Decoupaged Polymer Clay

Julia, aka White Guppy, is a Spanish artist who's come up with a way to decoupage onto polymer clay. Her beautifully patterned pillow beads first caught my eye on Ebay. Although she sells these beads herself, she's been generous enough to share her method for creating them on her blog and like so many of the talented European clayers, she's also included an English version of her tutorial.

I think her method would translate wonderfully to tube beads, as well. Or perhaps, this half-moon hollow bead design by Michele "Luny" would be a nice way to show off some interesting patterns.

I like the fact that both of these ladies have taken the time to experiment and come up with something unique in their approach to bead design. Hope you find the time to try something different yourself this week!

Save a cow, do some clay!

Thanks to Michael from Mossy Owls, it's easy to get your leather on. She recently shared her method for making faux leather tags that are wonderfully realistic. If you're not into leather, check out her other tutorials on Polymer Clay Web for lots of interesting techniques to try.

Michael recently opened a "button bakery" on Etsy. Her polymer buttons with a liquid clay glaze are just lovely!

She has lots of photos of her polymer clay work on her Flickr site, including several examples of pastries, burgers, pizza, and other foods, like this cool sushi necklace.

Fearless in France

I'm such an admirer of Sylvie (aka Maniquette) and her work. She's been involved with polymer clay for about three years and is totally fearless when it comes to experimenting with different techniques and applications for the clay. The Bubble bracelet above is one of her newest pieces and she's generously shared her technique for these on the English version of her blog.

This seems like the perfect occasion to thank all of the talented European polymer artists who have invested so much time and effort into learning other languages, namely English. As a selfish American who has never bothered to learn anything other than English (the 4 years of Latin don't really count since no one even speaks the language!), I appreciate the fact that I've been able to talk to so many of you. Please don't ever apologize for your English, I'm always humbled by and grateful for your efforts.

Okay, back to Sylvie's lovely work. I love the way she successfully combines pattern and texture in so many of her pieces. This tissue box is a great example of that. In addition to jewelry and tissue boxes, she also makes amazing lamps, clocks, and mirrors. To see more examples, you can check out her Flickr site here.

Her blog is full of fascinating glimpses into her process and I could spend hours lost in her archives. If you have some time this weekend, read about the lovely face cane she made based on a painting by her friend Cat and see her finished bracelet here.

Have a creative weekend!

Korringa's Clay Dogs

As you probably know if you've read my blog before, I'm pretty fond of dogs. Judy Dunn made a post about dogs on her blog recently that inspired me to get out my box of polymer clay eye candy and share one of my favorite treasures with you. This fabulous pin was made by the hugely talented Kim Korringa of California. In addition to all that talent, she's really a nice and beautiful lady, as well. When it comes to canework and working with color, Kim's talent really shines. And, as far as I'm concerned, her realistic canes, such as these dog faces, are some of the most amazing I've ever seen. The shading and the details that Kim includes in much of her canework make it almost impossible to believe they were done with clay and not paint. Simply incredible work! It looks like Kim's website has been updated since the last time I visited. In addition to some new work I've never seen before, she has some cool pictures of her studio and a tutorial on how she makes her fabulous fish canes, You can also check out her Crafter's Coast to Coast dragonfly tutorial here. I love these new holiday pins I found on her website, especially that adorable penguin. Her talent and creativity are truly an inspiration. Have a productive and happy weekend, my friends!

Online Tutorials and Project Links

Instructions available at http://www.firemountaingems.com/beading_howtos/beading_projects.asp?docid=63EB&sact=search

Project can be found at http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/cr_clay_jewelry/article/0,,HGTV_3238_2944521,00.html

See instructions at http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/cr_clay/article/0,1789,HGTV_3236_2331459,00.html