Polymer Clay Daily

Jumping through hoops

Cynthia Tinapple jumps through hoops on PolymerClayDaily
Cynthia Tinapple jumps through hoops on PolymerClayDaily

Extruding is my studio warm-up exercise. Polymer hoop earrings are selling like hotcakes and look easy enough. Since I’ve been peddling red, white, and blue all week, the palette was settled. I was off to try out hoops.

Lynda Gilcher’s repeat angle wedge extruder disks are perfect for striped canes. She does the math and each disk indicates how many you’ll need to make a complete circle. I assembled my 12 extruded wedge strips of color into a circle.

Insert the resulting cane back into the extruder to produce any shape you want. For the hoops, I extruded the cane through Lynda’s Arches #3 disk. Voila! Hoops!

The messy scrap is the beginning of a brooch (see Jana Roberts Benzon’s idea here). Something about this textured mess seems apropos of our current red, white, and blue. It needs an element that says 2020.

Did you notice that I slid right into tutorial mode? Friday is my day to scoop up the ideas and products that have floated by and turn them into juicy stuff for StudioMojo. Sometimes it’s a how-to, sometimes it’s a looky-looky. Come on over and see what’s in this week’s grab bag.

Rock and roll patriotic bicones

Swirling bicones from Shulamit Raanan on PolymerClayDaily.com

You might think that Shulamit Raanan creates her most exuberant stars and stripes in a small town in a midwestern American flag-waving state. You’d be wrong. “The magic takes place in a little studio, on the second floor of a house standing at the top of a hill overlooking the Yzrael Valley in the north of Israel,” she admits. She’s a prolific maker of buttons, beads, and jewelry as you’ll see on her FB page.

If you need a soothing, meditative polymer technique, try bicones like Shulamit’s. Carissa Nichols shows you how to rock and roll bicone beads from scrap in this video. It’s like learning to ride a bike (without the skinned knees). Once you get your balance you’ll be hooked.

Fill out your ballot, check it twice. You’re all set to vote!

Coming up roses

Ann Havlach-Duncan's patriotic garden grows as you vote on PolymerClayDaily.com

Illinois’ Ann Duncan-Hlavach brings red, white, and blue to her polymer roses. She swirls thin cane slices around each other and hides a pearl in their centers.

So here’s hoping that we swirl around each other and find the pearl we want in the middle.

You’ve voted already, right? That’s the best way to keep your garden growing!

Voting booth ear art

Ginnie Parrish's pinwheel earrings go vote on PolymerClayDaily.com

North Carolina’s Ginnie Parrish (BlueFrogClay) gets her patriotism on with a pinwheel version of stars and stripes earrings along with simple mismatched stars. Now doesn’t that make you want to go out and vote?

Ginnie Parrish's pinwheel earrings go vote #polymerclaydaily

I was so inspired that I zipped into my studio to see what I could come up with. But that’s for later in the week. Send PCD photos of what you’ll be wearing to the polls. Here’s Ginny on Etsy.

Start waving the flag

Karen Lewis (Klew) waves the flag on PolymerClayDaily.com

Let’s get voting! California’s Karen Lewis (Klewie911) starts us off with stars and stripes. Her Americana hearts are draped with a thin curled layer of translucent striped bunting. They’re busy and festive and just right for your Monday. Have you voted yet?

Big reveal cane

Robyn from Kaori shows us her first slice on PolymerClayDaily.com

My brain’s all mushy and there’s nothing better than this cane reveal from Australia’s Robyn at Kaori Studio to capture a tired mind. That first slice is the equivalent of a cat toy for caners.

Robyn from Kaori shows us her first slice on PolymerClayDaily.com

Robyn has pumped out one big batch of extruded dots! She has a baby so she works at night which accounts for the lighting. Doesn’t it make you want to try it? This is what we extruder types dream about. Watch her upcoming jewelry to see where this pops up.

Get the full slicing effect on Robyn’s Instagram (@shop.kaori). Now wasn’t that satisfying?

 

Sticking to a plan

In the midst of turmoil Angie Wiggins sticks to her plan on PolymerClayDaily.com

Virginia’s Angie Wiggins starts every year with a palette of colors that she sticks to for 12 months.

Ribbons of violet run through leftover Skinner blended circles that will become coasters. The colors are easy on the eyes and invite us to explore and enjoy the gradations.

Angie sticks to her plan. There’s something comforting and smart and reassuring in that. Her use of blends is mesmerizing. Check out her Instagram.

Constraints bring creativity

Squint and bite your lip, ogle and admire…that’s what I’m doing with these seed necklaces from Ford and Forlano that are part of the Smithsonian show. Stripes and dots? Bring it on!

Can you spot the exciting twists in the latest creations from Steven Ford and David Forlano? They’ve upped their game with new seeds, tubes, and shells.

Everything has shifted as the Smithsonian show has gone virtual. That seems to have broken loose some creativity as well. The bidding process is confusing but it’s forced the artists to lean into coming up with new must-have designs.

Check out Ford/Forlano, Bishoff/Syron, Wiwat, and more.

Time to rotate

Silovia Heartmade reminds us to rotate the wardrobe on PolymerClayDaily

Must clean the closet!

Tweedy stripes from Spain’s silovia heartmade look like the favorite thick sweaters and turtlenecks we stowed away. We’ve slogged through 2020 to cold weather. Time to pull out the woolies.

She pairs her rough textured and bifurcated shield shape with a fat leather cord and a bronze jump ring that keep the rustic, wintery vibe going. Here she is on FB.

The speckled clays have been popular recently and now we understand why.