Polymeri Online 8.1.14 | Polymer clay stamped, carved, painted, textured beads, Ron's heart canes hearts, Ahlam's Saudi Arabia clay cakes and my granny project update

Apologising for my long absence. My dear 84 yrs grandmother suffered falling and broke her hip bone. Now that surgery is behind her and thank god all is well, my mind is more relaxed.
Please take extra care of yourself, especially now when it's so cold and slippery outside....These unexpected accidents are never welcome in anyone's home...

Lorraine's beads

Lorraine Vogel is an artist creating beautifully made polymer clay beads - pendants, earrings, stamped, carved and painted in an elegant, organic and peaceful colours & patterns. With background as a graphic designer, her inspiration is the tropical nature of south florida.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/WiredOrchidJewelry
https://www.etsy.com/shop/lovobeads
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wiredorchid/10300613764/

Elena's beads

Another beads artist, Elena Fadeeva from Belarus is the designer behind Swirlbeads selling "rustic", ethnic, almost metal-like beads and jewellery. In her collection you can find unique beads and jewellery - hollow, antiqued, patinated, ethnic, textured and really beautiful. These beads are sold in her Etsy store and featured in her Flickr gallery.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/SwirlBead
http://www.flickr.com/photos/76425695@N02/10448856613/in/pool-justbeads/

Ron's hearts

Ron Lehocky, the "Heart Pins" Doctor posted lovely photos of his recent hearts using the new CZ extruder heart disc.
He was sharing with us his frustrating (past) attempts where he wanted to create heart canes for Valentine's Day themed pins and the canes were not reducing accurate enough. Now he says that the canes are beautifully made and no more frustrations or disappointments, BUT! when he takes the long extrusions out from the extruder, trying to straighten them out, some of it break due to dry clay.
One of the commenters on his Facebook post was Jan Mortansi suggesting a solution - She suggested to load the extruder, place it on top of a hot lidded bowl of water, allowing the steams heat the extruder content, cover with a towel and then the clay will be soft and pliable after extruding it. Sounds interesting!
You can link to Ron's FB here
https://www.facebook.com/ron.lee.louisville
Or visit Jan's FB - https://www.facebook.com/jan.montarsi
If you're interested in one of Ron's hearts, aiding children from the Kids Center for Paediatric Therapies click here and your purchase amount will be donated -
http://www.kidscenterky.org/HowToHelp/

Ahlam's beautiful clay cakes

The love to polymer clay crosses borders and continents.
One of the biggest Instagram accounts in the arab world belongs to Ahlam Alnajdi, a woman from Saudi Arabia - a clay artist with more than 1 million followers.
She is entirley self taught and creates small life like sculptures made of clay (I think it's polymer!), particularly food (mostly cakes). With 2 written books in her resume, she is enjoying the popularity of her designs in Saudi Arabia and moving forward with her passion!
http://instagram.com/ahlamalnajdi
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-25261427


Want to see how I progressed with my granny square project? (rhetorical question, you'll have to see it ;)
97 squares ready, now being surrounded with black border and then connected together!
(most of it finished at the hospital while nursing my grandmother, granny project with my granny, if it wasn't sad it was funny...

Wishing you all a warm, safe and creative week!