EARRINGS ARE GONE - BACK TO CLAY -YIPPEE

Mailed the earrings and coral necklace this morning so now I can get back to claying.  Yippeeeeeeeeeee

A WONDERFUL GIFT

My husband and I go to breakfast every Sunday morning at the same restaurant.  We see the same people in there every Sunday.  One of the ladies is a member of my golf league.  We usually chat for a couple minutes.  Last year on the 4th of July I was wearing my beaded flag bracelet and she raved about it so I gave it to her.  Last Sunday she handed me a little bag with two wrapped items in it.

She knew I love cats and she knew I lost Booboo.  These are refrigerator magnets.  The wood one on the right looks like it had been inlaid.  The metal one on the left has Boo's smile.

LIZARD TAIL PENDANT

Finished one of my pendants today.  I used black chain, large silver beads and black volcano beads.  Showed it to my husband and he said it was too long so I re-did it shorter and I like it better.  His suggestions don't always work but most of the time he's right.  (Who said that?)

Camera and I are having a fight again.  This should be brighter.  Click on the picture to see it better.  I really like it.

Hey Booboo, got two new cats but they don't like tuna and don't make noise.

EARRINGS, EARRINGS AND OH YES, MORE EARRINGS

My 96 year old friend Jane who is in a nursing home back in Wisconsin is having the time of her life.  I haven't heard her this happy in a long time.  In a prior post I mentioned that she dresses up every day and in the past 8 years I've made her earrings and necklaces to go with every outfit.  In the last month she's started quite a little business out there with the nurses and employees of the home.  They all saw her earrings and asked if she could get more.  She's been selling earrings for me by the dozens.  My fingers are sore from bending wires.  I talked to her yesterday and she gave me an order for 9 more pair besides the pink ones I was trying to finish.  She sold a pair right out of her ears (she asked if it was ok that she used the money to buy a bottle of vodka).  They bring her a martini every night.  When 4 o'clock rolls around she calls it "Martin Hour".  Now she got a pad of paper and is designing earrings.  She tells me how exciting it is.  I'll see her in September when we go back for my nephew's wedding.  This is what I have been doing all weekend.

This is the pink set.  You can click on the picture to see them up close.

I like these with the black pearls.

Everything for this lady had to be in silver.

She also wanted chunky and turquoise so I put posts on the front ones.  They aren't as heavy as they look.

Next request was long, coral.  Must be silver.

Burgundy and dress up.

This lady wanted long and fun, I like these too.  All three women that I'm making earrings for are over 6 feet tall.  I told Jane "that's quite a height requirement for working there".

More long and fun.

Black and white and silver.

I wish I had bought more fancy headpins and lever back ear wires.  They all wanted lever backs.  Made some of my own headpins and hammered them.

I'm going to sit on a heating pad.  My back is tired.  Now I just have to pack them up and mail them.

Hey Booboo, I'm doing better but I think about you every day.   I think this Halloween in honor of your birthday I'm going to eat tuna fish all day and sleep in the closet.

LIZARD TAILS AND SWIRLY YARN

A few years ago I took a class from Julie Picarello and found out what to do with all the left over clay I had.  Now everyone can make lizard tails.  Her new book is awesome.  Has everything we learned in class and more.  It's called "Patterns in Polymer, Imprint and Accent Bead Techniques".  If you don't have it you need it.

Anyway, I've been doing a lot of canes to make the "mystery items" that are going in the goody bags for our guild's retreat in September.  I had to make 25 items so that's a lot of canes.  With the leftovers, I usually make Natasha beads or bead centers.  This time I made big lizard tails and made pendants out of them.

This is about 3 inches in diameter.  I'm thinking a beaded bail and a Kumihimo rope.  This was cut out of the middle of a flattened lizard tail.

This is the piece that was left when I cut out the one above it.

This is a lizard tail with the bottom cut off.  Looks like a hot air balloon to me.  This took two sandings and two buffings.

This cane was done with left over clay.  There's a little blue in there that really shines.  I think this is going to get a Kumihimo rope too.

