Time for PCAGOE's July Faux Challenge

Beginning July 1 through July 7 you can vote for your top 3 favorites in the Polymer Clay Artists Guild of Etsy's "Faux" challenge. We had 24 entries this month, perfect examples of how versatile polymer clay is! We've got faux food, faux gems, faux leather and more! Vote for your favorites at www.pcagoe.com and you could win a beautiful polymer clay prize created by one of our talented member artists!



1) BeeTreeByMe
2) RiverValleyDesign
3) SCDiva
4) OneandOnly
5) CraftsbyCAG
6) StudioSChiek
7) RMKDesign
8) 11BoldStreet
9) VyaKyasha
10) JanGeisen
11) PatiBannister
12) JKollmann
13) KellyPlaysClay
14) ArrowdaleArtStudio
15) Polyclarific
16) ThePleasantPheasant
17) HiGirls
18) MarciaPalmer
19) LaurelSteven
20) ClayCenter
21) MirameCreations
22) BlessedBeadJewelry
23) RenGalSA
24) PolymerClayCreations

Another Beautiful Aqua Treasury Featuring My Sakura Flowers Pendant

I am loving all the gorgeous Summer colored Treasuries popping up at Etsy! I wanted to thank Carol of CarolsJewelryOrchard for including me in her luscious "Aqua... Shades of Summer... Accessories" Treasury this morning. I love the compilation of items and color in this one, so much that I even bought the Aqua Honey Bee Pocket Mirror created by FlirtButtons featured next to me. You know we Southern Belle Divas must have a mirror handy at all times. Hee Hee.

Check out Carol's Etsy shop too for fantastic finds such as this beautiful Red Jasper and Silver Bracelet!

A Treasury Feature For My Copper and Turquoise Cylinder Focal Beads

BytheBead emailed me last night to tell me she was inspired by my Copper and Turquoise Verdigris Cylinder Focal Beads to create a new Etsy treasury, which she calls "Silly Orange And Aqua" . It is a gorgeously colorful treasury, and I love her choices of items. Since Etsy's colors are orange and aqua, maybe this one has a chance at the coveted Front Page. I would appreciate any clicks and comments you can give it to help it on its way, too!

And check out BytheBead's Etsy shop for these and more fabulous, handcrafted lampwork glass earrings like these Boro Bead Cone-Shaped Blue ones!

Thanks again, my beady friend!

My Chartreuse Focal Beads are Featured in a New Etsy Treasury Today!

Eva of LittleNauli included my Chartreuse and Black Pebbled Focal Beads in her new Etsy treasury today, titled, what else... "Pairs!"


And check out Eva's shop for one of a kind, handcrafted Waldorf inspired Dolls and Lavender filled animals! They are so sweet, and gorgeous!

Thank you, Eva!

What a Weekend!

It was a stormy weekend at the Diva house, weather-wise, that is. Computer problems made me cranky because I couldn't get to the internet, but I figured out the problem and got down to the business of creating and finished my entry for the PCAGOE July challenge, the theme of which is "Faux."





AND I made these copper and turquoise verdigris cylinder beads. I must have been in a turquoise mood. All in all, a very good weekend!

Mica Shift That's Not Sliced or Squished and Faux Tooled Leather Tower Beads

I've been working on a new tutorial on how to achieve mica shift without slicing and squishing in a pasta machine. I made several mica shift pieces to include as examples in the tutorial's gallery and thought I'd post them here, too.











I also made these tower beads (my invented term for the square cylinder beads, if you will.) While I was working on the mica shift pieces, my eye get wandering to some red clay I had mixed for another project but didn't use. The blend is Alizarin Crimson and Premo Cadmium Red, and it produces a beautiful tomato red color. I lightened up on the crimson this time around, and got this delicious, fiery hot cayenne red color. I immediately thought of Moroccan leather and Spanish mantillas and stopped right in the middle of working on the mica shift pendants (I know, I know, this freakin' tutorial is never going to get finished that way!) and made a small batch of beads so I could get the need for red out of my system.





I love these. They are so romantic looking. I think these are going in my challenge entry for July, the theme of which is "Faux." Now for a pendant to match, or sort of matches, since I used all the clay I mixed in these. I never learn, do I?





Tonight, I am going back to the Studio by Sculpey clay. I have a love-hate relationship with Studio, it's way to soft for me, but I love the colors and I have a few things in mind that I want to try with it that require a suede-like finish, so we'll see. More about that project later.

One More Treasury For Me Today!

It has been a wonderful day for me. I've been featured in four Etsy treasuries, the latest created by WickedDarling, titled "A Few Things That I Love"

Thank you for including me in your beautiful treasury, Pam! I love your favorite things!

A Brand New PCAGOE Member's Treasury!

Welcome to PCAGOE, Pennsylane! Penny is our newest member and created this lovely treasury full of PCAGOE members, including my Faux Yellow Jade Carved Dragon Polymer Clay Pendant. Penny calls it "PCAGOE Pendants." Wasn't that nice of her to do?



