Over the past couple months, I have been busy working on the development of four new polymer clay techniques. {Hint: I've saved my favorite for last, so keep reading! ;) } The first technique involves bonding food grade plastics to polymer clay. A design is drawn on the clear food container plastic and it is bonded to the polymer clay. I have much more work to do on this idea, but here is a sampling of my initial test pieces (more detailed photos can be found on my flickr photostream):
There's something about the ring that I just love (even though it is so basic and you can't really see the drawn paisley design very well, I just like the look of the raised clear plastic on the ring face), and I will be keeping that piece for myself, but plan to make others. I have a few other favorites in here, specifically, the stained-glass-look piece, the large center piece, the small marquis shaped fish piece and the silver piece with the vines. I'm having fun with the process and hope to have better results with the next firings.
The second idea with which I've been playing involves incorporating dyed tyvek material (upcycled from used mailing envelopes) into polymer clay. This idea has much more experimental work needed, but here is a photo of the preliminary results of this technique:
The third project I've been working with involves "harvesting" the fine sanding bits from finishing my polymer clay pieces and incorporating it back into raw clay material. I decided to try doing this to keep as much of the fine bits of polymer from being washed down the drain and into our water system, because I am very concerned about the environmental impacts of plastic pollution to our water ways. Though these first beads are a bit drab, because all of the sanding bits in this batch were of many hues, which combined creates a muddy color... I have ideas for separating like hues into separate containers to keep colors more vibrant. Here is a photo of my initial set:
Finally, (this is my favorite) I've been working on another brand new technique of transferring patterns from fabric onto polymer clay. I'm so excited about this technique, as it is producing some great batik looks and there are so many possibilities yet to explore with this. I will be concentrating the bulk of my work in the coming months on this technique and expect to have much more to come, but I wanted to share my favorite pieces from my first exploration. Here are a two photos from my initial testing of this idea...
There are more photos and some different examples from all of these techniques on my flickr photostream at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/createmyworlddesigns
So, as you can see I've been very busy, and continue to be so. I'm also in the process of writing a magazine article on the fabric transfer process. Something I'm simply thrilled to be doing! So, keep your eye out here for new photos and news of my ongoing experimentation... and at my etsy shop, as some of these new pieces will very soon be making their way into my shop. And please leave me a comment either here, or on my photostream, about which pieces or which technique ideas you like best. Thanks!
There's something about the ring that I just love (even though it is so basic and you can't really see the drawn paisley design very well, I just like the look of the raised clear plastic on the ring face), and I will be keeping that piece for myself, but plan to make others. I have a few other favorites in here, specifically, the stained-glass-look piece, the large center piece, the small marquis shaped fish piece and the silver piece with the vines. I'm having fun with the process and hope to have better results with the next firings.
The second idea with which I've been playing involves incorporating dyed tyvek material (upcycled from used mailing envelopes) into polymer clay. This idea has much more experimental work needed, but here is a photo of the preliminary results of this technique:
The third project I've been working with involves "harvesting" the fine sanding bits from finishing my polymer clay pieces and incorporating it back into raw clay material. I decided to try doing this to keep as much of the fine bits of polymer from being washed down the drain and into our water system, because I am very concerned about the environmental impacts of plastic pollution to our water ways. Though these first beads are a bit drab, because all of the sanding bits in this batch were of many hues, which combined creates a muddy color... I have ideas for separating like hues into separate containers to keep colors more vibrant. Here is a photo of my initial set:
Finally, (this is my favorite) I've been working on another brand new technique of transferring patterns from fabric onto polymer clay. I'm so excited about this technique, as it is producing some great batik looks and there are so many possibilities yet to explore with this. I will be concentrating the bulk of my work in the coming months on this technique and expect to have much more to come, but I wanted to share my favorite pieces from my first exploration. Here are a two photos from my initial testing of this idea...
There are more photos and some different examples from all of these techniques on my flickr photostream at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/createmyworlddesigns
So, as you can see I've been very busy, and continue to be so. I'm also in the process of writing a magazine article on the fabric transfer process. Something I'm simply thrilled to be doing! So, keep your eye out here for new photos and news of my ongoing experimentation... and at my etsy shop, as some of these new pieces will very soon be making their way into my shop. And please leave me a comment either here, or on my photostream, about which pieces or which technique ideas you like best. Thanks!
