Happy Halloween

Greetings, all. We got back home Thursday night and I have been spending my time, recovering from it all. DH picked up a bit of a bug on the way home and has been winding down with chicken noodle soup and Nyquil capsules. We hadn't planned on giving out candy this year, so it will be a quiet night here on the hill.

We had a nice time, doing some things that we hadn't done before and revisiting some of our favorite sites.

We started off at Tuna Harbor, taking part in the kickoff of the Tea Party Express.

Check out the giant sculpture in this shot, it is so cool.

Got settled in and had an early dinner with my sister. After winding down and getting used to being on the eleventh floor of the hotel, DH and I walked to the Ralph's supermarket about three blocks from the resort and carried tons of stuff back, using our wheeled suitcase as a shopping cart, while carrying the rest. We were staying in a room with a kitchen and had to have water, milk, coffee, fruit, peanuts, snacks...you get the picture. After we got everything put away, we sat back and enjoyed the view.



Monday morning after sending me on my way for retail therapy, DH went to take the tour on the USS Midway. I declined that little bit of sight seeing (it's a lot of climbing ladders and that's just not my thing), but he had a great time. He took a ton of pictures, but I love this one.



Tuesday we did the Historic Trolley Tour of San Diego and then went to the zoo. While the weather had been quite clear and very warm so far, we were really surprised to find the sky overcast, the temperature dropped and the wind gusting like crazy. Fortunately, we both brought hoodies and put them to good use. I usually don't ride anything that isn't on the ground, but for some reason I let DH talk me into riding the Skyfari aerial tram at the zoo. I did not like it much, but once you are in the thing, it's pretty much a done deal.



We finished up our trip by watching the sunset over the ocean, in once again, hurricane force winds.

Here I am...

..and here we are. I love the reflection of the sunset in my glasses.
The tower behind us in this shot, is where we stayed.

I took hundreds of pictures that I will be posting on my Flicker account as the days progress, so I won't torment you with those here. I did want to say that I'm so glad to be back. I always appreciate home so much when I return. I love my sister and only get to see her once a year, so this visit is often bitter sweet.

Well, that's it for now. Hope everyone had a great week and I also hope you are planning a safe and Happy Halloween. Be careful and don't get your windows soaped or your trees TP'd.

We'll talk soon.

Getting ready for next week

Yes, Miss Kristen, you are right. It is time for me to make a new post. The hubby and I are getting ready for our yearly visit to the Left Coast. My sister always gives us a trip out to see her as our Christmas gift. This year we are going to be staying in a different area, and we are looking forward to that.

One of the things we needed to do to prepare for the trip, is to make sure our outside light was working properly. It has been flickering lately and we don't want to have to ask the neighbor to come over in the yard and whack the lamp post to make it work. Of course I waited until it was already dark to ask DH to go out and work on it. He is quite capable and certainly not scared of the dark, but I still went with him to hold a flash light while he stood on the ladder and changed the bulbs. He put the first one in and since he had enough light from the bulb that was burning, I moved the flashlight. While I was watching him, I decided that maybe he did still need the flash light, so without saying anything, I swung the light back up to where DH was fiddling with the light and he thought a BAT had swooped by and started to jump and swat on the ladder. I, being the immature juvenile that I am, thought this was extremely funny. I was able to get back in the house before having a complete giggling fit. He is such a good sport. He has to be, because I'm so silly and goofy, that I have these fits quite often. Sometimes he laughs with me, sometimes he just shakes his head.

(if you know who this is, you are as nutty as I am)

So we're off to the p.o. to have our mail delivery delayed until we return and to pick up any incidentals that we may have forgotten. We are only going to be gone for 4 days, but for me it might as well be a month. I'm a home body, and not the best traveler and I can't seem to find my motion sickness bracelets. I have to wait until almost the last minute to get everything ready, because I make myself a bit too nervous otherwise. We're not leaving until Sunday morning, and I still have laundry to do and my nails to do and such. I always like to make sure the house is clean before we leave, because a clean house is so nice to come back to.

Well, I suppose that's it for today. I don't know if I will make a post while I'm gone. We are taking the laptop, but I'm not sure I know how to load pictures on it. Oh, wait...I don't really have any pictures today, either. Maybe I'll wait until we return and post all kinds of cool vacation photos, I'm sure everyone will love that. Now, I'm making just myself nervous about that. I need to regroup and calm down. It's only a five hour flight...I can do this. There will not be an earthquake, followed by a tsunami...I can do this. I'll have my DH there with me...I know I can do this.

Nervous? Who me? Just a bit. I'm usually all right once I get on the plane. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers and I'll be back soon, rested and raring to go. Have a great rest of the week. Look to the sky Sunday and give us a wave. Stay healthy and happy, warm and toasty, creative and artful and all will be just fine.

Talk to you soon.

