Making
miniatures and making dolls are ongoing projects here. Aunt Acid is a polymer
clay headed puppet with a cloth body. She wears polymer clay accessories
too, of course, and hand dyed clothing along with vintage bits and pieces.
The step-by-step tutorial
on how she was made is found on her very own website. In the process of
putting together The Aunt Acid Show we are building mosaic sets and props, dyeing
curtains and costumes, and making all sorts of stuff and nonsense come
together in new ways.
Images of Bryan's recent mosaic tiled piece The
Little Blue Glass Guitar are used in creating part of a set. He's working
on tiling several new instruments and tables too. Take a look at his latest
table using ceramics and two part
epoxy resin here.
I'm now offering instruction at Nomad Designs in Boulder
Colorado. Click here for class listings.
I will also be teaching an intensive
workshop at the Tougaloo College Summer Art Colony in Jackson Mississippi
from July 12-18. It is a week long polymer
clay and mixed media session where we will make masks, icons or totems,
spirit dolls and more. (CLICK
HERE TO SEE WHAT WE DID)
We're
also selling supplies for you to use in your projects. Spirit
Doll Kits with selections of hand dyed ribbons, textiles and polymer clay
faces are now available in our store over at http://sarajane.etsy.com
and we have mosaic tiles, beads and other items available for purchase.
Etsy.com is an online artisans' venue where handmade and vintage items are
featured. The picture at right shows some of the the face cabochon styles that
you can now purchase and use in your doll and wearable art projects. Click
here to see more about the polymer
clay faces.
And do stop by to see the wonderful items available from many
artists and collectors at Etsy.com ! Here's
a link to my store.
Making your own faces is a lot of fun, as any kid
knows! Make face cabochons for decorating boxes, wall hangings, wearable
art--and dolls! You can costume and style a face in lots of different
ways.
To put together this red hot Red Hat wall hanging, you start with sculpting the face, and then dress it up.This four page tutorial starts you out with step by step instructions
on sculpting a face using scrap polymer
clay.
The next part makes replication a breeze with easy to use silicone RTV
mold materials. Make faces, make texture sheets--and
use them to dress up the faces as shown
in the fourth segment of this fun filled project.
Ready for a brand new project? There's all sorts of
inspiration to be found in Create A Polymer Clay Impression
and Adapting Quilt Patterns To Polymer Clay. Redecorate your room or your
wardrobe. or take your projects to a newl level and sell with The
Business Of Professional Art.
The Bead
Bugle is an online magazine for bead enthusiasts, and I'm very pleased
to be writing for them on a regular basis.
Click here to see the first part of a recent
project for them using blue and white Premo polymer clays to create shower
curtain decorations. Part Two is found here. Be
sure to check out the Bead Bugle
online magazine; published with a new edition every two weeks and chock
full of fabulous bead information and projects of all sorts--seed beads,
precious metal clays--and of course polymer clay!
Make a dozen of these lentil beads and practice your beadmaking and
wire wrapping techniques--and use up some of your collected beads!
Polyform Products
manufactures Premo clay, and has many fun polymer clay projects at their
web site.
I'm honored to be one of their contributing artists.
These currently featured articles include how to get decorative with
my Faux
Cinnebar Project. Perfect for an oriental note
to your home decor! Use the same techniques for
beads and more.
Another project I've done using Premo is Star
Students--a great project for teachers and group leaders as well as
for families. These make fabulous ornaments and gifts for family members
to cherish for years to come.
Try making the Miniature
May Flowers Mask with Premo and rubber stamps. It's sweet and dainty--perfect
for use as a pin or as a decorative ornament.
You can see more miniature masks by clicking here.
There are many pictures of masks from the Internet Mask Swaps in 2002 and
2003. Swaps are a great way to build collections and to participate in
group art!
View the miniature masks made by Columbine Elementary School Students
in the Artist In Residence Project "Best Faces
Forward". This Installation of over 200 masks was created
by all the students (K-5) and staff with the assistance of the resident
art teachers and Bryan and and Sarajane Helm.
Some groups also have Challenges on occasion, and participating
members share pictures of their work done in response to the given challenge.
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Click here to see
a recent Rec.Crafts.Beads challenge.
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Click here to see what
some polymer clay swappers did with Ready Stamps and polymer clay.
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Click here to see the
logo pins for the NPCG made with Ready Stamps and polymer clay and the
local Colorado Guilds.
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Click here to see some
examples of polymer clay used with rubberstamps, inks, and embossing powders.
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Click here to learn about
miniatures and scale conversion.
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Click here to see how
molds are made.
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Click here for a how-to
on stringing that combines polymer clay beads with glass, metal and other
treasures to create pendants that really dazzle!
Valentine's Day Hearts
Holiday Bears and Stars
Use polymer clay to make Holiday Ornaments using cookie
cutters! It is so much fun to decorate holiday cookies--its even
better when you make them out of polymer clay, and can enjoy them for years
to come!
This featured project can be done with other shapes as well as the bears
and stars that are shown. It is also a good idea to have a separate batch
of cutters to use for clays, and to keep the food and clay tools separate.
Although polymer clays ARE certified non-toxic, being careful is always
a good thing when dealing with art supplies of any sort. You don't want
anyone to get baked clay in their next bite of cookie!
