Not in Kansas...

I'm getting back into Polymer Clay.  I have some definite plans (which are continually changing shape) and am quite excited about this.  It has been many years since I've worked with the clay and boy, have things changed

I'm used to sculpting but not with the new materials and the new products provide unlimited creative opportunities.
Also, toaster ovens have gotten more accurate, temperature wise and convection ovens are available.

At Leah's suggestion, I got a convection oven.  I'd never used one before but liked the concept.

I tried it out the other day with a 'practice' piece of clay.  I carefully put my soft clay item on my piece of paper and a small feather and a tuft of dog hair (freshly clipped for the occasion), placed this in the convection oven and turned it on.

It looked like a tornado had touched ground in that oven.  Things were whirling around like mad.  Even the clay was bouncing!  I turned it off and stillness reigned.  It was truly a "Your're not in Kansas any longer, Dorothy!" moment.

Learned a lot with that little episode.  Now I use glass rather than the traditional paper and I'll glue in the feathers and fur (mixed media items) after curing.  Such fun!  I'm experiencing a learning curve for now but will post some pictures when I have some finished items.

The Cheetah Bead necklace is the first thing I ever sold in a gallery.

Busy Times

This has been a very busy time for us.  We have the Tucson Gem and Mineral Shows here that run from the last week in January through the second week in February.  This is a series of over 140 different events at different sites.

In spite of my Cataract Surgery last Wednesday, I was able to go to events starting the following day with the aid of my 'Seeing Eye Husband'.  My vision wasn't terrific but he did the driving and made sure I didn't trip over curbs on the way into the buildings so I didn't have to miss much.

I had hoped to take some pictures but the organizers of the events had signs saying that this was not allowed.

I saw many of my favorite people and met some new ones, most notably Christi Friesen, a talented and energetic Polymer Clay Award Winning artist and teacher.  I was so impressed that I signed up for one of her workshops on Super Bowl Sunday and had a ball!  This lady is a scream.  I did discover that my vision wasn't good enough for tiny detail work but I learned a ton.  Be sure and visit her booth should she ever be in your area.  Her things are fun even if you are not a Polymer Clay person.  Take a look at her one of a kind creations.   http://www.cforiginals.com/http://www.cforiginals.com/

No pictures of the big event though I could show you my empty wallet. 

I'm including a couple of 'new lambs at the ranch' pictures.  These are twins but the boy is huge and the little girl is tiny.  Maybe I should try to sculp them just for practice.