I wandered into Kate McKinnon’s site, intrigued by the ring mounts she offers. Kate works primarily in metal and glass but I detected a polymer sensibility. I kept sleuthing and stumbled onto her journal where I came across two Cynthia Toops’ pieces…aha! My sense was right. The top one she called "Moss" and the bottom one, "Conversation".
I’m only disappointed that I don’t know the exact size of these pieces. I’ve seen Toops’ work in several galleries and the incredible detail of her micro-mosaics doesn’t come across as well in photos. Still they’re fun to look at and Kate’s site is fun to browse.
It would be great if there were more polymer clay artists’ web sites on the net. I can list a number of fine artists who are techno-adverse and shy away from the complexity and expense of maintaining a web presence.
Artspan.com seems to offer a simple, well-designed, inexpensive package. One of the local guild members recently signed up and I stumbled on it through her.
In real life I’m a webmaster so I hesitate to take work away from your local web designer. But if you want a painless and inexpensive way to get in the game, this might be just the ticket.
I’m always browsing for designs and ideas. Check out the jewelry in the Ona catalog. It looks an awfully lot like rhinestones in polymer. Nice merging of crystals and mosaics. The description reads "…hand-molded from a patented clay and incrusted with swarovski crystals."
The Ona catalog has inspiring designs in other categories as well. It’s fun to mouse through.
Lorie Follett gets her fabulous rhinestones from rhinestoneguy.com. She says the selection is great and the prices are good. She recommends ordering the sample card to get ideas for sizes and colors.
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| Marie’s faux drusy |
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| Natural drusy |
Marie Segal started it at Shrinemont this year. She credits/blames Judith Skinner for starting the faux drusy craze.
Druse refers to a rock surface covered with tiny crystals such as are found inside geodes. Drusy has become popular in the gem world of late.
Drusy materials slowly appeared in the work of noted gem carvers and jewelry designers and, as a result, gained space in gem and jewelry publications.
Marie’s necklace pictured here is made by extruding cord and then making lanyards…like in girl scouts. The end pieces were made separately and baked and then glittered. The lanyard is then attached to the end pieces. The clasp in the center of the flowers is made from 20 gauge wire. Marie recommends glitter from Art Glitter.
I try to add sparingly to my toolbox but sometimes I just can’t resist. If you’re trying to cut down on your purchases, don’t take a look at the supplies at Ten Seconds Studio. There are some sweet texturing tools. My favorite is the roller pictured above. It’s great for small spaces. You may find the texture wheels useful too. There’s a list of suppliers on their web site.
Debbie Jackson (debbijack@columbus.rr.com) carries the tools as well as the blue texturing tool pictured below. This gem, designed for traditional ceramics, is perfect for roughing up hard-to-reach surfaces. I used it on my new picture beads bracelet to achieve leather-like feel. Contact Debbie for more info.
These inks were all the rage at the last conference I went to. I should have paid more attention but I try very hard not to get thrown off course by the lastest sparkle and flash. The word is that Hobby Lobby carries these Ranger Inks.
I can’t tell you much about these Adirondack Alcohol Inks other than that they gave the clay a watercolor/metallic effect that was quite pleasant. You should have seen the user’s hands though…completely and permanently dyed. Rubber gloves are highly recommended.
Here’s a bead made by Donna Kato using the inks.
Wander through Karen Murphy’s wonderful collection of polymer beads and jewelry.
You have to contact her to purchase some of these lovely things …real collectors items. The photos are quite dark but it’s a treat to peruse the history of polymer clay reflected in her selections. There are some early works of wonderful artists.
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