Another Student Work

Zuleykha, who bought my Faux Cloisonne tutorial, responded to my yesterday's post with a link to a picture of her creation. I decided to post her picture here.

Zuleykha used my technique to make her own design, which is very beautiful and received many compliments both in her photo album and in her blog.

Zuleykha is an anthusiastic polymer clayer, and has a shop on Etsy, Zuleykha.etsy.com, where she sells her pretty beads covered with millefiori cane slices.

Student Work

I really, really love it when people, who buy my polymer clay tutorials, later share the pictures of their creations with me.

Last week, I received this picture from Donna, who made this pendant following my Faux Art Glass Tutorial.

I am glad Donna had fun working with this tutorial. She said, she also bought the Steampunk Butterfly Tutorial, but did not have a chance to try it yet. I hope the result will be as beautiful, and she will share it with me as well.

Added: Donna sent me a link to her photo album. She does amazing mosaic!

New Treasury

I've started listing the polymer clay and resin pendants from my new line in my Etsy shop.

I was very pleased to learn that one of the pendants was added to the new treasury by Kathy of RozPetalzStudio.etsy.com.

Here is the link to the trasury:

etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=75210

Thank you, Kathy!

Coming soon to an Etsy shop near you...

I spent more than a month developing and refining two new lines of jewelry, which I will start listing in my Etsy shop in August. I know, doing them one at a time would have been wiser, but inspiration is a powerful force, and I simply could not fight with it. The first line is sprouting from my original faux cloisonne technique. Those familiar with this technique know that a faux cloisonne design is created by pieces of wire, meticulously measured, shaped, and applied to the surface of raw polymer clay. It is a very time-consuming technique, and every piece made like that is truly unique. The new technique I am coming up with still employs the line as the major design element, but it allows me to make multiples of the same design, with or without some variations. While I am not ready to share the details of this technique yet, I am happy to show you a few proof-of-concept pieces:

Since these pendants require less time to make, I will be able to offer them at more affordable prices than my faux cloisonne creations. The second line is all about color. The picture below shows a few of my cabochons ready to be made into pendants and earrings. I will also have them available as beads for those who would like to use them in their own designs. And here are some experiments with fusing these two techniques. While the results are interesting, I am not quite pleased with them yet. I think I will list these pendants in my Etsy shop as well and wait to see what kind of response I can get. I may come back to this concept and explore it some more, but I am not planning to do it right now.

A Good Article

Here is a good article I came across about starting your own craft business. I hope you will find it useful!

http://artsandcrafts.about.com/od/startingyourbusiness/tp/startcraftsbusiness.htm

New Tutorial
Polymer Clay and Pearls Vase

I finished writing this tutorial over weekend and it is now available in my Etsy shop.

Cool!

I've just found out that my work is being featured in three different treasuries on Etsy right now:
Happy Go Indigo by AmetrineHealing.etsy.com,
Amber by noblegnome.etsy.com,
and Learn Make Enjoy by Collete.etsy.com.

I can't believe it! This is the first time for me to have my works in three treasuries at the same time. Cool, isn't it?

Thank you, ladies!

Red Poppy Focal Beads or Buttons
Polymer Clay and Fiber

I just listed these focal beads in my Etsy shop, Eugena777.etsy.com.

I've been playing with this design for awhile and very pleased with the results.

First of all, I am happy with the combination of polymer clay and fiber. Looks different, isn't it?

The other exciting thing about these beads is that they may be used in so many different ways in various designs. Bracelets, necklaces, rings, earrings – anything! These beads would work as unique buttons as well. Imagine three or four of them in a row on something a hand-knitted or crocheted...

I made these beads with two parallel beading holes, about 1/8” apart. The beads may be used in multi-string designs, and their structure will prevent them from turning over when the finished piece is worn. In a single-string design, one of these beads would also work great used as a focal part. In this case, use only one beading hole. Because the hole is off-center, the bead will be perfectly balanced and stay on its right side when the necklace is worn.

