TOO MUCH STUFF - NOT ENOUGH TIME

I'm suppose to be getting my stuff ready for clay camp next week.  We leave for Prescott on Wednesday and come back Sunday.  I started organizing and arranging on Thursday and I've made a worse mess than I had before.

The one thing I'm really happy about is the way the extruder box turned out.

I filled the top of the box with magnet sheets that are sticky on the other side and they fit perfect.  Now Buster and I see where the right disk is.  He's so funny.  I was looking for a place near a window to take this picture and he jumped up in his box and acted like he was looking at them too.  I do have duplicates but that's OK. A girl should have two of everything except husbands.  One's enough.

While I thought I was organizing my junk clay, I found a mold and started playing around.

 

He's a tribal guy.  Not my ordinary stuff but I thought he was cute.  I showed it to John and he gave me one of those strange looks so I grabbed it out of his hand and walked away.  I heard him laughing as I walked away.  What does he know?  Someone will love this and give it a good home.  I'm trying to get out of my "Boring Box".

 

After I made "Machu Pick Ur Nose", I went back to boring.  I'm trying to use the 6 pounds of junk clay on my desk.  I already have 30 Stroppel canes so I wanted something different.  Maybe getting out of this heat for 5 days will help my brain and my muse.  John and Buster can bond while I'm gone.  Wait till Buster sticks his cold wet nose under his armpit at 4 in the morning like he's done to me the last two days.  I'm not going to tell him about, it's going to be a surprise.  LOL

 

WHAT TOOK SO LONG???????????

When you have as much polymer clay and beading stuff as I do it helps to be organized but I'm not doing very well at that.  I spend a lot of time on Pinterest looking at the polymer clay things, cute kittens and a few recipes even though I don't cook.  I saw something on Pinterest a few weeks ago where someone had taken two sheets of magnets and put their extruder disks on them.  I thought that was a great idea and then I forgot about it.  Today I was looking for something else and I found a package of magnetic strips with sticky backs.  I had my extruder container sitting on the table and a big light bulb came on.

 

I put the sticky side of the magnets on the inside cover of the container and put the disks on it and I was so excited.  I have 3 of every disk because I have 3 extruders so this is going to work great for me.  I'm going out to lunch today with my BFF's and we will be near Michael's so I'm going to get more of these strips and organize my disks before I go to clay camp next week.

 

TAKE ME BACK TO 3RD GRADE

 

A really nice lady came to our beading club yesterday and did a demo on how to make your own really cute boxes.  I was fascinated because I have 300 pounds of scrapbook paper in my closet and I don't know why.  OCD maybe?????

 

Well, I decided this morning that I wanted to try to make a box out of my paper.  Doesn't take much to excite me.  My little paper box came out perfect.  For the bottom of the box I used a 9 inch square and for the top I used a 9-1/4 inch square.  It it really sturdy.  I was so excited so I ran into hubby's office to show him my paper box.  He said "you're so cute, you remind me of a 3rd grader making little paper boxes".

 

The two pieces fitting together.

The inside of the top and bottom.  Had to have cat stickers.

 

 

What to do with stick on stuff.

 

OK, get my blanky, it's nap time.  When I was in kindergarten I got suspended for two days.  My best friend stole my paper and scissors so I took someone elses scissors and cut her skirt up while she was napping.  Don't ever steal my paper or scissors.

 

 

Too Many Favorite Things

You all know I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Gilders Paste.  Well, here is my new favorite.  It's called German Silver.  If you screw up a piece of polymer clay, this will make it beautiful.  It's kind of like Rub and Buff but stinks more and is easier to use.  You rub it on, let it dry a couple hours and then buff it.  I'll post some pictures of pieces when I'm done with them.

I ordered all my Gilders Paste from a website called The Megabead Store.  They have an Artfire store where they also sell it.  They are the cheapest I've found so far and they ship really fast.  They usually send a coupon for 10% off your next order once you place an order.  GP can be used on metal, wood and all kinds of things.  Since BJ (Knightwork) and Anita (Melodyobeau) are telling everyone about their favorite clay tools, I had to jump on the wagon.

KUMIHIMO

I finally finished a couple pieces with Kumihimo that I really like.  Sometimes I finish pieces and end up tearing them apart and redoing.

 

  You can click on the picture to see them up close.  Love those Megatama beads.

