TheClayMuse

You may kiss the bride...

2009-10-28T13:02:00.000-07:00

We did it! On October 8th Michael and I were married in Las Vegas in the company of a few immediate family members.
We tied the knot at the MGM Grand, they had a "Hollywood Glamour" package that was just perfect for us. I'm not sure if I've really mentioned it here but I am a total sucker for the 30's & 40's era. The starlets, the fedoras, the movies, the music... Le sigh...
Ah so the package, hair & make-up at Cristope Salon, live pianist (played As Time Goes By, during the ceremony) All white bouquet of Cala Lilies, Stargazer Lilies (did I ever mention how much I love lilies) roses, orchids and tulips. And a studio photography session after.
The staff at the MGM Forever Grand Wedding chapel were so amazing! Angela, our coordinator, helped us pull together the wedding in just one month's time, she was so helpful, nice, patient, bubbly every time we spoke! Plus, when one of the buttons popped on my husband's tux, she was there needle and thread in hand to mend it for him while he panicked.
Before this post starts to sound like an ad for the MGM's wedding services.... I will share pictures!( < flickr set)

It was beautiful. The pictures came out so well I have trouble picking out a few favorites. I think the two of us pull off the black & white old style look pretty nicely. I mentioned to my grandmother how handsome he was in his tux, he reminded me of a young Gregory Peck and I felt like Joan Bennett during her femme fatal era. Maybe a little Ava Gardner. Our mini-honeymoon was great. I have tons of things about Vegas to share, pictures and stories and such. I'm still battling the black-plague equivalent of a head cold (goin on over a week now), so it may be a while before I get back to semi-regular posting.
Thanks for stopping by and sharing in my happy moment!

new boots call for new boot laces

2009-09-29T15:05:00.000-07:00

I know I've been slacking on the blog posting but the wedding is a beast onto itself and has taken over! Just one week to go now......

In the mean time I got some awesome boots, they are like knee high converse hightops (although they are Airwalker brand and, well, knee high)
I wanted to make some funky boot laces to go in them, first I went out and got myself a set of sock DPN's sizes 00-1. I planned on making I-cord laces, but the yarn I wanted to use was worsted weight, not lace, sock or even sport would prolly have worked. I-cords were too thick with this yarn (peaches & creme, pink lilac colorway) and wouldn't fit through the grommets.
So I decided to crochet a set. I planned on jut a single row of SC stitches long enough would be good. When I started to work them up I realized that I loved the way the plain foundation chain looked. So I whipped up two sets. (and I don't recommend a 13hr crochet-a-thon my finger tips are sore!)

Pattern:
One set is just plain foundation chain, the other set worked up as follows:
(both sets worked with worsted weight yarn on a size E hook, one size down from recommended hook size)
Work a foundation chain as long as you want your laces to be, I took out the original laces and just held them together to measure, I made them a little longer than the original laces because i like the big bow. My laces wound up about 115-120inches long (remember these are for Knee High boots)
So you work the foundation chain to the desired length, then you work single crochet stitches into the back of each foundation chain stitch. Now I DO NOT mean back loop only, though that may look pretty neat-o if you'd like to try it. I mean the "camel hump" on the WS(wrong side) of the chain, that lil horizontal bump that looks like it connects the stitches.
When you reach the end just fasten off, you can wrap the ends in tape (maybe give it a lil melt), paint the tips with clear nail polish, if you used acrylic yarn you could just give it a lil melt on the end (this will only work with acrylic yarn, if you used organic you'll just burn up the end and ruin all that hard work, plus it will smell like burning hair in that room for like a week, ask me how I know)to give yourself a "tip" (don't now the technical term and I'm too lazy to look it up). mine are un-tipped at the moment, ha vent decided how I'd like to seal them up yet.

I plan on making lots more laces of varying colorways, the I-cord set is still planned, just for a little later. Now go forth and make funky shoe laces, and please share pics if you do, I'd love to see what you guys can come up with!

Had to share!

2009-09-03T13:36:00.000-07:00

so two things I just had to share.. one.. I won some fiber from the Phat Fiber blog recently and it arrived today!

