Polymer clay crocheted heart/flower decor - Free video tutorial for Valentine!

In our family, a fridge is not just a place to put your groceries. It's a photo album+.

Photos, magnets, memos, test schedule, special announcements, calendars, bills - thank god that fridges are so big you can place items on all 3 sides of it ;)

Anyway, it's a while now that my mother asked me for REAL photos of my kids. Not digital photos - real ones.

In the digital age we hardly make photo copies any more, almost all of us have gazillion photos in our hard drive and almost none in our albums and guess what - although this happen we keep buying the newest camera on the market.

So I decided, it's a good time to make 3 special photo decorations for my mom's fridge with all 6 grandchildren photos - mine and my 2 sisters.

For a while now I wanted to combine my basic crochet skills in a polymer clay piece so this was a fun project that can be a last minute gift for your loved ones, Valentine or any occasion, this decoration can be used as a big magnet on a fridge, a wall hanging ornament, a key-chain, bag charm, beads for a necklace or even part of a gift wrap!

The great thing about doing this project with polymer clay is that you can apply any technique you like on it and you'll get an original design. Of course it can be done with paper, air dry clay and many other materials as well, just keep in mind the holes and the hook size.

Basic crochet knowledge is recommended but if you do not know how to crochet you will get the idea by watching me work plus a recommended YouTube channel for many crochet tutorials. This channel taught me so much! I really recommend it.

So mom, even though Valentine is a holiday you mostly celebrate with your other half (mine is going to be abroad) - this one is for you :)

Animal Farm, A peek behind the curtain

It's been a while that i was waiting for an opportunity to create my own animal collection of charms, ever since i saw felt and fabric folks do it, I wanted to make some from polymer clay.

A week ago I got a phone call from a lady, she is a director in one of the collages here in Israel, theater department. The lady asked me if I can create animal keychains, she said that they are doing a play called "Animal Farm" based on a novel by George Orwell, each actor will receive a special gift at the "finale'" of the play featuring his own character.
What a great idea!
Exactly what I was waiting for.

I made about 25 charms, some not even in the play (penguin? polar bear?)

I had so much fun creating them I couldn't stop :)

You can see how 4 of them were made in 2 videos - The pig, the sheep, the horse and the chicken.
It's really all about working with cookie cutters and creating a flat, 2D design, playing with colors, shapes and having fun.

Let the show begin!

Part 1 - Pig and sheep

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJ9AfsMZy_w&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

Part 2 - Chicken and horse

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anBSGS034cc&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Master your favorite techniques - Special Offer!

The first two Millefiori Celebration tutorials were released last week and were a great success! Thank you!

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Have a great warm weekend!

Polymeri Online 2.12.10

Elaine Robitaille tells about her process of making a face cane and talks about big canes in general, Elaine also became the new editor of Polymer Clay CraftGossip blog - good luck!

http://www.tooaquarius.com/2010/11/15/making-big-canes/

tititata96 / Silvia Bordin makes keys look cool! covering them with polymer canes :)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tititata96/5182058766/

Rijeka from Croatia, started playing with polymer clay 5 years ago and was thrilled. So much possibilities, she could not stop. This is a carriage and beads - pendant for a necklace:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/44463248@N03/5169091236/in/pool-693125@N25/

http://www.feelingfimo.blogspot.com/

An easy and fun tutorial for making a brooch Pin – Flower Polymer Clay

http://www.jolita.biz/freebeadingtutorial/?p=692

And...Get ready for the 1st PolyPediaOnline anniversary! details soon :)

4th of July Winners!

Thank you everyone for commenting on my blog post with such interesting stories, attractions and memories! it was fascinating to read about your hometown, those beautiful landscapes or memories from 4th of july holidays. I felt like i am touring the world: UK, Spain, Finland, Italy and of course USA!

Thank you so much for sharing this with me :)

So... here are the winners of the raffle, as always i am using the fruit machine name picker (so i feel like i am in vegas :))

1st keychain goes to - B-LEE KREATIONS

2nd keychain goes to - Angela Murtagh

and USA flag cane - rosemaryschild

Winners please email me your home address so i can send you the gifts!

my email is imishly@gmail.com

thank you and i hope you had a great 4th!

