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…

NPCG - New Site

The web site of National Polymer Clay Guild has been recently updated. I cannot even imagine how much work such a major update required. The site looks great, runs fast, and has tons of useful information.

Here is the link: http://www.npcg.org

Trusien's Lily-of-the-valley

Trusien Lowenthal from Netherlands graciously allowed me to share this picture of her new pendant on my blog. The pendant is 2.5 by 0.5 inches and is made using the faux cloisonné technique. I especially like Trusien’s version of the bail for this pendant – it is both practical and pretty.

Emerging from the cocoon...

...of my imagination is another twist on the same technique. I am playing with inclusions here. The butterfly bead (the yellow wire on its sides marks the two horizontal holes) was one of my birthday presents to my friend.

Below is a closer shot of the two overlaying wings.

More "Student's" Work

Isn’t it amazing how different people can come up with something totally different while using the same tools?

Below is a picture of a few creations by Fenian from Bead and Button Forum. Fenian bought a tutorial for faux cloisonné hearts I offer on my website (http://www.eugenascreations.com/eugenastutorials.html), and this is what she made based on the tutorial. She used different pigments from those that I recommend and apparently decided to avoid my favorite black color all together. The resulting palette is bright and happy.

Sarah’s Creations

I received an E-mail from Sarah Fisher from Philadelphia Polymer Clay Guild with pictures of her projects she made after taking my class two weeks ago. The pictures are below. Here is what she wrote: “I love your technique- it is well suited to giving some colorful life to the line drawing doodles I like to make”.

I love Sarah’s designs. She is definitely braver with the bright colors than I am!

Leaf Peeping - Noir (by Jan Lockhart)

I wanted to post this picture for a long time...

This necklace was created by Jan Lockhart using my pendant "Watch Me Now". I especially like how Jan used the two big black leaves on the sides of this necklace. Jan sold this necklace even before it was completed.

She has a more detailed description here:

http://imageevent.com/janlockhart/myjools;jsessionid=ih410bk681.zebra_s

My Class in Philadelphia, PA

Yesterday I spent most of the day with people from Philadelphia Polymer Guild and had an opportunity to share my faux cloisonné technique with them.

What a wonderful and talented group of people they are! I enjoyed my visit a lot. They have such a nice and relaxed atmosphere in the group, freely sharing ideas with each other, supporting and cheering each other. I especially liked the show-and-tell part of the meeting, when many people brought their creations to the table to share them with others in the group.

Lack of self-discipline or a creativity spike?


I have so many things I should have been working on – my website, new article, tutorials, entries for a couple of contests, my class this weekend… Yet I sat down this Sunday and started sculpting these orchids. I just could not stop!

My New Article


My new article “Easy Faux Cloisonne” is coming up in Step by Step Beads magazine, in March-April 2007 issue. I received the contributor copies yesterday.

I am very excited to see it published. This article explains how to use the technique to make framed two-sided beads. They are pretty neat and quite un-usual if I may say so myself!

There are a few more beads of this type here:

http://www.eugenascreations.com/eugenasbeads.html

Faux Cloisonne Tutorial






The tutorial for my faux cloisonné technique is finally finished! It is available for purchase at my website:

http://www.eugenascreations.com/t-faux-cloisonne-heart.html

The tutorial shows how to make faux cloisonné hearts, just in time for Valentine’s Day!

Caribbean Night

This unusual asymmetrical necklace was finished during the Christmas break. It has two of my original faux cloisonné focal beads and lots of garnet. It will soon be available on my site.