KEEP MY SENSE OF HUMOR PLEASE???????????????

Last night I went to get ready for bed and the entry way to my walk in closet in the master bedroom was flooded.  It is carpeted so needless to say, I have a mess.  It has been raining here for 3 days but we don't know if that had anything to do with it.  So at 11:00 p.m. we were moving my big dresser out of the closet and moving as much stuff as we could.  We are waiting for the plumber to call back to let us know what time he can get here.  Sure am glad we have two bathrooms, I guess I should feel very lucky.  We had to buy a shop vac this morning to get the water up.

Although this didn't come at a good time since I have an order for 30 pairs of earrings and I'm trying to get my Christmas presents done, I'm dealing with it.  The good thing is, now I get new carpet in both bedrooms, the closet and I can finally get rid of the carpet in the dining room that gets used every two years.

My friend Lupe was doing something interesting when we went to camp in September.  She was putting rub ons over the resin she put on polymer clay pieces.  So, I ordered a ton of them.  Some are too big for the smaller pieces but the rest work really well.

I made my sister in law a cross for her birthday from the Penni Jo Couch molds at Best Flexible Molds http://www.bestflexiblemolds.com/.  As a matter of fact, they are doing free shipping until December 1st.  Check it out.

This is the cross I made using pearl clay and impressing it with a texture plate.  It has a coat of resin the rub ons and two more coats of resin.  This is a picture I took before the last coat of resin.  You can see the line on the bottom.  I forgot to take a picture of the finished one before I mailed it.  But, I wanted to tell you, it's been cold here and the Magic Glos pulled in on itself much faster than normal so I put it in the UV light before I put the last coat on and it seemed to stay better.   It's a purse bling.  The beads were done using Kumihimo with Magatamas and white pearl seed beads.

My computer  is hiccuping.  Will have to try again later.

MISSING IN ACTION

It's been a while since I posted my last blog.  For 3 weeks I felt like my world was on a roller coaster and I couldn't get off.  The roller coaster is still going but not quite as fast.

You all know I'm an animal lover and can't say no when someone asks me to help or donate to an animal organization or a charitable fund for animals.

Two weeks ago there was a benefit to raise money for a lady who rescues small animals.  I told her I would donate some of my handmade items for her silent auction.  I had a deadline and almost didn't make it because of these dam migraines that I get.  I finished the 12 items 2 days before the benefit and the night of the benefit I found out that I was the only one that donated anything.  The whole benefit was not organized very well and I think I've been had but I guess I just learned another lesson.  I also bought $100 worth of tickets and gave them to friends so there would be more people there.  I was told there would be 200 people there and I think there were 50.  I was also told they would be serving wine and beer and told all my friends.  There was none.  My neighbor and I each made 125 cupcakes for the event.  I was going to take the leftovers to a class I was going to the next day and when I went up to get them, they had been packed away by other people who said they were going to be selling them at a luncheon the next day.
So what would you have done?  I just stood there with my mouth open.

Anyway, here are some of the pieces that I donated and I'm glad my neighbors and friends got most of them.

This is a black and white polymer clay cross with a Kumihimo beaded key chain.

Black and white polymer clay cat pendant.

Polymer Clay bead on blue and green turquoise.

Pink and clear crystal stretch bracelet.

Polymer clay cat on silver chain with Swarovski eyes.

Puppy pendant on ribbon.

Polymer clay pendant with an angel cat and a Kumihimo necklace.

These are just a few of the things I donated and I know the person that the benefit was for has done an incredible job of rescuing small animals and I applaud her for the work she's done but next time I will check with the organizers before I spend two weeks going crazy.  

The next day I took a polymer clay class with Sarah Shriver and had to have all my clay conditioned so that was another thing riding the roller coaster with me.  This was a very good class.

Sarah is a wonderful teacher, now I have to spend time putting my canes together.

I was hoping life would calm down a little but it hasn't.  I still walk my friends dogs every morning, I bowl twice a week, golf twice a week, teach beading and Kumihimo and now I'm getting shots to see if they will help with the migraines.  I had two yesterday.  Maybe I should drink more wine. LOL

This is Honey, Beau and Champ on the bottom.  These three have kept me sane, moving and feeling better.  I am now the #1 dog pooper scooper in the neighborhood and wouldn't trade it for a $1,000,000.

Can't forget Buster.  This is the look he gave me when I tried to put his Halloween neck piece on.

OK, I'M DONE WHINING.  

Next time you volunteer for something, check it out big time to make sure there's more than one person organizing and planning an event.

I forgot to mention that at the same time, my sister's mother in law was turning 100 and they were having a big birthday party for her.  She lost the bracelet I had made her 3 years ago and was all upset so I had to make two more and get them in the mail in time for her party.

I guess I wasn't done whining.

TELL ME WHY

Two nights ago the bulb in my Ott light died.  It was a 13W special bulb just for Ott lights.  So yesterday I went to Joann's to get a new bulb and they were $35.95 just for one bulb and that didn't include tax.  Around the corner from the bulbs were the Ott lights and the one I have was $59.95??????????  So the replacement bulb costs about 67 percent of what a whole new lamp would cost.  Well, right next to that lamp was a bigger one with an 18W bulb, bigger and sturdier base and the head on it was higher.  I had a 40% off coupon and my 10% discount card so I bought that lamp for 50% off and paid $58.00 for it.  I love this new lamp, takes a little more room on the table but sheds lots more light and the head doesn't get in the way.  I looked on Amazon when I got home and I can get the same bulb for $10.35 without shipping because I'm a prime member or the shipping would be $6.00.  So why does Joann's charge $35.95 for a bulb?  But, I got a new and bigger lamp so I'm a happy girl.

