Friday, July 2, 2010

Time to Vote!


Time to vote in the Polymer Clay Artists Guild if Etsy’s July challenge! Our theme for July is “Faux”, one of our most popular themes. As you can see, 24 PCAGOE members took the challenge this month to create something “faux”, and we have 24 gorgeous entries showcasing faux gemstones, faux glass, faux mosaics, even faux food!
Go HERE to cast vote for your top three favorites in the pull-down voting box shown AT THE BOTTOM OF YOUR SCREEN. DEPENDING ON THE SPEED OF YOUR INTERNET CONNECTION, IT MAY TAKE A FEW MINUTES TO LOAD.
Only one vote per person, please. One (1) vote consists of choosing a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place entry. If you choose an entry for 1st place, please do not also vote for it as your 2nd and/or 3rd place choice. Duplicate votes will not be counted.
Voting will be by the public and by PCAGOE team members. Voting begins July 1, 2010 and ends July 7, 2010 at midnight, Eastern U.S. time. Winners in each voting category will be announced at the PCAGOE website on July 8, 2010.
Five lucky voters from the public, chosen at random, will also win beautiful polymer clay prizes created by one of our many, talented member artists! Winning voters will be notified at the close of voting and have one week from the date we contact you to furnish us with your mailing address so we can send you your prize. If you do not respond within one week, another name will be pulled from the pool of voters.

