This week, we had some news- Amaco and Staedler are joining forces to bring you the Spring Bottle of Hope awards at CHA in California, and we will again be covering the show.

We will also be going to Synergy soon, and then the Clay Fandango retreat in Orlando.

Studio Clay by Sculpey is going to be $2.99 a bar for 2.8 ounces. A pretty good deal (unless you're used to getting your clay at Michael's on sale, unfortunately Michael's isn't carrying it- yet.)

We discuss the Jan/Feb Belle Armoire Magazine, graciously given to us by Stampington and Co, and there will be links to two polymer clay artist's blogs for you to learn more about color- come check out polymerclayproductions.com to find out more about that.

Finally, our topic for today is covering lumps of scrap clay with slices of cane. A very useful technique. In Polymer Clay Classroom, we show you how to make a bullseye skinner blend cane and then cover clay and shape it to make a pretty fan pull. A great way to decorate!

This week, Ilysa went-it alone for our video. I am studying for the Florida teacher's exams, and felt a little stressed about meeting for a weekend to film our next episodes before the test which is in early January. We hope you enjoy the show, and later next month we'll be filming the next series.

Ornaments are fun- you can cover glass, or just use clay. Use all the techniques you have learned so far- texture them with texture plates or stamps, run pigment powders and inks on them for sparkle and color, embed things into them- I wonder how much cinnamon you would have to put into the clay to make it smell like cinnamon even after curing? If someone wants to do an experiment and share the results with us, drop an email to polymerclaypodcast@yahoo.com- Ilysa and I will randomly pick a winner and I'll send you a New Year's gift.

This week, we talk about making ornaments for the holidays or just to hang on your walls, we review Donna Kato's book "My Favorite Things in Polymer Clay," and we have a discussion regarding the new Studio by Sculpey clay- because Kira talked to her Regional Trainer, Jane Zhou, about it.

Enjoy! Come back next week for the video demo on ornament making.