Seductive Monday tutorial

Juliya Laukhina shares a super simple pod tutorial on PolymerClayDaily.com

You don’t need to speak a word of Russian to understand Juliya Laukhina’s pod tutorials that she offers free on her Instagram. Just watch closely.

She makes creating this black and white one look oh so seductively easy and fast.

Juliya has covered wonderfully colored bead bases with cane slices for years. Now she’s moved to larger pod shapes.

It’s generous of her to share their construction with us to start the week right.

Jeff Dever’s winter blossom on display

Jeff Dever's blossom steals the show on PolymerClayDaily.com

Maryland’s Jeff Dever’s work gives us another mid-winter pick me up.

Jeff hand rolled over 150 petals in nine different hues and mounted them into the center blossom of his Eden’s Promise necklace. It’s surrounded by two dotted leaves and strung on a multi-strand cable.

The necklace was juried into the prestigious Wayne Art Center International Juried Exhibition of Fine Craft and will be on display in Wayne, PA until February 1.

See more of Jeff’s stunning signature works on his Facebook page.

Match and mismatch

Peraud on PCDaily

This picture from Sylvie Peraud’s sketchbook stirs up feelings of admiration touched with jealousy.

Isn’t this how you meant to work? Draw your idea and then render it in polymer? Yeah, that’s how we mean to work but it doesn’t always work out that way.

Peraud on PCDaily

Sylvie shows us the results of her careful planning in this earring design. She drew the suspended pod (it began as a pin) and colored it in weeks later.

You’ll be relieved to know that even with this level of intention, Sylvie had to modify the earring to make it hang properly.

She worried about making two matching pieces and (if I’m translating correctly) opted for the second earring to be a post design. She admitted in an earlier blog post about how she spends too much time on Pinterest. (So she’s not too different from the rest of us.)

Enjoy this look over Sylvie’s shoulder and see more of her work on Flickr and Facebook. Learn more from her on CraftArtEdu.

Polymer pod clusters

This cluster of polymer pods from Loretta Lam hangs like a bunch of colorful bananas. The pendant cluster is suspended on a long copper chain. It’s a new design that she debuted on her Facebook page.

Is it the ripe fruit look that makes them appealing and ready to be plucked?

Loretta thinks the configuration makes them look like fetishes. The vibe is very contemporary. She’s on to something.

Have a inspired weekend!

Haunani’s spring pod

One of my favorite polymer clay pieces for spring is this pod/sprout from Lindly Haunani. It’s quintessentially spring with natural colors and shape. The texture comes from sand mixed into the clay. You can read about Lindly’s inclusions here.

But even better than the pod itself is the memory of the Shrine Mont conference perhaps ten years ago when lots of us wore them in celebration of the season and for the fun of it. Wearing it today brings the celebration back again and makes me smile.