How Did You Make That?

Today's how did you make that post will be about how I made the candy cane ornaments as shown below. These are great ornaments for a Christmas tree as unlike real candy canes they will never melt nor rot. Also good for those who don't like the strong sent of mint.

How Did I Make it?

1) Pick out one color of clay as well as transparent clay. I used the traditional green and red colors but any colors can be used. Condition clay well

2) Roll out colored clay into a long skinny log. Cut to make several skinny logs.

3) Repeat step # 2 with transparent clay. Logs should be same length as colored logs

4) Twist one transparent log with colored log, bend top of twisted log into hook like shape.

5) Bake and enjoy!

Final Words:

Twisting two colors together is a fun technique for a variety of projects. One can make twisted log beads, or even a twisted border on a photo frame. You can also twist more then two colors together for a different look. Braiding logs is a lot of fun too.

You can find more pictures of my own candy canes by clicking here: Candy Cane Ornaments

Generosity Award

Around this time last year I made up a special award, the generosity award. I gave gifts to a couple people and they in turn gave gifts to others and so forth until the spirit of generosity was spread throughout the blogger world. Well I am doing it again today!

The Generosity Award

To give a gift is a gift within itself.

I Give This Award To:
These people have all been kind to me in some shape or form. They are also very active in their craft of choice. I wish I could give this award to hundreds of my fellow blogger as they all deserve it. I am only able to choose a few though, so enjoy! :) Click their names to links for their blog and/or website.

1) Kristen whom has been following and commenting on my blog since the beginning. I am awarding her for all her sweetness.

2) Duni another older follower and commenter of my blog. Duni has always been kind.

3) Veronica Lee is a newer follower who is very upbeat in life.

4) Cara is another oldie but goodie. She has a lot of blogs, Cara makes is my favorite.

5) rkdsign88 I have always admired her cute style.

6) Cindy a fellow polymer clay user who will probably know exactly how I made the item she will receive.

Award Rules:

1) Show generosity towards others in the blogging community by giving a small gift of appreciation. This can be free advertising, a card in the mail, or anything else your imagination takes you.

2) Send this award to at least three others. If you wish to send the award to more then that, feel free to. Generosity has no limits.

3) Link back to the person who sent you this award.

4) Copy the rules as well as the award into your post.

5) Enjoy yourself and have fun!

Artfire: Find Santas to Win Big Prizes!

Santa Is Lost!

Moonstone on Artfire is hosting a very fun contest that over one hundred Artfire shops are participating in. In all of these shops are hidden Santas. These Santas have numbers on them that you submit. Don't worry shop owners will be giving out clues. ;) The three users with the most found Santas win great prizes.

PRIZES

1st : 300$

2nd: 150$

3rd: 100$

to be spend on Artfire.com

The contest ends November 30th giving you plenty of time to shop afterward for the holidays.

For more the rules and updated postings click here: Lost Santa Contest

My favorite Goals and teaching

Goals Game:

Well it's been a week since I started the goal game so it's time to post the winners. If you want more information on this click here: Goal Game.

My Favorite goal:
"Happy smile no matter what situation" by yeevon

I like the positive, upbeat attitude of this goal. It's something that can be applied to everything. :)

Yeevon does some beautiful illustrations, many of them have a whimsical look. She includes her illustrations as prints or on cards. One of my favorites from her shop is the image below: "Trick or Treat Print."



You can find yeevon on her blog by clicking : blog or etsy shop here: Whimsy Whimsical.
I wish everyone lots of luck on their goals. ;)

Teaching:

Starting this Saturday I am going to be teaching polymer clay classes at the Dexter, Michigan Art Center. The art center had it's grand opening in October of this year so the art center isn't even a month old yet. There will be other artists teaching classes as well from pottery clay to mosaic art. I am really excited about this, and will be teaching almost every Saturday 1-3pm.

