Our first challenge at the new Bohemian Vibe Polymer Clay Group is to sculpt or mold a face, and then turn it in to a piece of jewelry that fits our criteria for the group....brass stampings and filigree combined with polymer clay, fiber and mixed media product.
This lovely cameo-like piece was made by my shop assistant, Javiera Bustamante. She loves working with clay and is ready to meet every challenge!
This funky lady was made by Kristy Le:
She certainly has personality! As you see, Kristy backed her with a luggage tag finding from B'sue Boutiques
Sue Shade is going for more of the vintage resin-faced look:
I am thrilled with these preliminary attempts and gratified by what each was able to do, given they had never done it before.
An easy way to make a face might be to use a face mold. Here Christi Friesen demonstrates the basic way to make a mold:
Christi Friesen Demonstrates Mold Making
You can actually make a mold by using a doll's head. I think that's what I might try.
There are also places that specialize in selling molds, so a Google search will surely yield some nifty products.
Some will use molds but then do a little sculpting of their own to customize the look.
To meet the challenge all participants will have to use the face or faces they make to craft a piece of jewelry in the Bohemian Vibe style, which is an old World vintage Czech style with lots of color, and can include resin as well as fiber....and must include filigree or brass stampings.
Soon we hope to have our own BOHEMIAN VIBE pinning board so that all the challenge pieces can be viewed and appreciated by those outside our group.
The Bohemian Vibe group cropped up as a result of the fabulous polymer clay workshop 39 friends enjoyed together in May, 2014. Everyone was so engaged in claying around that they never wanted the fun to end. Christi and I decided to collaborate on a special group that will be like a traveling tutorial of ideas and projects that will enhance our skills and teach us to be more proficient with clay and using it in mixed media group.
Are you interested in joining us? This is a very focused group. It's not about ALL sorts of clay work, but rather organic, and will combine with what I call New Vintage.....jewelry that is a definite throwback to design styles Victorian through 60's. Think beads, dangles, filigree....FUN! You can use found items as well as bits from B'sue Boutiques in your work.
Another tip: you will want THIS set of tools:
One of the coolest things about working with Polymer Clay is that the tools are NOT expensive, and neither is the medium. These are probably some of the most expensive tools you will own in your tool kit for clay, but I gotta tell ya: they are the result of years of working with clay and great research by Christi Friesen. She designed them, and I have them and YES THEY WORK and YES YOU WANT THEM.
They will help you make that face as well as work along with us on projects. FOUR of our projects this next year or so will be custom-designed by Christi, and they will appear in October, January, April and July.
Here is a short video found by group member Kristy Le that will help you get a bit of a handle on how YOU might approach making a face. It's just a glimpse into the process and by no means covers it all....but it WILL get you thinking.
Have a look:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBAig1yQRD8
Why not just grab a hunk of clay and go for it? Who knows, you may find you have a gift you didn't know you had.....and you wouldn't be the first one to discover that! This challenge goes on through the end of July. On August 1, I will be chosing by random number generator one happy camper to receive a 75.00 value B'sue Boutiques goody bag.
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