Whew, too much cake!

The hubby had a great birthday and really enjoyed his cake. The thing is, we don't eat cake and ice cream and now he is experiencing insomnia, headaches and other symptoms. I personally think it is directly related to the sweets.

We found this advertisement in an old romance comic book and thought it was quite telling.

I think we've been searching for the secrets for quite sometime.

I guess I'm an enabler when it comes to pampering my hubby. When he asks for sweets, I indulge him. Perhaps it's time I go Jillian on him (and me) and whip us into shape.

What's your favorite way to get back on track when you have overindulged? How do you motivate yourself and your family to stay healthy when everyone wants to hibernate? If only those .25 diet books were around now, I know that would be the answer. In the meantime, sound off and let us know what is working for you.

I don't know about you but I have been a CRAB for several days (sorry, Sweetie). It's been raining here this week and I seem to want to blame the weather for my mood. I guess we should just try to hang in there, even if it means wearing a SAD visor for a boost of energy. I'm sure we'll get through these "twilight at noon" days and make the most of the health, well being and other things that have been given us.

I say let's keep our chins up, grab some fruit, (count our blessings) and watch our favorite shows tonight. I'm sure the rest will certainly fall into place.

Enjoy the rest of your week.

This and That

Hope everyone had a fun weekend. The DH and I did a bit of this and that. Saturday morning he mentioned that there was a free movie at the local art theater so we had fun seeing...

(Don't you just love to take pictures of the movie screen?)

Since I was more of a Three Stooges fan, I had never seen this film and to see it on the big screen was actually a lot of fun.

From there we went to a craft show, where there were lots of different items to be seen and purchased.

From jewelry...

(By the way, I asked permission from each vendor before taking these shots)

...to photography

with lots of stuff in between. I would have taken more pictures, but my battery conked out after three shots. I didn't find anything that really "spoke" to me, and my darling hubby was patient and even pointed out some really nice jewelry and other things.

There was another Fall festival that we were going to check out, but it got a bit overcast and I was concerned that it might rain, so we called it a day.

My DH had a birthday Sunday and wanted a cake, so we tossed the diets out the windows and enjoyed some devils food cake with chocolate icing.

Other than that, we have had a fairly quiet weekend. I did start a new project. Sort of an autobiography with cartoon like drawings and journaling. So far I'm up to age 5. Hmmm, this may take a while.

Between dental appointments, hair cuts and getting ready for vacation, my blog posting may become a bit sporadic. Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere for long. This little blog is here to stay. I know that those of you who care, will put up with my little rants and raves, and I'm certain we can all stay positive through the upcoming winter months.

Some of my friends crave the sunshine and dread the overcast days. For some, winter is a time of reflection. If you do choose to hunker in during the cooler months and contemplate life, I wish you happy thoughts and sound solutions and loving friends to help you through any tough times you experience.

We are all in this together, so surround yourselves with those that will lift you up. Don't let anyone think they can tear you down, or make you feel inferior. As we know, folks that do this usually have unresolved issues. Sometimes the only way to change a situation, is to change your reaction to that situation. I know it works for me.

Enjoy your week and do something fun and artsy.

Fall challenge, artist's block and more

I may have mentioned to several friends that I am experiencing a creative block right now, so perhaps just posting some pictures and participating in a challenge will release some hidden ideas. My friend Lesley, @ the Funky Art Queen, is suggesting a fall photo challenge. I don't really have many decorations out, but I did wire together a little wreath in the traditional fall colors.

I know the silk flowers that I used aren't actual fall flowers, but the colors seemed to work.

It seems that I have done so much sewing and doll making and polymer clay creating, and jewelry making and, and, and... just so much art this spring and summer that I am just about out of steam. Perhaps I will try to post more photographs this fall while I wait for my brain to fill back up. One of my favorite blogs to visit daily is Countryfolk Keepsakes. Peanut always has art and photographs to inspire and sometimes make us giggle. Even though she is much younger than I am, I really love her and seem to have quite a bit in common with her.

In an attempt to create something, I pulled out the Clay Craft by Deco. It's the air dry clay that I make flowers out of. (See this previous post) I wanted to make something other than flowers, but while this clay is perfect for flowers, it is really just not sturdy enough to do much sculpting from, so this is what I came up with.

Yikes...yes, this is what I ended up with. I just wanted to do something a bit different. I don't get bored, ever, but I do sometimes want to do something different. In fact in my quest to do something "different" over the years I have dabbled in the following.

Macrame, flower arranging, cake decorating and cooking, belly dancing, ball room dancing and disco, altered art, collage, all kinds of jewelry techniques, including bead weaving, stringing, wire working, chaine maille, lampwork beads (making beads with a torch), pmc (precious metal clay), ceramics, pottery lessons, drawing, painting, mosiacs, melt art (includes hot glue art, melting wax and crayons for pictures),rubber stamping, craft foil embossing, wood burning, knitting, crocheting, sewing, doll making, doll altering, paper arts, including quilling, cutting and paper folding, throw in finger counting, speed writing, key punch and learning computer stuff and this is just what I can remember right now. The scary part of all of this, is that I still have the supplies and the books for all of the above mentioned crafts.

