2015 Polymer Clay Challenge Week 4 Hearts

This week I have been working on hearts, this is the pendant I submitted for  Week 4 of the
2015 Polymer Clay Challenge.


I made beads using the scrap ends of several Skinner blend canes, wrapped them in wire and added a open heart around the top bead. I am pleased with the way the pendant turned out.

Here is the back side, gives you an idea of how I secured the open heart in place.   I "painted" the  open heart with Decorating Chalks.  First time I've used chalk on polymer clay, I like the vibrant colors and the ability for shading.

I made this hollow heart from scraps I was conditioning for bead guts.  I liked the colors and surface texture so I cut a heart before I conditioned it to a blob of dull gray.

Heart beads made from Pardo Translucent Art Clay tinted with alcohol ink.

I used a blob of the gray scrap clay to fashion this heart. I wanted to see how the chalk would work on dark clay.  I used red clay on one side shaded with blue....

And blue on the other side shaded with red.  Worked pretty well.

Okay, that's it for today. I still have to add a photo to the Facebook page and the Pinterest page for week 4 2015 PC Challenge... and then I'm going to bed.

Tomorrow starts the "Thing A Day" challenge on  Polymer Clay Central .....  So far I'm the only participant, yip, I'm a lonely little petunia but thats okay I'll just do it all by myself .... sob   ( that suppose to make you feel guilty, did it work?)  Let me tell ya it's a heck of a lot easier than the 2015 Polymer Clay Challenge, all you have to do is take a photo and post it on the daily thread.



Thanks for stopping by.

2015 Polymer Clay Challenge Week 3 WIP Wall Art

I am trying my hand at wall art. This is definitely a Work In Progress.  I brought out some old scrap clay, warmed it up a bit and ran it through  the pasta machine to the #4 setting. I then folded and squished it around to a shape I liked and cured it in the oven.  I then tinted some Pardo translucent with alcohol ink and made flowers. I added glass pearl stamen and attached them to the scrunched clay. For now I am using cork board for the background but it's to fragile and the color isn't right so I need a different background, maybe a painted canvas or a piece of wood.

I wanted it bigger so I added a 2nd piece of the scrunched  clay and a couple of my mixed media fish.  I like the look of the fish but I'm thinking gold fish would stand out more, the blue one (at the bottom) kinda melts into the background.... the purple one stands out a little better.

I apologize for the pictures, I need a new chip for my camera so I had to take these with my iPhone.

Thats all for now. I want to watch Grimm at 8:00 so I better go fix dinner.

Thanks for stopping by.

2015 Polymer Clay Challenge Week 2

                                                                                           

Okay, I think I managed to "grab the button" for the Challenge and insert it on my blog..... we will see.  Im pretty sure it is suppose to be somewhere else on the page but for now this is the best I can do. Someone click on it to see if it works.



I have a rather meager offering for this weeks entry..... just a hand full of cane flower beads I made for a friend.

I was planning to show a pair of salt and pepper shakers but I only finished one.... and I'm not sure I like it.  You take a look and tell me what you think.

"Little houses under trees" is the theme but I'm not liking the purple background, to dark, don't you think?

 This is the other side.  I may experiment with a lighter background on the other shaker and see how it turns out.

Has anyone ever covered the lid? I'm may give that a try.

Now that I got the PC stuff out of the way be prepared for a long rant, I have had a technilogical week of hell! Really, I am lost without my grandson.

First I saw the 2015 Polymer Clay Challenge and thought "why not, that will be fun". Easy peasy right? All I have to do is make something, take a photo and post it.

Little did I know.... the instructions almost made me fall off my chair!  Starting with the "grab the button" thingy and put it on your blog.  I would explain all the twists and turns I went though but I can't for the life of me remember what they were, needless to say they did not work.  I'm just hoping the thingy at the top of this post works for now.  I have a week to try putting it in the right place.

Now here are the rest of the instructions:   (Please keep in mind I am an old lady who still believes all this cyber stuff is magic.... most likely black magic. I don't know the correct jargon and I am most definitely technically challenged. )

Instructions:

• All challenges for the week are due by FRIDAY of that week.
• Be sure to post your challenge results on your blogs or website.
• Post your challenge results on our Pinterest Board.
• Post your challenge results on our FaceBook page.
  • Post your picture in the corresponding WEEKLY Photo Album.
  • Be sure to come over to the FB group and comment on each others posts.

