WHAT A NICE SURPRISE

I got a little box in the mail a couple days ago and when I opened it I was really surprised.  I got the most beautiful pendant in the mail from Lynda Moseley.  And, it came in an adorable little pouch.

She inspires me so much.  Some of the best pieces I've made came from the tutorials I bought from Lynda.  It's amazing how much she shares.  Here's her Etsy website https://www.etsy.com/shop/DivaDesignsInc?ref=l2-shopheader-name if you are a polymer clay person you will love her Flawless Mica Shift tutorial. https://www.etsy.com/listing/51151212/polymer-clay-tutorial-digital-pdf?ref=shop_home_active_3. 
Thanks Lynda, I plan to put something very special in that little package.



DREAMS IN BLACK AND WHITE

I just finished this necklace that I call "Dreams in Black and White".  The pendant was done in black and white Mokume Gane using one of Penni Jo Couches Best Flexible Molds.  On the back, I used Magic Glos and a rub on that says DREAMS.  I'm going to be sending this one to Oklahoma for their clay retreat.

I have one more piece to do and then they will be going in the mail.

MY NEW FAVORITE MOLD BY PENNI JO COUCH

When I saw the turtle on Penni Jo Couch's blog, I got really excited.  I know, it's not a cat but she's working on that for me.  LOL  Normally I share my molds when I'm teaching a class or playing but this turtle mold shall never touch the hands of anyone but me.  Anyway, I was surprised this morning when I saw my turtles on Penni Jo's blog http://claylady43.blogspot.com/ that was really nice of her.

Yesterday at our beading club one of the other ladies taught the braided rope technique from Desiree McCrorey's blog http://desiredcreations.com/ howTo_CABraidRainbowCane.htm.  We all did different colors and had a lot of fun.  This was my block when it was done and cut into.

I made a pendant with this but it needs sanding and buffing and then I'll post it.  I love these colors.  I wrapped my Skinner blends in black before I braided them and I think that's why the definition in the colors is so vibrant.  

This was Evelyn's.  She also covered her's in black.  Her colors are really southwest.  Love the turquoise and the amber and brown.

This was Debbie's braid after she started twisting it.

WEDDING PENS

I'm making pens for a wedding shower and the brides colors are gold and navy.  I don't know if she went to Notre Dame or not.  I used Premo and did a Mokume Gane with navy, 18 kt gold, Jecru (Julie Picarello recipe of ecru, translucent and pearl)  I also made a sandwich with translucent with gold leafing in between.  I covered the pens and made small hearts to attach to them with the wedding date stamped on the back.  I have to put them together.  This heart is bigger than the rest because this is going to be the brides pen.

  I had some end pieces of the Mokume Gane so I did some pendants that I'm going to sand and buff again and made something for the door prizes.

I'll post pictures of the finished pieces when and if I get them done.  WHEW

TURTLES, I LOVE TURTLES AND THERE WERE TURTLES IN MY MAILBOX TODAY

A few weeks ago Penni Jo Couch put a picture on her blog of her new turtle mold and then she had it on her facebook page.  I was so excited.  As you all know I love Penni Jo's molds.  I have them all.  When I'm in the nursing home, I'm going to take them with me so I can take my food and make cabochons and turtles out of it.  Any way, I got my turtle mold in the mail today and I'm going to make 100 turtles tonight.  LOL

You can get this mold and many more wonderful molds at http://www.bestflexiblemolds.com/.


LEFTOVERS

I can't figure out why I always have so much left over JUNK clay after every project that I do.  I love doing Natasha beads and pendants.  After the class I did last Wednesday, I had a pile of clay here.  You guessed it, I made Natasha pendants and used some of Penni Jo's molds.  I use to sand in cold water and soap and a friend of mine told me to use warm water and soap and these are really shiny but I also took out some new sand paper.

This is a pendant I did with one of Penni Jo's molds and some Sarah Shriver cane that I had left from a class that I took from her in November.