Yet another possibility is to combine them with wire and chains.



Here are a few pictures explaining, step-by-step, how to make this necklace. You will need about 2” of 24ga wire, some jumprings, two red poppy jasper beads on headpins, a clasp, and about 20-21” of chain (the two dangling pieces of chain at the bottom of the necklace are about 2” and 2.5”, and the necklace itself is about 16” long).

Always and Forever

My brown Steampunk butterfly necklace was included in the treasury made by Kate of OrganicOdysseys.etsy.com.

This is what Kate said in her comments: "Love transcends space and time. Circles symbolize eternity. Always and Forever has been my all time favorite song for over 35 years. I hope you enjoy this collection!"

Thank you, Kate! It is a lovely collection!

Here is the link to this treasury:

etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=69433

Student Work

I absolutely love it when people, who bought my tutorials, share the pictures of their finished creations. I also love to see how my students change the techniques and projects I teach to make them their own.

That is why I was so excited when Arlene Harrison (harrisonhollowdesigns.blogspot.com) sent me the pictures of these bangle style bracelets she made following my newest Polymer Clay and Gemstones Bracelet Tutorial.



Arlene mixed the beads of various sizes and made the bead inclusion multi-string. She also used stamps to add texture to her bracelets and added swirled details. The resulting bracelets look very beautiful and distinctively different from the project in the tutorial, which is great. I am happy to see how Arlene took the ideas presented in the tutorial and used them as a base for her own creativity and imagination.

Way to go, Arlene, and thank you for sharing!

New Bracelets

These bracelets are coming to my Etsy shop this week.

They combine polymer clay and gemstones: Baltic amber, goldstone (which is actually a man-made material, I know), imperial jasper, blue kiwi, and Russian amazonite.

I've been playing with the new photo prompts for these pictures, too. The saucer in the second picture, for example, was found on a garage sale last week. The lady who sold it, kept explaining to me how easy would it be to clean this thing. I said: “Thank you, I am not going to clean it – I want to use it just as it is!” She kept insisting that all I need to do is scrub it with some baking soda...

Another Treasury!



This one is by Barbara handy of BarbiesBest.etsy.com. Barb included all kinds of polymer clay beads and pendants, a raw polymer clay cane, and my tutorial (Thank you, Barbara!). I love the idea behind this treasury!

And here is the link so that you could look at all the featured shops closer:
www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=69038

My Work in a New Treasury


Linda Riopel (www.nkdesigns.etsy.com) featured my red orchid bead in her new treasury, Call 911... PCAGOE is on fire.

I really appreciate it, especially since creating a treasury, as well as securing a spot for it on etsy.com, is a very time-consuming process. I also love the titles that Linda comes up with for her treasuries.

Follow this link: http://http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=59164
to see all the beautiful polymer clay works in this treasury and to visit the shops of the featured artists.

New Tutorial, Bracelet

I finished the new tutorial today and quickly listed it in my Etsy shop, just in time before the weekend.

Placing it on my web site will take a bit longer, but I shall have it there no later than Monday.

Happy claying!

Perfect Gifts

for a Perfect Sister

My big sister turns 50 tomorrow. She lives in Moscow, we see each other very seldom, and I miss her...

My sister was born in Siberian city, Krasnoyarsk. When she was about a year old, our parents moved to Ukraine, and somehow she never visited her place of birth again. She wanted to go there this year, but again some family business kept her away from this trip.

My sister loves to travel. She's been in many places in Europe, in Egypt, Japan, America, and a few times in Australia. From her trips, she always brings back a decorative plate with a view of the place she visited. An entire wall in her kitchen is covered with these plates.

