Tory Hughes

North Texas Polymer Clay Guild

The September meeting which was my first, featured Tory Hughes. She presented a demo on “Integrating Wire with Polymer, for Functional and Decorative Use”.

Tory has been working with polymer clay since she was 13. In 1992-1994 she actually invented many of the techniques and approaches now in common use everywhere. She has been in business professionally as an artist in galleries and fine craft shows since 1982. Her art is in major museums nationally and private collections worldwide. She has recorded 15 DVD’s, is in six books and she has written two - the newest one “Five Simple Directions”
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I must say, her presentation was wonderful and very easy for a novice to understand. This is one of several pieces that she passed around for all to see. One of the methods I found quite interesting was how she actually carved the clay piece once it was cured. I also loved her demonstration on using hinges in her creations. She is not only interesting, but a wonderful talented artist.I am so impressed with our Guild. Even though we meet only once a month, I am inundated with all kinds of wonderful e-mails, from seeing what other Guild members are doing with their clay to receiving some wonderful coupons.
I received this color test, which I thought would be a snap. I worked and reworked the hues until I thought they were perfect. Ha! Not so perfect! Actually, I was a failure at it, well not exactly a failure, but I thought I was right on. Try your eyes at it and see how well you do
http://www.xrite.com/custom_page.aspx?PageID=77

Steampunkery

I have discovered the world of Steampunkery and I love it. I know it's been around quite a while, but it's new to me. It's so much fun searching in the craft and hardware stores for metal findings and discovering something cool to embed into the creation you are making.

I belong to the North Texas Polymer Clay Guild and they have a huge selection of library books that you can check out . Well, I found a book called Steampunkery by Christi Friesen and it's fabulous. I have a long way to go before I get to her level, but I'm working on it. I have a few items in my Etsy Shop and plan on doing many more.

As a matter of fact I just returned from the hardware store where I purchased some wing nuts, lock washers, nut caps, phillips flat head screws, black carpet tacks and some upholstery nails. I perused the hardware isle and found the smallest size available. I think they are going to look terrific adorning my new pieces.

What is Steampunkery, you might ask. To quote Christi: "Steampunk is a look-a sort of Victorian-era mad scientist-adventurer kind of look. You will see a lot of clockwork gears, brassy bits, leathery straps, beads and even the occasional bit of lacy filigree" I must say, I find it quite fascinating.
  

Right now, I am busy getting an array of items made for a craft sale that will be held in November. It's my first craft sale and looking forward to it. My son Charlie is also going to have a booth there. He is a fabulous photographer as you can see by the pictures he takes. His website is: http://charlieprenziphotography.com/.

I hope your day is wonderful and full of sunshine even if it's cloudy outside.

An Etsy Shop

For all of you that want to have your creations shown to a wide audience and some sales under your belt, Etsy is the way to go. I started my Etsy Shop because my daughter was such a wonderful clay artist and she hesitated on getting one. Well, the hesitation was gone once she saw my shop up and running and she is having a ball with it. Her shop is delightful. She specializes in cake toppers, but she has so many other wonderful items from boxes to vases. This is a picture of a special order cake topper she created for a grooms cake. She was given a picture of the items and she duplicated them in her own artistic way. The Bride to be was ecstatic over them.


Even though she is in Michigan and I am in Texas, we have been having so much fun together  We joined Polymer Clay Central on the same day and have had loads of visitors to our blogs and Etsy Shops.  This picture was taken in Michigan when I was visiting there.
You can visit Trina's Etsy Shop at:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/trinasclaycreations

An Etsy Shop is easy to open and the cost factor is minimal. Other venues have you pay a monthly fee, but Etsy makes 20 cents an item and a small percentage of the sale. It sounds like I'm an advertisement for Etsy and I guess I am in a way, but its fun and exciting to see your creations being displayed with many talented artisans. This is one of my masked faces. As you can tell by my blog, I love purple. Not all my masks are purple though as you can see when you visit my Etsy Shop at: http://www.etsy.com/shop/mstp

Another Use for Gauze

October's North Texas Polymer Clay Meeting


I had a list of things a mile long that I needed to take with me to the meeting and I knew that I couldn't fit them all in a plastic bag, so off I went to Michaels with my 40% off coupon in hand and bought this huge traveling craft bag.I thought it would be too big, but how mistaken I was, as it turned out it was just the right size.


I had a whole hour before the meeting was to start, plenty of time even though this particular meeting wasn't at it's usual place. I took my time packing and when I began zipping the bag up I noticed that the zipper was broken. Okay, don't panic, I said to myself, Michaels is only a hop away. I quickly emptied the case, grabbed my keys and off I went.


Rushing into the store I quickly explained my problem to the overly zealous clerk. She smiled and explained that she was a whiz at fixing zippers and would have it fixed ASAP. Well, I didn't have ASAP, but I patiently waited and soon she realized she wasn't the whiz she thought she was and told me to go and get another. I raced across the store with a speed I didn't know I possessed. With a new case in tow, I thanked her as I raced out the door. I'm sure some of the patrons must have thought I was a thief.


I finally made it back home, but time was dwindling. I quickly packed my bag and out the door I went.


All I can say is WOW! Lynda Evans (who is a member of the Guild) presented a demo on her "Liquid Clay Gauze Bracelets" I had no idea that medical gauze could magically transform into something of beauty. The only time I ever used it was when one of my kids needed it for an injury and that was never a pretty sight.


I love how organized this group is. There were more than 40 people there and everyone had a birds-eye view, because it is videoed on a large screen. After Lynda's presentation, we went back to our tables and proceeded to made our own bracelets. Rubber gloves were one of the items on the list and I could see why. If I didn't have them my nails would have been green, although with Halloween coming round the bend the look would have been quite appropriate.

Anyway, back to the bracelet. I know that I could have done a lot more with mine. Especially after seeing the amazing work that some of the ladies were doing, I really felt mine paled in comparison, but here it is in all its glory for you to see. I am going to make more of them, because they are so much fun to make.

The meeting ended with a Halloween swap. It was so much fun! I made this little pumpkin pie with a pumpkin and black cat decorating the top. I can't wait to find out what the theme is for next month.

My Masked Faces

I have been creating masked faces since the spring of 2010. I was inspired by them since visiting Venice and seeing so many beautiful masks in the shops.


This particular one is a favorite of mine. Notice the Lizard emblem on the headdress. In Roman mythology the lizard was thought to sleep throughout the winter and thus came to symbolize death and resurrection.


I have this creation for sale in my Etsy Shop. It is approximately 9" tall by 4.5" wide and comes mounted on a 13" by 7.75" black frame.


I have many items in my shop other than my masked faces, all created with polymer clay. You can view them and more of my masked faces in my Etsy shop, just press the link to the right below my guest book which goes straight to my Shop or you can view the slide show that's posted here.

My Home Studio

I was thrilled to be able to convert my sun room into a studio where I could let my creativity run free. With the anticipation of knowing that I would love sitting at my craft table looking at the beautiful and expansive view of my cute little back yard, I couldn't wait to get started. But... life doesn't always turn out like you plan it, and now I am stuck at the dining room table because my sun room is steamy, to say the least, due to that humid and hot weather here in Texas. (Raw polymer clay does not do well in this environment, nor do I!) I only have to wait until the end of October, but of course, I remember plenty of Decembers that were pretty hot too. I'll just have to wait and see what the weatherman has in store.