What's in a wrapper? Well for me, my clay wrappers often act as a disposable mini-paint palette! They are just perfect to hold the small amounts of acrylic paints we often use to antique a bead or two or three! I like to allow my colors to mix slightly when I'm antiquing a larger piece, so the clay wrapper is...
As the (self-appointed) Queen of Stoobid Simple Clay, I just want to remind you that clay design doesn't have to be difficult or intricate to be effective. This necklace, featured in this month's Bead It magazine, is super simple, but one of the most elegant necklaces I think I've created. Sculpey Bead Projects Are Fun! Magazines aren't always looking for...
So when life gives you lemons, er, hard clay... we still want to use it. This happened when I accidentally set a sheet of rolled out Premo! Peacock on top of my oven WHILE IT WAS ON. I know, right? What was I thinking? Well, it was in a stack of index cards that I "thought" were empty. Anyway...
At my last opportunity to blog a couple of months ago, the last blog I featured one of my tikis on the deck (see blog below) who often shows behind me when I did a Sculpey video. Well, he had lost an eye and I mentioned that one of my goals this summer was to replace his eyes with Sculpey...
HELLOW! I get to spend my birthday month with you! I've been squirreling away little things to blog about with you all. It's been a busy, busy Spring and Summer. I've been traveling and teaching and getting ready to RETIRE from my "real job" of 22 years next Feb. It's so fun to apply to teach at different venues...
Happy student Dana's beautiful and calming bird ring! I am always amazed at how relaxing clay can be. Even in the midst of a busy teaching schedule, just sinking my hands into some Sculpey makes me feel centered and grounded. It's like the rest of the stress and stuff in life just fades into the backfround for me. Many...
Bonjour! I'm just back from teaching in southern France, and am so excited to show you a bit of it! The travel was a nightmare due to an Air Traffic Controllers strike, but we persevered and were rewarded with sights and memories we will never forget. Those of you who know me, know I love to...
Bonjour! Kari here-sort of. I hope this finds you enjoying your summer~(or winter...depending where in the world you may be.) As this blog posts, I will be enjoying teaching a workshop in France! I have many Sculpey projects we will be working on, and can't wait to show you the results upon my return! Until then, I hope...
While working on projects this week, I realized how often I use a few items in the studio that weren't tools to begin with. My mom was a saver and re-user of many things, including plastic bags, rubber bands, and the like. She never bought plastic containers, just reused ice cream buckets and yogurt containers; used envelopes became scratch paper...
So why is it that we are surrounded by every imaginable color but when we want to try a different color combination or mix up something special we get stuck? The place I work is somewhat involved in interior design so we get all of these cool magazines. I have taken to swiping them from my boss’s desk when he...
Take the picture! Whenever you are working at your clay table, I HIGHLY recommend that you photograph each step. You never know when a design is going to be a "hit" and a magazine or company will want your project. Not your thing? Well, how about as a record or a "recipe" for the project? I do this especially...
Soooo, what do you say to the former in-laws when you've painted the hand-made Japanese dining table they gave you? My former father-in-law made this table for my boys and I decided one day that the dark wood just didn't fit with the Rabbit Hole. So, I painted it free hand with primary colors and added the black and white...
I'm home from the Oklahoma Twister Retreat and I already miss all my new clay friends. I thought I would make a quick post here before I started the tedious process of unpacking all my clay stuff in the studio. It always seems that when I'm packing to go I keep saying to myself, "Oh, I HAVE to take this...
We are having a blast here in Oklahoma Twister retreat! I was prepared to teach 2 4 hour classes and a photo demo.WhenI got here Penni Jo Couch, who heads this retreat says "great! and what are you going to do for your 2 make-it-nd-take-its?" Well, Im sure my face registered complete shock. apparently we had talked about it last...
Hello Polypals! Well I'm back for my last Tri-Tip Tuesday blog and I'm excited about today's three tips! By the way, I never did get to eat any delicious tri-tip this month, maybe next month! My hubby makes the best BBQ tri-tip. So, now that you are hungry, this first tip/technique is sure to feed your creative appetite! Creative...
