Polymer faux wire

Helen Breil’s free String Bead tutorial may keep you busy this weekend. This necklace is dusted with mica powders, sealed with spray and filled with pearls.

Helen extrudes the strings and forms them into faux wire that can be shaped (and reshaped) into slinky cages into which you can tuck other beads.

In most places it’s still warm enough to extrude with ease over the end-of-summer holiday. On her website she offers a slideshow that guides you through the process that you can tailor to create your own designs.

Thanks to Helen for providing our entertainment. And check out her texture stamps too.

Folded polymer

Winnie Poh comes to us from Moscow (I think). These clever folded beads are cutout and stamped stars whose points are folded up on themselves.

Her site is chock full of ideas that are well executed with a very Russian feel. Hair ornaments and smoothly finished hollow pendants are mixed with video game and cartoon figures.

Let’s hope there’s a Russian translator among you who can fill in the blanks about this young artist.

Faux sea urchins

Lynda Moseley’s Faux Sea Urchin Spines were inspired by a necklace in Heather Powers‘ new book, Jewelry Designs from Nature during a weekend of experimentation as Lynda cleaned out her inspiration box.

She found a sticky note on page 82 in her copy of the book. “Find some of these,” it said. “I had never seen the spines in olive, and Heather’s are also a lot bigger than the ones I have,” Lynda explains. She made a new batch in polymer.

Lynda’s experimenting is often fruitful as you can see from her Etsy shop. On her blog she explains other designs she’s dug out of her inspiration box.

Get your spook on

Jodi Creager says that she’s already got her spook on for the fall season. Have you?

She and Richard created a 16″x10″ shadow box filled with ghosts that will make you shiver. The Mandragora Manor hanging box is miniature scale with six polymer ghosts and witches peering out the windows. Here are more views and the haunting story from Ebay.

Sue Ossenberg sent the link along. Note: The Ebay photos seem to be gone and the links aren’t working. Let’s wait and see if they reappear. Perhaps the ghosts were unhappy.

A sunny start

Sometimes mokume gane in the right colors can just turn out perfectly. (Odile simply sands the baked clay to reveal patterns.)

Enjoy the sunny results from L’atelier de Dilcrea (Odile Marchais) to perk up the start to your week. Short and sweet.

Stamped polymer

Tamara Shea’s (BlockPartyPress) beautiful moth pendant was created with a hand carved stamp from her original drawing. In her signature style, Tamara stamped the 2 7/8″ x 2 1/2″ moth onto brown polymer clay, hand painted it with metallic gold, green and silver acrylic paint, then distressed and sealed it.

Simple stamping techniques combined with dynamite drawing skills can make for some stunning effects. Her Etsy shop’s having a back-to-school sale!

Have a great weekend.

Polymer twins

Cortney Rector and Kirsten Arundt are twin sisters who have always enjoyed creating art together. Their folk art polymer cake toppers, sculptures and ornaments are sold through their IndigoTwin Etsy shop and their trendy work has appeared in magazines like Prims, Parenting and Brides. The twins have always enjoyed creating art together and continue to give each other inspiration.

This mermaid, Ondine, appeared in the summer issue of Prims. The sisters love the ocean and as children daydreamed about being mermaids. Read their stories and check out their Facebook page. It’ll make you wish you had a twin.

Painted polymer

Danielle Pedersen makes itty-bitty hand-painted animal jewelry and decor out of polymer clay in a little studio in San Diego, California. Her pocket totem creatures are sold through her HandyMaiden Etsy shop.

“My process generally begins by looking at a lot of photographs of the animal I wish to make. I ponder the expression of a smug seal or the daily schedule of a lemur; I learn their general structure, their coloring, and maybe guess at a few of their hobbies,” Danielle says in a recent feature on Etsy blog.

“I think my style is what sets me apart; my pieces are recognizable. Most successful Etsy sellers can say the same thing,” she added, “I like the notion that my work is being picked up, worn, and examined closely.” Danielle’s medals like the Badger of Honor shown here are particularly quirky and fun. Thanks to Genevieve Williamson for the link.

Summer polymer report

Genevieve Williamson’s latest blog posts read like a charming and fun-filled “What I did with my summer” report for the start of school. She includes sea glass, shells and rock souvenirs from the beach. Check out her Buoy Necklace inspired by a family vacation.

Genevieve’s muse is calling for more carving, more distressing and she’s itching to get back into the studio. The surfaces on these Fragment Drop earrings on Etsy have gotten smaller and more interesting. It’ll be a busy fall for JibbyandJuna that you can follow here.

Back to school polymer

Denise Graham’s polymer painting put a smile on my face and seemed appropriate as we approach fall and head back to school. Her fish swim onto the canvas and layer themselves over the polymer water.

In her recent Pittsburgh-based paintings she stacks bridges and buildings around the rivers that flow through the city. It’s no surprise that she started out as a watercolorist.

Denise is an expert on water and waves in polymer and you can catch some of her tricks from her CraftArtEdu classes.

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