Dear Fergus

I don't post a lot of personal stories on my blog but our dear pet, Fergus, passed away after 19 years with our family.  He was a great friend and companion to our three children and Steve and I.  We'll miss him and are quite sad here in Denver.

Get Your Swirl On! Polymer Clay Valentine Swirl Pendant

Here's a Valentine's Day swirl pendant with a "Be Mine" sentiment and red hearts.  I'm going to be doing a series of these holiday swirl pendants so stay tuned for more!  Hope you enjoy this video tutorial.  Leave me a comment, subscribe and let me know how you enjoyed this video.  Tools and materials lists follow the video.

Tools

Pasta machine
Oven
Extruder (Optional)
Extruder die - 19 hole
Alpha stamping set
Cutter - 3/16" heart
Paintbrush - stiff
Needle tool or hand drill
Clay blade
Craft knife

Materials

Polymer clay - Premo! - small amounts of white, red and pink blend
Acrylic paint - red
Sandpaper - wet/dry 400 grit
Varnish - recommend Varathane or comparable
Jewelry findings - pinch bail or jump ring, necklace finding

Polymer Clay Sculpted Channel Set Hoop Earrings

In one of my recent trips to the local craft store, I came across these neat earring findings with a channel that are used to add beads or rhinestones.  Of course, they make the perfect setting for polymer clay!  This video tutorial will walk you through using these findings to make a pair of sculpted earrings.  Hope you enjoy.

Tools
Pasta Machine
Clay blade
Craft knife
Needle tool
Embossing tool or end of paint brush
Texture sheet or coarse sandpaper
Cutters - 3/16" teardrop and circle - there's a tip for sculpting without cutters in the video.
Paintbrush - stiff

Materials
Polymer Clay - Premo! small amounts of Ecru, Pomegranate and Turquoise
Channel earring findings
Burnt Umber acrylic paint
Paper towel
Sandpaper (optional)
Sealer (optional) - Varathane or other

Sweet Willow Designs 2014 Year in Review

It's time to reflect on 2014 and look forward to 2015.

In the last half of 2014 I spent more time in my studio than I had in the last three years due to work commitment and travel.  It was good to be home and able to spend time on creative projects.  I was also able to reconnect with my local guild, the Mile High Polymer Clay Guild, which was rewarding and nourishing creatively.

Creating tutorials and filming them for YouTube videos was one of my primary creative outlets.  Sharing techniques and interesting projects with a larger community was one of my top goals for the year.  I had published one video in 2011 which was to have been the first in a series.  I wasn’t able to create the next installments of the series until October of 2014 – over three years later.  Wow.  All in all I published 10 polymer clay videos on a variety of projects including silk screening, making a pendant, three types of earrings, a bracelet and a jewelry making tool during the year.  These videos were well received and I grew my channel subscriptions from 66 to over 300 by the end of 2014.  Not huge numbers by any means but a nice trend.  The comments and words of encouragement have kept me going.  I appreciate every one.

Social media has never been a focus for me although I recognize the opportunities offered by using Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and others.  In 2014 I made a concerted effort to improve my use of social media by posting more regularly.  I have seen how social media drives engagement and community so I’ll work on improving in this area.

My goals for 2015 include developing more tutorials, publishing an article or two in a polymer clay or mixed media magazine and better use of social media.  To push myself I’ve signed up for a couple of art related challenges that keep me creating on a daily basis.  These challenges feel like a lot of pressure right now but I’m hoping that they motivate me to spend more time in the studio.

Wishing all a creative and prosperous new year.  Happy New Year!

Winter Storm Snowflake Polymer Clay Pendant

This week's winter snow storm in Colorado inspired this polymer clay pendant project. Join me in my studio as we make a swirl bead and add snowflake embellishments. I used extruded clay strands applied to a clay base to make my swirl beads. This simple technique is great alternative to using cane slices for those of us who don’t make many canes. Upcoming projects will use this basic technique for more swirl effects. Hope you enjoy this. If you enjoy the video, subscribe to my YouTube channel, give me a thumbs up or leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you. Below the video are the tools and materials used in the project. 

  Tools 

Extruder 

19 hole die 

Clay blade 

Needle tool 

Acrylic or glass block 

Jewelry pliers

  Materials 

Polymer Clay – white and 2 shades of blue 

Pearlescent powder – silver 

Jump ring 

Sandpaper – wet/dry 400 grit 

Sealer – Varathane or other

P.S. I’m always trying to improve my videos. I use Adobe Premier Pro Creative Cloud software to edit my videos and with this one I wanted to keep close to the 5 minute mark. It’s always a learning process and fun. Stuff I learned while making this video:

• How to speed up a clip

• Overlay comments on a clip

• Record audio outside the main video

2015 Polymer Clay Challenge

Starting the new year and thinking about how to be connected and creative.  I've decided to join the KatersAcres 2015 Polymer Clay Challenge to complete one polymer clay project per week.  This is a lot of pressure but certainly motivating.  I'm nervous but committed.  Let me know if you're joining in.  Happy New Year!

Polymer Clay Faux Knit Mitten Earring Tutorial

Let’s knit with polymer clay!  Join me in my studio as we make a polymer clay knitted “fabric” that we can use to make these cute mitten earrings.  You could also resize the mitten template to make a necklace, bracelet or zipper pull.  

You can find some free, downloadable Christmas templates here.  Copy the mitten template and resize in word processing or image processing software.  You can use any size that works for your project.  I re-sized the mitten template to 1” by .88” which is a good size for earrings.

I hope you enjoy this video tutorial.  If you enjoyed this video, subscribe, give me a thumbs up and leave a comment.  Thanks for joining me in my studio.  See the materials/tools list below the video link.

Materials

Polymer clay colors of your choice.  I’m using red and white Premo!

Paper mitten template

Eye pins – 2 ea

Ear wires – 2 ea

Jump ring – 6mm – 2 ea

Sandpaper – optional

Tools

Pasta Machine

Oven

Extruder with multi-hole disk (disk with 19 holes usually include in the basic set with Makins extruder)

Craft knife

Jewelry pliers – chain nose