POLYMER CLAY GOLF STROKE COUNTERS

Had a special request for some golf stroke counters.  The large beads are made of polymer clay and they hang on swivel lobster claws.  I've made about 40 of these.  Some people use them to count their laps at the walking track but most people use them to count their golf strokes.

It's a rainy day here in beautiful, sunny Arizona so I'm going to try and get my Christmas cards done.  I'm not sending any in town this year.  Save myself some stamp money.

Today I brought Clarice her necklace that I re-strung for her.  She's a cute little lady of 85 who loves jewelry.  She said her husband bought her this onyx and silver necklace 14 years ago.  The first time I talked to her it sounded like the necklace was vintage and much older.  She put it on as soon as I gave it to her.  It is really heavy but it's a beautiful piece and I'm happy she liked it.

POLYMER CLAY BEAD ROLLERS

A few months ago, a friend of mine who had been doing clay for a long time asked if I would show her how to use a bead roller.  She was having problems and just couldn't get it going.  We spent about two hours together rolling beads.  I probably have every bead roller made.  When my husband had his open heart surgery in 2006, I sat for hours making beads and using the bead rollers.  He slept alot and I didn't want to make a lot of noise.  I took all my left over clay and left over canes and made beads by the hundreds.  I baked them and put them in a box.  One day my friend Rose came over and found the box and took all my beads.  She made two necklaces out of them and they were beautiful.  She wouldn't give them back.

Well, when my friend came over I decided to make a bunch of beads and make myself a necklace somewhat like Roses but I wanted to make it with metallic or pearl clay.  I made beads of every different color you can imagine by mixing pearl clay with bits of colored clay.  They turned out beautiful.  Once again, I put them in a box thinking I would get to them later.  Took a couple beads out and made earrings out of them but left the rest in a box.  6 months later I took out the box and made my friend Brenda some earrings.  She loved the ones I made before and wanted some so I made them.  Then I got into an earring making frenzy.  Here they are.
Brenda now has 10 different sets of earrings, Rose has two necklaces, Susan learned how to use the bead rollers and I have another box full of beads AND what did I do today?  I made a bunch of beads on my bead rollers.  Maybe they will be made into something wonderful someday and find a good home.

This week when I went to my beading club, a lady came in and walked over to me.  There were 20 other people there but she walked over to me.  She had this necklace in a little purse and asked if I could fix it.  I looked at the necklace and realized it was very old.  It was onyx and silver.  I told her I would rewire her necklace and put a clasp on it for her so she wouldn't keep putting it over her head and pulling on the wire.  When I asked her what her name was she spelled it for me C-L-A-R-I-C-E.  I almost fell off the chair.  Clarice was the name of my best friend's mom. Till I met Clarice Cotter, I never heard that name before.    Pat (Sissy's mom) and Clarice lived across the street from me for 7 years.  I got to know them both and Clarice Cotter (Pat's mom) was a hoot.  She had macular degeneration and diabetes but she had a heck of a sense of humor and loved to have Margharitas with me.  I learned how to give her shots and she would always tell Pat I was better at it than she was.  I always told Pat that she liked me better.  Anyway, I'm off on a tangent.  I just thought it was interesting that this woman would pick me out and her name was Clarice.  Pat's mom died a couple years ago and I miss her a lot.

This is the necklace the woman brought me and I'll publish a picture after I put it back together.

BOOBOO AND POLYMER CLAY

These beads were made with Desiree McCrory's method called Casablanca  Beads which is a tutorial on her website.  I wasn't sure I liked the colors of these until I cut them open.  The two football shaped beads are the original cuttings and the other beads were made with the leftover clay from the cuttings.  I tumbled these for 3 days and then buffed them.  Not sure what I'm going to do with them yet.  It's a fun technique.  If you do polymer, try it.  I used Fimo effects with the glitter in it and wasn't really happy with the blending.   I'm going to try it again with some different colors.

This is my 18 year old cat Booboo, at least part of him.  Every day, when I can, I like to take a little nap because we get up at 5 almost every morning because this cat starts singing at that time.  So, during the winter I turn the electric blanket on and lay down for a while with one of my favorite afghans and my favorite cat.  He can get up and down off the bed by himself but he waits till I pick him up and put him on the bed.  When I leave the bed, he wraps himself up in he blanket and goes to sleeep.  Today I went in and found him wrapped in the blanket except for his feet.  I guess you have to be a cat lover to see the humor in this.  My friends all think Booboo is the funniest cat they have ever seen.  He brings little rubber balls to me all day long so I can throw them and he brings them back to me.  He's the cat that holds my thumb when I'm working on the computer at night.  He likes graham crackers and low fat wheat thins.  He's just not normal.