Letter from the Editor: Fall 2019

Since launching the re-designed site, things have been pretty busy. When I set out to accomplish the revitalization of pcPolyzine, I knew there would be some things that I just couldn’t get done in time for the July release date. So I’ve spent the past few months trying to reach goals to make pcPolyzine even better.

Featured Artist: Fall 2019

As pcPolyzine continues to revitalize, we wanted to pick up an article series that was an old favorite—the Featured Artist! For the Fall 2019 issue of pcPolyzine, we’re featuring Alabama artist, Lee Anne Jones.

Holiday Ornament Tutorial

With the holidays right around the corner, it’s never too early to start thinking about ways to decorate. These simple ornaments are both classy and easy to make. Whether you need a thoughtful gift for the office party or you're looking to create memories with the kids, these ornaments can accomplish any goal.

Letter from the Editor

When I was about six years old, my mother came back from a trip to the mid-west—what she was doing there, I don’t remember. However, while she was there, she visited a local craft store. There she was introduced to polymer clay in the form of beads. She brought some clay home for us to experiment. While we sat at the kitchen table, I listened to her talk about these amazing beads she saw and how they were made from the packs of clay that sat before me. Keep in mind, this was in the day before we had cell phones and easy ways to take pictures, so she had to explain them to me from memory. As she described all the beads she saw, I opened the packages of clay and began to knead some small pieces in my hands. I had no clue what I was doing and the only real experience I had with “clay” was Play-Doh at this point in my young life. Her stories continued to flow as I played with the clay. As the clay got softer, I would work with another color to the same consistency. By this point, she was telling me about these beautiful blue and pearl swirled beads that were separated by small gold spacer beads and were strung into a necklace. As she finished this part of her story, I remember holding up the clay I had been working on and said, “You mean like this?” She was astounded! I had been able to recreate those marbled beads she was memorized by in the store without even seeing them myself. I think it was probably that moment when her polymer clay obsession took flight.

Pantone 2019 Color of the Year

Pantone’s 2019 color of the year is Living Coral. This shade is inspired by many marine invertebrates living along the bottom of the sea and make up various reefs. Living coral is a mood-boosting color that is fresh and invigorating. 

Technique of the Month: Polymer Clay Lace

When we hear the word lace, we get a mental image of a delicate, white fabric. Many times, we find lace as an embellishment on a wedding dress or made into a doily that has been handed down from a distant relative. Traditionally, lace is made from thread or yarn, but has also been made from materials such as silk, gold, and even silver threads throughout history. Now we can add another material to that list – Polymer Clay! 

You Are Our Inspiration

Some of our best projects and tutorials come from our readers. That means you. For instance, check out this fabulous mandala tutorial from November 2001 Mandala Tutorial. Byrd Tetzlaff is the artist. She says the word "mandala" is Sanskrit for "wholeness"  or "healing circle." I, for one, could use a healing circle right about now.

Do you have a project you would like to share with our many readers and followers?

If you would like to be featured on our blog, send me a note: blog@pcPolyzine.com. 

Here's hoping we all can find wholeness and a healing circle.

Wild Life Inspiration

Photo Credits: Animal Adventure Park, Harpursville, NY.

Usually at this time of year, a certain bunny rabbit soaks up a big basket of publicity.  This year (Ha!), bunny had some fierce competition for the spotlight. One very special giraffe, April, gave birth to her new baby boy at Animal Adventure Park in Harpursville, New York. If you've been following this most audacious pregnancy, the payoff came when the whole world (or at least a few million of us) watched on livestream as April delivered her Baby Boy Giraffe. It was spectacular. If you are interested in the details, Baby weighed in at 129 pounds and stood 5 feet 9 inches when he eventually found his wobbly little legs. Mother and Baby are doing well*. 

To celebrate the birth, I went to the pcPolyzine tutorial archives, and snagged our Wild Life Wine Cup Candle project. The tutorial, by Deirdre Woodward Sanders, originally appeared in the January 2002 issue. As always, the tutorial is free and you are encouraged to share the link with your clay pals.

