Niche Award winner Melanie West enjoys the challenge of a new design and she’s engineered some clever solutions with her new polymer Ball and Star necklace shown here. A magnet secures the ball next to the star and acts as a clasp on this piece which is strung on buna cord (and check out what looks like buna rings over the cording).
She tried a similar solution using memory wire and found it too bouncy in her test drives. Melanie shares more of her design process along with some of her successes and failures in this post.
An afternoon of pulling weeds among the forget-me-nots and lilacs made my eyes drift to these earrings by Zuleykha McMillan on Etsy. Bountiful and bright cane slices are formed into bell shapes.
Zu talked about working with a new baby on her lap and I was drawn into her tale. Her mother came for a visit and showed Zu how to keep her polymer art going with a baby in the house.
Since the birth of her first child, she’s gravitated away from polymer jewelry to polymer faces. The story continues…in both Russian and English. (On Flickr if you just want pictures.)
by Cynthia Tinapple on March 26, 2012 · 9 comments
Pennsylvania outdoor girl Lynn Lunger (UnaOdd) offers the processes she’s developed for making the deep molds that form her signature Rustic Nature Polymer Pendants.
Her free tutorial shows you the tools you’ll need to make what she calls her ugly molds. It details every step with photographs.
Spring blossoms and budding plants take on new life. See where she finds inspiration and examine more of her finished work on her Flickr page.
You may prefer to bypass mold-making and shop for one of the pendants on her Etsy site. Either way we owe Lynn a big thank you for her generosity in sharing her tips and tricks with us. Nice to start the week with a cool freebie.
by Cynthia Tinapple on March 16, 2012 · 9 comments
The newest polymer sculpture from Germany’s Angelika Arendt reminds me of the colorful hillsides here in southern California where I’m visiting. Angelika’s steep landscape draws you in and doesn’t disappoint.
On the sunny slopes the orderly rows of cane slices have budded. Other patches are awaiting their turn to bloom into bigger color and texture. I’m tempted to run my finger down the side of this dazzling polymer mountain.
Look closely here. Have a colorful, blooming weekend.
