Polymer Clay Daily

Tips and Tricks

Polymer persistence

Hoiles on PCDaily

France’s Irene Hoiles keeps a low profile online. The snippets and clues she leaves on Facebook and Pinterest point to someone who knows how to persist until she finds a solution.

About the earrings at the left Irene says, “When you’re not Julie Picarello and your mokume gane doesn’t go quite as you planned…dot it.”

Hoiles on PCDaily

Consider how those dots salvage the pattern and take it in a new direction. Sort of aboriginal.

Fine extruded strings wind around to make dramatic caps for Irene’s mokume gane beads at right. They needed another element for drama.

What a good way to start the week. Let’s channel Irene’s no-fail approach to her polymer designs. What’s on your work surface that needs a little TLC to make it sing?

Graffiti trends

Nemravova on PCDaily

Graffiti is all the rage and Petra Nemravova gives us some terrific tips on how she makes these trendy scribbled earrings in a free tutorial. The translation’s a bit wonky but it’s easy enough to figure out from the photos.

Her background rubber stamp (from IOS stamps she says) is very cool and it wouldn’t be too hard to carve one of your own. Need more? Here’s another of her freebies. Check Petra’s Facebook page and website.

And if you’re on Facebook, take a look at what Petra and the Ubersee gang were up to at their June retreat.

Breezy polymer batiks

Vogel on PCDaily

Lorraine Vogel (WiredOrchid) brings us more breezy summer batiks. You can feel her home’s Florida influence in the leaves and flowers in her designs.

Lorraine’s been perfecting her own methods using inks and stamps in ways that go beyond shabby chic beads which rely on paints. She’s tried other rustic glazes and effects. She’s dabbled with carving polymer and coloring with washes.

Vogel on PCDaily

After all that Lorraine has come up with a dyed fabric look that combines the techniques in a new way. She hints that she’ll develop a tutorial that will divulge how she uses inks to mimic the wax batik process so convincingly on polymer.

In the meanwhile, you can admire how she’s refined and evolved her methods on Flickr, Facebook and on her Etsy site.

Shibori summer

Jackson on PCDaily

Debbie Jackson rolled out her new polymer Shibori Workshop in our hometown Columbus, Ohio this month. We in the midwest are used to being a test market and two different weekend groups put Debbie through her paces.

Jackson on PCDaily

Always a textile artist, she’s been experimenting and developing her ink-to-polymer ideas for years. You can see from the class pictures on Facebook that her students “got it” and a new way of working is about to begin.

Don’t these polymer samples from the class look like flowing summer caftans and seaside afternoons? Keep your eye on this technique. Debbie is easiest to follow on Facebook..

Remarkable bits

Geisen on PCDaily

It’s not easy to salvage that sweet bit of polymer veneer and turn it into something wearable and delightfully designed. That’s why these earrings from Minnesota’s Jan Geisen caught my eye.

She has a way of putting geometric shapes together in a way that makes them both simple and remarkable. She leans toward muted imitative stone patterns or watercolor-like washes of color. These earrings measure 1/4″ x 1 3/4″. The black rectangle attaches to the earwire and surrounds the patterned slab.

On Jan’s Flickr pages you’ll see more examples of her mix-and-match stacking style. She’s compiled a great stash of inspirations on Pinterest.

Polymer coloring book

Mika on PCDaily

“If as a child you loved coloring in a coloring book like I did, then this is the class for you.” says Laurie Mika about her Coloring on Clay workshop this September.

Mika on PCDaily

These class sample tiles show how acrylic paint on clay expands the range and intensity of Laurie’s colors.

She starts with light polymer clay which is stamped and/or textured then painted. Gold leaf and sparkly bits add finishing touches.

See all the mosaic wonders that Laurie composes with her richly decorated tiles on her site, on Pinterest and on Facebook

Clay on clay

Loveless on PCDaily

MaryAnne Loveless shares her own brand of mixed media. She throws ceramic pots, leaving spaces for polymer. Clay on clay.

A polymer stopper top or a band of color are added after the piece has been kiln fired. Of course the ceramic piece can tolerate another baking.

Loveless on PCDaily

She added a wire and polymer handle to the ceramic teapot below. See how she mixes media on tins, wood bases, ceramics by checking her out on Flickr and Pinterest. What can you pair with polymer?

Nuts! I published early. My site’s clock seems to have a bug in it. I’ll try to fix it and bring you your regularly scheduled programming as soon as I can figure it out.

Polymer crystals

Wallis on PCDaily

The UK’s Claire Wallis used translucent and metallic clays plus paint as she experimented with her imitative rock crystal ring. She plans to tweak and explore what she’s discovered and we’ll plan to watch!

This new work is a departure from the large and intricate complex canes that she demos on Facebook. She shows more on her site and on Flickr.