It is much prettier in person, the light in my kitchen is not so good today.
I can not wait to spin it up. I'm going to wait until I get through the other 4oz of roving I have and get a little better before I do though, because this stuff is awesome. It is so cushy and squishy and shiny. They are AstroBatts from Rocketyarn's shop on etsy go check out that shop if your into fiber/yarny stuff (I especially like the look of the Gemsations lace weight yarns)

And I've been working on my hand spun yarn. I'm so very excited to say when I took it off the chair when it was finally dry.... no more corkscrews! It really relaxed a lot! I started to knit this Whisp wristlet last night but was having issues. Half the ribbing wasn't lining up and I followed the pattern to a T. Then I realized that I could change row 4 to read purl 11 (p1, k1) to end, or keep the purl at 12 and (k1, p1) to the end to fix it. I frogged it and started over today.
Right Side:

Wrong Side:

I still need to knit the pocket and flap but I love it already! I actualy think if you didn't want to pocket you could leave it as is and wear it WS out ad it would look funky!

Semi Wordless Wednesday

2009-09-02T08:16:00.001-07:00

I dyed my first handspun last night! I used pink lemonade and ice blue raspberry lemonade kool aide, two packets each for just under 2oz of yarn. I wound up doing it in the microwave, the man was confused as to why i was microwaving yarn at 11 o'clock last night, but also impressed that it worked. It was still a wee bit damp this morning and a bit tangled up so I wound it around the back of a chair to dry under a bit of tension...
It came out pretty well, it's kind of over spun, which you can't really see in this photo (under tension and all) but I'm still going to knit with it. I would be knitting with it right now if it would dry faster!!!
If you'd like to see the yarn on the spindle, and before it was dyed (or even just how twisty/over spun it is) you can visit my Handspun Adventures Flickr Set

Holy Crap it's been over a month!

2009-08-27T07:22:00.001-07:00

Since I last posted. I'm sorry guys. I'm sure I wasn't missed all that much.
I've been sort of out of my mind recently.
Gearing up for a craft show in Sept. Learning crochet, taking care of the house, and, oh yea, trying to decide between a large wedding later, or "eloping" in Vegas when we are there for the APEX show in October.
Thats what has been making me loose my mind. There are so many pro's and cons to both. And I hate that for something as special as my wedding day, the money is a huge deciding factor. We could pay for a wedding at home, within the next year, but it would completely wipe out our savings (and probably his parents savings as well) and with only one paycheck coming into this house, no savings, well that's a scary thought.... And it wouldn't be the big church wedding the future mister would want, most likely it would be held in our back yard or his parents back yard, but it would still be nice, and all our family could be there.
Now Vegas (which is in a little over a month, oh god.....) I could spend the money I was given by my father (ironically enough it was my wedding fund, but he gave up on the thought before we got engaged, so it became house improvement fund, and now may turn back into wedding fund) and pay for a whole she-bang. Dress, rings, ceremony. We could go somewhere beautiful, the Valley of Fire... or have a Vintage Hollywood Wedding at the MGM among other options. But most if not all of our family would not be able to attend, in actuality I'd be surprised if more than his mother and possibly my father hopped on a plane to come out.. well best friend Bri would, if she could get the day(s) off.

So all this and way way more have been crowding my brain, driving me a wee bit more bonkers than usual. I've been taking the frustration out on yarn.....
wanna see?

blanket for my cousin's newborn son

grim reaper.. oooh scary...

sackboy to the rescue

skeleton bride in progress

skeleton groom in progress

whats a Gabu? cute thats what
yea yea, i let the wedding slip into my projects.....

Vacation was amazing......

2009-07-20T09:26:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, did you all miss me?
I just spent a wonderful week in Bermuda! My man's parents lease a time share with another woman and they go every year. Every once and a while they bring some family down. When my man and I first started dating we got to go with them, we had been together for seven months, and that was four years ago.
I was told two years ago we'd get to go this summer and had been anxiously awaiting for what felt like forever. Bermuda is a paradise and I enjoyed it so much!
While I was daydreaming about mango daiquiris, my man was day dreaming about one thing in particular, and he never let on........
Let me start by saying, that first year, we got some wonderful pictures at the unfinished church (historical site). It really is a beautiful ruin with an interesting story.
When we arrived this past Saturday my man and I went for a walk around St. Georges together, and made our way up to the unfinished church. They were setting up for a wedding, it looked beautiful!

