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Okay, I’ve been working on an idea using white polymer clay and alcohol inks in both liquid and marker form. I wanted them to be free standing and collectable. Tallest one, the guy, is about 4 1/2″ tall. The small singing head is about 2 1/4″ high and has a removable, exchangeable saying bubble.,
The girl was the first one I made and I wanted the white face with black wash and color for the hair and clothes. 
I think the black wash was a bit too much, so I made this guy and didn’t use as much black, I like it better. Looks more like ceramic or stone.
The dots in the background are from a new technique design block by Sculpey.
Both of the larger figures are made with scrap clay, (yes I do have real scrap clay that looks like mud, some scraps are just not Stroppel Cane material hehe) covered with white Premo. But even I will run out of muddy scraps at some point, so I made a smaller one made entirely from new white clay. Needless to say I’ve ordered more white clay.
 I thought how much fun it would be to be able to use these as little greetings. Happy Birthday, Mother’s Day, etc, etc. I even make it so that you can remove the saying and replace it with another. (no it’s not my birthday). How about crazy funny off the wall humor?
This one I decided to try a little bit of color on her face, and it’s okay, but I like the other finish better, for a signature “look”.
I’m still playing and wondering if it would make a good class. I think most of the people that took my Sun class at Fandango made some great faces and I know these faces would be just as successful. I’m having a blast and my head is full of all kinds of new ideas with these stand alone, Stand Up, characters.
More later.
On Friday last week, I got an email from Ron Lehocky with several pictures of the ground breaking ceremony for a new home for the Smunnat Nepal project. A new home that has been funded by donations, much of which came from the polymer clay community with Wendy Moore, (center in the blue in this picture) Cynthia Tinapple and Ron leading the way.
Ron began by offering a matching pledge of $2,000 and the goal was quickly met. He then offered yet another match of $1,000 and again it was met. The goal was to collect $10,000 to be able to build a permanent home on land that was donated to the project. What a wonderful thing for him to do and the support and donations from our community have been fabulous.
Ron wrote to me, “According to Wendy the entire event was over flowing with love and happiness. They dig a hole where the first pillar will eventually stand and bury certain symbolic items in it which will bring good karma to the building.”
“I have been able to Skype with Kopila Basnet, the Program Coordinator of Samunnat and Wendy. This whole thing fills my heart and gives me such a kick that we are able to make a change in the world on the other side of the globe in a place so foreign to our sense of luxury and opportunity.”
I was delighted Ron shared the pictures with me and I was able to follow along with this exciting journey.All the pictures are now up on A Colorful Journey blog along with a post from Wendy.
$10,000 was just for the basic building. But how excited that the money was raise so quickly and they were able to break ground and the building can begin.
But hold on, they still need so much more, like a concrete roof instead of tin so that one day they might build up. When I was at Synergy I met Ron for the first time and sat with him at lunch one day. We had a wonderful discussion about Wendy, Kopila and the ladies of Samunnat. We talked about how each night they have to remove the generator from the rooms they are renting and bring in back in the morning. Running water is not always included in the places they have called home. Simple things we take for granted are luxuries for them.
I was thinking, over 40,000 people watch my Stroppel Cane Video when I first put it up, and over 48,000 have watched it since I moved it to Youtube.
What if each of those people donated just $1 each to the building fund, that would be over $80,000. Just think about what a difference just half of that could make in their lives.
I urge you to please take a minute to go to their blog A Colorful Journey and read more about these beautiful people and scroll down on the left hand side and click of the Paypal link to donated. Be sure to request it be for the building fund. It will make you smile, it will make them smile, you can be sure it will make me smile.
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A Colourful Journey is the website for Nepali women who have survived domestic violence and are developing ways to generate an income for themselves and their families. These women are affiliated with the non-religious, non-profit, non-political Samunnat Nepal project.
I’m so pleased that my Facing Forward pen and ink on polymer was chosen to be included in Flow Art Space‘s exhibit, Polymer Clay – Gallery Style.
A reception will be held on Friday May 31 from 5-8 pm. Awards provided by the Polymer Clay Guild of Minnesota and Clay Squared to Infinity will be presented to select emerging and established polymer artists at 7 pm.
This unique exhibition runs from May 29 – June 15. Hours are Wednesdays – Fridays from 2 – 7, Saturdays from 11 – 3 or by appointment by calling 612-564-3569.
Flow Art Space is located in the Northern Warehouse in the Lowertown neighborhood of St Paul. Find us at 308 Prince Street Suite 218, in the same building as Black Dog Coffee and Wine Bar. Entry is free, and street meters are free after 5 pm.
