A peek into "Creative World 2012"

I may be biased but truth has to be said :) we are working with the most amazing material in the world.

For 4 days I was a part of a creative experience to introduce fimo polymer clay to thousands of people. People who never heard of it before, never touched it or saw work made of it, people who were smiling and wowing roses and flowers, admiring the possibilities and interested in knowing more about it, and it was wonderful.

As I wrote in my previous post, I had the honor to be Staedtler fimo guest artist in "Creative World" 2012. This event is the world’s biggest trade fair for the creative sector held in Frankfurt, Germany. It is the highlight for the hobby, crafts and artists’ segments.

It was so interesting to see how different audiences react to the display - fellow artists were quickly discussing techniques and ideas with me, while other people, not familiar with the polymer clay world, were checking closely and watching me work. Language was never a barrier.

My appearance included demonstrations of various techniques and products - basic and advanced millefiori caning featuring the new colors and pen collection by fimo, display of the endless flexibility of the material, methods of work, infinite possibilities for designs and unusual products made with our material.

Staedtler announced it's special luxury line of pens - fountain pen and ball point pen. These pens can be decorated with any ooak design and given as a wonderful personalized gift. They were very popular and drew a lot of attention. I made so many I can make them in my sleep now! :)

A special artist collection of pens was displayed and included pens by Carol Blackburn, Sabine Backer, Sandra Bohlmann, Bettina Welker, Sarah Shriver and my own pens.

The booth was so pampering and well accessorized! I got every thing a polymer clayer can dream of - hundreds of fimo packages to play with! ahhhh! :)

Guests! Wonderful friends came to see the show and say hello! Klavdija Kurent & Tatjana Mikolic, Kirsten Illgner, Kerstin Rupprecht, Anke Humpert, Conny and the sweet Sabine Backer who was Staedtler guest artist on 2011.

2 additional polymer clay manufacturers displayed their new products - Polyform with Martina Weller, and Kato with Donna and Bettina - they also came and said hello :)

I had little time to walk around but when I did find some time I saw lot's of interesting booths - paper art, paints, tools, adult and children diy projects, cookie cutters suppliers, beads, art and hobby materials, decorations, art books and all this was just "Creative World". 2 addition fairs were held at the same time devoted to paper ("Paper World") and "Christmas World" showing festive decorations and innovations for the coming seasons - huge, huge shows.

Unfortunately photographing was not allowed so I can only share with you my own photos.

Besides the fact that it's my first visit in Frankfurt (but not in Germany) I had a wonderful, creative adventure, one of a kind experience.

I truly felt like a proud ambassador, bringing the charm of fimo and polymer clay to new countries and new people. I'm glad I could take a piece of me, my personal joy and happiness and deliver it to new enthusiasts whether hobbyist artists or clay sellers.

I would like to take this opportunity and thank Staedtler company and team for making me feel so welcome, being the perfect hosts and letting me work with "these square blocks" which makes me and many people so happy.

I hope it's not too cold in Germany now, did I take sun with me? :) I heard that it's minus 10 now! toooo cold!

and now? Back to work!

Thank you for reading!

:)

p.s. - More photos are available in my Flickr and Facebook!

Invited to a TV show and a little bit politics (not really)

A few weeks ago I got a call from the Israeli production of Channel 2 show - Timor Liat - "designers", I was asked if I wanted to show a DIY project in the show, immediately I said yes, still did not know who, what and why but I knew I'd have to plan the rest. The girls from production didn't even ask to see what I'm going to demo, after seeing my online portfolio they knew they can count on me :-)

The dilemma was whether to present something complex that can represent my experience or to charm the audience by a simple project that will make them want to run & buy polymer clay immediately. The decision fell on a simple project because .... i had only three minutes in the show.

So... Arrangements were made, all the steps were planned, the suitcase packed and ... I'm heading to Tel Aviv.

Tel Aviv like any big city everything is moving fast - make-up, microphone and .... going live! wow, wait a minute, i'm all excited here! Liat (the host of the show) was charming and gentle, gave me the most wonderful feeling there is nothing to get excited about and i should try to ignore the camera :-)

In short, My item will broadcast sometime in the summer, I promises to update, in the meantime here are some pictures - the rest in Facebook

and one more thing, you know i am not talking about politics in my blog, but when everything is like a turbulent here in Israel, and we are in the news, suddenly comes a purchase of a customer from ... Turkey. At first I thought someone trying to test me, but it turns out that even when things are as are, there is someone who feels comfortable enough to buy from an Israeli. I do not know about you but i am so glad that in our world, the world of art, creation, color and fun, some people do not mind politics.

Finally home!

Those were the best 2 weeks! i had so much fun! NYC, CFCF & Synergy!

Both Mira Krispil (the best partner ever) and myself flew to NYC on the 16th and had great 3 days of shopping, so many great stores in this city - cookie cutters, acrylic rollers, paints, beads & findings - that was fun! Metalliferous was the hightlight of the day, and our suitcases slowly gained weight and we were filing them with goodies :)

Then we took a flight and head to Baltimore airport and from there to CFCF - Cabin Fever Clay Festival held in Laurel Maryland. Kathryn Ottman greeted everyone and the event started with some Pre-Classes, we took classes by Lindly Haunani , Maggie Maggio and Jana Benzon. all of them were facinating and we made beautiful pieces.

After 2 days of Pre-Classes, the 4 hours CFCF seminars started and we had so much fun the best teachers - Jeffrey Lloyd Dever, Nan Roche, Cindy Silas, Tony Aquino, Maureen Carlson, Dayle Doroshow, Grant Diffendaffer, Louise Fischer Cozzi, Laurie Mika, Kathryn Jo Ottman, Lisa Pavelka, Sarah Shriver, and Ronna Sarvas Weltman. Demo's and Classes were facinating and we learned so much from all those experts.

The closing night celebration brought the presentation of the first Creative Pioneer and Innovator Award, presented to Nan Roche. Jeffrey Dever spoke of the knowledge and inspiration he gained from Nan in his early days playing with clay, I felt it was an exciting and emotional moment, everybody were cheering for Nan. The silent auction was great and i got one of Jana's pins :)

I was so honored when Nan asked to buy one of my disc necklaces! thank you so much Nan!
We found some new friends and angels who helped us (Barb - that's you!) hugging everybody, sorry we had to say goodbye so soon.

Then we headed to Synergy2 conference held in the tremont Plaza @ Baltimore, meeting new friends. Plan was so full of seminars, panel discussions, polymer shopping for supplies and artwork and jewelry, can we skip buying something?

We couldn't skip the ACC - American Craft Council show , The American Craft Council Show presents outstanding works by America's leading craftspeople for purchase by the public and to the trade, lot's of color, materials and inspiration, Mira and myself walked for 4 hours and still we didn't see all of it, it's huge! we met the nicest Wiwat with his breathtaking jewelry, Louise Fischer Cozzi (which we also took a class with her on CFCF), Karyn Kozak and her beautiful bugs (got us 2 of them!), Sue Fleischer, Karin Noyes and many more.

I also got a mention in Polymer Clay Daily! Sweet Cynthia Tinapple took a photo of one of my Necklaces and posted it in her blog. That was a perfect closure for our trip.

2 weeks of pure polymer clay, isn't that just the best thing ever?

Now, back to work! Passover holiday is coming soon and i should be getting ready :)