Polymer Clay Bead Giveaway Contest – Step 2) Post Your Comments

Photo 14
Oh my, what gorgeous pieces. Can’t believe the talent in this forum. Looking at all of them gives me incentive to spend more time with my clay. Have been having trouble with my camera but hope it is fixed now and I can send in another photo.

Those beads are beautiful. Cindy sure has inspired a lot of artistic creativity. She sure has inspired me.
Wish we could all get together for a week and do clay. Cindy, do you have room for all of us up there?

Photo 005: This one is made with my second sheet of faux-raku. I just love the colors!

Photo 024: This one was actually my very first try at faux-raku. Some of the Pearl Ex came off when I put Future on it… Anyway, this one is attached to my purse and I get nice comments on it, like “it looks like a dragon’s skin” lol

thank you Lisa for your comment on the colours of no 15 beads . idid a rough( Lietz ) blend of Fimo colours ,Gold ,copper, silver and the red perl.
i thoughly enjoyed tearing the bits up for the watercolour techniqe .
All the beads posted are so beautiful it makes me proud to be a part of this talented site

photo 30 are my Jupiter beads. I did not have any old clay so i put the black and red in the freezer for five minuets then added them to the soft clay and then extracted them through the Makins profesionel extractor gun. My friend thought they were loverly so i gave her them as she has been such a support.

Photo 017 This was an “oops” as I had planned on texturing but I love the smoothness. Carolyne, I love the texture you accomplished in your Photo 013. Will have to find the “MACRO” button on my camera as this photo isn’t as sharp an image as it should be. Learning more than claying here.

Photo 027 These beads do not have the definition I was looking for. Another first try leading to making more I’m sure. I enjoyed the technique however, and don’t know why I put off trying it. Its one to put on my list of “To Do”.

Photo 29. My orange, black and white water color beads came out pretty big so I wonkytized them by pinching them into amoeba shapes; kind of look like the candy Circus Peanuts.

Wow! What gorgeous work, everybody! This is so exciting, seeing what everyone has been making! I am going to be going over these photos several times, trying to figure out my favorites. It’s also fun to see who the beads belong to. I’m pretty new around here, but I feel like I’m starting to know some of you. Now I can also get to know some of your beads! How cool is that? And there are more photos to come–this is so, so much fun…

Thanks, Cindy, for this cool contest. I know that you are busier than a–well, you’re probably working 40 hours a day now, right? I know I can’t get it all together in time for this contest, but I sure hope it’s a success (I want there to be a # 2 for me to enter.) I’m feeling positive–it’s going to be a huge success! I mean, look at these beautiful beads that your students have learned to make. You, our polymer clay tutor, are one fan-tabulous teacher! Thanks so much for all that you do.

C’mon, guys! Those of you who’ve submitted photos, don’t forget to post them on other sites. (Don’t forget the comments that point back here to one of the Vol. 14 lessons at this great site.) If you don’t know how to do it, get some help. Perhaps you could get a family member to post your pics for you on their facebook site, or something? As long as they put the appropriate comments, and you let Cindy know where it was posted, you’ll get credit. (Is this right, Cindy?) For those of you who own Vol. 14–what’s stopping you? Don’t be shy, let’s see those purties you made. We love you here, and we’ll love what you made! If it’s not perfect, we’ll be kind. You’ll get constructive criticism ONLY if you want it…

@Anna S.: I love all of your entries. Really beautiful! I love that you “wonkytized” Photo 29. They came out really cool-looking in with this shape.

photo 36 these were made out of the scraps from watercolour beads, i swirrled them into lentil beads( another fun activity) then decided to reshape them for earings.

photo 41 these were a total disaster ,i could not get the clay to crackle at all it just bent.i cheated and cut up tiny bits to try to get it to stick to the
clay .I took the pictures as promised but then i threw them in the bin.
Carlee your beads are fabulous so too are Carolyn and Joyce’s please give me some tips as i am sure Cindy will be up to her eyes in everyone’s entries and comments.
sorry to sound as if i dont like anyone elses beads because i truly think they all are marvelous its just that they seem to have masterd this tutorial so well

What an awesome group of talented artists! Beautiful! I love the variety, colors, everything! I’ve been having some good results with the torn paper watercolor and smooth raku techniques; will get mine submitted. Still plugging away with the deep crackle and jupiter beads. I will persevere! LOL Thank you so much for this opportunity Cindy!

