oops! & yahoo!

worked on finishing 2 wreaths yesterday. attached one upside down to base and cracked a piece of the other one while gluing on spanish moss! (both similar circular red/green) i made about 8 marbled clay ornaments, which looked so beautiful. upon seeing them again, they are so plain, no depth. so today, i will attempt to attach gold foil, emboss, and stamp these to add some more dimension.

i created some Xmas ornaments when staffing the community art center on tuesday. i am so

pleased with these felted santas! i needle felted them using Wendsleydale curly wool. beautiful stuff!!! it's hard to see: they are embellished - eyes and mouth- with beads. not sure whether to use these as ornaments or pins...

trying to be patient with polymer clay

i love the colors, the texture when still soft, the look after baking, polymer clay takes detail so well and patience for the detailing i have not. at least not in this area. i love mixing colors and achieving a tye-dyed, swirled color effect -each time unpredictable, beautifully different.

but working small in this medium is almost a must: so i use it in special situations. i have made a couple of masks from polymer clay, and now working on 3 wreaths. the first 2 are a series of overlapping circles. made of skinner blends - red to yellow and yellow to blue. each circle will have a half of a rolled bead on it. i used a special gloss varnish from fimo as i was not sure about using any of my other finishes; i under

stand that pieces can become sticky and this is not a good thing. i sprinkled some gold metallic perfect pearls powder over the first group of circles and mixed the powder and varnish then applied it, on the second set. 2 coats. should i coat the back???

third set is cooking: an angel and stars in a mix of silver and red, textured with a piece of lace. interesting and unexpected. if a common holiday theme.

and onto polymer wreaths

i began working with skinner blends using a pasta machine to roll out the polymer clay (sculpey) i was using what i had (not much) to make 3 " circles and had to piece pieces of blended clay, which is time consuming and not really a reliable way to do this. but mostly lovely. i also just undermixed the colors so that the blends weren't continuous gradations, but with a bit more steaking of colors. i finally made it to Joann's and renewed my supply of clay to finish this first and maybe, more wreaths. only bought red, blue, yellow, and a bit of green ( to facilitate some color blending).

i will continue to work on this project. i am finding the goal of completing one medium a week is quite impractical, but a good starting point and also a guideline, not a rule. because i am enjoying the wire so immensely and working with it in a satisfying way, i am continuing on that particular path while the inspiration is there. forays with the polymer will be completed this week - for the wreaths. hope to use more skinner blends, cookie cutter shape and perhaps some image transfers.

as i have committed myself to a holiday craft fair in mid November, i am also continuing to finish some beaded necklaces and earrings, and more of the felted barrettes, which i adore! i bought a glass head and added a voluptuous halloween wig to display some barrettes, and also a gourd with purple sticky-uppy hair to display others. i want to attract some interest with the display.

so i have once again gone in many directions at once. my goal was to focus on one medium or technique at a time, but this is just not a possiblity in my world! it's what i aim for, but often the materials take me on an adventure. i must go! i feel good if i am working in the studio, enjoying the work, and hopefully, the results.

it's all good.

more wire sculptures

i am really having fun with wire faces: all one continuous piece of wire- annealed black 16 gauge. these are hanging on the side of my garage/studio. orbs are another group of assorted sizes i have made and continue to make. i am picturing a room full of hanging orbs; many hanging wire spheres with special lighting. cool! but a big project. will continue to cogitate on this one. the images have been altered; i am liking the ones that become a line drawing with no dimension... i need to take a few more photos with my camera instead of my phone. (couldn't find the camera this morning and instead of searching endlessly, i opted to go with the alternative).