Super Bowl Sunday - The Cheeseheads

Well, I know this is not polymer clay, but if I had to make some funny cheeseheads from clay maybe this is what they would have looked like.  Actually, these are funny looking hors-d'oeuvres I am serving today during the Big Game...I am not biased, but just because we have folks who live in Wisconsin, I thought I'd better do up a dish in their favor.  I am going to serve Sloppy Joes at half time and calling them Pitts Burgers (no they haven't been warmed under the arm, lol) so that will make both teams even.

These little cheeseheads were simple to make and I used the leftover cuttings as wel,l just as I use all my leftovers from polymer clay.  None of them go to waste...these will go to waist.  The base for the heads were cut from lavosh bread I bought at Trader Joe's yesterday.  I cut the pointed head shapes from two  large rectangles of lavosh and saved the trimmings.  I heated those trimmings up to make little crackers. 

To cut the cheese rounds, I used the rinsed out can from the olives to make perfect circles out of cheese slices.  I used it as a cutter just like I use circular cutters for my polymer clay.  After slicing up a few black olive for the eyes, a couple of shrimp for noses and some pieces of a red pepper for the mouths, I was done.  I was laughing all the time I was making the little faces and I imagine it would be a cute project for moms to do with their kids for parties.  They do look a little on the gruesome side, but they're still  fun.    I already put them in at 400 degrees (baking not broiling) just to secure the cheese to the bread, and later on they'll just be reheated so I don't have to miss any of the game.

Go Packers Go!

Gone fishin'

Well I've done it!  My first rainbow trout of the year.  I plan to do at least a fish a month and I just made it under the wire for January.  This one is about eight inches in length so is a bit smaller than my usual ones, but I still think it's a keeper.  This time I hammered the wire before I inserted it to give it a little more 'backbone'.  I've also incorporated one of my favourite easy canes into the tail region and used some analogous colours in its construction.  The flip side has similar "Cleopatreyes" but they're outline in Kohl black instead of the Frank Sinatra Blue-Eyes liner.  I didn't want to make the liner so harsh, but since this is somewhat of a caricature of a fish (no pun intended Ms.Katisha), I thought I'd let it go.  As well, I am currently reading a mystery about a Victorian woman who's just embarked on her first Egyptian adventure so I thought it fitting that at least something would tie in with Amelia Peabody's adventures on the Nile.  Regretably, I am reminded of such tumultuous times in Egypt right now. 

I wonder if the Nile has any fish like these?

More Books

After doing the book demo last week, I finally had a chance to upload some pictures and am going to put a few of them here.  Some are entirely polymer clay covers...the others, well you'll probably be able to detect what they are!

This is one I started a long time ago and bound rather recently.  It's got a ton of texture and is loaded with parchment type paper.  It is a medium sized journal with about 80 pages, but I really haven't counted them.  The colours are very warm and the beads on the side are a little off the beaten track in terms of style.  One of the strands is split into two about halfway down thecord's length.

The cover is a Skinner blend that was  textured with some fabric.  Additional elements include a drape of  cane slices and some variegated canes I added for visual interest.

This rockin' one was inspired by the surrounding rocks out here.  I  actually put it down on the ground amid the stones that are outside and it blended in very well.  The rocky top on this is quite bumpy, but in the end I buffed it to make it less so and to make it easier to hold.  It is filled with charcoal type paper so that any naturalist can go out and do sketches.  In keeping with the rocky theme, there's a nature video inside with the sound of water running over the rocks.  I incorporated some smooth and irregular 'rocks' and also some glass and pearly beads.  Glass was once rock, right?

This mixed media book is of the type I made before Christmas in 2010.  It incorporates book board, which I coated with Gesso and then layered on coats of Jacquard Paint.  I added a few sunrays of co-ordinating colors of paint and then put on the polymer embellishment.  It consists of cane slices surrounding a medallion.  I also sewed some beaded elements into the cover and used similar beads on the spine.  This book is somewhat larger in dimension and is filled with good watercolor paper so that any media can be used to enhance its interior.  It was fun to combine a couple of elements in creating it.

Lots of folks ask what kinds of things should go in these art journals.  I decry those who want to use them as little notepads for grocery lists or telephone numbers.  It's so hard to be polite to people who call them notebooks...to me, those are the things you pick up at the dollar store and just rip the pages out when you are done with them.  To me an art journal is something you'd like to keep forever.  One of my friends has a guest book in her home that she has everyone write in as they visit.  Over the course of a couple of years, that has proven to be a wonderful recollection of all the friends who come over and the good times they've shared.  I also gave a similar book to another friend who decided that she'd use it for memorable events that occur over the years.  Of course most of the entries are happy ones, but she's also had the good sense to include some not so fun moments, because we all know that life doesn't always deal us good times every day.  And of course sketches,  paintings, significant quotes, photographs, calligraphy and other art forms can all be incorporated within the covers of these books.  That would make it YOUR art journal.