So, since she could not go to Krasnoyarsk, I decided to make her a plate with a view of this city. I shifted through quite a few pictures, but neither one touched my heart. There were a few interesting buildings and bridges, but I had no idea whether they were there 50 years ago or not. Then I remembered about the place near the city called Krasnoyarsk Columns. They are not mountains, but rather huge rocks, partially covered with trees. I found a picture of two of them that look like heads of some fantastic giants and used it to make a photo transfer onto white polymer clay. This is the first time I've ever done anything in this technique, so I am rather proud of myself. I used black and white picture and antiqued the finished plate for a weathered look. I hope my sister will love it. I think she can honestly place it with her other travel souvenirs – her birth certificate proves that she' s actually been to this city.


My second gift for her is a set of earrings and a pendant. I remember our mom telling us about some small Siberian flowers, called “zharki”. The root of this word, “zhar”, means “heat” in Russian. She said they were incredibly bright-colored, and the entire tundra looked like it was on fire when they were in bloom. The sculpted flowers for this set is my artistic interpretation of this memory...

Work in Progress,
New Tutorial

I am working on a step-by-step tutorial for this fantastic bangle bracelet.

The design combines polymer clay (of course!) with some gems, and looks wildly exotic.

I hope to have this tutorial in my shop by the end of the month.

My Work is in a New Treasury

Katherine from KatherineJewelry.etsy.com featured my heart pendant form Forgotten Map series in her
new treasury.

All works in these collection are polymer clay hearts. Isn't it amazing how different they are?!

My Work Is in Etsy Treasury

Linda Riopel of NKDesigns.etsy.com included my sea urchin vase tutorial along with the works of eleven other PCAGOE artists in her new treasury, I Can Sea Clearly Now:
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=65922

Thank you, Linda!

Etsy Treasury

Craving Chocolate

To be honest, I have mixed feelings about Etsy treasuries – both about making them and getting my works in them. They are quite time consuming, and I seriously doubt their effectiveness as a marketing tool. I realized that my works were featured in a few treasuries recently, and I did not even post about it in my blog, which is not nice and probably not wise either. Now that I have more time I promise to do better.

Think about this treasury as a little collection made for fun and simple pleasure of seeing beautiful works of art. I hope you get the symbolism here, especially if you are a chocogolic, like myself.

Here is the link to this treasury on Etsy: http://http//www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=65068.

Leave me a note there if you like it, and please make sure to click on each picture (again, from Etsy web site) to see more works of these talented artists.

My Article in Polymer Cafe

I just received my contributor's copies of the August issue of Polymer Cafe magazine. My article, Steampunk Business Card Case, is published!

Click on the picture above for a larger version of it.

One Lovely Blog Award

I received the One Lovely Blog award from Tracey of TKDesigns. I hope you will take a moment to visit Tracey's blog, where she writes about her jewelry designs and her inspiration. I am sure you will enjoy her recent story about a bear visit to her backyard, complete with pictures!

Now it's my turn to pass this award on to some other blogs.

Here are the rules:
*Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link.
*Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered.
*Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

...And here are my 15 newly-discovered lovely blogs (not in any particular order):

alicestroppel.wordpress.com
lulubugjewelry.blogspot.com
www.njdminiatures.blogspot.com
swoondimples.blogspot.com
deserttalismans.blogspot.com
harrisonhollowdesigns.blogspot.com
campcactus.blogspot.com
humblebeads.blogspot.com
jibbyandjunablog.blogspot.com
beadcomber.blogspot.com
creagerstudios.blogspot.com
sharonsjewelrygarden.blogspot.com
thecolorofdreams.blogspot.com
livingwithwalls.blogspot.com
elementalforrest.blogspot.com

Behind each of these blogs, there is a talented person, whose work I admire. Some of them were recently featured in my Polymer Clay Chameleon blog.

Giveaway Results

I would like to thank everybody who commented on my previous post.

Judging by your comments, the bracelet tutorial would be the most interesting and the vase one – the least interesting for most people. I am a bit surprised by this result and very glad I asked for your opinion. Thanks to your comments, I now know how to better concentrate my efforts.

And now the results of this giveaway... I did a random drawing, and the lucky winner is... Dziga! She will receive one of my tutorials at her choice.

Dziga, please contact me by e-mail to claim your prize.