I had a fantastic time at this year’s Orlando Clay Fandango! Here are all the instructors, the morning we are leaving after having such a wonder time teaching and demonstrating. Be sure to start saving for next year… save the date…May 1-5, 2014
I wanted to mention that I will be teaching my Pen and Ink one day workshop at the Orlando Area Polymer Clay Guild on Saturday June 29th. They meet in Winter Garden, FL . If you are interested in this workshop contact the guild for more information.
We were lucky to have Iris Weiss from Polyform attending and supplying clay for our classes. Thank you Polyform and Iris.
Then there was Penny Jo Couch, Syndee Holt, LInda Hess, Suzanne Ivester, and me, Alice Stroppel.
Here are some of of the wonderful suns made this weekend.
Photo by Judy Mitchell
Photo by Judy Mitchell
     
and some other fun stuff
A colony of flamingos won, bought, and gifted….
My Stroppel Cane bracelet demo
Suzanne Ivester, me and Sydnee Holt
Synergy was wonderful for many reasons, but getting to meet in person people you have become friends with online has to be one of the highlights.
My friend Nikolina Otrzan (Orson’s World) surprised me with with this so very thoughtful gift in memory of Ceasar, the oh so sweet dog we just lost. I was touched and so appreciative. Thank you Nik.
Nik creates some fabulous polymer pieces and some very cool tutorials for sale in her Etsy shop. She also has a class on CraftArtEdu
She is such fun to be around, meeting her after month and months of online friendship was a such a treat. She traveled all the way from Croatia to attend Synergy and I hope to see her again when Synergy happens in Europe.
I’m lucky to own another piece of Nik’s work, we traded when she made me something from one of her Stroppel Canes. Love it.
Cara Jane Hayman is another friend from the other side… she surprised me with the darling little Stroppel Cane piggy. It was so thoughtful to bring it all the way from Bristol, UK just for me. Cara Jane started the Stroppel Cane Flickr group so that everyone can share their canes. Care Jane also has tutorial for sale. Thanks so much Care Jane.
Can you believe I am the proud owner of this fabulous piece of a art by Julie Eakes? Julie’s work in impeccable! We made a large trade and I am more than thrilled.
The wording is, “As you’re pretty, so be wise, Wolves may lurk in every guise.” I wish you could see this piece up close, I think Julie said she made at least five canes to incorporate in this necklace. Julie and I have traded before I’m lucky to own a couple of other Julie Eakes creations.
Julie teaches and if you can take a class with her, you should! Here’s one on CraftArtEdu
Julie is soooo much fun and I’m lucky to call her friend…….Julie, I can’t thank you enough.
And finally, Meisha Barbee and I traded pieces and look what I got, a wowzer. Meisha doesn’t have a website, but I have a feeling that she will soon, In the meantime here is a google search with some pictures of her fabulous work.
Meisha has recently started to teach, if she’s teaching near you, run don’t walk to take her class.
Meisha, you make me laugh way too much, you rock friend, thank you.
You see how lucky I am, not only to own such wonderful work, but to have made such wonderful friends through my love of polymer. It’s a wonderful life.
I just wanted to take a minute to celebrate with Cynthia Tinapple. Today marks her 2,000 post on Polymer Clay Daily. Cynthia has created a window into the studios of polymer artists from around the world, introducing us to work we might not have ever found on our own.
We’ve been inspired and entertained by, in awe of, and delighted to be introduced to the artists Cynthia has shined a light on. PCD is an important stop in most polymer artists’ day.
I am most impressed by Cynthia’s continuing support of the women of Nepal and their quest for individual freedom and expression. She shared her polymer clay Shisha technique with the women of Samunnat on a visit to Nepal.
You can see her Shisha necklace in the picture below and you can order your own Shisha bracelets made by the ladies here in their Sumunnat Shop on Etsy.
Recently, Cynthia, Wendy Moore and Ron Lehecky have succeeded in helping to fund a building project for the women of Sumunnat. And there is still time to donate and I hope you do. Here’s a link to learn more about this worthwhile project.
I also want to congratulate Cynthia on her new Book Polymer Clay Global Perspectives: Emerging Ideas and Techniques from 125 International Artists. It is sure to be an exciting book to own. I’m thrilled to be a part of such a wonderful group of artists.
Thanks you Cynthia for the enjoyment you bring to so many!
I am delighted to be featured on Eva Maria Keiser’s blog as one of her chosen artists for her Colorway series. Thank you so much Eva Maria.
Eva Maria is an accomplish, incredible bead artist. From vessels to adornment, you will find her work mesmerizing. If you are a bead artist, Eva Maria offers several free tutorials on her blog. Grab a cup of your favorite beverage, you’ll be spending quite a while on this blog.
You can also join Eva Maria on her Facebook page.
In yesterday’s post I talked about how I don’t plan what to hang my pendants on or from. After thinking about it overnight, I decided that statement wasn’t actually true.
I’m always trying to come up with different ways to add a bail, invent a bail or create a different closure. The project I will be teaching at Fandango this year is a prime example. 