This pendant has it's own bail in the back.  These colors are much prettier in real life.  I made the bail from clay.

I wrapped the bail around a paint brush and baked it.  When it was cool.  I slipped it off the paint brush and cut 1/4 of the back off so it would lay flat.  I put some Sculpey Bake and Bond on it and then rebaked it.  It really worked well.  That stuff bakes really hard and stays put.  I found a stamp set at Office Max to use to make my name plates so I can start putting my name on my pieces.  It has two sizes of letters.  This is the large one.  I think I'll start using the smaller one.  It's a really good set, a little costly but not bad.

This is a scarf I just finished knitting.  It's really a fun pattern.  The lady that gave me the pattern thought the swirls looked like potatoe chips but to me it looks like chocolate and vanilla ice cream.  But everything looks like that to me. :0)  I asked my friend Judy to model the scarf.  Don't you love the Bubba Gump tee shirt?

I finished another with the same yarn but it has pockets on each end so you can put your hands in the pockets of your scarf to keep them warm.  Now you are asking "why are you knitting when it's 114 degrees in Arizona".  Because I'm a KNIT WIT.  Ha ha ha.

Hey Booboo, I changed the picture in the frame.  Now there is a picture of you there looking all sweet and cuddly.  It's not funny.  You and I know the real truth.  MEOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

BIRD HOUSES, BOOKMARKS AND BEADS OF COURAGE

Tomorrow is our monthly clay guild meeting and we are doing a book mark swap.  Somepeople are doing those big paper clips but I decided to "dance to my own tune".  I bought some metal bookmarks and made birdhouses to put on them.

There are only 8 of us in the swap this time so I decided to make my own little bags to put the bookmarks in.   I bought some beautiful paper in the scrap booking section at Wal-Mart for $5.00 for 50 sheets.  It worked great.  I had some but it was too heavy.

This paper worked great and I made labels with my name on them and a picture of Booboo sitting in a box.  These are easy to make and look better than a plastic bag.

BEADS OF COURAGE

Every month we have a different theme for our Beads of Courage collections.  This month it's "Everything Girls".  I didn't have a lot of time because I was working on the bookmarks and the things for the goody bags for our Prescott retreat and Jane's earrings.  I did get a couple  beads done.

The roses and the butterflies are made with Penni Jo Couch's molds, which I love.  Next month is anything boys and sports.  That should be interesting.  Got any ideas, let me know.


Hey Booboo, today at Wal-Mart a lady tried to give me a coupon for free cat food.  I told her you were probably eating fresh caught fish and bonbons now.  She gave me a funny look.  I couldn't tell her you liked TV dinners, she would have thought I was nuts.

HOPE FOR THE EARRINGS AND EARRINGS FOR HOPE

My friend Jane from the nursing home called me Friday and said one of her nurses was there and wanted me to make some earrings for her.  She loved the ones I made for Jane.  She put the nurse on the phone and we got acquainted.  Her name is Hope and she is 6 feet tall and has longer hair and likes "far out" earrings that hang a little long even though she's 49.  Nothing like throwing a few challenges at me in one sentence.  Then she proceded to tell me what colors she would like.  Challenge number 2.  Then she said she would like "at least 6 pair, maybe more".  Challenge number 3.  Good thing she didn't say she needed them by Monday.  So, when I wasn't cleaning or washing I was making earrings.  Today I talked to Jane and she asked if I used leverback wires on Hope's earrings because that's the only kind of ear wire she likes.  I guess I missed that one.  Have to go back on a couple and change them.  Then she said, don't forget the navy blue ones.  I missed that too.  I bet that's the only color bead I don't have.  I told Jane my fingers were going as fast as they can.

My friend Evelyn came over today and saw the coral ones and just drooled over them.  She doesn't know it yet but I made her a pair tonight.

I "HOPE" to get at least 3 or 4 more pair done before I send them so she can take her pick.

Janie is having so much fun with all her earrings.  Someone asked her today if she had earrings for every outfit.  She answered "I believe I do".  She's pretty good for 96.  She said some of the other women come over to her table at breakfast to see her earrings.