Is there anything that I haven't tried yet? I have also read thousands of books, fiction and non fiction. I have spent hours and hours watching the telly and listening to music. There must be something else. I've always wanted to do something musical, but try as I may, I have had no success with piano, recorder, spoons or tambourine. I used to want to be a singer, but when I wanted to take voice lessons at the ripe old age of 10, the local teacher said I was too young. I wanted to take ballet and tap, but never got to. I tried to teach myself to roller skate, but fell and couldn't get back up and was too embarrassed to know what to do or to ask for help. Oh, wait, I'm regressing way too much here.

I always wanted to write a book and I love to take photographs and have even helped with weddings. I helped DH with his tv show and have thought about doing youtube videos of my own, but since I got so chubby, I'm hesitant to do that.

So, sorry about the long post, but this is what you get when I'm not at the art table. Unless you want more of these rambling thoughts, you had better come up with something new for me to do. Put the old thinking caps on kids and let me know. What is your favorite thing to do and have you done many of the same things that I listed. I really would love to know.

One other thing, if you go to my other blog, you can read about my pet peeve of the day. Be warned, it's not pretty.

That's it for today. Take care and have fun.

You call that art?

This first piece just came from some emotions I was experiencing this weekend. It relates to an issue that we are currently dealing with. Mostly one that my hubby is dealing with, but when you wrong my DH you wrong me, whether you know it or not. Enough about that, here's the picture that came about from my silent musings.

After a lovely weekend with my hubby which included eating vegetable soup and watching great black and white movies, I was able to smooth out some and create a bit of seasonal art. This was based on a photo I took last year of our backyard. I'm not sure if it is completed yet. Sometimes I just have to prop a piece of art up and walk by and look at it for a while. If it pleases me, I start to ignore it. If not, eventually I will decide what I else I think it needs and go for it. Until then here it is...

I hope everyone had a great weekend. I hope you did the things you enjoy and kept the company of the ones you love best. Have a great week, take a deep breath and relax.

Becky's Challenge

Becky, from Wonders Never Cease has challenged us to post an '80's picture of ourselves. Are you up to the challenge? I thought so. I posted both of these almost one year ago, but what the hey! Looks like it's time again.

Here's what the hubby was doing in 1987...

He's the one on the right in the silver spandex!

Here I am right before the show. "That's right, I'm with the band, jealous?"

...just so you'll know, I'm 34 in this picture...

Sorry these shots aren't any better. But if you click on the picture, you can see the tear drop stickers I have on my face. Was I a hoot, or what?

Ok, Becky, there you go. Just remember...you asked for it!

Hello there,

Well, I had quite a weekend. The "tennis elbow" ended up being muscle aches from a bug that hit me full force Saturday morning. I don't know why it took over a week to hit me. Anyway, I have an aversion to throwing up, even when I try, so I didn't get the relief that I needed. My tummy hurt so badly. I did the usual trips back and forth to the little girls room, but mostly stayed in the bed Saturday and Sunday. Woke up Sunday evening feeling as if nothing had ever been wrong. I have a new respect for folks that have illnesses. I am never sick and probably haven't been for twenty years, so I just didn't know what was even wrong with me. My DH wanted to take me to the hospital, because as we know, heart attacks in women have symptoms that are sometimes confusing. I scared him so badly. I'm sorry darling, really I am. I don't mean to sound like a drama queen, but I'm one of those folks that has a very high pain threshold and things have to be really bad for me to slow down.

But I'm all better now and back to work in the studio. I had to take a picture of my table. I don't understand it at all. I sewed for six weeks at this same table and at the end each day there wasn't as much as a thread out of place. But two days of doing polymer clay led to this...



So instead of cleaning it up, I made just enough room on the table for another project. I am currently in love with gemstones and glass. This little beauty is created from jasper teardrop shapes combined with smooth wine colored glass bead that I put onto gold tone wire links.



I always like to share little tips with my friends. After being under the weather I felt a bit shaky and found it difficult to retrieve the jewelry findings from their hidey holes. I came up with an easy way to pick out my eye pins from their little area in the storage box. I used a tapestry needle, and picked them up with that. I don't know if I have ever mentioned that I have very bad close up vision and most of the time have to work under a magnifying glass, so any idea that I can use to pick up small elements is always implemented.



So that's all from me for today. I am feeling good and thanking God for my health and praying for those that are ill. Take care of yourself and try not to get the "bug".

