What Happened?

I just received an E-mail from a friend of mine, Barb, who is asking what happened to me and why did I stop working with polymer clay. I have already answered Barb privately, but I want to post here as well in case anybody else wants to know the answers to these questions.

Well, I did not stop working with polymer clay (I would probably die if did!), in fact, I have been working with it more than ever, but all behind the scenes so to speak.

I decided to participate in a few contests this spring, all with deadlines around April. Of course, I could not just submit something I already had – no, I just had to implement at least some of my new ideas… And you know what happens with the new ideas? Sometimes they do not work right away! I ended up with a bunch of prototypes in various stages of completion, but the good news is that I did finish each and every contest piece I planned, and the last ones were mailed out this Saturday.

My husband made me swear not to do any contests for at least a couple of months. I promised.

Now I am anxiously awaiting the results. Wish me luck!

Below is the collage of the contest pieces I had recently made.

Faux Cloisonne: Different Materials, Same Effect

Eugena’s Creations…

…proudly presents…

…the new and improved…

…faux cloisonné…

Now, seriously. I have been experimenting with different materials to replace the glaze I am using on my faux cloisonné pieces. Up until recently I have been using Lisa Pavelka’s PolyGlaze. It is a great product, I love it. The only problem is that it is available only on-line, and not all the time. Finally this spring I become tired of chasing it all over the Internet and decided to look into some other products. Below are my results of experimenting with Envirotex. With my usual disrespect for instructions, I figured out how to use it myself before actually learning how the other people are using it, so it is not surprising that my way seems to be quite different. Instead of applying one fat layer of Envirotex and trying to contain it on the surface with some temporary or permanent frame, I apply thinner layers of it and do not use any frames around my pieces. The result is very similar to what I would usually get with PolyGlaze. In fact, the results are so similar, that you would not be able to tell which product I used even by closely examining my creations in person…

Moral: I am considering switching to Envirotex for good. Actually, I have an idea. Being a true scientist, I want to be thorough in my experiments and look at some more products. From what I have seen, Kato liquid polyclay may be a good candidate. I will then compare the results and make my final choice. Sounds like a plan?

Vacation

Today is exactly one week since I came back from a vacation, which also lasted a week. Somehow it feels as if my time during our vacation stretched out in some magical way. We saw so many beautiful places – mountains, caverns, the ocean, and even a castle. At work, time just zooms past me, and a week later there is almost nothing to remember…