Croatia’s Nikolina Otrzan (Orsons World) tempts us with a new downloadable tutorial coming out at the end of the month. On her slim collaged tube pendants, dots join stripes along with distressed solids.
Her tutorials are full of surprising methods, copious photos, and sophisticated designs. This could be an end of the year gift to yourself that will properly launch your skills into 2020.
Here she is on Facebook and Etsy.
This necklace from France’s Christine Pecaut (Chifonie) reminds us that falling leaves will quickly be back in fashion.
Christine’s leaves are a combination of shapes, textures, and stripes bisected by thin spines of twisted clay rolls or sharply cut slivers.
The angles mimic the way leaves fall from the trees and a few random dark beads break up the symmetry. Is it fall in your studio?
Happy birthday USA from Kentucky’s Ron Lehocky on Instagram with an assist from another cane donation from Maine’s Jayne Dwyer.
These hearts were made using Jayne’s donated canes. “She created a subtly shaded stripe pattern that was awesome,” Ron says.
Have a terrific holiday!
Italy’s Allesia Bodini keeps her options open. When confronting the decision of whether her beads should be faceted or striped, she merely says “Yes.”
Are they cut from solid blocks of stripes? Or created as faceted beads and covered with slices of stripes? Is it too early in the week for this brain teaser?
Inquiring minds want to know. Take another look on Facebook.
Germany’s Meike Lucia Friemel (Lucia Lucia) was trained as a metalsmith who delights in “…the difference between “slow” metalwork and “fast” clay work and also the contrast when the piece of jewelry is finished.”
These yellow and orange stripes were created for a challenge among friends. The horizontal stripes curl around the cord while the center beads have surprising open backs. It’s as if Lucia was showing her friends a couple of metalsmith tricks in polymer.
Oklahoma’s Katie Way made stripes in her own distinctive palette using Carol Blackburn’s clever instructions. By cutting slim slices and incrementally jogging their positions, Katie re-assembled her stripes into a veneer that looks like a miniature afghan. It could provide warmth in some dollhouse this winter.
The result is so alluring she probably hates to cut it to make her holiday jewelry line. Go to Katie’s Instagram to see what her veneer becomes.
Over at StudioMojo this weekend, I’m taking a deep breath and revealing the subject of a new book I’m writing. I won’t be alone. There are several other polymer artists who are writing this fall. Join us to read about the bumper crop of books and the trends that have started a buzz.
Expect flowers this week. We’re in bloom and they’re popping up online too!
These earrings from Czech Republic’s Pavla Cepelikova (SaffronAddict) use her subtle stripe tricks from a recent tutorial. (Full disclosure, I bought the tutorial and am hooked.)
Thin slices of striped cane are backed by companion colors which are repeated in the center balls. Springy, trendy, blooming studs to start your week.
Barcelona’s Florence Belliard (flo’touch) brings calm and sophisticated stripes to her Helios pendant. Randomly striped veneers in muted colors circle around the center of this cutout.
Florence samples all kinds of treatments and finishes on her Flickr pages. It’s when she tackles geometry that she hits a sweet spot. Her circles, stripes and squares have a harmony about them.
This striped free-form hollow bead necklace from London’s Carol Blackburn certainly brightens our week!
Carol has an absolutely magical and ingenious way of creating these patterns. She often cuts and reassembles simple stripes into more complex geometric forms (see her Chop and Change workshop) but the stripes also look gorgeous on their own.
See examples of her stripe manipulations on Flickr and catch up with her latest on Facebook.
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.