 

 

PENDANTS

 

I've been playing with the Bettina Welker Pixelated Cane.  I made some pendants and was too lazy to sand and buff them so I put Magic Glos on them.

 



I really like the way it popped the colors.  The one on the left reminds me of an old alligator purse my mom had when I was little.  Didn't like that thing.  The one on the right is from all the junk clay that was left on my table so I did a huge Natasha Cane but only cut it once.  I sanded and buffed this one and I have an idea about how I'm going to change it a little.  I'll post it when I'm done.

Have to make a flag bracelet for a sweet lady so I'm off to the beading table.

GONE TOO LONG

I haven't posted in a long time because I've been so busy making flag bracelets I can't get anything else done.  A friend of mine ordered 6 of them and every time I get them done, someone buys them so I have to keep starting over.  I know that's a good thing but right now I'm getting bored with this.

I'm doing them in 8-0's and 11-0's, gold and silver.  I better sit down and get working again.

 

MY NEW OBSESSION

 

I did a Bettina Welker Pixelated cane two weeks ago and now I've done 5 more and did a demo at our beading club.  I made earrings out of the last one I did and also did some Puff beads but those aren't done yet.  I'll post them when they are finished.

 

This cane is so much fun but it doesn't make a very big cane, so, when I make one now I either take a picture of the color set up or write it down, or make two so I can make another cane with exactly the same colors or close.  Never comes out exactly the same when you are using an extruder.

Our clay camp is in two weeks up in Prescott, AZ and everyone is really excited.  Including me.  I have all these ideas about what I want to do when I get up there.  I'll probably be making extruder canes for 5 days. LOL

 

THE WELKER CANE IS ADDICTING AND FUN

It's been over a month since I've done clay and today I decided I was tired of beading so I got out my clay.

 Every where you go on the internet the Bettina Welker Pixelated Retro Cane is showing up. http://www.beadworx.de/2012/07/03/the-pixelated-retro-blend-cane/   I have three extruders and they were begging to get used.  So, I thought I would give it a try.

 

This is the first one I did.  I used white, brown, yellow, turquoise, light green and 14 karat gold with a the black discs in between.

 

Once I made the cane, I cut a slice off that was about 1/8th of an inch and I ran it through the pasta machine first on a number one and then turned it one quarter and went to number two and turned it a quarter and put it through on number 3.  I made a sheet of black and ran it through on the number four.  Laid my cane on the sheet and started cutting it by hand.  It was big and I wasn't sure where I was going.  I lost a little of the gold on the bottom but not bad.

 

 

There was an opening down the middle so I added a line of black and some squares and put smaller pieces on those.  I purchased a pack of hamburger patty papers from Smart and Final.  One side has wax on it.  These papers are great for polymer clay.  I laid the paper over the pendant and rubbed it to get rid of the finger prints, embed the smaller pieces and round the sides down.  I baked it for an hour at 265 degrees.  I sanded it but differently.  Instead of starting at 400 and working up, I started at 1000 and worked up.  1000, 1500, 2000, 2500, 3000, this worked really well and there were no gouges.

Now I want to make beads to go with it so I can make a necklace.

 

That cane is really fun and addicting.  I had all the clay out so I made another one but this time I cut it in half at the width and put it together again.

 

 

These canes are really beautiful when they are run through the pasta machine and each small section takes on it's own identity.

 

Last night my husband took me out for my birthday and then we went to a casino for mental therapy.  He parked in an area where there were no cars.  I opened my door when the car stopped and started to get out and a big SUV came flying up and hit the door.  I almost had a heart attack.  If it had been one minute later I would have been standing where this big SUV came flying in.  My door left a big scrape on his car and his car undid the bottom panel on the door on my side of the car.  He acted like he was crying when he saw the damage on his car and started yelling at me about looking before I get out of the car.  My husband told him we were parked and my door was open when he drove up and it was pretty obvious that it was his fault and that we should call the sheriff.  He really backed down and said he would take care of the damage himself if we would.  With insurance being what it is now, we decided to do that.  He ran away as fast as he could and that's when my sweet husband said "Don't worry, s--t happens".

 

BUT, the reason I'm telling you this is so you will be careful getting out of cars AND my husband said if something like this happens again and he's not around, don't get out of the car, lock the doors, keep the windows closed and call the police.  Ladies, if you are alone and in a parking lot and something like this happens, don't be stupid.  Stay in the car, lock the doors and windows and call the police.