Tips on Creating a Floral Clay Mold Tip #1: I love to find or figure out another use for a tool, or reuse something that would otherwise be thrown away! I found this great Russian tutorial for using small cookie (or canapé) cutters for small frames (or round ring bases). If you've worked with polymer clay you may own one or...
I am happy to have found a new venue to teach my classes...at fiber shops! You just have to create the right project accessories for them. My latest pieces have included Shawl Pins (felted/knitted/crocheted) aka Scarf or Collar Pins. I will be teaching these at Makers Mercantile, a new, spacious, very cool fiber shop outside of Seattle, WA (in Kent...
A Premo Polymer Clay covered tin with Swarovski Crystals is fabuous gift to give or to make for yourself. I recently shot a video demonstrating the Chevron cane and fel in love with it. I loved it so much that I decided to use the left overs to make a veneer to cove a tin with. To give the...
Sculpey polymer clay is a fabulous medium to use in jewelry making. Valentine’s day is fast approaching and it makes the perfect reason to give someone you love a piece of jewelry. Now, who would not love a piece of handmade jewelry? The first piece I want to show you today is a technique called Faux Sugar Beads. They are...
Wow, what a weird month I've had! Deadlines out the whazoo, (15 canvases finished!) a whirlwind trip to Florida to see my parents, grandmother, aunts, uncles, and great aunt and great uncle and friends, and then- gasp! I come home with a case of CHICKEN POX! And on my birthday to boot- so I couldn't even see friends and...
I got a bit of Christmas shopping done yesterday. My husband has three nieces who are grade-school/middle-school ages. I don't know what toys they like, but I feel safe buying them clothes. So I picked out tops or sweaters for each of them, then brought them into the studio for a little personalizing! All the girls have long blonde hair...
I really love sunflowers! I think they are such a happy flower. I finally grew a few small ones this year. Next year I would really like to try to grow a row of the big Mammoth ones. Anyway, sunflowers are a fun fall flower. Although most have gone by now I thought it would be fun to try to make...
Well October is here and I decided to dig out my Halloween decorations. I don't have too many but I love to put out what I have. Having a few decorations around the house just makes the holidays feel more festive and fun! I love to put things away and then take them out each year. Sometimes you forget what...
Inspirations for the upcoming holidays I know it is still beautiful outside and we can probably not imagine, that this wonderful weather will ever stop, but fall is on its way and decorations and craft supplies are already in the stores. I always get inspired by candles and their colors and love making candle toppers. I love the candles that...
Over the weekend, my family and I visited the local Sugar Creek Arts Festival held annually in Uptown Normal, IL. My 7 year old mistakenly thought we were going to the "Sugar Free Taco Bell" (not the Sugar Creek Arts Festival) but that's for a whole 'nother blog. My husband splurged on 3 polymer clay light switch covers designed by...
Besides loving all things polymer clay, I am extremely fascinated by fabric. I am very oftenly inspired by the prints and the patterns and the color combinations that tantalize my eyes through fabric. I could go on and on about how much I love fabric and fabric stores and shopping for fabric... But since this is a polymer clay blog...
I was thinking what I would like to write about next and I got this idea to make a gnome. I guess I am kind of sticking with a garden theme this month. My inspiration came from that funny travelocity gnome that you see on TV. I really love gnomes and have made them before but I wanted to make...
Hello everyone! I have so enjoyed reading what my fellow designers have been up to. I have some fun things that I would like to share with you during this month of June. I just finished up another fun of year of being an assistant pre-school teacher. Our classroom consisted of fourteen 3 to 5 years old's. As the assistant...
One of the classes which I am teaching at the Bead & Button Show is my Leaf Fossil class. The class makes use of sheet molds of foliage. It's one of my favorite classes to teach, and seems to be fairly popular. My own work has made use of leaf molds for many years in many styles of application. I...
I tend to keep bits and pieces of everything. If a T-pin is too long, I keep the scrap I trim off, bits of clay (of course!), the stray earring wire, the odd bead or two, I keep them. Today, when I was finishing up another project, I got lazy and made the final round cuts without cleaning out the...
