Happy New Year

Wishing you all a HAPPY & PEACEFUL NEW YEAR

Lily at Michael's

Well I didn't get a new camera for Christmas, apparently Santa thought I was a bad girl. Actually my computer died so I got a new Mac instead. I'll have to buy my own camera. In the mean time grandson Brandon is letting me use his camera.

The gift wrapping was a big success this year. So many really cool packages, wait til you see the winner it was amazing!! Heather took lots of photos with her fancy smancy camera which I will share with you once Heather and Brad download them to my new computer. Right now I am trying to adjust to the small cordless keyboard and the "magic" mouse. I'm not good with change so it is going to take me awhile to get use to this new fangled gizmo.

In the mean time here are photos of Great Granddaughter Lily shopping at Michael's.

Oh Grandma look at the pretty beads... I like the pink ones!!

I'm not sure what you do with these but it looks like fun.... lets get a couple.
Look at all the pretty flowers!! I like the lilies best, don't you?

Polymer Clay & Glitter

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY PEACEFUL NEW YEAR

Just a quick post to show you these. Heather and Roger gave me a set of Martha Stewart glitter and I couldn't wait to try them out so I made these.... I'll keep going til I try all 24 colors. Right now I'm making coconut shells, I need them for my Christmas wrap project. We drew names back in August so we would have plenty of time to plan and wrap our gifts.... yeah, right!! Here I am on Christmas Eve furiously trying to come up with something... will I ever learn? (Apparently not!!)

Click on the photo for a closer look.

Polymer Clay Feather Pendants

Yesterday was suppose to be candy making day but the humidity was high so I waited until today. I still have one batch of divinity to make and then I'll be done. Oh I almost forgot, I still have to put the the chocolate on the almond butter crunch. Good thing I only have to do this once a year.

To come down from my sugar high I left the kitchen and made a couple layered pendants with the "feather" cane. I'm not to crazy about the shape of the one on the right but I love the colors. I may have to do a little whittling..... any suggestions? I'm working on a bowl now, my first bowl, it looks really good so far. I hope I can get it off the glass bowl after it is "baked". I tried looking up tutorials but didn't have much luck.

Click on the photo for a closer look.

Polymer Clay Canes

It has been a busy week. My shopping is done, my cookies are baked and I will make my candy tonight.... after I watch the Survivor finale.....

In between all the Ho Ho Hoing I did manage to play with clay. It was my way of rewarding myself.... that and sampling cookies.

Here are the canes I made. I used the canes to make beads and pendants but haven't sanded yet so those I will show you later.

Click on the photos for a closer look.

Polymer Clay Red Moon Pendant

Progress is being made, I made it to the store for my cookie ingredients, that's a good thing, I'll start baking tomorrow... maybe. And the Christmas tree is in it's stand and sitting in front of the window in the living room, it's not decorated but it's up, that's progress, right? It's in a new spot this year which has me a little nervous, my oldest grandson, Nick, is a stickler for tradition and he like things to remain the same year after year.... maybe he won't notice. I also hung the Santa wreath on the door.

Anyway I only had time for one piece today... all that holiday stuff got in the way.. and here it is. I know it should be a blue moon but IMHO it looks better with red so red it is.

Click on the photo for a closer look.

More Mixed Media Jewelry

Shhhhhhh.....don't tell anyone... I'm still paying with clay. I know, I know. I'm suppose to be getting ready for Christmas. I have cookie to bake, candy to make, a tree to put up, a house to decorate inside and out... all the garland, lights, ornaments, Santas.... everything still in the attic. For some reason I think I have lots of time and I know I don't. It's da muses fault, she keeps whispering in my ear....

Click on the photos for a closer look.

This is one of my favorites, I like the colors and the design. The fringe beads remind me of Grapes. I am going to hang it on copper chain.... as soon as I find the chain.
Not to sure I like this one, it's a little funky, looks like a crab or a bug creature. The swirly bead is much prettier in person.... have I mentioned I need a new camera?
This one is BIG, I call it Big Red. I made the frame first and then used a cane for the polymer clay center. It's more attractive is person too... camera Santa, I need a camera.

Polymer Clay Mixed Media Pendants

I always end up with sore thumbs when I work with wire but I really like the way colored wire and polymer clay look together so I guess I'll have to put up with sore thumbs. Sorry for the quality of the photos, my poor camera is dying. If Santa doesn't bring me a new one I'll have to buy one for myself.

Click on the photos for a closer look.

I used a polymer clay swirlie lentil bead, brass wire, dark blue wire, amber wire and blue #8 seed beads for this necklace.

This is my favorite. I used a leaf shaped polymer clay bead framed with peridot wire and seed beads on dark green waxed cotton cord.
Red and orange polymer pendant on red cord .
I made more that I will post tomorrow..... if the camera will cooperate.

