Hanukkah is celebrated around the world this week with the lighting of a menorah with its nine candles. Yonat Descalu has created several striking designs for menorahs from polymer. Riki Arberman sent this link to her menorah making video on YouTube…a little seasonal treat.
If you’re short on gifts for yourself and you’re in the vicinity of Racine, Wisconsin, consider the one-day class with Debra DeWolff scheduled for February 18. (It’s in the RAM brochure but couldn’t find classes listed on the website yet. You can call to beat the rush.)
Her Charmed with Polymer class looks terribly tempting. Even if you can’t make it to Racine, you can browse through her shop to experience mouthwatering colors and a hint of spring beneath the winter snow.
Keep those comments coming on the StudioMojo site. Five commenters will win a year’s free subscription to the premium weekend newsletter.
This polymer steampunk angel represents a departure for Rome’s Marina Lombardi who excels at romantic, lyrical jewelry. She’s a whiz at mixing polymer with filigree.
In this stylized angel she’s mixed watch parts and metal gears, metallic powders and stamped impressions on outstretched wings. Marina’s creative engines roared through this holiday season and this mechanized angel marks the end of her work until February.
My recent trip to teach in Nepal has reminded me how important it is to be gracious and generous. In honor of the my generous hosts, I’m offering a complimentary one-year subscription to StudioMojo to 5 lucky people.
Post a comment on one of the freebies I’ve posted at StudioMojo.org and you’ll be automatically entered in the drawing (so be sure you’ve typed your email address correctly). Check your email on December 24 to see if you won the drawing.
Serbia’s Nena Sabo’s takes a lighthearted, off-kilter approach to her patchwork polymer Christmas trees.
If you need to smile about the holidays, thumb through her Facebook photos here and here or her Flickr site to get the full treatment. From faux knitted caps to crisp mosaics to laughing trees, Nena never met an ornament that didn’t delight her.
This enthusiastic artist organized a successful first-ever polymer workshop in Serbia last May!
You’ll want to look closely at Bettina Welker’s newest faux raku bangles and brooches. The densely crazed surface of her faux technique was achieved after much experimentation.
Her process is a further exploration and refinement of the ideas she developed for a class last summer. This will be a fun one to watch.
Let’s hope your weekend isn’t totally crazed! Bad pun but it fits.
Scotland’s Melanie Muir has gotten a jump on the new year with a refreshed web site, new work and a plunge into the world of teaching polymer. This bracelet is entitled Mountain High, Valley Low.
To end the year with a bang, Melanie’s Rocks Cuff (shown on the right) won “Polymerista of the Month” in Voila’s advanced category for December. The craftmanship for entries into this competition keep climbing higher and higher. Follow Melanie on Facebook as well.
Got plans to wrap up your year and head into the new? I’d love to hear about them.
Lindly Haunani has watched her Niche Award-winning pinched petal design evolve and change as the idea spread around the globe. The latest incarnation is this brooch version from Jeanette Kandray. Here Lindly’s pinched petals meet Eva Ehmeier’s artichokes.
Lindly chronicles some of the earlier versions on her blog. The process for making her original necklace is outlined as a color study in the Color Inspirations book.
This polymer pendant from Ukraine’s Svetlana (Rereshechka) makes a festive wearable garland of faux pine and cones, taking an organic approach to holiday jewelry.
Since I’ve missed many of this year’s shopping days, I’m less overwhelmed by the season and have a less jaded approach to decorations and festivities. It’s a nice turn of events.
If seasonal polymer doesn’t inspire you, Els VanHaasen’s experiments with pastel crayons may push you back to the studio to mess around with this painterly effect. See what she’s doing here.
Christine Damm helps the Create Mixed Media blog countdown to the holidays with this week’s dates in polymer that she’s stamped, molded, textured and painted. Great info on that blog!
A postage stamp triggers the theme of Tory Hughes’ Greetings Brooch. She constructs a tiny village around the stamp complete with skating pond and a VW bug stuck in a snow bank. She’s running a 20.12 discount special on her works through the end of the year. Check out her new SeaCliff series of brooches while you’re there.
In case you need a little more holiday-themed polymer to get your Monday buzz going, check out this easy “How to turn a heel“ tutorial from Joan Tayler.
Washington’s Sue Ellen records the essence of her nightly dreams in polymer and lets those sleeping faces speak their truth. Her Dreaming Muse Series involves creating one sleeping face a day that reflect the images, feelings and words of her dreams.
“How will the dreaming hours effect the waking ones? How will the observation of the nightly, subconscious stories, help to create the conscious ones I live in every day?” she asks herself.
My vivid jet-lagged dreams reminded me of this project that Ronna Weltman mentioned a while back. Sue Ellen’s been an actor, speech writer, career coach, corporate sales executive and more. Her introspective art fits comfortably with her interests.
My dream images deal with the clash of cultures as I try to integrate what I’ve learned in my travels into my life.
Sue Ellen’s been running her experiment since October. Her faces, tinted with alcohol inks and tucked among the rocks and plants in her garden, are intriguing. Take a look and have a restful weekend. I’m nearly back in the swing.
