HOPEFUL

Heather Wynn of swoondimples.etsy.com offers words of inspiration, love, and hope in her creations. Her designs are original and lovely, and the messages are simply disarming.

More about Heather and her art is in her blog, swoondimples.blogspot.com

EDUCATIONAL

These original hair sticks and Steampunk Squid necklace are from the shop of Sheryl Westleigh, noadi.etsy.com.

Sheryl is inspired (in her own words) “by a love of marine animals (especially the cephalopods), science, and all things weird and wonderful” and is eager to share her knowledge. The listings in her Etsy shop read like a fantastic illustrated encyclopedia of marine life. Here is for example, an excerpt from her description of the octopus hair sticks: “Octopus are cephalopods like squid, cuttlefish and the nautilus. They are extremely intelligent non-vertibrates including having problem solving abilities. There are over 300 different species ranging from the penny sized Octopus Wolfi to the 14 foot diameter North Pacific Giant Octopus”.

CONTRASTING

Contrast between smooth and rough is a signature element of Jan Geisen.

...At least for now! Jan says: “Polymer clay is such an amazing medium that I still haven’t exhausted its possibilities, so you will probably see my style change as I discover new ways of working with the clay.”

I love Jan's current designs and hope the future ones will be as interesting as these.

See more of Jan's work at her web site, www.jangeisen.com.

NAIVE

The primary source of inspiration for Isabelle d'Hauterive (Isabel Art) is her childhood memories, and it shows in her figurines – cute, somewhat naïve, and bursting with energy.

Isabelle's artist statement is one of the best I've seen. She says: “My artistic vision has but one goal: Giving life to an emotion that incites a smile.”

Make sure to visit her web site for more smiles.

LUMINOUS

Desert Talismans, the shop of Dawn Wilson-Enoch, amazes me in many ways.

Look for example, at her polymer clay bracelets, combining gently-tinted translucent polymer clay, new bronze clay, and sands from deserts in Arizona and California.

I enjoy the tribal aesthetics and clever construction of her necklaces and earrings, and can study them for hours. Although the ones in her shop now do not include polymer clay among the list of materials, I am almost sure that Dawn uses it in her other works. There are many organic elements in her work that made me look really close to check if they were made of polymer clay or something else.

What I love the most about this shop is its general theme, the feel it creates, the reflection of Dawn's passion for deserts that shows in every design, every picture, and every description.

SIMPLE

These simple yet impressive focal beads are made by Rebecca from thesacredbead2.etsy.com.

I love the clean simplicity of design here and a winning combination of subtle color and bold texture.

ORIGINAL

I am not a fan of stretched ears, to be honest with you, but I really appreciate all the creativity that goes into designing a truly original pair of earrings. These examples are from Planet Art (giovannacoraggio.etsy.com).

I just love all these twisting lines that form these gorgeous gauge earrings.

INSPIRED

Peggy from PeggyGsJewelry.etsy.com has a few items in her shop described as inspired by Eugena's tutorials (yes, that is my tutorials).

I want to thank Peggy for the referral and say that I just love how she takes those techniques and turns them into something new. When I teach classes, my favorite students are those that use my projects as a starting point for their own ideas. That is the way it should be, in my opinion. Learn a technique, but than build on it, give it your own voice, and take them a step farther.

PROUD

I found Tina Wade's shop, African Motif, while working on the new ad for PCAGOE.com, and was immediately attracted to her face brooches. They have such distinct ethnic features, full of pride and self-confidence. Absolutely beautiful!

The other two pieces shown below are a beautiful and masterful rendition of Kathleen Dustin's style.

PRETTY

I found yet another example of an item decorated with polymer clay – a plant poke. These butterflies on wooden dowels are from the shop of Arlene Harrison, ashpaints.etsy.com. Lovely combination of sculpting and canes, yes?

Arlene just started a blog about her polymer clay adventures, harrisonhollowdesigns.blogspot.com.

WINGED

It is hard to explain what draws me to these winged designs by Kira Slye of studiobijou.etsy.com, but there is something magical about them. It is also interesting to see how differently can the same element look in different designs.

Visit Kira's web site and photo album to learn more about her and her art.

CAPTURED

Meet the captured garden fairies by Jane Russel from campcactus.etsy.com.

Jane studied art and photography in high school and in college, and have worked as a graphic designer, illustrator, typesetter, photo stylist, calligrapher, art teacher, textile designer, florist and barista. I think polymer clay sculpting fits into this resume perfectly!

Jane has a blog, http://www.campcactus.blogspot.com/.

LITTLE

Lucia, an artist from Rome, is the sculptor behind bdbworld.etsy.com. Each little creature is less than 1". Look at the second picture - the mouse is sitting on an artist's finger!

More about Lucia and her art is in her blog, http://bdbsblogedbu.splinder.com.

GEOMETRICAL

These geometrical designs are made using the phototransfer technique by Irene MacKinnon from curlygirldesigns.etsy.com.

Here is her story: "About a year ago my sister gave me a beautiful pendant with a photo transfer on it. I was so impressed with this technique I started experimenting with transfers on collages and on marble tiles. Then I read about polymer clay and transferring images on to it. Once I tried it I was hooked and now love working with the medium. I love experimenting with clay and trying new techniques".

EXTRAORDINARY

An Austrian artist makes these modern organic designs. There is a variety of styles to choose from in her shop, BizaiMariaTheresia.etsy.com, but my favorites are these two pieces in black.

The bright-colored beads are made using spices as inclusions – cinnamon, pepper, curry, paprika, and chili.

HUMBLE

I just finished writing a tutorial for my sea urchin vase and decided to look on Etsy for more polymer clay items with this theme.

I found these amazing beads by Heather Powers from humblebeads.etsy.com and fell in love with their understated beauty... Heather makes beads full-time, and has many other beads in different styles in her shop.

Visit Heather's blog for more information about her and her incredible beads.

VIVID

These bright colors are from Angela Hickey's shop, PolymerClayCreations.etsy.com. Millefiori technique, which means thousand flowers, lives up to its name in Angela's creations.

Note the very first picture below. Isn't it brilliant? Taking a picture of a pen is usually a difficult task, since a long and narrow object leaves too much empty space. Using a few pens in different colors, Angela not only got an interesting picture, but also saved herself lots of work with re-listing of her products and showed a potential customer all color choices at ones. Clever!

There are more pictures in her photo album.