I can do the first one, no problem. I will have my entry done by friday each and every week.

I can and will post it on my blog.  Doing good so far.

Now here's where the trouble starts. I go over to the Pinterest Board but before I can post my photo I have to join the board. Before I can join the board I have to email katersacres .... which I did.  Here's the instructions I got back:

Thank you for your interest in being added to the board. In order to add you to the group board you must first do 2 things:

1) Follow ALL my Pinterest Boards here: http://pinterest.com/katersacres

2) Send me your Pinterest URL so I can follow you & add you to the board.

Okay, I am now following ALL her Pinterest Boards and have sent her my URL ..... at least I think what I sent was my Pinterest URL .... (I am getting a headache!)

I will check later to see if I have magically been added to the group board (fingers crossed) 

Next.... I am suppose to post my challenge results to the FaceBook Page.  Did that but I was also suppose to post a link of the Facebook page to my blog which I couldn't do yet because I am still writing this post ...... aaagggh!! (I will edited it in later)

"Post your picture in the corresponding WEEKLY photo album"  aaagggh! again!  didn't I just do that?  

I am now taking a break from my fun time joining the 2015 Polymer Clay Challenge.  I will attempt to update you later.  

Bear with me... here is another long rant.

Now for some unknown reason.... I apparently like to be punished.... I was invited to take part in the Jewelry Art Challenge on Facebook.   Again, sounded like fun.   Each day for 5 days I went through my old photos and picked out ones I wanted to share then posted them on Facebook and each day nominated a fellow artist to do the same. 

So on Day 4, I think it was Day 4, I nominated my friend Eva to join the fun. Being a cracker jack typist I misspelled her last name which friend Ashely pointed out. So I messaged Eva to let her know she had been nominated. When she tried to find where I had nominated her she could not see the post or any of my photos. Now what have I done? 

 I then texted my very bright and helpful friend Jackie to mosey over to Facebook and see if she could see the photos .... she could not.  Uh oh, this is not good. So Jackie and I go on a search as to why my photos do not show up on Facebook, it was a long search with Jackie telling me where to check and what do so, after what seemed like hours (actually it was about an hour) we discovered all my setting were "Private"   only I could view my photos. Brilliant 

To make a long story a little shorter I changed the settings to "friends". Problem solved....good to go,  nope! The new setting only applies to future posts. In order to see the already posted photos I had to go back and edit each photo....which I did.  

Keep in mind I have, over these many years, occasionally posted a photo of something never knowing I was the ONLY person who could see it. To tell you the truth it kinda hurt my feeling that no one ever left a comment....  Im not sure when or how I managed to make all my photos "private"... there was a time when I posted photos and other folks did see them.  Maybe it was when I got my Mac, who knows.  

I have more problems with my iPhone and my iPad..... I won't bore you with those, at least not right now.  And changing my email addresses, what a nightmare!!  Am I the only Grandma that has these problems? surly not!

  Now that I am in the 2015 PC Challenge I will have to post on my blog at least once a week.  Unless, of course ,  I failed to follow the instructions and get booted out.  And in February we will be doing the TAD on PCC so I will post every day, that will be fun. 

Okay I am headed over to Facebook to see if everything is still working, see you next week. 

Thanks for stopping by. 

2015 Polymer Clay Challenge

In order to take part in the 2015 Polymer Clay Challenge I have agreed to make at least one new item per week and post it on my blog.... I can do that! Here is my first weeks entry.


Heart necklace and earring set: I used Hemalyke beads and matching wire to make the chain and the drops on the earrings.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.  Ours was one of our best, all the family came to Eureka Springs and we enjoyed showing them around. We didn't have our usual gift wrapping challenge, to complicated with everyone having to travel.

I now have my jewelry for sale in one of the local Galleries.  The Fantasy and Stone Gallery on Spring St.  The gallery is filled will wonderful handmade items by some very talented artist. I will be showing you photos soon.

My dinner just arrived so I will close for now.

My New Years resolution.... blog on a regular basis, at least once a week!