Giveaway

I am starting a new giveaway! The prize this time is one of my tutorials (again!), and the winner will be randomly chosen on June, 10. To participate, please answer these questions.

I am currently working on three new tutorials. One will be for a set of polymer clay bracelets (each with its own design). Another tutorial is for tree pendants, all created with a simple and clever hand-made tool, but each with its own design. The last tutorial is for a new vase, similar to this one.



So, which of these tutorials would you be the most interested in? And which you think is the least interesting?

Please post your answers as comments to this post.

Custom Order

Two vases in earth tones, 7 ¾ “ by 2 1/4” each, polymer clay over glass, fresh-water pearls, and acrylic paint.

New Technique for Reducing Irregularly Shaped Polymer Clay Canes

I love when people think outside the box.

Here is a new and clever idea I just read about at Polymer Clay Daily. Idit Fischer Katz (Idit Zoota) developed this technique, and Naama Zamir translated it to English.

Many polymer clay artists create complex flower canes, which are really difficult to reduce. Usually such a cane is wrapped in a layer of translucent polymer clay to obtain a cylindrical shape, which is then reduced easily. However, the layer of translucent clay presents a new challenge when the cane slices are assembled into a final piece. The translucent parts have to be made nearly invisible, which is not easy. It shows up on your design if the slices are too thick, if the backing temperature is not just right, if the finished piece is not sanded hard enough, and also for no particular reason as well... In other words, this step is tricky and requires a lot of practice, patience, and luck.

Idit took a completely different approach. Instead of fighting the translucent clay, she replaced it with Play-Doh. She says, Play-Doh works well during the cane reduction step, and then it can be simply peeled off and washed away. The cane slices used for the final design are nice and clean! No more fuzzing around the translucent clay in your final design! Wonderful idea, isn't it?!

Naama's post gives step by step instructions for this new technique.

While this idea is being discussed on the Internet, people with Celiacs Desiase remind us that they are sensitive to wheat in any form, even when they touch it. Play-Doh contains wheat. Here is a recipe for a home-made wheat-free equivalent:

Ingredients:
½ cup rice flour
½ cup cornstarch
½ cup salt
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 cup water
1 teaspoon cooking oil

Thank you, Kate from Organic Odysseys for sharing the recipe.

Treasury 05-20-09

My red steampunk butterfly necklace is in the treasury that Linda Riopel from NKDesigns.etsy.com put together. Cool name and cool company. Thank you, Linda!

Giveaway Winner

We have the winner! I've asked my daughter to give me a random number and she said twelve. Under this number were comments from... Holly. Congratulations, Holly! You may now choose one of my tutorials as your prize!

New Tutorial, Sea Urchin Vase

Just finished a new tutorial! This one is for a polymer-clay covered vase decorated with fresh-water pearls. The vase is shaped like a sea urchin and looks great both with flowers and on its own. The tutorial is currently listed in my Etsy shop.

Recent Publication

A picture of one of my necklaces was published in the last issue of Polymer Cafe.

This is Synergy, a style that combines my faux cloisonne techinque, sculpted orchids, and wire-wrapping.

Click on the picture for its larger version.

Giveaway

Ready to play again? Here are the rules:

- This Giveaway is open to my Newsletter subscribers only (but you can join any moment - see the form on the right?);

- To participate, you need to look at my polymer clay tutorials and tell me which one you like the most (no need to purchase anything!);

- Post your comments here;

- The winner will be chosen randomly from all the entries (one entry per person, please) on May 15, 2009;

- The winner will receive one of my tutorials of his/her choice (not necessarily the one he or she commented about).

Good luck!

Added on May 4, 2009
Here is how to leave your comments:

- Go to the bottom of this post - you will see something like this:
Posted by Eugena at 11:18 AM 5 comments Links to this post.

- Click on the text with # of comments, and you will be taken to a new screen with a window in which you can type your comment.

- You may then add your name, link to your web site, blog, etc.

