Getting show ready

I've been working on additional flower applique pieces as well as cameos for a show we have next weekend.  I wish I had more time to devote to claying, but, what can you do??

This piece was made with a mold of a cameo my daughter found.  I really liked the whole body in Victorian dress.  I made the cameo with a faux mother of pearl mix and placed it on a purple background.  Twisted black clay was used for the outer edge and was lightly covered with silver gilders paste.  To finish the piece, I strung it on three thin purple ribbons.

I love tulips, but find they don't seem to bloom for long {might be my lack of a green thumb!}  What better way to enjoy them than to make them last forever in clay.  I placed three white tulips on a red heart and brushed the edges with rose colored pearlex powder.  Three red ribbons finish the piece.  I covered the entire piece with Kato liquid clay.

Hopefully, I'll have some time next week to make a few more before the show.

Til next time, stay safe and be happy.

Polymer applique flowers

I haven't been writing lately, my Mom passed and it's been a difficult few months.

I'm trying to get back into clay mode and have been browsing the internet for a spark.  I came across a tutorial for applique flowers {by Renee of Piper Pixie Designs} and saw many different, beautiful pendants on Pinterest.  I think it's just what I needed.

Over the last few weeks, I've made several pendants.  I think it's going to take some more practice to get them to the level of what I've seen, but, I really like the technique and am pleased with the results.

If you like the results, you can find many more examples on Pinterest.  There are also tutorials on You Tube. 

Til next time, stay safe and be happy.

Making button molds and buttons with polymer clay

and...here is the new tutorial I finished yesterday.  Enjoy.

Hand Made Viking Knit Tool

Yea, I figured out how to load my tutorials.  I love technology!

Tutorials

I hope everyone had a good Valentine's Day!  With the crazy weather we have been having, I also hope everyone has been safe and warm.  We were pretty lucky.  Lost electricity for a while one day and had some branches come off trees in the back yard.  Fortunately, none of the branches hit the house.  It was pretty intense for a while.  So looking forward to warmer weather.

It's been a few weeks since I've been able to devote time to my jewelry making.  I really need to try and focus on one thing at a time.  I'll watch a video tutorial, then go crazy making whatever the tutorial was about.  Example; viking knit....I know I've mentioned this several times and even made a knitting tool to use.  Now, I have multiple "chains" in different colors laying around my work space.

My goal of spending time each week in my studio hasn't come to fruition yet.  It might help if I made a calender and developed a schedule to follow!  Uhh, maybe not.  I'll just try to go with the flow.  Yesterday, however, I found my muse and spent the day there.  I am pleased to say, I was fairly productive.  I completed a piece for the February Polymer Clay Central challenge {hopefully, they will accept my entry - make sure you check it out and vote for your favorite, just follow the link: http://polymerclaycentral.com/,} made another tutorial for you tube for making molds for buttons: http://youtu.be/sxFzQ-LPUbI,  made a tree of life mold and took pictures I'm going to use for another tutorial, and... partially straightened my clay drawer.      

Til next time, stay safe and be happy!

Updated website

I've been working on my website and ended up redoing the entire site.  The company I use {weebly.com} updated the styles and other options and I found a style that I think fits with my vision better.

While I am continuing to add products, there are items for sale.  Feel free to browse and let me know if you are interested in any custom orders.  I hope you enjoy what you see.  Remember, no two items are exactly the same!

DreamWeaversDesigns.net

Til next time, stay safe and be happy.

Bracelets and more bracelets

Getting ready to start the new season of craft shows and my plan to be more active in my studio has been going well. 

I am always trying to think of better ways to show off my items when I am at shows, and will be investigating ways to set up my tables differently.  I don't want to spend a lot of money and need something that will store easily and without taking up too much space.  Hmmm, guess I'll have to put my thinking cap on!

I've been working on building my bracelet stock.  Thanks to Cindy Lietz and her wonderful bracelet tutorial, my motivation has been in full gear.  Here's a few more I've made.  I used viking knit for the top and bottom bracelet, but, decided to use a kumihimo for the one in the middle.  I'm pleased with how they turned out.

