Create your own underwater paradise!

This easy DIY from Yanina (nafanyafelt) for those of you who like a sea theme or simply enjoy something unique and stylish for your home decor. 

We will need:
1. Polymer clay
2. Brush
3. Pin or needle
4. Wooden board
5. Foil
6. Oven

Step 1
From the polymer clay we will need to make:

3 balls of different sizes
5 thin flatbread like pieces
7 small sausage like pieces with one sharp end and the other end should be wide
9 thin sausage like pieces
3 thin ovals

Step 2
Take the biggest ball and make the oval like impressions by using the round end of the brush handle. Repeat with remained two balls

Step 3
Take a flatbread like piece in one hand and put the handle end of the brush in a middle of it

 Wrap the polymer clay around the end of the brush handle, leaving most of the clay at the very end and spread it in a thin layer around the handle.

Carefully take the new piece off of the handle. Repeat with all flatbread like pieces

Step 4
Take a sausage like piece with different ends and install the needle in the wide end

By making a clock wise rotation you will get a small but seeable hole. Repeat with all pieces

Step 5
The seven small sausage like pieces and three oval ones do not need any changing, they are ready to use.

Now we can assemble our decorations. How to assemble is your choice, make it your stylish piece.

Step 6

Cover the wooden board with a piece of foil. It will make it easier to transfer the decorations into the oven, because you can bake it right on the foil.Carefully transfer your decorations into the oven and bake accordingly to the polymer clay package instructions.

And....it is ready!

Here is some ideas on finished pieces - happy crafting!

Tutorial by Yanina (nafanyafelt)

Interview with a Star - Jane (JanesBeautyStore)

Please, welcome our team mate Jane who runs JanesBeautyStore shop on Etsy. Today, she is sharing a story of her crafty life.


Please tell us a little bit about yourself
My name is Jane. I live in Zaporozhye, Ukraine. I am working as a manager in an export-import department by day and when I have a free minute I create jewelry and accessories. I am a self-taught jewelry designer and I really enjoy the process of creating something beautiful and cute!

How long have you been creating? How did your journey in art and creativity begin?
As long as I can remember myself I was always making something. As a child, I used to crochet skirts and dresses for my dolls, make drawings in small books for kids and I always wanted to have something of mine like the owner of a small cozy shop or café. Well, in 2009 my dream came true and I started creating jewelry. I first started making jewelry for my mom, grandma, friends and then step by step for sale.

What items do you carry in your shop?
Currently you can find jewelry made from crochet thread, polymer clay and resin in my shop. I make earrings, rings, pendants, necklaces and brooches. For the fall season  I am preparing some warm headbands. I am also working on making bracelets and hair accessories at this time.

What would you say makes your shop unique?
My shop is unique because I am making one-of-a-kind items. So my customers receive unique creations and nobody else in the whole world will have the same item. I think it is important for handmade items to be OOAK.

What are your main sources of inspiration?
Inspiration comes from everything that is around me. My current mood, good weather, a rainy day, romantic movie, morning coffee with my husband, thoughts about my family, cats, fashion – all these things and moments inspire me to do the beautiful things.

Do you take custom orders?
I take custom orders with pleasure! I like to listen to my customers, their ideas inspire me. I like that my customers want to get something special from me and my work is appreciated.

Where would you like to go with your business?
My goal is to have a room in my apartment, that will be my studio where I work. There will be different nice handmade things from other crafters, my materials, my works and a place for photo shoots. The atmosphere at my studio will be full of inspiration and art! This is my huge dream and I am trying to do everything to make it come true.

I am very thankful for my husband's and my family's support! I don’t need millions :) I just want to be a good mother, wife, sister, daughter, granddaughter, a friend and want to have my own small business and a place where I can fulfill my ideas.

Do you have a favorite quote you'd like to share with us?
The quote that gives me strength and inspiration is “Do what you love, love what you do”.

Story by Jane (JanesBeautyStore)

Interview with a Star - Irina (IrenkaR)

Today, we would like to introduce one of our team mate Irina who runs IrenkaR shop on Etsy.

Please tell us a little bit about yourself
Actually, I’m a self-taught artisan and making jewelry is my hobby. I am an economist, but I have learned sewing, knitting, and inventing all kinds of interesting things from my mother. I love the creativity and extraordinarily creative people. In my childhood I dreamed of being a designer. My daughter, Ann, has made my dream come true without even realizing it. Now she is a 1st year student at the National Academy of Art in Lviv. By the way, my daughter is my first and the most serious critic.