I took some pictures, he took some pictures, we ducked out of the sun into the shade of a tree to soak it all in, we were there, together again, in paradise. And just as I was about to walk down the path away from the church he stops me, and asked me to marry him.

Best vacation.... ever.....

Semi-Wordless Wednesday

2009-07-08T16:09:00.000-07:00

I love frogs! If you click on this picture to see the full size, the detail on this lil guy is amazing!
I took this picture on a hike up Sparta Mt. a few weeks ago. It was beautiful, but I came home with many ticks, so I steered clear until I got some Off! (though I haven't made it back yet).

Person of Interest: Caroline of New Hope Beading

2009-07-02T08:31:00.000-07:00

Today I'm very proud to present to you all a wonderful woman from New Jersey.

Name, rank & serial number? Aka who are you, what is it you do, where can we find you on the web?
Hi, my name is Caroline and I make handcrafted jewelry. You can find me on-line at:
www.newhopebeading.etsy.com
www.newhopebeading.artfire.com
www.newhopebeading.1000markets.com
and the new site that links them all together for you is:
www.newhopebeading.com

Have you always been crafty/artsy? what made you decide to start your shop?
I have always liked to follow a project from start to finish no matter what the nature of that project. I also love design. I started out as an Assistant Buyer for a large department store in Manhattan when I first graduated college as an Undergrad, but I have worn many hats since!

I tell the story of how newhopebeading was born in the profile of my Etsy shop
(seriously, you should head over and read her story, right now, we will wait for you, I promise)

What would you consider your biggest success?
My kids.

How/Why did you get involved in the EFNJ?(Epilepsy Foundation of New Jersey) (if you don't mind me asking that is)
I don’t mind you asking that at all. When my daughter was first diagnosed with epilepsy we were in shock. She was 8 years old and had never had a seizure before. We were lost and did not know where to turn. To complicate things we were in the process of moving back home to New Jersey so trying to secure medical care for her was complicated. I turned to a pamphlet from the doctor’s office from The Epilepsy Foundation, initially to assist in finding doctors after our move home.

But I found so much more!!!! I could go on and on about the amazing programs they have where they go into schools and do staff development and awareness programs for staff and students alike. The list goes on and on. But the one thing that took me totally by surprise was the understanding voice I always heard at the other end of the phone. I honestly don’t know how we would have gotten through that first year without them. Often when someone is first diagnosed, it takes awhile to hammer down the specific diagnosis and to get on the right medication.

My daughter has found amazing doctors and her medication (knock wood) is working well. As of May 31st she was 1 year without a major seizure and if we make it to August 5th without another seizure she will be one year seizure free…she said she wants a cake LOL
(mmm, cake! I don't blame her, keepin fingers crossed for her!)

Have you ever had a project disaster turn into something beautiful? On a literal level, no I am too anal. If a piece of jewelry doesn’t come out just right I will take it apart and redo it. Maybe that is why making jewelry has been so therapeutic for me since Samantha’s diagnosis. A piece of jewelry I can fix and change, control. Many other things in our lives these last 2 years we need to just accept and manage.
(now this is a statement I can completely understand!)

Any current/upcoming projects that you’re excited about working on?
Oh you asked the magic question. I am like a kid waiting for Christmas when I am waiting for supplies to arrive. Right now I am waiting for some Hill Tribe silver to arrive from Thailand. I order it directly because I get the best price, which I can then pass on to my customers. The only downside to ordering direct is that it can sometimes take as long as 2 months for it to clear customs! Right now I am waiting for some really cute starfish and other nautical Hill Tribe pieces. I really hope they get here before Summer is out!

Is there any tidbit of wisdom you’d like to share with us?
Life can turn on a dime…be happy today…don’t wait for tomorrow.

I’m interested to see how others may respond to the random profile question I got from blogger….
Your bow is not broken but you've run out of arrows. How can you fake being a bard?
I have absolutely no idea what that means LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!
(and blogger random question dealie wins again, that s.o.b)

Now, you want to hear some really good news? Caroline is having a huge sale right now! It's only for her Etsy shop, but keep your eyes on her Artfire shop as a sale might find it's way over there sometime this weekend!
Fourth of July Weekend Deals and Treasure Hunt Deal:
*Free shipping in her entire shop from July 2nd thru July 6th.
*10% off all Mother's and Grandmother's Bracelets from July 3rd thru July 5th
*Find the special item with a treasure chest hidden and receive 15% off that item July 2nd thru 6th

Thank you Caroline for sharing your passion and story with us. It's women like you, who inspire me, everyday and in every way.

