Polymer Clay Makes me Smile

Polymer clay is such a fun and expressive medium. It is always fun to look at what my fellow 'Smooshers have been up to.  So many talented individuals each with a unique voice.   The versatility of Polymer clay never ceases to amaze me.

Desert Rubble's Steampunk jewelry and accessories always make me smile! This steampunk angelfish is so fun. 

Steampunk Angelfish by Desert Rubble

Tamed's  mini-sculptures (doll house sized) are sweet and whimsical!  Who can't help but smile at this guy?

Miniature Dog Figurine by Tamed

Maybe it's the spring mood I'm in, but this leafy necklace by Emily Claire Creations put a smile on my face!  Earthy and expressive combination of polymer clay, beads and copper.

Spring Leaf by EM + Mad (Emily Claire Creations)

Chocolate - who can't smile at that! Wonderful mini iced chocolate cake by Hafina's Minis!

Red Velvet Milk Chocolate Iced Cake by Haffina's Minis

My Garden - Image Heavy!

Wow, it's been over a month since I last posted!  Spring has really gotten to me - I've been doing some serious gardening! It's just so wonderful to be outside.

Part of my moon garden. White, cream and light colored flowers in this section.  I found some white flowering thyme last week to add to it!

I'm working on replacing the grass path (what a pain to mow) that runs through the moon garden with pavers.

Lupines! I started these from seeds last year.  I can't believe how big they are!

 This is my mini rock garden.  Featuring a very large bowl we bought in Springdale Utah. Unfortunately, it did not survive intact, the move from California to Washington.

View of my veggie garden. 

Yummy lettuce!

Chive blossoms.  These things reseed like mad!  The blossoms are edible and have a very pungent onion taste. I love them!

That's all the pictures for now - I'll have more to post later.

I'm nearly caught up in the garden.  I have a few more plants to stick in the ground, and seeds to fling here and there.  Plus the moon-garden path to finish.  Not really that bad compared to a couple of months ago.  I was pretty frustrated with it.  Never did a proper fall clean up of the veggie beds.  And I thought I had lost all my roses to cold weather.  Most of them are bouncing back.  Only lost two at this point.

March Polymer Clay Smooshers Challenge

The theme for March's Smoosher's Challenge was "tribal".  I was inspired to create some "faux bronze" some pictures I found of some ancient Celtic artifacts. 

I created a mix of copper and black Kato polymer clay.   I used a few basic tools for making pendants and beads.  The needle tool and sandpaper are invaluable for adding texture.  The little orange bit is a triangle shaped template made from orange card stock.

Here are a few of them after being cured in the oven.  I "abused" them quite a bit with the sandpaper and needle tool.

After curing I Added some acrylic paint to age and highlight the details.  I first used thalo green - brushed it on and rubbed it off.  Then I hit the highlights with metallic bronze. After that, I did a quick 10 minutes in the oven.

To better emulate ancient bronze, there should have been more green in the final product.  But, I am pleased with how they turned out.  Note in this closeup, the crack in the round pendant. (The penny is there for scale)

And here is a picture of the final necklace.  For the blue, black and white beads, I created a simple cane.  I purposely made sure the cane slices were not round and did a little color blending here and there.  I attacked with sandpaper and the needle tool.  Patina and age was added with burnt umber paint.  Inspiration for the beads came from this page of Celtic artifacts.

Aussen Wolf Designs

Aussen Wolf Designs, is featured this week by the Guild,  "Shops with less than 10 Sales".  More information is on the Guild blog.

Aussen Wolf's jewelry is sophisticated and beautifully crafted. This necklace one of my favorite pieces!  I love the color combination  and wire work in this  blue turquoise and white magnesite necklace.

I really like the shape of these copper fan earrings.   Besides that, I am partial to copper and red!

Gotta love a necklace that can be dressy or casual.  I'm thinking this black and silver multistrand necklace needs to be worn with dressy black jeans!

Nearly Done with New Banner

I've been working on a new banner for my Artfire studio and  my blog.  I think I've been working on it forever! Originally, I had planned on using watercolors, but I ended up using color pencils instead. I've been having quite a bit of fun with them.  Although, I do get frustrated with them when sharpening - they tend to break real easily.

The art for the banner it is too large for the scanner bed.  I'm hoping I can get a good photograph of it.  Also, I see from this picture a lot of the details are getting lost when shrinking it down.  But, I think it will still work.  I am almost done with.  After that I need to do the avatar.  Once I finish both, I'm going to do some revamping of my Artfire Studio. 


But, spring is slowing me down!  The weather is nice and the outdoors keeps calling me!  Like right now. . .

A Spring Day in the Garden

Spring is here, and my forsythia is blooming.  Today was beautiful with some wonderful 70+ degree weather.  I think I finally thawed out.  Maybe I can finally put my long johns away!  


Some of my fruit trees have started to bloom.  They are pretty young, so I haven't gotten a lot of fruit off of them yet. 

This year, my Santa Rosa plum is covered with blossoms!  This is the first year it has had any substantial blossoms.  I'm hoping for plums this year!

Peaches and nectarines are blooming as well. I'm hoping for a decent crop of Red Haven peaches this year. My other peach and nectarine are too young to yield much this year.

I have quite a bit of work to do this year - I never did get all my fall clean-up completed.

Today, we planted another peach tree and 6 merlot grape vines. We have another pluot tree to plant.  We may get anther peach tree to plant (not sure yet).

I'm a little behind on my spring veggie planting.  I've planted a few potatoes and Walla-Wall onions.  I really need to get peas, lettuce, carrots, beets, turnips and any other random cool season crops planted.  Maybe tomorrow!

Spirit Girl Jewelry and Art

This week's featured shop by the Artfire guild, "Shops With Less Than 10 Sales", is Spirit Girl Jewelry and Art.  Check out the guild blog for more information about Spirit Girl and her wonderful jewelry and art.  While you are there be sure to enter the monthly giveaway - just leave a comment on the blog.

Here are a few of Spirit Girl's beautiful jewelry pieces.  I love the rich color of this bracelet featuring lapis lazuli.

This necklace would look great with dressy blue jeans!

Lovely triple strand cross necklace!