I hope you will check out the member shops featured. Many of us are stocking our Etsy shops with Summer themed items. You might even find something for Dad!

And speaking of PCAGOE team, I forgot to congratulate the winners of our special June challenge, "Think Outside The Box."

Member Vote:

1st Place - TIE! MarciaPalmer and ColorMyWorld

2nd Place - BeeTreeByMe

3rd Place - PolymerClayCreations

Public Vote:

1st Place - ToniNZ

2nd Place - PolymerClayCreations

3rd Place - AlisonEKurek

And I am so pleased to tell you that the auction for the gorgeous entries raised $589for our team charity, Polymer Clay For A Cause! All the tins received bids and went to new homes. I was the lucky high bidder for several, including Marcia's gorgeous 1st place, Asian themed tin.

Thanks to everyone who voted and especially all of you who bid!

Two New Etsy Treasuries Feature My Work Today!

I woke up this morning to discover that I am in two Etsy treasuries today! One is titled "Mossy Monday" and was created by ByTheBead. It includes my Faux Jade Drum Bead.



The other was created by CrystalGray and is titled "Images on Images" and includes my Vintage Ephemera Hot Air Balloon Pendant.



Both are beautiful treasuries, and I can't think you ladies enough for including my work.

What I Did This Weekend

My gingko leaf texture sheet is the comfort food of stamps and texture sheets for me, sort of like my Momma's pimento cheese spread. I turn to it time and time again. Poor little thing probably needs to be retired and replaced with a new one. It is looking kind of ragged and used up, but I love it.


(Faux Antique Brass Gingko Leaves Focal Beads)


(Faux Antique Brass Pebble Textured Focal Beads)

The Asian theme was abundant in the beads and pendants I created this past weekend, including some new faux antique brass gingko focals. And, my little stamp must be good karma, too, because I also spotted my Faux Olive Jade Gingko Cylinder Beads in a new Etsy treasury entitled "Gingko Biloba" this morning, too, so a big THANK YOU to the curator,ReincarnationDesign for including them. You've made my day.




(Antique Gold Textured Polymer Clay Focal Beads)


(Black and Antique Gold Japanese Koi Fish Focal Beads)

And speaking of day, this is the last day to vote for and bid on your favorite entries in our PCAGOE June challenge! Check it out here!

Thank you!

My Focal Beads Are Featured at Voila Today!

One of the most inspiring websites for polymer clay artists is Christine Dumont's new website, Voila!


I love visiting Voila! I am amazed at the extraordinary talent on display there, ao you cannot begin to imagine how thrilled I am to be featured for his month's Focal Beads series. Every visit brings me new ideas and inspires me to push myself a little more in an effort to try and find MY voice in the medium.

Kudos to Christine, a brilliant polymer artist in her own right, for her foresight and vision in creating such a wonderful place to showcase polymer art. It is truly an honor to be included.

Thank you, Christine!

Marcia's "With These Hands" PCAGOE Team Treasury

A big thank you to PCAGOE team member Marcia Palmer for snagging this beautiful treasury titled "With These Hands" to show off the work of some of the members who are participating in our special June challenge, "Think Outside The Box." Thank you, Marcia, for helping us promote the challenge and for including my little focal bead.

Yes, Virginia, You Can Clay With Nine Fingers

I sliced my index finger to the bone on a new stiffy blade (those things are wicked sharp when new) last week, and I was not supposed to touch the clay for another week, but I couldn't help myself and gave in to the muse Saturday and made a few new pieces.



The beads are taking on a decidedly reptilian look, more organic and "looser" than my first attemps. You do not know how hard it was for me to resist naming this series "Later Gator" or "Faux Snake." I was not sure how some of my customers would take to wearing gator or snake beads, however.



I do not know why, really. It may be the other side of my Gemini personality emerging. I am almost obsessed with my finishes, especially on my image transfers, but I have sort of let myself "go with the flow" with the focal beads. I am letting the stampings guide what I do with them. It has been a kick to experiment. I have also gone through a brand new, 75ml tube of Amsterdam Burnt Umber in the past month. I just cannot leave the little beadies naked. They must be antiqued and textured. Who knows, next month we may be back to high gloss image transfers, but right now, I am having way too much fun being the "queen of fauxtiquities."



My new favorite toy is a new pebbled texture sheet I got from cooltools.us. Cooltools is the coolest site. I love their texture sheets because, for one, they are small and manageable; and two, they go through the pasta machine like a snap.



Yes, I have discovered I like running the clay and texture sheet through the pasta machine better than trying to get an even stamping on a flat surface, so I spent the better part of a day last week unmounting my mounted rubber stamps. They are so much easier to store unmounted, and you can't put a block of wood through the pasta machine.

So here are a few photos of what I was not supposed to do Saturday.