MERRY CHRISTMAS BUTTONS AND BRACELET

This is the third one I made.  The other two got bought in a jiffy.  I put this one on Etsy.  This is done using Kumihimo the Japanese Braiding technique.

Made these earrings for my friend because she loves snowmen.

  Going to try to make more but not as fast as I made these.

THESE POLYMER CLAY BOWLS ARE GETTING TO BE AN OBSESSION

Making these bowls is really getting me crazy.  I love doing this.

The bowls in the picture above are for my sister and two nieces.  My sister wanted something with birds so I used the silk screen that came with the Sculpey kit to make that one for her.  She likes blue so the base of the bowl is blue and there are blue Swarovski crystal on it.  The top left was done with a stencil and the top right was done with scrap clay.  I really like that one and it can't be duplicated.

This is the back of the three bowls.  The top right was done with a texture sheet and the other two were done with the extra pieces of clay with the silk screen and stencil.  If you click on the pictures you can see them close up and see the details.

Every time I sit down at my table I say I'm going to do something else and then I end up making another ring dish.

I have a great niece that I absolutely adore.  She's 17 months old and so happy.  I made her this Minnie Mouse hat because that's who she reminds me of.

This was my poor Buster after the Packers lost Sunday.  He was so sad but he still loves them.  He's hoping they beat the Bears Thursday and that his mom quits putting hats on him.

POLYMER CLAY BOWLS

I've been gone a while from blogging because I've been taking my best friend back and forth every day to see her husband.  He got sick in February and was in the hospital and almost died.  Then he was sent to a rehab facility and got really sick there so he ended up in another hospital.  Then he was sent to a group home for 3 months.  My friend has macular degeneration and can't see to drive.  It's been a long 7 months.  He's home now and doing good so I'm finally back into playing with clay.

A couple weeks ago my good friend Lupe came over and gave me a little silver candle holder.  I wasn't sure what she wanted me to do with it but she said she thought it would make really pretty jewelry dishes then she left to me to my own devices.  LOL  So after bugging her for two days and asking her questions, the light came on.  Poor Lupe was working on her pieces for an art fair but she was kind enough to answer my emails and explain things to me.  Now I can't stop making these things.  Thank you Lupe.

These are for my friend's sisters in Kansas.  Already in the mail.

This is the bottom of the bowls.  They take 5 bakings.

This is one I made for a friend who doesn't like bling and glitz so she gets no crystals on this one.

These are the first two I made with silk screens.  I love the one on the right with the cats.  Had a little trouble with the black paint.  The one on the left was a test.  The silver paint didn't show up as much on the purple but I still like it.  I put edges on the these two and that was a pain.  After seeing Lupe's beautiful bowls I realized I didn't need to add an edge.

Thanks again Lupe.  I'm really enjoying this.

BEEN GONE TOO LONG

I haven't blogged since April.  Life just keeps getting in the way.  That and migraines.

I hate to be a downer when I write on my blog but 4 weeks ago my heart got broken again.

I have been walking my friend's dogs for 4 years since her husband died.  Beau was the oldest.  He just turned 13 and was the sweetest and most lovable dog.  He loved walking and he was very protective.  He got an eye infection and the vet gave him drops and he was doing good.  I went there on Saturday to walk him and his little brother and he was happy and doing really good.  On Sunday he wasn't hardly moving and acted like he wasn't feeling good so I didn't take him.  We took him to the vets on Monday for a follow up for his eye and while we were sitting in the room waiting for the vet, Beau had a seizure.  He started going around in circles and his head kept going back and forth and around.  I ran and got the vet and he confirmed it was a seizure.  Beau's eyes started darting back and forth and he couldn't keep his head up straight.  We took him home with some meds but he wouldn't take them, he wouldn't eat and he was very sick.  We took him back the next morning and I carried him.  I sat in the back seat with him on my lap and he hardly moved but his eyes still kept darting back and forth.  He couldn't walk so I carried him in and held him.  The doctor said it appeared he had brain damage from the seizure and has lost control of his bladder and bowels and appeared to be in pain because of the way he was laying.  He wouldn't drink anything so I put a little water in my hand and was surprised he licked it but then dropped his head again.  We knew he wasn't coming home with us.  I kissed him goodbye and he licked my face.  We said goodbye and held him.
I'm still not over this.  I feel like I've lost a child and he wasn't even mine.  I just wanted to say Rest In Peace my special dear Beau.  I love you still and miss you.