Thanks for stopping by.

Eureka Springs Zombie Parade

The Zombie Parade took place the day after Halloween.  Funny story..... they have lots of parades in Eureka Springs and they usually take place at 2:00 PM or 2:30 PM and I am usually late. The parades aren't very long so if your late your usually to late, and miss the whole thing.  I was determined to not miss the Zombie Parade so I insisted we go down early, 1:30 that way I won't be late and will get a good seat in the park to watch the parade.  There are benches along the street that face out, perfect for parade watching... and for people watching, that's fun too.

All is quiet when we get there, the benches are empty so I have my pick. I stake out the perfect spot. It's in the shade and it's a little chilly but that's okay, I'm dressed warm and Lynn bought me a cup of hot coffee at the shop across the street. Okay I am ready, bring on the parade.

This is the street the parade will come down. As you can see I have a perfect view.

And a street musician is playing his banjo.  I am a lucky gal, perfect spot and free entertainment while I wait.

2:00 PM, no crowd is gathering and I don't hear any parade sounds. 

2:30 PM. still nothing. 

3:00 PM My coffee is cold, so am I, what the heck is going on, still no crowd and still no parade. Lynn is out and about, he doesn't like to sit still for very long. He wanders back, I'm shivering and complaining .... did we get the dates wrong ..... he looks it up on his iPhone. Turns out the Zombie Parade is an evening parade and will not start until 6:30 PM.   Makes since when you think about it, Zombies don't walk around in broad daylight.   Silly me!!

Grumbling under my breath I gather up my belongings and head back to the house for a nap and a bite to eat. 

At 6:00 PM we head back down town..... let me tell ya there is a crowd this time.  My perfect spot is buried in a sea of Zombie watchers I can't even make it up to the park,  I'm stuck on the street with the other late comers. 

Lynn had to drop me off and takes the car back to the house.  No parking any where.  We live close to down town but I'm still not able to go up and down Jacobs Ladder.  

I got a few fairly decent photos of the parade but most were to dark.  

This Zombie is having a handy snack.  Get it? "Hand"y snack?  Yum!!

The Zombie Incinerator .... no explanation needed.

Interesting family, the mother and younger daughter are Zombies and the father and older daughter are Zombie hunters.  Must make for some interesting times around their house.

This was my favorite Zombie Isn't she a beauty?

A trio of Zombie friends out for an evening stroll.

There were many more Zombies, the parade lasted for about an hour. There was a troop of Zombie dancers that performed as they marched and there was a ensemble  that put on a show in from of the park.  I however missed most of that. I missed my perfect spot, I couldn't even get in to the park area. I was down the street trying to see over and arounds the folks in front of me.  Next year I will know..... go down at 4:00 PM, take a sack lunch, a thermos of hot apple cider, a blanket , wear long underwear, gloves, hat & scarf.  Sounds like a plan for the Christmas parade..... I will let you know how it goes. 

Okay here are a couple clay things.  I'm just playing around with items I already made, seeing how they would look as wall art.  Nothing is attached as yet. Please tell me what you think. 

I got out some of my inches and set them on a 5" mirror tile to get a feel of how it would look.  If I do this I will make matching inches and outline the mirror in clay.  

The clay is attached to the mirror on this one, the fish isn't attached yet. I will make a few more sea creatures to go beneath the fish.  This also is a 5" tile.

This is the house tile I just made and more inchie tiles in the corner,  Again I will make a clay border, this tile is larger, 8 inches.

The ceiling in my studio is wood painted white, works pretty well for taking photos of mirrors.

The next few days will be busy getting ready for Thanksgiving plus about 1/2 our family members have birthdays this week so I doubt I will have time to blog. 

I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving .... I love Thanksgiving, it's a happy time to be with family and the food is my favorite. especially the left overs, I won't have to cook for a week!

Thanks for stopping by. 

Halloween in Eureka Springs

Holy Cow!! has it really been 2 months?  I do not know where the time went.... it's true... time flies when you're having fun.  The autumn has been so glorious here that we just couldn't sit in the house, we went for rides every day. And up until the last few days the weather has been so nice.