1) Tide Pool Pendant by BeeTreeByMe
Mary Ellen’s description of her entry: I am fascinated by the possibilities of combining the look of a heavy rock with the lightness of polymer clay. For the challenge I wanted to make a very Special rock! My inspiration was a unique rock tide pool in Bahia Honda State Park, Florida. The ocean tides have slowly carved the stone into marvelous nooks and crannies. This amazing Sea Sculpture is accented with wonderful little creatures that have made a home there. This pendant is my tribute to Mother Ocean’s creation The Tide Pool.
2) Faux Raku Pendant and Beads by RiverValleyDesign
Christi’s description of her entry: This is my interpretation of raku, made with polymer clay, acrylics, alcohol and a texture plate. This piece was finished with handmade beads of the same veneer, and green glass beads. Pendant and beads received liquid polymer clay as a sealer, and then were machine buffed to a high gloss finish.
3) Faux Chinese Turquoise and Antique Copper Necklace by SCDiva
Lynda’s description of her entry: I love Turquoise. Of all the gemstones I work with, it is my favorite. I prefer Turquoise with little or no matrix, like the 16mm round Chinese turquoise beads shown in my entry. I created the copper banded turquoise focal beads to match, using translucent clay, embossing powder, and my signature blends of turquoise and copper clay. The beads were cured, sanded through 8 grits of wet-dry sandpaper and buffed to a glossy finish. There is no applied finish or glaze on these beads.
4) Faux Pebble Bracelet by OneandOnly
5) Faux Turquoise and Pebbles Bracelet by CraftsbyCAG
6) Faux Amber and Lapis Lazuli Necklace by StudioSChiek
Arlene’s description of her entry: Faux Amber and Lapis Lazuli beads strung on sinew with silver accent beads
7) Faux Opal, Bronze and Coral Necklace by RMKDesign
8) Faux White Leather Cuff by 11BoldStreet
Susan’s description of her entry: Slightly tapered, the top layer was tooled with a spiral pattern and antiqued to simulate old leather that really fools the eye. A copper wire was embedded for strength.
9) Faux Serpentine Necklace by VyaKyasha
Polly’s description of her entry: The necklace is made from olive green and translucent clay for added depth and inclusions of black embossing powder to give the look of stone. The pendant is textured with leaves. The mounting of the olive pendant is black polymer clay textured with a block pattern which extends over the bails onto the back of the pendant. The accessory beads include a variety of shapes made from the olive faux stone including drum beads with an abstract design, circle beads with the leaf texture, and small round beads. Several black polymer clay beads are included as well as black pressed glass beads.
10) Oriental Totem by JanGeisen
Jan’s description of her entry: It is made entirely of polymer clay, except for the metal vertigris chinese coin.
11) Faux Venitian Glass Mosaic Pendant by PatiBannister
Pati’s description of her entry: It is entirely polymer clay with the exception of the antique gold-bronze mottled glaze on the reverse.
12) Faux Cinnebar Trinket Box by JKollmann
13) Faux Jade Pendant by KellyPlaysClay
Kelly’s description of her entry: I made this pendant for my daughter’s 5th grade Stepping Up Graduation ceremony. Her dress was the perfect shade of green to make green faux jade. The chinese words are “I Love You.”
14) Faux Rock Box by ArrowdaleArtStudio
Cindy’s description of her entry: My faux rock box came about because with a heatwave in the Northeast, and our air conditioning out of commission, I’ve been reluctant to turn on the oven, and until it is baked, my first piece couldn’t be assembled. One of the other Guild members suggested that my entry need not be cured to be photographed so I set out to begin again. Hmmm…faux. Faux. Faux what? Faux jade? Turquoise? Amber? All rocks. Faux rocks. Faux rock box! So there it was.
15) Dagwood Sandwich by Polyclarific
Amanda’s description of her entry: Each sandwich half is around 10mm long x 6mm wide and have holes in the corner so they can be used as beads. Inside the sandwich you will find cucumber, cheese, lettuce, tomato and salami. Enjoy!
16) Faux Jade Fish by ThePleasantPheasant
17) Brick by Brick Necklace by HiGirls
Lisa’s description of her necklace: This piece just evolved. I was mulling what to do for the challenge while I was waiting at Starbucks drivethru. I looked out and there were bricks-aha!
18) Faux Amber Beads by MarciaPalmer
Marcia’s description of her entry: I have been wanting to attempt these for quite sometime. The PCAGOE July Faux Challenge was just the motivation I needed.
19) Fe Faux Necklace by LaurelSteven
Laurel’s description of her entry: Faux turquoise slab nestled between faux carved white rocks and ringed with faux brown stones. A smattering of silver beads and spacers. Very “Fe.”
20) Faux Stained Glass Votive Candle Holder by ClayCenter
Berit’s description of her entry: I paint faux stained glass window clings, so my thought was to translate this to Polymer Clay. I made a kaleidoscope cane of clays mixed with translucent and covered the glass votive with it. Then I embellished it with some faux bling.
21) Imitation Lapis Lazuli Beaded Cabochon by MirameCreations
22) Faux Amethyst Agate Necklace by BlessedBeadJewelry
Janice’s description of her entry: Faux Agate in different shades of purple with lavender and purple velvet Swarovski crystals on sterling plated chain with purple jump ring accents.
23) Faux Southwestern Mosaic Inlay Tin by RenGalSA
Deb’s description of her entry: This was fun and I think I learned a lot while doing this. I wanted to make it look like an inlay piece between the borders of silver. Experimenting with different mixtures and adding different color and texture to the different ‘faux’ inlay stones was a learning experience. I never knew what would happen with the final result and decided that with faux stone - especially the malachite - you can never use enough translucent. The color takes it over and you just get more ‘glow.’ The stones used for most inlays are matrixes - splashes of color held together by resin. In this piece yellow jasper, coral, lapis, and turquoise. My one exception was the malachite where I wanted to play with the layering and add an extra design element. I made a fun big cane and will probably use it for other fun designs as well.
24) Faux Dichroic Glass Polymer Clay Beads and Pendant by PolymerClayCreations
Angela’s description of her entry: A new experiment using colorful foils and liquid polymer clay to achieve a faux dichroic look. The colorful glass-like beads and pendant are strung on a triple strand necklace with a variety of glass and crystal beads.
Voting is from July 1st through July 7th, 2010. Please click this LINK to cast your vote for your top three favorite entries.
Remember 5 lucky voters win one of the fabulous prizes shown below.