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ponsawan challenged herself to make 50 different beads using only 5 colors of clay. no two the same. as you can see by the picture below, she was up to the challenge. now she wants to know if you are up to the same challenge. i want to know too – c’mon people – ponsawan has made it easy by providing a how-to on her tutorial blog. check it out and start rolling!
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he also has a new blog and a tutorial that explains his method for wrapping beads on steel rods . i’ll be watching – i think he has plans for a tutorial explaining how to make the cutting tool he uses to mass produce tube beads. great information from one of the best!
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marzipan, polymer clay – what’s the difference? ok, ok, i know – you CAN NOT eat polymer clay, but for crafting purposes they sure seem similar. when i saw this tutorial for a marzipan yarn ball and knitted scarf i thought it looked a lot like polymer clay.
and just look at what she did with her ‘knitting’!
knitting is SO big – so, so big – i’m surprised i don’t see more knitting related items made from polymer clay. you know what i’m talking about. who is doing for knitters what jennifer patterson does so beautifully for quilters?
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check out something sublime for a terrific tutorial on how to make ear wires. i’m a newcomer to metal/wire. i just started my first class last week (alison lee is teaching at roca – she’s great!) so this tutorial is a wee bit over my head, but i’ve got it bookmarked.
i particularly like what mentock did with the wires here – love the concept of the text for the earrings.
the tutorial has lots of pictures, clear explanations and for newbies like me, definitions of the tools used to make the ear wires. nicely done!
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over the last few months i’ve watched new hampshire’s amy fraser grow her exalted beauty medallion collections. a talented painter, fraser brings her two dimensional art to life with these polymer clay pendants.
in the last year and a half she has made more than 1,600 medallions. each collection has a theme which she uses, along with a color palette, as the starting point for these miniature works of art. i became aware of fraser’s work when she took her blog readers on a wonderful journey, discussing the process for her botanical collection: looking for inspiration, drawing the illustrations, eliminating some of the drawings and finally translating selected drawings into the polymer clay botanical collection. you can find lots of links to that process here.
pictured above are before and after pictures of her floral medallion collection (not to be confused with the previously mentioned botanical collection!) if you want a glimpse of the glazes she used to paint the white, baked medallions, and a peek at her color palette inspiration for this collection, click here.
fraser’s blog and website document much of her creative process, from sketch or painting to completed medallion collection. a good read. you can see the entire series of medallion collections cataloged here and don’t miss the galleries section of her website – it highlights dozens of her paintings and drawings.
more? cindi lavin recently interviewed fraser for bead arts. check out cindi’s conversation with amy. this busy mom, wife and artist is a delightful work in progress and i look forward to seeing more of her process as she brings new collections to life.