LET'S GO GOLFING-------FORE

Many years ago a friend of mine bought me a very expensive golf stroke counter and it was made of plastic.  It was nice but my friend said "why don't you make some of these with your polymer clay beads?"  The first time I put them in my Etsy shop I sold 10 counters in a week and got orders for more.  For a while, I wasn't keeping up very well with my Etsy shop but I decided it was time to get back into it.  I sell the counters for $15 and shipping and I know with all the work I put into them I'm not making any money but if I raised the price, I wouldn't sell any either.

These are a few of the latest ones I put in my shop.  I make the beads, bake them, put three coats of glaze on them and bake them again.  Every counter has some glitzy beads on the bottom.  They can be used to keep track of how many times you walk around the block and how many times you let the dog out.  

Here's my Etsy Shop check it out.

I'm going golfing.

BEADS, BUTTONS AND KUMIHIMO

Ever since I was a little girl I loved buttons.  I have cans of them that I've collected but I've also given a lot away.  I use to do a lot of sewing and thought I needed a lot of buttons but I was wrong.

Then I learned how to use buttons with Kumihimo to make bracelets.  Since I have 2,000,000 beads this was a great fit.  I've given away more than I've put in my Etsy shop shop so far but I'm working on it now.  Here are the 5 I put in yesterday.

I think this is my favorite.

I need to make some polymer clay buttons.  Just not enough hours in the day.  If I could just teach Buster how to iron and do dishes I would have more time.

PEBEO AND CLAY, DOING IT MY WAY

Every year I try to make a few things to donate to the Oklahoma Clay Guild.  They do a lot of good work for the high school girls in Oklahoma.  This year I tried to do a few different things.

This is suppose to be Steampunk.  The heart is clay and the center is Pebeo and Magic Glos.

This is also polymer clay with Pebeo and Magic Glos.

The top heart was done with a Randee Ketzel tutorial,  The bottom key chain is a swirly lentil bead that's been sanded and buffed.

This is also done with the Randee Ketzel tutorial.  It's one of my favorite.

Now I need to clean off my work table and start making some canes and get more stuff in my Etsy store.

Thanks for stopping by.

MORE IS MORE LESS IS A BORE

Seems like since I've gotten older, bling, glitz and more glitz is what happens every time I sit down to do something.  I just don't want boring any more.  I've tried to do polymer clay, beading and all the other crafts I do and not be so flamboyant but I guess that's not going to happen.  I've been making some pieces to donate to a picnic I'm going to this Sunday.  I'm originally from Kenosha, WI and every year here in Phoenix we have a Kenosha Days Picnic.  Of course, most of the people attending are Green Bay Packer fans.  We are doing raffles to offset the price of the hot dogs, bratwurst and meat.  Everyone brings a dish to pass.  I made my famous coconut-oatmeal crisp cookies.  They are my husbands favorites.  I'll publish the recipe if anyone wants it.

I made these key chains for the raffle.

And this bracelet.  I found the button in an old button box.  I covered the white part in Modge Podge and then put the Green Bay Packer sticker on it and covered with the Modge Podge that has glitter in it.

Of course I couldn't just put them in just plain jewelry boxes,,,,,,,,so, I got a little carried away.  MORE IS MORE, LESS IS A BORE.

This is the Kenosha light house on Lake Michigan which is a landmark.

I am very lucky to have 6 friends from high school that live out here in the Phoenix area.  We get together once a month for lunch and talk to each other often.  They are all working on this picnic so I decided to make each one of them a steampunk pendant/necklace that says "I Love Kenosha".

If you click on the picture you can see them up close.  I did one with a Kumihimo necklace but then I ran into a door and got a big bump on my arm and a sore shoulder so doing Kumihimo was a no-no.

I'm taking a Meg Newberg class Saturday.  It's a caning class.  I'm really looking forward to it and meeting Meg.  I love her canes.