Sorry, BunBun, better luck next year.

*Program note: Just before this blogpost was published, the official website for April the Giraffe was pulled due to April suffering a minor leg injury. According to zoo personnel and April's veterinarian, the twisted ankle is not out of the ordinary and she is expected to be just fine. In the meantime, you can watch the birth on April's YT channel YouTube video.

Happy New Year 2017

Wishing you a new year filled with peace, prosperity, and polymer clay.

Pantone 2017 Color of the Year

Greenery is a symbol of new beginnings. It's especially inspirational to me as I try, once again, to put some new life into pcPolyzine. While my physical health may not be as I would like it, I know my mental health can be a far worse malady. I am of the mind that both go hand-in-hand; what affects one affects the other, sometimes in minor tones, sometimes major.

Pantone color matching systems is always on the pulse of design in fashion, home accessories and color schemes, and jewelry. We polymer clay artists should be inspired to incorporate the color-of-the-year into our repertoire, especially if we intend to market our art. Look at it as new beginning.

Mea Culpa to the Last Drop

My sincerest apologies for posting an objection to a recent Maxwell House Coffee TV commercial. It seems I am alone in my position on the matter. A fair number of our blog followers unsubscribed. I did not mean to offend anyone - especially teachers. I do, however stand by my opinion that the commercial portrayed someone who was not monitoring the doings in the classroom, particularly a live turtle in a dump truck. And while I will agree that "people put dogs on skateboards" and such, a dog usually has the ability to jump off the board when he wants to. A turtle does not. So, back to posts about polymer clay and polymer clay only.

This post will be my last on the subject. Again, I am so sorry.

Sincerely,
Jeannie Havel

Pantone Color Trends for Spring 2016

It's time to decide which of the trending Pantone colors you will incorporate into your Spring 2016 polymer clay palette. Here are the Top 10 to get you started.

http://www.pantone.com

The Queen of Kitsch and Kitchen

Thinking back on my entire life, I cannot recall a time when I was rendered speechless. Go ahead, roll your eyes. It's just that today I stumbled upon someone who has forever changed my view of the world. I am seeing life through a lens of supersonic inspiration. It is taking my breath away. It is splendiferous.

You see, I've found a countess of cool. The queen of kitsch and kitchen. Her name is Christine McConnell. She bakes, she sews, she makes magic with Adobe® Photoshop® software, she creates objets d'art. She's half Elvira, half Stepford wife, half Dita Von Teese. One minute she's appears wholesome and the next minute wicked.

She's got a book due out next March called Deceptive Desserts: A Lady's Guide to Baking Bad!, but we will call it If She Makes it With Sugar, We Can Make it With Clay!. 

Here is a pumpkin pie she made in the style of Cinderella's carriage. Can you see it in polymer clay? Treat yourself to her website and Instagram. I believe you will find Miss Christine can be a nightmarish dream or dreamy nightmare.

Oh, and one more thing; in her spare time she dotes on her kitty cats and she makes (and models) her own underwear. Wow.

Photo credit: Christine H McConnell via Instagram.

Aromatic Inspiration From DeviantArt.com

With all the avenues one can traverse on the journey to unearth and take in massive amounts of polymer clay art, there is none quite like DeviantArt.com. Yes, there are traditional works. There are displays that are the same as those gracing the usual polyclay haunts (Etsy, Facebook, Pinterest, . . .) but many times at this social media mega site, there are surprises. Many times the display is part of the art. Take Monster Kookies for example. Here is an artist with a whimsical mind. I hope the tutorial inspires you to try scenting some of your clay creations, and the visual display tickles your fancy.

Photo Credit: Monster Kookies

Happy Halloween!!

Good grief!! Halloween got here much sooner than I expected, so the most I can muster at this late date is something orange. I know, it's feeble, but wait until you see it. As crazy as I am for canes, and for as long as I've been involved with polymer clay (23 years), here is a cane (orange BTW) I've never seen. It's one of many from FIMO Live Journal. Imagine the possibilities just by using different color combinations. You could make a quick pair of earrings to wear with your costume -- you are dressing up, right? Have fun tricking or treating and remember to set your clocks back an hour. Oh, how I love that!!