First of all I did a tiny bit of claying. I signed up for a one on one swap that had a "flower" theme.  I  discovered I don't do a lot with flowers, at least not normal flowers.

First I made these canes

Then I made a matching necklace and earring set, seen here.... along with the required twinchie. I had to wait until they reached my swap partner in Greece before I could show them to you.

Close up of the twinchie, I liked it a lot.

So I made a bigger art piece along the same lines. I plan to use it on a journal cover or wall art backed with a mirror.

And I made a few beads embellished with wire.

Now that its gotten colder I will be staying in more and hope to make more wall art pieces.... of course we have to do the holidays first!!

Speaking of holidays, Halloween in Eureka Springs is a sight to behold, really, it is so much fun. You should all come here next year, you will have a ball.  Even the adults dress in costume, Carol & I doing it next year, yes indeedy, the guys too, they just don't know it yet. And we hope to entice family members to join us too.

 The town is filled to the brim, folks come from all over to go trick or treating.   All the fun is up on the hill by the Crescent Hotel and goes down Prospect Street, then on to White Street and around past the Witch's house. Yes there is a Witch's house, I forget to take a photo but I will, there is an actual house shaped like a witch's hat.  I took these photos with my phone, it was dark and they aren't very good but you will get the idea.

This was the first person we met... she was very sweet but informed us she is not in costume, just her normal clothes.

This guy is either Father Time or Moses, you be the judge.

Here is a family of trick or treaters.

 Another family having fun

See the happy smiles.  Candy will do that to you, always makes me smile!

Here is a daddy with a bunny tail

Close up of the daddy bunny holding his little lady bug.

Cowboy and his Zombie side kick

Not sure who this guy is but he has a great smile.....

And here is the lovely bride, isn't she a beauty?

Swamp man, I love this costume!

The Walking Dead, pretty cool!!

The Big Bad Wolf!! Scary!!  The 3 pigs got away before I could get their photo

A big box of Whoppers, yum!!

Most of the houses were decorated,I mean really decorated, here are a few.  Again not good photos, next year I will go armed with my camera.

There were many many more  .... you get the idea, it was FUN!!

The next day was the Zombie Parade.  I will show you photos tomorrow.

Thats it for today, thanks for stopping by.

WIP Zentangle Polymer Clay Journal Cover

It's hard to find time to play with clay when you live in a resort town.  We have had lots of company,  our son Brad, who lives in Oregon, came for a short visit, he hadn't seen the cottage yet or his Dads boat so we were thrilled he was able to come.  His visit prompted a visit from daughter Heather, grandsons Nick and Brandon,  granddaughter Amanda, her hubby Cory and of course great granddaughter Lydia who was the star of the visit.  The rest of the family couldn't make it but Brad will be back for Christmas so they will see him then.

This is our Lydia playing with the colorful big stuffed  lion her Uncle Brad found in a Eureka Springs shop. She is such a sweet happy baby!

The shops here are filled with an abundance of wonderful creative things, I will have no problem finding birthday and Christmas gifts this year.


Now the other impediment to my claying is there is so much to do and see here, concerts or shows almost every weekend and so many good restaurants, plus the weather has been beautiful. My favorite thing to do is sit on the porch and watch the hummingbirds, I just can't get enough of them. Not sure what I am going to do when they go south for the winter.  Of course there will still be the deer and other critters to keep me entertained. Even though we live just a couple blocks from the historic district  we still have deer wandering through our back yard.

Anyway I have stayed inside a bit the last couple evenings and worked on a few things.  Used the last cane and some of the scraps to make mirror image tiles. I textured the backgrounds and used "Perfect Pearls" to add the shine.

I also made a mirror image pendant  from scraps.  I textured the background with sandpaper and shaded it with PearlEx powders in green and gold. I used PearlEx violet on the embellishments.

This is what took up most of my time.... a journal cover that is the WIP ..... I like playing with zentangles so I just started doodling and this is what I have done so far. I still need to come up with a border and add a few design elements. I first cured the clay and then drew the designs with my Microperm pen.  I'm not very good at zentangles yet but I hope to improve with practice. I will take more photos when I finish it.... not sure when that will be.

I hear my hummingbirds calling me..... they make a cute chittering sound..... so I'm heading outside.

Thanks for stopping by.