Happy Spring

Of course my photos downloaded in reverse-
What's a girl to do!

I made this little girl this week end.
She is 2.5 inches tall.
from the tip of her head to her rather large shoes.

                                               
                                                      She is habdsculpted from polymer clay.

                                  She is carrying her doll bunny in her pocket book.

On her other arm, is her basket with an egg.

I will be listing her on Etsy soon.
My allergies got the best of me ..today.

This is an example the miniatures I used to do.
Let me know what you think.

March Maddness

WOW 54 degrees today in the Minneapolis area.  You know you're a true Minnesotan when we get 54 degrees and know..... only One More Snow Storm to Go, and then we're home free.

First I show you a photos from the Charm Swap at Cabin Fever Clay festival.

Mine is the little primitive yellow birdie, 
kinda hard to see the detail. 
He is Adorable, look for his little orange beak, just above chickadee birdie. Chickadee birdie was made by a very sweet soul...Lisa. She kinda took me under her wing. No pun intended.


I am excited, I was chosen for 
THE TOP CREATIONS OF THE WEEK
" from Creations With Heart blog.  See the site to the left and click to see my musing she chose, along with the other talented artists, that were chosen.


Went thrift shopping today, had a blast.  Got some cool stuff.
I'm going to open a new Etsy shop, and sell all the cool Vintage and unusual items I find. I'll never use all the items I have bought...it is an addiction ya know.  

I need to come up with a cool name.  My son just came up with "Lucys Attic" which, actually, is a very good name.  Lucy was my mom, the attic always held many unique treasures. The attic itself was peculiar, you walked up five steps, then had to boost yourself up with your arms and land your butt on the attic floor.  The ceiling was vaulted, and maybe 6 foot at the peak.
So you could completely stand up, only in the center.  It ran the length of the house, it had two secret areas. one at the very end of the house, that had one step down, to a room, that was 6' x 5"  according to my memory, with a small window.  I'm sure my siblings will all email me, and let me know how big they "think" the room was.
They are older, and probably right.
The other secret area, had a two foot opening, just a small crawl space.  Our attic was all of our favorite place to visit. It had old trunks, full of photos from the 30's, 40's, photos of their lives. They are precious. My mom and dad have passed.


I spent many hours, just playing with my dolls up there.

Speaking of dolls, here are some dolls I am working on, they will be finished soon, and in my Etsy Shop.

 

When I took her photo, I kinda like just the way she looks "AS IS"

Doll in progress

                        I'm looking forward to seeing their personalities emerge.
                                                                 It fascinates me.
                                                       

Musings

While visiting an artist friend for a class. My eyes immediately fell upon a little "being" similar to the ones you see here. I picked it up...held it close to my heart...and said "I Love Her"..."I want Her". I said "she will be "My Muse", for inspiration, creativity, and give me permission to just be me"
I made my first "Musing" Then started to give them to friends who needed encouragement, inspiration, or just to let them know they are loved.  You can see them in my Etsy Shop.

This Guy was created by Maureen Carlson, with polymer clay.    Cool Huh! 
Looks like it was carved in wood. 
Nope, polymer clay.
It is such a versatile medium.
He is called Standing Watch.
I love the tenderness in his expression, along with strength and wisdom.

I had such a good time at Cabin Fever Clay festival.  Here are some photos of  the instructors and other student artists
that are incredibly talented.

                                                                      Art   Instructors

                                 Alice reminds me of myself
                                             in the future.
                                          Very Cool lady!
 

           Maureen Carlson   Can you tell I like her?



WHY CAN'T I CLICK AND DRAG
THE NEXT PHOTO INTO THIS SPOT!!!!!

       We learned to create faux  Raku
         in Lisa Pavelka's class
        She is so beautiful, inside and out.
Did you know she is Julia Robert's stunt double?
Her book The Complete Book of Polymer Clay
is really good.  She has clear concise directions
and good photos to follow. You can purchase
her book here on the right side of page. 
      I promise,   you won't regret it!      

                                           Lisa Pavelka demoing her Smoush Cane technique.
                                                        She'd kill me for posting this photo,
                                                            not the most flattering!

The most talented and adorable
       Jana Roberts Benzon.
She had three DVD's I had to have,
of course.  She creates incredible
canes and dimensional work.

We had our charm swap, I made 90
little prim birdies.  I will post photo
next time.   

This is the longest post I've ever done.
                                                                             I am intentionally typing very slowly at this point
                                                                             so I don't mess it up.  I think I'm done. Whew!

Cabin Fever Clay Festival 2010

Recently, I attended Cabin Fever Clay festival, in Maryland.
This was my first year.  It is their third year, and a success!
I was part of a  group of polymer clay artists attending classes with some very well known
polymer clay artists, who offered classes.  I can't remember all their names, and I'm too lazy to get up and find the literature from the workshops.  I will include it soon. They were all fabulous, and so gracious to instruct, give tips, little secrets, and always laughter!
 This doll was created by Minnesota's own
Maureen Carlson.  I  took her class she offered in Maryland, on HOW to make your
own doll, where she encourages one to use their own gifts and talents to make a version of the doll, the class was called "Stackables" each piece is placed on a metal rod, that runs through the middle of the piece. So, each piece rotates on this rod.  As you spin her dress around, it says
 "TRUST, LOVE,PEACE, HOPE, FAITH" and if you look closely, you'll see the words "BE" all around the bottom of the piece, COOL HUH!
The festival was a lot of fun, I met a lot of incredible artists attending the classes, who were very warm, welcoming, and made me feel like I belonged!  That's important to me.
I will post photos of the charm swap soon, they are all so special.
A great big Thank you, goes out to Kathryn Ottman for organizing this huge event, she did an excellant job!
Thank you all for the wonderful memories.