As excited as I am that so many people are creating so much top quality work out of polymer over here now?

I am constantly amazed at the quality of work that people are making

Yes! And I want to be able to do it too!

I'm not bad at swirly lentils but want a go with glitters & foils & inks & stuff!! I need more hours in the day!

I am going to dedicate a lot of this summer holiday to more clay work.

NO NO NO!!!!

I'm trying not to look, I'm REALLY trying because the beads are absolutely fantastic and I don't want to be tempted. I can just see me collecting little packets of clay (as if collecting lampwork isn't bad enough).

No I am NOT looking!

It is great isn't it. I am always impressed with what I see here.

I intend to spend a lot more time on clay work too as there is so much to learn and I love learning it

It's great to see so much over here.

Some of our artists, and particularly our Emma, are as good as any of the US ladies, but the inspiration from people like Donna Kato and Lisa Pavelka is awesome.

I love seeing what everybody has been doing with it on here.

I started using clay about 2 years ago and was always made to feel that anything I did with it (especially jewellery) was inferior because the medium just wasn't well known enough. Anybody that knew what a polymer was just thought you were turning out plastic rubbish.

It's getting some really good press now and many, many more people have heard of it and it's becoming quite accepted now. I love it.

Yes yes yes Lorraine thats what I love too, that it is being accepted as a serious medium!!

I used to make polymer jewellery about 15 years ago and everyone admired it until they knew what it was made out of then theykind of went ewww plasticine.

For years it has been thought of as a secondary medium, maybe because it was so accessible and easy to use, maybe through ignorance, who knows but I am just so pleased that it is finally starting to get the recognition it deserves.

Elises flowers......need I say more

In decades time when anything derived from oil will be so expensive that only the richest of the rich can afford it - polymer clay will be 'the' collectible jewellery to have.

I love polymer clay for what it can do that other media can't. Although I do like the faux dichroic look and foils.

I guess I am pleased with how clay is enjoying a renaissance here in the UK, but I am not altogether surprised. Because I think anyone who has been claying a while knows just how many cool things the American artists have been doing with clay for a long time now, so it was only a matter of time before Europe came to the party!

I hear a lot of talk about people looking down their nose at the medium. I can honestly say I can't remember experiencing this myself, but then I don't tend to always pick up on other people's sly negativity anyway since I believe so much in the product myself.

I have heard of some of the higher end artists calling it "polymer resin" and such words just to escape this image though.

I think there have been some fantastic artists working in polymer clay here in the UK for a good few years. I think though many of them tended to be on the miniature / doll scene rather than the bead scene.

It is great to see so many people taking up beadmaking with clay. I am really excited to see what new styles and techniques this new wave of clayers will bring to the table too.

With polymer clay being as versatile as it is, I am sure we have so much yet to discover as to what it can do, what looks can be acheived.

There are also more and more places to buy clay now. Both on and off line. One of the reasons I started selling Fimo was because a few years back, there was no-one selling clay mail order than IMO carried good fresh stocks. I had to go to a shop and hope they could order in what I needed, or buy mail order and have to have clay stocks that were really old and crumbly. Now, there are so many places to buy fresh clay and the new formulations of Fimo have increased the shelf life too.

In all, the future for claying in the UK is really bright.

The only way to combat negative perceptions of polymer clay work though I think is for people to always strive to use the medium well, create good designs that work with the material and to educate the public.

I never worried about the plasticine image. I actually use the analogy when describing the clay to people, I tell them it is "like plasticine, but bakes solid in the oven". It IS like plasticine, so why should we be embarassed or feel inferior about that?

If you are passionate and enthusiastic about your work, people will key into that and be impressed. If you take an apologetic or defensince view, they are likely to respond negatively also I think.

Emma