Zentangle to polymer

Anita Long brings her zentangles to polymer on PolymerClayDaily.com

It was a logical progression for illustrator and Zentangle enthusiast Anita Long (neeneeree) from Indiana to translate her drawings into polymer canes. The detail and dimension in this cane have given her enough material to last through the end of her 100 Day project. You can follow along on her Facebook and Instagram.

In the last few days of the project, she’s had a burst of energy and playing with layering translucent clay, alcohol inks, silver leaf, embossing powder, and acrylic paint. Her stunning progress may make you want to consider joining in the next 100 Day creative marathon.

Interlocking polymer

Izabela Nowak plays the polymer slots on PolymerClayDaily.com

Berlin’s Izabela Nowak’s new line of Slice Up jewelry takes us back to interlocking paper constructions of childhood. These round beads are assembled from flat disks so they must be put together after baking.

She continues with other treatments, playing with shapes and colors that reveal different colors and patterns on each surface.

Look at Izabela’s growing collection of color-shifting beads on Flickr.

Did PCD miss a day? Why yes we did. Let’s say it was in celebration of summer and in an attempt to clear my desk before leaving for family time out west. StudioMojo is fresh and ready for your Saturday enjoyment but that Thursday post slipped right by me. It happens. If you feel you’re missing out, join us!

In a NY-minute from Moscow

Galka Vasina reveals her graphic tricks in a NY minute on PolymerClayDaily

This superfast video from Moscow’s Galka-Vasina starts the day with a most welcome kick in the pants!

I had admired how foggy and amorphous her graphic-patterned terra cotta beads looked. One glance at the video and you’ll be smacking your forehead like I did. Nuff said!

Looks like they’re soon doing a live online event about these methods if you care to figure out the time change.

When simple is soothing

Juliya Laukhina extrudes and wraps beads from a spring palette on PolymerClayDaily

Today we examine close shades of extruded ribbons of green polymer wrapped around ultralight core beads.

Again easy and effective techniques that rely on color and repetition. No overworking or overthinking. Leaching or cooling the clay accentuates the ragged edges of the flattened extruded strings.

These spring beads are from Moscow’s Juliya Laukhina and you’ll find more of her delicate, natural way with color on her Instagram and Etsy sites. (The beads are already on their way to a customer in Connecticut.)

Sometimes we make our creations more complex than they need to be when simple can be so effective.

Wrinkled polymer

On Facebook, Ponsawan Sila shares her texture trick for these playful beads. She wraps the base beads in crepe paper and gives the paper a twist to create the illusion of wrinkled fabric. Then she applies the circles of color.

Ponsawan Sila wraps and rolls on PolymerClayDaily.com

Whenever I’m exasperated with the rush of silly stuff online, I think of people like Ponsawan who moved from Indiana to Thailand. She stays in touch! She’s still one of the gang sharing her creative sparks with all of you. It’s good to be reminded that these connections can make our lives better. Thanks, Ponsawan.

Buzzing polymer

Annie Laurie's colors buzz on PolymerClayDaily.com

These polymer dragonfly links from California’s Annie Laura buzz with intense colors that are true to the season and the insect.

The torn, rough edges make them seem spontaneously caught and fossilized.

Annie Laura makes her own imprint molds. There’s something compelling about art that captures what you love. You can see the finished piece on her Instagram.

What do you love? Does your art capture it?

Interpreting the eclipse

Are you ready for the eclipse? It’s all the rage in the US and we hardly know what to expect.

Since our Colorado group is near the path, we’ve created some solar-themed big bead totems for a swap, brushed PearlEx powders into our hair and tried on our eclipse glasses. We’re psyched!

The sun/moons are by Wendy Malinow, the cutout light/darks come from Barb Harper, Eclipse cane beads were from me (Cynthia Tinapple).

Joan Tayler’s raven pendants allude to How the Raven Stole the Sun, an ancient Native American myth. Randy Ketzel models an eclipse tee that she created using bleach. Here’s wishing you clear skies and a momentous event.

A flock of beads

Rebecca Watkins' flock of bird beads on PolymerClayDaily.com

Rebecca Watkins turns bright beads into cheery birds. They’re 2-inches long from beak to tail and she whitewashed the newest batch to give them more flutter.

Rebecca is an experimenter and you can easily spend more time than you intended reading about the methods she’s come up with for embossing and metallics and etching and more.

She shares all the details (lots of videos) of her late night adventures in polymer. Track her down on her blog and Facebook and Etsy.

Weaving a mystery

Eliska Koliosova weave extruded strips into beads on PolymerClayDaily.com

A number of woven polymer beads have popped up online. Eliska Koliosova weaves extruded strips in this light summery choker. She alternates the colors under and over each other, perhaps creating a flat sheet that’s then cut up and rolled into a bead.

Or maybe Eliska is using the Mummy Bead technique that Emma Ralph outlines on her site. She starts by winding a base color on a wooden skewer and then layering on additional colors.

My brain doesn’t decode weaving very readily so rather than ponder this any longer, I’ll show you and hope that some enterprising PCD reader can unravel the mystery.

Whatever the method, the effect is eye-catching.

Thanks to Carrie Harvey for leading me to Emma’s tutorial.

Step by step with Loretta Lam

Loretta Lam steps us through a necklace to start the week on PolymerClayDaily.com

There’s nothing juicier than a step-by-step from Loretta Lam to kick off the week. First, the sketchbook magic pulls us in. Then the jumble of companion canes brings color into the equation.

“I spend a lot of time on the palette. I know the feelings that I want to convey and it has to be just right. In this case – fresh, vibrant and youthful but still sophisticated,” says Loretta.

Loretta Lam steps us through a project to start the week on PolymerClayDaily.com

The naked bead forms seem dark before she brightens them with slices of patterns.

If you go to her Facebook page, you’ll find a slideshow in which she arranges and completes the necklace plus lots more pictures to encourage you to trot off to your workspace.

Loretta will be teaching her Designing with Distinction methods in Durfort, France in October and in Monza, Italy in September.

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