Texture beads revisited

So far, the weather here below the Emerald City has been pretty mild for winter time.  We had one snow episode that lasted not even a day before it melted away.  When I see what the rest of the country has had to endure weather wise, I realize how lucky I am to live where I do.  Sure, I do have to put up with SAD due to the almost constant greyness, but Vitamin D and light therapy has helped make it more bearable in the recent years.

   The one complaint I had about the snow day was that I got stuck at the hospital where I work overnight.  That would not have been so bad, but it was the day for sign up for Lori Anderson's Bead Shop Blog Hop.  We are not allowed to access things like blogs, FB etc, from work so I missed it.  No Bead Soup for me this year .... Whaaaa ....

I finally set foot in the studio again after several months of the blahs.  I revisited a tried and true method for me .... texture beads (a big thank you to Lydia Moseley from Diva Designs for the tut).  I experimented with different way to color and finish the beads and now it is time to share them with you. 

  This first picture is the overview of some of  the beads ... several coloring methods included.

 These beads where colored with Pan Pastel Chalks and then I used shoe polish to antique them.  I really like the gritty look they have.  What was great when I made these, was that I was getting over my cold, and still had a stuffy nose. I couldn't smell the polish!  I don't use polish as much as I would like, because of the smell.

 These were colored with Pan Pastels also, but I used Black Kato LC to finish. I love this stamp for creating texture (Cool Tools) 

These beads were also colored with Pan Pastel chalk.  I used black to highlight, and thought it would be too much to also use black LC, so I finished with clear Kato LC.

These beads were colored with acrylic paint and black LC used to antique.  The texture was really not deep enough to get good contrast, but this look can be nice too.

These two sets were colored with chalks.  I only colored the highlighted areas, which created more of a contrast with the black LC.

And lastly, beads that I highlighted with mica powders for the color.  I used both black and clear Kato Liquid Clay for the finishing.  The mica powders were applied before baking, and for the most part stayed on the beads.  If you look closely at the darker green beads, you can see that the powder did not stay put ... when applying the LC, it drifted down into the "valleys" and gave a bit of color there too. 

And, of course, it wouldn't be my blog unless I shared a pix of the cutest kitten in the world (just MHO, of course).  The Quinnitator is getting bigger by the day, and is swiftly taking over dominating the other Underfeet. 

I'm FINALLY tuckered out....think I'll rest a minute or two before attacking your toes again!

I LOVE Serendipity

ser·en·dip·i·ty

n. pl. ser·en·dip·i·ties

1. The faculty of making fortunate discoveries by accident.

2. The fact or occurrence of such discoveries.

3. An instance of making such a discovery.

This is what happened this week when I decided to do a little first of the year (dare I say it) CLEANING in my studio.

I have a tendency to put all my left over clays to the side on my work table.  I have a tile set there that accumulates scraps of clay.  Usually I wait till I have a goodly amount, and then mix it all together for bead guts or the base of a veneer (if the color is right).  

   It was time for the wading of the clay.  I started running it through my PM to blend, but for some reason I happened to actually LOOK at the colors the blending was making.  Maybe it was because my studio TV no longer works and I was not distracted, but I noticed that the colors created stripes - so  I stacked them.

Side view of stack

Then I sliced the stack long ways and laid the slices on a base.  After braying to flatten, I rolled the resulting piece length ways through the PM to thin it.  

Used this sheet as a veneer.  I am amazed that this resulted from mixing my left over clays. This is so not the color palette that I normally gravitate to, but is the result of colors that  I normally use. Weird.  It kinda resembles wood grain.  

The shine comes from using shoe polish as a finish. I read somewhere about
using this as a finish.  Curious to see how long it lasts

Needless to say, I did not get much cleaning done in the studio. But I did spark a bit of creative fever and hopefully help get me out of the winter slump.

I just bought Lydia Moseley's latest tut on Faux Finishes.  Have not had time to do more than just give it a quick first read through.  Oh, goodie, (clapping hands with joy) there is SOOOO much information AND it looks like I HAVE to make a trip to a craft store for even more stuff.  Well, it is actually a sunny day and a trip to the outside world for something other than work will do me good.

Stupor Times

Not much is going on creatively these days.  I am in the midst of my winter stupor.  Kinda like the bear (that Lord Opuson insists is my totem), I tend to hibernate during the greys.  I have gotten several new books that I have been reading and thinking VERY hard about, but the drive to actually DO something just isn't there. The SAD really has a grip on me hard this year.

A huge bright spot in my life these last couple of weeks,  has been the addition of the Mighty Little Quinn.  I know that I am already deemed the crazy cat lady, so what is one more?

She and the rest of her siblings were found under the house when DH crawled under there  to turn on the water for our new refrigerator (which started leaking yesterday, causing a mad scrabble back under the house - no new kittens this time, thank goodness).

