STITCHES AND HOPE PENS AND GRANDMA'S VIOLETS

Eleven weeks ago today I had foot surgery.  I thought I would be walking in a shoe and driving a long time ago but that hasn't happened yet.  I see my foot doctor every two weeks and he has a strange sense of humor so I thought I would make him something to match his sense of humor.

I made him a pen of polymer clay and of course I made it black and blue since that's what my foot looked like for 4 weeks.  Then I made the little foot and cut an incision on it the same place mine is.  I used wire to put the stitches in over the incision.  Then I stamped his name in a piece of clay and put it on the bottom of the foot before I baked it and used paint to enhance the letters.  I put a magnet on it also so he can attach it to his desk or cabinet.

This is the foot before I baked it.  I used Fimo and it turned really dark when I baked it.  I can't remember what color it was but it looked like skin without the freckles.

My foot doctor's nurse is also my orthopedic doctor's nurse and she's a sweet heart so I thought I better make her a pen too.  The flowers on this pen are from an old cane that I made two years ago.  I put another tiny screw in the side of the pen so I could put a jump ring and the HOPE charm on the side.  This one also has a magnet with beads attached to it.

I found the purple African Violet at Lowes and it was tiny and pathetic and almost dead.  It was the lat one left so I thought I would give it a home and see if I could save it.  The white one was from Ace and didn't look good either when I brought it home.  They over watered it and the leaves are just now getting healthy.  I put them in a north window which is on my kitchen table so I eat breakfast with them every morning and they are looking wonderful.  My grandma and her sister always had beautiful violets and I could never get one to grow.  I found some special pots for violets.  The top comes out and you fill the bottom with water and they drink from the bottom.  I think that's the trick.  I'm trying to grow another one in the middle with cuttings from the purple and the white one.  There won't be a place to eat on the table if this keeps up.

I THINK I LOST MY BUTTONS

I didn't really lose them, I mailed them away to a sweet little girl.  My sister's niece makes adorable knit and crocheted hats for babies and adults.  She also makes ear warmers and scarves.  She's going to be opening an Etsy shop in September as soon as she gets her inventory up.  She uses buttons for some of the hats and the scarves and I thought it would be nice if she had some hand made polymer clay buttons.  I wanted to get them to her as fast as possible so I worked furiously to get a couple batches done.

I made a few shank buttons but most of them are textured or molded with two holes.  If you want to make your own buttons and you aren't sure how to do it or how to finish them, Carolyn Good of 2 Good Claymates has a tutorial on Etsy on how to make buttons.   It's an excellent tutorial and she takes you step by step.HERE  I like Carolyn's tutorials because they are precise and clear.  I have been making buttons from polymer clay for 10 years but I bought her tutorial to find out how she finishes her beautiful buttons.

About 8 years ago our guild had a button exchange.  I went a little over board and I made about 200 buttons.

These are from our button exchange and I sold 50 to lady who's daughter made sewn purses.  She really liked the big ones.

The woman I sent the buttons to has a 3 year old baby that was born with a tumor on the back of her neck and has no use of her left arm.  She has to be on oxygen constantly.  My friend had to quit her job to take care of the baby because of all the specialized care the baby requires.  She is the cutest baby you have ever seen.  I hope her shop does really well and I will provide a link when it's up and running.  Here is a link to her facebook page so you can see all the cute things she makes. Yinky Winks.


Have a good Friendship Day, and make sure you remember your friends with a nice email.

IT'S 100 AND STUPID HERE SO I'M DOING CLAY AND HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY

Today it's suppose to be 111 here in Phoenix.  I live in the northwest side of Phoenix but what they get, we get.  The only thing they get more of is rain.  It's monsoon season here and to me that means it should be raining.  NOT A DROP ANY WHERE.

It's been 9 weeks since I had foot surgery and I still can't put a shoe on.  I wear one of my husbands socks on my surgery foot and one of my own on the other foot.  Good thing we both have lots of socks.

At least I've been able to get back in my studio to do some clay.  I had an email from a lady in Boston telling me she just got a new golf bag and asked if I would make a golf stroke counter to match her bag.  I asked her to send me a picture of her golf bag.

I love this thing.  She asked to have it made in teal, orange, red, black, hot pink and purple and she wanted it glitzy.

This is the one she chose.  And I had enough beads to make two more.

Then my neighbor came over and asked if I could make a necklace for her daughter in law and she wanted white.  I don't like making things just white and it's a pain working with white clay.  I had to really clean my whole work area, I used translucent clay to clean my pasta machine.  Had a 10 gallon bottle of alcohol out to clean things.  I did a Mokume Gane with with white, translucent, silver and pearl.  I made a beautiful pendant and had already put the Magic Glos on it and then decided to bake a bail on it.  It says you can bake Magic Glos.  My pendant came out of the oven and the Magic Glos was yellow.  I threw it away and decided to try some white and mica powders in bezels.

 The cord on this was done with Kumihimo.  The silver star is on the clay under the resin but the Swarovski crystals are on top of the resin.

I also did a swirly lentil bead on a fine silver chain but forgot to take a picture of it.  When she came over today she said she wanted all four and wrote me out a check.

It's really been a great day.  I got a call from the doctor saying the biopsy he did on my leg on Tuesday was benign and I sold 4 necklaces for a lot more than I was asking.  Now if only I could get a shoe on so I could go to the casino.  LOL