Fall Color Inspiration

If you are working on your polymer clay color palette for autumn, aside from Pantone, where can you look for the season's most popular colors? An almost foolproof guide to color forecasting is fashion, especially cosmetics. This year, fall makeup colors are anything but ho-hum. The season features subtle tones of bold shades. What?? How can a color be a subtle tone of a bold shade? By starting with a palette of bold, exciting colors and dialing back the volume a bit, the result is a happy medium of pizazz and don't-look-like-a-rockstar. 

Allure magazine offers detailed information about "The 8 Sexiest Fall Makeup Colors" in their online edition. Look for a list of brand names as a guide or go straight to the cosmetics department of your favorite store to pick up a few shiny eyeshadows. Use them to match colors with your clay, then add them to your collection of Mica powders. http://www.allure.com/makeup-looks/2013/sexiest-fall-makeup-colors#slide=1

1-Plum; 2-Chocolate; 3-Emerald; 4-Garnet; 5-Taupe; 6-Lilac;
7-Turquoise; 8-Violet

Color mix recipes can be found at www.pcPolyzine.com.

Image Credits: David Cook for Allure magazine

[Posted by Jeannie Havel]

Remembering Gwen Gibson (1934 - 2013)

As the mystery of polymer clay unfolds for each of us, there are those who leave an indelible mark on our journey. Their spirit, skill, and ingenuity forge paths for us to follow that branch off in infinite directions. Such is the soul of Gwen Gibson. She died September 24th leaving a legacy of unique style, innovative techniques, and a degree of excellence for us to follow. In true Gwen fashion, what she wrote about "departing" on her website - although her meaning was about art, not death - is exquisitely fitting as we bid her goodbye.

"...'Departure' is about an impossible faith faced with the imposed limitation of gravity. Yet, the yearning to transcend is so strong that one is prepared to take off in the shakiest of contraptions."

Dear, dear Gwen, as you transcend, may your contraption be sturdy and your passage filled with peace.

Image credits: Gwen Gibson.com

[Posted by Jeannie Havel]

Product Review: Lucy Clay Extruders

The older I get, the more I appreciate polymer clay tools that are kind to my hands. When I think back to the old syringe-style extruder, I shudder at the memory of how painful it was to use. I've talked to many clayers over the years who, like me, stopped extruding completely because it just wasn't worth the trouble. Then, a new little green extruder made its way onto the market and ta-da! I was extruding almost every day. Many of the old problems were solved - the extruder was easy to use, held a generous amount of clay, and was designed to be self-cleaning. Wow! Could things get any better?

Fast forward to 2013 and the answer is yes! Things not only got better, they got seriously better. The new clay extruders from Lucy Clay in the Czech Republic have most of the now-familiar features of the more modern extruders already on the market with one giant advantage: the Lucy Clay extruders are designed to work with an electric drill. This one feature pushes the Lucy Clay extruders into the stratosphere. While the extruders - two sizes: 10cm and 18cm - have a standard ratchet turning handle, the ratchet can be removed to fit the extruder with an electric drill. This makes the clay extrude quickly and easily, and for me, with no pain to my hands at all.

Although I know many people already use a drill with their current extruder, there is not an extruder already on the market - in my professional opinion - with the strength to withstand the torque of an electric drill over an extended period. In addition, any adaptations to existing extruders will, most likely, invalidate any type of warranty offered by the manufacturer. This includes devices added to make twisting or turning the extruder easier. Extruders from Lucy Clay, however, are heavy-duty in design and can hold up under strong use.

Lucy Clay extruders come in a variety of colors and are well packaged. Currently, there are four sets of extruder shape disks available. Of note is the shape sometimes called the "kitten nose." Clay extruded with the kitten nose shape disk fits perfectly in the crevice created between two round logs of clay. This means fewer air pockets and better-looking canes.

Extruder add-on tools are in the works including a cleaning brush, vise, and more extruder disks. If you are serious about extruding clay or have been avoiding extruding for whatever reason, extruders from Lucy Clay are the answer.

