Cheers! Holiday polymer

Traditionally Staci Louise Smith makes small gifts for lots of friends and family at Christmas. This year, after three days playing in the studio, she had gifts and a new line of polymer wine stoppers.

These will definitely be added to next year’s show inventory she says. Of course, wine stoppers aren’t just for Christmas, in fact, these have a beach air about them.

Staci shares her method (and lots more pictures) on a blog post and on Facebook.

She joins the two elements by drilling a shallow hole in the top of the cork and the bottom of the bead. Then she inserts a 14g wire, joining bead and cork. She epoxys both ends of the wire.

The intense carving and soft shaping of these beads shows how much thought and effort she’s put into her small gifts. And sharing them with us is generous as well. Staci’s friend, Karen McGovern, sent the link along to make sure we wouldn’t miss it.

Polymer commas

These swooping Cernit brooches from Russia’s Olga Ledneva use beautiful blends and particularly graceful smooth shapes.

Think of them as punctuation, grace notes for the end of an otherwise hectic week. You’ll find more from Olga on Flickr and Facebook.

Anthropological polymer

The trendy Pennsylvania-based store, Anthropologie, asked Genevieve Williamson for a line sheet in July and samples in November. Her polymer pieces are rough hewn, carved, textured and faceted in soft heathered colors. The retailer loved the samples. Now she waits.

Can you imagine being nervous that they’d say no and petrified that they’d say yes? That’s 2000 pieces and exposure in over 185 stores!

How brave is Genevieve to share her samples and her anxiety in a blog post? Will we think she failed if they turn her down? Not me! That takes guts. You go, girl. You make us proud.

I’m happy to say that you can read more about Genevieve in my book, Polymer Clay Global Perspectives. You can catch more of her vibe on Pinterest.

If you’d like to say, “I knew her when”, you can shop in her Etsy store now.

Spun polymer

See what Kathrin Neumaier has been up to using liquid Fimo and chalks or inks. For this December batch she uses the polymer like spun sugar to achieve a blown glass translucency.

At least that’s what I’m guessing from her cryptic captions. One of these days we’ll find out what Kathrin’s learned but for now, admire her latest experiments.

The “like” numbers and social logos that have littered the PCD pages recently are the results of my own experiments.

Fingers crossed, I think I’ve about got it sorted out. Thank you for your patience with my mess. Experiments are like that.

Sculpted wood sprites

This haunting 5.5″ wall piece is sculpted polymer with bark and other inclusions. Wooden Spirit Amira was made by Tatjana Raum (Chopoli) in Germany. Her woodsprites bring with them bits of bark and leaves from the forest and smell slightly of moss.

Tatjana says she has always been fascinated by faces, painting and photographing them until she discovered sculpting. She creates art dolls and what she calls wooden spirits using either ceramic, paper or polymer clay.

See Tatjana’s whole cast of characters on Etsy and her site. ‘Tis the season for elves and sprites. Some have become ornaments.

Polymer contained

This all-polymer lidded round container is from Isabelle Bordelais (Lilaroz). By combining the hidden magic technique and Victoria James’ natural textures Isabelle developed this bark-like mokume gane pattern that resembles a map.

On her Flickr page you can see how she has moved from building small boxes to larger ones, perfecting kaleidoscope canes along the way.

Where will Isabelle head next? Even larger, perhaps? And where will your work take you this week?

Coming to blows with polymer

Vancouver’s Joan Tayler is offering an early holiday treat. Gift yourself her 9-page polymer whistle tutorial and you’ll be able to create your own presents – useful zipper pulls, clever pendants or noisy kids’ toys.

“In spite of the simplicity of this design it has taken me years of small changes to come up with an efficient way to make a polymer clay whistle,” Joan admits.

Joan taught me her method this summer. I had success on my first try and I’ve been bugging her to publish a tutorial ever since. My nagging paid off! The tutorial spells out the steps every which way – in photos, in words, and with drawings.

Joan turns her whistles into lovely birds and hides them under gently draped leaves. StudioMojo subscribers will hear me toot my whistles in tomorrow’s edition. I don’t often gush but making whistles is a special skill that Joan has made available for the rest of us.

Matryoshka polymer

The winter chill makes these bundled beads look especially right. These babushkas are from France’s Sophie Arzalier (Cristalline) who’s been refining them for several years.

The cane covered beads are built over Ultralight cores and measure 2″ x 1.5″. Some become beads, some rings or brooches that remind us of the traditional folk Russian matryoshka nesting dolls. They’re available through her store. They warm us up.

Gifts outside the box

Angie Wiggins wanted to think ouside the box as she considered making gift items this season.

Her business card holders are sure to be a hit and on Facebook she shared a photo of the wood block she drapes decorated clay sheets over to form her cheery desktop artworks. The bright bulbous feet give the card holders height and add to the party.

Starting out as a weaver, Angie has become well known for her paper bowls onto which she adds bright beads and small bits of polymer. She considers herself a mixed media artist, a chicken farmer and a garden grower.

You can see what inspires Angie on Pinterest and catch more of her work on Facebook. Angie has a strong and fearless sense of color that infuses all her designs with excitement.

How do you roll

Did you make paper beads from magazines and glue when you were a kid? Do you have a soft spot in your heart for these easy beads in polymer?

Margit Boehmer recently rolled these lovely chalked and textured versions. You can see her latest ones here and buy them on Etsy.

I dug out Dayle Doroshow’s versions from 2011 for you to examine too. Dayle used her scraps, flattening the rolls with stamps as a last step and then adding a contrasting color wash.

All that you need are tall triangles of flattened polymer. Wind each triangle up from wide to narrow around a rod.

Paper beads in polymer are easy and great for holiday projects, no matter how you roll.

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