Oh what fun....
Dec 30, 2007
Wire Inspirations for the New Year!
A few wire things I have done in the past. Couldn't find a bigger picture of the Gold Viking braid I made in 1994 (below). I made this one with a variation by braiding in Carnelian and Pearls. The second picture I used Sterling Silver Wire and semiprecious stones and for the star I used Sterling silver and Labradorite.
Just a couple more days and we'll ring in another "Yar". Right now the decor of Christmas Lights, Trees, Ornaments, Poinsettias and other Decor is keeping me away from getting to my crafting supplies. Only a bead addict can understand how badly I want to pack away the Holidays and get started again! lol
I have a few projects waiting to be finished, including a Herringbone stitch necklace rope. I've made a few of these, but finding interesting ways to end them has always been a challenge. I made some from polymer clay which look alright when the pendant is also polymer clay, but when the pendant is beadembroidery or wire, then those endings should also match these focal points in some way. For wire pendants I wanted some metal endings and yesterday I found my muse by stumbling upon this cool website by Iza Malczyk, a polish wire artist. (My parents are both polish born, but thats another story). She has a tutorial for the end cap in the Summer 2007 issue of the Step by Step Wire Jewelry Magazine. The tutorial is also available on her Etsy site. I think this will be the perfect ending for some of my projects (pun not intended).
Like Iza, I've learned a few things from the renouned Eni Oken
Eni has some great tutorials on her site. They are quite reasonably priced considering the many pictures and pages that go with each tutorial. Some are even free!
Just a couple more days and we'll ring in another "Yar". Right now the decor of Christmas Lights, Trees, Ornaments, Poinsettias and other Decor is keeping me away from getting to my crafting supplies. Only a bead addict can understand how badly I want to pack away the Holidays and get started again! lol
I have a few projects waiting to be finished, including a Herringbone stitch necklace rope. I've made a few of these, but finding interesting ways to end them has always been a challenge. I made some from polymer clay which look alright when the pendant is also polymer clay, but when the pendant is beadembroidery or wire, then those endings should also match these focal points in some way. For wire pendants I wanted some metal endings and yesterday I found my muse by stumbling upon this cool website by Iza Malczyk, a polish wire artist. (My parents are both polish born, but thats another story). She has a tutorial for the end cap in the Summer 2007 issue of the Step by Step Wire Jewelry Magazine. The tutorial is also available on her Etsy site. I think this will be the perfect ending for some of my projects (pun not intended).
Like Iza, I've learned a few things from the renouned Eni Oken
Eni has some great tutorials on her site. They are quite reasonably priced considering the many pictures and pages that go with each tutorial. Some are even free!
Dec 27, 2007
what a fun swap!
This was a SWAP! hosted by the Canadian Beaders swap in Yahoo Groups. The theme was the 31 days of Christmas and involved handcrafted and purchased things. Polymer clay and Beadwork was a big inclusion. The participants were given a partner for whom to create a box full of Christmas related things. Each day involved a project, one day would be a handmade card, the next an ornament in a specific theme such as a candycane or snowflake, an ATC, a snowman.... I received many polymer clay ornaments, ribbons, beads, chocolate, scrapbooking materials. I'd say my partner outdid herself and I feel spoiled! Thanks Heather!
Dec 5, 2007
What are YOU up to.....
Haven't posted for a while because, if you saw my previous post, I was up to my ears in 'training' my new Vista. Finally got it settled some, but still working out a few kinks.
Then there was the 'dusting' and clean-up and bringing out the Christmas Decor.....yeeha!...argggh...first I needed to put up the shrink plastic window insulating stuff on two windows today. Looking forward to a colder winter and trying to conserve energy...then vacuuming behind the furniture and DUSTing everywhere, mopping the floors, vaccuuming the ceilings and corners. Then went shopping, driving 6+hours and I'm pooped, but still need to pack all the groceries away, the family sized meat packages into individual baggies and organize the cupboard with the fully stocked items. Finally, at 10 pm, plop on the couch....and at least one of the daughters decorated a little....oooohhhh how NICE!
What about my other creative outlets!?
Ok...I have to admit, I haven't been claying much. Not at all! Shame on me!
