I was sad to learn that my favorite local rubber stamp store was going out of business after many years. Admittedly, I hadn't visited much lately, but I'd sent many folks their way... and I just liked knowing they were there. So on their final week, I had hubby watch the kiddos while I shopped their 75% off sale. I was thrilled to get to stock up on some new colors of alcohol inks, and I found some fun new stamps.

I decided to combine those finds to make some pretty autumn leaf pendants in the style of Isabelle Ceramy-Debray's faux enamel from Polymer Clay Beaded Jewellery (reviewed here). My pendants are actually serving multiple purposes here: I'm using them to decorate some autumn gift bags and pillow boxes, after which the recipients can string them onto a necklace of their choice.

Here's what you need to make this project:

Continue reading "Project: Leaf Pendant with Liquid Clay and Alcohol Inks" »

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I love the idea of gardening. I want to snip fresh herbs to toss with pasta. Or make fresh salsa with homegrown tomatoes and peppers.

Unfortunately, my biological gardening clock (if there is such a thing) is a bit off. It's usually around Memorial Day weekend that it occurs to me to plant something. By this time, even the pre-started plants at the nurseries are on clearance, because (I'm guessing) everybody except me understands that it's too late to plant stuff. This does not deter me. I see an abandoned plant in a clearance bin, and I go into rescue mode. How could I just let that poor thing sit there and die, alone and unloved? So I bring home plants I shouldn't and do my best to save them from the coming blazing-hot summer days. Eventually the Oklahoma sun and dry winds win, and I give up on the poor wilted plants. But by Memorial Day of the next year, I'm ready to give it another shot.

A few years back, I (unintentionally) did something smart. I got some perennial herbs, oregano and sage, that have made a happy life for themselves despite my lack of gardening expertise. Both of the past two years, these herbs have come back without a bit of effort on my part. Since these plants make me so happy, I decided to make them a little gift in return.

These polymer clay plant markers are simple to make and they're a great way to identify your favorite plants... whether you're the type who starts them from seedlings, or — like me — just feel fortunate that the plants have chosen to grace you with their presence one more year. I'm showing you how to make two slightly different styles of plant markers. The first is a more sculpted look, and it's great for flowering plants, fruits, or veggies. The second is a more natural look, well-suited for an herb garden. Both projects start and end the same way — it's the step in the middle that make the difference.

Plant Marker Instructions

Continue reading "Polymer Clay Plant Markers... 2 Ways!" »

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Need one more thing to make your Halloween decor complete? Try this quick and easy project! Polymer clay eyeballs float in a jar of colored water to make a delightfully weird conversation piece for your home or office.

Materials

• Polymer Clay: White Ultralight Sculpey plus tiny amounts of black. red. and any color of your choice
• Jar
• Food Coloring
• Water
• Optional: Alcohol Inks, Pasta Machine, Clay Extruder, Small Round Cookie Cutter, Kato Clear Liquid Medium

Instructions

Continue reading "Halloween Tutorial: Eyeballs in a Jar" »

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In my previous post, I talked about some of the basic techniques for stamping on polymer clay. Today we're going one step beyond the basics and talking about "masking." Masking is a technique frequently used in rubber stamping, where you cut out a stamped image and use it to block (or "mask") the finish you're applying to the surrounding area. (Here's a nice masking tutorial if you're not familiar with the idea.) For today's project, we'll use a bird mask and chalks to create a coaster from polymer clay.

Materials

Continue reading "How to Make a Rubber Stamped Coaster" »

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A couple of years back, I bought one of those generic wood-handled sculpting tool kits at Michael's. While I had no idea what most of the tools were for (& still don't for some of them!), I quickly came to rely on its needle tool. I used it for all sorts of things -- poking, cutting and otherwise. It didn't dawn on me for quite some time that I could have easily made my own needle tool. Furthermore, it wasn't til I was working through Katherine Dewey's Creating Life-Like Animals in Polymer Clay that I saw the benefit of having different-sized needles for different jobs.

I stepped out of my comfort zone and visited the sewing section at the store, stocking up on half a dozen tapestry, sewing & knitting needles to work through Dewey's book. And for the last several weeks, I've had these needles sitting casually on my craft desk... the same desk from which things often mysteriously disappear and which cats have been known to raid.

So I was thrilled when I saw this tin can pincushion project by Design*Sponge. Said cats generate more than their share of kitty food cans to use for the project, and of course I like the recycling aspect. I decided to try making a polymer-clay covered pincushion to store my sculpting needles, so they'd be in a slightly safer environment.

Here's how I made mine:

Materials

Continue reading "Polymer Clay Pincushion" »

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Finally, a crafty answer to that age-old question: Are the dishes in the dishwasher clean or dirty? This project takes a recycled can lid and turns it into a dishwasher magnet with a reversible Clean/Dirty indicator.

Supplies

Continue reading "How to Make a Polymer Clay Magnet from a Recycled Can Lid" »

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Materials

Continue reading "Say I LUV U with Polymer Clay Candy Hearts" »

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Polymer clay artists are likely to think of something completely different when someone mentions putting the turkey in the oven! This polymer clay turkey would be a fun addition to any Thanksgiving festivities -- even more fun when you come up with creative ideas for your own personalized signs. Here's how I made my turkey -- no basting required!

Materials

• Polymer clay: tan, orange, yellow, white, red, black
• Tools:
  • Pasta machine
  • Clay knife, toothpick, and/or other clay sculpting tools
  • Translucent Sculpey (TLS)

Instructions

Continue reading "It's Turkey Time!" »

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Candy corns are one of those candies -- like marshmallow eggs or candy canes -- that are definitely seasonal. Around here, it just doesn't seem like autumn til we've bought that first bag of candy corns. It's a yearly tradition.

