Thursday, October 31, 2013

Salt and Pepper Shakers the November PCAGOE Challenge

This month our members created salt and pepper shakers. It is great to see how each artist interpreted the theme. Entries had to be at least 50% polymer clay.
Vote and Win!
Three lucky winners will be selected in a drawing of all non-member voters and will be able to choose a prize offered by our member shops sponsoring this month's challenge. See the list of participating sponsors and prizes. 
 



And the entries are:

1. Salt and Pepper Cellars by Susan of LadyFlowersbySusan
I thought of my grandmother's cut crystal salt cellars, each with its own tiny silver spoon engraved with her initial....I made the salt cellar for the Challenge from a translucent Stroppel cane. The pepper cellar is made with a similar cane with three shades of very dark brown. I made matching spoons for each cellar.

2. Metallic Shakers No. 101 by Susan of 11BOLDstreet
These salt and pepper shakers for the PCAGOE Monthly Challenge were primarily composed of polymer techniques sheets featuring foils and metallic leaf. Coated with liquid polymer, more bling was added with sprinkles of shiny silver mica powder.

3. Sunflower Garden Shakers by Jill of Beautified Essentials
This was one of my most detailed flower canes, having 12 petals. I arranged the sunflower cane slices first and then placed the leaves of different sizes around the flowers to see where it looked best. And smoothed it before baking - no sanding required. I have a birdfeeder and my birds "plant" sunflowers for me every summer. The shakers are a year round cheerful piece of art for the kitchen.

4. Moroccan Salt and Pepper Shaker Set by Marie of YoungCreative
This colorful Moroccan-inspired salt and pepper shaker set features a blend of metallic and translucent polymer clay that I hand buffed and waxed. There is even a little texture surprise in the teal: course ground pepper! It is a technique called inclusion. It gives a very natural organic feel to the finished piece. Peek-a-boo flower petal cut-outs allow you to easily see what is inside.

5. Sailing Away by Becky of BeckySueCreations
Cane slices were used to cover the salt and pepper shaker. These reminds me of summer days when I was young and had a makeshift sailboat.

6. Midnight Ocean by by Jill of Jkollmann
"Midnight Ocean" salt and pepper shakers have ocean-themed elements on all four sides. This image shows two of the sides for the salt shaker, and the other two sides for the pepper shaker so you can see all four. These are 3 3/4 inches tall.

7. Simply Fun Shakers by Lisa of HiGirls
These shakers are created for PCAGOE's November challenge "salt and pepper shakers". They were very fun to make with lots of bits and bobs of clay and texture going wild. The other sides can be seen here: www.flickr.com/photos/39493796@N08/10388950996/

8. Multi-colored, Patterened Salt and Pepper Shakers by Marcia of marcympc
Salt and Pepper covered in black and white with slices of a very large cane applied in solid sheets and in varied shapes.

9. Groovy Salt and Pepper Shakers by Berit of ClayImages
Made with designs from extruded clay, these shakers will put a smile on your face! The blue or green colored line at the top distinguishes the content. These shakers are 4 inches high.

10. Feed Your Geek Salt and Pepper Shakers by Beth of CreateMyWorld
These salt and pepper shakers are for those with a nerdy side. The salt shaker is covered with a mixture of chopped white, frost white and translucent polymer clay, and has a black rectangle on the front with a diagram of sodium chloride (salt) embossed in white. The pepper shaker is covered with a mix of black, granite and translucent clay, this one has a white rectangle on the front with a diagram of Piperine. Piperine is the alkaloid in pepper which is responsible for its pungent taste. For more views of this set, please visit my Flickr photostream: www.flickr.com/photos/createmyworlddesigns

Thinking outside the box for this salt and pepper shaker challenge. A Santa to hold the salt and pepper shakers.

12. Rainbow Pixelated Retro Salt and Pepper Shakers by Angela of PolymerClayCreations
I had been wanting to try Betina Welkers pixelated retro blend tutorial ever since I first saw it on Polymer Clay Daily. I finally decided to try it for my PCAGOE monthly challenge entry. It was so much fun, watch out you might see a lot more of this in my future, LOL.
See more angles in my photo stream here:  www.flickr.com/photos/polymer_clay_creations/with/1047637...

13. Fall Tapestry Salt and Pepper by Arlene of HarrisonHollowDesigns
This set of salt and pepper shakers celebrates the changing of the leaves in Autumn. I just got back from a trip to North Carolina where I got to see first hand the changing of the seasons... something we miss in Mississippi!

14. Tribal Salt & Pepper divided cellar dish cover by Betsy of PolyClayCafe 
We use salt cellars and pepper mills, so this little base and cover fits perfectly over one of my little divided glass dishes so the salt and pepper keep separated. I opted for a tribal, geometric design in the earth tone colors I love and fits in with our decor because I intend to use this.

Vote Here
Choose your top 3 favorites. The same entry may not be counted more than once. Voting is open to the public the 1-7 of each month. Read the expanded rules here.
 


