Polymer Clay Central has announced the October 2007 Challenge theme: Faux.

To enter to win one of three prizes, mail your entries in by October 15, 2007. Not sure where to start...?

Tips & Tutorials

• Tutorials for faux techniques are pretty easy to find, so I'll just mention a few good ones to get you started:
  • Faux Rose Quartz
  • Faux Fossilized Agatized Coral
  • Faux Turquoise
  • Faux Ivory / Bone
• Here's a few faux formulas if you're just looking for some general ideas.
• And here's some great tips from MossyOwls. While she's talking specifically about creating realistic miniature foods, it's good advice for making a realistic version of anything else:

“You need to hone your skills of observation. Pay close attention to every aspect of the food's appearance. Unless you've seen a food so often that you can picture it clearly in your mind's eye-- and even then, actually-- you'll probably do well to locate a good, large photo of the food... If you have a sample of the actual food, use it as a model.”

Inspiration

• Polymer Clay Central has a pretty good range of "faux" photos: including their prior challenges (October 2004 & February 2000) and the always-inspiring Clay Pen Chats (Faux & Faux 2) & Clay Play Days (1 & 2).
• Or try searching Flickr for polymer clay faux photos. Definitely inspiring!

Books

If you want to get a little more in-depth into the faux topic, here's some suggested reading:

• Faux Surfaces in Polymer Clay by Irene Semanchuk Dean
• Polymer: The Chameleon Clay by Victoria Hughes

Polymer clay is wonderfully fun for making fauxs. Hope you enjoy yourself -- and best of luck if you enter the challenge!