CANE SWAP - PAIN SWAP AND BAD KITTY

I'm running out of time and I need 12 pieces of cane for the swap.  I have 2 that I like.  Last night I worked for 3 hours making a cane.  Started out with two huge Skinner Blends and made a spliced cane.

I like this cane but wanted something intricate.  So I decided to make a flower cane of this.

This is really big.  I should have put a quarter by it so the size would be evident. 

I love flower canes covered in black instead of translucent so I used 5 packages of black to cover this cane.

Looks good now but once I got it covered and reduced, I was very disappointed.

My black clay was mushy.  There were spaces between the stamen and flowers so I filled it in with black clay.  I should have left it alone and just covered it.  Took a piece and did some manipulation.

I think I'm going to do a large Kaleidoscope cane and use this entire cane in the Kaleidoscope.  I'm very disappointed but I thought I would blog about the bad stuff since I usually try to blog about just good stuff.  Trials and tribulations I think they call it.

Can't blog without mentioning Mister Buster.  I thought his dad gave him a time out yesterday but then I realized he was sleeping.

This morning he woke me up by licking my nose.  Kitty love, nothing like it.

CANE SWAP AND MORE BUSTER ANTICS

Our clay guild is having a cane swap and I'm still experimenting with different types of canes to see what I can come up with.  I need 12 canes, 3 inches long.  Yesterday I made a couple Kaleidoscope canes.  I left one in tact after I cut it in half and put the two pieces together.

This is a picture of the end piece.  I wrapped the other two pieces up to keep them clean.

This is one piece of the second cane.

This is also a piece of the second cane.

These are the four pieces from the second cane that have been reduced.  At least now I have the concept of what I think I want to do but I want different colors.  These were done with left over canes and pieces of clay.  I'll try this again but with brighter colors.  It's a great way to take a cane you don't really like and make 4 different canes out of it.

HE'S AT IT AGAIN

Buster has had me laughing non-stop.  He's been wonderful.  I still think about Booboo but this little kitten is the love of my life right now (except for the big guy I live with).

This is where I found him this morning.  Took some work to get him down.  I still can't figure out how he got up there.

Wednesday he decided to get up on the fourth shelf and sleep on my purse.  When he got up, the purse started tipping forward and I was sure he was going to go flying and get hurt.  He did a flip and ended on the third shelf with the shoes.

He was holding on to those shoes for dear life after that.  At least he doesn't think my feet stink. :0)

Everyday is a joy and a new amusement with this little guy.  I think he has a cold.  He's been sneezing and coughing.  What do you give kittens when they get a cold?

JUST COULDN'T LEAVE IT ALONE

Our clay guild is having a cane swap at our February meeting so I've been playing around with canes.  I love making flower canes with weird Skinner blend combinations but I don't know if that's what I'm going to do.  Thank goodness not all the canes have to be the same.  I'm really excited about getting canes from 12 other people after seeing this necklace on CraftEdu.

OK, I made a cane,

JUST COULDN'T LEAVE IT ALONE

I think I liked it better before but this will make great beads for my golf stroke counters.

I need to get to work now and make some canes.

HINT HINT: Read Colt Pixy's blog today http://coltpixy.com/ she talks about using Super Sculpey to clean your pasta machine.

UPDATE ON BUSTER

He's still fascinated by the computer.  Yesterday morning I poured a cup of coffee and sat down on my desk.  He jumped up on my keyboard and when I tried to move him, I hit the coffee cup and dumped it on my shirt and in my lap.  Burned my stomach and leg but not bad.  John came in and pulled the shirt away from me.  I'm just thankful little Buster didn't get burned.

POLYMER CLAY CANES AND MISTER BUSTER

Last week at our beading club a bunch of us got together and did clay.  I was teaching beginner classes there but since my back has been so bad I haven't been able to commit to anything.  My friend Rose has been getting the ladies together and doing clay and they are having a ball.  Rose is a wonderful teacher and she's a lot wilder than I am with her colors so the ladies are really enjoying it.  I was amazed at some pieces that were made by some "first time clayers".  I wish I could get out of my boring box and find my wild side again.  Anyway, I put the instructions for a cane on my Pinterest board HERE.  It's called Rita's demo but we knew it as a Lynne Cane.  This is one of my favorite canes and I had some blue and white clay out so I made one.  I put the 4 pieces of square cane together and will work on getting it smoother at the seams and then maybe cut a piece for a pendant and put a Swarovski crystal in the middle.  It's a fun cane, you can't ruin it.

