Polymeri Online 15.7.12 | "Not for the serious" jewelry, Simple truths pendants, Millefiori house cane tutorial, Crochet cabochon and my new rug in process

Polymer clay "Flip my pages, Honey" Bookmark

Nelli Kivinen from Helsinki Finland says her jewelry are for the not so serious people, she creates a world of cute polymer clay animals - penguins, bears and other adorable animal earrings, she is also working with recycled paper.
Take a look at her polymer clay bookmark in a speech bubble comic geek text - "Flip my pages, Honey!"
http://www.etsy.com/shop/NellinShoppi

Polymer clay "Make a wish" pendants 

TesoriTrovati is the creator of "Simple truths" - pendants and charms carrying an inspiration message or an image. Something to think about when wearing.
I love inspirational quotes, they are all so touching and true :)
http://www.treasures-found.blogspot.co.il/p/simple-truths.html
You can see her process - working with white clay and painting with alcohol inks -
http://www.treasures-found.blogspot.co.il/2012/07/simple-truths-celebration.html
and her Flickr gallery - http://www.flickr.com/photos/tesoritrovatijewelry/

Polymer clay millefiori house cane tutorial 

This website was spotted at the Israeli guild website - A fun colorful and abstract house millefiori cane tutorial made into a beautiful bangle and pendant -
http://www.livemaster.ru/topic/93495-sostavlenie-risunka-iz-polimernoj-gliny?msec=1?

Polymer clay crochet pendants

Crochet cabochon in polymer! Pilar created a wonderful design using extruded strands wrapped around a polymer clay millefiori bead, how lovely!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/amatista/7378880288/

My crochet "sheet" rug

Speaking of crochet, I took several days off polymer to create a crocheted rug using old colorful bed sheets of mine, it's a fun project and everyone in the house is complaining about the noise I am making when tearing off the sheets into strands. These strands are connected into a big "sheet-yarn" ball and crocheted like regular yarn. I will keep you updated on my final project when I am finished.

Have a great week!

Polymeri Online 23.6.12 | Hunger games polymer, Round PearlEx mirror, Pins curtain display, HUGE candy canes video and Reverse impression tutorial

Hunger Games Polymer
Clay Pendant

Ghie-Trinket Tales, a phillipins polymer clay artist and a chemist by profession presents a nice collection of polymer clay designs in her Flickr gallery - mirrors, pens, steampunk and jewelry, I loved her hunger game themed pendant! (don't tell anyone but I read all 3 books ;)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ghienan/
http://trinkettalesbyghie.blogspot.co.il/2012/03/molding-hunger-games-inspired-pieces-in.html

Polymer Clay Round Mirror

After making my own new mirror, I found another beautiful stylish round mirror project (although from 2008) by The Artful Eye (couldn't find her/his name), The finished piece measures 14" in diameter and clay pieces were adhered with  glue. Most of the clay pieces have been painted with PearlEx powdered pigments.
http://www.artfuleye.com/2008/08/polymer-mosaic-mirror.html

Curtain Pins Display

Not sure it's polymer but take a look at m.misheva's wonderful fabric curtain used as a display for pins.
I think the pins shown here are made of polymer clay although she works with felt as well.
This decoration can be used both to your home curtains and as pins display in your studio.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/56085107@N02/7079192491/

Reducing HUGE candy canes!

The next YouTube video was recently posted in the Israeli guild site by polymer artist Efi Warsh after returning from Amsterdam.
The video shows Papabubble Amsterdam creation of their HUGE candy canes. Did I say HUGE? These are gigantic canes! amazing!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFfA6FxrDs0&feature=related

Another video posted in the Israeli site was Lisa Pavelka's YouTube tutorial for using her texture sheets to create reverse impressions. Thank you Liat Ripp for this reminder :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bI6dCXA0Zd4

Polymer Clay Reverse Impressions

You can also see a design made in this technique by Angela Hickey, she made this barrette by first making a reverse impression using a Lisa's rubber stamp. Next filled in the impression using Kato liquid clay tinted with mica powders.
Her Flickr gallery shows many of her recent creations using this technique -
http://www.flickr.com/photos/polymer_clay_creations/7396625058/

Have a great weekend!

