Friendship Hand Pendant-pins in Polymer Clay

Polymer Clay Friendship Hand pendant pin combos with a ceramic-like finish and look. To achieve it I didn't use liquid polymer clay like on other pendants. I find that some liquid clays can mimic ceramics quite well and I've done that, but if the texture is not deeply etched, the liquid clay sort of pools here and there. If you have been following my blog you can probably tell that this colour, an amazonite/teal is my favorite. Black and silver and dark are other colours of choice, but I feel this colour goes year-round and compliments so many colours of clothing.
You may have guessed it, I've been working on turning this into a tutorial, including the imitative ceramic 'circle dot' beads. Should be finished by tomorrow.
The stencil is a little PhotoEz silk screen which I put on Etsy along with some others. The pins will be going up too, just in case anyone wants a finished one, ready to go (smile).

Coming Soon....Polymer Clay bracelet sizer tutorial

I did a workshop with these at the recent Horizons Polymer Clay Retreat in Vancouver. It was a fast 'Bam Bam' workshop quite late in the day, so hopefully my students walked away with some interesting info! I think these will be Bam Bam's because they are quick to make too!


First I showed the PhotoEZ stencil process, how to develop and screen them on polymer clay. Then I explained how to make the bracelet size 'specific'. I heard some oooh's and aaah's when that was revealed with my little 'Bam Bam Gizmo', lol. Perhaps you too have struggled with sizing, that when your wrist measures 7" and you use large beads, that your bracelet actually has to be much larger than the 7", or it won't fit....or you made some and they ended up being to small. I invented a sizer that is multi functional unlike the cone shaped sizer on the market. I've been using it ever since, even for beadwork. I'll be writing instructions sometime this coming next week. I'll keep you posted. In the meantime....would you be interested in a tutorial with sizer/kit?...?

Polymer clay stenciled bracelet

Working on more polymer clay hearts for Valentines Day, but also on some bracelet designs. This large cuff is so comfortable. I made a mokume gane design for one side and the other has a stenciled design. It is reversible and slightly oval as no wrist is round. I blended some pearlescent with green and turquoise polymer clay and once again used photoEZ as part of the design. What do you think? Would you wear something like this?
Also made some more hearts and put them in etsy (see my sidebar).

Workshops, lessons and PhotoEZ

Am working on putting together some kits for my upcoming workshop at Horizons 2009 next month. Besides providing materials such as beads, templates, artwork and a little surprise 'gizmo' that I created, am getting quite excited about teaching because I just got word from EZScreenPrint that they will help sponsor me with some much needed supplies!

Students will have to wait and see, but I am thankful to EZScreenPrint for their generosity! And if "you" want to benefit from their generosity, check out their website because they have some awesome sales happening right NOW!

For those that aren't familiar with the material, it is an ideal screen printing material. It can be used on many types of materials, such as ceramics, fabric, paper, and polymer clay. I know when most of us think about screen printing, we imagine these hard to use, messy and expensive tools, but not so with PhotoEZ. That is where the EZ part comes in....ease or easy!

Check out the videos that Christopher Avalos posted on YouTube. The first tutorial shows you how to create an image on your computer, the second one how to create the screen, and the third, how to print with the screen. I can tell you that it only takes me about 40 minutes from printing artwork to having a finished screen ready for my polymer clay.
Here is my own tutorial (free) on how to achieve templates for screens....made on your computer from 'dingbat fonts'.

I must explore this material for scrapbooking next.

Polymer Clay Retreat on the Horizon....

It's not even Christmas yet and I'm already looking forward to the New Year. Horizons 2009, a Retreat for Polymer Clay enthusiasts, will be hosted by the Vancouver Polymer Clay Guild in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia.


When: Friday, February 20 - Sunday, February 22, 2009
Where: Park Inn Hotel on Broadway, downtown Vancouver
Registration will be open to non-members of the Guild starting December 1st. Go visit the Horizons Link to register or for more information on the various workshops that will be offered.

I'm looking forward to some great Demos and Workshops. The hot Canadian Artist teacher list will include Gera Scott Chandler, Wanda Shum, Cheryl Trottier, Joan Tayler and Dan Cormier, among many other fab artists whom I haven't had a chance to meet yet and well....I too will have the opportunity to teach.

My workshop will focus on creating PhotoEz stencils and their use, as well as one of my favorite surface colouring techniques along with stamping. In my workshop we'll be creating bangles and pins, but the technique will be open to any project you desire to create.

Polymer Clay Tranquility

These are tranquil times for me. I've been inspired to work in softer colours with Polymer Clay, instead of the dark, bold colours of black, silver and gold that I've been prone to stick to. I guess it helps to finally have gorgeous sunny weather! Most of July and August have been dreary and wet or foggy, so the blue sky reflecting on the ocean has helped me create some shades of blue and green reminiscent of the stone Amazonite.