Visit the Lucy Clay Facebook page to find a distributor in your country: https://www.facebook.com/LUCYpolymerCLAY

Image Credits: Lucy Clay

Disclosure: One Lucy Clay Extruder and one standard extruder disk set furnished to pcPolyzine for review by Lucy Clay, Czech Republic. Extruder shape disk with "kitten nose" shape purchased at full retail price by pcPolyzine.

[Posted by Jeannie Havel]

Papal Inspiration

Today's inspiration comes from an unlikely source far from the polymer clay community. Although it is about a religious figure, it is not about religion. It is about hope. My hope is that somewhere in it, you, too, find inspiration. The message comes from Pope Francis to a group of young people in Rome and I cannot think of a better mantra for us, whether we are seasoned polyclay artists or newcomers.

"Have courage. Go forward. Make noise."

Pope Francis poses with young people in the Church of Saint
Augustine in Rome on August 28, 2013.

Posted: Saturday 31 August 2013

(AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE)  Pope Francis has broken protocol once again, appearing with a puzzled look on his face in a "selfie" photo taken with a group of teenagers visiting the Vatican. The picture appeared on the Facebook page of one of the youngsters, who used it as his profile picture, and was going viral on social media on Saturday.
The picture comes in the same week that the Oxford English Dictionary included the word "selfie" to denote a self-taken photograph on a smartphone.

The young believers were part of a church group from northern Italy who met with the leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics on Wednesday and were seen going up to him afterwards to take their photo. "There is no marketing behind these actions. The pope clearly likes being with people while his predecessor liked being with books," said Beppe Severgnini, columnist for the Corriere della Sera daily.

Read the full story: http://news.yahoo.com/first-papal-selfie-goes-viral-social-media-073930372.html
Image Credit: Yahoo
[Posted by Jeannie Havel]

Illusionary Inspiration



http://img.gawkerassets.com/post/4/2012/03/illusion3.jpg

It's true. I am crazy for canes, so when I saw this example of an optical illusion this morning in the Huffington Post, it makes me wonder if a carefully built cane could provide the same visual effect. If successful, it would seem the clay is moving. Can you imagine that?










Image Credit: Huffington Post

[Posted by Jeannie Havel]

Translucent Colors

Yesterday I decided to have a browse online for some inspirations for translucent clay. I wanted to find out what could be its top level of translucency and what I found online did surprise and inspire me a lot. I created this inspirational collage for all of you to get inspired, too and to get some deeper understanding of how limitless polymer possibilities truly are. Enjoy!

Image Credits: (1) Aniko Kolesnikova; (2) Joan Tayler; (3) Dana Phamova; (4) Katrin Neumaier; (5) Wendy Malinow; (6) Claire Maunsell; (7) Dana Phamova; (8) Patti Pennisi; (9) Ginger Davis Allman; (10) Katrin Neumaier; (11) Mars Design; (12) Ginger Davis Allman; (13) Heather S.

Boxes on the Brain

Desiree McCrory is a class act in the polymer clay community. She earned status as queen of the clay machines many years ago when she showed us how to bravely dismantle and reassemble our machines for cleaning and tune-ups. Her talent goes far beyond mechanics; she is an accomplished artist whose imagination and skill produce stunning canes, beads, light switch covers, breathtaking jewelry, and an array of whimsical and artistic boxes and tins. Her covered Altoid tin tutorial, "Pretty in Pink and Blue" graced the January 2001 issue of pcPolyzine and is a favorite in the tutorial archives. Follow Desiree's step-by-step instructions to create your own treasure. And be sure to visit her website, Desired Creations, for an excursion through a gallery of box after beautiful box.

Image Credits: Desiree McCrorey
[Posted by Jeannie Havel]

Cambrian Treasures



Imagw Credit: LiveScience on Yahoo News

[Posted by Jeannie Havel]

Morocco is rich with artistic inspiration. For example, look at this rendition of a fossil uncovered by paleontologist Andrew Smith in the Anti-Atlas Mountains in 2012. The primitive sea creature was found while excavating sediments dating to about 520 million years ago. If it gets your polymer clay juices going, you can read the full article in yesterday's edition of the journal, Proceedings of the Royal Society B, or search LiveScience for Helcocystis moroccoensis.

