutual understanding and are a fitting feature for International Tolerance Day which is celebrated every November 16.

An American-Syrian artist Heba is a metalsmith and polymer clay artist with a Ph.D. in molecular biology. After living for thirty years in Virginia, she is currently an assistant professor of science working and living in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Heba spoke at this year’s EuroSynergy in France and received the 2016 Crafthaus/Arrowmont scholarship. Read more on Facebook and Instagram.

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