Polymer Clay Daily

Spring fever is contagious

Mary Anne Loveless spreads spring fever on PolymerClayDaily.com

Now that February is thawing in this hemisphere, we’re thumbing through garden catalogs and skewing our palettes to pinks, yellows, and greens.

Utah’s Mary Anne Loveless can’t wait. The green sprouts in her garden prompted her to heap flowers on these earrings in her spring collection. Let’s celebrate Spring Fever!

Over at StudioMojo, we’re still harvesting tips from this month’s online conferences and classes. If you’re in the mood tor the best homemade tools and the most clever new designs, hop over to the right column and sign up for Saturday’s newsletter.

Tone on tone

Not too big or too loud earrings from Toria Warner on PolymerClayDaily.com

Texas’ Toria Warner (oriadanyizzle) says there’s no need to be too big or too loud with her earrings. These are her tone-on-tone Rayna studs. There’s a self-possessed, no need to show off attitude in her collections. Muted colors with a touch of texture.

“Our inspiration comes from earthy elements and earth tones, the sun, those ‘feel good’ vibes and embracing one’s individuality,” she says.

Hearts in tatters

Anita Kennerly's hearts are in charming tatters on PolymerClayDaily.com

Georgia’s Anita Kennerly creates tattered heart earrings for the season. The frayed dark polymer edges frame her earthy cutouts and make a bold outline. The cutouts hang from a baked-in wire loop.

Anita’s hearts have a childlike charm that overrides the tatters and makes us see love and beauty.

As seen on tv

Stacie Binford brings back the 80's on PolymerClayDaily

Alabama’s Stacie Binford (StayandMarie) loved her grandmother’s big, colorful earrings. Stacie found polymer in 2011. She’s marketing her new line energetically and the  collection and story were picked up by three TV stations in her area.

Her Memphis collection is a throwback to the 80’s with high voltage colors mixed with big black and white elements.  Her earrings are bold and inspire confidence in those who wear them – completing an outfit or inspiring one. Here she is on Etsy, Instagram, YouTube. She’s busy!

Goldilocks polymer

Phyllis Cahill designs not too big, not too small echoes of the a gentler world on PolymerClayDaily

“Not too big, not too small,” says Colorado’s Phyllis Cahill of her newest collection of layered circle earrings.

Script from a French poem, a leaf pattern, vintage flowers, copper discs, echoes of William Morris patterns – all combined into restful, layered combinations with subtle references to other times.

This is no Lady Gaga dove splashed across her chest. This is about comfort and calm and a throwback to nature and history. Ahhh.

And “just right” is what we’ll be looking for on StudioMojo this weekend. Heidi Helyard joins us for a video conversation about the Australian scene. Heidi is a force there and we’ll hear how she built her business, balanced her life, and how she follows US politics. Join us.

Meme mittens

Glass artist Terrill Waldman does a quick polymer trick for a meme on PolymerClayDaily.com

One more last minute, seat-of-my-pants, meme-themed post. Maine glass artist Terrill Waldman (TandemGlass) found the immediacy of polymer irrestistba for making a quick pair of mitten earrings.

I don’t know the whole story but I sense that Terrill has picked up a trick or two from fellow Maine artist, Bonnie Bishoff. Her quick tutorial was too cute to pass up.

Unselfconscious polymer

Nomi Isak's wonky unselfconscious earings are endearing on PolymerClayDaily.com

Uh-oh, it’s going to be tough to explain why these almost-earrings from LA’s Nomi Isak make the cheering section in my head jump to their feet and yell, “YES.”

These slabs wrapped around wire are sort of surrealist (Dali anyone?) meets pen and ink illustration. With a hint of Native American.

What I finally hit upon is that these wannabe earrings are very unselfconscious.

I decided to read up on Nomi. She’s a writer and editor who says, “You just gotta love something for what it is and not hate it for what it didn’t quite become!”

Yep, that’s clearly what these earrings are saying, loud and clear.

 

Pursuing primitive polymer

First, let me say that Chicago’s Marina Rios (FancifulDevices) is not a child. Or a chipmunk. She sped up the video to give us super fast look.

Marina Rios show us how to go primitive on PolymerClayDaily.com

Marina gets messy and there’s not a liquid or powder that she won’t try in pursuit of the grungy, primitive, gypsy look that she loves to give her polymer. In this one minute session she pulls out paint, alcohol inks, crackle, eye shadow, and more in pursuit of just the right vibe.

We benefit from her experimenting without having to stain our fingers or clean up after her. Thanks, Marina.

Rough and ready polymer

Myranda Escamilla roughs up her new palette on PolymerClayDaily.com

Texas’ Myranda Escamilla uses what she has onhand as she slaps together rough-hewn textures and stone color mixes for a bold fashion look.

“I’ve realized brown is usually available for purchase or at the very least, easier to find than other shades, and to save what precious clay I have, I’ve had to make-do,” she explains. The exercise pushed her out of her color comfort zone and into what turned out to be a trendy collection.

See more on her second Instagram page. The look is very 2021.

Punctuated polymer

Cynthia figures out why she bought these cutters on PolymerClayDaily

By the time my cutters arrived from Etsy’s Silvia Tomas in the Netherlands, I’d completely forgotten why I needed them. What was I thinking? It looked like a comma!

After a little research, I figured it out and made myself a pair of earrings. Two cutouts swirl around each other to make a cool oval. Silvia makes some clever designs.

The web was slow so making myself a holiday treat did double duty. I had to talk my husband into a quick photoshoot over dinner so that I could make a post of it. I envisioned one of those lovely long neck shots but that would take some major photoshopping.

This is all to tell you that I’m definitely on holiday and that I hope you’re playing around too.

Pull out those tools and tutorials that you just had to try and then lost track of. Whip up something fun for yourself.