Sparkle Plenty
That’s the name of a comic strip character but its also what a lot of people liketo see in their polymer clay or textile or other wearable arts.
A great example of another place it all connects is with the JonesTones Foils that are often used in fabric embellishment, or on on already made clothing like tshirts, sweats, or even shoes.
It comes in sheets in solid colors or in holographic and oil slick effects. You can follow the package directions to create sparkling and metallic effects on cloth, and it can also be used with polymer clay. You can sometimes find it in hobby supply stores, or order online from Puffinalia.com
To do that, roll out a sheet of clay. Place the foil pretty side up–so that you see it–and then burnish it onto the raw with your fingers. It particular helps if you have warm hands; a little heat really helps the transfer. I then use one of those credit-card come-ons that arrive in the mail. Use the edge to burnish the foil down in one direction, then another. Rip the sheet of foil away like a bandaid removal and the colorful part should transfer to the clay, leaving a clear sheet of acrylic. Sometimes only part of it transfers. You can do it again to fill in with the same foil or different, or use Pearl-ex mica powders to fill in spaces as it will not stick to the foil, only the exposed clay. The clay and foil can then be used in making beads, jewelry, collage and mosaic pieces and more.
Another source of a very similar foil is the Dollar Nail Art Store. They have five foot long strips of foil a bit over an inch wide for a dollar! and they have them in a very wide variety of colors. They are used in exactly the same way as the Jones Tones foils on polymer clay. Intended for acrylic fingernail decoration, these strips are very useful in many decorative ways.
They also carry iridescent and holographic filaments, tiny rhinestones and pearls, a wide variety of glitter, and more. They even have rolls of teeeeeeny gold and silver strips for pin-striping! Everything at this site sells for a dollar. There is a minimum purchase and it was very easy to fly right on past that point, even just trying a few things I simply HAD to have….
Both kinds of foils will react with clay over time if left to sit. Some start to lose color. Some change color when baking, so don’t over do it in the oven—cure fot the needed amount of time and take them out promptly to minimize this. The green hologram/herringbone effect shown above turned silvery on baking, but with bits of green fading in and out. The fuchsia foil turned a silvery lavendar–you can see it in the decoration on the red hats of the polymer clay ladies here. I heard about the dollarnailart.com site from one of my online friends over at Polymer Clay Central. Its wonderful when people share their sources for interesting supplies!
No, I don’t mean the song, I’m referring to the piles and bags and boxes of things I’m assembling to dye this week. We’ve got plain old white, summer white, navajo white, eggshell, offwhite, ivory, cream, even a bit of ecru. There are turned pieces of wood, bamboo beads, silk and rayon and cotton ribbons, silk chiffon and duponi yardage, silk handkerchiefs, cotton battenburg lace pieces, and cotton lace. There are circles and squares of silk stretched over wire, and there are doll bodies and fibers for hair in rayon, cotton, and wool! There are even a few more T-shirts. And that’s just MY pile; there are others coming to the Annual Dyeing Days. I’ll be taking a few pictures as we go and I’ll be sure to post so you can see the transformations.
Much of the yardage, lace ribbons, and stretched pieces were purchased from 
Of course, I like to do both–use the pre-mades and also sew, starting with my own pattern and my own dyed cloth. I’m putting together kits with the pattern, fabric, 
A lot of my endeavors tend to collect up against each other or tie into each other eventually, and not just in the piles that accumulate all over the studio. I have a love of pattern, a deep and abiding joy in colors, and I just adore a good black outline. And although I am willing to admit that I am addicted to buzz I get from a good strong jolt of color, I also do a lot of work in black and white and find the clarity of composition in a pen drawing to be very compelling. Am I caught betwixt and between the B/W vs. Color issue? No indeed, there’s room in my heart and my studio for both.
As an example of how things tend to mix it up, both in my head and in my eventual finished product, here’s a look at a drawing I did a long time ago. It began with black ink and my trusty Rapidiograph pen, long since traded in for Micron pens that don’t clog!
Here’s a look at the same page, with the color added. I used the Print On Demand publishing capabilities at 
As I learn more about the potentials of blogging, I am refining and adding to the structure of this one as well as trying to find time for the actual posting! Today I am adding to the “blogroll” or list of links. I have so many wonderful sources of information and supplies and inspiration, and I want to share them. So I’ll be adding more as I go. AND I’m getting things ready for Major Undertakings–all sorts of things happen around here in the Spring, and not just planting the vegetable garden. We are only a week away from the annual Dyeing event, and I’m working on pictures and words for several new books, including the 