Semi-Wordless Wednesday

2009-07-01T09:57:00.001-07:00

DSCF0347
Originally uploaded by TheClayMuse

I went to visit Mom on Monday, got lots of pictures of the new babies & her "new" c1800's antique spinning wheel. We had a great time, I brought my spinning & knitting and she refuses to believe we will ever get a long slick of roving from her babies. She shall see!

Not very Wordless Wednesday: Graduation edition

2009-06-24T06:51:00.000-07:00

Heya folks! for this edition of not very wordless wednesday I bring to you a few pictures from my college graduation, and two not very good cell pics of my baby sister's HS graduation!

The man and I

Me, Mom, Grams and lil Sis

I hammed it up a bit!

Aren't the grounds of WCCC pretty?

My brat

Me and my brat, I'm so very proud of her, wish I had better pics to share, but all I had with me was my cell, I know I know, I'm a bad sis!

Person of Interest: Karen of ScrappinCorner

2009-06-16T06:40:00.000-07:00

Name, rank & serial number? Aka who are you, what is it you do, where can we find you on the web?
My name is Karen. I am a SAHM with 3 children, ages 15, 12, and 7. I make cards all day when they are gone at school! I love to scrapbook as well, but haven't done that for a while. You can find me here:
www.karismaheartsavannah.blogspot.com
www.twitter.com/scrappincorner
www.scrappincorner.etsy.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/scrappincorner/

If you check out Karen's blog you can see the tutorial on how to make these cards! Among many other great things to be found there.

Have you always been crafty/artsy? What made you decide to start your shop?
I started being crafty about 16 years ago, right after I got married. I started with tole painting, then when scrap booking after the kids came. That eventually turned into making cards too.

What's your favorite project you've ever worked on?
Probably a scrapbook for my parents 50 anniversary. I love vintage photos and using vintage scrapbook stuff!

Just how cool are these?

What would you consider your biggest success?
Having my 3 children! Also being married for almost 17 years.

Have you ever had a project disaster turn into something beautiful?
I have fixed some disasters, and they have turned out ok, and usually I can make them look good!

Any current/upcoming projects that your excited about working on?
15 cards for my Father-in-law for Father's day. I better get started on those....

To be fair to Karen she answered these questions a few weeks ago

Is there any tidbit of wisdom you'd like to share with us?
Staple a piece of ribbon on a tag instead of tying it on!

I'm interested to see how others may respond to the random profile question I got from blogger: Your bow is not broken but you've run out of arrows. How can you fake being a bard?

I don't get it!

And she's not the only one, blogger random question generator, you're one tricky s.o.b.!

Thanks Karen for sharing your passion with us!

(If you are interested in being a Person of Interest drop me a line majikalfae(at)yahoo(dot)com with a few links and a bit about yourself!)

I'm back!