Another yearly tradition is when I take a few of those candy corns up to my craft room to use as a model for my yearly batch of polymer clay candy corns. These are easy & fun to make -- and they can be turned into any number of things (earrings, thumbtacks, etc.). Course the best thing about the polymer clay version is they're not sticky & they won't ruin your diet!

Here's a quick tutorial on how to make your own batch of candy corns out of polymer clay:

Materials

• Polymer clay: orange, yellow, white
• Tools (optional): pasta machine, round cookie cutters

Instructions

Continue reading "How to Make Polymer Clay Candy Corns" »

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• Pumpkin Faces: Looking for ideas or patterns for carving your pumpkin's face? Check out Adam Kalsey's list of free pumpkin carving patterns. These are great to use for inspiration -- or you can try shrinking them down to use as an image transfer or stencil.
• Stems. Curled green wire works great for pumpkin stems. Or for a natural touch, try using a small twig.
• Personalizing your Pumpkin Patch. If you're making a patch full of pumpkins, consider making a sign to stake your claim (or if you've got little ones, they'll really love seeing their names on the sign!). It's easy to do...

  Continue reading "The Great Pumpkin Wrap-Up" »

  Posted in: Polymer Clay , Project Instructions

Your kids will love switching out the interchangeable eyes, nose & mouth on this refrigerator magnet jack-o-lantern -- but I'm betting you'll have just as much fun making it as they will playing with it!

Materials

• Polymer Clay: Orange (< 1/4 pkg) for pumpkin, plus assorted other colors for facial features. I strongly recommend not using "Sculpey" clays for this, since the all handling & poking may cause it to tear. I prefer Premo, but other strong brands like Fimo or Kato would work too.
• Tools:
  • Pasta machine or brayer
  • Straw for punching holes
  • Super glue (I like Loctite brand)
  • Texture sheet (optional). I used ShadeTex's "Linen" texture
• 1-2 magnet(s)
• 10-20 brads

Continue reading "Meet Mr. Pumpkin Head" »

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Making polymer clay pumpkins is simple -- and they make for a quick & easy Halloween decoration. This week, I'm going to give you a few tips on creating your own pumpkins, starting with the basics:

Making a Simple Polymer Clay Pumpkin

Materials

• Polymer Clay: (I prefer Premo brand)
  • Orange & green (required)
  • Brown & white (optional)
• Tools:
  • Toothpick or other pointy-stick tool
  • Clay gun (optional)

Instructions

Continue reading "How to Make Polymer Clay Pumpkins" »

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There are things I love about my house -- it's comfy, it's spacious, it's got a nice big backyard. And then there's the things I'm not so crazy about. Like the tiny kitchen and its stuck-in-the-70's vibe. And while the red brick walls in my kitchen & family room fit more in the not-so-crazy-about realm, there's so many more important things to do that I know I'll be living with them for a good while longer.

One thing that always bothered me more than the bricks themselves was the gap in the bricks. When we moved in, there was an ancient avocado green metal GTE Starlite phone hanging on the kitchen wall. We replaced it fairly quickly -- but when we took it down, we found that the bricks had actually been set around the phone... so not only did we have an ugly old silver phone jack cover, we also had big gaps around the phone jack.

The Phone Jack Cover

Continue reading "Making Faux Bricks with Polymer Clay" »

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We've "covered" the basics of pen-covering... now let's take it to the next level.

Pen making kits are more expensive and involve a little more work than your more basic pens, but the nicer results may make it worthwhile. Traditionally used in wood-turning, these kits basically consist of hollow tubes that you cover then assemble. There are several places online to buy these, with a wide variety of pen types available. While you can buy a pen assembly press for around $40 to assemble these, you can usually hammer them together with a rubber mallet and a little patience. (Upper-body strength doesn't hurt either!)

Of course, if you're interested in that slightly nicer, cross pen-style look -- but not interested in all the work -- you might like the Amazing Twist Pen. These are still harder to assemble than a Papermate -- but they're much easier than pounding with a rubber mallet. And while there's just the one style, they do look really classy.

Continue reading "How To Make Polymer Clay Pens Using Pen Kits" »

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With all the craziness, I forgot to mention it here -- but I taught this month’s lesson at Central Oklahoma's Polymer Clay Guild. Our topic was covering pens with polymer clay, and while I've put a few notes on the guild's site, I thought I'd go a little more in-depth here...

I really enjoy covering pens with polymer clay. It's fast, it's easy, and it's practical. It was one of the first polymer clay projects I did where I was actually happy with the results!

In this series of posts, I'd like to share some of the mechanics of covering pens. I'll start today with how to cover some basic pens with polymer clay -- including Papermate's Flexgrip Elite and Bic's Round Stic. Next, I'll discuss some of the more advanced options -- like using pen blanks and bamboo skewers. Even if you've never covered a pen before, I hope this series will show you that you too can cover a pen and be happy with your results!

Note: Since this tutorial's main goal is to talk about the mechanics of covering these pens, I've used a very simple one-color design. As with any polymer clay project, the possibilities for colors, textures, and design are practically limitless.

The Basics

Find An Oven-Safe Pen

• Papermate FlexGrip Elite. I get mine at Office Depot and they cost about $0.75 each. If you can find them, the Papermate Flexgrip Ultras work great, too.

Continue reading "How To Make Polymer Clay Pens: The Basics" »

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