Outside-the-lines polymer

This slightly off-register look is very trendy. Switchplates from Alaska’s Katie Way are part of her inventory for the holiday show season. She applies the colors first and then stamps to her heart’s content, adding a wash of color to make the stamps stand out.

In Global Perspectives, Rebecca Watkins shows a similar method applied onto beads using dark powders to bring out lines drawn in the clay. The beads at the right were done by Zona Manualidades who got these terrific results by following Rebecca’s instructions in the book.

Then take a look at Kimberly Arden’s holly cane. She gets the same, coloring-outside-the-lines look on her canes. This seemingly spontaneous way of caning requires planning and I’m sure Kimberly has some tricks up her sleeve.

Looks like you’ll be seeing a lot of playful, off-kilter patterns in polymer. It’s a perfect time of year to give perfection a rest.

Polymer finishing touches

Ponsawan Sila and Lee Ann Armstrong collaborated to make these bold amoeba-like earrings.

Ponsawan gave the drops their blingy pop by using Speedball Caligraphy Ink. She outlined the cane designs and spattered the background with blasts of bright gold. The Facebook crowd erupted in a flurry of comments and questions and Ponsawan shared what she’d done to add the perfect finishing touch.

Here’s Ponsawan’s home site and here’s Lee Ann’s place. Lee Ann has developed her own special tools. Take a look at her Simple Slicer.

Dan Cormier and Tracy Holmes end the Back To School sale of their ebooks (and a couple of other juicy promotions) at the end of today.

Don’t you love starting the week with tricks and deals?

Easy peasy payback

Polymer artists have helped pediatrician/artist Ron Lehocky reach another milestone – 24,000 hearts sold with all the proceeds going to the Kids Center in Louisville, KY

Ron’s celebrating by donating a Friday Freebee. These hearts were all made using his Easy-peasy Extruder Cane Technique which he offers as payback.

When Ron asked for scrap, artists responded with heaps of unloved canes and designs gone wrong. He figured out ways to turn them into fundraising fashion statements.

You might enjoy his video story here and his past features on PCD here. He’s been a powerhouse behind the Nepali project too. He doesn’t have much time for social media, as you might imagine, but you can reach him by email if you want to buy some hearts or send him your scrap. Heartfelt thanks, Ron!

Embroidered polymer

Angeli Sobrepena from the Philippines rekindled her childhood interest in cross-stitch by integrating it with polymer! She creates her design, leaves holes for stitching with embroidery floss, and bakes the clay.

It looks like Angeli finishes her pieces with a backing of felt to hide the thread on the back (or the backing could be an oval of polymer that she rebakes).

These make cute crossover projects for our embroidering friends who have a hard time putting down the needle! Find more of Angeli’s work on Flickr.

Ventilated polymer

These convex discs from Page McNall are two sides of a pendent she was creating from a blended sheet of clay. Even though she doesn’t show the assembled piece, you can see the possibilities.

Page is working on more 3D pieces saying, “My goal is to make irregularly shaped holes and inscribe intricate designs.” You can see what she’s accomplished on Flickr.

She describes the process, “After I made the blend, I cut the circle and draped it over the copper form where I proceeded to cut the decorative holes and draw patterns. I dusted the entire surface with black embossing powder and cured it. After it cooled, I used 600 grit sandpaper while the clay was still on the copper form and added Renaissance wax to give a subtle shine.” Follow along on her step-by-step here.

Hollow bead trick

Carol Simmons and Rebecca Watkins are sharing the fruits of their recent collaborative work with you!

Carol wanted to experiment with big polymer beads and Rebecca wanted them lightweight and textured. Rebecca came up with an ingenious solution to make them hollow. Paper!

Since paper’s burning point is 451° Fahrenheit, it works as an armature for polymer. Rebecca researched and redrew various shape templates, printed them onto cardstock, cut them out, and taped each shape together. The constructed forms were covered with a thin layer of polymer (see the black forms in this picture) and baked.