Found homes for the 4 other babies, but this cutie I just couldn't resist (I know that I should say no to more, but when you see her pix, you will understand).  She gets along so well with the boys, she follows them around like a little sister (which was what we were calling her till I could find a good name).  According to the "name your cat" source I found on-line, Quinn is Celtic for "fifth".

Quinn bonding with Lord Opuson

Quinn and Zinger Looking down on us mere mortals from the lofty height
of their cat perch

This little face just melts my heart.

Christi Class Day 2

The polymer classes were held during our "at sea" days.  That way, when we are in port, we can leave the ship and take an island tour, go have fun on a sailboat, snorkel or explore on our own.

The claydies (+ one gentleman) were divided into 3 groups.  Each group meet with a different teacher on class days.  I was in Group C, and my first class was with my favorite clay lady ... Christi Freisen.  I have been lucky enough to take numerous classes from her and she has never failed to entertain while instructing.  We had several people new to clay in our group, so it was great that they started their intro into the polymer world with someone who makes learning so easy.

      The first time I met her was on the 2009 Polymer cruise. I was having so much fun, that I hardly wanted to leave the classroom to go into port.  Lord Opuson talked me into it one morning, but it was sooo hot and humid, that we quickly went back the ship.  I went back to the classroom and my hubbie got bored without me. Christi  was in the classroom too and  she actually talked my husband into trying his hand at clay sculpt. First time out, he made a dolphin! So impressive, as my hubby is NOT physically artistic ... he can use words like a paint brush when he writes,  but give him a real paint brush, and all the paint will end up on him, the walls, the floors ...  anywhere but the canvas.
    I ramble, but the gist of what I am saying, is that if you want to learn clay and be successful the first time out ... take a class from Christi Freisen.

Christi's theme was aquatic life.  We made little underwater themes.  (I apologize for the picture quality - I have taken better pix now that I am home, but can not find my camera's download cable anywhere. These pix were taken in the classroom with room lighting)

Love this technigue for making jelly fish

Christi's instructions for Octopi are sooo good, I made this
cutie first tme out  

 The instructor's moved from table to table each night, so everyone would get a chance to eat with them.  This was Christi's night at our table.  If you look closely a my neckline, you can just make out my Leopold necklace that I made from her focal.

As I alluded to in previous posts, the ship was chocked full of art work.  I must have taken hundreds of pictures.  Ispiration everywhere! Doesn't this piece look like it was created from extruder cane?

And every night we would come back to the cabin to be greeted by the wimsey of Andrew, our steward....

Polymer Cruise Day 1

Sailing out of Fort Lauderdale.  A beautiful day for it.

 The boarding process went very well.  Hardly had to stand in line at all.  I have been on cruises before when I thought I would NEVER get on board. Royal Caribbean has it down to a fine art. 
  We originally were all to meet on the Lido deck, but since the Oasis does not have a Lido deck, it was decided to meet in the Windjammer Cafe.  Unfortunately for us, everyone else headed to the Windjammer too.  Several people tried to save spaces, but it was frowned on because there were so many people trying to get in and not enough seats for them all.  But so much food .... let the weight gain commence. Diet, what Diet????

The Windjammer one afternoon when the ship was in port.
Usually you can't see the food for all the people.

 There were soooo many good places to eat.  A lot of them were "free" - ie included in the cost of the cruise.  There were other specially restaurants that charged. I understand they were quite good.  There was even a Johnny Rocket's aboard.  They served breakfast at no charge, and during the rest of the day, you could have all you could eat for a minimal charge.  My only problem with that was that they were on the Boardwalk section of the ship, which was outside ( not air conditioned), so was too hot and muggy for me to be comfortable.
   Lord Opuson soon discovered the adult only section of the ship, and the Bistro there. Not as much food as the Windjammer, but a much more relaxed atmosphere and lots of seating. We ate there a lot, esp. in the morning.

All these plants are real.  The gardeners make constant rounds to
ensure that all plants are at their peak health.

 Central park was my favorite part of the ship.  A floating garden.  Spent a lot of time walking here, snapping pix of the flowers, sitting on the benches and enjoying the scenery. 

Saturday night was opening ceremonies for the Polymer portion of the cruise.  We all met in the conference center (yeah, good lighting and open space!!!).  Meet and greet occurred, with lots of fun and laughs. 


Maureen Carlson opened the ceremonies by blowing a blast on a conch shell.
She is talented in so many ways, but who knew this was one of them!

We had been given our goodie bags at the hotel the night before.  Everything other than the pasta machine and work surface had been included.  We were told what items to bring to class in the morning.   Then there were awards - crowns for the polymer princesses who have cruised twice before, and lovely sterling pearl necklaces for those of us who have cruised 3 or more times with this generous group.

