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.