2009-06-15T09:09:00.000-07:00

Did you miss me? No?! Well then.....
Sorry I took off with no back up posts or heads up that I would not be around but I expected to have access to my laptop/Internet while on the man's business trip to Philly. Unfortunately I did not, but that was not the least of our problems. I'm torn between sharing this ordeal with you all or just moving on. Before I decide I'd like to mention that I have a few Person of Interest interviews ready to go and one will be posted if not today, definitely tomorrow. If you are interested in being featured here please drop me a line at majikalfae(at)yahoo(dot)com. Please let me know just a little about you/why you'd make a good subject. You do not have to have an etsy shop, artfire or 1000 markets. All that is required is that you are an interesting person who does interesting things and has somewhere online where we can check out all your awesome....
I've decided to share part of our adventure, but will try to keep it kind of short.... The thing to keep in mind while reading all this is that we were in Philly because the man was on a business trip, manning a booth at the PV(photovoltaic) America show.
We got done at the convention center kind of late, so we check into our motel(yeap Motel not hotel) and go to dinner. When we get back the man realizes that the toilet seal is busted and there is a bad leak. So we get our room switched. We get into our jammies only to realize that, our rental car keys (with our house key too) are missing! We tear the new room apart and find a crumpled porno mag and a very large bag of weed under the chair in our room! But no keys! So we freak out a bit about the bag and decide it's probably best if we just wrap it in a trash bag and toss it in the outside trash bin. We probably should have handed it in to the front desk guy or something but it was midnight and our brains were not working so well and we were, well weirded out. We go to the front desk to get the keys to the room we originally had, and tear that room apart. No keys. When we go to hand the keys back the front desk guy offers to help us search, first the room we are in now (good thing we tossed that weed) then the room we had been in, and then he helps us shine flashlight in the car to see if they are locked up in there, nope, nope and nope! Call in AAA who pops the lock and leaves, search the car, no keys. After many calls to enterprise and AAA we find that we need to have it towed to a local dealership where they will cut a key in the morning (for about $200 thanks microchip keys with remotes!) We wait again for AAA who gets there about 2am. When the truck arrives a very large angry man opens his motel door and yells at us to "shut the fuck up, keep it the fuck down, some people are trying to fucking sleep!" Our tow truck guy yells back "are you serious, I've been up since 5:30 yesterday morning and I will fuck you up if i have to" (doesn't this just sound like oodles of fun?) No fight ensues, thankfully, and the car is towed we get up to our new room and our key doesn't work! On our way back to the front desk we pass a drunk guy who is banging on every door looking for his friends. Finally get back in our room and try to sleep despite loud slamming noise we keep hearing. It isn't until noon the next day when someone hands our keys in to the front desk (apparently he found them the night before but was drunk and didn't realize he never handed them in)I run upstairs, keys in hand to call the dealership, praying they haven't cut a 200 dollar key we no longer need. There's good news, and bad news, they haven't started to cut the key yet, because they can not locate our car. I'm pullin your leg right? Nope, sorry I'm not. around 5pm they locate our car in a back lot they never use, the only lot the tow driver had gate keys for.
And yes, that was the short version of only one reason our trip to Philly, pretty much sucked.

On a happy note, I woke up way early yesterday to drive to my Mom's (an hour and a half away) to then drive 4.5hours to a mile from the Maryland/PA border to pick up her two alpacas. Here they are in the back of the SUV Bourbon is close up and that's Maverick's head back there.

And here is Bourbon out today, Mom said Maverick was too nervous to leave the barn this morning.

Mom has more pics but they are on her camera, hope to visit them this week and get some copies to share.

Not very-Wordless Wednesday

2009-06-03T08:03:00.000-07:00

My pc is dismantled at the moment, so no good pics, instead you get a World of Warcraft Screenie and a little story!

This is my only Horde character Indunda (do you know where her name came from? it's spelled wrong so google won't help!) She's a very cute blood elf rogue, she's only 26th level as I barely play her. Well I was on playing her the other day minding my own business standing on top of a very tall tower waiting for the dirigible to arrive and carry me to a far away city when someone says to me "Wow your #$%@ing HOT!" (I have the profanity filter on tyvrymch 1.General: The Barrens :P )so I /shy emote and /thank the weird undead dude standing next to me. At this point the blimp arrives, he proceeds : "So, uh, can I have your phone number?" , I climb on and /laugh in response. The blimp starts to depart, he takes a few steps and jumps, trying to catch it before it pulls away, he fails, as he's falling to his low level death, he /yells "I LOVE YOU!"

I laughed so hard I cried for 15 mins, and immediately relayed the story to a few good friends, and now, I get to share it with you. Definitely one of my top ten warcraft memories!

Person of Interest: Paul Michael Kane

2009-05-27T12:48:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my first ever installment of Person of Interest...! I'm very excited to start this up, and what better way to start than with an extremely talented photographer who lives in the same little (and I mean little) town I do! I only recently stumbled upon Paul's work through the wonders of social networking meets zip code search technology, and I was amazed at what I found.

Now without further ado: the bold type are my questions, the italics are just me interjecting my two cents through-out... everything else is all Paul!

Name, rank & serial number? Aka who are you, what is it you do, where can we find you on the web?