And the Winner Is...

Drum Roll Please!!!

Once again Roger took home the trophy!! He had Eric's name. Eric has been collecting PEZ for a very long time and has a huge collection so Roger made this fabulous large PEZ of Eric. The PEZ "candies" inside contained his actual gifts but believe me Eric was more pleased with the wrapping

The PEZ is made of paper mache and stands almost 4 feet tall. His resemblance to Eric, including his crooked smile, is amazing.... as you can see in the last photo.
This is how it looks open with the gift boxes inside.
And here PEZ Eric is with the real Eric.
We are all looking forward to this years gifts exchange. What has surprised me the most is how the guys took to the challenge, they are all off and running, determined to get that trophy from Roger. Who knew, apparently all you have to do to get guys to participate is make it a competition. The only grumbling has come from a couple of the females in the family.... who, by the way are very artistic, just claim they are not, but I think they are getting into the spirit of things too.

The best gift we all received last year was our first great granddaughter Lily, born on Dec 23rd. to our granddaughter Sarah and her sailor husband Brandon. So this year Santa will have the beginning of a new generation to visit. All in all I would say we are a very blessed family.

More 2008 Wrapped Christmas Gifts

I meant to post more of our wrapped gifts yesterday but I was having problems with my computer. We'll see if I can get it done tonight.

Click on the photos for a closer look.

This is a gift for Cory. Cory plays soccer so the box was decorated to resemble a soccer field. Cory gets extremely nervous before each game and almost always throws up... hence the polymer clay vomit on the corner. This is half of Ben's present.... he recently started smoking cigars so Eric got him a humidor, cigar cutter and cigars. This is a giant cigarette/cigar light made from tin foil and a tissue paper flame.
This is the other half of Ben's gift wrapped in red velvet and a tie to resemble a smoking jacket. I still cant believe they cut up a vintage Dior tie... that's what I get for turning them loose in my attic.
Heather wrapped this gift for our grandson-in-law Brandon. Brandon is in the navy and at Christmas time last year he was training to be a fire fighter. Heather made the sailor from polymer clay, the fire hose is rubber cord and the water and flames are tissue paper. I wish I had a close up of the sailor as it is a good likeness to Brandon.

Now I admit, these were all pretty neat but I still haven't shown you the winner.... tune in tomorrow... believe me it is worth the wait.

Christmas Gift Wrapping

Well it's official... December 1st... tis the Season to be jolly. Time to do some serious Christmas shopping. Fortunately I only have to buy three gifts.

Up until a couple years ago our gift giving was getting way out of hand, the cost and the stress of trying to buy for everyone was taking all the fun out of Christmas. We had resisted drawing names but decided to give it a try and to add a little spice to the process we had a gift wrapping contest with a traveling trophy for the best wrapped gift.

The first two years only the adults drew names, one adult's name and one child's name. Those classified as children were anyone still in school or college. The first year was a trial run and we did a pretty good job. Heather wrapped a gift in children's underwear and another in a Christmas print table cloth. I used coffee filters cut into snowflakes on the coffee maker I gave Patty and cartoons from old Playboys for the gift I gave Roger. Eric decorated one of his with playing cards and another with spices.

And then there was Roger..... here's a photo of his Santa and reindeer.Needless to say Roger won the Best Wrapped Trophy that year. Wow, just blew us away... we'd had some grumbling about the gift wrap challenge but the following year almost everyone jumped in with both feet.... they all wanted to take that trophy away from Roger.

Here's some of the gifts from 2008

Patty's "electric guitar" gift for Roger. I can't remember what she gave him but the wrapping was a hit.

I had to wrap both mine and hubby's so I created a snowperson family... the gifts are in the bodies and they are sporting the scarves I knitted.
Heather had her Dad's name, he likes Sci-Fi and space so she made a rocket ship. She rolled up the winter jacket she got him and put it inside. The blast off flames are made of colored tissue paper.
Stay tuned. Tomorrow I'll show you more of the 2008 entries and the grand prize winner.

Polymer Clay Mixed Media & Long Beads

Boy I tell ya all that cooking for turkey day took a lot out of me... all I want to do is sleep. I've tried to pass the chef duties to my daughters but the grandkids have a fit. I told hubby I will continue doing it until I reach 70 then I'm retiring. We'll see if I can last that long.

Today is the last day of the Holiday Challenge on Polymer Clay Central. I had fun and I hope all the folks who took part had a good time too. I was hoping for a big finish but this is the best I could do.

Experimenting with long tube beads.... and some chunky beads to match. Hopefully they will make a pretty necklace, if I can decide on how I want to put them together.

Click on Photos for a closer look.
I've been dying to do some wire work so I added wire dodads and beads to these. For the next few days I'm gonna just do wire work.... I can do it sitting in my recliner and watching t.v.

