Helen Breil's Mad About Bowls Polymer Class Review and Giveaway

Helen Breil is a friend and we lunch occasionally.  I was intrigued when she first told me she was working on her second polymer clay class several months ago.  I had previously featured her awesome magnetic polymer clay jewelry online class before so I knew she would have something innovative up her sleeve.  Helen was surprised and said, "I didn't think you would be interested in bowls." 

Ah, but she was wrong about that.  I was and am interested in bowls and I am sure many readers would be. We all could learn a great deal from Helen about shapes, textures and colors for polymer clay work. If not for home decor, then for jewelry making.  I am not saying that just because she is a friend. She really is inspirational!

There are 3 bowl designs in her Mad About Bowls class (the class preview is free - you do have to sign up on Thinkific first, also free).   Helen chose 3 basic shapes to work with - square, rectangular and triangular.  All of them, particularly the first bowl design, look Japanese in style.

They all have the distinctive bowl shape made that way with clever cuts and forming.  The triangular one is particular ingenious. It loses none of its texturing in the shaping process.

Square Bowl #1

The 90 minute class not only covers the bowl construction and coloration techniques also includes the templates, exhaustive downloadable lists for materials and techniques - even instructions on how to use the video format (pretty easy - I didn't have any problems).  Helen, if anything, is meticulous.

Square Bowl Inspiration

Helen actually uses different polymer clay brands and covers briefly their relative merits in her materials list. She is a fan of Kato clay which she recommends for the main bowls as the resulting projects are harder compared to other brands.  But it is apparently stiffer to work with. It is helpful tips like this as well as those on how to maintain the shapes during curing which makes her class so useful.

Rectangular Bowl #2

You can indeed use her class to make small decorative bowls - jewelry storage dishes, perhaps?  But scaling them down would make some awesome 3D brooches and pendants too!  I also liked her idea of using the bowls as wall decor!

Rectangular Bowl Inspiration

Her classes are not complete without her many inspirations. She goes over how she achieves the textures and colors for each one.  Shown here are some of my favorites from her inspirational galleries.

Triangular Bowl #3

Triangular Bowl Inspiration

Triangular Bowl Inspiration

Giveaway

If you'd like to win this giveaway for Helen's Mad About Bowls class please make a comment below. Make sure you leave contact info below if you do not have an online shop or blog.

Email subscribers need to scroll down the post they receive, click on Share Comment and enter your comment. Pick Name/URL. If you don't have a store or blog, leave the URL blank.

This giveaway is international.

Extra entries if you become or are a blog subscriber or follower etc. If you also do shout outs about this giveaway, those will count as additional entries too! Please say so in the comments. (The exception is Facebook - just like/comment on the giveaway status there!!)

It ends in a week's time at 6 pm EST Monday, May 28, 2018. I will pick the winner randomly and announce the results as soon as possible after. So be sure to leave a contact email if you don't have an online link or make sure you come back and check! Otherwise I will redraw in a week. Good luck!

Before You Go:

• Soldered Sea Glass Art Decor by Sara LeGris Creations
• Shrink Plastic Jewelry Dish Tutorial by Alison Burke
• How to Make Polymer Clay Jewelry Dish Tutorials

Disclosure This blog may contain affiliate links. I do receive a small fee for any products purchased through affiliate links. This goes towards the support of this blog and to provide resource information to readers. The opinions expressed are solely my own. They would be the same whether or not I receive any compensation.
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Original Post by THE BEADING GEM
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