The excuse is a valid one. My work space is limited to one teeny desk right now, especially with Christmas around the corner. VERY LIMITED, almost tearfully so. When I don't have the room, I just can't get anything done! I need a large amount of visual stuff and having things in drawers....ahem, that doesn't work. When I clay, I need my foils, stamps, cutters, tools, papers, crystals, textures, inks.....I have to figure out SOMETHING!! because " Out of sight is out of mind!" That doesn't work. I need visual cues. I need some help! How can I be an artist when everything is packed AWAY.....
There is a small show on Saturday and tomorrow I will have to do a mock-setup, just so I don't have to fuss with it too much when the time comes.....
Then there was the 'dusting' and clean-up and bringing out the Christmas Decor.....yeeha!...argggh...first I needed to put up the shrink plastic window insulating stuff on two windows today. Looking forward to a colder winter and trying to conserve energy...then vacuuming behind the furniture and DUSTing everywhere, mopping the floors, vaccuuming the ceilings and corners. Then went shopping, driving 6+hours and I'm pooped, but still need to pack all the groceries away, the family sized meat packages into individual baggies and organize the cupboard with the fully stocked items. Finally, at 10 pm, plop on the couch....and at least one of the daughters decorated a little....oooohhhh how NICE!
What about my other creative outlets!?
Ok...I have to admit, I haven't been claying much. Not at all! Shame on me!
The excuse is a valid one. My work space is limited to one teeny desk right now, especially with Christmas around the corner. VERY LIMITED, almost tearfully so. When I don't have the room, I just can't get anything done! I need a large amount of visual stuff and having things in drawers....ahem, that doesn't work. When I clay, I need my foils, stamps, cutters, tools, papers, crystals, textures, inks.....I have to figure out SOMETHING!! because " Out of sight is out of mind!" That doesn't work. I need visual cues. I need some help! How can I be an artist when everything is packed AWAY.....
There is a small show on Saturday and tomorrow I will have to do a mock-setup, just so I don't have to fuss with it too much when the time comes.....
Nov 28, 2007
I want to work with PC - polymer clay, but instead am figuring out my new PC...
Not without pain or funny sarcasm. I was sooooo excited to hook up my new computer. It'll be faster! It'll have more room! It'll be easier to navigate!
Not! My old Windows ME was a reliable tool for seven years. Some people groaned when they would hear I had an ME, but for me it was easy because I knew it inside and out. I felt like a happy geek!
This new PC, Vista Home Premium, lol...well, it already has issues right out of the box. I now wonder if I should have heeded that funny commercial on TV where the Mac and PC have a mediator who keeps asking "Allow or disallow" and PC says "Allow" several times and then the announcer says:"And PC comes to a sad realization..." ....."Allow". Yup, I already have problems with the Display driver (which is uptodate), error windows popping up here and there and some of my older programs such as CorelDraw 8 don't work at all, won't install properly or things don't get recognized, even though I tried installing it so that Vista 'thinks' it is an older O/S which Vista recommends, ha! Finally got my MS PictureIt publisher 2001 to work that way, but then it IS a microsoft product. Yikes...after a full week I think I have spent enough days trying to figure out what I needed to figure out...not! One would think this new platform was supposed to be easier, not more difficult. Mr. Gates has nothing better to do than 'improving' things that should well enough be left alone. Just when Windows XP with SP2 was getting its legs, lol, along comes a new and improved system.
Can you afford and buy a new and improved program every time he adds something new? or do you want to...lol, there IS a difference. 7 years is really not that long! and I feel guilty taking the bait! We have become such a throw-away society that way. What happens to all the discarded computers? Only so many can be recycled and rebuilt!
Corel wants me to throw away the 10 year old version because they want me to support them a bit by spending another $489 for its full version...and the Drawing program isn't really any different than the old version! Very much the same, except.....the colour Palette has changed. So what I have had to resort to right now...I got the 15 day trial version installed, opened all my files that I used for printing my own jewelry labels such as earring, necklace cards, business cards etc etc and exported them into Microsoft Office , so that I can actually still print them...for 60 days because MS Office is only a Trial version also. Haha on me, eh? Haven't tried installing my old 2000 version yet, haha. I won't have another Corel Program available and its extensions .cdr files ONLY open with Corel. I am stubborn and refuse to give Corel any more money when I feel I shouldn't have to. Instead I still have my Serif Draw which is a Freeware Program from the UK. It works fine, but not quite as many features as my old Corel. I should have saved for another couple of years and bought a MAC. Unfortunately, even though I was patient enough, my reliable ME with only 127mb ram was getting tooooooo slowwwwww and I had to defrag, clean disc, clean temp folders on a weekly basis and reboot countless times....poor thing. (Gosh, now I feel SORRY for my old computer, no wonder they call it PERSONAL computer...am getting personal, lol).
