PCAGOE August Challenge - Mixed Media!

1. Chainmaille and Polymer Clay Bracelet by Chicki
2. Faux Zebra Animal Print Polymer Clay, Bone and Metal Necklace by SCDiva
3. Lascaux Swimming Deer Necklace by JillPalumbo
4. Polymer Clay Millefiori Bugs by IrisMishly
5. Mixed Media Bracelet by Polyclarific
6. Faux Fused Glass, Polymer Clay and Resin by Eugena777
7. Cafe Latte by NKDesigns
8. Leopard Spot Pendant by FungibleElements
9. Ancient Sun by BijouxHibou
10. Black Rose With Honey by LaurelSteven
11. Steampunk-01 by WorthingtonFox
12. Dolphin Pendant by ArtistTooStudios
13. Frida in my Heart by BeeTreeByMe
14. Polymer Clay Covered Tin With Swarovski Crystals and Metal by PolymerClayCreations
15. Inspired By The Lascaux Cave Paintings by Iamcr8ve
16. Green 1 Bracelet by Ashpaints
17. Mysterious Ways Necklace by KDollDesigns
18. It's All Faux by ElementalDragons
19. Lava Pen by CreativeWriting
20. Room In My Heart Pendant by Juliespace

Aren't they gorgeous? These are the entries in the Polymer Clay Artists Guild of Etsy's August Challenge, the theme of which is "Mixed Media". I'm so proud of our member artists who entered this month. Look at the diversity of ideas and creativity! They are amazing!

You are invited to vote for your favorite entry at our team website at www.pcagoe.com between August 1, 2009and midnight EST of August 8, 2009.

Five lucky voters chosen at random will also each win one of these beautiful prize packs of polymer clay items made by our member artists!



#1 Necklace by MarciaPalmer; Butterfly Magnets by SilverGateStudio
#2 Asian Ladies Necklace by NKDesigns; Earrings by LaurabeeStudios
#3 Earrings by Chicki; Necklace by YonatDascalu
#4 Earrings by PolymerClayCreations; Pendant and Bead Set by Ashpaints
#5 Earrings by JKollman; Butterfly Image Transfer Pendant by SCDiva

And don't forget to check back next month, when our theme is "Color Combinations".

Thanks so much!

Lynda

My Watercolor Butterfly Is Featured In A New Treasury!

And it is one of the most beautiful Etsy treasuries I've seen yet! Thank you to Holly from FiveLittleGems for including my Watercolor Butterfly Pendant. I am in fantastic company. I just love the soft mauve and cream color palette.



Rosy Plum Lucite Lucite Flower and Fuschia Crystal Wire Necklace

Holly creates her own one-of-a-kind romantic beaded jewelry creations featuring sparkling Swarovski crystals, assorted natural gems, fine metal, glass beads, and lucite flowers. She is happy to take custom orders, too, so please visit her shop and take a look at her gorgeous creations.

Thanks again, Holly!

Is It Friday Yet?

Yeah, I know it's only Monday, but I need another weekend! I worked myself silly this past weekend, making up designs with some of my pendants, gearing up the shop for (dare I say it?) Christmas. ACK! I was really in the groove, though, got up about 8:00 a.m. Saturday morning and checked the mail to see that the postman had brought me (finally!) a shipment of beads from Hong Kong I've been waiting on for a month. I started right in, and the next time I looked up at the clock, it was 10:30 p.m. I finished 14 necklaces in two days, though. The creativity bug bit and I couldn't stop.

Here are a few of the new things I'll be listing shortly.



Butterfly Queen Necklace - A multiple layer image transfer enhanced with Chinese Turquoise; handmade Red and Mustard borosillicate beads with a matte finish studded with sterling silver (yummy!), some honkin' big Dalmation Jasper nuggets and rounds, black onyx disc beads and Thai silver accents. I finished it off with a sterling silver clasp.



Faux Ancient Pottery Shard Necklace - Another multiple image transfer enhanced with Leopardskin Jasper donuts, Dalmation Jasper, Conglomerate Jasper Disc beads, white Howlite Turquoise, and Thai silver accents. I finished this one off with a pewter toggle clasp.



Tribal Copper Necklace - A multiple layer image transfer enhanced with sparkly copper Sunstone and some gorgeous fire agate barrel beads with a copper band. I don't know how got this effect, but it is stunning. I bought all of these my bead store had in stock and begged for more.

These are just a few of the pieces I finished. I also ordered a supply of tiny bottles and perfume vials and ampules which arrived Saturday, too. I can't wait to get started on them. I had so much fun making the Bottles of Hope.

My Entry in Art Bead Scene's July Challenge

I love the monthly challenges the ladies at ArtBeadScene give us. The past few months, the themes have been based on a series of classic paintings by well-known artists. This month, the theme is based on about as classic a series of paintings as you can get, the Prehistoric (Paleolithic) cave paintings in the Caves of Lascaux, France.



These paintings are estimated to be 16,000 years old and depict animals and humans. I had heard of the site, but had never studied it in depth until I took a virtual tour of the caves after disovering the basis of the July challenge, and all I can say after seeing the caves "up close and personal" is that they are just astonishing!



As I was thinking of possible things to do with the theme for this month, my mind kept going back to a pendant and necklace design I finished recently, and I finally decided to enter it instead of making something new (although I have some killer, 30mm Artistic Jasper slabs that would be perfect for this!), so here is my entry. It is a multiple-layer image transfer, a technique I developed, depicting a butterfly collage on a striated background. I added Artistic Jasper rounds, DZI-style etched barrel beads, Fire Agate, a/k/a Crab Agate, and Red Jasper rondelles.

I'm Featured in Two New Etsy Treasuries!