Friday Night Inspiring Snack

Quick, before you settle into dinner, take a look at the vast array of polymer clay candy on Marlene Brady's Pinterest pages. I could stay there all night . . . and since it's Friday, I just might do that. Hope you enjoy it, too!

Image Credits: (1) Marlene Brady (2) Mandy Geo (3) Meagan Chaney (4) Tory Hughes (5) Créa'Sofimo (6) Pips Jewelry (7) Susan Hyde (8) Vesi Koleva (9) Olga Ayala
[Posted by Jeannie Havel]

Imagine Home Decor in Polymer Clay

Image Credit: One King's Lane

[Posted by Jeannie Havel]

Today's inspiration comes from home decor catalog giant, One King's Lane of San Francisco. Great ideas for covering objects in polymer clay with texture sheet and stamped embellishment flow from accessories in bright, saturated colors. Summer is a good time to give your creations a little oomph. Browse through the OKL catalog, then use patterns and color mixes to adapt a design with your unique touch.

It's Saturday - Treat Yourself to Something Wonderful!!

Israel's polymer clay guild (ILPCG) is a robust group of talented artists whose work is well recognized in our community. A popular member is Yonat Dascalu, author of numerous tutorials she sells in her Etsy shop and now her first self-published book available through Amazon.com entitled Polymer Clay: All the Basic and Advanced Techniques You Need to Create with Polymer Clay.

This book is compact in size but brimming with instruction. Scattered throughout you will find step-by-step projects to apply what you learn in the techniques section. There are myriad photos and generous explanations of how to make just about every type of essential polymer clay cane and how to apply them to jewelry and items of home decor. 
If you have ever wanted to know how Yonat creates her lovely polymer clay art, I recommend exploring Amazon's "look inside" feature to see what treasures await when you make your purchase. An added benefit, Yonat's book is available for Kindle and in a large print version. There is much to enjoy here!!

Paperback: 128 pages (Large print version)

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (April 9, 2012)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1475153740

ISBN-13: 978-1475153743

Image Credit: Guy Dascalu
[Posted by Jeannie Havel]

A New Star In Our Universe

Please join us in welcoming Polymer Clay Planet to our galaxy.

You will find a spirited collection of curated art.

There is much to explore!!

Facebook

Twitter

Blog

[Posted by Jeannie Havel]

Amore



Image credit: Elsa Mora, Art is a Way

[Posted by Jeannie Havel]

This is Amore. She is one of the Flower girls/Blossom buddies by multimedia artist Elsa Mora. Her purpose today is to make you smile and think about how she is created from miscellaneous petals and such. Who could be hiding in the random trappings of your art space? Perhaps a distant cousin of Amore is in your backyard waiting to be discovered and to inspire you to look for the happy places wherever you might find them.

 

Note: The link to Elsa Mora is a connector to her new site. It is worth the extra click to see what she left behind.

 

 

Turning the Tables on Inspiration

Aniko and I love posting colorful and imaginative images and ideas hoping to inspire you to think of polymer clay possibilities. So imagine our delight when Bosnian artist Jelena Babić (aka Djidje Midje) posted pics on Facebook of her bracelet inspired by Aniko's Mosaic Cane video.

How exciting it feels to see the results when you watch our videos and try the techniques!!

Just think how versatile the Mosaic Cane can be. To this point, we've used a basic set of random colors. But what about actually choosing colors to coordinate with an outfit? And maybe reducing the Mosaic Cane to a suitable size for earrings? Varying the color of the "grout" opens up some possibilities, too.

Jelena, your bracelet inspires me!! I'm off to try some intentional color combinations.

PS - A shout out to Elissa Powell to thank her for the original design and tutorial.

Image Credit: Jelena Babić (Djidje Midje).

[Posted by Jeannie Havel on behalf of the entire pcPolyzine Team]

Feathers everywhere!