Polymeri Online 17.5.12 | DIY Circles texture sheet, Poppies millefiori cane tutorial, Sunny pictorial tutorial and Copper patina meets polymer clay

Copper Patina meets polymer clay

Art Bliss Marilyn Girling explored many areas of mixed media, acrylics, colored pencil, bead work and more. In this link she is sharing with us the creation of a cigarette card (which I had to google to find out what they are!) using copper acrylic paints, black and patina. she uses tissue paper, sculpey and strong backing for this special effect.
http://lifeartcollide.blogspot.com/2011/06/copper-patina-meets-polymer-clay.html
Don't miss her polymer clay mosaic made in a hot humid day! I will be waiting for a humid day here to discover such an amazing piece on my studio wall :)

DIY Texture Sheets

Do-Yourself-Texture sheets - Italian artist Elisabetta used cut circles from one polymer clay sheet and placed them on a second sheet to create a cool texture sheet, inspired by Diffendaffer ideas.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hetheferes/6169378314
She has several more in this set, I also loved her totem inro
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hetheferes/5904508775

Poppies Millefiori Cane

The Polymer Clay Romania team published poppies cane tutorial in their blog, the original tutorial was published in kalinkapolinka website.
http://polymerclayro.blogspot.com/2011/06/tutorial-cane-mac-intermediate.html
You can find additional tutorials in their blog in this link -
http://polymerclayro.blogspot.com/p/tutoriale-si-cursuri.html

There is a passionate group of polymer clay girls team in Romania, I'd love to see more of their creations!

Ayarina's polymer clay buttons

Here is one I found - Ayarina's Etsy store with cute looking buttons!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/ayarina

Advanced Pendant Polymer Clay Tutorial

Another cool tutorial posted in the russian forum by Bobrotermit, photos only but you will see that it requires a lot of carving, back-filling and drilling to remove the un-wanted polymer clay.
A bit advanced but a challenge to understand how it is done using no text at all.
http://polymerclayfimo.livejournal.com/3779534.html 


My foot is healing well, now I can go back dancing in my studio! ;)

Polymeri Online 9.5.12 | Polymer clay jewelry, Bracelet mold casting, Translucent experiments and sleepless nights pendants

After a short break, we are back to PolymeriOnline links for this week -

I found a nice polymer PR in Hacklock blog - "featuring polymer clay as art". I loved Heather's comparison of children drawings vs. professional drawing, it is obviously the same with polymer clay, the more people realize this, the more our material upgrade it's position as an art medium and not a children material. http://hacklock.net/category/polymer-clay-artists/

Heather Blacklock Camera Pendants

You can see more of this Australian artist (Heather Blacklock) in her Etsy site
http://www.etsy.com/shop/hacklock

Del Moro Polymer Clay Jewelry

Among Meredith Dittmar, Shay Aaron miniatures and Pier Voulkus, she featured Del Moro which was featured here 4 years ago, He is a polymer clay designer, chemicist and technologist who works in various techniques and produce interesting designs you'd find yourself taking a 2nd look at. I specifically liked his polymer clay guitar collection.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30251473@N05/
You can find one of his tutorials in 2008's PolymeriOnline post -
http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/42/wrb.6/0_1d4d6_d0a7dcd1_orig

Polymer Clay - Mold Casting

Sweet Willow Designs's blog is full of useful tips and information.  She is creating mixed media jewelry and worked in many different mediums including paint, metal, fiber, fabric and what not. Her studio name, Sweet Willow Designs, is a nod to the many hours she spent under the willow tree in her grandparents' Haverhill, Massachusetts home.
I encourage you to take a look at her other posts, but chose this one to see her 2 steps bracelet mold making. I specifically liked her "saving material" tips on  placing a plug of scrap clay for the center of the bracelet to save on the amount of silicone rubber she'll need to use.
http://sweetwillowdesigns.blogspot.com/2010/01/experiment-resin-casting-part-1-making.html
http://sweetwillowdesigns.blogspot.com/2010/02/experiment-resin-casting-part-2-casting.html
And her Flickr gallery - http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetwillowdesigns/