Polymer Clay Heart Cabochons

I didn't have much time for claying today. After the made a mess on my clay table yesterday I thought I 'd better do some cleaning and rearranging. I did manage to make and sand three heart shaped cabs. They measure one inch. I think I will use them all on a necklace.

Polymer Clay Two Part Pins

My cats and I are not having a good day.

Earlier this afternoon I was putting things away in the kitchen, Fritz was underfoot hoping I would drop something tasty when I accidentally stepped on his tail. I must have stepped pretty hard cause he is still giving me dirty looks and runs away if I go near him. I did feel bad about it but I'm a little tired of his holding a grudge.

Corny, on the other hand , has made it to the top of my "who I would like to strangle" list. I had a bunch of items laying on tiles ready for the oven when something startled her , she jumped in the middle and knocked everything on the floor. The carpet in that area is old and yucky so the things that weren't mushed or dented are covered in cat hair and carpet fibers.... and dirt.

So about the only thing I got accomplished today is putting pinbacks on a couple of the pins I needed to finish. Here they are.

Polymer Clay Colorful Cabochons

I forgot to post yesterday, so I'm a day late wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you all had a wonderful day.

The day after Thanksgiving is a day of rest for me, I don't have to cook cause there are lots of left overs... I love turkey day left overs, don't you? Our grandson, Brandon, and one of his friends (also named Brandon) stopped by for a snack.... snack my foot, amazing how much teenagers can eat, they put a sizable dent in my leftovers.

I did a little experimenting with long tube beads this morning but I'm not ready to show them yet. I also sanded some cabochons for beading.... and here they are.

Click on the photo for a closer look.

Two tone Mica Shift

I made these early this morning and thought I would have time to sand and buff before I took photos but the baking and the cooking got in the way.... so here they are. I mixed Kato brown and Fimo Classic chocolate to get the base color. Then for the light color I mixed a small amount of the brown with Kato pearl. I like the colors together. Will have to wait until after Thanksgiving to see how the look sanded and purdied up.

Polymer Clay Beaded Seahorse Pendant

This is birthday week in our family, several of which are milestones. My brother turned 65 on the 21st, our son 40 on the the 23rd and today is our youngest grandson's all important 16th birthday. His granddad took him to the DMV for his drives license but they neglected to take the necessary documentation so they will be making a return visit tomorrow....maybe... now Brandon can't find his Social Security card. Needless to say DH was a little cranky when they got home.

We have two more birthdays to go, Eric will be 41 on Thanksgiving day and Heather will be 45 on the 27th. I'm about birthdayed out!!

I did my shopping for Thanksgiving dinner today so I didn't have time to do any claying. I did finish beading the seahorse pendant but still need to bead the bail and put it on a cord. I used light amber crystal beads and blue seed beads for the beading.

Click on the photo for a closer look.

Polymer Clay Gertie Pentant

Today is my sons 40th birthday. Wow, that is such a surprise..... it just seems like yesterday that I turned 40 myself. He is our youngest. He grew up to be a kind gentle man that has made us proud. Happy Birthday Brad.

I have a cute stamp with three figures on it, I used one of the ladies to make this pendant. I gussied her up with PearlEx powder, used green Swarovski rhinestones for her eyes and curled her red clay hair. She's no raving beauty but she has lots of personality. Her name is Gertie.

Polymer Clay Textured Layers

I made a couple more pendants using the top slices from a sheet of mica shift.

Polymer Clay Colorful Mica Shift

Today I had a good time playing with texture stamps and mica shift. I have lots and lots of rubber stamps and texture sheets so decided I'd better use them more.

For the first one I tinted Kato Pearl with Fimo Classic Bordeau Red. I ran it though the pasta machine to the thinnest setting. I then went through my tub of mixed colors and found a small amount of lime green that I decided to use for the bottom sheet.... which I rolled out #1 on the PM.

I made the lime green by mixing Kato yellow with a small amount of black and then added white. I know I should write down proportions but I never do. I kinda mix colors like I cook, a pinch of this and a pinch of that until I get the color I want.

I put the thin sheet of pink over the green and ran it through the PM on the #1 setting. I then pressed the texture sheet into the clay. I always let my clay rest for at least an hour before I start shaving off the top. I know other can get a clean cut without waiting but I can't, it always mushes when I shave too soon.

I made the tube bead with the left over clay and added eyelets on each end. The hole is large enough for satin or waxed cord. I plan to attach the pendant to the tube with wire.

I know the colors are a little strange but I like em, hope you do to.

Click on the photos for a closer look.

For the last two I used the same sheet of stripes that I used to make one of the earlier pictured ink pens. I tinted Kato gold with a little bordeau red for the top sheet, gives it more of a bronze look. After I shaved off the tops I cut out the shapes with an exacto knife and set them aside to prepare the background sheets for each one.

