Is it flickr favorites time again, already? Where did that week go? I know I was insanely busy, but I really can’t pinpoint where I spent my time. I can see some autumn influences working their way into my favorites - a couple of photos featuring pumpkins, and a few more warm, orange tones are showing up. And yet again, I’ve managed to favorite two practically identical images from totally different places: the bagels and the yarn. Apparently I had a thing for stacked irregular ovals this week

I took a walk this morning, just me and my trusty mp3 player. It’s the kind of fall day I absolutely love - chilly enough for the air to feel “crisp” but not so cold that I can’t get away with leaving the jacket home. The leaves are just beginning to turn in the yard, and a mile or two down the road, at the entrance to the Great Swamp, the colors are already heading into brilliant territory. The leaves at the Swamp always turn faster than they do at the top of the hill where I live. I plan to take the boys over to have a look at the leaves and the critters shortly, and of course, we’ll be sure to bring the camera.

While I was walking, I listened to Sister Diane of the CraftyPod chat with Anna Torborg, author/editor of The Crafter’s Companion. I have had a copy of that book since June, and it was something I enjoyed reading in the backyard while the children splashed in the pool. Each chapter in the book is written by a different well-known crafty blogger whose task is to answer the questions: Why do you create? What inspires you? How do you work?  There are photographs of the blogger’s workspace and creations, and each blogger has also contributed a project.  The people featured in the book are at the helm of some very popular blogs, mostly sewing-related.  It seems to me, though, that discussions of creativity are relevant to all artsy types regardless of medium.

I haven’t done any of the projects in the book, but I have enjoyed reading the stories.  I love reading about what makes an artist “tick.”  This book reminds me in a lot of ways of Lindly Haunani & Pierette Brown-Ashcroft’s excellent Artists at Work: Polymer Clay Comes of Age.  There are no projects in that book, but loads of pictures of the artists’ work, interviews about their work habits, favorite tools & inspirations.  And it’s all done within the realm of polymer clay.  It’s a 10-year-old book, so you’re not going to hear from some of the “new” talent in the clay world, but the pioneers in the medium are well-represented.  I may need to dig my copy out and keep it handy so I can read through it again in my oodles of spare time

Ok, time to get away from the computer and go find some leaves to crunch underfoot!

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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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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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Mmmmmm. Colors. The image above is of tiles I made to show the different cane designs I’ve made in my Swamp color scheme. This particular combination of colors came to me as I was driving through the Great Swamp in late spring a few years ago - the sky, the bark on the trees, and lush plantlife, really grabbed me and stuck in my mind long enough for me to translate them to clay when I got home. For me, color is an intuitive thing. I just have this “feeling” that tells me when two hues belong together. And I find it relatively easy to mix particular colors in clay. I can compare a block of Mint Green Sculpey III to a piece of aqua fabric and know that some Granny Smith and a small amount of Teal would create the color I want. Don’t ask me how I know. I just do. And I would be at a loss to describe the process of choosing which colors I will put together for a new scheme. Sometimes I’m inspired by something I’ve seen (nature, fabric, a fractal screen saver), but most of the time, I’m standing in the clay aisle at Michael’s, holding blocks of clay in my hands and seeing what looks nice together. And from what I am told, I generally choose well.

This feels like second nature to me. Can’t everybody do this? Apparently not. If you struggle with color, or if you are good with color but interested in knowing some of the science behind it, or if you are simply a color junkie who wants to indulge in some eye candy, here are some links & ideas to get you started.