My name is Paul Michael Kane and I am a graphic designer/photographer based in Ogdensburg, NJ. I am all over the net with two different web sites: www.pmkane.com (my design site) and www.paulmichaelkane.com (a site devoted to just my photography). I am also on most of the major social networking sites like myspace (http://www.myspace.com/pmkane), facebook (http://www.facebook.com/people/Paul-Michael-Kane/698353979), twitter (http://twitter.com/pmkane) and even my own 'photo-a-day' blog at http://pmkphoto.blogspot.com.
(go visit those sites, especially the photo a day blog, and follow it, because you will be amazed at the beauty this man can capture, and he shares a little bit of it with us each day)

How/when did you get started in your field(s)?

I've been shooting photography ever since I was 10 years old and my aunt gave me my first film SLR camera. That ran its course through high school where I shot for the school paper and even into my first job – that of a resort photographer in the Poconos, PA. That's right! I was the kid shooting honeymooning couples in the infamous heart shaped tubs! But as film and processing costs kept rising, my interest in photography waned and I got into graphic arts. It's here where I've been lucky enough to be a part of some very interesting project, even an official Lucasfilm movie poster for the 6th and final Star Wars film, Revenge of the Sith! With the advent of digital photography, my interest had once again been piqued and it's been leading me back into the field full bore. I am most happy when behind the camera! The marriage of both my passions – photography and graphic design – have both come to serve me well!

What’s your favorite project you’ve ever worked on?

Every project I seem to be currently wrapping up becomes my next favorite project . . . In April of this year, I put out my first book, Captured: The Ruins of Eastern State Penitentiary . Prior to that, I photographed 88 images for a set of para normal cards called the Konxari Cards. Together, these two projects are my current favorite.
(if you follow the link for Captured you can preview the first 15 pages! also if you visit the konxari website there is an interview with Paul!)

What would you consider your biggest success?

The above mentioned Star Wars poster is my biggest success – not for monetary gain, but for person gratification. I grew up with Star Wars. My twin brother and I spent hours playing with our action figures in the front yard. I am 37 now and still get chills when I watch my favorite scene in A New Hope – where Luke is gazing out over the dessert at the twin suns setting over Tatooine. For me to have been involved in an official capacity in the creation of a movie poster for Lucasfilm is not only a dream come true, but a career high that I am going to be hard pressed to beat!

(it's the one on the left go here to read about the making of the poster!)

Have you ever had a project disaster turn into something beautiful?

You know, as a designer, I never want to put anything 'out there' that would look disastrous – but as you answer to a client or a customer, you need to appease them – sometimes in direct conflict with standard design ethics. So while I won't mention the project by name, yes . . . there are a few PMK disasters out there . . . the beauty is, some like them – and that brings me more clients and business. I cringe when I get those calls, cause I know I'll be in for more of the same – the battle over pleasing the client and creating good design!

When did you sell your first piece?

My first photographic print that ever sold was to a sweet lady from Lake Hopatcong. She had seen some of my fireworks shots taken during the lake's Fourth of July celebration. I had posted a gallery up somewhere – not one of my regular sites as I recall. Anyway, she emailed me and asked to purchase a print for her home! I was very excited as I just began shooting digital and made arrangements to meet her at a Michael's Arts and Crafts store with the print and I even helped pick out the custom matting and framing for the print! It's the greatest satisfaction to any artist/photographer to know that someone, somewhere has hung an image created by you . . . I get that with every print sold!

(this is one of my favorite shots from the photo a day blog, shot in IR! tell me how freakin cool is that!?)

Any current/upcoming projects that you're excited about working on?

I just wrapped up work on a book called The White Album. It's a tribute book about The Beatles. It's set to debut at the San Diego Comic Con – the biggest multi-media event of the year! Each contributor was asked to pick three songs from the Beatles immense catalog and create an images inspired by the titles or lyrics of the songs. I am the only photographer of the bunch – the rest are all traditional media artists. I've seen some of the other works and I am honored and humbled to have been asked to contribute!

Is there any tidbit of wisdom you’d like to share with us?

This isn't one of my tidbits, but it's one I try to live every day of my life . . . here it is . . . if you do something you love, you never work a day in your life! My passion for photography and visual communication allows me to enjoy each and every project – even the disastrous ones! If you can find something to do that you love, don't let anyone tell you that you can't make a living from it . . . the biggest waste is life – if you aren't enjoying every second of it, something is wrong . . . make a change . . . challenge yourself to finding that one thing that will make you happy!

