NATASHA, I LOVE YOU

About 7 years ago someone in our guild showed me how to make a Natasha bead out of scrap clay.  I made tons of beads.  A couple years ago I screwed one up and decided to flatten it and cut out a pendant with a cutter.  Since then, I've probably made about 200 of those because I always seem to have a lot of scrap clay  laying around.  This past Wednesday at our beading clay day, I did my Skinner blend wrong and ended up with pieces and some things I didn't like so I made a Natasha pendant.  Then I used the left over pieces I made the night before from the cane to show the girls how to make a pendant using Penni Jo's molds.  I just finished sanding and buffing the two pieces.  I didn't bake the Natasha bead until I got home and I managed to distort the pattern but I like it.  I think I need to sand and buff and mold pendant again, or not.

All the clay I used in both pendants have a small amount of pearl and a small amount of translucent in them.  When you see them up close you can see the pearl in the colors and it's really pretty.  Guess I should have baked it for at least 10 minutes before I wrapped it up to take it home.

A REALLY FUN CLAY DAY

Yesterday at our beading club we had a clay day.  We have 140 members in our club and about 20 of us do clay.   Some of the ladies are new to clay and it amazes me the beautiful things they are making.  I like to show them different techniques when we get together like Mokume Gane, using the extruder, Natasha beads, etc.  They love making canes and I like putting my own twist on things I see in magazines and books. Yesterday we made a cane and wouldn't you know I screwed mine up when I was almost done so it was good for them to see what happens when you make a mistake.  They all put their own twist on everything especially the colors.  It always amazes me what we end up with.  I have a couple pieces in the oven from my screw up that I'll post tomorrow or Saturday but here are some things I made Tuesday night to show them and here are the ones they made.

These are the pendants I made and took some end pieces and made bobby pins with Swarovski crystals in them.

These are some of the canes the ladies made.  They all love bright colors, it will be interesting to see the things they make with these.  We did use Penni Jo's molds with this and made some great looking pendants.

Can't wait to see all the beautiful things they make with these pieces.  I turned my Skinner Blend the wrong way so I don't have pretty pieces like these.

TO ALL WHO HAVE SERVED AND GAVE US FREEDOM, WE SALUTE YOU

My father served in WWII, my step father served in WWII, I lost 3 uncles in WWII.  6 of my classmates died in Viet Nam.  I live in a city where 60% of the men and women served in a war or lost children in a war.  Thank you all for your sacrifices so I can live where I live, be free to pray when I want to and be able to live in a country who's flag really means something to all of us.

Next time you see someone wearing a uniform, tell them "Thanks".

VINTAJ PATINAS AND POLYMER CLAY

 

This year at the Tucson Bead Show we stopped at the Vintaj booth.  They were showing these new Patinas that come in packages of three.  I asked if they could be used on clay and the girls that were doing the demos didn't know.  They were painting metal pieces.  I just found them in the store and sent an email to Ranger asking about the use on polymer clay.  Their answer was, ONLY ON BAKED CLAY and that you would need to use their Glaze to protect it.  The colors are really pretty and you can layer them.

 

 

I had these pieces and I wanted to try it.  I put all three colors on the piece on the right and then hit it with a heat gun.  I didn't buy the Vintaj block to sand the piece but I used some sandpaper to take the top layer of paint off.  I don't have the Vintaj Glaze either so I'm thinking I can use PYMII.  I'm going to do a test and put some clay in the middle of this piece and bake it on there and see what happens.  Hope I don't blow up another oven. 

 

Here is the Vintaj Blog showing how to use the new paints.  http://vintaj.com/wpblog/?p=15208

 

I do have to say, once I hit it with the heat gun, it was really hard and set.

 

Here's a youtube I found about the Patinas.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0QZtHIB8nQ

 

I'm not getting paid for this, I just wanted you polymer people to know I already did the research.