Gasp, cough, gulp

Oh my, I cannot believe that it's been an entire week since I posted. I have been a "poor me baby" this week. Wah. My elbow hurt all week and I didn't do anything that would delay the healing of whatever is wrong with it. I thought that I could safely antique some polymer clay elements and apparently popped a blood vessel in my hand while doing that. I have no idea how that happened, but I've had a huge bruise on my finger all week, as well. So you can see that my plan of resting the hand hasn't worked so well. Since I'm going crazy from not doing something creative, I made this little necklace last night.

Pardon the helmet hair, friends, this picture is to show the necklace. I saw a similar piece in the J. Jill catalog and said to my hubby, I could make that in 10 minutes, so that's what I did. Just saved my self $39.00. I had previously wire wrapped a bunch of beads and used them in a bracelet. It never really felt right on my arm and I disassembled it and kept the dangles for a future project. This was so easy, I used inexpensive leather "string" from Michaels and just strung an element and tied a knot through the jump ring part of the element to keep it from shifting on the leather. I made it long enough to wrap around twice and just tied the ends together. This picture doesn't really show how cute the necklace is.

This would be a great way to use charms and other dangles that you have, or you could plan it out and make specific dangles for that favorite outfit.

Speaking of favorite outfits, I watched Project Runway last night for the first time and I loved it. I saw the episode where they made outfits from newspapers and several of them were fabulous. Have you folks been watching this show from the start? What have I missed and how could I have not known about the coolness factor of the challenges?

Well, this weekend will be spent doing little projects like sketching and doodling and tidying up in the studio. I hope you all have something fun to do, or at least to keep you occupied and out of trouble. My Mom used to always say, when I was doing one of my infamous projects "well, at least it keeps her off the streets". She was joking, because I was such a homebody and always so happy to be tucked inside reading or drawing, crocheting or sewing. It was my sister that "always kept the roads hot", meaning that she loved to go, she would "go" at the drop of a hat and even a ride around town after dinner was an adventure. She is still like that, so next month when we visit, I can count on a lengthy ride around her favorite places, being shown things that she finds interesting...like a larger than life figure made out of vehicle mufflers. With her you just never know.

Well that's it for today. I'll try to be a better blogger and post more often. Enjoy your weekend and hug someone you love, and tell them it's from me.

Happy Friday

Just a quick post to say hi and to wish you a weekend full of fun. Even though fall is in the air, the weather is still warm. I am still feeling the "settle in for the winter" hints that my pea brain keeps sending. I want to crochet, but my silly little ole elbow keeps hurting when I do. I guess I'll just not start any large projects until I figure out why.

This yarn is 100% sugar cane and is hand dyed in Chile by Araucania Yarns. Do a search for Ruca Multy if you are interested in it.

Small projects can be fun so I designed this little cuff bracelet, added some beads and a handmade polymer button. If you have a friend that can't wear jewelry because of metal sensitivities, this is the perfect solution. Can't wear wool, no problem, this yarn is made from sugar cane. This cuff is about two inches wide from the scalloped side to the straight side and can be made as long as you choose.

Can't crochet? Do the pictures in the books you have not make a bit of sense? Check out this YouTube tutorial that I found. There are lots of crochet videos on YouTube, but this one shows the exact way that I learned and so I'm figuring you can learn from it. Seriously, if you do want to learn to crochet, remember this, the foundation row of chain stitches and the first row of other stitches are usually the most difficult to do, so keep at it until you learn and try not to get frustrated. I've been crocheting for years, and I can still relate to the difficulties of getting started.

Well, that's it for me today. Have a great weekend

Mica Shift, Bling and String

I have heard all my life that you are only as good as your tools. This means using good brushes and paper when you start out as a painter. It means using nice yarn for beginner knitting projects. It certainly means using the right ingredients when you bake. All that being said, it really applies to polymer clay. I have always been enthralled by the look of the mica shift technique using metallic polymer clay. I have been playing with polymer clay since the early 90's and I have never been able to make the mica shift technique work. After a while you decide it's you and stop trying. I know, I know... Any who, last week I absentmindedly reached for a conditioned piece of silver Premo and started working it around in my hand. I first thought it had picked up some darker clay or even some paint in it, because it was showing swirls and lines and all kinds of designs as I kneaded it.

TAA, DAA, light bulb moment!! That's not junk in the clay, it's the elusive mica shift. It wasn't me after all, it was the clay I was using. Folks, Sculpey III metallic clay doesn't seem to work with the technique. It's cheaper, but that's not always better. Now I get it. Now I see how it works. I was so happy when I realized it wasn't me that I ran to Michaels to get more Premo. Hmmm, they were out of gold and silver. Am I the last person to discover this truth? Off to A. C. Moore to get some Premo metallics. Plenty on the shelves there.

Ok, Ok, I promise not to drag this on forever. Here is a heart pendant that I made using this fabulous technique.



