Tamra Gentry, and I am a mokume gane purist.
I heart my friends who make jewelry and items using polymer clay and glass; however, I am not a fan of any references to it in those areas, as the very specific *metal* diffusion-bonding process that gives us mokume gane was created by Japanese metal craftsmen hundreds of years ago, and often for a very specific purpose.
Sterling, copper and nickel sheets prepped for layering
This whole issue of semantics bothers me because *I* think the clay/glass/mokume gane link is confusing for anyone who wants to learn about real mokume gane. It’s history was hard enough to come by per two of the main people who did a TON of research and put mokume gane on the map here in the West–Eugene and Hiroko Pijanowski.
In searching for more examples of mokume items on Flickr, I came across an overwhelming and unsettling number of polymer clay and glass items.
Not. Happy.
Those items certainly are not representative of what mokume gane is in the traditional sense, and I find that problematic (though I really do appreciate one of the groups actually calling itself Faux-Mokume Gane vs. just all-out mokume gane).
So, I took matters into my own hands and created a Flickr group for mokume gane called, well, *Mokume Gane*.
If you make or use mokume gane in your work, I would love it if you would join this group and post photos (start/participate in discussions, etc.) so that we can further educate the public about mokume gane, its rich tradition/history, how it is made, etc.
Here
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Hi again Tamra
No, I only do really basic stuff with both metal clay and polymer clay…seed bead embroidery is my main thing, although I dabble in a lot of stuff. Since I write a network blog on jewelry and beading, I have to keep moving. Jill of all trades, mistress of none 
That tutorial you found looks great. I’ve seen the technique done with polymer clay, but that makes it look pretty easy!
Hey Cyndi!
Unfortunately, I’m not sure either…
Someone suggested “faux bois” (fake wood), which I can actually go along with. The “gane” definitely shouldn’t be on there though.
Do you do mokume with polymer clay? If so, would you want to do a guest post about it? Show us metal-heads how it’s done? I found this, and it was pretty darned cool–http://bit.ly/a8jbOQ I really do appreciate the technique here.
I agree with you, Tamra, but I’m not sure exactly what we should be calling those clay and glass items that pay homage to the look of mokume gane. This topic has come up recently in the metal clay groups too. The purists want to use a different term, but no one can seem to agree on what it should be. They don’t seem to be too happy (most of them anyway!) with the designation “faux”. I’m not really sure myself.