Ringing in the (Lunar) New Year!

Happy Chinese New Year! May the Year of the Ox be a healing one for all of us. Thanks to everyone who sent me get well wishes. I feel as if I've been gone forever but I believe I'm beginning to rejoin the land of the living due in part to all the beautiful new work I've been seeing online. Polymer clay rings, like this one from Susan Turney, are popping up all over the place.

Jana Roberts Benzon has been on a recent ring making binge, as well. This one was made for the lucky man that happens to be her hairdresser.

I ran across this ring from Nemesia while I was checking out some new photos on Flickr. She's been using recycled flatware to make spoon rings and other new jewelry. Very clever!

Seeing all of these rings reminded me of my own collection of rings that I've recently acquired from other artists. I gathered them together to take a group shot and realized just how many creative ways there are to construct these fun jewelry items. Zsuzsa made the green eye ring using a purchased adjustable metal ring blank. I've seen similar blanks for sale from various online companies. The small band ring in the foreground was made by Donna Kato who's been using some sort of ceramic base to form and bake her rings on. Leslie Blackford sculpted this cool party animal and used an oversize o-ring for the band. The pretty ring with the flower cane slices was made by Kathy Caldwell, a member of the Kentucky/Tennessee Polymer Clay Guild. Below is a photo of the socket she confiscated from her husband's tool box and adapted for use as a form to both build and bake her rings on. I love this idea. It would be so easy to make rings in the exact size you need using this method.

I think a trip to the garage to look for a socket set is in order. Keep warm and stay creative!

Edited to add: If you'd like instructions on making the flower and leaf canes like the ones on Kathy's ring, you can find them here.

Arabesque Canes on DVD

I recently had the opportunity to watch the new polymer clay DVD from abba dabba Productions, Arabesque Canes, by Jana Roberts Benzon. Kaleidoscope-style canes are really popular and a lot of fun to make and, if you've been feeling a little intimidated by them, Jana's DVD is one of the closest things to an intensive hands-on workshop that you'll find. She offers clear, concise instruction and covers every step of the process in great detail. The exact amount of clay you'll need, the simple tools that make the construction of the cane much easier, great tips on how to pack your cane to prevent distortion, and Jana's unique reduction method - it's all covered here in more than two hours of quality instruction.

One of the things I enjoy most in any book or DVD are the little tips and tricks that are often unique to the artist or author and Jana has included lots of these, as well. I really enjoyed seeing her process and approach to building an intricate cane design. After viewing the DVD, I think it would be fairly easy for even beginning clayers to change up the colors and individual components of the cane to make something of their own design. Jana has shared her process in such a way that it can be adapted to each individuals own personal style and that's definitely a sign of a good teacher.

With Jana's blessing, I'd like to pass along this word of caution . . . In the past, I normally used a stiff blade and flexed it to cut curves in clay just as Jana does at one point in her DVD. But, a few months ago, one of mine literally exploded and broke into many jagged little pieces that flew across the room and over my head. Luckily, no one was injured but I did almost pee my pants. As much as I like the control of a stiff blade, I highly recommend that you bend only the flexible ones.

Congratulations, Jana, on your wonderful new DVD! I have a feeling there's going to be lots of beautiful "arabesque" canes popping up in the claying world!

Here's one more piece of lovely eye candy from Jana for your viewing enjoyment. And, don't forget that if you're planning to place a pre-order of the Krafty Lady art moulds for Synergy and take advantage of the opportunity to buy below retail cost and with zero shipping that I'll need your list by this Tuesday.

My Namesake Pendant

After doing updates and installation on my computer yesterday, I finally had a little time to poke around the Internet last night. I visited the site of Jana Roberts Benzon and could hardly believe my eyes! As some of you may know, I have a fetish for the color lime green, which I'm convinced is "the new neutral". More specifically, I love what I like to call "dirty lime green". This gorgeous pendant that Jana recently made is called the "Kim Cavender" pendant. Unlike me, it's perfect in every way! I adore those stripes and the black and grey colors she used with this yummy green. I'm thrilled to have something so beautiful share my name. Thank you, Jana, for thinking of me.

After I got over the shock of seeing "my" pendant, I scrolled down the page to see what else was new and found this wonderful "plumage" pendant. Jana made some small pieces last year for a swap in this same style and I'm so glad she's decided to make more. These pieces are incredibly seamless and perfectly smooth, except for the dimensional bits that she adds. I really like the feeling of movement these pieces have.

But ,there's even more "wow" work to share from Jana! These new pieces that she's added the slightly variegated wood grain look to are amazing. I really like the addition of the more "solid" elements in these pieces. I think it gives your eyes a place to rest and makes her beautiful canework really pop. I also love the fact that she's used colors that are a bit brighter in these newer pieces.

I really believe that these pendants are some of the best things she's done. It's not always easy to incorporate new design elements or colors into your "signature" pieces but Jana has accomplished that beautifully and flawlessly with her latest work.

Good news! She has a DVD coming out any day now so be sure to check her website for ordering info and availability.