Happy Valentine's Day, Clay Harmony fan!

I’ve joined a couple of swaps and a group challenge this year – both activities are new to me. In addition to adding a new dimension to my clay journey, they’re fun!

The way swaps work is this – you make a certain number of items with the theme that has been set for the swap and send them in to the “swap mistress” (at least for the ones I've joined), who will mix them up and redistribute them. However many you send, you’ll get that many back from others who are doing the swap.
 

So far, I’ve joined in a Pandora-style bead swap in the City-o-Clay Yahoo group. My entries have been sent, and I’m looking for a box in the mail soon, filled with beads received from the other swap participants. I signed up for another swap that’s due next month – that one will be clay-decorated pens (another favorite of mine).
 

The challenge I joined should be no great stretch for me – it’s titled “12 Polymer Clay Projects in 2013.” There’s no theme for this, so anything goes! The necklace pictured here is my February challenge entry. To participate, you join a Flickr group created for the challenge and share photos of your monthly projects. Since I’m always making things anyway, it’s just an opportunity to be more social and see what others are doing, as well as to get some feedback from other artists. You can see my other challenge entries, as well as more of my recent work, in the Flickr portfolio on my website.

 

The heart pendant necklace featured in the article above was my first attempt at using a technique developed by Bettina Welker, called the “pixilated retro blend cane.” This technique has gone viral – people are going absolutely crazy over it, as well as adding their own spin to the original idea. There’s even a Flickr group devoted to projects made using this technique. It can be made with bright rainbow colors, or blends of two colors, or any other combination that strikes your fancy. The results are sometimes surprising, which is part of the fun!