I need to condition a lot of clay for Saturday but now I've got a migraine and have no clue what it's from.  Maybe from inhaling too much glitter.  LOL

THE RESULTS OF MORE FLUXE TESTING

In my last blog I told you about this product I bought called Judi-Kins Fluxe.  I did more testing.

In the top picture, the pendant farthest left was done with too much glitter and then Fluxe on the top.  I did find out you can keep adding the Fluxe if need be.  The second pendant from the left was done with just the right amount of glitter and Fluxe.  I think it turned out great.  (Click on the pictures to enlarge them so you can see them better).  The heart pendant third from left was polymer clay and it had Pebeo Prisme paint on it.  The color of the Pebeo changed so much from putting the Fluxe on it and then putting it back in the oven at 250 degrees.  The picture underneath is what the heart looked like before it had the Fluxe and went back in the oven.  The pendant on the right is polymer clay.  It was a piece I received in an exchange that I did on a group in facebook.  That one turned out great.

So, the Fluxe is a wonderful product on anything that didn't have paint on it.  I'm going to do some testing on pendants with paper pieces in them.  Based on the video for Fluxe, you can use it but the paper has to be coated with white glue or Mod Podge.  I'm going to try some PYMII and see what happens.

I LOVE YOU AARON RODGERS, SEE YOU SOON.

The Green Bay Packers have been my favorite football team as long as I can remember.  I live in Arizona but my heart is in Wisconsin.  My brother lives in Florida but he's a Packer fan too and so his daughter and her boys.  She got an official Green Bay Packer shirt for Christmas and she asked me to make her some jewelry to go with it.

I made her these to go with her shirt.

And, I sent her the two sets on the left to go with her shirt.  The ones on the right I made for my friend who is an Arizona Cardinals fan.  Those didn't bring them much luck either.

I just finished this bracelet for her and will send it soon.

I made a discovery, at least for me.  I was looking for something on Amazon and found this stuff called Judi-Kins Fluxe.  It said it was a powder resin and you could bake it at 250 degrees.

This is what the bottle looks like.

Last week at clay guild my friend  Lupe Meter did a great demo using stencils, Pan Pastels, chalks, mica powders, etc.  I wanted to try what she was doing on black clay even though all I had was a little metal stencil.  I learned fast that you have to very careful after you use the Pan Pastels not to touch them.  They smear very easily.  Anyway, I made these earrings and baked them.  I found the bottle of Fluxe in the cabinet and thought I would try it.  I don't know if you can tell there is a resin like finish on these but I sure like it.  I dumped a bunch on each earring (it self levels), put them back in the oven at 250 and 10 minutes later I had a piece of polymer clay with a great looking gloss on the top.  I'm experimenting with more things right now to see how it works.  I did a couple metal bezels with glitter in them.  I just put another coat on and put them back in the oven.  Will update more later.

Gotta go get my boobs squished.  Yearly mammogram.  Hope they warmed the plate this time.

KUMIHIMO AND FOOTBALL

Since I have a million beads and I can't stop buying more, I thought I would use some to make my niece a bracelet and earring set.  I've had this button for a long time and wasn't sure what I was going to do with it.  I love doing Kumihimo but wasn't able to for a while after I had my shoulder surgery.  I did learn something the hard way.  I use to sit and play Candy Crush Soda on my Samsung at night while we watched TV.  The next day my arms and shoulders would hurt.  Apparently the way I was sitting and holding the tablet was straining the muscles in my arms and shoulders.  So, now I learned my lesson.  Now I can do Kumihimo, yippee.

A friend asked me about a pattern to make crocheted slippers and I had never done that.  I usually make them by knitting them.  I found this pattern on youtube and it works up really fast.  I know the Packers aren't in the playoffs but I had this yarn so I thought I would make some slippers to go with the bracelet since my niece is a Packer fan.  They really stretch and are very comfortable.

This is the bracelet I made for my sister for Christmas.  Love Betty Boop.  Now I have to decide what to do with the rest of the million beads I have.

I opened a new shop in Zibbet Bonnie Kreger.  Not sure if I can keep up with 2 shops but I thought I would try.  I need to spend more time making things to put in Etsy and Zibbet but I need to finish ironing and cleaning first.  What a waste of time.