 

Did you ever make something that you didn't like?  A friend gave me her clay and all her stuff because her hands are bad.  She had some canes she made in a class that she took from someone else and asked me if I could make something for her since she wouldn't take money for the clay and tools.  She asked me to make a pendant.  The cane was just not to my liking but she likes it so I didn't change it.  The colors were uneven and the clay was mushy, she said it was Premo but I'm not sure.  She had another cane in there that I made a Natasha bead out of and didn't like those colors.  She made a giraffe cane in another class that she took but didn't realize she was using Fimo yellow translucent instead of ecru.  I used that cane to make a swirly lentil bead.  Anyway, here are the things I made for her with the clay things she had in the box.  I'm going to bring them to her today.  The purple and blue cane had big spots of blue in it and I had to cover them so I added a little bling.

I hope she likes these even though I'm not too crazy about them.

I'm going to start making my own Christmas ornaments because I'm getting a new Christmas tree. I only have 69 days so I better get to work.

MORE CAMP STUFF

This is the puff bead I made in the demo.  It was a cane done with silver pink and peacock pearl Premo clay.   I sanded and buffed it but I might do it again.  I made the cane because everyone at camp made a cane and we gave them to Amy who is our most fantastic clay person.  She took all the canes and put them together in a huge Kaleidoscope cane and gave each one of us a piece.

This was the final cane.  Lots of colors and combos.  

I had a lot of strange pieces of clay laying on my desk so I decided to make a flower cane.  I found one in Yonat Dasclu's book that I really liked.  As you can see, I turned the first piece the wrong way that's why I have two different petal colors but I kind of like it.  I am also having trouble cutting it without getting lines from my blade on it.  I've tried 3 different blades so far and still get those lines.  I'm going to take out a new blade and see what happens.

This is a swirly lentil bead that I made from the cane.  Needs more sanding and buffing.

This is a closeup of the braided cane I made on the side that I cut with a wavy blade.  It was three Skinner blends and they were all different colors.

This is the other side of the cane.  One of the Skinner blends was done with Alizarin Crimson and ecru and I put a snake of silver in the middle before I rolled it up.  You can cut these from any side and get something completely different every time you cut it.

This is one of those stretch bracelets that a bunch of us did.  This is Tisha's.  She is really talented.  I think she made 5 more before the weekend was over.

One of the other wonderful things we did was a pendant challenge.  I thought I had a picture of the winner but I'll have to get it from Lupe.  She made a beautiful cross with Mokume Gane and she won.  We all made pendants and they were suppose to be inspirational.  They are going to be donated to a battered women's shelter.  They were all beautiful but Lupe's was especially gorgeous.

SPEAKING OF LUPE

Most of you know Lupe Meter.  She is one of the most talented woman I've ever met.  Not only that, she's really sweet.  I guess you can tell I belong to the Lupe Meter fan club.

Lupe was in charge of the goody bags for camp.  She has been working on them for 6 months and I must say they were incredible.  I should have taken everything out and took a picture of it but no, I had to take everything out and play with it and then find a place for it.  I digress, every bag had a name tag on it.  Not your ordinary every day run of the mill name tag.

This is what Lupe made for everyone.  26 of these.  We were all standing there amazed when we saw these.  I know you are all jealous and you should be. LOL  Thank you Lupe for the beautiful name tag and the wonderful job you did on the goody bags.  I'm so glad you won the inspirational challenge because you are an inspiration to me.

CLAY CAMP

Last week I was lucky enough to spend 4 days with a bunch of very talented ladies in Prescott, Arizona at a youth camp doing clay from 8 in the morning till 10 at night.  Now I know that sounds like a lot of fun but at my age there were a few drawbacks.  I just made a couple early New Years resolutions.  I'm never going to stay at a place where I have to bring my own bedding and never want to sleep in a bunk bed again.  I have bumps on my head where I hit the side of the bed bending over to get my clothes and bumps on my head from getting up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and forgetting there was a wooden plank hanging down on the bed because there was another bed over my head.  The camp we stayed at had awesome food but I'm just not a bunk bed girl.  At least I didn't have to get on the top.

I did a couple demos while we were there.  One of them that I did was the braided cane.

This was done with 3 Skinner Blends covered in black.  Then you braid the canes and flatten them and fold the clay back and forth.  Cut it with a wavy blade and there you have it.  I was so excited.  I got one of those things that go around that you can put tools in.  See it up in the left hand corner.  It's empty.  Not anymore.

The next thing I did a demo on was making boxes.  I've bought about 300 pounds of paper to make boxes and so far I've made 5.  Guess I better get to work.

This is one of the boxes I made.  I put batting on the inside just like the real box makers put cotton in theirs but mine are cuter.  LOL

Then I did a demo on how to make puffy beads.

If I can figure out where the finished bead is I'll take a picture and post it.  It took me 3 days to unpack.  I don't get it.  How do you come home with more than you left with?  So that's what I did for 4 days except for eating snacks which was really fun.

We sure have some talented people in our clay guild.  We had 6 people who had never been at camp before and they sure were busy and having a good time.  A bunch of us made Halloween bracelets.

This is my bracelet. I kind of over did it but I'm a cat person.  The other girls made gorgeous bracelets and I'll post some pictures when I get them.  Mine is kind of wonky but I was tired from bumping my head on the bunk beds.

This is my friend Carol's.  She's really talented and I haven't seen it finished yet but I can't wait.

I'm really upset, I'm watching The Millers and she has my flannel pajamas on and she's eating ice cream while she's walking on the tread mill.  Oh my goodness, it's me.  No more bunk beds.