Polymeri Online 11.7.09

Carrie Goller is using a variety of medias, this keeps her endlessly inspired — oil, watercolor, pastel, charcoal, mixed media and encaustic — the ancient process of melting, applying, then fusing beeswax. Goller is currently enjoying exploring a new media -- figurative sculpture with polymer clay too.
http://www.carriegoller.com/carrie_about.htm
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5706223

Polpette Clay - is creating Handcrafted polymer clay creations, she is currently enjoying her time chasing two little guys around the house. her older son loves working with polymer clay, as she does, so they have lots of fun cooking up new ideas together. Most of her creative energy is focused on chalkboards and polymer clay at the moment.
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5150803

Some cool tutorials from polymer clay italia blog, a cute figurine -http://polymerclayitalia.blogspot.com/2008/04/tutorial-signorinelle-di-diana-crialesi.html
and a wire frame for pendants!
http://polymerclayitalia.blogspot.com/2008/02/tutorial-cernit-in-cornice-di-marina.html

It's all about what you hold on your key chain! cute and funny holders, faces, skulls, makes me smile!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/keykritters/
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7509761

Passover Adventures!

Boy! that was a busy holiday!
Don't get me wrong, i am not complaning at all :) some of them were very positive and fun, but some are less...

My craft fairs were great, although these days people don't hurry and buy, i had good sales, this year it was the popular Keychains & jewelry (last holiday it was Hamsa-mania), every fair i have new suprises, it's ok, the buyers don't want me to get bored...

Then came friends that bought some more, and... i found myself almost stock-less! no more barretes left, no more "disc-chic" necklaces, "disc-chic" rings!
i am parting from my day job these days and becoming a full time artist so i can't tell you how happy i am.

Passover with family was fun as usuall, matzot, kneydalach, i think i gained some weight, oh dear :( i'll have to loose those kg soon! Gym - here i come!

Plus, I had an ASAP custom order of "health" keychains for a local company, they needed it 1st thing on sunday, so i was working to keep the deadline (and finished!!)

We did have some mis-fortunate insident, My 9 yrs son, twisted his ankle when jumping on his skateboard, so now he is resting with his foot up - who said children are easy to raise?

keeping the good spirit, hope every one had good holidays!

Polymeri Online 16.10.08 and some personal stuff

Judy Belsky lives in Israel, she discovered collage and polymer clay around the same time - ten years ago. Although she painted and loved to paint all through her life, collage liberated her soul. After collage, there is no such thing as a bad art day. Everything is useful and recyclable. You don’t have to be a perfect little girl! Polymer clay came into her life at the same time and with a similar message. It is such a forgiving, flexible, exciting material. she has integrated polymer clay into her collage because it is a third dimension and can take on a weathered, aged look that is still vibrant.

http://www.judybelsky.com/collage.php

Look at this sweet marie-antoinette - i think she's adorable, and there are more of a similar design in lacigalecristalline's photostream in flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/68649478@N00/2919155730/in/photostream/
if you haven't yet bookmarked her blog - http://cristalline.blogspot.com/ it's a must have.

fantasy sculpture from polymer clay by dolhathai Srijancharoen, she is a native of Thailand born into a family skilled in folk art and music, she received her master’s degree from the College of Fine Art in Bangkok. At the beginning of my career she worked as an illustrator for children’s books and went on to become a journalist, columnist and editor for several newspapers and magazines there. She relocated to New York City in 2001 and began crafting my fairies in polymer clay soon after.
http://www.littlepooh.com/doll.html

Faeries From The Swamp by Antoine - she has been an artist all her life, it was inevitable that she would start sculpting. It wasn’t until 2003, however, that she tried polymer clays. her very first completed faerie was a fat naked man who resembled an uncle of hers. In the beginning she made many little fat men and boys but soon evolved to very thin faeries. Presently her faeries range in size from 3” to about 5” seated. Each is a one of a kind sculpture created over a wire armature for added strength and durability. Most have wings, but some do not. Each somehow resembles either someone she knows or have seen before.
http://ant-1.net/swamp.html

and some personals? 4 days ago i celebrated my 15th anniversiry with my beloved partner and husband, and in 3 days we are celebrating my daughter's bat-mitzva party (real birthday only in november) :) lot's of celebrations! let's have fun!!

Half and half - New collection

My new holidays collection is charachterized by 50% millefiori and 50% color.

Do you ask what does that mean? well, i am simply enjoying my clay, colors and matarial and not using 100% millefiori as i used to :)

I find this collection so enjoyable, much more personal, and wishfull.

