Polymeri Online 17.5.13 | The Rocky Horror millefiori cane, Plaster mold hollow beads tutorial, Embellished bags and Faux ivory polymer clay art

Polymer clay cane
The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Beverley Start is a polymer clay artist since 2009, after she moved to Ontario, a friend gave her a beautiful pendant made of polymer clay. She was fascinated by the technique and went to goggle about polymer. After watching a few hours of how-to videos on YouTube, she was off to Michaels to buy what she needed to get started.
With background in science and engineering, and years of being a cake decorator, her tip for canning is "think three dimensionally".
Here is her "Frankenfurter" cane from The Rocky Horror Picture Show
http://handmadeartists.com/forum/index.php/topic,6758.0.html


Whinnie Poh is sharing with us some of her unique ways for creating hollow beads using molds and plaster or salt dough.
Her beautiful hollow jewelry pieces require delicate technique which gives such an accurate result.

Hollow beads using plaster molds

More of her work here and here .
She gives special directions, tips and "do's and don't" for working with plaster molding. Translation from Russian to English was a bit complicated to understand, if you'd like to experiment I recommend reading her post several times until you feel confident enough to begin :)
http://yablor.ru/blogs/otminka-zapekaemih-plastikov/2492694

Sun and moon wall art decoration

Lisa Rapp started HiGirls! Designs because she wanted to carry handbags that didn't cost a fortune while making a statement about her personal style.
She learned to work with polymer clay first as a way to make beads, then started to discover new ways to use it for practical items, then it become her obsession! Her trademark has become a polymer clay embellishment for each bag.
This is another one of her polymer clay pieces - Sun and moon wall art decoration, Mexican inspired.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/124311822/sun-and-moon-wall-art-polymer-clay

Faux Ivory polymer clay beads

Speaking of faux techniques (I am still with faux ceramics spinning in my head), here is a beautiful real but faux store for polymer clay art by Selena Wells, her specialty is faux ivory pendants and beads, ancient-seeming, history-archaeology-like.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/selenaannewells
http://www.flickr.com/photos/selenaanne/

In exactly 3 weeks I am flying to Liechtenstein to meet old and new friends and teach 2 of my most popular classes - Skyscraper and INKredible.
Preparations are on my schedule, new jewelry, new samples, I promise to post pictures as soon as they are ready.
Have a great (almost) weekend!

Polymeri Online 15.4.13 | Polymer clay etching-inking, Sailors penguins, Millefiori eye cane tutorial and 18 karat polymer clay strawberry

polymer clay pendant

Maria Belkomor has a magical touch for  intriguing polymer clay art that keeps me busy, trying to figure out what is she doing here and there. Her latest set is called "etching" although she is referring to ink and it looks more like carving to me but correct me if I am wrong. She mentions this is an intensive hard work but I know the result is absolutely worth it.
http://belkomor.livejournal.com/


More by her is this great tutorial for creating a snake/dragon skin texture. She says it's easy but a slow process. 
Start with the maximum thickness on your machine and with squares cutters kept perpendicular to the table, go straight down like a guillotine but not cutting all

Dragon skin

the way. Then, use something like a light bulb, for example and slowly stretch the joints to be separated. This would cause a texture to spread. She continues her explanation here -
http://polymerclayfimo.livejournal.com/4559185.html

polymer clay penguins posts

Thelittlecreatures belongs to Inês Fonseca, a Portuguese girl living in Scotland with a passion for nature, polymer clay and great stories. Her store is full of cuteness and joyous colors - Dogs, Giraffes, penguins and many more are a part of her Etsy zoo.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/Thelittlecreatures

eye millefiori cane

Eye canning and face canning in particular can be fairly complicated, especially if you are not sure you want to sacrifice many polymer clay packages or end up with a cane that may be distorted due to clay softness. I admit I only did it once with my Dora the explorer cane (18 packages of clay) and did not do it again since.
But it doesn't mean we can't enjoy a good photo when we see one!
Here is an eye tutorial by Polyspoon which shows us some necessary steps to complete a great millefiori cane. Don't miss her other canes (buddha, geisha) previously featured many times online.
http://www.fimo-creations-polyspoon.com/2012/04/cane-oeil-vert.html

polymer clay strawberry

We all love jewelry with out going bank robbed -right? Here is a cute strawberry necklace tutorial featured in quietlioncreations blog. The original piece is by Kenneth Jay Lane and is a real 18 karat gold plated pendant, BUT! if you cannot afford the real one yet, you can play with clay and create strawberries in all colors.
http://quietlioncreations.blogspot.co.il/2012/07/kenneth-jay-lane-strawberry-necklace.html