If you want more information on the Art Center feel free to go to: www.dexterartscenter.org.
If you live in the area they are looking for more artists, as well as students. :)

Monday: How Did you Make that?

I decided to start doing posts describing how I made certain polymer clay items. This could also be just describing specific techniques. Above is polymer clay cat magnet I made recently. You can find more pictures of it in my shop here: Cat Magnet

How Did I Make it?

1) I used mica powders, glitter, liquid polymer clay, paint, magnet, and glaze for this colorful cat magnet.

2) I started by cutting out black polymer clay in the shape I wanted (a cat). Then outlined the outside with more black polymer clay.

3) I added various shapes to the inside using an extruder and black polymer clay.

4) Liquid polymer clay was added in these shapes along with glitter, and/or colored mica powders.

5) After it was baked I added a touch of gold paint as a trim, then put glaze on top of everything.

Other Ideas

This technique can be used in lots of different ways to create different polymer clay items. You can also paint it different colors to give it a unique look. I have also left it plain black, the colors really pop out against black. On the left is a switchplate where I also used this technique. In this instance I made rectangle shapes, almost like a border around the switchplate. I also used less glitter proportion compared to the liquid polymer clay. This gives it a more transparent look with just a dash of sparkle. The more glitter or mica powder you use the more solid the color will look when mixed with the liquid polymer clay. You can find more pictures of this swithplate here: Switchplate

Final Words:

I love this technique because you can make it unique every time. It does take a little bit of trial and error to figure out the different ratios of mica powder/glitter and liquid polymer clay to get the effect you desire. Practice makes perfect, and a pad of paper with a pen to write it all down is handy too. It is also very messy and brings me back to my childhood playing with glitter and glue. ;)

Etsy, Baby, Artfire, Hubby, Blogger and Me.

It's been a long while since I have posted on this, nearly a whole year in fact. During these recent months I have finally started working on Etsy again doing my polymer clay. I am also going to start working on doing posts here too. :) Add in a baby, starting Artfire supply shop, and my husband to the list of things I'm doing. Basically I have a nice new full plate.

To kick off my reopening I thought I would do a blogger game.

Goal Game:

The point of this game is to write down a list of goals on your blog of things you want to accomplish before 2011, which is only a few months away! ;) At the end of the game I will post a few of my favorite goals from others as well as link to their blog.

Rules:

1. Post at least four goals you want to accomplish before 2011

2. Post your favorite goals from other blogs

3. Have fun!

My Goals:

1. Have 100 items listed in my Etsy shop

2. Finish making those longies for our daughter

3. Have a date night with my husband

4. Have at least twenty items in my new Artfire shop

5. Have sales, don't we all want that? :P


I hope everyone has fun with this, and later on I may do the generosity reward game again as well. Christmas is coming. ;)

Updates: Still Alive

Firstly I apologize for my absence as of late. Funny thing is as I recall my last post was about how I wouldn't disappear because of baby planning. Apparently I fibbed just a little. ;)

Lately I have been having troubles getting online, as well as typing on the keyboard. Unfortunately, with my pregnancy has come lots of blood work, and I have very tiny, slow healing, veins. They can take up to a week to fully heal, mostly because the nurses tend to miss a few times. I am happy to report though that next week should be the last of my blood work, at least that's what the doctor tells me. :)

Generosity Awards:

In other news my hubby and I setup the crib as our first big baby project. I know this is a little late, but do you remember the generosity award? I was given two gifts.




This beautiful pen by Kat. I actually made a holder for it out of polymer clay and it is used for all my note taking at my work table. As a fellow polymer clay worker, I know how much work it took so I thank you very much.



I also got this painting by Kristen. It is hanging above my babies crib as his/her first painting when the baby is born. I love the bright colors and the hearts are just me, thanks a lot!

Polymer Clay Tutorial News:

I will be starting a 3-D flower tutorial just as I promised long ago this week. I am going to get back into the swing of things. ;)