polymer clay

Beautiful Handmade Polymer Beads

Posted on by Monica

Have a look at these gorgeous beads made by my very talented cousin, Janice!!!  They are exquisite and each one is unique and interesting.  She was kind enough to make them for me to use with my next set of mini art panels.  I am going to pair the beads with my images and see which look like they belong together.  I am so grateful as she sent me a bunch.  She makes many beautiful things like ornaments and cake toppers.  Look for them soon in my next set of Artful Box panels.

*Update- See Janice’s beads in action on my new art panels .

Vintage Family Portrait

Posted on by Monica


Currently I am involved in these vintage family portrait pieces. The top piece is a laser print applied to a small canvas by gel medium transfer. I painted and tinted the people and added a pencil line here and there for a sketchy look. I also used pink chalk to rosy up their cheeks! The top and bottom borders are just my painted papers that I ripped and glued on.

The bottom photo shows some painted wood blocks where I’ve collaged on some imagery and fabric. The ladies are printed on white polymer clay and their profiles cut out before being baked. I ran some walnut ink over them after they cooled to give them some tint. These are enormously fun and the possibilities are endless.

Origins

Posted on by Monica

One of my forays into true mixed-media. A smallish canvas that is painted and layered in paper, old sewing pattern and pencil. I painted an image from my Dover book as the lovely odalisque. The butterflies are made in clay and I hammered in nails with various beads around the edge to change the silhouette of the canvas. My little parrot provided the red feather from his tail- one of many that fall out and litter his cage. The whole thing has kind of a tribal, Darwinism kind of feel and that’s how I came up with the title.

Polymer Tile Box

Posted on by Monica


I was so inspired by a recent craft book purchase that I had to dive into one of the projects. A small wooden box elevated on painted legs. The lid and inside panel are painted polymer clay. The brass frame is real and holds a tiny picture of a butterfly from one of my cards. The textures were created with rubber stamps and I used small seed beads to make some of the thinner stripes. The swirl part is covered with gold leaf. Lots of steps to this fun project!