Polymer Clay Daily

Off-balance polymer

Beal on PCDaily

Kansas’ Carol Beal (BeadUnsupervised) must have quite a stash of favorite beads that she dips into, mixing and matching until she gets her eclectic, slightly unbalanced look. Rummaging through her Pinterest boards lets you in on how her brain works and it’s a hoot.

Carol was an illustrator and greeting card designer for Hallmark before she jumped into the jewelry business. Her happy mix of materials and designs that please her is what most of us aspire to. It looks like she’s having fun. Catch more in her Etsy shop.

Polymer kindred spirits

Petelinz on PCDaily

North Carolina’s Michelle Davis Petelinz (KindredSpiritStudios) hangs six large mixed-media pieces across a display wall to make a bold statement. Polymer elements add punch, texture and dimension to the shallow painted plates.

Michelle often work in a series, visually exploring the significance of symbols from many cultures. The visual elements strike the viewer as both unusual and familiar, speaking across cultures. Her fusion of art, culture and media can be appreciated in many settings.

See more of her mixed-media series on her site, her blog, Pinterest and Facebook.

Perfumed polymer

Mantuli on PCDaily

These New Year’s rainbow confetti earrings from St. Petersburg’s Maxim Mantuli (Luxori) have a secret compartment. Maxim drills a shallow hole in the back of the swirled bicone bead where a few drops of perfume can be added. The design is meant to help those who can’t tolerate perfume on their skin. 

mantuli_earring_perfume_demo

It’s an intriguing concept though the longterm effect of alcohol on the polymer might be a concern.

Follow Maxim’s developments with this jewelry line on Facebook, Etsy, his site and Instagram,

 

 

Monsters of hope

Robi on PCDaily

The monsters of 2016 have raised their ugly heads already. But these monsters from Quebec’s Hermine Robi are full of hope.

For years, Hermine has set aside her scraps and cane ends to cover the small glass vials given to cancer patients who place their wishes and dreams inside these inspiring Bottles of Hope

hermione_monster

Hermine has covered the empty bottles for so many years that she settles on an annual theme to focus her designs. Her monsters seem both ferocious and silly, perfect for helping patients look forward with a smile.

Using polymer for good like Bottles of Hope and Beads of Courage (check out their Instagram pix) often has the side benefit of unleashing creativity you may not have tapped into before. The bottles and beads that our local guild collected were infused with energy and caring. Do you have a plan for your scrap this year?

Stay away from Hermine’s Pinterest page unless you’ve got a chunk of time! I got lost in her color board.

 

 

Thanks a million

You visited PCDaily more than a million times last year! The statistics say that you love hollow polymer pieces and are hungry for hints about how to make them. Here are some of your favorites. Kim Arden’s summer canes topped the charts two years in a row!

Ever wondered who was reading along with you each day? Enjoy the fireworks on this annual report. PCD readers come from 183 countries with the US in front. France and the UK are right behind.

You can search through more than 2,500 posts and keep yourself entertained and educated. We’ve come a long way together in 10 years. Here’s wishing us all a fabulous and creative 2016!
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Martini mouse

Terlizzi on PCDaily

Melissa Terlizzi offers us this Martini Mouse sculpture for New Year’s Eve. No caption necessary other than Happy New Year!

Take a moment to look at Melissa’s other whimsical and/or realistic animal kingdom on Facebook and Flickr. Don’t miss my favorite, her Box Turtle pin.

Celebrate safely and come back tomorrow for a look at the PCD year in review.

Not black and white

Haon on PCDaily

This Nordic Knit polymer perfume case from Francoise Haon (Arliane) is black and white, of course.

What’s not clear is if the pattern is the result of mighty impressive canework or some other technique.

Patterns as precise as this make canemakers envious. Could she have extruded the tiny components? We’ll have to wait to see if Francoise gives us a clue. Take a look at the rest of Francoise’s Nordic line on her blog, her online shop and Facebook. What’s your guess?