February 2009
Monthly Archive
Sat 28 Feb 2009
Fri 27 Feb 2009
One of our newest members and one of three gentlemen in our Guild is Keith Henning. Keith’s beautiful pens are elegant, classy and have a definite masculine quality. Although he does have one pink one in his Etsy shop I have my eye on. He also makes tie tacks for the discerning GQ man.
He has been been making polymer clay pens for a little over a year and considers himself a rookie in the field. Making pens is something he stumbled upon in his search for a hobby. He changed jobs several years ago and came into a situation where he was no longer working weekends and nights (the normal chef life). With new found time on his hands, he needed to find a hobby. His first choice was woodworking. He says, “The intrigue of power tools growling away in the garage and the man verses wood excitement kept my interest for a few years. During one of my many trips to man world (the Woodcraft store) I saw a demo on pen turning. Suddenly I felt the need to make pens. They were smaller, more intimate, and everyone needs a good one. The first problem I had was no lathe. A lathe is essential when trying to turn something (duh) and not having one wasn’t going to break my spirit. It would have been easier to go buy one, but it was the premise of trying to figure out how to make a pen without a lathe that drove me to polymer. ”
“Wood has many constraints and I wanted to make pens that were only limited to my creativity and imagination. I grew up around polymer clay and usually helped my mom kneed it when her hands were tired, thank god for reformulation and pasta machines, and I was curious if it was durable enough to make pens. In my research I came across a few kit pens, but mostly Bic style pens covered with clay. As I delved deeper into the world of PC I started to see different techniques and uses than what I remembered as a kid. Faux effects, mica shifts, caning and that was only the beginning - I was hooked. So here I am making pens and having a ball. The power tools and memories of man-world are gathering dust, except for a few (tools not memories) I still use for my pens.”
He now scans the newspapers for clay sales and hangs out at Michael’s - just like the rest of us.
Mon 23 Feb 2009
The PCAGOE monthly challenge theme for March is cane work. For a sneak peek at the entries so far, visit our flickr pool of challenge photos. You can also peruse entries from previous months in this pool, and there are some amazing polymer clay creations!
************Want to participate?***************
Everyone is invited to enter our challenge! That means YOU can create polymer clay cane work piece and enter it for a chance to win a prize. See the full rules here. Entries are due by EST midnight on the 28th, so hurry!
Everyone who votes in the challenge is entered in a random drawing for prizes. So check back in with us on March 1, which is when you’ll be able to vote for your favorite entry. Need a reminder so you don’t forget to vote? Sign up (in the right sidebar) to receive the PCAGOE monthly newsletter!
Fri 20 Feb 2009
About seven years ago, the idea of Elemental Dragons begun. Angela Moore started creating dragons with her daughter Cortney. Cortney has since passed away at the age of 14 with muscular dystrophy and Angela has continued making dragons in her daughter’s memory. She also opened an Etsy Store in her daughter’s memory - Polymer Clay for a Cause - All proceeds from this store are given to children’s charities. Items in the store are donated by community polymer clay artists. Please visit her store and purchase an item for an extremely worthy cause at www.polymerclayforacause.etsy.com.
Elemental Dragons have seven clans - Forest, Water, Sky, Celestial, Fire, Earth and Gems. Each has their own personality.
Angela has been working and experimenting with Polymer Clay for about 10 years and found it to be a wonderful media. She says, “It can be any color and any shape you want with the ability to forgive almost any mistake you can come up with, nothing is permanent until it is baked. Warning if you try it, you might get hooked.”
From her feedback: “I bought this late Friday night and it arrived at noon on Monday. How did you do this? I know…it came via DragonMail…Lolol. This little guy is SO cute!! I opened him up and said “Awwww.” Not a scary, terrifying dragon at all…kinda cuddly, in fact! Can’t wait to see Hubby’s face on Christmas morning when he gets this little guy in his stocking! My Aging Knight in Tarnished Armor will love Thiket! Thank you so very much for this most recent addition to our dragon collection. He has such personality! I’ll definitely be back for more!”
