I've read before that perfectionists tend to also be procrastinators. The fear of not doing something perfectly becomes a dread of starting it at all. This explains a lot about me. I don't know whether it works for everybody or not, but for me, deadlines are the best solution. If there's a pressing deadline, no one can expect perfection... which makes it easier to just buckle down and do it.

Nothing screams "deadline" like your obstetrician telling you your effacement and dilation numbers (not much yet, but it's still a reality check!). With less than a month to go before our little boy is due, it's finally dawning on me that I'd better get started on some things!

We decided back in August that we wanted to do a Dr. Seuss theme for the nursery — something gender-neutral (in case the ultrasound's wrong), and not too baby-ish (so we don't have to re-decorate everything in a year or two). Dr. Seuss seemed like an obvious choice since hubby and I were both big Seuss fans growing up, plus it's a good way to start instilling a love of reading in our little one.

I found this Seuss-themed room to use as inspiration. My mom volunteered to come and paint wonderfully-bright wall colors to serve as the base. So it was just up to me to take the next step and add some Seuss-ian characters.

But I didn't. The perfectionist/procrastinator part of me kicked in. I had various excuses: I wanted to get the furniture in place first. Or I hadn't figured out which characters to paint. Or I needed hubby to help me decide what size to paint things. Good enough excuses... until I suddenly found myself just weeks away from having a baby.

So I finally started on the first Seuss character... a goat, of course.

The instructions I found online all seemed to use a projector to paint directly on the wall. I felt like that was less than ideal, though, for two reasons. One, we still have a little furniture re-arranging to do. There's this one pesky dresser/hutch we got on Craigslist that we need help moving up from the garage. Specifically, hubby needs help moving it, since he doesn't want me trying to lift it at this point. (Any volunteers?) The second, more practical reason, is that with such dark walls, any character painting would require an under-layer of white paint before we could start painting the character itself. This seemed like an extra step. So I decided to try painting on a white sheet of matboard. This would give me something I could move once the furniture's in place, and it would also avoid the extra step needed for painting directly on the wall.

I was surprised at how well the painting itself went. I printed the character on a transparency sheet, then projected the image onto the matboard. I used a brayer and foam brush to spread acrylic paint across the colored part of the image. After the paint dried, I used a black Prismacolor marker to add the outline and facial features.

So far, so good. Painting this fairly simple, one-color character only took about an hour.

But I wasn't done. The cutting out was the next part. And while matboard wasn't as difficult to cut as I'd feared (I was even able to use scissors for some parts), it certainly wasn't an easy job. I spent at least as long on the cutting out as I did on the painting. And even as careful as I tried to be, there were still lots of edges that needed marker touch-up to hide the board's white core.

While I'm fairly happy with the goat, there are some things I'd definitely do differently next time.

• Tape the projector sheet in place while working. Cats, projector fans, and other small environmental influences kept nudging my transparency out of place while I worked.
• Have another copy of the image to look at for reference. My projected image was pretty good, but it was still a little blurry on some details. Having a hard copy to look at would have helped, especially for the outlining.
• Try black-core matboard. The Seuss characters are all outlined with thick black lines. The broad end of my Prismacolor marker worked great for this til I started cutting out the image. The matboard is thick enough that I could see the internal white core. This was especially noticeable anyplace where I didn't cut a clean edge. I tried outlining the edges again with the marker, and that did help — but I think a black-core matboard might make that step unnecessary.
• Maybe, just maybe, paint directly on the wall. I suspect painting that under-layer of white would have been much quicker than cutting the image from the matboard. Course I probably shouldn't use a marker on the wall (should I?), so the outlining might take longer. Still, I think if I could get over my hang-ups about possibly messing up mom's nice paint job, it might be an easier way to go.

So that's where I am. One Seuss goat down, an unknown number of characters left to paint. And an unknown amount of time in which to do it. But at least I've started!

I've got some nursery photos on Flickr, showing my mom's paint job, along with the amazing quilt she made. My sister also did a posterboard version of Sam from Green Eggs and Ham. Check 'em out if you're interested...

And if you're not interested, that's cool too. I promise not to hijack this blog for nursery updates too often. I will probably give an update a little later on how many characters we ended up with, along with any other nursery projects I decide to tackle (polymer clay-covered switch plates come to mind). But if you're not into the whole baby thing, you have my permission to ignore this and all future nursery-related posts. :-)

Back to work for me. Hope your Martin Luther King, Jr's Day was wonderful, and that you'll enjoy tomorrow's inauguration festivities!

Posted in: Currently Working On... | Comments (5)

Sue Heaser is one of my favorite polymer clay authors. Her books are always full of interesting techniques and projects, and they're well-illustrated with helpful photos. On top of that, I love the way she suggests related ideas — helping the readers take the next step and brainstorm a project of their own. I usually finish her books inspired, with a whole list of new things to try.

Her books aren't always the easiest to find, though. Heaser is from England, so most of her books were published originally there. (There may even be a few that were published only there.) Many of her books are out of print and can be expensive if you do find them secondhand.

So I was excited to see that Heaser had a new book, The Encyclopedia of Polymer Clay Techniques. I was also intrigued when someone commented it combined and updated some of her older works (I wasn't sure whether that was a good or bad thing). I finally had a chance over the holidays to sit down with her latest book, and wanted to share my impressions...

