Hints, tips, tricks, and valuable information for working with polymer clay.
One of my favorite posts that other artists do is a glimpse into their studio. I love to see their workspaces, how they create, and even the tools they use. While this post will NOT be exhaustive by any stretch of the imagination, it will definitely give you some great insight into my daily grind in my polymer clay studio.
Continue reading Polymer Clay Studio: What’s In My Spinner?
Knowing what to bring to a workshop if you’re a first time participant can be a challenge. Today, I’m going to help you feel comfortable in what you are bringing, how much to bring, and what happens if you forget something.
I have previously blogged about where to start in your polymer clay studio. You can read the article here. We’re going to revisit this topic today by talking about burnout & where to find polymer clay inspiration.
Continue reading Finding Inspiration & Fighting Burnout Through It
Every once and awhile you read about my softness & color shift ratings for certain types or brands of clay that I am working with. Have you ever wondered what they mean and how they work for me? Well, you’re about to find out!
Each & every artist has a few tips, tricks, or thoughtful pieces of advice that they can pass on to others. As I was adding some paint details to one of my items the other day, I sat looking at my typical paint palette and I thought, “you know, this is something my readers might like to know.” So … today with you I share my secret recycled paint palette … okay, so it’s not really a secret, but it is a good tip!
Scrap polymer clay can bring on notions of joy, fear, anxiety, anger, frustration, and elation all on the same day. Today I’m going to show you a brief video that hopefully will inspire you NOT to throw every piece of clay into the mud bin, but to salvage your clay scraps.
Continue reading Scrap Polymer Clay
For years I refused to use any paint on my polymer clay work. Like many other artists, I considered using paint “cheating.” I had come to the conclusion (wrongly I might add) that no real artist would ever use acrylic paints on polymer clay … I mean after all the reason polymer clay is colored (and can be mixed to make your own colors) is because you’d never have to use paint. Right? WRONG.
Continue reading Using Paint on Polymer ClayGetting started is not easy for everyone, especially when you are going through a creatively dry season. But if you never start, you can never finish something. In today’s polymer clay tip we’re going to discuss how to jumpstart your creativity in your chosen art form and potentially conquer that “dry spell.”
The issue of copyright is a huge issue globally for artists of any medium. Ginger Davis Allman of The Blue Bottle Tree has tackled the issue head-on. You can read her article here. I applaud her & support her. And in case you missed the end of the article, I agree with her 110%!
Artist’s come in all shapes and sizes and we’re all inspired by someone, something, or some likeness. Knowing the different between ‘inspired by,’ ‘original,’ and a flat out ‘copy’ are very important.
Continue reading The BIG Issue of Copyright
For those who know me, I mean really know me, they know that for years I’ve had my head in books. Whether for college, grad school, theology, fun, or crafting. I love them! There’s just something about books that makes me happy. There’s something about reading that makes me happy too. In fact, not only do I have more than enough real books, I have over 200 on my Kindle right now as we speak. I generally read up to 4 books at a time: mostly sci-fi, fantasy, mystery, or period fiction. Over the 3 years or so that I’ve had my Kindle, it has become my best friend. And the fact that I can read from my app anywhere too … well, let’s just say I read a lot. It’s a hobby. It’s a pastime. And often it’s a compulsion. Continue reading Polymer Clay Books On My Bookshelf
How do I keep dust, dirt, fingerprints, & dents off my pieces?
I have written about this before and The Blue Bottle Tree also has an excellent post regarding this. But there’s another polymer clay tip that will help your work greatly …
It’s “back to school” for many children in our area today. Being from a rural community, school rarely starts until after Labor Day. So, since everyone is going back to school, how about a polymer clay tip to get us started! This past WIP Wednesday I mentioned a little trick that I use to keep my beads (especially flat caned beads like the ones above) holding their shape during the baking process. We all have things that we do in our studio to “help” us in our creativity. Although I am not primarily a jewelry designer, but rather a sculptor, that doesn’t mean that I don’t make jewelry or don’t at least make jewelry components.
One of the things as artists that we need to pay careful attention to is not only the execution of a design, but the finishing aspects of designing your work. Today we’re going to talk a little bit about finishing your polymer clay pieces to give a professional and high quality look that is above reproach.
Continue reading The Importance of Finishing Your Polymer Clay Designs
One of the most frequent questions that I receive from my readers is this: Where do you find your inspiration? The answer to this question is as simple as it is complicated. Why? Because in some ways you have to search for creative inspiration and yet in other ways it stares you in the face every single day.
I love that you, my readers, are so interested in polymer clay and how to improve your talent & skill. It thrills me to no end that I get a dozen questions a week from you, either here on the blog, or direct to my email. The past two weeks there has been one question that I have received multiple times: How to take out all the imperfections in your work.
Continue reading Most Frequently Asked Questions – Polymer Clay Tips