The stars are the closure. It’s an easy solution and adds a 3D element to the piece, that and the sculpted face. This cat uses the same idea with the tail and the head as closures.
You can use this type of closure on almost any design and I’ll show you how at Fandango in a couple of weeks. And there is exciting news from Iris Weiss the Education Manager from Polyform Products, Polyform will be donating some blocks of Premo for my student to use in my class. Thanks Iris and Polyform.
This piece that I posted a couple of days ago is another easy bail alternative. Creating something different and new is something I really enjoy.
I love the creative process of working with polymer clay. However the jewelry making part, findings, stringing, etc, are not on my love list and barely makes my like list. And my usual joy comes from colorful, fun, jewelry. It’s when I decide to create something more sophisticated that I lack the materials on hand to be able to spontaneously finish the piece.
In contrast, I always make sure I have plenty of canes on hand when I begin creating, it’s something I preach to my students. If you have a wide selection of finished canes on hand when you sit down to create, things just flow more smoothly. Not having to stop and make all the canes that need to go into a piece make it possible to create without having to stop the flow.
That’s not to say I don’t start a piece by constructing a couple of new cane, it’s just that I know I have lots of fillers to choose from already made and waiting for me.
So you see, I do plan ahead more than I realize, just not when it involves stringing and findings. So I’m still going to take a look at why I have a block with planning when making something more than a colorful, fun pendant (other than the obvious reason of needing more tools, supplies, etc. ). I’ve accomplished it before and think I just need to get out of my own way. Sound familiar?
So in the mean time, I’ll just keep doing what I love, making fun and funky things to wear and work toward improving my major jewelry construction.
I think these Stroppel Sweater Girls look kind of like Barbara and Cher with red hair. Okay, did that make you smile? Yes? Then my job is finished for today.
 I can only say that I was delighted to have this picture with Kathleen Dustin wearing her stunning Necklace. She is such an incredibly talented artist and the polymer clay community is so lucky to have her as one of our polymer divas continually leading the way to excellence.
The entire Synergy 3 – Seeking Higher Ground was about striving for excellence, improving and growing. Becoming the best that you can be.
The piece I’m wearing I’m sad to admit was made at the last minute. I am challenging myself to continue with the design and improve it if I can.
I have a beautiful peacock shawl given to me as a gift that I wanted to wear wear the night of the banquet. I worked on a couple of designs but wasn’t happy with them.
Even though I say it was a last minute thing, I did try out several ideas before moving on to the one I actually wore.
Here are the first three attempts at a pendant. The one on the far right was actually too literal and I wasn’t happy with that. The other two just weren’t coming together. Everything was just too constricted.
I liked this one better, but wish I’d started on it weeks before I needed to wear it.
I decided to use my cane mapping technique and add a touch of metallic. It certainly matched my shawl better and I liked the flow. The bad part was not having a fabulous chain to hang it from, even though I wore it just the same. That seems to me to be one of my largest setbacks, making a piece and not thinking about the rest of the story.
It’s why I usually just do pendants and “slides”. I don’t have to think about the rest. I plan to give that part more thought in the future.
So this is my challenge…….plan, plan, plan and Make it Sing
Wish me luck and go spend some time on Kathleen’s webiste if you haven’t been there for awhile.
When I was getting ready to travel to Atlanta to attend the Synergy Conference, I wanted to make a few new things to wear. I’ve had a couple of ideas in my head for awhile and thought this would be the perfect opportunity to try them out.
The necklace or “slide” in the picture above was really simple and fun to make. It’s more fun to wear because it has motion. It’s made with spiral canes formed into rectangles and of course round canes. I’ve attached them together with Buna Cord and looped the Buna Cord at the top to allow me to slide whatever chain or cording through and TaDa….it’s ready to wear.
I really like this necklace too. It moves and dangles and is just fun to wear. But I’m concerned with the o-rings shelf life. I’ve talked with several people that say that after many years, they begin to disintegrate and thus your necklace falls apart. So it’s not something that I could ever sell, but maybe it I keep searching, I can find a replacement.
I have so many things to show you and talk about concerning Synergy and the inspiring things that went on, what was shared, the friends I got to see again, the friends I met in person for the first time and just the overall experience.
Unfortunately I came home sick and am just not getting back to normal. I have lots of catching up to do.
DO take a minute to click on the sun on the righthand side of this page and see what is being offered at this years Fandango retreat. I’m teaching along with Suzanne Ivester, Sydnee Holt, Linda Hess and Penny Jo Couch. I hope to see you there.
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I’m glowing (no pun intended ) to be teaching at OAPCG’s Fandango this year, May 2 – 6th. I’ve so enjoyed attending and demonstrating at this event in past years, so being able to teach is just delightful.
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