Encyclopedic Knowledge

"Encyclopedia" isn't in the title just for fun. This book has a wealth of knowledge. It covers pretty much all of the basics — things like using a pasta machine, sculpting, making Skinner blends, and caning. She also talks about topics that aren't always covered in basic clay books — things like using an extruder, using and making molds, making miniatures, and creating armatures and pose-able dolls. In addition to a great overview of techniques, she also introduces a lot of polymer clay supplies. This ranges from a description of how to use paints and powders to a comparison of the different clay brands' strengths.

This book covers it all, doing so in a well-organized way. It has a nice index, so you can quickly find any topic you're wondering about. (You can't say that about the online "polymer clay encyclopedia"!) The explanations are good, and the photos are clear (though the order can sometimes be confusing — more on that later). In short, this book is a great choice for beginners. I can't think of a common question "newbies" have that this book doesn't answer. I could easily recommend this to a beginner clayer as their primary reference book.

Not Just for Beginners

As I mentioned before, one of the things I like about Heaser is the way she inspires the reader to take ideas a little further. This book has many such prompts. I specifically liked the lists of objects to cover with clay (p. 73) and her list of things to use for stamps and textures (p. 88). The "Try These" sidebars spread throughout the book also have variations on the techniques she's covered. She also includes very practical tips — including tidbits I hadn't seen elsewhere. I feel like these make it more than just a beginner's book.

Another plus is that this book covers such a broad range of topics. If you're primarily a caner, or you've only done sculpting, you'll find in-depth coverage of topics like faux stones or surface embellishments that you might not know as well. I know I found at least a dozen things I wanted to try, including:

• Striped Extrusions (p. 29)
• Marbled Tube Beads (p. 41)
• Baskets and Weaving (p. 52)
• Balloon Bottles (p. 66)
• Faux Wood Color Recipes (p. 112)
• Resin-filled Pond (p. 138)

I think this quote from the intro does a good job of summing up the book's value to more experienced clayers:

"Too often, artists cling to their original genre when diversification would enrich their work and give unexpected insight into new directions. This book is intended to inspire both beginners and advanced polymer clay enthusiasts to explore and develop the myriad possibilities of this wonderful material."

But... Lots of Repeats

While it's a great book, it is in many ways a rehash of Heaser's previous works. Since I don't have the The Polymer Clay Techniques Book, I can't say for sure, but their Table of Contents look to be just about identical. I'm sure the Encyclopedia has more updated information (i.e., includes some of the newer brands of clay). But as far as the techniques and topics go, it doesn't look like you need to buy the Encyclopedia if you already have the Techniques Book.

Same goes with Heaser's other books, though to a lesser extent. I know I recognized various project photos from the other Heaser books I own, including Making Polymer Clay Jewelry, Polymer Clay Mosaics (which I reviewed here), and Fast Polymer Clay. If you've you've already collected all of Heaser's books, you're probably not going to find much new here.

Summary

• Title: The Encyclopedia of Polymer Clay Techniques
• Price: $19.85 + shipping
• Pros:
  • Great information and photos. If you're a newbie (or are trying to recruit a friend to polymer clay), you can't beat this as a reference book.
  • Wide range of topics. Good suggestions for expanding on her ideas and taking them to the next level.
• Cons:
  • It covers much of the same material as Heaser's previous books.
  • The order of the step-by-step photos can be confusing: sometimes they go only left-to-right; sometimes they go top-to-bottom, then left-to-right. It's not a big deal, but it can be annoying.
• Who It's Good For:
  • This is a great polymer clay book for beginners. It also has a lot of information and ideas that more experienced clayers will find useful.
  • If you haven't been able to find Heaser's other books, snap this one up. But longtime fans of Heaser's books won't find a lot of new material here.

Posted in: Reviews | Comments (2)

Challenges are often a good way to motivate yourself and get out of your comfort zone. As you're planning your creative goals for this year, you might consider entering some of these polymer clay challenges.

The Polymer Clay Artists Guild of Etsy (PCAGOE) has recently opened up its monthly challenge to everyone — you no longer have to be a guild member to participate. While it's too late to enter this month's challenge (vote here for a chance to win prizes!), they've posted upcoming themes so you can start thinking ahead. Entries are due by the 28th of each month. And it's easy to enter — just post a photo of your item in their Flickr pool. See complete challenge rules here. The upcoming month's themes are:

• February - ACEOs
• March - cane work

And don't forget about the monthly challenges over at Polymer Clay Central. Here's their challenge schedule for 2009:

• January: Winter Fantasy
• February: Steampunk
• March: Liquid Clay
• April: That's Not Real Wood?
• May: Over the Rainbow
• June: Picture This (Transfers)
• July: Mosaic Madness
• August: Skinner Blends
• September: Glitter & Glitz
• October: That Really "Bugs" Me
• November: Carve it Up
• December/January: Ring in the New Year

I hope this year brings lots of creative growth your way. And should you decide to enter one of these challenges, best of luck to you! Who knows...? You may end up winning one of the sponsors' prizes. Or (perhaps even better), you may find that stepping out of your comfort zone helps you discover something you love!

Are there other creative challenges you enjoy entering? If so, leave a link in the comments.

Posted in: Inspiration , Polymer Clay | Comments (5)