Polymer Clay

In a previous post, I briefly discussed polymer clay and how I use it in my crafting. Polymer clay contains a basis of PVC and liquid plasticizers to keep it soft until cured. Polymer clay hardens by curing at temperatures created in the typical home oven (265-275 °F). The medium is versatile and easy to work with and appeals to crafters of all ages. The web has so many excellent sources of information and inspiration for anyone interested in polymer clay. Here are a few of my favorites.

Glass Attic: http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/contents.htm THE encyclopedia for all things polymer clay

Polymer Clay Polyzine: http://www.pcpolyzine.com/ Great tutorials. The older issues had a beginner's corner. Here is an example: http://www.pcpolyzine.com/july2001/beginners.html

AMACO: supplier of clay tools. Resource of projects by medium. http://www.amaco.com/projectcat-polymer-clay-5.html

WetCanvas!: an artist's haven that covers many media. This particular discussion addresses how to bake your clay. http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-353660.html

Now grab some clay and create!

Handmade Cards

As I have mentioned before, I really enjoy working with paper. It can be used in so many interesting ways and there are some truly beautiful papers available. For special people and special occasions, I like to make a card. I like that a handmade card lets the recipient know they are important enough that some thought and time went into crafting a card just for them. I feel like I need to relearn a lot of things now that card making is part of my life again. There are some terrific books with directions on how to construct some pretty fancy pop-up cards and the like. I hope to get to that level of proficiency but for now, I need to work on composition, color coordination and kicking things up a notch. There are a ton of tools and bling out there that one can buy but I want to dig in with some sheets of paper, some good scissors, a craft knife, and some glue. Once I get a few cards made I'll be able to look at them and decide what I like and dislike. For your viewing pleasure, here are a few card sites that I have recently visited.

Linsy is really good! http://www.geocities.com/linsy57/Cards-Gallery.html
Paper Crafts magazine provides step-by-step projects. Even lists materials needed. http://www.papercraftsmag.com/projects/project.ihtml?content_id=1516&cat_idx=61
Michaels always has lots of projects available. http://www.michaels.com/art/online/search?pageNumber=1&channel=12&search=yes&searchWords=Holiday%20Card&type=4&cm_ven=2007PaperCraftsPg&cm_ite=Cards
Joann.com does too. http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog.jsp?CATID=cat613848&PRODID=xprd367841

What are you waiting for? Grab some paper, scissors, and glue and make your best friend a card today!