Saturday, January 11, 2014

A New Year, A New Adventure!

Hi all...my 1st post of 2014!  I know a lot of us have made resolutions, thought of a word for the year, or joined a year long challenge of blog posts or creating.  I have done that in the past and to be honest, I usually wuss out on the resolutions, forget the word around March, and get behind on any challenges to create or blog.  This year, I have decided to be kind to myself and not make any resolutions/commitments to anything except to be the best mother, wife, artist, human I can be and realize that the 1st 2 on my list are my priority!

But what new adventure, you ask?  It is right there in the post title!  Last September I had the chance to take a class at ArtBliss, with the wonderful Christine Damm.  It was very first experience with polymer clay and I loved it.  We had so much fun creating textured shapes and using pastels to color them.  I knew then and there that I wanted to play some more.  I didn't have the time or money at that point to buy a bunch of supplies, so I put it on hold and added some of what I needed to get started to my wish list.  Instead, I read anything about creating with polymer clay that I could, browsed Pinterest, found lots of great tutorials, etc.  Plus, here at AJE, we have our own wonderful PC artists!  Rebekah, Kristi, Sue, Jenny...and now Linda is interested too!  I can't wait to see what we all make in 2014!!!

The pieces I completed in Christine Damm's ArtBliss class!
So, fast forward to Christmas...Santa/Jesse brought me a big block of white Sculpey, and an assortment of 24 Premo colors.  He also brought a cool cutting blade set with handles.  After Christmas, I got myself a pasta machine.  I had some tools/cutting shapes I bought for the class, and mold-making material I bought for another project.  The only thing I haven't gotten is an oven.

So, the past couple of weeks I have been playing.  Without a dedicated oven, things are only complete up to shaping.  I know I can use my own oven, but I need to get a thermometer to make sure the temperature is accurate, and I will need to take precaution about fumes.  The first thing I did was make a few molds...man this is addictive!  I keep walking around the house trying to find interesting textures and objects!

Molds...so much fun!
Then I started playing!  I decided to use 2 green colors...here is what I came up with.


Once they are baked, I am going to antique them and maybe add some gilder's paste...I can't wait!

Then I made up a batch of ivory using Christine's recipe she shared...luckily I had the correct ingredients in the assortment Jesse got me!  These are going to be layered in some way, I think.  


Oh, another cool thing about playing with polymer clay?  Ben wants to play too!  He brought me a skull he wanted to make a mold of and he made these 2 last night! He also played with free-forming flame shapes. He has already been hammering metal, so we may have a new artist in our midst!



Well, thanks for stopping by.  Check back in a few weeks, I hope to have a baking system and have some completed pieces.  

What about you?  What new things are you going to try in 2014?  I would love to hear?

Melissa Meman

9 comments :

  1. Melissa, Great post. I did earth clay for 40 years, off and on, and made the switch to polymer a year ago. I love it, too. I wrote a comprehensive health care guide for women who craft. It won a Gold Medal for Health Communication, so from that standing place I say this: I use my regular oven to bake my polymer. If I need to use the oven for baking food, I preheat it for 15 extra minutes. I self-clean it before big use days, like Thanksgiving. I now use my toaster oven for heating "little things" like fish sticks. Susan Delphine Delaney, author, "Rx for Quilters: Stitcher Friendly Advice for Every Body". C&T Publishing. Best of luck with your polymer!

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  2. These are great, Melissa! I was thinking about what I want to do with PC last night, and ended up not being able to sleep. Too many ideas running around in my mind! Its going to be a fun journey for all of us! Thanks for sharing!

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  3. Fabulous beads! I would really love to try making my own beads but even now I can't seem to find the time to make jewelry. How does life get so busy?

    Thanks for sharing!

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  4. Looks like you are having loads of fun, Melissa :) Can't wait to follow the further adventures of both you and Ben!

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  5. I'll be very interested to follow your polymer progress and to get any tips you might want to pass along. Polymer is going to be my new adventure this year. I'm excited.

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  6. Great job Melissa. I have admired your metalwork many times. it will be interesting to see what you do with polymer clay.

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  7. I am planning on putting patina on some metals. I bought some metals that I plan on altering. When I finish that I want to devote the remainder of the year to polymer clay. I have my supplies and hope to find the time. Congrats on your challenging yourself. Best wishes!

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  8. Oh Melissa I love where you are going with all the pieces!!!!

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  9. Isn't it awesome stuff to play with? I would like to do more with my clay as well. I have had some ideas on the back burner for some time and I think that now is the time to make them front and center. I also want to make more time for metal. Almost every class I ever take is related to metal in some way and I think that I need to focus on that for some time. I usually pick a word for the year but I am having a hard time with that this time. Maybe because I don't feel that I achieved what I should have with the one last year. Actually, two words have popped out at me and I am going to keep meditating on that a bit. Thank you for sharing your new passion! Enjoy the day. Erin

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