How long have you been creating? How did your journey in art and creativity begin?
I have been making polymer clay jewelry for only 2 years. Initially, I bought it for my daughter, she loves to sculpt. I looked for the tutorials and bought all kinds of tools for her and then noticed that I myself was exited to do all this. I fell in love with polymer clay immediately, right when I for the first time took it into my hands. There are so many opportunities for creativity!

A long time ago I made jewelry for myself and for friends at school - we really wanted to be unique. Later, I saw jewelry from polymer clay in the Internet community. Now I make it myself. Now my daughter and I have a common hobby - she also makes jewelry and all her friends wear earrings made by her.

What items do you carry in your shop?
My original works - fun brooches from polymer clay - dolls, princesses, ballerinas, little mermaids and a collection of winter brooches (kids in the big winter hats) - are represented in my shop. Also, I like to make polymer clay jewelry with imitation of knitting, and with bright prints, I like to use different textures and materials: fabric, handmade lace, beads. It’s interesting for me to experiment and I want to share my findings with everyone. My daughter wears earrings, brooches and bracelets made by me with pleasure, she takes them first! So that’s why I make many items again specifically for the shop IrenkaR

Do you have a favorite item you have made? What items in your shop do you most enjoy making and why?
I love all of my works because I put in them my warmth and love. And my favorite is a brooch of a girl with the mittens on lace . This brooch probably has a connection with something from my childhood. I love to make this design over and over again, but these brooches are never exactly the same.

What is the best reaction you have gotten from one of your pieces?
Frankly speaking, a reaction to my brooches inspired me to make them again. I'm glad to make people happy with my works, I like when my works make my customers smile and cheer them up. It is really great! I think I make this world a little bit kinder. That’s why the slogan of my shop is "Cute brooches and other jewelry for a good mood»

What are your best marketing tips?
I really like Etsy, which helps us to learn about marketing of a small business. But the best marketing tip I think is: «do what you like and do it well».

I hope it was interesting for you.

Yours, Irina Rybak

Interview with a Star, Svetlana from nesluxury

Please, welcome Svetlana who runs Nesluxury shop on Etsy. Today, she is sharing her inspirational story with us.



Please tell us a little bit about yourself
My name is Svetlana, I was born in Kazakhstan and moved to Siberia after high school. I moved to Israel after graduation. Now I live in Haifa in Northern Israel and work at the Haifa University. My day-to-day work involves lots of numbers, statistics, programming and different really boring scientific related things. After that, all I really want to do (except spending time with my baby son Tom) is to create, create, create.


How long have you been creating? How did your journey in art and creativity begin?
As far as I can remember, I loved to create by hand. I draw, cut, glued, sculpted and built. I used paper, clay, metal wires, cones, sticks and stones from my father’s work room and the yard or the forest. When I grew up, I learned how to sew, knit and weave from my mom and grannies. My mother told that me that I was 12 month old when I took a pencil for the very first time… but she does not say, what I drew! When I was a teenager I studied in an art school for 5 years before moving to more “earthly” matters.


What is the best reaction you have gotten from one of your pieces?
Once it was a five-o'clock tea party at my friend's place in the Technion campus. A few young women gathered to chat and to look at my first flower creations. I made a jewelry set with large peachy pink flowers and some mint green seed beads among them. When I took it out of the box, three girls wanted to buy it immediately and they began to argue. At the end, the girl who had cash, got the set and I got two custom orders.


Do you take custom orders?
I love to do custom orders. This way I know in advance that this will be an item the customer will love and cherish. My favorite customer is a woman, who works with me in my institute and who I see every day. She orders something from me every season when she buys new clothes. I really like to see that she wears my jewelry with pleasure. Recently I was really honored to see a few of our friends wearing my items to one of our mutual friend's wedding. I made this jewelry especially for them!


What items in your shop do you enjoy making most and why?
It is definitely small roses because I really like the feel of the thin layers of polymer clay between my fingers. I see their birth petal by petal and it soothes me.


What are your main sources of inspiration?
I really don't know. It just comes to me! Sometimes I see a dully dressed girl and I am getting ideas how to improve her appearance. Sometime I find interesting and inspiring stuff on the Internet or I look at my materials (polymer clay, beads, silk or metal findings) and just begin to create.


Do you have a Favorite quote you'd like to share with us?
"You never know when you'll luck out." It is the very first phrase in the "The stranger" by Max Frei and I totally agree with him!

Interview with a Star, Oksana Piven

Everyone is welcome in Oksana Piven's beautiful jewelry shop. You can find one of a kind handmade jewelry here made from polymer clay, beads, wire and so much more. Oksana is putting her heart and soul in every creation and she believes that people who wear it will be really happy!

