Game changer

Ron Lehocky gives his hearts a boost with the new Teal Premo on PolymerClayDaily.com

The new Premo teal can take your palette up a notch. Lindly Haunani and Maggie Maggio worked quietly for months with the Sculpey team to formulate a clay as close as possible to the industry standard cyan.

Here Ron Lehocky introduces the new primary into his palette and his hearts take on new life.

It’s not often that a product has this kind of impact. Read more in the series of posts from Maggie and Lindly on the Sculpey site. The new color is available online with free shipping on orders over $30.

I try not to promote products on PCD but I couldn’t resist sharing this development. We save tool talk for StudioMojo where we get down and dirty about promising new tools and must-have supplies. There are some delicious ones (and some duds) right now. Come and see.

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.

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.

Sticking to a plan

In the midst of turmoil Angie Wiggins sticks to her plan on PolymerClayDaily.com

Virginia’s Angie Wiggins starts every year with a palette of colors that she sticks to for 12 months.

Ribbons of violet run through leftover Skinner blended circles that will become coasters. The colors are easy on the eyes and invite us to explore and enjoy the gradations.

Angie sticks to her plan. There’s something comforting and smart and reassuring in that. Her use of blends is mesmerizing. Check out her Instagram.

From the berry patch

Germany’s Monika Busch (Efmoni) consistently creates stunning colors in her striped polymer beads and buttons. “The luminosity of the colors and strong contrasts fascinate me,” she says.

The raspberry colors on these big-hole (7mm) beads are combined with reds, greens, pinks, and deep browns.

Monika makes what she calls dread jewelry for beards and hair and dreadlocks.

Don’t you want to try her juicy palette?

Wearable signs of hope

Chris Baird makes gaily gathered sprigs of hope for your lapel on PolymerClayDaily.com

Wearable signs of hope, growth, and comfort for all! That’s the tagline that Minnesota’s Chris Baird gives her small brooches made of sweetly colored cane slices.

She likes to stick to geometrics and color these days though she’s had a long career in various media. You’ll want to explore what grows in her polymer garden on Facebook.

Make yourself a sprig of hope and fasten it to your lapel this fine spring Monday.

Peekaboo Tuesday

Fabi Ajates mixes a new palette and patterns for ACE on PolymerClayDaily.com

Class samples are the best! Teachers take good photos and have great ideas.

These are Spain’s Fabiola Ajates’ prototypes for the October 6-10 Atlantic City Escape (ACE).

Look at how the underneath patterns peek through the cutout of the top layers. The thrill of peekaboo hangs on through adulthood.

Fabi has mixed an all-new retro 60’s palette for her class with 33 colors and patterns that make me giddy.

A closer look

Pilar Rodríguez Domínguez makes us look closely at her skillfully blended canes on PolymerClayDaily

Let’s close a sunny week with a sunny brooch from Canary Islands’ Pilar Rodríguez Domínguez (Amatista). I snagged this from her Instagram a little while ago and kept returning for another look.

That’s a sure sign that there’s something interesting going on. The canes (available on Etsy) have a stained-glass quality about them. There’s a sensual, sinewy feel too.

It takes a moment for all the blends and colors to register. It must be the fine dark line between elements that makes these bright colors read so well.

Figuring out what makes a piece of art grab us is part of what we’ll be looking at over at StudioMojo this weekend. You’d be surprised what you can learn by taking the time for a closer look. Join us.

Spring palette, stacked flowers

California’s Meisha Barbee took Carol Simmons flower class when Carol came to San Diego in early April. You can spot Carol’s refined kaleidoscopic methods in a heartbeat.

Meisha carried out the project in her own distinctive palette and with a quirky stripe here and a peppy dot there.

Her palette of colors mixed with Carol’s instructions look perfect on PCD on a colorful spring day.

See Meisha’s interesting history on PCDaily.

Colors for a vintage year

What you’re looking at is Virginia artist Angie Wiggins’ wrapped and stacked polymer palette for 2017. Each year Angie starts by choosing her colors and mixing a big batch.

“I cleaned out my half of our tiny crawl space attic and found a piece of fabric from drapes that my mom had made back in the 1950s. It had sat in the sewing room/spare bedroom for six months before it dawned on me to start researching the colors of the mid-century,” she explains in her blog post.

Angie has spent weeks mixing her vintage palette and now she’s ready to launch into her art.

Her methodical, focused yet serendipitous approach is something many artists aspire to but few achieve. Even the way she neatly wraps and stores her stash is impressive. It looks like a box of chocolates!

You can see Angie’s mixed media bowls and polymer pretties on her blog, Facebook and Instagram. Her Pinterest boards lead you through her process even further.