Pocket art hearts

Tejae Floyde creates a heart-inside-heart on PolymerClayDaily.com

A Facebook video from Colorado’s Tejae Floyde shows you more of her Encased Hearts. Tejae loves pocket art – tokens and secrets and hidden wishes. The smaller heart fits perfectly inside the larger one and they are covered with wise words, rich textures and glints of metals.

She’s been busy creating this stamped and painted Mother’s Day version, sometimes adding childrens names on the back.

Read more about Tejae on her site, Facebook and Etsy. You’ll find Tejae’s step-by-step instructions for a basic encased heart in my book.

Pass it on

It’s Valentine’s Day, pass it on! Ron Lehocky’s meter rolled over 37,000 polymer hearts at the first of 2017.

That’s $370,000 worth of polymer hearts that Ron has made and sold in the past 11 years. The money goes to the Louisville Kids Center for Pediatric Therapies where Ron is a pediatrician as well as an artist and fundraiser.

Watching Ron make hearts is like a restful meditation (you can see him in action here). If you ever doubt that you can accomplish something with this artform, read Ron’s stories on Facebook…and pass it on.

Pared down heart designs

Dimitriadi pares down designs to their essence on PolymerClayDaily

These delicate polymer hearts on a strand of small beads give us a youthful, innocent view of hearts.

They’re from Eri Dimitriadi, a Greek architect and polymer artist. See her on Facebook and Pinterest.

Her spare, minimalist architectural sentiments merge with an attraction to smooth, curvy natural forms. She takes simple techniques and gives them power with spare and elegant design. Don’t miss her wall pieces featured on her Etsy site here.

Heartfelt collaboration

We are closing in on the big day for hearts so I went on the hunt for some new looks which led me to Ireland and back to Oxford, England as two artists collaborated.

In Northern Ireland Helena Benkoczka (AretobeadsJewellery) made the polymer beads that she stamped and colored with chalks. The colors bounce off the bright white touches. See her unusual color palette of chalked beads in her Etsy shop, Pinterest and Instagram.

It didn’t take long to discover how Sue Robinson (UtterlyLovelyStuff) in England had bought Helena’s beads and enhanced the hearts by surrounding them with glowing glass beads and wrapping them with wire. See more of her creations on Facebook.

It sometimes takes skills from an inspired collaborator to show off lovely beads in their best light. And it’s a relief to know that you don’t have to do everything yourself. Do what you do best!

Put your heart in it

Time flies and it’s time to start making hearts. No need to stick with traditional reds, however.

Israel’s Orly Fuchs Galchen (Hollowology) shows us her best blues and greens dressed up with carved dots and lines. She shares hollow heart tricks in a tutorial on Etsy.

A look at Orly’s unconventional approaches shown on Instagram and Facebook will have you skipping to your studio to try your hand at some romantic mementos of your own.

Lighthearted polymer

Dayna Corbitt (WhimsyCalling) perks us up with a lighthearted beginning to the season. “You hold the key to my heart…” says the accompanying love poem that you can read on Instagram. Her so simple approach doesn’t rely on red clay and fancy designs. It’s pure romance and love.

She’s cleared the shelves on her Etsy store in preparation for romantics who want something that goes right to the heart of Valentines Day.

Dashing through the snow

Jayne Dwyer and Ron Lehocky collaborated on these dashing reindeer. Jayne’s a caning whiz and Ron’s a talented scavenger who turns lowly scraps from other artists (Jayne’s cane ends in this example) into high art with a purpose.

So even if you’re dashing today, take a moment to appreciate the little things, small blessings and serendipitous collaborations.

Ron shared an animation on Facebook that says it all, “Have a heart, pass it on.” For Ron, making hearts has become meditative. Watch him do it here.

See more of Jayne’s canes here.

Patriotic polymer

Pull out your red, white and blue polymer clay and get busy on this weekend’s theme beads! Need inspiration?

Here Ron Lehocky piles his patriotic hearts to raise flag awareness and money for the Kids Center. Note the wavy blade stripes.

Barb Handy (BarbiesBest) creates themed beads for all occasions. Stars and stripes are one of her specialties. PCD has followed along for years as Barb widened and expanded her Etsy offerings.

If you’re a caner, you may prefer Carola Greiser’s (polymerclayshed) version of holiday fireworks found on Instagram. Have a star-spangled weekend.

Expressive polymer

Florida’s Joan Clipp creates a simple polymer heart to express what words can’t convey.

Traveling scrap

Scrap from Jon Anderson’s studio in Bali made its way to Ron Lehocky’s workroom in Louisville.

Through all sorts of serendipitous connections and with a great deal of fun and intrigue, Jon’s polymer scrap is raising hundreds of dollars for the Kids Project in Kentucky.

You can see pictures of more of Ron’s results by clicking on the image.

He nearly discarded Jon’s canes that had welded themselves together in transit. What are you doing with your scrap? Are you overlooking treasures?

There’s more to the story! Jon is sending another batch of what he calls polymer cheese (more securely packaged this time) when Barb Alexander’s tour arrives in Bali soon.

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