I've also been working on rebuilding my web site.  I use weebly and they recently changed their format, so I ended up deleting the old site and am working a few hours each day to get the new one up and running.  Hopefully, it won't take too much longer!

Til next time, stay safe and be happy.

Hand made Viking Knit tool

Happy New Year!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday.  I was lucky enough to have the week off.  One would think I would have been very productive.  Not!  This is the first vacation I've had that I did virtually nothing.  Watched some movies, did some Viking Knit....it was great.

I did manage to spend some time in my studio today.  I've watched a lot of videos the past few weeks on Viking Knit and was thinking about how I could make my own tool, without having to bend wires and use tape!  The idea came to me one night as I was trying to go to sleep.  {Don't all good ideas come then!!}  Luckily, I remembered my idea and made a tool that didn't require any extra wires or tape.  Of all the video's I've watched, I haven't seen anything quite like this, so I decided to make a tutorial of my own.      

This was my first attempt at making a video for You Tube.  All in all I think it turned out pretty good...I found a way to make it using my Picasa 3 editing program.  Next time, I may try a speaking tutorial, who knows??!!?

If you like, feel free to add comments, questions or ideas to the video.

Til next time, stay safe and be happy!

Happy Holidays

Well, it's almost here!  Shopping done - check, Christmas Tree up - check, gifts wrapped - check, worked half day today - Yea!  Hope, if you are celebrating, you are ready and can enjoy the holiday.  That's what I'm doing the rest of the day today, and tomorrow!

I have been making an effort to spend time, weekly, in my studio.  I find if I take a few hours each week I can make several things, further organize the room and just work on getting the creative juices flowing.  So far, so good. 

I'm sure I've mentioned Cindy Lietz before.  She's a polymer clay expert and has video tutorials you can subscribe to.  The videos come out monthly and the price is right, so, I've been following her for a few years now.  Recently she did a tutorial on faux enamel and viking knit.  As usual, I couldn't wait to try it.

Here are a few pieces I made this past week. 

I've downloaded a few photo editing programs and have been trying to figure out how to work them.  My goal is to retake pictures of my inventory and redo my website.  If your are interested you can download Picasa 3 and Photoscape.  They were both free.  Just make sure when you load the Picasa that you decline the ads.  I made the mistake of thinking it was part of the download process and I thought I didn't have an option to decline.  Well, several weeks later and with the help of my neighbor {IT genius}, I got the ads off and reloaded the program.  It should be interesting to see what difference it will make with my photos.  The picture above was done on Photoscape.  I thought the frame was appropriate for the season!

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a fruitful New Year!  Til next time, stay safe and be happy.

Shopping frenzy???

Yes, I did brave the crowds to go out last Friday to try to finish up my Christmas shopping.  I have to say, it wasn't bad.  We only went to a few stores, as I knew what I wanted.  The first stop I made was to Michaels.  They had a great sale and I ended up getting quite a discount! 

 It was nice to have a four day weekend.  Thanksgiving was quiet; just four of us, but the turkey turned out great {we'll be eating leftovers forever!}, the weather was gorgeous, and the Ravens won!!!!  Besides celebrating and shopping, I had a chance to catch up on watching my video tutorials from Cindy Lietz.  That in itself can be dangerous....she always has such neat information and ideas, I am inclined to expand my jewelry making repertoire {hence Michaels and the "great" savings}.  One of the videos I watched was for an owl charm.  There was also a charm made of metal that she stamped.  So, of course, I have been searching the web for any information I can find on metalsmithing and bought some metal sheets at Michaels.  I also made a trip to Polymer Clay Express yesterday for additional supplies.  It's great to have them so close. 

My daughter has been asking me for months to make her a tree of life pendant with her children's birthstone colors.   I was finally able to put a piece together for her.  I wanted to add a crystal for her and her husband, however, I didn't have the colors I needed.  Still, I'm pleased with how it turned out.

Well, the weekend is almost over; time to get some housework done.  At least I don't have to worry about what's for dinner tonight!

Til next time; stay safe and be happy.