BEEN GONE TOO LONG

On May 5th I had foot surgery that turned out to be more than I bargained for.  I thought they were just going to straighten the big toe on my right foot but they put a titanium plate and 5 screws in foot and fused the bones together.  I had 25 stitches and spent the first week on drugs.  It will be 4 weeks Monday that I have been sitting on the chair with my foot in the air.  I ripped the bandages off the second time they put them on.  My foot swelled so bad it turned black and blue and I had marks in my foot from the bandages that didn't go away for 4 days.  I'm still not allowed to walk without the scooter but the good thing is, guess who I got to get in the scooter so I could take him for a ride?

He won't get in by himself but if I put him there he stays until we stop going around the kitchen.  He's been such a dear since I've been down.  He comes up and lays on my chest a couple times a day.  Buster is such a good cat.

I hate to whine but I really miss doing clay and I see all these things about polymer clay that come up on my iPad.
I'm tired of reading.  I made 4 scarves, 2 pair of slippers and an afghan and a hat.  I've been making Kumihimo pens but can't really sit at my work table long enough to finish them.

The good news is, I got my stitches out Tuesday and was able to take a shower on Wednesday.  I can't tell you how good that felt after 3 weeks.  I'm hoping another two weeks and I'll be able to sit at my work table long enough and do clay and some beading.  This has really been bad though because I've doing a lot of internet shopping.  I bought one of those new spin mops and I'm anxious to try it out.  I bought some more Lock and Lock containers, I absolutely love those things.  I think the neighbors think I'm having an affair with the UPS guy.
My friends have been wonderful.  They bring brownies, jello, licorice, spaghetti, cake, cookies and now I'll have to borrow my husbands underwear because mine is not fitting so good from sitting so much and eating all those wonderful presents.

If you know anyone that is having foot or ankle surgery this Wheel Around thing has been great except now our house needs painting because I don't back up very well.  I've crashed into a few doors and walls.

Wanted to thank everyone for their nice cards and emails.

GOT TIME TO WALK A DOG FOR ME?

This Monday at 7:30 a.m. I am having foot surgery.  I've put it off long enough and can't put it off any more.  This little scooter will be my transportation for the next 6 weeks.  It's kind of fun and I've been practicing on it around the house.  I've only hit two walls so far.  I love the basket.  It holds a 6 pack and a bag of Cheetos.  I tried putting Buster in it but that was like trying to give him a bath.  As you can see the handle is on the left side so I'll be kneeling on the right side.  Thank goodness it has a brake.  My biggest concern is taking a shower and washing my hair.  Sometimes in the summer I do that twice a day.  I was told I can't get my foot wet for two weeks.  I don't like washing my hair in the sink but that might be my last resort.

Last week my husband took me to Vegas to have some fun before the surgery.  We were at the RIO and decided to have lunch.  We asked if the hammered pork sandwich was big enough to split, she just laughed.  The sandwich was at least 12 inches or bigger and came with two pounds of sweet potato fries.  I didn't even eat the bun on my half.  Not sure why the portions are so big.  Waste of food and money if you ask me, but no one did.

My niece and nephew are big Bears fans so I made then a Bear's pen.  Hopefully, I'll be able to do some clay and Kumihimo if I can get back in my studio after the surgery.  In the meantime I'm washing floors and cleaning so I don't have to worry about it while I'm sitting with my foot up in the air for 3 days.

I ordered some that new Sculpey Souffle clay from Joann's.  It was on sale, half price.  It's just like Studio by Sculpey but the colors seem darker.  If you are interested in learning more about it, go to The Blue Bottle Tree blog (Ginger) http://thebluebottletree.com/sculpey-souffle-introduction/  she explains everything about Souffle.

Not sure if I'll be posting again for a while.  Have a good week and rescue an animal if you can.

I wish I could find someone to walk my 3 favorite dogs for me while I'm laying around with my foot in the air.

They wore me out this morning. Honey and Beau on top, Champ on the bottom.  Honey likes to go 40 miles an hour and all the other two want to do is pee on every bush.

BUSY AND DISAPPOINTED

I gave my  mail lady a Shambala bracelet.  I told her it means good luck.  So she had some friends call me and order a bunch of them.  I'm still working on them.

I like the one on the bottom right with spikes.  I should send it to Abbie on NCIS.

PACKERS vs. BEARS

I have a friend at home who's from Wisconsin but lives in Illinois and has some friends who are Packer fans and some who are Bears fans.  She asked me to make pens for all her football friends.

The bottom one was my gift to her.  These all have the magnets on them so they will stick to the refrigerator or a metal cabinet.

 

 

My doctor is having a baby boy and I made this blanket for her.  This is a great pattern.  If you crochet and want the pattern, let me know.

 

 

WHY I'M DISAPPOINTED

 

I belong to a polymer clay swap group.  This time we did a bead soup swap.  I sent mine out 4 weeks early.  The cut off date was April 12th and I still haven't received anything back from my swap partner.  I haven't heard from the person that was my swap partner either.  If you commit to do a swap, make sure you make that a priority.  I worked hard on the things that I sent out and the other pieces and findings that I sent weren't cheap.  I even sent it flat rate priority mail to make sure it got there.  When I make something for a swap I try to put the best energy and creative ability that I have into it.  If you are sick or had a death in the family or at least have a reasonable excuse it's understandable.  But not to even contact the person at all is totally unacceptable.

GOOD LUCK MY DEAR FRIEND

Not all people are lucky enough to have the same mail person deliver their mail every day but for some reason the lady that delivers my mail has been on this route for a long time and we've gotten to be really good friends.  She is always here at almost the same time every day which is great for me.  When she's on vacation sometimes the mail comes at 8 in the morning or 5 in the afternoon.  Anyway, she told me the other day that she's retiring the end of April.  I gave her one of my pens 2 weeks ago and since then she's ordered 6 more.  Yesterday she asked if I could make a masculine one for her husband.  Talk about a challenge.  Most of my pens have pretty, sparkly beads on them.  Well, I found some fish beads last night and I really like this.  I think I'll make one and send it to my brother since he goes fishing almost every day.

On the tail of the fish is a heavy duty magnet so he can put it in his work shop or on the refrigerator.  I thought this was pretty masculine.

 

Dee (my mail lady) is very glitzy and carries a very big purse that is copper, gold and silver so I made her a purse bling as a retirement present.

The heart is polymer clay and I used the Randee Ketzel tutorial "Crazy Hearts".  There is Magic Glos on top.  The beads are done using Kumihimo and I attached a heart shaped lobster claw and a heart shaped split ring.  I love Randee's tutorial because you never know how it's going to turn out.

 

 

Four weeks till foot surgery, hope I can hobble into my studio to play with clay.

 

NEW STROPPEL CANE

In February, Alice Stroppel came up with another new way to use up old canes and it's really great.  If you want to see how she does it, watch this tutorial.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwSolMWyo3k

Of course I had to try it.  My first one came out really interesting.  I thought I took a picture but I can't find it.

The Orlando Clay Guild is having a big Clay Fandango and asked if I would donate something so I made a pendant using the new Stroppel cane and used one of Penni Jo Couch's molds.  It's my favorite one actually.  So this is going in the mail today.

Wish I was going to Florida to be with all those fun girls and do clay.