Spring's the Thing

This Saturday, I will be participating in a Spring Craft Event at a place called "Springs".  How appropriate.  I have been busy culling some of my inventory and replacing some of my stuff with new items.  One of the pieces is this:

I was originally going to use these beads to accompany a much larger focal bead that I had made.  That focal bead is about four inches long and I decided that the whole thing might be too heavy, so I split it into two items...this combination of it is in very 'springy' colors, n'est-ce pas?

The larger focal bead still has to be worked into a suitable setting.  But here it is as just a bead itself:  You might be able to see some of the elements I've included in it.  First, I did a zentangle drawing, made a photocopy of it, and then incorporated it into the bottom part of this bead by transferring it onto some green shimmery clay.  This bead took quite a while to make.  The layering, the backfilling, sanding and buffing seem to be unending jobs.

I still haven't decided how it will be accommodated into a larger neckpiece, but hopefully between now and Saturday I will have a brainstorm and it will turn out. 

I have finished getting all my buttons onto cards, and am just about done getting all my inventory sorted out.  I am short on a few types of items, but I am sure there will be enough. 

I do have to mention one not soooo positive thing.  The new blogger system isn't completely foolproof...Last Sunday when I posted about my buttons, I was in a hurry and didn't get to write all I wanted to.  A few hours later, when I went to edit the button entry, I made a lengthy report about the acknowledgment of some of the contributors to my buttons.  A few of the cane pieces were from the cane swap that I participated in when I was in Arizona, and I wanted to get that into that particular post.  Well, after an hour of typing, searching, naming and identifying, I lost that whole piece of work and can't retrieve it anywhere.  It is somewhere in cyberspace...So to my Arizona Polymer Clay Guild friends whose cane slices are in some of those buttons, I apologize for not including your name by the particular buttons.  I am sure you know who you are.  Could you please comment and say which one of you contributed which part to those buttons?  With my very busy schedule this week (I am teaching every single day, at least half time) I just won't be able to get the names and reposting done on that blog. 

Yesterday, in a grade 6 class, a girl was working on a report she had made for her World War II Museum assignment.  She had been working very diligently on a particular program on her laptop, and came to me almost in tears near the end of the period because she couldn't retrieve her work.  I know exactly how she felt after spending so much time creating an entry that just 'disappears' due to a malfunction of some program...I hope we can both learn from those experiences.  There are still things to be said about having stuff..."in writing"...  It's a hard thing, but the expression, 'just suck it up' is front and center in my mind right now.

Now, it's back to the grind.  I have two hours before I have to leave for my teaching assignment.  In that time, I hope to accomplish great things.  Wish me luck!

New Polymer Buttons

I am still getting accustomed to this new set  up of blogger.  I had written a whole bunch of edits and I can't find them anywhere.  Woe is me.

A little off the beaten track and a little Zen

This Zentangle was done some time ago, but it made me think about the two ducks Molly and I encountered during one of our morning sorties...and that I later saw on a little trek by the creek at the corner of our street.

It's been so long since I have posted, I feel a little guilty....but not THAT guilty since my mind has been working and so have I.  Since returning from the desert southwest, and getting over that ugly bout of the twenty-four hour flu that seemed to permeate our park, I have been busy.  Not doing so much polymer clay, but the back burners are definitely staying on, with lots of projects perking.

First thing on the to do list when we returned, was to restock our cupboards, le frigo, the wine cabinet and other storage places.  Then we hosted Easter Brunch (at 1 in the afternoon that may be a misnomer, but no worries) for 8 of our family and friends. The centerpiece consisted of a bunch of little 'giftees' wrapped in cellophane, since I didn't have time to decorate eggs or hide them or even to find a lot of little chocolate bunnies and make confusing, bewildering clues.  Besides, the weather wasn't that nice, so we kept the hunt to the dining room table. (There was no hunt in finding the food...as usual we ate for the rest of the week on what I had prepared, lol.)


Then this week it was back to work with kids.  I actually enjoyed going back and had lots of different experiences.  Everything from Junior Kindergarten to middle schools with attitudes... It is really amazing to watch kids from different areas and backgrounds and to come to some conclusions that might seem obvious about their behavior, but I will keep those to myself.  On Friday, I had a delightful class in a school close to where I taught for many years.  The principal was even one of my former Grade Nine students.  We had a couple of laughs and enjoyed those with the fifth grade class I was working with. 

I had intended to reward that group with a little art lesson, but instead chose to stay with the teacher's plan since they were working so WELL, even up to five minutes before the weekend buzzer.  I HAVE TO SAY...that they were one of the hardest working, intent, and conscientious groups ... something I really didn't expect, but was as I said, a delightful experience. 

What I wanted to share with them, I will share with you.  I wanted to give them a glimpse into the Zentangle idea that I've bandied (bandaid!!! lol) about from time to time.  Speaking of Bandaid solutions, whenever I (as a substitute) get a class that either deserves or needs a break from the regular routine, I have a little bag of tricks that can be classified as 'art' that I spill for them.  I intended to do this as a video presentation, but with hubby having a new camera, we still haven't worked out all the quirks of adapting the video features to the computer.  I am sure it won't be long.  The videos are made, we just have to get them 'functioning'.

Originally this afternoon I was intending to go to the theatre and watch Live at the  Metropolitan  for the presentation of La Traviata.  I have seen it many times before, so opted instead to listening to it live on the KBAQ stream.  So it is still accompanying my typing as I do this.  I am thoroughly enjoying it.  Violetta doesn't go into violenta coughing spasms as does Mimi in La Boheme,  and Verdi's harmonies are gorgeous, even though  I can never forgive the elder Germont for keeping Violetta from her beloved.  But, if you are not into opera, I won't bore you with the storyline any longer, and will get on with my own little chef d'oeuvre....lol.

Here it is ... a little Power Point Presentation on making a Zentangle.  Something that, if you are so inclined, you may use.  It's geared to a younger crowd, and is a little 'non-professional' in that the printing is a little hokey and not always  ... straight.  Hopefully I will be able to use it when I go in to middle school groups next week and the week after.  It's the first powerpoint presentation I've made on my own, even though I've been in lots of computer classes where the procedure has been taught.  I hope I picked up on some of the right things to do...sadly I didn't use any color, and there are no 'pictures' per se, only scans of some of the work I would use to demonstrate the topic if I were teaching it. I did try to get some Zen music in the background, but I don't think I was there for that lesson so I will have to ask a kid in one of the grade 6 classes I'll be teaching how to incorporate background music in it. 




Enjoy...