• Smashing Color, the blog by polymer clay artist and color expert Maggie Maggio. Her site is bursting with fascinating tutorials and interesting information.
• Lindly Talks Color, a new blog by another clay artist and color expert, Lindly Haunani. In the recipes section, you will find a color recipe for making Kaffir lime leaves, and then an actual recipe for soup you can make with the limes. That’s kind of nifty.
• Margie Deeb’s Color Celebration, which is a new one on me as of this morning. I haven’t explored much of her site yet, but I did listen to her most recent podcast while scrubbing my sink. It (the podcast, not my sink) talked about the power of monochromatic color schemes and how to get the most out of them.
• Polka Dot Creations Color Challenge, which features a new color every month and aims to unite very different works of art & craft by color (but you should already know that, right?)
• A Year of Color, which is a flickr group currently in its second incarnation. The concept initially was to feature a specific color each week. This time around, the focus is on color pairings. It’s really quite interesting, and while it’s not specifically related to craft, it does give you some practice recognizing and seeking out pleasing color combinations.
• Color Mixing, another flickr group, which is run by polymer clay artist Iris Mishly. The group focuses on color recipes in various media. Be sure to read the First Post on Color Mixing for Iris’ suggested links.

How about you? Do you have any favorite sites for the color-curious? Be sure to leave them in the comments so everyone can have a look!

Lisa

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I’ve been seeing comments lately from readers who say they look forward to reading my posts as they sip their morning tea… that’s so very sweet! But now, knowing that I have a legion of fans counting on me, I can’t go to bed without saying something entertaining, can I? (Perhaps “legion” is a bit strong of a word ) At any rate, bedtime postponed, witty post commencing in 3.. 2.. 1

I came up with a new cane idea in the car today on the way to the njpcg meeting, inspired in part by the bold canes by heurebleue2 which I saw on flickr. I wanted to use colors from one of my existing color schemes (in this case, Country) and I wanted to put various sizes of the bold round canes together into a big square cane. I am ok with the way this came out, but I would have preferred it to look more random and less kaleidoscopic. I know where I went wrong, and if I get a chance to try this again any time soon, I will assemble it in quite a different way. And maybe, I’ll add more stripes and reduce/reassemble one less time so that the design is bigger and bolder.

I got to do some sewing this evening, and I took the opportunity to make the bag I’d promised Eamonn. He needs something to carry his show-and-tell, his change of clothes (in case of “accident”) or his lunch (on the one day a week he has Lunch Bunch). When given the choice between a simple backpack a la Lotta Jansdotter, or a messenger bag like the one I designed for myself, he chose the latter. He picked the birdseed fabric and chose which coordinating button he wanted, and I whipped it up, making it a bit smaller than mine, widening the strap, and adding the lining fabric to the strap. I wonder how long before Aidan wants one with an Ultraman lining? Hopefully he won’t think of that because frankly, it goes against all of my design sensibilities

For the last few years, I haven’t worn many handmade things that weren’t handmade by me, but I seem to have developed an addiction to blockpartypress jewelry… If you recally, she made me a special set of beads last month, and just the other day I took advantage of a sale and got myself these pretty earrings. They looked really nice today with my Built by Wendy shirt in the Denyse Schmidt fabric (Heh. Listen to me name-drop).

Ok, I haven’t been particularly witty tonight, but it’s bedtime, and I think I actually want to watch the last half of a Stargate:SG1 rerun before retiring for the night. I’m feeling a deep need to be entertained before I sleep, for some reason.

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In the Encyclopedia of Me, D is for Dr. Pepper - the only Doctor I’d willingly visit every day…  And that’s really all I need to say about that, isn’t it?  Mmmmmm.

I have been a walking ball of stress all day.  I slept poorly last night, which I’m sure didn’t help, and when I got up this morning, the one task I really needed to finish all day just seemed daunting.  As any regular reader here knows, I hurt myself a week ago and couldn’t pack/ship orders.  I’m fine now, perfectly capable of getting the orders done, but it took so long that I ended up with twice the number of packages that I am usually able to do in one sitting.  And I needed to get them done before mail pickup at 11:30-ish.  Yeah.  Right.

I didn’t make it.  I got all of the Priority Mail packages done by around 2:00 and the boys and I dragged them to the post office ourselves, so at least those are out.  When we got home, we took a little Pepper Milk break (son #1’s invention - half milk, half Dr. Pepper - the boys love it, but I like my Dr. Pepper unadulterated, thankyouverymuch), followed by a Roll Around on the Bed Tickling and Giggling break,  and then son #1 decided to help me get the rest of the orders packed up.  What a good kid.  All of the First Class and Media Mail envelopes are stuffed now, and all that remains is for me to charge credit cards and print/apply postage.  Whew.  I feel relieved.  I’m going to feel even more relieved when I place that last label on that last package and drag it to the front door, though

Anyway, I am feeling somewhat better now.  In part, because the packing nightmare is nearly over, partly because it was fun taking 10 minutes to kid around with the kids, and partly because I got a little treasure in the mail today.

I have been admiring block party press‘ jewelry ever since I first noticed it on flickr.  In an earlier post, I alluded to a project I was having trouble completing.  When I saw the possibilities pendant, I knew exactly what I wanted.  I asked if she could make a few changes, and do it with an olive green background with a soft pink flower, and as you can see, she did!  Aren’t these beautiful?  I ordered the large bead, but she also sent me all of these extra goodies.  So sweet.  I can’t wait to finish my project and post a picture of it.  You’ve really got to check out her etsy shop - everything is even nicer in person, and I thought it was pretty great in the photos already

Neil’s working late tonight, and the kids are downstairs right now watching FarScape.  I think I’m going to join them and have a little sci-fi snuggle time on the couch before I have to make supper.  Looks like D is also for Decompression

Lisa

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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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Let the creativity begin! Donna Kato’s new book has arrived!

I saw the FedEx truck at the top of the driveway and wandered over to see what was being delivered. When I saw that it was three boxes from Watson-Guptill, I abandoned my happily-playing boys in the backyard and tore into a box.

I have only given it a cursory flip-through, but it is pretty delicious. Maybe I’m biased - I tend to think that Donna Kato could make something beautiful out of mud and a crayon - but this book really is a feast for the eyes.

If you’ve pre-ordered a copy from me, I hope to be able to get them all out the door early next week. If you haven’t ordered a copy yet, and you are finding yourself salivating, you might want to hop over to the book store and get yourself a copy. If you get there quickly, before I get a chance to mark it “in stock,” you can get the special pre-order price

Now as much as I’d love to curl up with this book all afternoon, I’m off to make myself a new wrap skirt to wear this weekend. I’ll tell ya all about it when it’s done!

Lisa

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Last week I admired some pendants that Libby Mills posted on her blog. She emailed me and offered to send me a handful of bead frames to play with. They arrived today, and included a finished pendant that Libby made. Isn’t this a great little treasure to have arrive on my doorstep? Thank you so much, Libby! I love the double-sided pendant (I’m wearing it right now!) and I can’t wait until I have an opportunity to play with the bead frames. I’ll be sure to show you what I make.

As an aside, when I went to Libby’s site to get the correct link for her post, I saw this. Please excuse my while I wipe the drool off of my keyboard.

Another treat that showed up today was my Etsy purchase from Whimsy Love. It’s a ring made of vintage buttons, and I have thought it was cute since the moment I saw it. I finally splurged and bought it for myself. I thought it would match my new apron. It doesn’t, unfortunately, but I don’t think anybody is paying that close attention, anyway This box included a bunch of goodies, too, from the hand-made ring box to the cute little cupcake tag. Son #2 was watching me open the package and when I took out the cupcake tag, he said “I think that one’s for me.” Heh. Nice try, kid. I don’t know if you ever read this, but thanks, Nikki, for the fun little touches you included - you put my packaging to shame!

I am thinking that the UPS guy may bring me another happy treat today, but he doesn’t usually get here for another 2 or 3 hours. I ordered some more fabric to play with… I’ll be getting a few more Amy Butler Lotus designs, but this time in the blue/sand colorway. I also ordered some of the Heather Bailey Fresh Cut line, and Anna Griffin’s Elsie’s Kitchen. I want to make a few more aprons, which I’ll likely give as gifts, but even more than that right now, I’m eager to get my hands on the fabric so I can mix up some custom clay colors and make matching buttons. Mmmm. Coordination.

Lisa

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Alison Lee of Craftcast has another interview with an interesting artist - Sherri Haab. I haven’t listened to the podcast yet, but I plan to as soon as I can get a few quiet moments alone (last time I had a podcast I wanted to hear, I loaded it onto my mp3 player and listened to it on the way to Target, while I shopped, and on the way home - it was a fun change of pace). Sherri has written a pile of books on different crafty topics, and just about all of them include a creative use of polymer clay in one way or another. Most recently, she’s got the Precious Metal Clay Jewelry DVD that I highly recommend.

Lisa

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I have a lot more readers to this blog than I used to, so even though I posted an announcement to this effect last year, it bears repeating:

Polka Dot Creations is in search of interesting and well-written polymer clay tutorials encompassing a variety of techniques. The articles will be featured on our website and available to visitors free of charge. We pay for previously-published articles as well as brand new techniques. All tutorials are featured together on a Free Tutorials home page, as well as fully-integrated into the site so as to show up in author searches, New Publications listings, PolyPubs mailings and so forth.

For more information, please see our Submission Guidelines.

Lisa

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How you seen today’s Polymer Clay Daily post? If not, go ahead. I’ll wait.

Ok? It brought to mind Lindly’s first video, Tantalizing Translucents. The entire video is dedicated to translucent clay and includes projects that take advantage of the see-through nature of the clay (like Mokume Gane) and projects that encourage you to play with inclusions (like the Crayon Pendants featured on the PCD blog today). As was mentioned in the blog, Lindly does have the crayon technique written up on her website, but if you’re a more visual learner, you can watch her demonstrate it on DVD or VHS.

Lindly’s was the first mokume gane I tried, and it’s still my favorite - layers of vaguely-colored translucent clay and metal leaf make for a finished product with gorgeous depth to it.

Lisa

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The new issue of Art Doll Quarterly includes an article about AMACO’s Bottles of Hope Challenge. Helen Bradley, Lisa Pavelka and Dottie McMillan are interviewed, and there are images of bottles by Helen and Dotty, as well as bottles by Francisco Vallin, Michelle Zimmerman, and Linda Hess. The article looks like nobody bothered to proofread it (I found 3 mistakes without even looking), but just the same, it’s nice to see the added exposure for such a good cause.

Lisa

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Got another interview for ya - Luann Udell was recently featured on the Crafting Voices podcast. This podcast is new to me, and I plan to listen to it sometime this morning. I found the link on Luann’s blog.

I find it so interesting to listen to the artists themselves discuss their work and their creative processes.

Lisa

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Sculpey III: the polymer clay serious artists love to hate. When a newbie comes on the scene, the advice from the veterans is always the same: “Get rid of all of that Sculpey you bought before you knew any better and get yourself some real clay, like Fimo, Premo, or Kato.”

I learned to clay 11+ years ago, and like most new to the craft, I started with several bars of Sculpey III. I loved it. Unfortunately, a lot of what I made became useless when the fragile parts started to snap off. Frustrated, I tried other brands. I switched to Fimo but swore off of it after completing 4 nativity scenes one Christmas season while I was still using a plastic roller and an x-acto knife as my only tools. That was an exercise in complete frustration. I flirted briefly with Promat but found it, too, was harder than I liked. When Premo came out, I fell in love with it - it was soft enough not to be frustrating, but strong enough not to break when I looked at it sideways.So, for a few years I was a Premo girl. These were also the years where I did the most experimenting. Eventually, I found my niche in caning. I was particularly enamored with repeating patterns and I liked tiling cane slices together to make sheets that would be useful as veneers. But there was a problem - the Premo canes I made didn’t age particularly well. Every slice I wanted to use had to be warmed up in my hands (which don’t really have much of their own warmth to spare) and even after warming, it didn’t meld well with the other cane slices next to it, nor did it stretch well when run through the pasta machine. I couldn’t use my Premo canes in my applications once they had been sitting around for a while, and that wasn’t going to work for me.

So, I went back to my roots and started caning with Sculpey III. I needed a lighter touch when reducing the canes, but that wasn’t a problem for me. And I needed to take into account the fact that Sculpey is not known for its strength after curing. I could use it for caning, but not as a structural element. I adapted all of my designs so that the primary items were constructed with Premo, and a very thin veneer of one of my Sculpey canes was applied. In most designs, I also added another layer of protection by coating the design with Liquid Kato Polyclay. Sandwiched in between two very strong clays, the ultra thin layer of Sculpey has not posed a structural problem in the least.

It seems that most people serious about polymer clay, particularly those who do caning, prefer the stiffer clays. Newbies are warned off of Sculpey as “too soft for caning.” Well, I’m here to tell you that it is certainly possible to make appealing cane designs in a soft clay. If you don’t have super hot hands, if you can reduce with a light touch, and you use a strong clay for the structural elements of your design, then Sculpey III is a perfectly legitimate option. I have made hundreds of Sculpey canes, mostly in repeating patterns. Many of my canes are several years old, and when I slice them they are still as fresh and as supple as the day I made them. They stretch beautifully in the pasta machine and they meld seamlessly with the slices next to them when forming a clay “fabric.”

This weekend I learned Jana Roberts Benzon’s Arabesque Caning technique. I brought a stiff clay to class as instructed, but I was curious if Sculpey could be used for such an intricate design. Since I have a tendency to work quickly in a workshop setting, I brought some Sculpey to try out the technique during any downtime I had. At the end of class, in addition to the cane we were supposed to be making, I also had an approximately 4-inch tall triangular cane made of Sculpey.

I wasn’ t overly surprised that Sculpey was acceptable for all of the components of the cane, but I do have to admit to a small doubt about its ability to withstand the reduction process. I generally make canes that are only about 6-8 ounces. This was much bigger than that and I was afraid I’d turn it into mush. I was unable to attend the Philadelphia guild meeting today where Jana was going to go through the reduction process, but armed with her written instructions this morning, I plopped down on the floor in my pajamas with my cane and went to town. Well, wouldn’t you know, the cane reduced beautifully, with minimal waste, and all of the crisp detail intact.

This, my friends, is a very complex, very detailed precision cane made entirely out of Sculpey III:

And just for kicks, here are some items that I made from that cane this afternoon:

All of these items encase the paper-thin Sculpey cane slices in a sandwich with a thick slice of Premo and a layer of liquid Kato clay so they won’t break easily.

I’ll be the first to admit that caning with Sculpey isn’t for everyone, but I do think that it deserves a far better reputation than it gets. I’m looking forward to playing around with Jana’s technique and encorporating ideas from it into my own work. I see a Paisley cane in my future…

Lisa

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This week, Alison Lee chats with Gwen Gibson on CraftCast. I listened to the first half while I made supper tonight, and the last half while I cleaned up and folded laundry - gotta love multitasking I enjoyed the interview. Gwen has taken an interesting artistic path in her life. And while she says that she’s pretty much finished with polymer clay at this point, her retreat in France is still a main attraction for pc teachers and students. She talks a lot about that during the interview. One other bonus - Alison Lee picked out a song to play by a great Scottish band I had never heard of before. I’m putting them on Polka Dot Radio, as soon as I can manage to download myself a couple of tracks…

I encourage you to take some time looking through the CraftCast archives. There was a Donna Kato interview a few weeks back that was interesting. She talked with Carol Duvall recently, too (although I have yet to listen to that one). And tonight I played last week’s chat with Tim McCreight. It seemed interesting, although my listening experience was punctuated by loud, shirtless little boys running around playing Ultraman, and I’m afraid I didn’t catch a whole lot of what was being talked about. I may have to listen to that one again when everyone is in school…

On another note:
Over the last few days, I’ve been populating the Google Reader with as many clay-related blogs as I can find. If you’ve got a favorite, I’d love to hear from you. I’m going to mention Polymer Clay Daily and Polymer Clay Notes here, but frankly if you’re a clayhead and you haven’t heard of them you must be living under a rock

Looks like it’s time to get those boys into some shirts and put them to bed. Until next time…

Lisa

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

Alison Lee has a 30-minute-or-so chat with Donna Kato this week on her Craftcast podcast. Even if you don’t have an iPod (which I don’t) you can listen to it as a regular mp3.Enjoy!
Lisa

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

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Lisa

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