In Judaism, a berakhah or bracha is a blessing, usually recited at a specific moments during a ceremony or other activity. we love to bless friends and family in so many occasions - holidays, when you meet, when you visit someone's home for the first time, and more.

This is the reason why i chose to be more personal and give my buyers the chance to enjoy a blessing collection. who doesn't want to bless his beloved friends and family? i'm sure every one will.

Hamsas, keychains, decorations, and many more, you are all welcome to my flickr site to see more.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/irismishly/

and some in my etsy store for sale :)

Polymeri Online 20.9.07

Clay Sock Monkey - a nice project by HGTV and Becky Meverden that imitates the sweet soft sock monkey we all know -
http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/cr_clay_figures/article/0,,HGTV_3237_1387052,00.html
Becky's site - http://www.meverden.net/

We, in Israel, turn green (of envy of course) every time we hear of the good time the PC girls are doing in the US, so if you feel like cruising (wish i could come...) - take a look -
Day Western Caribbean Cruise from New Orleans - Polymer Paradise '08 http://www.haleyhertz.com/

Acrylicana - this 21 yrs. Mary Winkler is doing sweet decors and charms and jewelry, some of them looks yummy! to navigate in her site choose the WORK tab
http://www.acrylicana.com/binder.html
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5033072

Bonecando com FIMO / Sandra
Sandra from Portugal makes humorist people figures designed as key chains, personally i loved the nurse one :)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11612393@N08/
http://bonecando.blogspot.com/

she beads is all about millefiori beads and other creations, can't help it, millefiori is my weakness.
http://www.sbstore.com/

Creations Jacqueline creates lovely Knitting needles, crochet hooks, stitch markers, Pacifier holders and so much more!
http://www.creationsjacqueline.com/

Elizabeth Bonura made a big sculpture of human face - life size cake topper. in her flickr site you can see the stages from the beginning till the end. Elizabeth is also a member if PCAGOE
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9269103@N08/sets/72157601895489988/

More Yummy charms by liquorice-allosaurs - Pat Phillips : cupcakes and other charms
http://www.liquorice-allosaurs.com/index.html
http://www.liquorice-allosaurs.com/Zencart/

and blog:
http://liquorice-allosaurs.com/blog/

next week - cute 21 sculpturing projects!

Polymeri Online 17/5/07

Beginner Tutorial for you firstimers! a sheet of Clay tutorial, how to arrange millefiori slices on a sheet and then cover a box -
http://picasaweb.google.com/cvstearns/SheetOfClayTutorial?authkey=LhDD7UYHhFM

In case you wanted to know what are the differences between the 2 variations of skinner blends (corner 2 corner or chopped corners - forgive my English, it sounds better in Hebrew) - Desiree is giving us the perfect explanation:
http://desiredcreations.com/howTo_CABasicSkinnerBlend.htm

2 movie clips i found on YouTube 1 is Silkscreen on polymer clay - Daphne Hill' only a glimpse to the tutorial, the second half is not there
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CecMxCuuMaw

Sculpting a torso with polymer clay by using armature by - stringfellowart http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UNi1Z3BSi8

Ben Can Dance from Flickr -
http://www.flickr.com/photos/42836511@N00/
Sandi has always been an artistic person and have tried a wide variety of different mediums: sketched, painted, sculpted, done carpentry- projects, mosaics and now selling her products in ETSY.

A nice site called The penguin Nest, gather in it's nest few artists, one of them is Kim O'Neal which makes wonderful necklaces from PC - take a look at her craft and others in the nest:
http://www.penguinsnest.com/

Alev Gozonar is a designer of stunning mixed media work:
http://www.alevg.com/

One last thing is a cute children (and adult) project - how to decorate your personal key :)http://www.hubihobby.com/default.asp?cat_id=1516&tech_id=244

Polymeri Online 9.8.06

Before you enter M.L.F.W. oO My Little Fairy World Oo please note that you are about to see some interesting charachters there.

The french artist Rapha Gilardino chose unique figures and made a collection of creations: magnets, kew chains, jewlery and more.

http://fimosite.free.fr/

Polymeri Online 28.6.06

ovenfriedbeads - by Amy E Wallace -

Wonderful shaped beads, with interesting patterns, colorful and enjoy to look.

her pieces and articles appeared in polymer CAFE and PCC.

http://www.ovenfriedbeads.com/index.html
http://polymerclaydaily.com/index.php?s=Amy+E+Wallace&searchbutton=Go+Find%21