Polymer Clay Fun!!

Hello lovelies!

So, I recently got my hands on some polymer clay. Have I ever worked with polymer clay, or any kind of clay for that matter? Hell no! Did Pinterest inspire me to once and for all give it a chance? Hell yes!

That's where most of my ideas come from. Pinterest. Yay, Pinterest!

Anyway, I've spent a few weeks reading books and blogs and looking at pictures and trying stuff out as I feel like it. I've only spent a few hours total on them, and honestly? Some of these really suck. But I'm getting better and better every week, and MAN is it relaxing making pretty(ish) things out of clay!

Click "Read More" to see more of my er..."creations". :)

The first thing I did was learn how to make a lace cane, then I sliced it all up and pressed it all into beads and pendants. I made enough to make a pretty necklace that I love wearing!

I especially love the little swirly bicone-shaped bead at the bottom. That was super fun to make!

I also made these...er...weird...things. They're pendants. They're messy and awful. They look kind of like giraffes?

Then these pendants below with wire for attaching the cords. The triangular one reminds me of these earrings I used to have that were from the eighties. The stripes and swirls on the other one took a long time to make, but very rewarding. And I love this color combo!

Using the same cool colors, I made these um. Things. I have no idea what I'm going to do with these, actually, but I like them!

Using the scraps from my blue and white and black and gray session, I made some beads. Making little beads at the end of my sessions is very relaxing and a great way to use up scraps!

I love red, orange, and tan together. They have such a mod 60s kind of feel. So I figured, why not make some pendants and beads out of those colors?

What I didn't plan on was the final result looking like well-marbled meat. So. Here are my meat pendants!

And meat cabochons, with...brown...in them. Kind of a fail. But maybe I'll paint them and use them for something else!

Finally, I had great fun making these sea glass inspired beads for a necklace I still haven't made yet. I bought some translucent polymer clay (did you know they have that???) and mixed in a little color. Buuut I think I mixed in too much because they came out more opaque than I wanted them to.

Honestly, I worried for a long time about showing you guys these. They aren't great, and most self-respecting artists wouldn't dare show an audience their first tries. But every time I make something, I learn better how to make it. Why not document that process from beginning to end? NO REASON NOT TO. Besides, you guys know I never hide my failures from you. I'm an open book. Laugh at me, cock an eyebrow at me, or maybe just sort of chuckle and think, "Well I can do better than that!" and then go buy some polymer clay and prove it!!

Polymer clay feels like elementary school art class. Well, the parts of elementary school art class that I enjoyed anyway. :)

A $15 investment has turned into hours and hours of fun, with hours and hours yet to come! I love it when new hobbies pay off.

XOXO