MISTER BUSTER

My friends on face book are laughing about all the stories and pictures I've posted about "Mister Buster" my new kitten.  He's grown about 2 inches since I got him on December 27th.

I'm exhausted, my house is a wreck, I'm constantly on guard for falling flowers, pictures and nick knacks.  I have no idea where the pens are that were on my desk, my Chap Stick is missing and so are two of my crochet hooks.  We had to put the butter up in a cupboard.  I do not allow any animals on tables or counter tops, never have, never will and this little likes to test my patience.  I think he has a higher IQ than I do, he's faster than I am and he can hide in places I can't get my hands in.

I yelled at him the other night and he hid under my desk.  See the beads all over the floor, we had words about that.

He was hiding behind my DVD's in the printer cabinet.  If I hadn't seen the little blue can moving, I wouldn't have known he was there.

He has a fascination for beads.  I need to watch him constantly when he is in my studio.

Last night we were going to bed and I called him.  No Answer.  We looked for 25 minutes and finally found him in the closet in the wrapping paper.  Don't know how he got in there, we don't leave those doors open.

This is Buster getting a bath.  It took two of us.  He was really good for a while and then he turned around and pushed the faucet off.  I believe that will probably be the last cat bath.  Took us two days to recover.

FAUX BONE TUTORIAL

I bought the Faux Bone Tutorial from my friend Lynda Moseley from her Etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/SCDiva.  It's incredible.  She has done so much work and the information and pictures in the tutorial are very professional and comprehensive.  Whether you are a seasoned polymer clay person or a new one, this tutorial gives you everything.  I have almost all Lynda's tutorials and it boggles my mind how much information she shares and how much work she has put into them.  This one is no exception.  Lynda doesn't know I'm doing this but I wanted to give her a plug because she is one of most sharing and helpful and pay it forward people I've ever dealt with.  Please visit her shop and see her beautiful work.  I want to be like Lynda when I grow up :0).

EARRINGS AND A SILLY CAT

My 96 year old friend who sells earrings is at again.  She sold 40 pair over Christmas and is asking for more.  I made a few different ones for her.  I prefer doing clay but I also do wire and beads for her.

Angel Earrings

 Her girls at the nursing home like long earrings.

SILLY CAT

This cat is hysterical.  Today he got in the garbage can in my office and wouldn't get out.

Buster is the sunshine in my life right now except I had to put all my breakables away.

Now he sleeps with his head on my pillow and makes sure he is as close to me as possible.

Hope to be getting back to clay soon.

MISTER BUSTER AND GRRRRRRRRR DOCTOR

Mister Buster has been with us for 17 days.  We changed his name from Teddy to Buster.  He just isn't a Teddy.  I forgot what kittens do.  They get the crazies 2 or 3 times a day.  I've had to put all my knick knacks away.  He flies from one place to another and he's so fast I can't catch him.

He has a brand new comfy bed that my husband bought him but he won't go in it.  When he's not tearing the doilies off the tables or trying to eat the poinsettia plant, he sleeps on my oven glove that I use for polymer clay.

He is a thief among all his other fun things.  So far I'm missing a crochet hook, a tube of chap stick the pens off my desk, 3 pair of earrings (I found those).

He gets in the refrigerator every time it opens so we have to be careful.  He hit my neighbors dog the other day.

The dog growled but Buster didn't care.

At night he gets in bed with me and he stretches out next to the pillow.  And that's where he sleeps all night.  He weighed almost 2.5 pounds when I got him.  Now he's a little over 3.5.