Blue Book done and others

As indicated in yesterday's post, (wow two posts in two days) I completed the binding of the book I'll be showing at the Saturday guild meeting. 
The interior contains 60 pages (actually five signatures) but the watercolor paper is so heavy that the finished book is an inch (2.54cm) thick.  I've made a couple of other books...some similar and some not so, and I've loaded them with Charcoal paper, so it's still a good quality paper but not as heavy, therefore making for more pages inside.

The book that I completed that is similar, using the same elements but other paper is shown here.  It's the same surface size, roughly 4 1/2 inches by 3 3/4 inches.  The beads are a combination of glass, metal and the majority are polymer made from leftover materials used in making the covers.

I used many of the same colors of clay in making this book, but employed a different combination of inks on the covers and in the Shimmer Batik Technique.  Sometimes the colors of the inks change in the process of layering and the pink color in the final outcome was originally more of a lavender color.  I personally love amost all colors so don't have a problem with that.  I know there are folks out there that don't want any pink in stuff.  The way that the colors merge on their own is appealing to me. It's one of the things about polymer clay that is a tiny bit unpredictable, but oh so much fun when you get those unexpected happenings.

New Year, New Book

Although the book is not yet finished, I thought I'd include it here as a work in progress to indicate that I actually have been working on clay, in spite of my hiatus from posting for over a month!  I will be doing a demo this Saturday and this is what I am going to be illustrating.  I have all the elements of the book ready, but had this picture taken before the covers were put in the oven, so this doesn't show the complete details. 

A while back, I had purchased Tina Holden's Shimmer and Batik tutorial, and finally had all the supplies (I got a ton of foiling stuff for Christmas) and needed to try everything out.  I did change the methods slightly...I added more texture to the impression as I needed a way of adhering the star to the background and I may have used more removal of the ink than was intended.  Anyway, it looks pretty and the colors of the background pretty closely match the colors in the Batik/shimmer element.  Instead of finishing it in the way recommended in the tutorial, I am going to add a coat of Future to preserve the inks, foil and pearl elements just to the cutout part. Just for the sake of clarity during the demo I will not be doing the Shimmer Batik technique.  I will be walking  folksthrough how to make basic covers for a book, how to prepare the signatures and demo the Coptic binding technique, the part of the book making which requires the most practice for 'unsewers' like moi.

  The interior is a Skinner Blend and when the whole thing comes together I will be adding watercolor pages inside and some beads to the binding, as I have done with most of my books.  I hope it turns out.

Ornaments, troubles, fun and great stuff

Sheesh!  I cannot believe how fast the last month has flown.  Once again, the same old thing, busy as all get out...get out!  Finally, I have a few moments to spare to create some nibbles for the big game later on this afternoon.  I made a load of chili in the crock pot and have some shrimp and cocktail sauce and the usual veggies, chips, and other junk to last the game through, and all the pre-game shows too! 

Our GREY CUP football championship pits the Montreal Alouettes vs. the Saskatchewan Roughriders and for me, just like the teams have been preparing for the big game, I have been working at full steam.  This past week was particularly haried, with several days of teaching, (both art workshops and regular subjects), book club meetings,  a very funky art sale on Friday night, and a birthday celebration left little time for anything but driving there and shovelling snow.  As well, I had signed up for the annual ornament swap, and wouldn't you know, the date for them to arrive coincided with all this other folderol.  I know I shouldn't be posting the pictures before the swappers get them, but   since this blog is not just for the swappers, I figured I would go ahead. 

I know they are not particularly Christmas-y, but then some of the ornaments on my tree range from things like skiers, to school desks, to almost anything that can be hung.  So, I took some liberties and let them be on my Christmas Fish List for this year.  I ran in to a few snags and trying to fix the ornaments was a waste of time, so had to redo a couple and they are noticeably different from the rest.  Hopefully the swappers won't mind. 

I revisited the technique of using UTEE on the tops of the ornaments.  I haven't used this much and after this weeks experiences (and experiments) I know why.  Although the UTEE makes for a terrifically great finish, putting it on these fish was quite troublesome.  Of course, the first time I went to set the stuff on, I used the heat gun and the mountain of dry UTEE just went flying all over the place.  In order for me to get the stuff 'semi-solid' I had to place all the coated ornaments on a flat tile and heat it up in the oven.  I suppose I could have just baked them all there for forever, but nooooooooooooo...I wanted to use the heat gun.  It was really tricky trying to get the stuff evenly 'domed', and after several coats, realized that it was not going to happen.  I used nearly an entire large bottle of the stuff, and even then the results are not that great.  To add to my woes, I burned my finger in a couple of places, trying to take the 'warm' fish out of the oven in order to complete the sealing of the UTEE.  I never realized how badly until I felt the raised bubble on my knuckle tis morning.  It doesn't hurt that much, but if the blister breaks, I am in for a helluva time.  So, maybe I'll just stick to same old same old for a while, at least when I am rushed to get things done. 

Amidst all this bellyaching, I want to say a few positive things about the week.  I had awesome classes, ranging in age from junior kindergartens to eighth graders and they were all fun to teach...even those teenage boys who just had this 'look'....um yah.  polymer clay.  woopdeedoo.  After they got to crank the pasta machines a couple hundred times, I believe they actually enjoyed it.  It was part of their art experiential morning. 

Later on that same day, we trundled over the city to set up for This Ain't Your Grandma's Craft Sale.  Of course the parking lot was full of snow and we nearly got stuck :--)))  but when the music started to play and the wine and beer was flowing, we forgot all about those troubles.  One group of performers...THOSE GUYS did a great a capella set.  Watch out Four Tenors...this was a sevensome of very talented singers.   It was a great concept for a craft sale, and one of the few times I've seen men actually enjoy being paraded past tables of mostly feminine stuff.  There were a variety of vendors with not the usual plastic canvas and knit dishtowels...and I noticed more than one guy pulling out his wallet to spring for blacksmithed stuff, funky clothing and even some of my light switch covers.  The turnout was great and there's going to be a follow up sale next Sunday night, the 5th of December. For those who missed that first one, head over to the Park Theatre where the same type of event will be happening. 

Speaking of sales, I will be wrapping up the fall events next weekend, with a full day at a local school on Saturday the 4th...the only school event I do, and then the night sale at the Park.  Then, I can finally get started on my own preparations for the holidays, and the packing away of my polymer clay stuff for a much needed hiatus. 

Fall Sales taking Priority

I have been calling these pieces of wearable art "Le Coffret Secret" based on ad I saw in a French magazine several years ago.  Actually, what the container in the ad held was a type of coffee, and these, at present have nothing secretly hidden inside of them.   I was able to match up the gold/black polymer combination with some beads I got at an antique sale this summer while on a short trip to Wisconsin.  I had high hopes of using many of the beads, but for whatever reason, few of them have found their way into my works.  I have incorporated some into bracelets, but the ones I acquired were very large and my original intention was to make some ginormous necklaces with my own polymer beads and the antique ones I obtained.  Many are silver plate (I am pretty sure they're not sterling) and lots are brass like these accordion bellow types here.  Maybe as my inventory for fall sales and shows accumulates more of them will be added to fashion unusual fusions of old and new.

As for the coffret itself, the view above is the back side, or the one that would hang next to the wall if it were a wall piece.  I made the container over a glass bottle that was round on the front and flat on the back.  The more decorative view is pictured here.  The cording is adjustable and there is room inside for a picture, a charm or a note, (like some folding money, lol) or whatever else a person would want to keep.  When I made these before, I placed some French lavender seeds in a small sachet inside the coffrets, thus keeping with the French thème.  If I can find the appropriate sachet fabric, I will do that with these too.                           

The coffret pictured here is going to be used as a donation for the first in the November sales.  I'm involved in several this month:  The University Women's Club Sale at Ralph Conner House on 54 Westgate on the 12th of this month.  The Snowflake Boutique follows on Saturday the 13th which will be hosted by my friend Joy and then the following weekend I will be doing the Artisans Market hosted by the Manitoba Crafts Museum and Library.  It is being held downtown in the new Manitoba Hydro Building Foyer on the main floor.  It runs Friday, the 19th and Saturday the 20th.  The Signature Craft Event is being held right across the way from there at the Convention Centre and visiting the two would make for a fun afternoon. I believe there is a pedestrian walkway that one could use to connect the two buildings if the weather should turn frightfully cold.  Entry to the Artisan's Market is free, but donations to the MCML are accepted.

I have a number of doll heads on the clay table right now...I was going to say chopping block, but that would be taking the French thème of La Guillotine a bit too far....so it's back to work.