Polymer Clay Workshop

My Instagram videos have become way more popular than I ever imagined. I may never know why. I thought I’d share my process with you. More than that though, I want to encourage you to try things even when you don’t think you have the resources or the expertise. My entire career I’ve done things that I “don’t know how to do”. I’ve felt like I’ve faked my expertise all the way through. I went ahead and did things way before I felt like I had them right or knew what I was doing. My subscribers know that my issues still have typos and I can be a terribly spacey, absent-minded artist. But I’d rather do things imperfectly than not do them at all.

I had no idea how to make videos! I thought I needed all kinds of special lighting and equipment. One day, out of sheer necessity, I grabbed a block of clay, set my iphone on it, and reached my hands around either side of the phone to work with the clay.

Many of my videos very get edited. Often however, I want to speed it up. I got the app Slow Fast Slow. It is very easy and a lot of fun.

I also like to add clips together. I have imovie on my iphone. A little playing around and maybe googling a few things, and I was able to add voiceover, edit clips, add text (although this option could be better), import still photos, and import music.

I even imported videos that I had made in Slow Fast Slow, but I’m not sure

All the music from my videos comes from Soundstripe. It’s a small monthly fee, but I think musicians should be paid for their art. It’s so great to be able to use any music I want and feel good about it. Use my special coupon code RAINBOW for 10% off.

From Soundstripe, I save the song I’ve licensed to the dropbox app on my iphone. From dropbox there is an option to export to imovie. In imovie you find the music by tapping the +  then Audio, then Imported.

You can add voiceover by tapping the + then Voiceover. Haha, it’s trippy for someone shy like my to record my voice, but at least I can keep starting over. Again, I don’t go for perfection.

Finally, if you want to make really easy how-to craft videos, you could also check out https://jumprope.com/ That’s how I made the video about How to make star bows.

Here are some Coral Reef and Under the Sea canes made by subscribers. I’ve received more beautiful pictures, but these are the ones I have saved on this computer at the moment. The tutorial and video for these can be found on my Patreon page here

https://www.patreon.com/polymerclayworkshop

These beads are by Minky Toms

These cabs are by Peggy Rose.

See many of the patterns in the tutorials in my Etsy shop!

For a long time now, I’ve wondered if I could make edible canes. I tried this recipe for candy clay, and made butterflies from this month’s Cane Builder tutorial. Video on my Instagram and Pinterest.

I’m always looking for good color combinations. I like the colors in this kaleidoscope inspired by this back issue of Cane Builder.

All premo brand.

The two blends are the aqua (turquoise) blend, and a blend that is half ultramarine and half cadmium red like this post.  The yellow is cadmium yellow with a trace of white and the purple mix from the blend. The darkest color is green with a little cadmium red.

Here is my recipe for the Pantone color of the year for 2019. It’s called living coral. The pictures turned out a little darker and redder than the actual clay. You could use more white or orange if you choose. This is premo brand polymer clay. The coral color is

2 parts cadmium red : 1 part orange : 1 part white.

For other fun blends check out this month’s (January) issue of Cane Builder.

My friend Andy is a fisherman. He had these tiny little glow sticks that you can buy online for fishing poles. He asked if we could find a way to use them in a clay creation. This is what we made! It’s a water lily with a glowing center. We pressed a glow stick into the clay to make seven little holes. After we baked the lily, we set glow sticks in all the little holes.

Here are some fun ways to layer canes. These are translucent and solid color canes.

Pansy cane tutorial, Daisy cane tutorial, Butterfly tutorial (hidden in the lampwork tute)

I tried these canes on forms to make hollow beads!

Here is the lace tutorial itself. It happens to come with a fun sparkle cane!

A subscriber, Peggy Rose, sent me some beautiful pictures. Many of you send me pictures and I am very grateful. Here is the tutorial https://www.etsy.com/listing/648780358/polymer-clay-glass-like-murrine

Since all of you who read my blog are artists, and since so many artists are Type 4 on the Enneagram, I thought I’d share some of the personal things I’ve been learning.

It’s your job to bring your creative intense self to relationships without demanding that they see or appreciate or understand or agree. It’s your job to trust that they love you. To let the love in. To laugh with them. It’s your job to trust that they see and appreciate more than you think they do. They are on your side and will champion and protect your creativity even when you give up. They need your perspective, your kindness, your gratitude and your brand of creativity. Let go. You don’t need to protect or control it. It flows from you like a bubbling fountain, a gentle sunrise. You don’t even need to look at it. Trust that it is there.

You don’t need an external endorsement. You are.

It’s your job to encourage and hope and dream. To be a beautiful old soul reminding others of another country.

It’s your job to believe that you are whole. That the longings in your heart do not overpower you but rather are the stars to light your sky. The fireflies right here in your own campground. They are the treasure map you follow right here in the everyday.

It’s your job to delight in your garden. To plant, to delight, to wait. To harvest and eat and call it good.

When you feel depressed and bored and empty, it doesn’t mean that’s what you are. There is no imperative for you to change that to protect your identity or worth.

You can be love. Let the love in.

This back issue of Cane Builder has several flowers. The technique itself has countless possibilities. I don’t think I’ve ever seen polymer clay canes used like this before. When I realized what could be done, I was dreaming in possibilities all night! I was especially surprised with the result when I tried daffodils! Here are my beads and a tin covered by a subscriber, Sylvia DeCosta