Garie Sim Transluecent Polymer Clay Experiments

Garie Sim shares with us his tips "how to improve the clarity of Translucent Liquid Sculpey (TLS)" adding unusual materials! clay softener?  Enamel Transparent Paints - Take a look.
http://www.garieinternational.com.sg/clay/shop/clear_tls.htm

Marjana Polymer Clay Pendant

Last one for today is Marjana from Slovenia, her pendants caught my eye and when visiting her blog she tells us that they were a result of 3 sleepless nights (sick child) and when she decided to stay home (like a zombie), these were her new creations using paints, wood and fimo. I hope her child is feeling better :) I'd be happy to see more of her creations when everyone is healthy.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/48194773@N05/

http://vilinskisvet.blogspot.com/2012/04/prazniki.html

Speaking of health, not polymer clay related - after getting the beautiful Blurb photo album from our USA trip by the post messenger, (Blurb are great, b.t.w!), I was so busy looking at the photos while walking down the stairs that I.... fell. 

Lesson to be learned, don't look at photo albums when you go down your stairs.
Lucky me, I didn't break anything but now I am walking like a duck.

Polymeri Online 24.4.12 | Polymer knitted kitty, Millefiori owl & peony canes tutorials and Faux vinyl flower

Danielle Hof originally from Switzerland, now in the Netherlands shared with us the process of creating her millefiori owl cane.
She is working at a laboratory, both working in clinical diagnostics and doing research on blood tests and on her free time she enjoy making jewelry made of polymer clay.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fimoli/5173799097/

Take a look at the next creation by Enchantress from Moscow, Russia. Isn't this amazing?
As a child she loved to sew and knit, it was the same as modeling,
only patches and threads. She secretly dragged from her mother's drawer needles, lace, crochet hooks, and all of those quietly moved to her room.
In her recent creation, she made this amazing kitty, it is 49 mm, not an ounce of textiles and paints, polymer clay only. No stamps, too, only 100 meters of different "plastic yarn" with a thickness of 0.1-0.2 mm.
http://polymerclayfimo.livejournal.com/4218553.html

Here is a video peek to see the kitty closely -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=XDjIJrlDQWw


Another short flickr tutorial is by Carole B "CeeEee" on her creation of a polymer clay peony millefiori cane. Millefiori is probably her favorite technique, lot's of millefiori creations in her photo stream. You can find the packing of the cane in one of the links and the final cane after reduction on the second link.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64384664@N00/1696388627/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64384664@N00/584339963/in/photostream

A simple and easy new tutorial by Kael - this time it's a faux vinyl flower pendant. The flowers were inspired by a pair of black vinyl sandals that she purchased a couple of weeks ago. Kael was mentioned in PolymeriOnline blog before, with more of her tutorials. You can check them out here and here.
http://www.kaelmijoy.blogspot.com/2012/04/polymer-clay-tutorial-vinyl-flower.html?m=1

Polymeri Online 25.3.12 | Owls on TV, Smiley face cane, Pink bunny and Knotted jewelry

My last day of packing and getting ready to my trip started when I found out one of my kids passport will expire in 3 days. I have no idea how that happened but we spent ALL day running all over the country to fix it. I think I lost 10 years of my life from the stress, but now all is ready, thanks god.

Last PolymeriOnline post before I go -

Henry and Albert are 2 brother owls. They like video games, computer and watches T.V all day long. Esther/Mocha is a polymer clay artist who loves animals and creates them with lot's of love and details.

