Polymer Clay Daily

Slight detour

PCDaily doesn’t often stray off topic but Meg Hannan’s fabric jewels are too close to our way of thinking to ignore. Picture millefiori using fabric, beads and glue instead of polymer.

If you like to cane, your brain may overheat as you cruise through her beautiful photos and videos. And if you spend more time than you should on her site, you can blame Jana Roberts Benzon for sending us the link.

Vacation detour

I’m visiting my new grandson this week…the absolute best early holiday present. Expect short, sweet, sentimental posts. I begin with this little ornament from Lisa Haldeman. Here’s the original link.

Yikes!

How did I miss the sizzling colors of Suzanne Anderson? I bumped into her (here’s her blog) as I was browsing through Laura Balombini’s site yesterday. She and Laura are east coast neighbors. I found this recent interview and pictures of Suzanne’s studio in the Bangor Daily News. She gravitated to polymer after years as a beader and metalworker.

These earrings are from her Fiesta line. I enjoy the way she separates her online galleries by color. Suzanne chose her studio name because the word expresses the upbeat mood of her jewelry…Yikes!

Giveaway

Leave a comment on yesterday’s post to enter our first holiday giveaway of our hot-off-the-press Creative Sparks! Wow, loads of lovely comments have come in already. I’ll close entries at 5:00 Friday and choose a lucky winner.

Winner

The lucky Creatives Sparks winner was Crystal Gordine of Kingston, Ontario. You were all so enthusiastic that we’ll do another book giveaway soon!

Creative Sparks Giveaway

Dayle Doroshow and I created Creative Sparks, a little gem of a book, and it’s time to spread a little holiday cheer with a book giveaway.

To enter, respond to this post with your comment. We’ll choose a winner on Saturday. Did I mention that Sparks is filled with Dayle’s great tricks for keeping your spirits up in the studio?

Looking at so many of your lovely polymer creations makes it hard to hush my inner critic when I get my hands on clay. Dayle’s tips showed me ways to navigate around the obstacles that get in the way of creative joy. I include pictures and comments about my results.

2011 organizer

If you’re trying to organize for the new year, check out Laura Balombini’s polymer teapots calendar. She posted about it on Facebook. It’s $20 plus shipping. Write her to order yours.

Small world polymer

This polymer creche from Nepal’s Sammunat project shows us how connected we are. The characters are charmingly styled. Note that this Joseph carries a traditional khukuri knife and Mary wears a sari, bindi and beads. (This post on their blog tells another “small world” story.)

The power of the internet still astonishes me. Through it artists in the US, Australia, and Japan have developed friendships with the ladies in this project and helped their programs grow. Their fashion items become income, education for their children, food, medicine, and hope for a brighter future. I plan to visit there next November.

If you’re looking for the perfect gift for the polymer artist who has everything, a donation to the Sammunat project in his/her name would help artists a world away. Special Sammunat Christmas beads are available through Australia’s Over the Rainbow store.

Polymer rubble

Lynn Reno (aka Desert Rubble) is having an identity crisis. She’s looking for a name for her polymer style. Industrial? Steampunk? Surreal?

Her recipe calls for a hit of steampunk, a dash of industrial and a bit of cyborg. It adds up to a whole lotta fun.

Even holiday icons like this Santa and Gingerbread Man receive receive her special treatment. Check out the rest of her designs on Artfire and Flickr. Thanks to Janet Hoy for the link to Lynn.

Plotted designs

Nicole (NiQui) takes a careful, planned approach to her polymer jewelry which looks appealing as we start a new week. Influenced by her background in interior design, this Belgian artist plots out her modern accessories.

Her Flickr site is loaded with cleanly designed and rendered pieces. The wire and polymer “Beech Nut” necklace shown here was her response to the Dutch Polymerclay Forum’s fall challenge.

I admire her calm methods especially in this frenzied season.

Askin blogs

Gloria Askin tacked a blog onto her site and I just discovered it. Her attitude about color is infectious. “My love of color is best expressed in the Yoruba belief that the more colors you wear (or, I believe, use in art), the more positive energy you are putting into the universe,” she explains.

She forms cupped polymer disks edged with contrasting colors and gathers them into vibrant and playful accessories that are bursting with positive energy. Gloria has a most appropriate Facebook profile picture!

Have a colorful weekend!

Rustic polymer

Mai McKemy’s polymer accessories keep her true to her Woodland Belle name. She makes tiny succulents, terrariums and branches that become rings, pendants and hair pins.

She mixes sophistication with a rustic aesthetic that has fashion appeal. Her work has appeared in Real Simple, Teen Vogue and Glamour Weddings magazines.

Read more about Mai in an interview at this link and see her galleries at Etsy and BigCartel. Thanks to Susan Lomuto (DailyArtMuse) for the link.

Retro bling

The retro bling from PurpleCactus isn’t in traditional holiday colors but their polymer baubles suggest a cheery approach to the season. North Carolina’s Amber Edison and Laurence Abensour have teamed up to produce a line of small pendants and rings that really hit the spot.

Is the texture on this bicone bead a new trick or an optical illusion? Whatever…I find myself mesmerized.

Here’s an earlier PCD post on the duo and links to their Etsy and Flickr sites.

Prokic’s birdland

Janja Prokic spends time in the woods with her chickens, geese, goats and polymer clay. Her pastoral life is played out in her line of fashionable birds. Her models’ hairstyles match their feathered friends’ in dramatic and delightful ways.

The one below is a detailed pink cockatoo and the model is wearing what Janja calls a Silly Cockerel.

Originally from Belgrade, Janja is a jewelry designer who moves between Prague, Czech Republic and St. Malo, France as she studies painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague. Right now she’s roosting in France.

Follow her migratory patterns on her Flickr gallery (her web site is down) or her Facebook page. Enough with the bird puns. Enjoy.