OH, I shouldn't complain so much, there ARE a few pluses for this new one. It has LOTS of storage space. It is light! It has 360 GB for room, but actually ONLY has 250 left because VISTA is such a pig when it comes to taking up room, lol. It is nice and quiet though! And it has lots of free trial versions of programs. Its a trial alright.....
Mr. Gates....now I KNOW why you and your partners at Corel, Adobe and Norton are so rich!!....Haha on me. My final lesson...the cost of upgrading doesn't just involve the Hardware. Oh, how I wish I could have stuck with ME, but only a faster RAM.
Not! My old Windows ME was a reliable tool for seven years. Some people groaned when they would hear I had an ME, but for me it was easy because I knew it inside and out. I felt like a happy geek!
This new PC, Vista Home Premium, lol...well, it already has issues right out of the box. I now wonder if I should have heeded that funny commercial on TV where the Mac and PC have a mediator who keeps asking "Allow or disallow" and PC says "Allow" several times and then the announcer says:"And PC comes to a sad realization..." ....."Allow". Yup, I already have problems with the Display driver (which is uptodate), error windows popping up here and there and some of my older programs such as CorelDraw 8 don't work at all, won't install properly or things don't get recognized, even though I tried installing it so that Vista 'thinks' it is an older O/S which Vista recommends, ha! Finally got my MS PictureIt publisher 2001 to work that way, but then it IS a microsoft product. Yikes...after a full week I think I have spent enough days trying to figure out what I needed to figure out...not! One would think this new platform was supposed to be easier, not more difficult. Mr. Gates has nothing better to do than 'improving' things that should well enough be left alone. Just when Windows XP with SP2 was getting its legs, lol, along comes a new and improved system.
Can you afford and buy a new and improved program every time he adds something new? or do you want to...lol, there IS a difference. 7 years is really not that long! and I feel guilty taking the bait! We have become such a throw-away society that way. What happens to all the discarded computers? Only so many can be recycled and rebuilt!
Corel wants me to throw away the 10 year old version because they want me to support them a bit by spending another $489 for its full version...and the Drawing program isn't really any different than the old version! Very much the same, except.....the colour Palette has changed. So what I have had to resort to right now...I got the 15 day trial version installed, opened all my files that I used for printing my own jewelry labels such as earring, necklace cards, business cards etc etc and exported them into Microsoft Office , so that I can actually still print them...for 60 days because MS Office is only a Trial version also. Haha on me, eh? Haven't tried installing my old 2000 version yet, haha. I won't have another Corel Program available and its extensions .cdr files ONLY open with Corel. I am stubborn and refuse to give Corel any more money when I feel I shouldn't have to. Instead I still have my Serif Draw which is a Freeware Program from the UK. It works fine, but not quite as many features as my old Corel. I should have saved for another couple of years and bought a MAC. Unfortunately, even though I was patient enough, my reliable ME with only 127mb ram was getting tooooooo slowwwwww and I had to defrag, clean disc, clean temp folders on a weekly basis and reboot countless times....poor thing. (Gosh, now I feel SORRY for my old computer, no wonder they call it PERSONAL computer...am getting personal, lol).
OH, I shouldn't complain so much, there ARE a few pluses for this new one. It has LOTS of storage space. It is light! It has 360 GB for room, but actually ONLY has 250 left because VISTA is such a pig when it comes to taking up room, lol. It is nice and quiet though! And it has lots of free trial versions of programs. Its a trial alright.....
Mr. Gates....now I KNOW why you and your partners at Corel, Adobe and Norton are so rich!!....Haha on me. My final lesson...the cost of upgrading doesn't just involve the Hardware. Oh, how I wish I could have stuck with ME, but only a faster RAM.
