Special Giveaway! The Polymer Arts Magazine & The Brocade Collection

The Polymer Arts magazine, the new magazine on the block is about to publish it's 2nd issue, this time it's all about instruction & education with many new ideas, articles and content.

The 1st issue was so interesting, covering new articles that are informative both to pro and semi-pro polymer clay artists: articles such as how to become a wholesale seller, marketing skills and much more. I have the 1st issue next to my bed, with every page flip I find something new I haven't read before :)

The new and exciting feature is the digital subscription - -It's exactly the same as the print version, just in digital format! Digital purchasers receive a downloadable PDF file and, for the first 3 months after publication, have access to an online digital flipbook available from any computer.

Why am I telling you all this?

Getting ready to the 2nd issue with my "Brocade Collection" purses on the cover, dear Sage Bray has generously given you all a special giveaway!

3 of my PolymeriOnline blog readers will receive a digital subscription to the 1st and 2nd magazine issues. This means you will get instant access to the 1st issue and on Nov. 15th the new issue is published.

The 2nd issue is also full of inspiration and wonderful content - Christi Friesen talks about filling your “Well of Creativity”, Barbara McGuire discusses how to take advantage of and share the community’s Passion for Polymer through educating and being educated, Two brand new techniques, Review of new bezel molds, Interviews, Mentor and Emerging artist galleries

Resource list highlights...and more!

What do you have to do to win? (giveaway closed! thank you!)

All you have to do is post a comment under this post with your email and an answer to the question related to my purses photo -

..."What are the 2 things you MUST HAVE in your purse when you go somewhere?" :)

mirror? eye shadow? book? diary? polymer clay? (can't believe it if you do!)

My bag is always full full of "must have junk" & so heavy!!

Band aid, Advil pills, lip gloss, my "must have" hard drive with all the computer back up (in case my computer is lost) - you won't believe what I carry with me!

So now, tell me what's your "must have" 2 and maybe you'll win a free subscription!

Polymeri Online 19.10.11 | Christmas cats, Flowery door knobs, Cute light covers and Maya face cane

Melody O'Beau Designs flickr gallery shows these lovely Christmas cats tree decoration which can be wore as a jewel, In her photos she is sharing some studio shots with us :) Melody is a professional musician by trade, and for the past 14 years she has made wearable art from polymer clay.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/melobeau/6175345031/in/photostream

http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/studio/melodyodesigns

http://www.melobeau.blogspot.com/

Carmen Rose posted a lovely tutorial on making door knobs, she has 60 doors and drawers in her kitchen (sounds like the PERFECT studio!) Easy and fun!

http://croseprose.blogspot.com/2010/01/polymer-clay-cabinet-knobs.html

Mary Tempesta light covers caught my eyes and although I am not smoking they do look so cute! faces, bees and fish! what a lovely decoration!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/marymadeit/6230489443/in/contacts/

Mary was mentioned before in PolymeriOnline but these worth another one :)

Krokdo (real name?) blog posted a cool tutorial to create a face cane - a maya tribe face. I hope I got the translation correct.

http://krokdo.canalblog.com/archives/2010/05/01/17755863.html

We have a long weekend vacation here and the great weather is also on our side :) Have a great day everyone!

Special private collection fair

As promised, I am posting the link to my special private collection PolyPediaOnline StudioFair. All my original designs, made during the last 2 years I am have been teaching online tutorials, are now offered for public sale.

These are not tutorials.
The items on the web page are real products.

These designs are very dear to me and always reminds me of the wonderful material we are working with.

So, if you're just wondering about a certain project, want to see it in close, wear one of my jewels, looking for a Christmas gift or a collector of polymer clay pieces - you are welcome aboard!
http://www.polypediaonline.com/133688/Private-Collection-StudioFair

Thank you :)

Getting Ready to Halloween! 2 FREE Videos!

Although Halloween isn't a holiday we celebrate here (In Israel we celebrate a similar holiday on February - "Purim"), it's always fun to think of new tutorials and videos for it.

All the things I don't consider doing as a full tutorial over the year, pop up in my brain when it comes to a fun holiday like Halloween.