I get inspiration from everywhere and by now you should definitely know it!
So....would you get inspired after a pillow fight? Messy hair, red face and belly aching from laughing. I jumped on my chair and collected all these beautiful creations so that you, my dear friends, get inspired and make some more feathers for me to collect and post again :) Infinite circle of feathers! Yes! :)

Be creative and let your life be as light as feathers. ^^
Aniko xxx

Image Credits: (1) Robin Milne (2) The Gilded Hare Blog (3) gRiS bLEu (4) Debi Burk Scott (5) Nancy Frazier (6) Alisa Burke (7) Rebecca from The Crafted Sparrow (8) Gabriela Pomplova (9) Katka Titis (10) Chris A Kapono (11) ArtmakersWorlds  (12) Ivy Niles (13) SkyeArt (14) Wendy Kay (15) Amber Dawn (16) Dan Cormier  (17) by Creative Critters (18) Lottie Of London's (19) The Gilded Hare Blog (20) Amber Elledge (21) by Out to Clay

[Posted by Aniko Kolesnikova]

Archive Tutorial: "Rainbow Jellyroll Keyring" by Dotty McMillan - Originally Published April 2001

Dotty McMillan makes this playful keyring quick and easy to put together. Her project uses slices of translucent jellyroll canes applied over a basic cylinder of white clay. The effect is reminiscent of the Chrysanthemum Cane. It's basically the same technique without the indentations that alter the jellyroll. You can choose the colors you like and determine the placement of the cane slices in a manner that are most pleasing to you. Add a metal keyring and some leather lacing and your Rainbow Jellyroll Keyring is ready to use. You could add pony beads or crow beads in coordinating colors to the lacing to vary the design. This is a good project for when you want to make multiples for gift giving.

Original tutorial from pcPolyzine.com published April 2001
[Posted by Jeannie Havel]

Branching Out

Image Credit: Rebekah Payne, Tree Wings Studio

[Posted by Jeannie Havel]

What inspires you? We'd like to know. Send us a photo and tell us where you get your clay inspiration. You could be featured on our blog. inspiration@pcpolyzine.com

Recently, I found inspiration on Polymer Clay Daily in the post featuring faceted mosaic scrap beads by Rebekah Payne of Tree Wings Studio. As is usually the case, one link led to another and soon I was oohing and aahing at Rebekah's Easy Winter Tree Cane tutorial on the Art Jewelry Elements blog. Have you seen it? While you're there, check out Rebekah's sexy little pink chopper. I'm sure it's what Barbie would use if she chopped polymer clay.

Signs of Spring

It is April outside and you cannot deny it. Yes, it may still be a bit cold in some countries but a few signs of spring are here! Nature knows better, and in spite of cold temperatures, in some places cherry blossoms are doing their job! Yes, blossoming they are! This made me think and got me inspired and I decided to take a look at what cherry blossom and Sakura inspirations the World Wide Web can offer :) And here it is! Pink and Fragrant!

Thank you very much for your attention!

Lots of love,

Aniko

Image Credits: (1) BeadsCraftz (2)Orly Fuchs Galchen (3) Kim Detmers (4) Jane Perala (5) BakeryDelights on Etsy (6) Tami Shvat (7) MollyDiBi (8) K.Hernandez (9) Sue Rout (MyWillies) (10) Afsaneh Tajvidi (JooJoo) (11) Sakurasnow (12) Alisa Maskaeva (13) Dorothy Taylor (14) Shuveih on Etsy (15) theshagbag on Etsy (16) Tooaquarius on Etsy (17) Lagoa Design Studio (18) Afsaneh Tajvidi (JooJoo). 

Possibilities Pop With Prints



Image Credit: OneKingsLane.com

[Posted by Jeannie Havel]

Combining prints can be tricky, so why fret? Look to catalogs and interior design websites to see what the professionals are doing. For example, the combination of green prints in this tableau from One Kings Lane is a textural vision just asking to be stylized in polymer clay. Change the colors and mix up patterns to discover a new range of visual interest.

Enchanted Flowers

Miss Moss Miniature Exotic Flower Terrariums are the transport to fairy forests and lands beyond an imaginary horizon. Each is a one-of-a-kind assemblage of air-dry clay skillfully hand-sculpted and arranged in repurposed glass. Preserved moss provides the bed while handmade mushrooms and miscellaneous flora supply the accents. 

What inspires you? We'd like to know. Send us a photo and tell us where you get your clay inspiration. You could be featured on our blog. inspiration@pcpolyzine.com

Image Credits: Miss Moss Miniature Exotic Flower Terrariums

[Posted by Jeannie Havel]