Throwback Thursday 8-28-14 Polymer Clay Then and Now
Hello Friends~
Earlier in the summer, after much deliberation, I decided to put more of my focus on my polymer clay creations and techniques.
I'm not quitting the other stuff altogether, but I think PC is going to help me become the artist I want to be, more so than just basics like stringing. Jewelry making is a saturated market and it's hard to stand out in a crowd if your work is not very original.
Back in June I signed up for a month long bootcamp class with Heather Powers and I believe that was also instrumental in my baby steps forward.
To continue my learning, today I paid for a year long learning session starting in January of 2015. This endeavor features over 20 different PC artists with many different techniques taught through the year. I thought it was a deal at the early bird price of $80 [Good till 9/1 - it goes up to $99 after that-] Click the link to see more info : Polymer Clay Adventure
So I decided to take a look back at where I started in PC :
Here are the first things I made, some ridiculously sad and wonky beads....
Apparently I thought these tiger-y ones were good enough to make into a necklace which I gave my mom as a gift....cringe :-(
Then I tried my hand at frames and wine glasses
At some point I discovered Mokume Gane- which is still one of my favorite techniques.
Later on as I improved, I learned to make century lentils with a swirl
To use stamps and colorants like the Swellegant system
Earlier in the summer, after much deliberation, I decided to put more of my focus on my polymer clay creations and techniques.
I'm not quitting the other stuff altogether, but I think PC is going to help me become the artist I want to be, more so than just basics like stringing. Jewelry making is a saturated market and it's hard to stand out in a crowd if your work is not very original.
Back in June I signed up for a month long bootcamp class with Heather Powers and I believe that was also instrumental in my baby steps forward.
To continue my learning, today I paid for a year long learning session starting in January of 2015. This endeavor features over 20 different PC artists with many different techniques taught through the year. I thought it was a deal at the early bird price of $80 [Good till 9/1 - it goes up to $99 after that-] Click the link to see more info : Polymer Clay Adventure
So I decided to take a look back at where I started in PC :
Here are the first things I made, some ridiculously sad and wonky beads....
Then I tried my hand at frames and wine glasses
Later on as I improved, I learned to make century lentils with a swirl To use stamps and colorants like the Swellegant system
To buy and use tutorials like this one from the Blue Bottle Tree
To experiment with alcohol inks and products like resin
The last year or so has been a huge improvement and for the last couple of months I have been working in polymer almost daily.
I have purchased a couple of tuts on finishing and credit them with adding a more professional look to my things.
[I ighly recommend the tut from Betsy Baker of Stonehouse Studio on Etsy]
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| Rustic Beads from tut by The Blue Bottle Tree |
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| Meg Newberg Houndstooth tut from Pinterest |
And what I have been doing the last 2 days. A complex snowflake cane. I will make into ornaments.
Thanks for indulging my trip down memory lane.
I appreciate your time spent here on my blog
Have a great rest of your week and a relaxing Labor Day weekend.
~ Tammie
I just bought the tutorial package from Blue Bottle Tree and I have been thinking about doing the Polymer Clay Adventure too. I just went and looked at the instructors bios/pictures and I think I will be joining you again in January :-) I love seeing how much you have progressed. I wear my necklace that I bought from you earlier this year all the time and get compliments on it every time I wear it. I will have to take a look at the Betsy Baker tutorial.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Kim- I love hearing that the necklace makes you happy :-D I do think that the Polymer Clay Adventure will be an interesting ride. I don't think I'll love every technique, but you I can always learn something new!
DeleteLovely to see the many places PC has taken you, Tammie. Wish I had saved some of my early efforts (sometimes it is encouraging to see how far we have come!) Cindy Leitz was one of the first tutors I found and I still enjoy her playful and exuberant videos to this day :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Monique, it is definitely a creative journey- I like to look back.... just to assure myself that I am always improving. lol
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