Full Name (required for voter prize notification):
Email Address (Required for voter prize notification):
For current Dues-Paying PCAGOE Members: What is Your Etsy Shop Name?
Please select your 1st choice: (2nd & 3rd choice must be different from your 1st.)
Please select your 2nd choice: (2nd choice must be different from your 1st and 3rd.)
Please select your 3rd choice: (3rd choice must be different from your 1st and 2nd.)
How did you hear about the PCAGOE challenge?
Would you like to receive the monthly PCAGOE e-newsletter? NOTE: Every month we get at least a dozen requests for the newsletter from those who are already on the subscriber list. Please check your email spam filter and add the following to your Approved Senders: Polymer Clay Artists Guild of Etsy and pcagoe@gmail.com I already receive it
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Monday, October 28, 2013

Featured artist: Jackie Sieben




Introducing Jackie Sieben, of Jae Jewelry & The Pleasant Pheasant 
PCAGOE Featured Artist from October 28th through November 10th


Jackie discovered polymer clay in 1998. She spent several years playing and learning. Jackie says, "As time has passed I've found my stride with it." For many years Jackie ran the "Discussions from the Claypen" chat every Thursday at the Polymer Clay Central website, and became a well known/well loved cheerleader of the polymer community. Jackie's most recent polymer passion is the making of intricate polymer clay canes (or "millefiori"). Jackie was recently featured in the October 2013 Polymer Cafe magazine in the article, "Jackie Sieben: The Clay Pen revisited" by Trina Williams.

Find more of Jackie at these locations:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ThePleasantPheasant
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thepleasantpheasant/
http://thepleasantpheasant.blogspot.com/
#PCAGOE #polymerclay #millefiori

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Sponsors for the November Challenge

Thank you to all of our artists who volunteered to sponsor the November Challenge. Please see their prize offers and stop back on November 1 to vote. In the meantime, Please explore these wonderful finds from their shops

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Feature Artist: Carole of Compelled Craft

 
 
Introducing Carole Monahan-Kampfe of Compelled Craft 
PCAGOE Feature Artist from October 14th through October 27th

Carole started working with polymer clay almost by accident. She and her daughter were house cleaning and discovered some craft supplies which included some polymer clay. She says that not much cleaning got done that day after the discovery!
 
In Carole's words: "It all started with a little bird, Wort the Worry Bird. I made Wort the first time for a friend who was going through a really rough time. I told her Wort would help Her with all her woes. Everyone who saw Wort had to have one as well. Then Wort was joined by his cousin Lucky ducky." Carole says that her Lucky Duckies were made with the sole purpose to raise funds for the MS (Multiple Sclerosis) society. Carole was diagnosed with MS in 2003 and she finds that working with the clay is great physical and cognitive therapy, to help with the hand and muscle cramps associated with her illness. 

She has been working with polymer ever since her first encounter with it. She has since authored tutorials for Polymer Clay Cafe, her 1st tutorial was for her Bambooya beads in April 2012 and her latest tutorial Mobius Mass is in this Month 's October 2013 issue. Carole never gets bored with the possibilities of polymer and feels compelled to keep working with this medium because her well of ideas never runs dry.

Find Carole at these locations:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/Compelledcraft
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Compelled-Craft/279922788728117?hc_location=timeline
http://www.flickr.com/photos/compelledclaycrafts/

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

October Challenge Winners

And the winners of the October Challenge are:

Public Vote





1st place 


2nd place 
Bronze and Copper Earrings No. 154 by Susan of 11BOLDstreet
3rd place
Owl Bowl by Line of PlaySculptLive



Members Vote

1st place 


2nd place TIE
Woodland Barrette by Jill of Jkollmann 



Drawing Winners: 
Bee Harris
Sue Bowen
Eileen Moore
They get to pick a prize from one of our lovely participating sponsor shop owners.

 Congratulations to all the winners, and thank you to everyone who voted and supports our challenges each month.

A sampling of comments left by voters:

As always, some very creative works!
·         The first one is amazing!!!
·         The acorn was my 4th choice.
·         Beautiful work.
·         Wow! the entries this time were all so very excellent that I changed my mind half a dozen times before choosing!!! Great job everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
·         It is not easy for me to choose the winner every month. Most of the works looks to me professional, interesting and beautiful. I vote for the works that look to me the best. Thank you.
·         That acorn is so cool!!! What a wonderful idea and it is so beautifully made.
·         All I can say is WOW! I am in awe every time I see these creations and how they are made.
·         Wonderful creations. I love autumn colors and now I have new inspiration for the challenge in my guild. :-D
·         Every entry was so lovely and so hard to choose just 3. Always so difficult to vote on only a few. Good luck everyone!
·         I love that the acorn lights up !!
·         WOW! Every month there are so many pretty things entered. I love them all it is hard to pick just three.
·         The creativity of these artists are incredible. Thank you everyone.
·         Good work, all! I can see that a lot of thought and work went into your entries. I liked the originality of No.13, the light constructed over a jar, while I loved the simplicity and elegance of the birches in No.1. To tell the truth, for a few seconds of delight, I thought No.1 was actually a small handbag of some sort and was wondering how polymer had been used for that effect. I'd really love to have a bag like that! The little white owl in No.10 is elegant in its simplicity. I think that raku is a great choice for making pine cones and I only wish that I could have seen them in a better close-up to observe its effect.
·         The creativity shown by PCAGOE members is stunning, humbling and wonderful.
·         Amazing entries! Love them all, but was hard to choose.
·         Hoot do you love!! The owls of course! Love, love this challenge! Awesome work people! My favorite one yet!
·         Love, love, LOVE the unusual textures in the earrings. The owl bowl made me smile.
·         All the entries are wonderful, but I just love the acorn light - beautifully crafted and useful.
·         I love this contest! I saw it in the promotions section of the Creative Breakroom forum. All of the items in this month’s contest are gorgeous!
·         My peeps outdid themselves - so hard to choose! Going for the whimsy and creativity of the lighted acorn.
·         Great variety this month!
·         All, as usual, are awesome, great craftsmanship, beautiful eye candy... I LOVE THEM ALL....
·         This was so tough! October is my birth month and I adore all things Autumn, woods and nature related. Some awesome original ideas here!!
·         I enjoyed looking at all the wonderful artists works this month. The colors and textures definitely reflected this month's theme.