This is our second look at the ornaments that the members of the Connecticut guild (SCPCG) created for a decorated tree competition that benefits the Ronald McDonald House in New Haven.
These cardinals from Carole Monahan are lightweight and stylized. The design requires a few simple flat cutouts of textured clay with extra bits for wings, eye, and beak.
Bake the wire hanger right into the clay. Easy, peasy and there’s still time to make them!
Australia’s Dani Rapinett offers this Floating Dots class in her Whimsical Bead store.
Ok, so there’s not much chance that most of us will make it to class but that doesn’t keep us from admiring the happy multicolor mix and wondering how she made it.
Was Dani thinking of the maps on her car’s dashboard when she created these? They make us think we’re going on an adventure!
If you’re looking for polymer adventures, join us over at StudioMojo on Saturday morning. We cover what’s happening in polymer art and connect the dots.
Ohio neighbor Nancy Nearing displays these four small artworks in a local gallery’s “Small Works” show for the holidays. We covered the start of this project as a work-in-progress in August.
What is remarkable is that Nancy’s new spurt of creativity comes after a tough year of grief and change.
“Nine months, ten trips, three clay retreats, and one class later, I’m starting to rediscover the joy of creating new pieces and series,” Nancy says in her blog post.
Going through a slow period, dreading the holidays, facing a crisis? Nancy shows us how creativity can disappear or remain dormant and then come back full throttle.
These clever tab and slot polymer ornaments by Connecticut’s Cat Szetu are intended for a December 7-15 tree decoration competition at the Ronald McDonald House Tree of Hope in New Haven.
The Southern Connecticut Polymer Clay Guild has moved into high gear to blanket their tree with polymer ornaments. You’ll find other ornaments for the guild’s tree on their FB page
Cat keeps a low profile and you can see more of her on Flickr.
“I love making these veneer sheets out of the tiny schnitzels that I get after cutting out pendants and earrings,” says Ohio’s Kim Arden.
“I gather up all the bits and piece them together like a puzzle. Once assembled, I’ll put a backing behind it for strength. It’s painstaking but an enjoyable task that I came up with just by fooling around with scraps.” she says. This petal necklace is one of the results.
Since I’m working to finish a new book on scraps this felt like a big gift dropped into my lap.
Kim proves my theory that all the bits of design decisions in “schnitzel” can add up to something richer, bigger, bolder than we ever expected.
Read more and see Kim’s in-process shots here on Facebook. Thanks to Kim (and to Sue Screws for pointing it out).
Colorado’s Jenny Sorensen (WishingWellWorkshop) was inspired by a twig she picked up. The result was this charming cardinal on a snowy polymer perch. It makes a lightweight tree ornament or a visual seasonal treat hung from a shelf.
The trick is the smooth surface of the snow and the just-right color and shape of the tiny bird. A sweet and easy-to-make gift to start your week.
Ireland’s Fiona Herbst has added this simple sophisticated pendant design to her holiday lineup. Colors like these are easy to wear with almost anything.
She knew she was onto something when the pendant was snatched up before it made it online.
Browse through Fiona’s Instagram to see what other crowd-pleasers she’s creating for the season.
Over at StudioMojo, we’ll be looking at more holiday offerings and I’ll share what my trainwreck of a week taught me.
A train wreck of a day. Everyone has them, right? I’m rolling with it.
I’ll be back tomorrow.
These magnificent moths are winging their way to the Philadelphia Museum of Craft Art Show. They’re new from Maine’s Bonnie Bishoff.
Bonnie’s combinations of caned bits and scrap stripes on the wings completely tickle me. And the shapes are spot on. It makes you appreciate moths. Usually, they’re the ones making scraps of our sweaters and woolens.
Enjoy them up close on Instagram.
Now isn’t that the essence of fall?
France’s Valérie Bodino-Nazet situates a polymer shield shape of fall’s oranges, golds, and blues next to winter’s black and whites. She bisects the brooch with a flowing wire shape.
I couldn’t tell if Valerie had finished the construction when she took this photo but my eye shouted, “Stop! That’s it.”
Here’s the brooch on Instagram.
