day of the dead

It's that time again - time to vote for your favorite PCAGOE monthly challenge entry. This month, we made pieces for a Day of the Dead theme. I swore I would not make a skull, and then, what came out? A skull, of course. My entry is a piece of seasonal wall art in bright, hand-mixed colors of polymer clay. Every piece has been hand-rolled into "snakes" and placed carefully to make the skull shape. The gradiations of color in some of the swirls were made using a technique called the Skinner blend, which is a neat way to create a color gradient using polymer clay and a pasta rolling machine.


This guy measures about 7 inches high and 4.5 inches across. It's hanging out in my etsy shop at the moment, but I have to admit I'm tempted to keep it.

Here's a mosaic of all the entries. I think they look so cool as a group! It's interesting to note the expressions on almost all of the faces - we are obviously a happy guild.



Voting will be up at pcagoe.com no later than noon on October 1, and will stay open until midnight on October 3. Come vote for your favorite - everyone who votes will be entered to win one of two fabulous prize packs of handmade polymer clay goodies. Thanks for voting!

garden photo frame

I'm on a mission to use up all my leftover canework and start over. I have no good reason for this, other than mild OCD. This photo frame of craziness is part of the attempt.

the goose is getting fat

"Make gingerbread people ornaments" has been on my to-do list for a while. As usual, I had a few ideas in mind of how to go about this project, and the result is nothing like any of those ideas. These are made by hand-rolling "snakes" of polymer clay. They have buttons and faces on both sides and holes in their heads for hanging. Next I'd like to try scenting them and making a set of teeny tiny ones.

wow

I came across the etsy shop of elJan. Jan does amazing beadwork - my chin pretty much hit the floor when I saw it. The pictures speak for themselves, and I highly recommend visiting her shop to look at the closeups of these pieces! Wow!


Self Portrait.


She says she can do this to your guitar!


My Little Beaded Pony.

Even if you don't know anything about beading (which I don't) you can imagine the time and artistry required for pieces like these. I wonder how many tiny seed beads are on that pony!

Craft Show Display Setup

Craft Show Display Setup, originally uploaded by divadea.

This was my setup at the central PA Women's Music Festival this past weekend (9/20). Friends helped build the shutter accordian from some shutters people were throwing out. You can't really tell from the photo, but the whole deal was set up on an incline, which made it fairly challenging! My next show will be indoors and flat, which will make this a lot easier!

Aaron Sorkin for president

Seriously, I think I'm going to write him in...

Have I mentioned that I love Halloween?

Well, I've got some stuff from this weekend to share, but the photos have not made their way from the camera to the computer yet, so as I am in love with all things October, I'm going to share a few Halloween favorites from the polymer clay artists in PCAGOE today. Behold the cute!


Salem the Black Kitten by folkartfromtheheart


Grandmother Spider by ametista


Ghost Rider by peggers


Skeleton Bot by ittybittiesforyou


Mini Boo Boo Monster by SpiritMama
Fall is here! Woohoo!

new jewelry

Last I checked, I had sworn off art shows. But I seem to have signed myself up for a couple of shows before Christmas this year. So I've had another crack at jewelry. Some new designs, each one-of-a-kind, of course. I'm happy to say that these have lovely handmade sterling silver clasps and findings by Jennifer of Hecate's.


Roses necklace and bracelet set


Sand and sea bracelet, including a beautiful glass lampwork bead by fourtailslampwork.


Spirals necklace with, in addition to the polymer clay beads, wooden beads, really interesting-looking faux pearls and vintage seed beads.

More of my newest jewelry can be found here on my flickr page.

oh hey, look, it's stuff...

Apparently I took a week off blogging again. I've been, believe it or not, making stuff! And that's pretty much all there is to report.


Greeting cards, lots of them


Crochet hooks


A boatload of earrings. This is a prosperity rune cane. (I should probably wear these...)


Ornaments


Pens, lots and lots of pens. It's like once you start, you can't stop!