Polymer Clay Daily

Managing the holidays

Cynthia Tinapple kvetches about holiday production on PolymerClayDaily.com

Is your workspace littered with earring parts? My collection of “possibilities” was getting impossibly large as it outgrew snack, sandwich, quart, and gallon baggies.

Cynthia Tinapple kvetches about holiday production on PolymerClayDaily.com

Finding the pairs among all the parts was soothing. But the steps after that became less and less interesting. Finding findings. Finding reading glasses and pliers. Assembling. Are we done yet?

Punching cards and mounting, labeling, pricing.  My back hurts. This is tedious.

My hat is off to all who repeatedly grind through these chores, particularly at this time of year. Keep it up! I’ll cheer you on from the sidelines. A blog, a newsletter, and a few bowls a year are all I can manage.

I’m just showing off while I can. I feel your pain.

Remind me again why we do this. Oh yeah, colors, patterns, shapes. That part never loses its appeal.

I laugh when I watch jewelry appear with a finger snap on TikTok. Mountains of packages disappear under a shower of digital glitter. In your dreams.

Hangups on your tree

Dani Rapinett hangs polymer transfers on the tree on PolymerClayDaily.com

Australia’s Dani Rapinett (daniartandjewellery) puts memories, pets, and other mementos on the tree. These days it’s easy to snag special effects to layer onto a photo.

Print out your creation and transfer it to polymer. (YouTube is full of videos to assist.) A cut-out, a ribbon, voila! Handmade, heartfelt…what could be better?

When Black Friday beckons, defy the system and redirect your muse to making memorable hangups for your family.

I was worried the StudioMojo would be difficult in this week of distractions but not so. Take a gander at what’s for sale in the online shows, see super trendy polymer high fashion photos. Thumb through lists of classes to propel you into the new year, and always a few new products that promise to solve all your problems. Join us!

When someone gives you potatoes…

Barbara Nalepa mirrors how we feel the day before Thanksgiving on PolymerClayDaily.com

Barbara Nalepa (Barmisal) pretty much captures how we feel here in the US on the day before Thanksgiving.

How to shove working, shopping, and cooking into one short day?

A few scraps of black and white canes express our potato-mashing, turkey-basting, table-setting exasperation.

Eventually, we’ll take a breath, sit down and remember how thankful we are for this wild and crazy life. Happy Thanksgiving!

I’m sinking!

Robyn (Kaori) will suck you into her clever cane vortex. Be careful on PolymerClayDaily.com

This cane from Australia’s Robyn (shop.Kaori) sucked me in like quicksand in a B grade adventure movie. It’s pulled me in repeatedly.

What’s going on here? The neon colors, the black background, the over/under! How does it work? I’m lost in the jungle. Robyn’s been working with polymer for nearly 30 years so she knows her way around.

I give up. Looks like I’m going to have to grab Patreon to save myself.

A festive pile of circles

Dani of the Whimsical Bead makes simple circles sing on PolymerClayDaily.com

This darling tree made from a stack of polymer clay circles is a reminder to me courtesy of the Whimsical Bead in Australia.

Every year I tell myself to make some ornaments and every year time gets away from me. Something about these is so simple and light-hearted and yes, easy. And dots are very in.

I count 27 circles in 4 colors. Yikes…but only half of them require painted dots or stripes. And some circles are the same size.

Ok, I’m getting my Tuesday night girls together in the studio for a session. String circles onto a wire, slap a star on the top and we’re done. My friends swear they’re not artists but for an evening, I’ll persuade them otherwise.

Check out the other color palette Dani offers in her kits.

Brass circles having a moment

Anna of Bi.Clay looks ready for the holidays in this brass flowered wreath earring on PolymerClayDaily.com

Anna of Hong Kong’s Bi.Clay illustrates for us how brass circles embellished with polymer clay are having a moment.

The wreath shape makes a beautiful ornamental earring.

You’ll see half-circles, succulents, flowers, vines, and much more added in polymer. The trick is to make the design cling sturdily to the thin brass. Very trendy.

Speaking of trendy, you’ll want to check out the cherries picked for this Saturday’s StudioMojo. We’ve sussed out the best classes, newest designs, coolest findings – all coming to your inbox every Saturday. 

Ornamental puffins

Linda Leach adds puffins to her Christmas tree on PolymerClayDaily.com

It’s not surprising that Maine’s Linda Leach has sold out her puffin ornaments at CraftBoston. Who could resist the mix of canes and wire with a dash of color on their bills? Dangle them from the tree or stand them on the mantle.

Her flamingos have flown the coop too. She may still have a few loons left but you’ll have to move fast to catch them.

Why limit your holiday art to the usual candy canes and red/green palette? Linda shows us that all sorts of fanciful designs bring joy to the holidays.

FRIDAY FOLLOW: Mary Anne Loveless’ turkey recipe

Mary Anne Loveless and her gobble til you wobble turkeys on PolymerClayDaily.com

Utah’s Mary Anne Loveless shows us how she makes Thanksgiving guests overlook even the most generic and predictable Thanksgiving cuisine.

Have you got some orange/brown cane ends? Some muddy scraps (who doesn’t)? You’ve got all the ingredients for your own Gobble til you Wobble recipe.

Don’t worry, yours won’t look like Mary Anne’s. The object isn’t copying. We’re only trying to bring some smiles to the table. Thanks to Mary Anne for showing us how. Follow her, she’s full of good ideas.

Speaking of news you can use, trot on over to StudioMojo. It’s the Saturday newsletter for art-makers at any level who want to ignite their creativity and bring more of what they love to their art.

Winter cardinals on your shoulder

Illinois’ Linda Webb (Creekside Mosaic) captures both the male and female cardinals in her latest mosaic brooches.

Linda Webb puts cardinals on your shoulder on PolymerClayDaily.com

Both of these are plentiful on midwest feeders at this time of year. The bright red flashes are like natural holiday decorations.

They’re also fluttering on her Etsy page along with several smaller mosaic molds in case you’d like to try your hand at Linda’s brand of mosaics.

Slabs just for fun

Ashley of heyletsclay delights in holiday decorating on PolymerClayDaily.com

Often slab earrings seem too repetitive and predictable. Where’s the fun, the heart, the Christmas spirit?
Oregon’s Ashley (heyletsclay) brings the delight back to holiday decorating. She drapes and tangles Christmas lights on a white background using extruded strings as cords and dots as lights. She cuts the meandering results into a bunch of shapes. Using an assortment of cutters, her carefree dance turns into pins, earrings, charms, and ornaments.

There’s the spirit! Bet the kids would like this!