- When done, click on "Publish Your Comment" button.

- You should then see a message "Your comment has been saved.
It may take a moment for your comment to appear on the site at the original post".

- To reduce spam, I approve all my comments before publishing, but I usually do it within hours of receiving your submitted comment.

New E-book – Encyclopedia of Millefiori Polymer Clay Leaves

I just finished this new tutorial. It is huge! Thirty three pages, eighty six pictures. I have it in my Etsy shop and will list it on my web site by tomorrow.

Here is the list of topics covered in this e-book:

- Materials, Tools, Pasta Machine Settings,
- Basic Skinner Blend (Two Colors),
- Skinner Blend with Three (and More) Colors,
- Bull's Eye Canes,
- Skinner Blend Block,
- Reducing a Skinner Blend Sheet,
- Shaded Leaf Cane 1,
- Reducing a Leaf Cane,
- Using a Leaf Cane for Flat Designs,
- Using a Leaf Cane for 3-Dimensional Designs,
- Shaded Leaf Cane 2,
- Basic Lace Leaf Cane,
- Detailed Lace Leaf Cane,
- Leaf Cane with Shaded Veins,
- Reversed Leaf Cane with Shaded Veins,
- Leaf Cane with Alternating Shaded Areas,
- Ikat Leaf Cane,
- Feather Leaf Cane,
- Spotted Leaf Cane,
- Long Striped Leaf Cane,
- Short Striped Leaf Cane,
- Water-Lily Leaf Cane,
- Monsterra Leaf,
- Oak Leaf Cane,
- Maple Leaf Cane

Added: This tutorial is now available at my web site.

New Tutorial Coming Soon


I am working on a new polymer clay tutorial. Actually, even two – one for millefiori leaves and another for surface leaf designs.

I wanted to make one tutorial first, but there are so many pictures that it would be way too big. I am even concerned that the my millefiori tutorial may need to be broken into parts for sending it by e-mail...

So far I am planning to show how to make TEN or so different leaf canes that may be used both in flat and 3D designs. This is going to be the biggest tutorial I wrote so far. I think it will also have the most generic use, because it will teach not a particular project or even a technique, but some elements that may be adopted as a part of many different styles and techniques.

I hope to have it finished by the end of the month.

Scarlet Sails
Finished!

I am done! The Scarlet Sails faux cloisonne wall piece is finished, framed, and shipped to the customer. I think it was my biggest, most challenging, and probably the best piece so far.

See my previous posts for work-in-progress pictures. Here is the finished piece (click on the picture for a larger version):

The faux cloisonne part is 4 1/2” by 6 ½ “, the size of the the whole picture with frame is 11 1/4” by 13 1/4”. The faux cloisonne part has domed edges showcased by mounting the piece on top of the two mats within the frame, not behind them, as it is usually done for flat artwork.

Taking a photograph of this piece turned out to be an extremely daunting task. Due to its size, I could not fit it in my light box and tried to photograph it by simply hanging on the wall in my studio. I immediately realized that due to its shiny surface (two layers of clear resin), the piece works as a mirror. Well, not a perfect mirror, but a good one enough to reflect me and my camera when I tried to photograph it. Yes, and also all my windows... When placed away from the windows, it did not have enough light, but still acted as a mirror. After a number of unsuccessful shots, I was finally able to capture the one you see here. The trick? I had my kids hold a solid-colored piece of fabric in front of the camera. I made a hole in the middle of this screen just big enough to point my camera through it. I also used two of my OttLite lamps on both sides of the picture, but not in front of it.

I am ready for a new challenge!

Two Etsy Treasuries

I just joined the wonderful team of polymer clay artists on Etsy.com, and right away my work was featured in two treasuries:

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=49477
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=50354




I am really looking forward to getting to know more the people in this group, although I am already acquainted with some of them or at least their works.

I am so happy to join such a creative, energetic, and supportive team!

Work in Progress
Scarlet Sails, Day 6

Final version of the wire work:



And now with color: