Please forgive the less-than-stellar photography on these - I plan to spend some time making them look pretty in pictures after I’ve drilled the holes and strung them on cords.  I don’t know how long that will take and I didn’t want to wait to post these!

So this first image is of the pendant we were taught to make by Donna Kato this weekend.  The class covered construction of the box, embellishment of the decorative layer with image transfers, inks, rubber stamps & gold leaf, and attaching the end caps.  I’m very happy with the way this turned out.

The process involves multiple bakings, so while my inro baked at each step, I worked on a second one.  I was interested to see how the technique worked using my canes for the decorative layer.  I’m happy with it, but I don’t like it as much as the version I made “to spec.”

After the inros were complete, I decided to see if I could make one of my usual pendant styles incorporating an image transfer into the mix.

And then I did it again.  I think the idea has potential.  I have visions of my new key chain dancing in my head - every year I make myself a keychain with one son on each side.  I’ve been carrying the same one for over a year now, and I’m ready for a change.  I’m excited to think I could make a non-flat key chain and still use images of the boys on it…

As expected, my mind is full of things I want to try.  I knew I should have taken next week off so that I could indulge my muse.  I hope I don’t go out of my mind while I attempt to ignore my creative impulses and be a responsible adult this week

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Originally published at Polka Dot Creations. Please leave any comments there.

Having a great time. Wish you were here. Today we learned to construct Japanese inro pendants, and to decorate them with image transfers, stamps, pigment inks and the ever-important gold leaf. This is my pendant in-progress. It still needs the domed top to be added, and it could use some sanding/buffing. I’m impressed with how this is coming along, given my lack of experience with these techniques.

I worked on a second box using my canes from the Country color scheme during the times when the main box was baking. This, too, is a work in progress, but I don’t think it’s as impressive as the first inro.

I bought one of Donna’s pendants - I love it! It’s got my favorite green in the world, and it’s got polka dots. What more can a girl ask for? (My son the ham, must get into every picture and make a weird face.)

This class has been great - I love the pace, and I love how, with Donna’s instructions, I can do something completely new to me and it will feel like second nature - as if I’ve been doing it forever.

After-class, the family and I walked next door from our hotel to Chili’s for supper.  The rest of the evening involved, drinking tea & hot chocolate with the boys in the hotel lobby while Neil got a little break, and all four of us playing a rousing game of Rummikub before tucking in the boys and kissing their sweet little faces goodnight.

If this is a post card, I must be writing really tiny…

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Note to self: When taking a picture of things on the coffee table, consider washing the fingerprints and sticky spots off of the glass first…

I’m always happy to see some of my older work find a home. I just packed up these six Long Heart Pendants today and will be sending them away with the next mail pickup. I made them at least three years ago. They started out as large balls of clay, which I covered with two square cane slices, in such a way that no background was visible. I rolled the balls to smooth the cane edges and then finessed it into a heart shape. At the time that I made these, most of my work was done that way - make a ball, cover with canes, press into shape, poke holes, bake.

I work very differently these days. Now the majority of my designs, like these buttons, start out as flat sheets. My process is more along the lines of make sheet, add thin cane veneer, cut out shape, bake, outline, add thin protective layer of liquid clay, rebake, drill holes. It’s more complicated than before, but I like the results better. I used to resist the idea of multiple bakings, but now I embrace it.

Where did the shift happen? I remember it clearly. In August of 2005 I took a cuff bracelet/tile bracelet class with Donna Kato. This was the first time I had seen her in person, but before that I had become infinitely familiar with her book, videos, and as many Carol Duvall appearances as I could get my mother to tape for me (I didn’t have cable tv then, and I still don’t). I don’t know how to explain it exactly, but something happens when I see Donna demo a new technique. Something always “clicks” with me, and it is nearly always something unexpected.

A good example of this is Donna’s gorgeous flower petal caning technique. I saw that and thought, “that would be a good way to simulate the look of raffia,” and proceeded to develop a cane that was meant to look like three colors of raffia ribbons woven together.

I also came up with a cane that looks like a chenille sweater to me, and it started with Donna’s spiral cane.

Just two examples of many.

So, this tile/cuff bracelet class was spent making (you guessed it) tile bracelets and cuff bracelets. I enjoyed making them, but I can’t say I was overly excited by my results. What I was excited by was the idea I had for barrettes and pendant necklaces using some of the techniques we’d employed in the bracelet-making. The layering of veneers over base sheets, the forming of the base over a removable metal armature, the multiple-bakings for easier handling, the outlining of the bracelets in solid-color clay… all of these things just screamed barrette to me. And for about 3 months after that class, barrettes were all I did In fact, I was reluctant to cut my hair short because I was having so much fun making and wearing barrettes.

I bring this up today because I am gearing up for a trip to Philadelphia this weekend to learn Donna’s technique for Japanese Inro Pendants. If you haven’t seen her take on these, you must. They’re exquisite. I have always wanted to know how to make these boxes, but what excites me the most about this is wondering what the a-ha moment will be. The inro I make in this class may be the only one I ever do, but I fully expect to see Donna do something, perhaps something only tangentially related to the class, that will make me sit up and say, “hey! that would be a great way to accomplish such-and-such a thing!”

When I say “Donna Kato keeps making me do things” I mean it. So often when she demos a new technique, I am driven to use it, but not before I have transformed it into something completely different in my mind. And that’s the beauty of it. The kind of inspiration that acts as a seed to your own creativity is the best inspiration of all. It insures that your finished result is wholly and truly your own and cannot be mistaken for the work of anyone else. I’m excited to see where this weekend leads me!

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Originally published at Polka Dot Creations. Please leave any comments there.

Hello, friends! I just read this information on Donna Kato’s blog: If you use her method of image transfers on Epson paper, you may have a problem in the future. Check it out.

I’m back from my clay weekend. A fun time was had, a couple of things were made (well, half-made, anyway) and some beautiful beads were ogled. It also seems the menfolk did just fine without me.

I’ve no pictures to share from the workshop yet. I made a small handful of things, but they won’t be finished until I can get myself out to buy some sandpaper. I am not a sanding type of gal. I am happy with my finishing technique, which does not involve a lick of sanding. I do recognize, though, that sanding could really push my work into another realm, in terms of artistry. It’s worth playing around with. Hopefully I can load the kids into the car tomorrow and go on a sandpaper quest!

It was a *gorgeous* day today! Several times while I was driving, I wished I could take a picture of the sky, the trees, the surroundings. I decided I’d rather pay attention to the road and get to my destination alive than fiddle with the camera, so I’m afraid I can’t share any of the sights with you

Lisa

[edited to add: I’ve been trying to decide which is better:  replying to comments right here on the blog so that everybody can see them, or responding via email to the commenter so that I know for sure they see my answer.  I’ve tried it both ways, and both have their pros and cons.  I like the idea of replying here because it fosters conversation.  However, it’s not all that likely that the person I am replying to is ever going to come back here and read the reply - and that defeats the purpose!  To try and help in that department, I just installed a plugin that will allow you to subscribe to comments via email.  It is my hope that when you post a comment, you will check that box and be notified when more comments are posted.  This will ensure that you receive my reply, as well as those of anyone else who might have something to add to what you said.  I welcome any feedback about this!]

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Originally published at Polka Dot Creations. Please leave any comments there.

So, it’s after 2:00 in the afternoon and I’m still in my pj’s. I got up at 7:30 to help my younger son in the the bathroom, crawled back into bed and didn’t emerge until 3 hours later. That’s so unlike me! I think I really needed the sleep, and as it turns out, I have needed this lazy day, too. Today it’s been a month since we lost our baby, so the last 4 weeks have been an uphill battle in terms of getting my emotional footing back, and catching up on everything that I had let fall by the wayside when I was at my worst. Add to that a craft show and a class to prepare for last week, and it’s just been a nonstop whirlwind of Things To Do lately. Add to that the late late night I had last night chatting with clarkesworld, and I think maybe I’m thoroughly worn out. Pooped, in fact. Surprisingly, I am welcoming the excuse the current Nor’easter has given me to stay inside and kick back a little. I’m not going anywhere today.