At our home, every year on December (2 months ahead), we start our family brain-storming on "What will be my costume this year?" As for my DH, every year he puts a blue wig and decide it's THE MOST ORIGINAL costume in the world, I try to be more artistic and original, I am frequently asked by neighbors, friends and family to help them with the makeup (hey, what do we have a makeup artist neighbor for?) and sometimes I even do my own (see the tiger? That's me! LOL)

Any way, this year I chose 2 creepy dark & fun projects for you - an eyeball ring/bowl/magnet/anything and a chopped finger (human/witch?) both of them as videos on YouTube.

I hope you'll have fun and will be happy to hear your comments!

Check them out on PolyPediaOnline Channel -

http://www.youtube.com/user/polypediaonlineTV

Polymer Clay "Catch 22" - The Artist's Paradox

There is an irony with us artists selling our work. We spend so much time trying to make a living from our wonderful art only to discover that we’ve become way too emotionally attached to our work and can’t let it go.

Sounds familiar?

Think about it.

When you sell a piece of your art, how to you feel? Do you feel great about the sale and ready to pay some bills? do you feel a little sad to see it go, but hey, that’s a part of being a professional polymer clay artist! or do you regret the second you let it go and find yourself hurrying back to your studio trying to recreate a copy of it for yourself?

These feelings of "sale remorse" - We condition, play, shape and design our clay and tend to get physically attached to our final piece, can't let it go.

Many artists are happy to sell, but at the same time, they would also wish they could save a copy of the work for themselves. If not for emotional reasons, it's to “check back on it as a reference for how I made a certain piece”.

Why am I telling you all this?

When I started my way with polymer clay, every fair I participated in - I had mixed feelings.

Glad because I sold and sad because I sold it!

Crazy - isn't it?

In time I learned that although my designs are very dear to me, it's like finding them a new home and letting my customers have a "small piece of me". That's a nice thought. They chose me.

Tomorrow is one of those days. I am saying goodbye to some of my own personal favorites.

As a part of studio re-organization, making room for new things, I am holding a special pre-holiday studio fair - the first in 2 years.

Some of my most favorite PolyPediaOnline tutorial products will be offered for public sale.

These items are very dear to me and always reminds me of the wonderful material we are working with.

If you're wondering about a certain project, want to see it in close, wear one of my jewels or a collector of polymer clay pieces - you are welcome aboard!

Some of the designs have Only 1 item AVAILABLE!

The special link to the sales page will be sent to all PolyPediaOnline members tomorrow during the day, that's more than 5000 artists getting an email from me with a link to the StudioFair page.

If you are interested and want to see one of my pieces in person, you are welcome to join!

The items will be published here in the blog only after PolyPediaOnline members will have the exclusivity to be the first to know and purchase.

Hope to see you in my "booth"! Come & say hello... :)

Polymeri Online 4.10.11 | Grumpy pumpkin, Computer-game polymer, Polymer toilets, Dripping coffee cup tutorial and wicked witch legs bookmark

Tina goodrich always carries a notepad and favorite pencil or pen. She has this need to create everyday. She says good thing that includes cooking or her family would probably starve to death. :) She has no formal art education, just a hunger for learning all things artsy crafty by reading anything she can get her hands on and then doing it!

http://ktdidclay.wordpress.com/

Don't miss her "Beware of the Graveyard" necklace in Etsy!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/handmademom

http://ktdidclay.wordpress.com/2011/09/13/poor-lil-polymer-clay-pumpkin/

and speaking of creepy/thingies, look at Angela Pyke's polymer clay Creeper from the PC game Minecraft, It took her over 10 hours to make! :)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/inspiredbyangelapyke/6033137891/in/photostream

Don't kill me for posting this link. Polymer clay toilets?

Well, polymer clay looks great any where - even on the toilets - right?

Take a look at Moebelkunst - Mareike Scharmer's (I think it's her name) bathroom design using polymer clay canes and pieces along with traditional mosaic.

http://mareike-scharmer.blogspot.com/2011/07/fortsetzung-toilettendesign.html

What a celebration of colors!

You can see more of her work in progress in YouTube, in this video she is creating her mosaics -

http://www.youtube.com/user/Moebelkunst

http://avokato.de/

shellony (olga gunkina) posted a tutorial for coffee cup dripping, isn't this cool?

http://polymerclayfimo.livejournal.com/3802618.html

and also, the girls from the russian forum took Kira Nichols's wicked witch legs bookmark and turned into their own tutorial version -

http://polymerclayfimo.livejournal.com/3894135.html#cutid1

Perfect for Halloween!

Tomorrow I will be posting about a special StudioFair sale I am doing -

Stay tuned!