As usual, I’m a little late coming to the party, but I read today about NaBloPoMo, which is short for National Blog Posting Month. The idea is to post once a day during the month of November. Well, heck, that’s not really a stretch for me, now is it? So, I’m joining in despite having spent most of the first week of this month in a fog of taking care of other things online and not posting as much as usual.

If you’re up for it, join the party! And be sure to add me as a friend, because right now I look darn lonely sitting there advertising that “Lisa Clarke doesn’t have any friends on this social network yet.” I’m getting flashbacks to grade school - didn’t have any friends in that social network either. *sigh*

Anywho, I have a new tutorial to announce. Yay! My NJPCG buddy Dot has a nifty Scroll Cane tutorial she is sharing with us. I’m thinking of trying this in the Evolution of a Color Scheme colors when I finally get back to working on that. Which will be soon. I promise.

Back to NaBloPoMo for a moment - they have groups you can join there. I don’t for a moment think that I will have any time to really participate in these groups, but one of them struck me as a very simple thing to do as part of my regular post. 30 Days of Thanks is pretty much just what it sounds like. So today I will end my post with one thing I am thankful for:

I’m thankful for many big, important things that I will touch on as the month progresses, but for today, let’s just say that I am thankful for peaceful moments when children are at school and husband is at work, where I can sit and quietly type for a while. Soon one of the boys will be home, followed shortly by the other, and lastly by Neil, and I will be happy to welcome each of them back. But I do appreciate the quiet of this moment.

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Oh, green, how I love thee. Green makes me happy You know what else apparently makes me happy this week? Pictures of feet on busy-patterned tiled flooring. It’s funny I should have two images like that in my favorites.

Speaking of my favorites, I found a nifty screen saver today at Wackylabs.net. You can configure it to cycle randomly through your own Flickr photos, images from a group pool, or the photos you have favorited. I’ve got it showing my favorites today, but I’m sure I’ll get tired of that soon and change it to something else. Maybe the Color Challenge pool? The only drawback I’m seeing so far to this screen saver is that it appears to be a memory hog. Every time I try to use my laptop after the ss has kicked in, I have to wait for it to chug along for a few minutes before I can get down to business. I have to see if it’s any better when I don’t use the full screen mode.

Ok, now here is something that I found very cool. If you saw last month’s Color Challenge results, you may recognize these plates & bowls as the work of Orly Rabinowitz. And, if you’ve ever checked out my tutorials, you may also recognize that this batch was made in part using my School Spirit cane! I am so jazzed about seeing one of my designs re-interpreted and used in someone else’s work. She did something with it that I never could, and I love that!

This heart was made by Robin Milne at the same Dan Cormier class that I took back in June. The veneer she used was made with my Weave Cane tutorial. Isn’t it great? Once again, somebody took something I came up with, and used it to create an object fairly different than I  would have. I’ve seen this heart in person, and it is so smooooooooooooth and shiny - just beautiful.

Are you starting to see a trend here? I get excited, people, when you use my tutorials, and I post about you and your wonderful work, and make you famous! Ok, well, maybe you won’t get famous off of the exposure, but it will give you a warm, fuzzy feeling, I hope. Go check out the tutorials if you haven’t already, and be sure to post what you make to the Flickr group!

You know I took a two-day blogging break, so I’ve got more to talk about - you still with me? Alrighty then, here we go. School started this week.

Yesterday was the first day of Second Grade for my Good Son who knows how to smile sweetly at his mother when she holds up the camera and says “smile!”

Today was the first day of Preschool Year Two for the Other Son who just doesn’t get the whole smiling sweetly thing at all. *sigh*

He makes a mean Professor Poopypants, though, I must say… Tonight was our “Special Night” and he chose to draw characters out of a Captain Underpants book together. This was the first one we did, and I was duly impressed with his. He doesn’t draw a heck of a lot, so I was actually surprised that it even resembled the character a little. We also drew the Turbo Toilet 2000, and Captain Underpants himself, before putting away the pencils in favor of a quick Curious George episode before bed.

I’ve got one more quick image in me before my bleary eyes totally betray me and force me to close the laptop.

I found these great little white pumpkin-shaped gourds at the farmer’s market this week.  I think they are perfect for the Sweet & Sinister Swap and I can’t wait to stick them in with the rest of the loot I am collecting up for this.  I hadn’t realized they came in this color until I saw them in a Martha Stewart book, so I was thrilled to find them the first place I looked.  I have to go back to that market next week and get myself a big basket of gourds for the coffee table.  I love autumnal decorations

Ok, I’m done.   You may go now.   Thanks for hangin’ with me.  (I was just going to say “enjoy what is left of your Friday night, but I see that unless you are significantly west of my position, it’s already too late…)

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It’s time for another tutorial! This time we call on the lovely and talented Crafty Goat, aka Angela Mabray. Angela shows us how to combine Sculpey Ultralight with inks and papers to create a unique Thank You Card. The variations on this technique are many, and the finished project is light enough and flexible enough to be sent through the mail.

Give it a try, and don’t forget to post your results on our flickr group!

Speaking of giving thanks, I have to give mine to all of you who sympathized with my back problem yesterday. It still hurts, but I have a lot more freedom of movement today, so that’s good. I should be able to lug books & pack orders tomorrow. Yahoo.

The boys and I have been laying low the last few days, mostly out of backache necessity. We filled up the kiddie pool in the yard yesterday and they splashed for an hour or so. I read a magazine and occasionally dipped my feet in the pool - it was dang hot out there. (Will you look at that incredibly skinny kid to the left? He can’t possibly be mine. I wasn’t a fat kid, but I’m pretty sure you couldn’t count my ribs…)

We’re planning on revisiting the pool for a while this afternoon, but first the boys are watching Signing Time: My First Signs Volume 1 and learning to say milk, more, Mommy, Daddy, water and a few other things in American Sign Language. We’ve had this DVD for at least 3 years and it’s barely seen any action. I don’t know what made them pick it out today, but it’s fun seeing them follow along when they don’t know I’m watching.

I’m thinking of doing a small sewing project later today. I think I have enough mobility for that at this point This skirt that I made at the beginning of the month is really pretty, but I am not happy with the way it fits me. It makes me look more “hippy” than I am (and I don’t mean “hippy” in the cool sense of the word). I can suck-it-in to some extent when it comes to my stomach, but I can’t exactly suck in extra width at my hips. I want to try taking it in on the sides and see if it makes a positive difference.

Ok, the DVD is over and the boys’ play has turned to arguing. Time for some creative intervention!

Oh, and don’t forget, the Posy Giveaway is still going on!

Lisa

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And if you’re not, you could be. This excellent new tutorial by Adria Filion shows you how to make an elegant faux jade pendant with a creative twist. When you turn out the lights… it glows!

Follow the link, see it for yourself, try it, and post the results to our flickr group! Now! Go!

Now to those of you who didn’t bother to listen to me and are still sitting there in front of your computers, how about a little flickr eye candy? I made a mosaic of all of the photos I favorited this week. How does a photo get to be one of my favorites? Generally it is a color thing. As you can see, I was drawn to turquoise a lot this week.

Sometimes I favorite photos of things I’d like to make myself, or things with ideas I’d like to incorporate into my work or my personal style. But about 2/3 of the time it’s just colors and how they are used that appeal to me. If you click on the mosaic, you can see where each of the individual photos came from.

I have to thank Barbara Fajardo for posting a few delicious flickr links on her blog this week. I really loved the Doors and Windows of Spain, but there were gems among the other links, too.

I have to admit I didn’t “get” flickr for a while, but now I just love it - the way that people can form communities based solely on images is fascinating to me. I’ve found a lot of blogs that interest me just by following links on flickr photos that I find appealing.

Ok, your reprieve is over. Go make some glow-in-the-dark jade!

Lisa

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I have a love-hate relationship with image transfers. I love incorporating family photos into my claywork, but I hate the process of transferring. Mainly, the problem is that I have tried so many different methods, and so much time goes by between tries, that I can never remember what worked. I go through plenty of trial-and-error for each piece that way and it can be aggravating. But the results… the results make the aggravation less onerous to a point.

The method that works the most for me these days has got to be the old t-shirt transfer paper method. If you’re struggling with other methods, then I would suggest giving it a try. Transfer method seems to be as individual a choice as clay brand is, and what works for one person may not work for others. You need to play around until you find your success. And then, unlike me, try to remember what you did that worked

A few years ago, I collected wedding pictures of all of the parents, grandparents & siblings in our family. For unmarried adults I took college/high school graduation shots, and for children I used christening images. I wanted them all to be of a formal variety, and timeless. I converted everything to black & white, and now I use them in various crafty ways, including the family tree magnets pictured here, another set of family tree magnets I made for my brother-in-law and new sister-in-law when they got married, and a wedding bracelet that I wore to my cousin’s wedding. I also took some less formal current photos and used them in another set of magnets I gave the boys to play with a few years ago. It was a great idea at the time because it helped them learn the faces and names of relatives we didn’t see on a regular basis.