This is what was left of the Sarah Shriver cane and I did that Natasha thing which I love to do.

This is my favorite.  It was from the ends of the cane that I taught at class last week.  I was very careful about sanding and buffing.  It really looks like glass and it has a lot of pearl and translucent in it.

Here is another Natasha that got slightly off kilter but I like it.

I'm really excited.  My friend is coming over and we are going to do the Barbara Fajardo Mimbres Flora beads and pendants.  We both bought the tutorial from Craft Art Edu.  Our clay guild had Barb here a couple weeks ago for a two day class but I couldn't go because I was told I had a fractured hip and I couldn't sit for two days.  It wasn't a fracture, I've got bursitis.  Got a cortisone shot and am exercising a lot and it's much better.  If  you are hurting, push yourself to exercise and stretch.  I am walking my friend's 3 dogs every morning.  It's good for them and great for me.

WHO NEEDS A UV LAMP???????

Living in Arizona has it's advantages and disadvantages.  For one thing, I never need a UV light to cure my Magic Glos.  I put it on, run a BBQ lighter over it to get the bubbles out, run through the house to the back patio and there's my UV light.  However, when it's 114 degrees, the Magic Glos is usually cured before I get it to the "Curing Wall" and then I'm sweating.

These are some crosses I made with a Mokume Gane that I did with the new Premo clays.  It was done with Premo White Glitter, Premo 18 kt Gold, Premo Magenta and Premo Black.  I also put a layer of silver leafing in between the stacks that was sandwiched between translucent.  The Premo 18 kt gold is so beautiful and gives a beautiful highlight.  The crosses were made with Penni Jo Couch's molds.  I can't say enough  good things about them.

Click on the pictures and you can see the colors better and the top one shows more of the gold.

These little ones are earrings.  One of these sets is for my friend Rose who just had throat surgery and we are celebrating that there was no cancer in her thyroid.  She saw the last set I made and raved about them.  When she does that, I know she's begging.  :0)

Arizona is hot in the summer but during the winter I play golf 3 times a week and go bike riding and walking and I'm not shoveling snow.  YIPPEE  Drove to work in that stuff for 30 years.  I'll take the heat.

THANK YOU BEADUCATION

I mentioned the other day that I got an email from Beaducation http://www.beaducation.com/ saying I had won a $100 gift certificate.  I was thrilled.  I go to their website all the time because they have wonderful little tutorial videos about all kinds of jewelry making tips.  Today I was making earrings and my round nose pliers went goofy.  Instead of the tips being together they started crossing.  I've made 130 pairs of earrings in the past month.  $8.00 pliers don't cut it.  I went to Beaducation http://www.beaducation.com/ and ordered new German made tools.  I'm so excited.  Check them out.

POLYMER CLAY CROSS AND EARRINGS

I don't know how many times I've mentioned how much I love Penni Jo Couch's molds from http://www.bestflexiblemolds.com/.  One of her molds is a Renaissance Cross and it has little crosses in the same mold.  I use many of my polymer clay canes to use in this mold.  I also use Magic Glos on them.  Some of them I drill a hole in the bottom and put beads in them. 

I just finished this one using the Mokume Gane that I showed in a previous blog.  This is going out to someone special for her special friend.  You can click on it and see it larger.  The good thing about her molds is, you can put them in soapy water and wash them to get out some of the old polymer clay.  I also spray a little Armour All in them when I use them and the pieces pop out and the Armour All doesn't hurt the clay.

MORE EARRINGS FOR JANE

This is three of the 14 pairs I made in the last two days.  I like the bottom ones, I think I'll have to make a pair for myself.

Today is my husband's birthday.  I bought him two pieces of cheese cake from the Cheescake Factory.  I've never seen such a happy guy.  White chocolate, macadamia, carmel and Dutch Apple Carmel.  I'm going to have to get him some elastic waist pants..  Why should I be the only one wearing those things????