I'm exhausted but I'm happy.  He's a joy..............till the next bout of crazies.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR DOCTOR

I went on facebook Tuesday and whined.  Had lots of people sending me great ideas.  I had a doctor's appointment at 10:15 with an orthopedic surgeon on Tuesday.  Got there at 9:40 to fill out paper work.  Finally got called in at 10:25.  At 11:00 no doctor so I went to check and the girl said she would check.  11:15 I went out again and another said she would check.  11:30 I went out again and a different girl said someone would be in right away.  At 11:40 I put on my jacket and grabbed my purse and a nurse came running in the room.  She said she was sorry that I got over looked because my paperwork was stuck to another patients but the doctor had to leave.  Does LIVID describe me now?????????? 

  I had shots in my back two months ago that didn't work so I wanted an MRI to find out what was really wrong.  I thought maybe my back and my migraines could be related.  She told me that what I had wrong was mechanical and that I didn't need an MRI and that I could have shots again in March.  So now my face is red, my blood pressure is up and the tears are ready to roll.  I've had chronic back pain since last September and it feels like a knife going into the left side of my back and my migraines are getting worse and more often.  It's prevented me from sitting and doing polymer clay and beading.  This nurse was so irritating.  I picked up my stuff and told her about the pain and that we weren't getting any where and she wrote me out a prescription for a narcotic and told me if I needed more I had to get them from my doctor.  She said if I didn't believe what she was telling me I could call the doctor and talk to him???????????????????????????????????????

The tears started before I got to the door.  I stopped at McDonald's and got the biggest ice cream cone they had.   Wednesday I woke up with a migraine and I'm sure it was stress from Nurse Ratchet and Dr. Dufus.   They won't be seeing me anymore.  I tried to get into my doctor but can't get in till the 23rd of January.  I think I should send a bill for my time.

I did learn a lesson though.  I will not sit in a little back room in a doctor's office more than 20 minutes without checking to see what the problem is.

Thanks for listening to my story.  I think I'll go get some cheese to go with my whine.

STEAMPUNK PENDANTS AND A CURIOUS CAT

I found a couple wonderful places on Etsy to buy bezels and watch parts.  It's really hard to photograph resin because it back flashes because of the shine. 

I went back to Picasa to edit my pictures.  Now I just have to find a place to take better pictures.

THE CURIOUS CAT

Buster now weighs 3.2 pounds.  He loves to eat.  Good thing he came to right house because we love to eat too :0).

Having a kitten is really interesting.  I forgot how much trouble they can get into and how lovable they can be.  First thing in the morning I check all the blogs that I follow.  He gets on my desk and watches all the pages change and loves to follow the mouse arrow.

I wonder if he can read?  He sleeps right next to my pillow at night.  He has since the first night I got him.  I'll be in trouble if he ever gets to be a big cat.

CANE SWAP

Our guild is having a cane swap in February so I need to get to work and make some canes.  I like making flower canes but I would like to do some Kaleidoscope canes.  If you know a good one, send it to me.

  It's hard to type when a little cat keeps stepping on the key board.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

As I sit here typing, Buster has his head on my wrist.  He's been such a joy and the best Christmas present I've ever had.

He is not allowed on my work table or by my polymer clay, don't want cat hair in my resin or clay.  I've been working on bezels with clay and watch parts.  I have an order for quite a few of them so I've been trying different types of bezels.  I wish I could get better pictures of them.  I use Photofiltre to enhance my pictures but I'm just learning it and it's quite detailed.  I'll get there.

This is is a pendant I made for my friend Char who had cats but had to give them up because of her business.  She taught me how to trim Busters nails.  The cat is a little tiny button that I baked in the clay.  Then I covered the entire thing with Magic Glos.  Two coats.

This is a pendant made with a pearl, green-blue and black Skinner blend.  I bought the bezel from "The Hoarder's Closet" on etsy which is Marie Segal's.

This was made from a piece of my face cane from the Barbara Maguire class.  They all have resin (Magic Glos) on them which is really hard to photograph.

I found with the UV resins that they like to draw into themselves BUT if the item you are putting them on is COOL or COLD, the resin doesn't draw in as much.  I've been using a UV Light so I have to put my piece on a tile to put it in the lamp.  I make sure my tile is cold and the item I'm putting the resin on is cold before I apply the resin.  I made a pair of earrings that I wanted resin on also and found that I could paint a coat of resin on, put it under the light and repeat that painting with the resin to build up layers.