Halloween's Here

Happy Halloweeeeeen! It's gonna be scary...the weather's a bit cool, but not too bad for the treat'n tricksters. What are you dressing up as? I think my little twin-pin gives away what I'll be going as...

What makes it frightening, is that the brand spankin' new LCC opened today...for those of you who aren't aware, that would be your Magasin d'alcools or your "commish". It's located less than a kilometre from our place. We did the tour and wondered if we were the first customers, but we missed the ribbon cutting by a few hours. We had just come home from a luncheon with my former co-workers and wouldn't you know, some of the others in our group noticed the NOW OPEN sign and had to stop by at the same time as we did. It was a great Halloween treat...they were giving out free "samples", so we had a little after luncheon bubbly instead of a liqueur.

The restaurant was okay...the waitress was dressed in a scanty little French Maid's costume and the waiter came as Jason...need I say more!

En route to the "grand opening" of the LC, I stopped by the Folk Festival Office to give in my auction donation. It was neat to see all the other art that is going to be offered at their GALA in December. I'd love to go to that fundraiser, it is a medieval festival of sorts (I think) and after going to a couple of Renaissance Events in the U.S., I'd really like to see one of those here. Great events for costuming!!! Bawdy Wench is what I think would be right for me, or maybe the Mistress of the House from Les Miz...

Time to dim the lights, play some scary organ music and get ready for Fright Night! Happy Haunting all!

Doggies

Well, after the feeble feline attempts last weekend, I thought I'd try some canine canes...I tried to get Molly to Model, and she did, but the result doesn't look much like her, except for the colour which is almost straight out of the package, lol. I usually don't try for "cute" stuff, but this one I can live with.

The "tags" are little charms for the doggie bags I make. Sometimes the people who browse the craft sales comment on how "cute" items are. Then they kick the tires and keep on walking.

G-r-r-///Be quiet MOLLY! Anyway, in an attempt to justify their "comments" I make these "cute" doggie bags that hold plastic baggies for picking up "doggie presents".

It all came about a few years ago when friend husband went to take Molly for a walk and he reported on her "actions". When I asked if he had acted responsibly, he said..."I forgot to take a bag." So I immediately made a little drawstring bag and attached it to the handle of her leash and filled it full of plastic sandwich bags. Now we're always responsible when she does something...unexpectedly. We've replaced her "poochie pouch" many times as they do get a lot of use, and now I even decorate them.

Cats, Kitties and ?

After I did the larger grey cat this meowrning, I decided to do a "short-cut-cat". I used a bunch of left over canes in assembling this little kitty on the left. The photos are terrible...but it's one colorful cat! I baked a few slices to see if the colour would stay pretty much the same....and it did!

Then I tried another crazy-cat cane, using a mixture of mostly old canes, (on the right) but I don't know how this one will come out because some of the canes (like the huge striped one in the centre) are pretty old, and I went against all the rules and mixed all kinds of clay...mainly because I didn't know what they were any more! I see the eyes are a bit distorted, but I think I can work on that a little when I reduce it.

Molly the Model Dog and ... Cat?

It has been raining off and on for the past week, and today it's cloudy so might rain again. I thought I should do some work considering the less than perfect weather, but hubby left the camera at home...yay... and so I took a couple of pictures. Molly (the white one) was sleeping at the foot of the stairs as per usual, so I pointed the camera right at her. The flash didn't bother her a bit, as she loves to pose. I want to make a little dog pin, so may do something in clay with Molly as the Model. After I took the camera away, she went right back to sleep.

As for the other "thing"...I had a request about a week ago from an old curling buddy, for a cat thing in polymer clay so attempted to make a cat cane. I usually don't do much caning, and didn't really have anything to go by in the way of instructions, so I just went the intuitive route and tried to make a sketch and follow it. Of course the colours aren't very accurate, and who knows what it will look like when it's reduced... I plan on adding a few little non-caned additions to it when it's in user-friendly size. But if worst comes to worst, I always need scrap clay and so even though it took nearly three hours to make this cat, I have a hefty heap of "filler clay" for some of the other projects I am working on.

If it reduces half decently (I am letting it rest for a few hours at least) I'll post some finished things that I make from it.

Pendant Previews

In preparation for a few upcoming events, I have begun reworking some of my favourite things. I haven't made many pendants this year as I've been so busy doing buttons. These slightly geometric pendants are not yet "finished", i.e. they haven't been buffed, and a few of them need a little bit of trimming. I haven't decided if I'll put a high sheen on them or not. I kinda like the matte appearance, with just a few tiny sparkles here and there from the flecks in the clay mix that I used. The "sun splotches" were actually tiny cutouts that I did with a paper punch and I thought the effect was cool. The clay took on a deep undertone while curing; that happens a lot with the reds and fuchsias. Each one is textured slightly differently. I am going to make the lengths adjustable.

Little Boxes

I really enjoy using polymer clay for creating faux effects, and love the idea that you can really MAKE things from it, useful or not. Most of the things I make serve some purpose or other, and have some decorative elements in them as well. This one is big enough for delicate jewellery or for putting rings away while doing "work".

This box, about 2 inches by 3 inches, has inlays of pre-baked "amber" imbedded into the faux ivory. The unseen sides are impressed and antiqued as are the bottom and inner surfaces.

Some Day Her Prince Will Come

Last year when substituting in a Grade One Class, the assignment was for the children to make fish. I had made this little polymer clay Princess Fish beforehand. I used this and several others as illustrations, to teach them "morphology" and stuff. The fish they made were awesome...I wished I had taken photographs. They were anxious to take their creations home, and when I arrived with my camera on the following day, alas, there were none.

This little princess has only one photogenic side. She's meant to be hung on a wall or "stood up" on a stand...although as a young princess, she does not like to be stood up. She sports a bronze dimensional crown, that, perhaps she should ditch. After all, she wants to be known for her own personal charms, not for her rank in society!

Three Part Invention - not by Bach

I haven't posted for a while, but when I realized that I had a few minutes to spare, thought I'd just pop in for a bit. Upon seeing Polymer Clay Daily, one of my favorite sites, I saw Loretta Lam's work. In it I saw a piece that reminded me of something that I have been making for quite a while, although it's not quite the same. I call this the Three Part Bangle, because it's exactly that, a rounded bangle cut into three with some co-ordinating spacers. It actually came about because I had "miscut" a two-part bangle and couldn't deal with the thought of having to scrap the original piece. When I realized it might be the start of something new, I made a whole series of them. They are for the most part on the arms of others now, but I did find one that was hidden away in a box. In getting ready for the fall sales, I think I just may do several more like this, in different colour themes.