Carol and Rebecca covered the baked forms with slices of kaleidoscope canes. Rebecca incised deep lines into Carol’s densely patterned canes. They tried a variety of methods – deeply or lightly textured, highlighted with dark powder (see Rebecca’s project in Polymer Clay Global Perspectives) or not, covered in sheets of pattern or with small sections. Each test bead was then rebaked.

Here are her shape files for you to download free, print and play with. “They are free because I did not invent geometry!” says Rebecca. Still, it was generous of the duo to share their secrets. Thanks to them we have another great way to create hollow forms with polymer.

Refrigerator shrine

Amy Christie is a maker and a mom. She offers a quick free tutorial on how to transfer kids art to polymer, add magnets and make what I think of as a refrigerator shrine.

Darling doodles and sweet scribbles deserve to be kept as a reminder of innocence and pure play.

When I said that my grandson’s drawings looked like Willem de Kooning’s work, my daughter-in-law rightly said that the reverse was true. De Kooning worked hard to recapture the grace of children’s brushstrokes, color and composition. We’re all trying to get back to our unaffected, free selves.

Do you have drawings that you’d like to enshrine?

Revealing color

Jenna Wright’s Tarot necklace combines neatly carved polymer beads interspersed with companion disks and dotted barrels.Her Flickr site reveals how she has perfected her style using Celie Fago’s carving tools, preferring to carve the beads after baking.

On this Flickr picture she explains the tools she uses for each effect. Controlled nicks in the bead surfaces reveal surprising colors that delight the eye. Jenna is from Nova Scotia and sells on Etsy as Boxes for Groxes.

Oops, PCD is a little late today. I set the clock to the wrong time zone. The mountain air has this flatlander light-headed.

Listening to polymer

On Facebook Ronna Sarvas Weltman recently let us look over her shoulder as she shaped, sorted and tweaked this polymer bead soup into gloriously funky wearable art. Finding all the steps on Facebook is challenging so here’s my compiled page of the basic pictures.

Ronna added washes of color on beads to highlight some colors and mute others. She gave the necklace a good shake at the end to make sure the focal beads would settle where she predicted they would.

All along she changed the arrangement until she felt the love. She made sure the piece spoke to her. It’s a good lesson in listening and in playing around.

French snapshots

If you’re in the mood for more snapshots, take a look at Dawn-Marie DeLara’s reporting on our summer trip to France. Dawn-Marie is a muralist (she says decorative artist), mixed media and polymer artist from Minnesota.

She posts about Blair and Cynthia, Judy Belcher and Julie Eakes, Ruth Krug and Nona Flores, Anne Beach and Beverlee Stafford and our fearless leader Dayle Doroshow.

Trying new ways of working is easier when you’re in a beautiful setting among friends who cheer your successes and laugh off your missteps. Dawn-Marie chronicled our time together with a light-hearted approach. She brings the same great style to her publication, 365 Being. There’s a free sample online full of great craft, food and project tips.

Polymer time management

Luann Udell explains her pre-show jitters and invites visitors to her booth at the NH Craftsman's Annual Fair at Mt. Sunapee later this week.

"It’s where I’ll struggle to put up my booth on a ski slope, stand for nine days in 95 degree weather, and wonder if I’ll make enough money to get me through to next year’s show," she says cheerily.

She'll show you her newest polymer artifacts from lost cultures and imagined prehistories and let you see the awesome scar on her knee which explains her absence last year.

Luann's blog post about her display research is a good read and you can find out even more on FaceBook.

Ann Dillon, Sandra McCaw, Marcia Herson, Kathleen Dustin (did I miss anyone?) are also regulars at this terrific show now in its 80th year.

It's in the mail!

You may have been wondering when my book would appear (me too). Pre-ordered copies of Polymer Clay Global Perspectives have shipped and I'm sending virtual hugs with each one. Now you can order it online and snap it up in bookstores. See what all the buzz is about.

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Tips and Tricks

French snapshots

It's in the mail!