Linda Riopel, a/k/a NKDesigns included my Dark Copper Horse Eye Brooch e in her new treasury, "PCAGOE Copper Tones" and Tonja Lenderman, a/k/a TonjasTreasures, included my Bird Study Pendant in her new treasury, "A Little Bird Told Me".

Thanks so much, ladies! It's an honor to be included in such gorgeous treasuries!

Bottles of Hope Project

I have been procrastinating for weeks about creating these bottles made for PCAGOE's Bottles of Hope Project. This year, the bottles are tiny, measuring in at 1 1/4" tall and 1/2" in diameter; and will be donated to Shands Medical Center in Florida shortly.

"Bottles of Hope" began with one polymer clay artist, Diane Gregoire, in 1999. As a cancer survivor, she would cover empty medicine bottles from her chemotherapy with polymer clay and give them to the nurses at her care center to give to other cancer patients as an offering of hope. The movement has continued to grow and now reaches cancer patients worldwide.

My Bonnie Red Brooch is Featured in a New Etsy Treaasury!

Eugena Topina, a fellow PCAGOE member, created a gorgeous Poppy Red Treasury at Etsy today and included my Faux Vintage Bonnie Red Brooch. And, man, are there some gorgeous examples of polymer clay wearable art in the treasury.

If you already work with polymer clay, chances are you already know of Eugena and her blog, polymerchameleon. Eugena joined the PCAGOE guild a few months ago, and we are thrilled and very fortunate to have her as a member. She devotes her blog to promoting polymer clay artists at Etsy, including me. I was honored to be the featured artist back in March, and it is one of the highlights of my journey with polymer clay.

Eugena gives her posts on each artist a one-word title. Ahem...I was "classy"...but of course, dahling!

Besides promoting polymer clay artists every day, Eugena finds time to create stunning wearable art herself using polymer clay. Originally from Russia, she moved to the U.S. about 13 years ago and found work as a scientist in the pharmaceutical industry, but recently decided to take a sabbatical to devote time to her and where it takes her. She says polymer clay has been her favorite medium for the last 10 years or so because it has so many possibilities. I second that, I'm finding more and more applications for it every day!

Check out Eugena's shop at Etsy or her website at Eugena's Creations

Thank you again, Eugena, for including my little Bonnie Red in your beautiful treasury!

My Faux Ancient Perfume Vial Won 1st Place In The PCAGOE July Challenge!

I was astonished to discover that when the votes were tallied, my faux ancient perfume vial had captured 1st place in PCAGOE's July Challenge, the theme of which was "Vessels", but very pleased that my effort was such a hit with the voters. It is the first time I have claimed the top spot in a PCAGOE challenge, and someone might better tie my feet to the ground today.

Thank you so much to everyone who voted for the vial and promoted it. It was sold to an art gallery shortly after the challenge began, and is now on its way to its new home.




Congratulations as well to the other winners. We had a tie for 2nd place between Mandarin Moon's really stunning "Rust and Green Vase With Red Gems" and TonjasTreasures' equally stunning "Asian Inro".



3rd place went to Worthington Fox's beautifully executed "Brain Box".

Voters commenting at www.pcagoe.com indicated it was really hard to choose between all the gorgeous designs, so I am all the more appreciative of your votes; and I agree, the choices this month were just exquisite! PCAGOE member artisans rock!

And now, on to next month's challenge, the theme of which is "Mixed Media"! I am very excited about this theme, although it will really stretch my brain. I am not even sure I understand completely what mixed media is, so I'm going to do some research and ask some good friends who work in that medium and get some ideas. If anyone wants to help with suggestions, fire away! Leave your comment here and if we can come up with a collaborative idea I can actually execute, I'll give you credit and link back to your blog or shop.

The entry must be at least 50% polymer clay, but other than that, the possibilities are wide open. So put your thinking caps on with me and let's see what we can come up with, okay?

Thanks again, my friends!

Lynda

One Proud Momma!

Wow, I can't believe I haven't blogged in a week! I have been on vacation, a "stay- at-home" vacation, but it seems like I have been busier this week than I ever have. I'll get caught up today, lots of things to blog about, including this bit of news. Pardon me, but I've got a bit of a big head today after finding out that my friend Sharon Borsavage featured one of my pendants on her blog, Live Wire Jewelry, yesterday.

Sharon and I recently traded work. I received a beautiful necklace design of hers, and she received a few pendants from me, including my baby bird pendant here. She let me know she had completed a necklace design featuring the pendant, and I got a little teary-eyed when I saw it. I think this is the first time anyone has incorporated a piece of my work into theirs. I've collaborated with several people, but it was always me doing the design. This just thrills me, and I can't thank Sharon enough for featuring her gorgeous design on her blog.

Sharon says she "makes what she feels. It's that simple, as life should be". For a wonderful insight into her world, please visit her blog and her Etsy shop. It's a treat you don't want to miss.

Thank you so much, Sharon. Whenever you want to trade again, my friend, just let me know! I have these butterflies...in a faux collage...Hee hee...

Vote For Your Favorite Today!

VOTE HERE FOR YOUR FAVORITE ENTRY IN OUR JULY CHALLENGE! YOU COULD WIN ONE OF FIVE BEAUTIFUL POLYMER CLAY PRIZE PACKS!

Deadline to vote is midnight EST on July 7, 2009!

THANKS!

My Definitely Diva Dagger Brooch Is Included In A New Treasury!

Linda Riopel, a/k/a NKDesigns, created a new treasury today at Etsy which she titled "If You Like Pina Coladas", and included my Dagger Brooch. Love the colors in this one, and lots of talented PCAGOE members on display! To see more PCAGOE members' work, please visit the shops in the treasury!

Thanks, Linda!