Polymer Clay Daily

Mix and match tree decorations

Erika Bregani decorates her trees on PolymerClayDaily.com

These bright, cheery trees are from Italy’s Erika Bregani (Centodiecigrad).

Their sharp-edged shapes are covered with happily collaged patterns. Because Erika consistently uses bright colors and strong contrasts in her canes, even the smallest bits play nicely with each other and make sense.

She mixes and matches her earring pairs, putting a tree on one and an ornament on the other.

Tomorrow’s StudioMojo takes a look at some of polymer’s current cutting edge artists who are reflecting current cultural thoughts in their work. Join us for a look at what our work says about us.

Thanks to you…

Amy Giacomelli shows you how to give thanks on PolymerClayDaily.com

Colorado’s Amy Giacomelli (SkyeArt) uses only polymer, paint and grapevine twigs to give us the message of the day. Her mini pumpkins measure 1 1/4″ x 1 3/4″.

Amy specializes in well-chosen words stamped into pears, pumpkins, peas, and other polymer shapes. They’re personal and popular gifts.

Thanks to you, a second industrial-strength pasta machine is within reach for polymer students at the Ohio Reformatory for Women. That you consider them worthy of support makes a great difference in how these women see themselves. That’s the real treasure.

Kindway polymer wares are sold by volunteers in bazaars and craft shows all over Ohio. The sales pay it forward to women returning to their communities. You can help in this win/win cycle:


I pronounce you “done”

“I pronounce you done,” said Virginia’s Melissa Terlizzi of her realistic polymer wedding cake topper.

Sculpting humans took her totally out of her comfort zone which usually keeps her in the animal kingdom.

Melissa offers tips on what she learned. It took her 9 heads and 6 pairs of glasses before she was pleased. See the in-process shots here.

Melissa gives credit to Maureen Carlson’s book (Family and Friends in Polymer Clay) for steering her in the right direction.

Thank you for your terrific response to the “Keep it rollin'” campaign for a new pasta machine for the inmates. Click the “donate now” button to the right of this post to add your Christmas cheer.  Or you can buy Helen Breil’s new tutorial and get yourself a gift and help the women at the same time!

Let’s get this rolling

Michigan’s Georgeann Galante helped launch polymer lessons at the Ohio Reformatory for Women with her donation of 14 Atlas pasta machines several years ago. Those machines did not fare well when they were screwed down tightly to the tables. They eventually worked themselves apart.

We added a Lucy machine when we won the bid on it at the IPCA Synergy 4 auction. That machine is designed to be bolted down and continues to work well.

But one lone machine shared among the whole group slows production. So we’re raising money to buy another prison-approved roller to be used by the students in the Kindway polymer program.

Buy Helen Breil's newest tutorial and support the ORW prison program on PolymerClayDaily.com

You can help by buying Helen Breil’s newest In the Loop tutorial (a portion goes to the ORW program) or by donating to the program directly.

PCD will tell you more about the prison program as we sail through the holidays. Click in the right column to keep us rolling along.

Holiday harmony in clay

Amy Sun Ah brings harmony to the patterns in her holiday collections on polymerclaydaily.com

Baltimore’s Amy Sun Ah (SunAhBlair) Is in the throes of the holiday bazaar season. While the repeated shapes in these earrings and pendant are straightforward, it’s the mix of patterns that makes them harmonize..

Amy deftly brings Victorian and Japanese textile designs to polymer via silkscreen and paints. Some, like the pendant here, are backed with slightly larger textured clay shapes and joined by a central crystal.

Visit her on Instagram and her site to experience the variety in her collections.

Polymer patchwork creatures

Lisa Gauthier makes a warm and comfy elephant ornament on PolymerClayDaily.com

Connecticut’s Lisa Gauthier will hang this patchwork elephant on the tree in a competition that will benefit the Ronald McDonald House in New Haven.

I’m guessing that the patches are veneers made from scrap canes which Lisa makes look real and comfy.

The SCPCG has pulled out all the stops for this competition and we’ve featured several entries. Their Creatures Great and Small are winners in our book. Congrats to the guild for their outstanding efforts.

Join us over at StudioMojo this Saturday and be inspired by the latest shows and competitions. It’s beginning to look a lot like the holidays!

Artful home is full of polymer

Klara Borbas joins over 20 polymer artists on ArtfulHome. PolymerClayDaily.com

It’s not too early to shop, is it? For polymer art, you can’t do better online than Artful Home.

I searched the site for “polymer clay” and page after page of gorgeous jewelry popped up. I counted 22 polymer artists in this high-end catalog!

These simple circle studs from Pennsylvania’s Klara Borbas appealed to me. But oh, there’s much more!

CEO Lisa Bayne is to be congratulated for including such a rich selection of polymer art into her great online catalog. Judy Belcher and I met Lisa some years ago at an ACC meeting. Judy has a way of connecting with people and she certainly connected with Lisa and introduced her to polymer.

If you’re struggling with holiday shows, take a look and take heart! Stick with it and you’ll go places.

It’s beginning to look a lot like ornaments

Carole Monahan's birds make easy designs for your tree on PolymerClayDaily.com

This is our second look at the ornaments that the members of the Connecticut guild (SCPCG) created for a decorated tree competition that benefits the Ronald McDonald House in New Haven.

These cardinals from Carole Monahan are lightweight and stylized. The design requires a few simple flat cutouts of textured clay with extra bits for wings, eye, and beak.

Bake the wire hanger right into the clay.  Easy, peasy and there’s still time to make them!

Connecting the dots

Dani Rapinett combines lines and dots for an adventure on PolymerClayDaily.com

Australia’s Dani Rapinett offers this Floating Dots class in her Whimsical Bead store.

Ok, so there’s not much chance that most of us will make it to class but that doesn’t keep us from admiring the happy multicolor mix and wondering how she made it.

Was Dani thinking of the maps on her car’s dashboard when she created these? They make us think we’re going on an adventure!

If you’re looking for polymer adventures, join us over at StudioMojo on Saturday morning. We cover what’s happening in polymer art and connect the dots.