Please tell us a little bit about yourself

My name is Oksana and I was born and raised in Ukraine. I have a husband and a 16-year-old daughter. Another VIP in our family is our cat!

I have a PhD in molecular genetics and I work as a senior scientific researcher at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics.

- How long have you been creating?

As a child, I was enjoying my art classes at the Children's Fine Arts School. I was creating things in different styles and materials. My parents supported my creative explorations and interests in crocheting, knitting, painting and other types of crafts. They kept all paintings made by me at the child's age!

When I was a teenager I discovered macramé. This technique was new for me so I took some classes and filled our home with the variety of new panels and planters.

My current passion – jewelry making – started a few years ago. 

I'm thankful to the Internet and my friend who introduced me to the polymer and seed beads community on the Internet. At first I tried myself in seed beads and faceted beads techniques – I beaded beads and created necklaces with them. I enjoyed doing it and the process fascinated me. 

 When I discovered polymer clay and the possibilities of this material I liked it very much. I try new techniques all the time, for example, I try to use polymer clay and other materials together.

 

- What items do you carry in your shop?
In my shop you can find statement necklaces and lovely pendants to wear every day.  I work with a variety of techniques. I like use the texture on clay technique in my jewelry, as well as hand-sculpting and molding techniques.

I like to create jewelry from natural materials or metal imitation techniques. I am fascinated with the process of jewelry making. And beauty is a very important criterion for me. Jewelry should be beautiful and harmonious, and certainly interesting! I am sure that the value of handmade is in the originality and uniqueness and I try to show it in my works.

 - What inspires you and what does the day in your studio look like?

My inspiration comes mostly from nature. I love to use flowers or leaves as ornaments. Also I like folk ornaments, ethnic jewelry and trade beads. I collect pictures of Ukrainian jewelry, folk and modern, and I enjoy discovering it. In my creations I try to mix the traditional folk style and new materials.

 - Do you use any special techniques or tools?
Of course, I use different kinds of materials and tools: pasta machine, cutters, textures, paints and inks and so on. Moreover, sometimes I use the spices, salt, brushes, leaves, pieces of tree bark - anything I find useful.

Ranunculus ring giveaway

This gorgeous ring might be yours if you will participate in our giveaway.

 Mariia is the hostess for this giveaway and she is a talented young artist behind the  Mariia Rykhlinska shop on Etsy. Take a look at her shop, her air dry polymer clay flowers looks like they were just cut from the garden!

 

 To participate in our giveaway:

1. Visit Mariia's shop, browse her collection and leave a comment here on what you like the best (1 entry)
2. Heart Mariia's shop (1 entry)
3. Follow our blog (1 entry)
4. Subscribe our blog via RSS
5. Share this giveaway on your blog/ facebook/ twitter (1 entry each)
6. Like RykhlinskaARTstudio facebook page (1 entry)

Please leave a separate comment on each entry and don't forget to leave us your email address so that we could contact you!

 This giveaway will run November 11th through November the 25th. The results will be announced on Saturday, November 26th.

Good luck, everyone!

Polymer Clay "Chevron Style" beads (Star beads)

Polymer clay beads are fun to make and they look great. Make these chevron style beads with Daria (Dariami) and get the compliments on your new necklace or earrings!

Materials and Tools:

·         Three contrasting colors of polymer clay (e.g. red, blue, white)

·         Plastic wrap

·         Plastic card (something like credit card)

·         Pasta machine

·         Knife (tissue blade)

1.      Condition the clay.

2.      Roll the clay through the pasta machine: red and blue on 2mm setting, blue – on 1 mm setting. Make 3 white, 2 red, and 1 blue sheets.

3.      Layer the sheets in order: white, red, white, red, white, blue. Cut the edges so you have a nice rectangle.

4.      Cover the block with plastic wrap and cut it with plastic card onto equal segments. Notice, when you cut with plastic card, the colors are shifting.

 5.      Roll the log out with white polymer clay. Place striped pieces to the white roll blue sides out as shown.

6.      Make the cane thinner by pressing it on center and to the ends. Try to press all over the cane equally. The cane will become longer and thinner. Do so until you reach the necessary size.

 7.      Cut the cane onto equal pieces. Shave off some clay at an acute angle. Do this all the way around the base of the bead. Repeat that with the other end.

 8.      Using your fingers, shape the beads.

 Now use your imagination to create one of a kind piece!

By Daria Dariami and Albina Arounbeads