My friends, this is done with silver Premo. That's right, just one color clay and you can get this look. This piece has been wet sanded smooth (which I love to do) and it looks great. There are several ways to do this and I'm sure my expert friend, Marie, (who is responsible for the development of Premo clay by Sculpey, and gulp, I can actually say I know her) could give us lots of insight. I used a technique similar to this one that I found on Polymer Clay Central. I hope you will try out this fabulous and surprising polymer clay technique. Remember it's all about the tools, kids.

The bling in the title of this post comes my recent infatuation with all things HotFix. I decided to try my new Bejeweler tool again, this time taking more care about my work area. I got out my supplies and placed everything in a box, to contain wayward stones and placed my work on a sheet of shelf liner that actually keeps beads and such from rolling around.

I should have done this with my previous project, but I was too excited to take the time to do things correctly. Once again, it's all about the tools.


So here you see my watch with a leather band that needed some sparklies. I taped the watch to the shelf liner to keep it flat and placed the stones on one at a time. I did somewhat better this time and like the result.

Less than 10 minutes later I have it partially done and...


In about 30 minutes I have a new watchband. (That's the fun of taking pictures of your watch, you can actually time yourself-another one of my self challenges).

In case you are wondering where I got the idea of HotFix rhinestones, Art Beads.com has a wonderful program that I am part of, which allows me to try different beads and such and make a blog post about the them. I am sometimes hesitant to give a less than glowing review about the beads that they supply, because as you can tell from my mica shift experiences, I sometimes tend to think it's my own ineptitude. But, the whole purpose of the program is to get the opinion of real beaders and find out how their company can better meet the needs of their customers.

After seeing my post and reading about some of the challenges that I had with the rhinestones, they have given me several helpful tips and are sending me a tool , called a jewel setter, that will help in picking up the stones for easier placement.

Well, now onto the string in my title. I can rarely create a new piece of jewelry without being reminded of the comment that someone made, several years ago, about a necklace that I had designed. I was very proud of it and was showing it to some friends and this person said, "oh, you just strung that". Whether she was dismissing it because I had not made the beads, or whether it was because it was not an elaborate technique, I will never know. While that person is now out of my life, the phrase did have a lasting effect on me. Now, I always stop and think before I make a comment on something I am being shown.

This piece is one that I strung using large beads that I got at a local bead show last year. I have looked at them and thought about them for well over a year and finally put together in a design that I am most happy with.



Sometimes the simplest technique requires the most thought. So that's my post for today. I hope everyone has a great week and hope you are being creative... in life, love and as always, in art.

Hot Fix Swarovski Rhinestones

First off, I wanted to mention that since I have several new followers that may not know what I look like, I am changing my profile shot for a bit. Hopefully that will make my new friends feel like they know me a bit better.

All that being said, I wanted to show you my first project using Hot Fix Swarovski Rhinestones. In my latest order from Artbeads.com, I decided to get the Bejeweler, an electric tool that makes designing with rhinestones a bit easier. I am not hesitant to use hot tools, such as wood burning or soldering pens, shoot I've even used a torch to make glass beads. This tool is very much like a wood burning pen and was very easy to use.

My main problem with this project was that I spent so much time deciding on what color stones to get, that I based my order on the cost of the stones, trying to get the most for my money. I'll know next time to buy fewer colors but larger stones. I didn't do enough research before I placed my order and was a bit surprised by how small the stones were. Artbeads.com has a learning center with a video that showed me how to place the stones and how to use the heat tool, but I couldn't find anything showing me what size the stones were. Since getting my order, I have found another website that has a really good guide as to how big the stones are and what the abbreviations mean. I now know that SS means stone size and has nothing to do with mm which was what I was thinking.

Here are a few shots of my experience with the hotfix rhinestones. I didn't have a real project in mind, I just wanted to learn to use the tool. I chose a really plain everyday blouse and decided to put some snowflake type designs on the collar points.

First I marked the design using a gel pen - not the best idea kids...


(next time I will use a marker that disappears after a while, but this did OK, I guess)

Then I laid out the crystals on the dots, I used tweezers to pick the little buggars up with and in the process dropped two of them. (At .12 each you don't want to drop too many, because they apparently become invisible when they hit the floor)



On the first one I laid them all out and then got the heat tool and pressed down on each stone...

This was a bit difficult to do and on the other one I tried placing one down and then using the heat gun. This didn't really work that well either and even though the tool has multiple size tips, the stones I chose were too small to pick up with the heat tool and place individually like that.

Since I seldom give up, I persevered and added a green design on the other collar point and added crystal ones down the front. It actually turned out pretty good and I plan on getting some larger stones and dressing it up some more. Actually, if I can figure out how large the iron on designs are, I might go that way the next time.

So here is the finished product...