I love having all of these old photos available digitally, and the ability to transfer them to a hard, durable medium like polymer clay is a great bonus. They make great pendants, pins, tile bracelets, and I’d imagine you could even put your grandmother’s face on a button and sew it to your baby’s handmade sweater! (Wish I’d thought of that when I had babies around…) Keychains are good too. I’ve got a double-sided key chain with Son #1 on one side and Son #2 on the other. As you can see, the possibilities are endless, and it’s a lot of fun to carry your photos around with you in an unusual and artistic way.

I added some of my clayworks and other crafty things from the last few years to flickr today. Have a look, if you’re interested!

Lisa

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That’s one snazzy-looking feather, dontcha think? Introducing the newest Polka Dot Creations tutorial: Scrap Feather Cane by the very talented Robin Milne.

I can’t think of a better way to use up those cane ends we all have than to make this brand new, striking cane. (Seriously, I can’t. I usually just give my scraps to Son #2, who runs them through the pasta machine repeatedly until they’re solid colors).

This tutorial is free for the taking here. And don’t forget, when you make your first feather, be sure to post a picture of it on our new flickr group!

Today was the first day since school let out that the boys and I were all home together alone, just the three of us. I spent some time prepping orders for shipment in the morning, and then we all shared a nice lunch around the table, followed by a trip to Toys R Us. The boys had gotten gift cards for Christmas and we spent them today on water fun!

Tomorrow it’s the park, followed by the library, and then, if it’s warm enough, I’ll fill up the big ol’ plastic pool we got and spend the afternoon soaking my toes while the boys play. Something tells me I’m not going to get a whole lot done this summer…

This summer, my goal is to strike a balance between keeping Polka Dot Creations afloat, indulging my muse, and making happy memories with the little ones while they’re still little. Oh, and I should probably also wash a dish or two in there

Lisa

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Ahhhhh. This is the life! School is out, Son #2 is taking his turn going to work with Daddy, and it’s just Son #1 and I here. I’m sitting outside on the back patio in my pj’s with a cup of tea, listening to the chirping birds, and the hypnotic creak of Son #1 on the swing - back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. It’s a bit nippy, but that’s just how I like it in the morning. I wish I could have breakfast out here *every* day! Son #2 doesn’t respect the peacefulness of the morning enough for me to set him free in the back yard while the neighborhood is still asleep, so I only get to do this when he is not here (which is almost never) or when Neil is home and I can sneak out the back door unnoticed. If it weren’t for the fact that my bottom is getting sore on this lawn chair, I’d stay out here all morning!

But to gloat over my luck at having a beautiful morning coincide with an opportunity to breakfast outside (and, ooh! a bunny just hopped by!) is not why I’m posting No, while I was sitting here, I had an idea. Usually my bright ideas come in the shower where I’m powerless to act on them, but today, I thought of something nifty and I had my tools to accomplish that goal right in front of me.

I created a Flickr group.

As you probably know, I’ve been featuring free tutorials by talented artists on my website for the last 9 months or so. Many of you have been passing the links around - I see them popping up on other sites and message boards all the time. So I’m wondering what amazing things you’ve been making with these instructions! Here’s your chance to show me (and everyone else). If you’ve used a Polka Dot Creations tutorial for anything you’ve made lately, take a picture of it and head on over to our new Flickr group to show it off. And don’t be shy about posting the first picture. *Somebody* has to do it!

I look forward to seeing what you have done!

Lisa

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I just unleashed a new tutorial on the unsuspecting public:  Faux Gaspeite.  Isn’t it pretty?  It comes to us courtesy of Jenny Cox of Kind Clay.

It’s a pretty simple technique, as far as fauxs go, but so nice-looking.  But then, I’m a sucker for anything green…

I’ve got at least three more tutorials in the pipeline, but I like to space them out a bit.  Look for Robin Milne’s Scrap Feather Cane tutorial sometime in the next few weeks.

If you’re new to Polka Dot Creations, drop by the store and see all of the free tutorials that are available.

Happy Claying!

Lisa

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After a bit of a dry spell, I’ve got 5 great new tutorials in the pipeline. The first of these is Layered Inks by the lovely and talented Tonja Lenderman.

It’s a relatively simple technique with infinite possibilities for variation.

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

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