And the Oscar goes to…

My slightly wonky bowl from a slightly wonky and very snowy weekend at the combined Ohio guilds’ event (Buckeye Bash) weekend. I cheerily combined stripes and chevrons from scrap plus extruded flower slices. No sanding and not a bit of worrying went into this little pedestal bowl. I’m adding this to my growing collection of playful objects which make me happy.

Meanwhile I ignored the computer and didn’t troll through your latest work. I have no choice but to feature myself if I want to watch the Oscars on tv with my husband.

The red carpet wins. You’re oggling the gowns and the jewelry too, right? Back to work tomorrow.

Same, same but different

Ron Lehocky took my folded inchie suggestion and ran with it! This is his Ronnie Gane applied to thin 1-inch squares that have been folded into beads. The necklace has lively movement that looks like kerchiefs fluttering in the wind. Isn’t it fun to chase a design from Margit Bohmer to Ford and Forlano to Lehocky in one week? Same, same but very different.

Here’s Ron’s mokume gane method applied to rolled beads. The high contrast makes the beads pop. He’ll be teaching his technique this morning.

Tool freaks

What’s the first thing we do at a conference? Shop!

There are some terrific new gizmos and gadgets. I cover this side of events more thoroughly in StudioMojo on the weekends.

Next Wednesday tune in for a free ToolTime presentation over at Craftcast. I’ll show off my new set of extruder disks there plus you’ll find plenty of other tool temptations. Reserve your seat.

Tight formations

Jael Thorp’s small polymer compositions combine caning and mosaic and texturing in intense formations. Every space is beautifully covered.

There’s a tiny bit of collaboration cane from Ivy Niles (IKandiClay) in these busy scenes. My favorite is the stones and stream-themed shape.

Look for more of Jael on her blog, Flickr and Facebook.

I’m off to the Buckeye Bash that’s held at Wright Patterson Air Force Base (speaking of tight formations). What treasures will turn up? Check tomorrow!

Polymer tubes

Designs seem to show up in bunches, don’t they? Here’s Ford/Forlano’s most recent variation of an angular piece that shares a shape with Margit Bohmer’s stamped and painted folded squares that we looked at on Monday.

Dave models the big black necklace version of the theme that they’ll be selling at ACC Baltimore this weekend.

Dave and Steve make their design from round tubes cut at an angle that allows the beads to bump and bunch. The surface treatment on the red, white and blue polymer is tantalizing and almost looks metallic.

The edge of each bead reveals solid color below the thin surface veneer. The clasp is cut at the same angle and repeats the theme. You can read about their latest shows on Facebook.

Polymer menagerie

Cats, cows, goats, robots and other comic creatures are splatted flat against the wearer’s chest in Caroline Cornic Isola’s world (Klick Art) of polymer pendants.

She starts with square shapes and decorates them with minimum pattern and maximum personality. Their bead and buna legs dangle comfortably.

Caroline is an illustrator and comic artist at heart (see her animal sketches here). We’re so lucky that she added polymer to her bag of tricks. You can catch her on Etsy and Facebook.

Inchie beads

Germany’s Margit Bohmer decorates a small square of polymer then bends back two corners so that they touch to form a bead. The resulting beads fit together snuggly and join visually into a single shape.

Maybe we should try this with the inchies we trade and collect at events!

Snowbound/Beachbound

For those of you who are snowbound, I invite you to warm yourselves by following the polymer-bikini clad models on Italian runways and streets.

Chiara Duecentogrammi cooks up bright polymer pieces that have high fashion appeal. Here’s one show. You’ll want to check in with Chiara to see where she goes next.

Heart sampler

This sampling of hearts from your friends and online buddies was assembled for you PCD readers as a valentine.

You’ll also see Ron Lehocky’s collection of favorite hearts made in his project’s nearly 10-year history. His total has reached 29,600. Now that’s true love! You can purchase hearts and help the KidsCenter by emailing Ron or contacting him on Facebook.

In case you missed his how-to video, watch here as Ron and his hands tell the story.

A caption is incorrect! The third pair of earrings are Louise Smith’s (Swanwalk), not StaciLouise. Got my Smiths mixed.

Broken hearts

This Broken Heart from Christine Damm has it all – spikes and blood, distressing and piercing, a hole that’s crudely mended. It radiates both pain and excitement. The wires wiggle like new shoots.

The only clue Christine offers is the Kahlil Gibran quote that accompanies the photo on Pinterest, “How shall my heart be unsealed unless it be broken?”

Throughout the season I gather a stash of polymer hearts that I’ll share with you tomorrow. This one, however, deserved a category all its own and a day to think about broken hearts.

Celtic cutout bowl

Vermont’s Mags Bonham has some techno tricks up her sleeve that she’ll be teaching on Friday evening at the Cabin Fever confab in Maryland. The polymer layers for this 4″ green bowl were drawn on her computer and cut with her Silhouette machine.

Here she builds up contrasting layers to boost the thin clay’s strength. The bowl has a Celtic look perfect for St. Patricks Day.

Mags started running polymer through her cutter in order to make the hops charms that she creates for her beer gear. She sells beer-themed items on Etsy and on the artisan beer circuit.

Mags expanded her repertoire to flowers and has taught a Silhouette/polymer how-to lesson on Craftcast. Now she’s adding bowls. What next? Read more on her Facebook page, on Flickr and on Pinterest.

Polymer tropical breezes

Jeff Dever is premiering new pieces that blow in on tropic breezes. These gems are for the BIJOUX! 2015 in West Palm Beach, Florida. It’s the fourth annual exhibition and sale of The Norton Museum of Art. The earrings and bangle shown here are part of Jeff’s offerings.

Forty-four international contemporary jewelry artists were invited to the event which runs from February 25 to March 1.

See the rest of Jeff’s new work on his Facebook page and catch his We Are SNAG: Identity entries on the Society of North American Goldsmiths’ site.

‹ 1 … 159 160 161 … 403 ›