On the cover!

Wheeeeeeeeee! I made the cover of Australian Beading this issue! It's a real thrill...and makes my heart glad for all kinds of reasons. When I picked up that first pack of clay and had my first play about 8 years ago, I knew instantly that I'd finally found my 'niche'. Hardly a soul even knew about polymer here in Australia, Aussiepolyclayers was only an idea in the founders head (Heather Richmond) , it formed a year or two afterwards. There were no Australian online polymer clay shops, no workshops taught, no books available. I was on my own. But... I'd found other people with the same focus at Polymer Clay Central, a USA based forum. I absorbed everything I could about polymer clay online...the PCC forum members were an amazing source of inspiration and help...I discovered there were books and videos...even a tv program in the USA dedicated solely to polymer clay that a friend taped and sent me...I just devoured it all...and I played. I played and I played. And I fell more and more in love with this stuff. Now I teach all over Australia, exhibit in Byron Bay and..... have a piece of my work on the cover of a mag. Just shows you the power of passion!

Ruffle beads

What I love most about the internet is that it's been the vehicle for connecting and making friends with people all over the world as well as a constant source of inspiration and education in just about anything that interests me. One such friend is Christelle Van Lingen , a wonderful polymer clay artist living in the USA who has been making these beautiful ruffle beads for some time. She recently wrote a tutorial on them and asked me to test it...and here it is! Delightful isn't it? And not as hard as I thought it would be. Lucy was here that day, she has never touched polymer clay before and I asked her if she wanted to play along with me... she was sooooo thrilled with what she made...she used two 'petals' for earrings too!
And here is the link to Christelles etsy shop and this marvelous tutorial!