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This week we want to encourage you to work with molds. Molds are fun, you can take them of almost anything. You can use polymer clay to make a mold, or silicone rubber, or SuperElasticlay (a sculpey product). I mix superelasticlay with premo, about half and half, to get a flexible mold, and Ilysa prefers a hard mold so she just uses clay. You must bake your polymer clay molds before using them! Be sure to return next week for our video demo.

We invite you to listen to our discussion with Lisa Clarke. She operates a Polymer Clay (mostly) bookstore, a blog, and her own radio podcast at her site, www.polkadotcreations.com. She also has an Etsy.com shop for her own polymer clay creations. Lisa is an great person with interesting experiences to share. We hope you enjoy our interview with her as much as we did. Here’s a link to her favorite book- Polymer Clay Creative Traditions: Techniques and Projects Inspired by the Fine and Decorative Arts

Don’t forget- the Call for Creativity starts this month. We encourage you to try out translucent clay and effects, using a fall palette of golds, reds, oranges, and turning-greens (think leaves). If you need more direction, feel free to create a votive candleholder. If you crave an open challenge, make anything you like- using translucent clay. Then load it up on the forum board or our flickr account, and later in the month I’ll be making a collage out of them to display here for everyone to see.

Last but not least, the PCAGOE had our monthly Challenge, based on our Favorite Books, in September. The winner was humblebeads- check out her work at http://humblebeads.etsy.com.

This month we decided to start a monthly Call For Creativity, there will be a new theme every month and it will be so much fun! We encourage you to enter and share what you make with us. Below is the description of what we have planned and how you can join in, there will be some great prizes to win and they will be based on how creative you get with your entry. It doesn’t matter if you are a newbie or have been working with the clay for years, what matters is being creative and showing your creativity. Have fun with it and don’t be afraid to try new things. Entries are due by Oct 28th so get those creative juices flowing and have fun!

During October we have decided to encourage your creative juices using translucent clay techniques, such as dying with ink, or using inclusions such as gold or silver leaf, spices, chopped up crayons, or anything else you might want to add to the clay to change it’s colors. We think a fall palette would be nice- the colors of changing leaves.

You may interpret this theme any way you like for the Open Call for Creativity.

If you prefer more direction, you can interpret the theme for the Focused Call for Creativity. We think votive candle holders would be a great way to experiment with the special translucent property of the clay that allows light to pass through it, and perhaps you will be inspired to create something beautiful for your Holiday table or as a gift for a Holiday Party Host this year.

To enter this month’s Call for Creativity, simply make your creations and upload them to the Forum Board called “Call for Creativity.” Look for October’s topic. If you have any questions or comments along the way, please discuss them there. At the end of the month, we will invite voters from the public arena to come and vote for a People’s Choice award. Ilysa and Kira will also pick their favorite. Both winners will receive a gift from Polymer Clay Productions, and a lucky voter will win something as well as a special thank you for supporting everyone involved.