All in all, this was an interesting project. These crystals are really, really sparklie and if you had a costume or a ball gown to embellish these are most definitely the product to use. If you have little ones that want to jazz something up and they are old enough to use a heat tool, it would be such a fun project, but keep in mind these little stones can get away from you really quickly and you end up needing many more than you might realize at first. For me, I think my next sparklie project will be made with the Swarovski Crystals that you string, I am a beader after all and can somehow keep up with beads better.

In the mean time, put your thinking caps on and maybe you and your BFF can come up with something that needs some sparklie bling. If you do, check out ArtBeads.com. The shipping was so fast I could hardly believe it and the packaging is always cute (tissue paper and stickers) and very secure and they include a card with a project on it.

I hope to start working on yet another new project tomorrow. Not sure what I will get into, but cooler weather is certainly making me think about yarns and crochet hooks and maybe some fiber jewelry. How about you? How does the change of seasons affect your art? Do you tend to want to hibernate and snuggle in or are you invigorated and wildly productive in the winter?

Just remember that whatever your style is, wherever your creativity takes you, you are an artist. In the kitchen, at the computer, putting together everything for school or work each morning, wherever you are...you are ART. I really believe this. I really do.

Have fun and enjoy the weekend!

I've Got Mail

I got the cutest thing in the mail last week. I won a give away by the always lovely Suze at Pink Crayon Studio. She gave away this beautiful angel for her two year blogaversary. It arrived securely and sweetly packaged and looks so beautiful in person.

The back of this little prim angel is as pretty as the front...

She bears a tag that states "Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once she grows up". Such a thoughtful gift. Thanks again, Suze.

When I wasn't admiring my gift, I was playing with polymer clay. I made several items last week, but my favorites were adapted from the book "Ancient Modern, Polymer Clay + Wire". I say adapted only because the art ring isn't exactly like the project picture, but it's pretty close. Art is all about putting your own spin on things, anyway, isn't it?


With the exception of a piece of wire in the ring keeping the beads together and a piece of leather cording holding the brooch elements in place, they are entirely constructed of polymer clay. The ring is extremely comfortable, but probably too bulky to actually wear, but it is such a nice piece of art that it can't be discounted for that. Since brooches are one of the earliest pieces of adornment, I felt that my brooch deserved an aged appearance. I achieved this look with texturing of the clay and using several colors of acrylic paint.

Well, that's some of what I did recently. I also got my order from Art Beads this weekend and had fun adding some "bling" to a fairly plain blouse using my new BeJeweler...



I took so many pictures that I may post them as a tutorial of sorts. I do have several things to mention about this tool.

All that being said, stay tuned folks and later in the week I'll show you my BeJeweled creation.

Chicken Every Sunday

Back in 1949 there was a movie called Chicken Every Sunday. I've never seen the move or even read the book, but I think the premise of the title was that times were tough in this particular family and since chicken was the cheapest thing to cook, it was the meal that was eaten most often.



All that being said, I remember my mom frying chicken for Sunday dinner and I'm sure some of you do too. Today is Sunday and my hubby suggested a quick trip to KFC to try the new grilled chicken. We got two 2 piece breast meals with potatoes and gravy and mac and cheese. No drinks, no extras. It was $17.80. In my book that is almost $20.00 and that's not a cheap meal for two people. It was very good, the chicken was cooked perfectly and the side dishes were yummy. We did get the extra chicken breasts so we could top a quick salad with chicken tonight and that way I don't have to cook today. That works for me. Still eighteen bucks for 2 dinners is too much.

I have been very busy with polymer clay this week and have several cute pieces to post and I got some goodies in the mail that I want to share with you later this week.

So in the mean time, have a great Sunday and an even better Labor Day and look for me on Tuesday with some fun things to show.

Tina

You all remember little "Doodle Face"...

Well, my sweet friend Marie said this in her comment...

I love your doodle face, she is really cute. I can see her as painted quilted hanging for a little girls room. On a dowel with balls on the end and painted with colors to match with lines and dots on the dowel and ribbons of complimentary colors hanging from each side. With a banner under her face that says "wonder"...

Well, I certainly liked this idea and started to put my spin on it. I cut out the face shapes and then I drew her facial features directly onto the fabric with inktense pencils. Then I appliquéd them onto the background fabric with black stitching. Ohhh, this made her look spooky (but in a good way) so I didn't know where she was going to take me next. I made a small opening on the back of her eye lids and stuffed them trapunto style. I also gave her some glitzy beaded eyeliner.

I even machine embroidered eyebrows for her. You may notice her colorful tresses, they are from the last package from my sister, which included several balls of raw silk strips, somewhat like selvages. I thought they would be perfect for hair and everything just sorta snowballed from then on. I added strips of brightly colored fabric to the edges of the piece and I then stretched her over a previously used 16" x 20" canvas, with some batting underneath. I had originally been going to sew through the canvas and make some definition in that way, but the canvas had been painted and would not allow me to do this. Hmmm, now what? I was able to stitch some ceramic butterfly beads above her head, but...

