Carving a new niche

Oregon’s Roseanna Smith describes herself as “long-time painter; new to polymer clay” and she doesn’t reveal much more about herself on her Flickr site. We’ll have to watch to learn more.

These blue Sunrise Shields are part of her carving exploration and her background as a painter shows through as she layers two opposing Skinner blends together, removing the top layer of polymer to allow the bottom colors to show through.

Her simple shapes harmonize nicely with patterns that like to play hide and seek. She’s going to be fun to follow.

A flowering career

An afternoon of pulling weeds among the forget-me-nots and lilacs made my eyes drift to these earrings by Zuleykha McMillan on Etsy. Bountiful and bright cane slices are formed into bell shapes.

Zu talked about working with a new baby on her lap and I was drawn into her tale. Her mother came for a visit and showed Zu how to keep her polymer art going with a baby in the house.

Since the birth of her first child, she’s gravitated away from polymer jewelry to polymer faces. The story continues…in both Russian and English. (On Flickr if you just want pictures.)

Revived polymer

Rebekah Payne gave up on these polymer earrings. She figured she had nothing to lose and baked the sad, scooped out green beads. Then she let them sit around for a while. She layered them with paint and added dots. They started to look better. She hung crystals in the hollows and topped the beads with some wire wrapping. Rebekah calls them her Happy Returns earrings.

This story of persistence and patience is a good one to start the week. Get the full scoop on her blog and scroll through her Etsy offerings. Don’t you have ugly ducklings waiting to become swans?

Deadline polymer earrings

Germany’s Anke Humpert brightens a gray winter Friday with these cheery red polymer umbrellas. With a second week deadline looming, she whipped up these earrings for her 52-week challenge. The pressure of a deadline can force out surprising creativity.

Determined to start the new year right, Anke’s been tackling the organization of her studio and you can vicariously enjoy her progress here. Have a cheery weekend.

Dutch polymer designs

New earring designs are rare in our world. Holland’s Els Van Haasen stacks polymer clay beads on a wire for a new and intriguing look. Does the end wire fit snuggly into the tube bead? How do these look on? So many questions.

Els’ Flickr page led me to the Dutch guild’s page and it seems that outside-the-box thinking is the guild’s mission. If, like me, you’re in search of exciting ideas and shapes, wander through their members’ pages.

Belcher and the first PCD giveaway

Judy Belcher reinterpreted the IPCA logo to make these totally cute polymer earrings. Look at the ad in the right hand column to see the logo.

The earrings are the first PCDaily giveaway! If you comment on this post, you could win Judy’s creations this Saturday and wear them at Synergy.

IPCA’s Synergy conference is only a month away. I’m working on an event at Synergy so that PCD readers can wear their work (I’ll post pictures) and greet their many online friends.

Let’s fill up those Synergy classes and don’t forget the hands-on events. You won’t find a more condensed gathering of master polymer artists than this. Now’s your chance.

Giveaways, events, social media….you might guess that I’m being coached by my savvy young daughter and niece, right? Here’s my reading assignment. I rarely promote non-polymer items but the book, How Not To Act Old, has me in stitches and is changing my behavior. You might enjoy the list.

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