Lindly Haunani opened a box of her new “Spring Gelato” tinted translucent beads ready for stringing and our mouths watered at their lusciousness. The edges of the canes were accented with embossing powders. The petals are gently pinched, and shaped. They’re drilled after baking. More on Facebook.
Lindly works mise en place, creating all the components for her limited editions before she begins the assembly process.
PCD will unveil a bit more from Virginia tomorrow and reveal a more comprehensive wrap-up on this weekend’s StudioMojo.
No matter how hard you try not to catch it, Translucent Fever is in the spring air (in this hemisphere anyway).
Once you come in contact (Marie Segal got it going) then you start encountering glassy pastel examples everywhere. These stacked petal earrings are from Spain’s Manon van Kempen on Instagram. Manon has a feel for flowers and these look just challenging enough.
Though you may not feel you have time to get sidetracked, resisting the urge to play with translucent is futile. Go ahead, get it out of your system. Enjoy!
Here in the US, Marie Segal is creating a buzz with her experiments with Cernit’s translucent clay. Look at how the layers from these sample canes read through each other and retain their vibrancy.
Marie has put together a 12-bar translucent starter kit of Cernit if you’re in a mood to try something new. The kit contains 8 bars of translucent plus one each of Cernit’s four translucent colors –amber, emerald, ruby red and sapphire.
Usually Marie starts by mixing 2 parts translucent to 1 part color and adjusts from there to create the desired effect. Here’s her recipe for the colors used in this piece. You can examine more of Marie’s efforts on Facebook.
You may also be interested in the Cernit color mixes that Spain’s Ana Belchi has been sampling in her studio. You’ll find them on Instagram. If you need to know more, Ginger Davis Allman (BlueBottleTree) discusses the properties of Cernit in this review.
Kathrin Neumaier has uploaded a new batch of translucent polymer earrings to Flickr. You may find it difficult to choose a favorite from these watery colored wonders.
She uses Pardo translucent clay and performs her own brand of magic to spin and swirl inks into patterns of color. Kathrin has only revealed her ingredients, the rest of the recipe remains a secret. Enjoy the mystery.
When she started experimenting with translucent polymer, her work took a turn to amber and imitative glass. She’s come up with some innovative methods and clever solutions for making hollow beads and she’s not done playing yet.
If translucent beads have been calling you, take a look at her tutorials. I bought one tutorial to test and now I want to know all her tricks. Headpins? Disks? Bumpy beads? She continues to turn out tutorials. Here’s her Etsy shop and her Facebook page.
Hope you didn’t have other plans for the weekend because you may be distracted.
Kathrin Neumaier tantalizes us one more time with her translucent polymer tricks. In this experiment her faux amber Honigtropfen (Honey Drops) beads are made from uncolored Pardo clay.
Kathrin pushes the boundaries as she takes the material beyond it’s recommended baking temperature. In the comments she hints that she baked the colorless clay, “…too long and too hot” to achieve the golden color. The black dots indicate that she nearly went too far.
What would happen if you pushed your work too far this week?
The weekend farmers markets are bustling this time of year and these wearable translucent polymer raspberries look as juicy as the real ones.
Moscow’s Natalia Leitman (Madlen) specializes in small fruits, berries and flowers to wear.
What looked like a single J-shaped earring confused me until I saw this photo and realized it’s not an earring, it’s a belly ring for wearing on your pierced navel! Google body jewelry findings to locate the hardware.
Her garden delights make great bracelets, brooches and hair adornments as well. See all her creations on Natalia’s blog and her instagram. Should you consider some fruit this week?
PCD readers have been clamoring for information about the mysteries of translucent clay. Missouri’s Ginger Davis Allman took the challenge and has written a crystal clear comparison of clays from different manufacturers, in varying thicknesses, and baked at different temperatures (go to the bottom of her page for that revelation).
She uncovers a few surprises and gives several helpful tips. It’s a must read and we’re indebted to Ginger for her research. Ginger’s entire site is a good read too – well written, pleasantly organized and a nice place to spend some time. A shout out to Christine Dumont who first passed the link along.
Valentines Day in Nepal
Valentines Day is becoming popular in Nepal and for the ladies in the Samunnat project, the holiday has taken on a special significance that Wendy explains in her post.
The ladies and the Board are daring to dream as the possibility of a facility for Samunnat becomes a reality – thanks to your donations. CLICK to donate.
Can they include a small shopfront to sell their pickles and incense? Could they make space for a little beauty parlour? It’s a big business in the area. Understand that are no botox treatments in Nepali salons! Only henna coloring and eyebrow threading. Here I am getting a lovely mustard oil massage in Kopila’s home! They slathered me in oil from head to toe and let me marinate until morning. The mustard is grown and processed locally.
“You have no idea what your donations mean to us,” says Kopila, “We realise that we are not doing this on our own; we are connected to people who love and care and encourage and support us, and we have new reserves of energy and courage to keep going. Dherai Dhanyabad!”
Yesterday’s post about translucent caused concern about where to purchase Pardo translucent polymer. When Ponsawan mentioned that she gets hers from Creative Journey Studios in Georgia, I called to make sure they have a supply. They do and you can call 404-314-5767 for details.
That call led me to this dazzling picture of Daniel Torres’ hollow polymer pendants. He and Natalia Garcia de Leaniz will be teaching a class on March 10 and 11 (right before Synergy) at Creative Journey Studios. There are a few spots left. Plus a bus trip from Synergy and other festivities are scheduled.
In the mood for a class to beat the winter doldrums? Be sure to check out this year’s Cabin Fever, beginning February 15 in Laurel, Maryland. I’ll be there teaching along with a great cast of characters.
Freebie
Be sure to tune in to the free Craftcast webinaron Wednesday, January 30. The gang from the Polymer Clay Master Class book will be there with lots of tips and giveaways. It’s a party, it’s free and you’re sure to pick up a trick or two.
Kathrin Neumaier taunts us with more of her tantalizing Pardo translucent creations. This time she shows thin color-blended petals gathered and suspended from earwires. Makes you think of projects to try for spring, doesn’t it?
This hummingbird seems to be attracted to the flowers! It’s a big cane (2 1/2″ tall and 6″ wide) from Jennifer Patterson. She’ll fill in the voids with translucent to reduce the cane.
Here’s her Quilted in Clay fan page with pictures of her booth and other great canes.
Survey #3
This survey asks a few brief questions about monetizing your work. Whether you hope to cover your costs or support a lavish lifestyle, we’d like to hear from you. This is the third of four surveys Judy Belcher and I made for our Synergy3 presentation in the spring. We’re loving all your responses!