 

 

BEADS OF COURAGE

Our clay guild here in Arizona donates beads and pendants to the "Beads of Courage".  It's an organization that helps children and their families going through serious illnesses.  Every time a child has a procedure (chemo, x-rays, MRI, blood transfusions, etc.) they get to pick a bead.  They are originally given a necklace to put their beads on.  The families also get to choose items for their necklaces.  You can read the whole story here.  http://www.beadsofcourage.org/

  If you would like to donate finished beads you can send them to our clay guild.  Contact me and I will give you the name and address of the person to send them to.  They need to be bright and colorful and well done.  They need to have a 2mm hole in order to get on the necklace.  Or, you can contact the people at Beads of Courage and send them directly to them. 

Just wanted to show you what I was so busy doing last week.  Here are the ones I made.

 

 

I like the cat with two different color eyes.  I put Swarovski crystals in the eyes of all the animals.

 

 

 

These were done by my friend Evelyn.

 

 

A whole bunch of ice cream cones.

 

We heard that a young boy at the Phoenix Children's Hospital had a 7 foot necklace.  I just can't imagine a child going through all that.

 

 

My last thought this morning is "Let's pray for the people in Oklahoma" and I've very thankful that our good friend Penni Jo Couch and her family are safe.

 

POLYMER CLAY AND FRIENDS

Was there a life before polymer clay?  I still have friends that I stay in touch with that I went to high school with and friends that I worked with but I realized this morning that most of my close friends are ones that I've met because of our shared passion for polymer clay.  When I joined the Arizona Polymer Clay Guild I made friends that I absolutely cherish.  When I started teaching polymer clay at our beading club I made friends who are part of my daily life and I cherish all of them.  If it weren't for polymer clay, I wonder what I would be doing and who I would be hanging out with.  So, I'll tell you where this is leading.  About 6 months ago a woman joined out guild and we hit it off right from the get-go.  She is one of the most talented clay artists I've ever met and I just love her colors and unique things that she makes.  The fact that she has an incredible sense of humor is also what brought us together.  We have been supporting each other through some tough times the last couple months and she decided she needed to cheer me up and let me know how much she really cares.

These are the presents I got from her Saturday.  The thing in the middle is a card with a picture of a cat in a bag.  I've been laughing non stop every time I look at it.  I'm sure that's Buster's twin.  Check out the gorgeous pendants and the bead she made.  The bead was made from pieces of cane that she got from me in our cane swap.  I'm trying to figure out how I can wear all three at the same time.

 

She also gave me this incredible texture sheet.  You know there are going to be a lot of cat things made with this.  LOL

 

Please check out Michele's Etsy shop if you want to see some beautiful pieces.

 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/MichelesArtJewelry

 

Thanks again my dear Michele.  That card is sitting on my desk and it makes me smile non-stop.

 

It's a Wonderful Day

A week ago I was told I had a fractured hip.  Finally got in to see an orthopedic surgeon yesterday and I worship the ground this guy walks on.  He did range of motion tests, spent an hour with us going over my x-rays and told me I didn't have a fracture that I have bursitis in my hip and disc damage which I knew.  So, I got a cortisone shot and am now on a major exercise and stretch program.  My advice here is get a second opinion, don't wait for doctors to call you, keep calling them and if you can find an older doctor, go for it.  I have two doctors in their 70's now and I love both of them.  That's that for that.

 

This is my 9th Kumihimo Americana bracelet and I have orders for 8 more.  I want to do clay but haven't had time to get to it.

 

 

This is the Seaside bracelet I made.  Love these colors and since I have 200,000 megatamas, I better get to work.  LOL

 

I bought the Barb Fajardo tutorial from CraftArtedu. on how to make Mimbres Pendants.  Our clay guild had a 2 day class with her last weekend but I couldn't go because I thought I had a fractured hip and couldn't sit for two days.  I'm hoping to try it this week.  The girls in my guild made some beautiful pieces and said it was a wonderful class and she is a great teacher.

 

 

I was going to finish my afghan the other day and found a surprise inside.  Buster loves afghans but this was really special.  He's been a joy even though he wakes me up at 5 in the morning.