Photo Credit: FIMO Live Journal

♪ Happy Birthday dear FIMO, Happy Birthday to you ♪

You will want to be part of this celebration!! 

The 50th Anniversary of FIMO will commemorate the brand AND all the proceeds from auctioning the clay pieces we donate go to two of the polyclay community's favorite charities: The Samunnat Community in Nepal that Cynthia Tinapple works with and Ron Lehocky’s KIDS Center for Pediatric Therapies. Ron is the powerhouse who makes all those magical hearts from our clay leftovers. Get more information below and then start working on your contribution to this once-in-a-lifetime occasion!!

FIMO 50 World Project

September 19 at 7:14pm · 

This is a very special moment for the global Polymer Clay community, one of these rare ones that will truly become a once-in-a-lifetime celebration. Polymer Clay is about to be fifty years old! The brand that started it all, FIMO, will be fifty in 2016!

It’s all about celebrating how FIMO and Polymer Clay have become such a powerful vehicle to expand and connect our world, making it ever larger, wider and more beautiful.

Here’s the idea: together we want to make a big, International collaborative project with pieces from all over the world that together will create our ‘World’.

And here comes the best part: this initiative, the whole experience, is all non-for-profit, charity-oriented. We want to really make it count: every piece donated will be auctioned online and, once the whole ‘World’ is completed and presented, it will be dismantled. The pieces will travel around the world again to their new owners. And all the proceeds will be sent to two charities that are so dear to the Polymer Clay program worldwide: The Samunnat Community in Nepal and Ron Lehocky’s KIDS Center for Pediatric Therapies.

How to participate? It is so easy! Make an art piece that speaks about you – make it on your own, with your friends, with your guild… send as many as you like! There are no rules! Well, just one: the pieces will be 10cmx10cm approx., so that they will all fit nicely onto the World. The more pieces we all send, the more beautiful the World will be and the more we will collect for our friends!

On October 1st, all the details –how to register, where to send your piece…- will be published on the official ‘FIMO 50 World Project’ website. Right now, let’s all start to create our art pieces!

Thank you so much!!

Photo by Modern Vintage Events

It's never too early to start making preparations for Halloween. These adorable mini pumpkin lanterns are from Modern Vintage Events. And while MVE used real pumpkins, their design ideas are easily transformed with polymer clay. For a detailed tutorial on making the lanterns as shown, go to the Modern Vintage Events website.

It wouldn't be Halloween around pcPolyzine World Headquarters without paying homage to the memory of Thomas Ojeda. Together with his compadre, Kim Kennedy, they kept the ezine afloat with little to no kudos along the way. Today, we celebrate both of them and their inimitable spirit for Halloween with a tutorial from the pcPolyzine archives. Their delightful polymer clay mini jack o'lantern votives are from the October 2003 issue. Be sure to look through the index of free tutorials in the pcPolyzine archives for more trick 'or' treat ideas from Kim and Thomas. You can find an alphabetical list of all the pcPolyzine tutorials to download by selecting the link in the upper right-hand corner.

Photo by Kim Kennedy

Uninspiring...boo, hoo, hoo.

Hello everybody - We, rather I, are/am having technical difficulties. I broke my laptop screen making it difficult to navigate. But I am on the job and hope to have everything fixed in the next week. I miss you and will try to be back soon. :((

Eternal Inspiration: Remembering Karin Ashdown

My favorite Karin Ashdown polymer clay tutorial ever!!

A sad day for the polyclay community.

Visit Karin's Pinterest page to see some of the things she enjoyed. The images speak for themselves.

Peace be with you, dear Karin.

Yummy Sweet Inspiration

 [Click to play video] 

OK, so it's cookie dough and not polymer clay. The technique is the same. 

Watch this one, then visit YouTube to subscribe to the channel where there are more videos just like this one. Great fun!! 

(Thanks to Polymer Clay Annex​ for posting this on their Facebook page).

Video from: Eugenie Kitchen on YouTube