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

http://www.facebook.com/mochasfriends

French artist - GADOUILLE made a face cane and is sharing with us some of the steps on the way to become a final cane. She says it is not what she expected and I say - why? :)

http://gadouille.canalblog.com/archives/2012/02/08/23475146.html

I know Valentine was 1.5 months ago, but here is a cute bunny tutorial made with Fimo air basic. The tutorial is made by Kellie from "Makeitwithme" blog

http://makeitwithme-kell.blogspot.com/2012/02/here-is-fun-character-card-tutorial-for.html

Some of DisenyArte (Olga) recent jewelry are made of polymer clay beads and a kind of macrame knotting. The final result is impressive, colorful and unique.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/disenyarte/6773142059/in/photostream

See you on another continent! :)

Polymeri Online 7.3.12 | Curled polymer clay spoons, Funky food, Portrait stamps and Coil beads

First I have to apologize for neglecting my weekly posts, a nasty virus has caught my son and then had to pay me a visit... Mid-seasons are the worst for catching viruses! Now I am recovering and back to my duties! :)

The first polymeri link is by PolymerSpoon. Marie Laure is a french artist who works mostly in Millefiori. You can find curly spoons and various colorful creations in her flickr along with several photos of her canning process.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/polyspoon/

http://fimo-creations-polyspoon.com/

Bistro Bling is a menu of funky food jewelry made from polymer clay. The "chef" is Jane Lubin, a mixed media artist. She created her fun and funky jewelry for personal use but was soon being stopped everywhere by curious people who wanted some quirky jewelry of their own. Her website, designed as a menu is cool!

http://www.bistrobling.com/

Not polymer but a wonderful way to stamp your art! Portrait stamps! isn't this the most original "signature stamp"? I loved it! You can use Lise Grossmann services to create your own hand writing stamp. brilliant.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/lilimandrill?ref=seller_info

leeleebeads' photostream is full of snakes, coils, strips, curls all made of polymer clay. Leah Hagan is a clay artist and a beadmaker. She even created special themed sets for the holidays. They look like small colorful candy to me.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/leeleebeads/

Polymeri Online 17.1.12 | Red dotted acorns, Sleeping cat tutorial, Pirate decoration & 19 steps face cane tutorial

Don't you just love these adorable red ornaments acorns?

Patricia Buzo is the creator behind Doodle Bird's terrarium designs, She comes from a long line of artistically-minded family and originally started out as a watercolor artist in her teens, In 2008 she began to have health issues and started looking into other creative avenues. These acorns are made with real acorn caps and polymer clay, the "nut" is sculpted to fit perfectly into it's cap.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/62108208/set-of-5-toadstool-farm-acorn-ornaments

Cara Hayman's sleeping cat tutorial is a quick and easy project to play with, Cara used polymer clay since childhood creating tea sets and miniature food for her dolls house. Now as a stay at home mum she finally finds the time to develop her passion for polymer.

http://www.carajane.co.uk/2012/01/my-sleeping-cat-tutorial.html

http://www.flickr.com/photos/surfingcatclay/

Bébelles de Lou's flickr tutorials "folder" is filled with cute ideas, you are welcome to check out her blog for more projects.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bebellesdelou/sets/72157624494160326/

http://polyblog.canalblog.com/

And another quick tutorial project for a face cane by Galka Vasina, 19 steps and you're all done! ;)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27568198@N04/6660398311/in/contacts/

Polymeri Online 20.12.11 | Christmas & Hannuka, Poinsettia cane tutorial, Lemon's teeth, Crochet "finger" and Christmas tree ornament tutorial

Everywhere I go online I see Christmas or Hannuka designs and ideas, dreidels, Christmas ornaments, menorahs - Festive and holiday-ish! :) Here is another decor celebration by CrazyKwilter made with the Stroppel cane,

and Filigree decorations by Amber Elledge

Gifts, decorations - Lot's of preperations for the holidays! I hope you're not too exhausted!