She is still missing something and I knew I wanted wording below her face. (Thanks, Marie for that, too). In fact, I felt that she needed her name there, but since she was already attached and I couldn't stitch her name, I did the next best thing...I faux stitched her name with a paint pen and some glitter gel "stitching". I decided to name her Tina after the youngest girl on Still Standing.

So she ended up looking like this...

...click on pictures for more detail...

Since it's sometimes difficult to figure out what size a piece of art really is, I'm also showing you a picture of Tina lounging on the deck.

Well, I think that is going to be my last fabric work for a while. I'm tidying up the studio tomorrow and moving the sewing machine out of sight. Maybe that way I can get some polymer clay work done.

I have several projects in mind and need to start on Christmas presents and such.

In the mean time, I am going to be getting rid of my assemblage supplies, such as papers, metal pieces, junk drawer stuff and the like. If you are interested in a big box of surprise supplies and will pay for the shipping, I'll send them to you. Let me know and I can show you some pictures.

Well, that's all for now. Enjoy what's left of your weekend and get ready for Monday.

Thump, Thump, Thump

Hear that sound, that's me patting myself on the back. Sometimes you deserve to give yourself an "atta girl". Why, you may ask? First off because I got 15 comments on my last post and I am doing the happiness dance (looks a lot like the cabbage patch, but I digress). Seriously though, I am so pleased to think that people actually take time from their day to read anything I post. I even got new followers. Thanks so much, I hope you will continue to visit.

One of the things I have been working on is a table runner. I have been trying to teach myself quilting. I have been sewing since my first little card that had holes in it that you ran a string up and down through (remember those?). I wouldn't say my sewing skills are expert, but I'm pretty good....but I am geometrically challenged. I persevered and came up with this.



Straight lines and angles and triangles and squares when doing quilting have to be spot on. Since my cutting mat didn't have any numbers on it and I was using a wonky ruler, I ran into lots of trouble. I do like appliqué, so I had no problems when I cut out and sewed (by machine) the little cats.

This little set was going to be for the table in my kitchen, but the Hubby liked it on the dining room table and since you can see the purple from there, I think I'll leave it there.


Back to the quilting, the mats and rulers at JoAnn's have so many numbers on them that I don't understand at this stage of the game, so I knew a trip to the quilt shop was in order. We have a very nice one nearby.

When I entered the shop, I thought I was in a spa. There was soft quiet music tinkling and each themed room of supplies let to another just as lovely. The owner silently made her way from the back of the shop to greet me and to show me around. She quietly explained each room to me and let me look around. After checking out things very quickly, I found her and started to explain my situation, beginning quilter needing classes, etc. She was very nice and tried to answer my questions, but she was so quiet and whispery that I felt like I was intruding. Now I don't smoke, and I don't drink and I lead a fairly simple life, but compared to this chick, I'm rowdy.

Short version of this is that I will probably be able to get some fine fabric and supplies from there if I choose, but if her own demeanor is indicative of the type of patrons that she has, well she wouldn't know what to do with me. In the meantime I keep blundering on and doing what works for me and yesterday I struck gold.

Little play on words there, the hubby and I went last week to hear Gold Heart, a bluegrass and gospel group comprised of three sisters and their dad. Since we try to support young artists and musicians, we bought CD's and DH even bought me a shirt. I really liked it but the sleeves were too short, so I put on the old thinkin' cap and decided to make the sleeves longer.

DH supplied a black tee-shirt and I cut it up and using the new shirt as a guide line, cut out sleeves, sewed them together and added them to the existing sleeves. This was not quite as easy as I have made it out to be, but it was well worth the time.



This way it has a layered look and is extremely comfy and I am quite happy with the results.


So if you are ever hesitant about purchasing something, remember what Stacy and Clinton say, things can be altered. If you don't sew there are shops that do altering.

Well, that's it for today. Enjoy your weekend and remember if they are ever in your area, check out Gold Heart. You'll be glad you did. In addition to being incredibly talented, they are sweet girls and have their stuff together. Refreshing and reassuring that there are still lots of good kids out there.

Happy Friday!

Doodle Face

I don't know if anyone has noticed, but I have this challenge that I engage in with myself every post. I try to hold off making a new post until I get 10 comments. Well, sometimes that just isn't possible, as I am sometimes just plain bored seeing the same old picture showing up for days at a time. Ahhh, is it just me that checks my comments all day long? Do you do that, too? I digress, anyway I am still trying to learn to quilt, so I don't really have any thing to post, except this little girl. She is drawn in my art journal, which is 9 x 12, so that gave me plenty room for wackiness.