AWESOME JOB Everyone, they all are just beautiful. Of course I knew they would be a good teacher and wonderful students. Way to go!!!!!!!

Photo 6
Lupe, your beads are beautiful- they look like real raku!

@Carole- Thank you for the nice words about my beads. It took me awhile to work up the courage to send pictures in! I think it was even harder to make my first comment post- I’ve been reading everyone else’s comments daily for months..good for you Cindy for appealing to my competitive nature to get me to comment!

Photo 16
Anna, when I first looked at the beads, these are the ones that caught my eye! I’m glad you stuck it out and finished them because they really do look great!

I love everyone’s work, well done guys. You know what the best thing is? I looked through these pictures and immediately my brain started whirring away. “Wow, that’s a great idea! Maybe I could try something similar with another technique… I love those colours, how would they look as a pendant?”

Thank you so much for the inspiration. :)

Oh and I’ve linked to this before, but I have some jewellery pics on Facebook, facebook.com/album.php?aid=2341990&id=61107323

ADDED NOTE BY CINDY: @Silverleaf – a better link to put herd is the “public” one that does not require visitors to be Facebook members or be connected to your Facebook account as a friend: Here is that link:
facebook.com/album.php?aid=2341990&id=61107323&l=08cb20318f

First let me just say that there are BEAUTIFUL pieces of work! I love photo 1! What a pretty idea! I love hair pieces. They are the only jewelry I get to wear to work so I’m especially drawn to them and those are fabulous!
Silverleaf, your watercolor paper beads are fabulous. The colors are rich and bright!
Cindy G., love the pendants in #10.

Photo #1 is a bangle bracelet I made using water color beads I flattened into discs. These are the only beads I sent into the contest that I did not make this month. I made these when the video first came out and I tried some watercolor beads this month but they were horrible so I’m sent pictures of this creation.

Photo #18 This is a bangle bracelet I made using the faux raku crackle technique. The crackle technique the the one I struggle the most with so I made myself create using it.

Photo 25 is a necklace I made from 6 Jupiter beads I made using mostly black and white and just a few drops of color here and there. It’s actually big enough to slip right over your head.

Photo #36 This is a Crackle raku hair barrette. It’s one of my favorite hair pieces now. I love the texture.

I hope the link at my name takes you to my photostream, which I shall update very soon, however, I must let the 5 year old play on Disney Channel dot com for a little while. He ever so patiently waited for me to make all these comments and now is looking over shoulder asking when I will be done.

@DJ:
#006, I used a total of 4 different alcohol inks. The blue ink separated a little (probably due to a little cornstarch residue on my glass), but I liked the outcome. I later added a 4th alcohol ink for an added tint. I sanded them a little and dipped them in floor wax. I appreciate your comment. It is hard to pick a favorite among all of them. They are all amazing! I like them all. Its fun playing with the inks!

WOW -Awesome work everyone. Congrats to all. I’m still not myself so haven’t gotten the energy to work on any beads yet. As I said before, don’t count me out yet. Gonna keep praying I will get the chance to share my work with all of you talented artists. Cindy you must feel like a pretty proud Momma right now. What an honor this will be to share my photos with all of my clay family.
Thanks for the chance to do this Cindy!!!!

@Tiffany:

Please don’t feel intimidated Tiffany. This is for beginners as well as for people who have played with clay for some years now. I know how you must feel because I felt that same way when I joined a Polymer Clay Guild. There are so many gifted artists in our guild, but they are so supportive. I think this bunch would be too! So, enter whatever you’ve done. Remember, Cindy mentioned that this contest is not about who is the prettiest or fanciest… it is to show what we have learned and by practicing. I happen to be my worst critic. It is nice to get some comments on some of the stuff I’ve made. And most of all, I like the sharing that goes on this website. So, start sending some of your work in!

@Carole Anne holt: Carole you aren’t doing anything wrong, the sheet does turn bendy, a little stiff but its not until you run it through the pasta machine that you will see the crackle. Sorry I didn’t follow through with that. I would take another look at the video. Good luck, I’m sure you will come out on top so don’t give up. If anyone else has a suggestion I hope they will feel free to comment.
I’m not all that experienced with lots more to learn too.