As far as the craft show goes, it was a combination Basket Auction and Vendor Night sponsored by the local school district. Last year I had some encouraging success at their Vendor Night event (minus the Basket Auction) so this year I tapped my sister to lend me a hand and I sprung for an extra table. Wouldn’t you know it, I sold less than half of what I sold last year, plus I had the added expenses of the extra table and my “hired help.” I had a decent time, chatted with some friends, garnered plenty of compliments and unloaded a whole pile of business cards, so it wasn’t a dismal failure. It just would have been nice to have ended up with more than $50 in my pocket after expenses were paid. I’m considering taking one of the organizers up on her offer of hosting a home party. I am not a great salesperson, nor am I particularly outgoing, so the idea of being the focus of a party is a bit intimidating. Still, after all of the prep work I did last week and minimal payoff I received for it, the idea of having another outlet right now is pretty appealing.

That was my Friday night. Saturday morning, I hopped in the car & drove the nearly 2 hours to Phildelphia for a workshop with Jana Roberts Benzon. Very cool. I made my first (two) Arabesque Cane(s) there. It was a complicated process that took the entire day, but she had excellent written instructions in case I want to try it again at home. I reduced one of the canes this morning into two different kaleidoscopic squares that are very attractive. I want to apply them to something - a pen, or a barrette maybe, and then I plan to scan everything and post about it over in the Craft Room of the Polka Dot Cottage. Or here. Hopefully later today. Since I tend to work quickly, I had brought extra clay with me to the workshop so that I could work on a second version of the cane. I wanted to try one in Sculpey III and see if I could handle doing something *that* precise in clay *that* soft. So far so good - I was able to construct all of the components with no problem. I have yet to try and reduce the cane, though. That will be the real test. I do all of my caning in Sculpey, but most of my patterns don’t involve much precision and are very forgiving. An Arabesque cane is a challenge to do in Sculpey. I’ll try and post some of the results of that experiment later, too. The best part of any workshop for me is when something that the instructor shows us sparks an idea that I can use in my own work. I was lucky yesterday in that one of the components Jana showed us gave me an idea for something I’d like to try. The best part? When I am through adapting it, it will look nothing like her work and everything like mine. That, to me, is worth the price of admission (and parking, and 4 hours in the car). That’s another thing I’ll have to post when I’m through.

So, what I have done today? Reduced a big triangle cane, defrosted and ate an everything bagel from the best bagel place I know of for lunch, cracked open a Dr. Pepper, read all of my email (although I have yet to reply/deal with most of it), caught up on the blogs, tweaked the settings on my own blog a bit, and then sat down with some rainbow goldfish to munch and post. Basically, if you say I’ve been snacking and geeking all day, you’d be right on target. I’ve decided that is all I’m going to expect of myself today. Tomorrow I can get back to the business of processing orders and cleaning the house. Oh, and a BIG CHEER to clarkesworld for his bang-up cleaning job while I was out all day yesterday. You wouldn’t believe me if I told you what a disaster area we’ve been living in lately, but I was just so busy last week with everything I was trying to accomplish that I just couldn’t find the time for housework. I spent all week whining about how I hated to live in those conditions but I didn’t have the time or energy to fix it. And when I came home from my class yesterday, he had made a sizeable dent in the work. Yay! What a nice husband. There’s still a lot to do, but it seems a lot easier to deal with now than it did a few days ago.

Now, if I can peel myself out of this chair, I have a big Sculpey cane to reduce. Either that or I’ll stay in the chair and see what other geeky things I can do. I suspect I’m going to have to get up, though - it’s the only way I’m going to get a piece of candy out of son #2’s easter basket, which he so innocently left here in my room. Good thing he doesn’t keep track of his candy inventory… over the last week, he’s incurred several losses

If you’ve made it this far, you must have been really bored today - are you in your pj’s too, by any chance?

Lisa

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Originally published at Polka Dot Creations. Please leave any comments there.