Etsy Treasury

Tonight something for you, Ladies. I made etsy treasury sporting colorful, fancy, imaginative and one-of-a-kind polymer clay rings.

Leave comments and let me know which ring you like the most.

Polymer Clay Inspirations

Today, I would like to show you my polymer clay inspirations. There are great many gifted artists out there and below you can see only a small selection of work presented on flickr.

I hope they will inspire you as much as they inspire me to keep working and honing my skills.

1. Pastel Cat Sculpture, 2. Bangle, 3. ...Singing silk..., 4. Tropical flowers, 5. Ikat Necklace., 6. Cosmic Blossoms B-Side, 7. Black & White Ikat Shield - Aug 2009, 8. Polymer Clay Seabreeze Bracelet, 9. 'Gem (in hot pink)', 10. Filigree Bracelet bangles in many colors, 11. Robin Egg Beach Balls, 12. Green Retro Earrings, 13. Spaceballs, 14. Atardecer en el mar / Sunset on the Sea, 15. Blue Spiral, 16. Magic mushrooms, 17. Polymer Clay Star Flower Pendants, 18. Polymer Clay Necklace, 19. crumpled brooch, 20. Colgantes transferencia, 21. Leaf necklace, 22. Black Polymer Clay Heart with Pink Flowers, 23. Namtar , 24. ACEO Deep Forest polymer clay 1, 25. PS145c

Polymer Clay Starter Kit

Working with polymer clay does not require tools but they are very useful if you are looking to create smaller, precise pieces - especially jewelery. There are literally hundreds of tools for polymer clay craft out there. And if you are anything like me, there is a part of you that loves tools. I guess it's the same part of me that is in fact a boy and always played with guns and climbed highest trees in the neighborhood. Oh well.

Most of the tools are not very expensive but it is a good idea to limit yourself to a starter kit before you are sure that polymer clay is what you enjoy.

At first it might be a bit confusing to choose the necessary tools (at least it was for me) so I compiled a list for the beginners out there. Here are the tools that turned out to be most useful for me:

1. Pasta Machine

As weird as it may seem, pasta machine is the most useful tool you can get. It serves to warm up and soften the clay, create uniform sheets of clay (of different thickness), blend colors, and many other purposes. A good place to buy pasta machine is on ebay. You should not invest in any high-end pasta machine because you should never use this machine for food preparation. The cheapest one will do just fine.

2. Cutting and Sculpting Tools

To create detailed ornaments, you will need to use cutting tools. I mostly use these 5 tools.

1) and 4) Sculpting tool and doll making needle. Useful for connecting pieces of clay together, moving and fixing small pieces of clay onto the project, sculpting little holes, etc.

2) and 3) Modelling knives. Can be used for moving and fixing elements onto the project. They are also good for cutting shapes and small elements.

5) Slicing blade. It is used for cutting slices of canes and blocks of clay. It is also flexible so that it allows you to create different shapes.

3. Acrylic Roller

Another essential tool is an acrylic roller. You will use it to flatten your pieces, roll in cane slices and many more. Before I got my acrylic roller I was using a small wine bottle. But the problem with a glass bottle is that the clay can stick to it and your projects can get ruined.

4. Cookie Cutters

Ok, so they are not absolutely necessary but still very fun to have. You can of course shape your pieces by using knives and blades, but cookie cutters are handy and will make your job easier.

5. Examination Gloves

And last but not least, examination gloves. They will help to protect your skin and keep colors of clay separate and clean. Thanks to the gloves you will also be able to keep the surfaces of your clay projects clean of fingerprints. Just make sure that you buy a tight fit for your hands.

Blue and White Polymer Clay Beads

I am very excited about this new beads I made this weekend. Look how awesomely blue and girly they are! I made 7 of them and it took me over 2 hours - a little bit long, no? It is precise work, but I hope I can shave some time of this work in the future.

Anyway, I love them and I am very excited to make more. Do you also like them, or am I completely blind? Should I make more? What colors should I use now? Tell me, tell me, tell me!

PS.
You can see more photos on my flickr account and if you work with polymer clay and share your photos online, you can also join Polymer Clay Art and Craft group on flickr. I checked and all the other groups seem restricted geographically or by type of polymer clay items. My group is open to everyone and invites all types of polymer clay works. So feel invited!

Polymer Clay: First Steps

Just two polymer clay pendants I made today. They are far from perfect but it was my first time, so please be gentle in your comments. Also, I really liked making them so there will be many more in the future. After all, practice makes the master.

Polymer Clay Treasury

Photo curtsy of rabinowitzorly

Following my recent fascination with polymer clay, I browsed etsy to see what polymer items are there. And I found an amazing variety of projects, from sculptures and household items, through beads and pendants, to buttons and pens.

And so, I decided to share my finds with the wide world through this treasury. Look around and enjoy the beautiful items.

Review: Polymer Clay Books

Picture curtsy of Alkhymeia

I have recently rediscovered one of the most amazing craft materials, polymer clay. I grew envious of all those etsy clay artists and their fabulous projects (see my favorites) and decided to try for myself. Well, the first attempt was quite a failure...it just isn't as simple as it looks.

But loving the possibilities of polymer clay, I have decided not to give up and to keep on trying. Baby steps and so on, after all, practice makes the master.
To support my amateur tries, I bought (or was given) 3 polymer clay books:

1. The Art of Polymer Clay Millefiori Techniques by Donna Kato
2. The Polymer Clay Techniques Book by Sue Heaser
3. Polymer Clay for the First Time by Syndee Holt

The first two books have their particular strenghts each. Donna Kato's book is an in depth study of one polymer clay technique and provides many examples of how to use millefiori in your projects. On the other hand, Sue Heaser's The Polymer Clay Techniques Books is a quick overwiew of over 50 techniques and can serve as a great beginner's guide to polymer clay.

Unfortunately, I have also purchesaed Polymer Clay for the First Time by Syndee Holt. And trust me, it was a mistake. The book is a perfect example in how NOT TO write craft books. It contains some meritorical advice and a few decent projects but most of the work shown in the book looks at the very best amaturish (and sometimes it is simply ugly). The color of the pages looks like from an old newspaper and, despite the fact that the book was published in 2005, project pictures are grim, poorly lighted and they all seem to have been taken on a table from the '50s which only adds to the unattractivness of the work presented. On top of it all the texts in the book are also written in rather poor English.
It is a toroughly uninspiring book and if this was my only source of knowledge about polymer clay, I would have thrown out my Fimo supplies and never come back to this material again. Trully shame.

Stay tuned for more in depth reviews of The Art of Polymer Clay Millefiori Techniques and The Polymer Clay Techniques Book.

Shop Re-Opened!

Yey! After a few months break my etsy shop is opened again. Very exciting!

I started with relisting my old favourites. You will also find a new line of 80s style earrings.

And the best things is that if this Saturday and Sunday you spend at least $8 in my shop you will get the shipping free!