Dear Booboo, I found 4 more of your rubber balls.  Thanks for hiding them on me.  I'm still looking for the other 20.  You forgot your catnip when you left.  Have fun at Rainbow Bridge. luvu

A TOTAL TANGLE

 A friend gave me a beading pattern for a single, "Flat Spiral" bracelet.  I got the bracelet done and decided I didn't like the single, I wanted it doubled.  How hard could that be?  I watched someone at beading adding another row to theirs.  20 feet of Fireline later, I finally got the tangle and the two knots out and figured out how to keep the four threads I was working with from tangling again.  Six tries didn't seem unreasonable at the time.  I did have a seed bead explosion the second time I took it apart.  I told my husband this was "The Bracelet From Hell" and he said "make 2 more and it will be the bracelet from Heaven".  Mr. Positive??????

I was going to make it and give it to my sister but it fits me so I guess she's out of luck. :0(  AWW.  I guess I'll have to do number 2 and make it smaller.

This bracelet has a wonderful weighty feeling to it.  I used size 6 Fireline, turquoise size 6 pearls, size 4 bicones and size 11 silver seed beads.

BEADED BEAD AND HERRINGBONE

I made this beaded bead and decided I wanted it on a herringbone rope.  The size 11 seed beads I used were called gold metallic.  I bought them at a local bead store.  As I was working with them, the color was coming off on my fingers.  It is now a multi-color of silver and gold but it's pretty.

I wonder how much the color will come off on clothes after it's worn a while.

I want to do beading and I want to do polymer clay so why does laundry, ironing, dusting and those nasty things keep creeping in my head?  NEVER MIND, THEY'RE GONE.

Hey Booboo, I found 3 of your rubber balls yesterday.  Thanks for the memories.



SHE WILL SPARKLE PLENTY

My 96 year old friend Jane is the classiest woman I've ever met.  She's been in a nursing home now for about a year.  I've known her since I was 5.  Her nephew and I were sweethearts in first grade and I won't even tell you how long ago that was.

Jane worked in a shoe store and a high end gift store for almost 60 years.  I visited her in the gift store and she talked me into buying my first ever Gucci purse.  I wore that purse for 3 years.  I loved it.  I digress again.  Jane gets dressed to the nines everyday as I mentioned in a previous blog.  I talked to her this morning and she said it's really exciting in the nursing home now because the nurses and the aides come in to see what earrings she is wearing every day.  She was so excited with the last bunch I sent her.  She said "I SPARKLE PLENTY".  I asked if she needed any other color and she wouldn't tell me but as we finished our conversation she said she would love a pair of pearl and silver earrings.  She is so funny.  She said it was no hurry.  She forgets she's 96.  She really tickles me.  When I have a problem and don't know what to do, I call Jane.  She always leads me down the right path.

She was beautiful when she was young and is still very stately.  These pearl earrings went out in the mail to her today.

White Pearls

Black Pearls

Green Pearls

The polymer clay swirl bead in the picture with the earrings was made with:

this cane.  I sanded it starting at 320 grit and went up to 3000.  It was buffed on a high speed buffer and for those of you who don't know much about buffing, it's not hard but you have to remember to shut your buffer off every couple minutes to let the buffer pads cool down.  If you don't, the hot pads can distort your clay because of the heat.  Been there, done that.

NEW CANE

I love making canes, they don't always come out the way I expected them to.  I made this one yesterday.

Then I cut it in half and doubled it.

I made some cabochons with the cane.  They have been sanded with 320 and 400 grit.  I have a ways to go yet.

With the leftovers, I'm making beads to make a necklace and bracelet.

I taught this cane yesterday in a little polymer clay group that we have that meets at our beading club.  I forgot to take pictures of everyone's pendants when they were done.  They turned out beautiful.  I really like this cane, I want to try it in different colors.

Have a claying good time.  As Rose would say "When you're claying your Playing".

Goodnight my dear Booboo.  Is there Catnip in Heaven?