Then we were free to pursue other shipboard interests, or be like me and go to bed since the first class started at 0900.  I am not a morning person, so it was hard for me to adjust. I found I was getting up at the time I normally went to bed.  I find that even now that I am back at home, I am still waking early. Have to get back into the j.o.b. groove and stay up past 10 pm. LOL

Polymer Paradise

I have been sadly neglecting my blogging of late.
First, I was cleaning and getting ready for my trip.  Having a house sitter coming in was great inspiration towards getting rid of all the dust and cobwebs that have accumulated over time. I am NOT a "good" housekeeper by any means. My mother was fastidious to the point of white glove clean, and as a result her children (being of creative natures) feel there are more important things to do in life than clean.  Needless to say, there were lots of nooks and crannies that had been ignored for a while.

Then, the second honeymoon and polymer clay cruise began.  Got back Thursday night. Spent Friday unpacking, and resting up. Vacations can be so tiring.  Today I was organising the over 900 pictures I took on our two week trip. My camera got a real work out.  If you had a chance to look at my photo album, though, you might wonder a bit about my subject matter.  Of course, I was taking pictures of the scenery, people, etc - the usual vacation pix. But, there are numerous photo of flowers, and trees, and houses, and textures, and artwork on the ship.  There was an historic cannon that I saw in San Francisco and my first thought was "ooooh, look at that PATINA!"

I wonder how I can duplicate this patina.....Swellegant, maybe???

For those who are not familiar, Lisa Pavelka and her business partner, Lisa Lambright, organise cruise vacations that also include classes.  In this instance, the classes were in polymer clay.  They invite great teachers to accompany them and a fun time is had by all. This was my third cruise with them, and so far the best, IMHO.  The instructors this time out were the marvelous Christi Freisen, the legendary Maureen Carlson and the lovely Lisa herself.

Our trip to Fort Lauderdale went better than I expected.  It was long, but there was only about 10 minutes of bumpiness on the whole plane ride there.

We were put up at the Spring Hill Suites.  

I always try to plan for the unexpected delay (the last time we flew for a cruise, we got stuck in Dallas overnight due to weather. We would have missed the ship if I hadn't given us an extra travel day).  Because we got in a day early, I was able to meet a few other of the early birds, including the energetic Lisa Lambright.  It was nice to get to know her a bit outside the hectic pace of the class room.  

Christi Freisen and Lisa Pavelka checking in.  

Saturday morning -  we were off, a short shuttle ride to the ship.  I had heard and read about the Oasis of the Seas. I knew in my mind that it was big, but did not really grasp just how HUGE it was till I saw it.  

   There is an ice skating rink, rock climbing walls, and a zip line.  Not to mention the usual pools, saunas, stages, food courts, gyms, bars, casino and other cruise ship amenities.  Right now, it is one of  the largest ships afloat, until next year when the Quantum of the Seas is launched.  

  This was the first time that the polymer cruise was going to be held on a Royal Caribbean ship.  It was nice to have one big room with good lighting set aside only for us.  No moving from room to room every day. 

Can you get an idea of just how BIG this sucker is??

Production of another sort

I can't believe I did not write anything in September!  The month just flew by.

  Lord Opuson and I have semi-decided to move.  We have not been happy in our current home for some time, and when the neighbors got a pit bull puppy, it was kinda the final straw.  I am not a dog person (stems from dog attack in childhood), but usually they don't bother me that much as long as they are well trained and cared for. Those who follow my blog know I am the crazy lady with all the cats.  My babies are upset by the new addition next door.  Even though they are not letting her run free, it still freaks them out when she comes running up to the end of her chain, barking at them.  And she will only get bigger. So we are seriously thinking it is time to find new digs.
    In the prep to move, we decided to start boxing up that stuff we are not using.  If we move, we will be that much ahead.  And if we decide not to move, and find we don't need what is in the boxes ... off to the thrift store for someone else to find a place for.
   It had been occupying a lot of my time: between that and work, there is very little time for creative endeavors. The good thing is that I have found stuff I thought I lost a long time ago.  Currently typing this listening to my old MP3 player that I hadn't seen in 3 years. Lucky for me that the Beattles are timeless.
    I  did find time to finish up my charms for Lisa Pavelka's Polymer Clay Cruise.  I just have to get them into the baggies and am done.  Two weeks from now, I will be enjoying the sunshine at sea sailing on the Oasis of the Sea -  a cruise ship so big it has an ice skating rink!  Not only is this a poly cruise - it is my 20th wedding anniversary 2nd honeymoon cruise.  And I will have a clean house to come home too!!!

I can't believe the boys are almost full grown.

The little kitty that went to market and
the little kitty who stayed home. The
little kitty who ate roast beast can't get out of bed for the pix

Brothers bonded for life.

98, 99, 100 .... Ready or not .... Here I come!