Another holiday themed project is offered in Sandy's blog - A Poinsettia cane tutorial

I also loved her idea for the Flower variegated cane tutorial -

http://blog.simple-inspirations.com/2010/05/flower-variegated-cane-tutorial-week-20.html

Moving to another thing -This lemon bag is something. I found it in Teia Fetescu blog and had to take another look. Teia is so funny and writes so well! The story starts with a dog called lemon who started to loose it's baby teeth, Her friend came up with an idea to incorporate them into a clay piece to preserve them so he made a lemon head around a metallic tea strainer and used Lemon’s tooth for the face. When it was ready he used it a scented bag in his car. What was surprising to Teia is that the teeth were not oven proof! they cracked while baking! A bit funny - don't you think? This is such an original idea I had to share with you!

http://claycorner.hubak.ch/blog/?p=749

And last, more related to the previous holiday - Halloween - take a look at this polymer "finger" crochet hook by Marlene Brady. It's so funny! She almost fooled me! :)

http://itsallaboutcreating.blogspot.com/2011/10/polymer-crochet-hook.html

Really last - I am reminding you about my free Christmas tree ornament tutorial offered in YouTube -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMTc4CNcYPY

Have a great Hannuka and a Merry Christmas!

Polymeri Online 12.12.11 | Crown pin, Gauged ears earrings, Embossed pendant tutorial, Fun memory game & Enchanted Garden giveaway

Getting ready for the holiday, here is a super cute polymer clay crown pin for a little princess by Daria. Daria is from Kyiv, Ukraine and designs stuff as far as she remembers, first clothes and accessories for her dolls, fabric flowers, drawing, beading and so much more! she graduated from Fine arts school but choose another way and has PhD in molecular biology. Now, as a stay at home mom, she finds the time to create jewelry, some with polymer clay.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dariami/http://dariami.livejournal.com

These earrings by PeachTreats made me take a 2nd look. At first, I couldn't find how to insert them into the ear, then I realized, that she makes earrings for both gauged ears and for regular pierced ears. if you aren’t sure what she means by “gauged ears”—that is when the earring hole is stretched. They are all made of polymer clay!

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

Elsita posted an interesting tutorial on using both paper and polymer to create an interesting pendant. She is tracing a drawing on paper, cutting and pressing the paper against the polymer to create an embossed design. Looks like a wonderful project!

http://elsita.typepad.com/elsita/2011/12/my-papercut-on-polymer-clay-tutorial.html

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9510030@N05

Here is a fun memory game project, originally not created with polymer clay but we can do the same with clay. Take identical coins (use the smallest exchange you have) and glue on it a pre-baked polymer clay design that matches in size and color or pattern - 2 of each. Now you have a wonderful memory game to play with the children!

http://scrumdillydo.blogspot.com/2011/12/holiday-fun-edible-memory-game.html

I was a "proud mom" this week! 2 of my students - Fimomaus and chiccolove made wonderful "Enchanted Garden" canes and even held a competition between them who's going to be first to create them all! They were sure fast like a pasta machine motor! :)

The "Enchanted Garden" special holiday sale is still on with few giveaway sets left!

You will get "Enchanted Garden originals" to your door as giveaway gifts!

Don't miss your ooak holiday souvenirs!

Polymeri Online 20.11.11 | Treasure box pendant, Christmas tiny magnets, Experimenting with translucent clays and an Elephant cane

Russian EvraZhka (Karina) posted a cool treasure box pendant tutorial along with diagrams and detailed info. You'll need to translate this page, I am using my chrome translator to translate the page from Russian to English.

http://evrazhka.blogspot.com/2011/09/blog-post_24.html

Cathy DiGiovanni is making Christmas magnets & pins for over a month now, take a look at these cute magnets decorating her fridge!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cathytx2001/6364919567/

Italian Francesca Di Cesare (MoKuCrea) experimented with translucent clays and shows her results in her flickr gallery. Her experiment is showing different clay types, in various curing temperatures over a sheet of book showing us it's translucency. Pardo, Kato, Cernit, Premo, Fimo - all the polymer "gang" is there.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mokucrea/

among her tests she is also enjoying her time with polymer clay art

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mokucrea/4624546351/in/photostream

Take a look at this amazing elephant cane tutorial by kalinkapolinka. According to her it is not as good as she expected (I disagree!) and it's for those who already tried to make pictured cane and understand the basic techniques.

http://www.kalinkapolinka.ru/publ/master_klassy/master_klass_po_lepke_kejna_slona_iz_polimernoj_gliny/2-1-0-16