Sometimes I just have to doodle a face so I can have something to color. There are so many talented artists out there and in my head, I think I can use some of their techniques and come up with really cool stuff. Well, this time, what was going on in my head, just didn't make it all the way to my fingers.

That being said, I just like to experiment with different pens and color pencils and such. I like to see what one color looks like next to another and what will happen if I layer this color over that, and so on. I am not trained in art, other that high school, but I do have a lot of books with color wheels and the like, but sometimes I just need to get the pencils and draw and experience it myself. It doesn't have to look like someone, it doesn't have to look real...shoot, it doesn't even have to be very good. It's just something that I have to do.

So for that reason, I am posting was I am calling Doodle Face. I will issue a little challenge. Start to doodle and then make the shapes into a face. That's all a face is anyway, just a bunch of shapes drawn together. So folks, show us your Doodle Faces.

I have to go now, there is a gnat flying across in front of me and it's driving me mad, I tell you, simply mad.

Have a good evening.

Pictorial Quilts

They are called either pictorial quilts or sometimes landscape quilts. The book that inspired me to try one is Pictorial Quilts by Carolyn Vosburg Hall. While this is an older book that I got from the library, it certainly has inspired me to try my hand at this type of art. It most definitely has inspired me to get my hands on other books of this type.

Enough chatter, here is my first attempt at a pictorial quilt.

Click on picture to see details

While it is not a traditional quilt (using pieced together pieces vs appliqués), it is pictorial. This is my house in fabric and thread. I spent about thirty minutes in the piece goods shop picking out the fabric and then the next day I took the picture and traced the picture to paper that I cut the fabric pieces from. I used WonderUnder as my adhesive, but it does make the fabric pieces very stiff. It took me two more days to appliqué and stitch the pieces.

I "framed" it in long strips of some of the same fabric that I used to make the house and the backing is a plaid fabric that went really well. I am thinking of trying another method next time, but anyway I had fun making it and I know another one is in the near future. This was supposed to be a practice piece, but I got into it and went on and did a bit more detail than I had planned.

So that's my first pictorial quilt. I've got my thinking cap on already to come up with the next one. Any ideas? Let me hear!

Just another Manic Monday

Man, I had forgotten about that song. Used to love it. Hope everyone had a great weekend and is getting ready for an even better week. So maybe the first day of the week is a bit manic, that's ok with me. Mondays always help me get motivated.

Motivation wasn't my problem this past week or today for that matter. I wanted to do one last project before I put moved my sewing machine off my table. I literally move it from the table to the floor and keep it there for convenience. That's what I love about a portable machine.

I had seen some patterns and even kits at Jo Ann's for strip quilts, but since quilting used to be all about using up scraps and fabrics that you had on hand, I went that route.

First I cut my strips 2" x 21" and sewed them together...


Then I cut them into 3" strips going the other direction...


Then I flip flopped the direction of every other strip and sewed them together again...

(Keep in mind that I really don't know what I'm doing, I'm just going for it)

Then I sandwiched a no longer being used dish towel between the front and backed it with this piece with solid blue and stippled it with black...

Then I bound it with strips of one of the front side fabrics...

As you can see, I ended up with a nice size quilted mat for my kitchen table. Now I'm sure it would look a lot different if I had purchased specific fabric or even the strips already cut and sewed them into more traditional quilt squares, but I was just messing around.

Speaking of messing around, after cleaning my studio and even vacuuming the floor, I got out all my polymer clay. I spent several hours playing with it. Just sorting it into groups of conditioned, unconditioned or new and scrap clay. Playing with clay is a lot like sorting beads or buttons. It really gets you in the mood to move on to a new project. (By the way Kristen, I am getting a lot of use out of the clay and things that you sent me, thanks again!)

My newest project was learning to do more with my extruder. If you want to use an extruder and learn new techniques-take my word for it and get a Makin's Clay extruder. I think I may have posted on this previously, but there is a world of difference in this wonderful tool and the little cheap-o junkie thing that I had before that had a little plunger on it and was absolute murder to push the clay through.

This is a wonderful tool and I am having a ball with it. I ordered mine online and it was worth waiting the week that it took to ship. Anyway I have been doing multi color "snakes" and placing them on unbaked clay beads and then baking them. Such fun and the colors are just fab-u-lous.

The method I am using requires you to cut different color circles of clay and stack them together and form a little loaf that will fit in the tube of the extruder. I found that if you use metallic clay as part of the stack, it hardens the Sculpey III up just enough for it to have a tiny bit of crack to the strands and they look like leather and are really easy to work with.

If you are interested in learning more about polymer clay and especially extruders, check out Cindy Lietz at Beads and Beading. She is a super lady and I always love her work. You can learn a lot from her.

Well, that's it for now. I'm sure I will have something new to post in a few days. There is something so enticing about cranking soft clay through the extruder that it just makes me want to sneak back down to my studio and start something else.

We'll talk soon.