The one on the left has a textured background, I laid the mica shift design on top and cut out a shape I liked and it was ready for the oven.

For the one on the right I made a striped background. I then positioned the two paisley pieces where I wanted them and cut out the shape. The all gold one is the piece I sliced off the top, I usually don't get that clean a cut but I've been trying every since I saw it done by friend Kathi of Dragonsglass.com . I then removed the two pieces and cured the background piece so I could sand and buff, much easier than trying to sand around the two top pieces. Once that was done I placed the two pieces back in place, baked, dropped them into a ice bath, waited 20 mintues and then sanded. There is glitter that doesn't show up well it the photo... you can see it better if you click on the photo for a closer look.

Polymer Clay Mostly Red

I placed a clay order with Monro Crafts wednesday and much to my surprise it arrived today. I ordered a couple Lisa Pavelka texture sheets. I've wanted her "Curly Q" pattern for a long time.. every time and every place I order it it's always sold out ...but today I got lucky. I used it to make the round pendant... pretty cool, right?

Polymer Clay Mokume Gane & Mica Shift

I had some scraps from the Mokume Gane that I did yesterday so I combine them with mica shift and came up with a tile and a pendant. The black has lots of glitter but it doesn't show up well in the photos.

Click on the photo for a closer look.

Polymer Clay Mokume Gane Tiles

I was doing a little cleaning today and while organizing my stamps and texture sheets I decided to make some Mokume Gane tiles to use with beading and wire.

Click on the photos for a closer look.

This has always been one of my favorite stamps, I think he is so regal.
This trio of bugs should make an interesting necklace don't you think?
I am going to bead around the Koi Fish and the Seahorse. The one in the center is slices from the seahorse, I just thought it was neat.

Hawaiian Print #2

I'm still beading around the first Hawaiian Print pendant. I added colored wire to this one so it doesn't need beading.....just a matching chain. This is one of my fall flower canes. I don't do many flower canes, mine are pretty sad compared to the gorgeous flowers that cane artists make but I'm pleased with the way this one looks.

Click on the photo for a closer look.

Polymer Clay Red Leaf & Swirlies

It has been raining here for the last couple days and it is making my indoor/outdoor cat, Corny, crazy.... me too. Plus it's playing hell with my arthritis.

Corny doesn't like rain but she does like to go outside so ever hour or so we have to check out all three doors to see if the rain has stopped.. just because it is raining in the back yard doesn't mean it raining in the front yard... and hey what about the side yard surly it isn't raining there.

Aaaah don't give me that look... I bet your cat bosses you around too. Yeah, that's what I thought.

Not much claying today. I did make a few leaf pendants. You know when you make skinner blend sheet and you cut off the sides to even it up, well I put the two sides together in a leaf shape. The red one is the only one I sanded so far and made some matching swirly lentils.

Click on the photo for a closer look.

Several unfinished sets

I started several projects today but didn't get any of them finished. I still have to sand and buff and then assemble them into pendants and earrings. The pattern of gold leaf on the orange is from the clear stamps I purchased from Tonja from Tonja's Polyclay Corner.

Tonja also has a article on her blog regarding the theft of a large inventory of beads from a fellow polymer clay artist. I hope all will read it and report any sightings of the stolen property.

For a closer look click on the photo.

Bottle Stopper & Key Chain

More kits from Boston Clay Works. These are going to make such cool stocking stuffers. Bottle stopper, flower pendant and a key chain with a secret compartment. The end with the ring unscrews to reveal the secret compartment.

Polymer Clay Ball Point Pens & Matching Pendants

Today is Day 13 of our Holiday Challenge on Polymer Clay Central. We are having a good time sharing our creations, hope you will stop by and take a look.

I finished a couple pens today and made matching pendants/pins from the scraps. I'm not sure I'm done with this pendant, I may add some little flowers or beads.

Click on the photos for a closer look.
This one is my favorite, I like the colors and I like the stripes and I'm happy with the pendant too.
And good news, my daughter, Heather, stopped by and was able to insert the wick into the perfume pen I made yesterday. She somehow managed to scrunch it up and twist it into the barrel.... so now the pen will work.

Polymer Clay Perfume Pen & Focal Beads

Today was not one of my better days. A word to the wise, if you use any of the Boston Clay Works kits be sure to read the instructions all the way through before you assemble... cause once you get those caps hammered in there is no going back. I didn't insert the wick before I hammered the caps in place so my perfume pen does not have a wick....it has an applicator tip, just no wick inside...looks good though.

Click on the photos for a closer look.
Perfume with the cap off and a couple swirlie focal beads with curls added. I seem to be doing a lot of pastels lately, not sure why as I'm not a big fan of pastels.