Wireworked polymer

Ponsawan Silaparuti knows how to turn storm clouds into lovely jewels. Wire forms have captured her attention and she’s discovered some tricks to sketching outlines by bending and twisting lightweight wire and then giving the image dimension by filling in with polymer.

The polymer is often carved, faceted and further embellished. She’ll be teaching this pendant in a Rain Cloud class that combines her latest methods at the June L’Atelier conference in Indiana.

Ponsawan’s productivity and drive are impressive and you can see the results on Facebook and Flickr. (Her Flickr site is also loaded with mouthwatering pictures of Thai food.)

Ponsawan’s tutorial site is a treasure trove of some of her earlier tricks and tips. You have to scroll back to find some oldies-but-goodies like her famous easy flower canes and bubble beads.

Hope your skies are clear this weekend!

Polymer stained glass

Illinois’ Marji Purcell lets the light shine through the kaleidoscopic canes she made using Carol Simmons’ technique. (Here she is learning Carol’s process.)

For her own version, she uses Premo translucent in each of the canes that forms the master triangle. Each component cane is wrapped in black.

As she assembles the circles, Marji varies the orientation of the slices from the master triangular cane to change the resulting circular patterns. Hanging in her window, these mandalas resemble stained glass. A while back she entered her brief translucent clay video in Polyform’s tip contest.

Looking at these calming artworks, it’s not surprising to learn that Marji is a certified meditation instructor, a retired art teacher and the owner of Sumner Street Studio in Wheaton, IL. Her story of finding her studio is one you’re sure to enjoy.

Polymer to the rescue

Luann Udell made a discovery as she prepared for her big cross-country move. Treasures can bang and bump and break. A chip in this antique Roseville pottery bowl made her sad and she resolved to save it with polymer. She details her method in this free tutorial that contains some surprises. Bake the polymer first? Use an adhesive activator? These are tricks you won’t find anywhere else.

If you’ve ever fretted over a chipped tile or a cracked pot, you’ll thank Luann for taking the time to tell you the secrets of patching with polymer. You can see the artwork that Luann’s more widely known for on her site, Facebook and her blog.

Dotty polymer

Start your week with an easy bead from from Israel’s Hila Bushari. Her spotted beads are easy on the eyes and easy to do. And she adds a free video in case you need a how-to.

A second version of her simple bead is made even more striking by rolling, shaping and texturing. Dots are all the rage in fashion this season and these snappy colors are good for spring.

She’s added dangles and more designs on her Flickr site, her Etsy store and her Facebook page.

Well heeled polymer

Using sheets of patterned clay, bits of fabric and hardware finds, Dayle Doroshow satisfies her craving for shoes.

She hunts for historic patterns or fashionable footwear that appeal to her and then lets her imagination take flight. With the addition of a pin back, the shoes become brooches. Dayle shows the basic process on this free video tutorial.

See more of Dayle’s enchanting work and find out where she’s teaching on her blog and on Facebook. She’s at Maureen Carlson’s and at the New York guild in May.

Tool party tonight

Be sure to join the online party at Craftcast tonight. It’s the 5th edition of I Love Tools and you’re going to love this one.

Significant others

Did Ron Lehocky think we’d celebrate Valentines Day without featuring the King of Hearts? Not possible.

His production of polymer heart brooches reached 25,801 yesterday and if you multiply that by ten you’ll have calculated how much this Kentucky doctor has raised for kids. You helped him by donating your scrap.

This year he also set his sights on helping the Samunnat women in Nepal and he was relentless. He knows how art can make a difference in lives and how the significance of bit of effort ripples out as others join in. Love to all who were part of that effort this year.

Ron used Lucy Struncova’s extruder disks to make this special edition of heart patterns. He has finally jumped onto social media and shares his methods and his news on Facebook.

Rolled polymer

This is the way Albuquerque’s Barb Fajardo rolls. She gathers thin striped polymer snakes into a bunch and suspends them from a ball chain to make a fashion statement.

She’s also adept at rolling snakes from bits of Skinner blend and then forming them into sinewy floral earrings and pendants. Barb hunts for bargains on bamboo placemats that she disassembles.

She builds her earrings on the salvaged bamboo tiles using the Skinner snakes in a southwest palette and adding texture and paint to the polymer leaves and blossoms.

On her Facebook page you can see the way she’s found to imitate knitting with her rolled Skinner bits. The snake shape suits her so well that Barb can’t help but explore its design possibilities.

Do you make a shape that feels like it’s all yours? Have you explored it fully?

Balloons and polymer

Spain’s Sona Grigoryan starts your week with a new way to create transparent hollow beads like the ones pictured here. See all her works on Flickr.

She has generously uploaded a few photos that give you the basic instructions.

Her method involves fine wire and small balloons! The deflating balloon pulls the raw clay inward and the wire helps keep the shape.

It’s tempting to try a trick with such easy ingredients. A few hours after it was posted Texas’ Joey Barnes already put her spin on a test bead (a great diversion during the Super Bowl).

Mother lode of polymer

Texas’ Nora Pero likes to bead around her polymer creations, using them as focal pieces. She hit the motherlode of imitation stone beads when she tried Lynda Moseley’s new tutorial. Nora says she’s obsessed. See more of her beaded results on Etsy.

Nora can make her cabochons any shape and color she wants, imitating natural stone or creating her own reality. Just look at the supply she made for herself as soon as she read the instructions.

Here are Lynda’s samples. She often turns her versions into turquoise-like mosaics.

If you’re a rock hound like me this tutorial could save you time. Let’s enjoy some experimenting this weekend.

Deadline reminder

Remember this awards competition you thought about entering? You have a few days left to fill out the online application, submit your photos and feel good about checking off another goal on your 2014 list.

Polymer fantasy beads

North Carolina’s Barbara McGuire has posted her polymer fairies, butterflies, bees and other fantasy women beads. Barbara says that, “I did a search for fairy beads on ebay – and there were 2500 listings! Butterfly beads 22500 listings! Guess I am not the only one who likes fairies and butterflies!”

Barbara’s beads may be the most ethereal and fantastical, however.

She layers flora and fauna cane slices on top of her distinctive mokume gane. She’s added another how-to tutorial video that explains her methods on her YouTube channel.

Barbara has flitted like a butterfly around the polymer community for more years than she’ll probably admit. You can catch up with her on Facebook and Flickr (and ebay, of course).

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Tips and Tricks

Tool party tonight

Deadline reminder