Nov 2, 2007
Day 2 for the Chakra Canes
It was day 2 for making chakra canes, but boy oh boy!! was it ever COLD out there today. What was I doing outside? Well, for now my polymer clay making is confined to the 'sun-room' which has no heat and isn't a sealed room, so its like sitting outside with only protection from wind and rain. No sun today, but rain and the thing with the cold...I had to keep my clay in my bra otherwise the conditioning of it would have taken forEVER, lol. Wellllll, it did take a long time because I used my Fimo clays because I have so many of them stocked. Each cane took about 2 bars including black and pearl.
These are the two I came up with, they're not perfect as I worked pretty fast, but reperesent the Solar Plexus and Heart Chakras quite well, I feel. Perhaps you can see the sparkles because I only used Pearl white for the filler. I have no idea yet what I will do with these, but maybe something similar to the Harmony jewelry pieces I make. The next canes will be the Throat and Brow Chakra. The Throat chakra cane shall be tricky as I need to put 16 petals around the outside. But it won't be as tricky as the last one....the Crown Chakra with a 1000 petals!!! I don't think I can do a 1000....will see....
These are the two I came up with, they're not perfect as I worked pretty fast, but reperesent the Solar Plexus and Heart Chakras quite well, I feel. Perhaps you can see the sparkles because I only used Pearl white for the filler. I have no idea yet what I will do with these, but maybe something similar to the Harmony jewelry pieces I make. The next canes will be the Throat and Brow Chakra. The Throat chakra cane shall be tricky as I need to put 16 petals around the outside. But it won't be as tricky as the last one....the Crown Chakra with a 1000 petals!!! I don't think I can do a 1000....will see....
Nov 1, 2007
Clay for pain-relief!
Today was absolutely gorgeous weather. Had to spent a bit of time outside, but no working in the yard 'cause I hurt my back and am stiff as a board! Thought I could undo the kinks with stretches, but instead found I needed help to put on my own socks. Arrrgh! I hate being sick or unable to do things for myself, so was in total self-denial....until the pain started talking!! And unfortunate me, no painkiller in the house other than ordinary shelf-stuff...so I spent some time claying to get my mind off of my back (sounds funny!). It worked for a couple of hours. Made some milifiori canes for what will be a set of 7 Chakra Petals, the symbols for the different chakras. I made Root Chakra and Sacral Chakra canes. The Sacral Chakra Cane before reducing. The Root Chakra reduced and a couple of slices. Tomorrow I plan on making the Solar Plexus and Heart Chakra Canes.
Oct 29, 2007
Taking proper pics ain't easy
Learning to take proper pics isn't easy. I thought it was, but being forever picky and not wanting to spend eons in a photoshop program, lol, welllll...
First I built one of those cardboard photo boxes. That didn't last because the paper inside kept getting crumpled. I looked at professional light boxes online, but spending more than a $100 bucks wasn't very appealing. So I finally bought one of those large clear frosted tote bins and some posterboard to line the inside, all for $12 bucks. I already have 3 daylight lamps for working. They aren't all the same, but they work. I had to fiddle with the exposure level in the camera. First tried EV-.3 and white balance for indoors. Awful! Everything had a blue tinge and very dark, even with all the lights.
Finally worked myself up to a EV+1.0 and white balance on Auto. Much better.
Can't decide whether I like the EV+1.0 or +1.3 which is even brighter....What do you think?
First I built one of those cardboard photo boxes. That didn't last because the paper inside kept getting crumpled. I looked at professional light boxes online, but spending more than a $100 bucks wasn't very appealing. So I finally bought one of those large clear frosted tote bins and some posterboard to line the inside, all for $12 bucks. I already have 3 daylight lamps for working. They aren't all the same, but they work. I had to fiddle with the exposure level in the camera. First tried EV-.3 and white balance for indoors. Awful! Everything had a blue tinge and very dark, even with all the lights.
Finally worked myself up to a EV+1.0 and white balance on Auto. Much better.
Can't decide whether I like the EV+1.0 or +1.3 which is even brighter....What do you think?
Oct 16, 2007
Finished Pieces
This morning my relatives left after a week of visiting. It was hectic with a lot of cooking and outings. We had relatively good weather for this area and it only began pouring again yesterday, so we stayed indoors and I showed my niece how to make some flower necklaces. I also finished a few more pieces such as these ones which includes a couple of the imitative ceramic tiles that I had made a few days ago and also one of the faces:
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