I did it, the September Art Bead Scene Challenge

So I did the challenge last month and it was fantastic to stretch out, grab some beautiful beads from my stash, and put them together to go with the theme photo.

I was inspired by the interesting color palette and loose organic forms, and I used my favorite techniques- adding foils to clay and micro-applique little pieces onto a matte surface, for the interplay of shiny, crackly and matte. So fun!

Time for another Art Bead Challenge...

Can I make it in time?
http://artbeadscene.blogspot.com/2015/09/september-monthly-challenge.html

I'm finally seeing my drawings translated into art making tools and it's great!

I've been doodling with intention for a long time now. I have tried Zentangle, but sometimes it is actually too limiting for me! I enjoy a more freestyle way of drawing. And I was able to get a couple of technological tools to help me out, loving my Wacom stylus and tablet at the moment.

Because I've been working with polymer clay and mixed media for years (since about 1995) I understand what works and what doesn't, and I feel very qualified to create excellent designs.

The ones currently available are for sale in our online shop, PolymerClayTV. Be sure to check them out :)

Getting inspired by tools

Ilysa and I are working hard on our shop right now over at PolymerClayTV.

We carry only really interesting molds, tools and other polymer clay art supplies. Right now, we are wholesaling these tools- but we have our own line of exclusive tools coming up very soon. I am still working full time, but next Thursday is my last day in corporate. The business is making enough money to support me, and when I can do PCTV full time, I will be able to create even better income and no longer be just "supported," but be able to thrive.

It just takes a while to design, prototype, and order the things we are creating- and it's tough to dedicate time to it when you work a full time job. My work-life balance is definitely suffering. My temper is short, my time is limited. I'm looking forward to being more present at home and at PCTV, focusing inward and upward.

This week I took a look at our tools- which are together in a special part of my studio, to get inspired.

I saw my tin can sitting on the desk, the floral medallion mold that was almost the same size, and the basketweave metal stamping tool, and I knew what I could make.

Click here to enjoy my free tutorial!

Loving me some PEBEO Mixed Media! Watch what I did at CHA Mega Show 2015

I really love my Pebeo paints, and I really enjoyed spending a few days demonstrating so many fun things you can do with them. I painted a realistic seahorse floating in the seaweed to show how you can control the reactions with the paints and lay them down to create exactly the painting you want-

but here, in this video, you can see me using the pouring method. When you pour the paints and swirl them together, you can get some really interesting effects. You can also apply SOME control to this process. When you get to know the paints you will see that some reactions can be predicted. Such as:

Vitrail + Moon = lace
Moon + Ceramic = lace
Prisme + Moon = flat mica sheen (no honeycomb)

There is an awesome almost water-lily pond effect if you pour droplets of Moon into Vitrail or Ceramic after you let them set for a few minutes. And of course, different colors have slightly different effects. So if you want to learn to control the paint, like everything else in life... practice makes perfect!

Enjoy my demo :)

Thermographic Silk Screens from my drawing!

Have you ever heard of thermograph printing? I hadn't either. Somehow in all my wild Googleing I stumbled across this technique which basically makes a silkscreen without all the crazy fuss! It's almost instant. So then I found this awesome Etsy shop, uploaded a drawing, and had a shipping confirmation that my screen was ready, all within about a half hour! Wow!

Here's what my print looks like on a small journal cover.

And this is the actual screen. Reusable!

Posted with Blogsy