I’m interested to see how others may respond to the random profile question I got from blogger…. Your bow is not broken but you've run out of arrows. How can you fake being a bard?
Hmmm . . . I'd pick up the nearest large rock . . . begin speaking to it in a very Hamlet-ist way. . . confusing the enemy into thinking me a harmless, rambling bard . . . then stone anyone who got close enough! Not sure what that says about me, but it's the first thing that came to mind!

Ha! I like it, that's some good thinkin right there! I definitely approve!

Semi-Wordless Wednesday

2009-05-27T08:33:00.000-07:00

This is my first Wordless Wednesday post, and not entirely wordless (that may be impossible for me)

I took a bunch of pictures at my mother's house on Mother's day. This one is probably one of my favorites, it's my little sister being chased by one of the dogs. Good Times.. good times... I love my little brat!

Keep your eyes peeled for my first Person of Interest feature, will be posted soon!!

And the winner is....

2009-05-26T07:34:00.000-07:00

First off I want to say WOWZERS!!! 57 entries! Thank you all for following/tweeting etc. about this giveaway. It definitely will not be the last.
And the winner this time is......

Insanity Kim!!!!

I'm very excited to say that I have received many responses to my call for "person's of interest" to feature here. I have already gotten the ball rolling on the first interview, that will be posted soon, so keep your eyes peeled.

Hope you all had a great long weekend (for those of us lucky to have one). Ours was not too shabby, well, aside from the agony of trying to quit smoking, that's been pretty hard on me. (80+ hours smoke free..) I managed to keep myself pretty distracted. We went for a drive to High Point, the highest point in NJ, and I was surprised to find out they charge you to enter the park now-a-days. I don't remember ever paying when I was growing up, but it may just be that I don't remember.
We went for a walk and I got some pretty nice pictures..

ahhh... so pretty, looking at the photo I can almost feel the cool breeze again, it was really nice. I will not however, be going back to have a lil walk all that often. I'm used to my state parks/hiking trails to be no charge to enter. I'll be checking out Sparta Mountain this afternoon I think.

A feature and a giveaway!

2009-05-19T09:31:00.000-07:00

Well well well, it seems I've gone from blogging on Thursdays to blogging on Tuesdays. How about we try for more than one post a week? It's a good idea, one I'll try to stick with, but I feel if I don't have anything good to post about I shouldn't post. Although sometimes I must admit my posts are more ramble than substance, but that's just the kinda gal I am!
Ok let us get down to the business at hand, I've been kicking a few things around about the blog recently, one is it could probably use a face lift, but I just don't have the patience to fiddle with html anymore, so unless someone wants to trade me a blog makeover for well, anything I could make for them, than this is what you get for now (sorry folks).

Next, I'd like to start doing a feature & interview at least once a week. This will give me something fun to do as well as get you guys some substantial posts of a mostly non-rambling nature! What am I going to feature? Well I hope to try something new, a lot of the blogs I follow who do features only feature etsy artists, and I'm not saying this is a bad thing at all, I love it; but I'd like to not have such a narrow parameter. Narrow Parameters?!?! are you cracked? some of you may be thinking. And that's a good question, well,yes I'm cracked, and I do realize the Vast vast vast amount of talent to be found on etsy, from around the globe and with many different styles and mediums. But my interests lie beyond just art, photography and crafting and that's evident in my blog. I'd like to keep the trend going.

Consider this the first call for interview subjects: Do you have a shop on etsy/artfire/1000 markets or where ever? Or maybe you write an interesting blog? Do you draw a print/webcomic? Write gadget or game reviews, short stories? Are you a photographer/artist/crafter who doesn't sell in the aforementioned markets? Are you an independent movie maker? Have I failed to mention something that you do that's pretty darn cool and you'd like to be featured? Shoot an email to majikalfae (at) yahoo.com tell me what you do, why you should be featured, include a few links so I can see how awesome you are. I'm the type of gal who'd love to feature everyone who inquires but I know that may not be realistic. But I will get back to anyone who is interested, don't worry I won't leave you hanging!

Speaking of features, I'm being featured on a blog right now! Debbie over at Polymer Clay Ponderings (I've mentioned her before) sent an interview that I took way too long to respond to, I sent it back yesterday and Wham! There it is today. Please go check it out, and the rest of Debbie's site(s). She's a pretty awesome lady, follow her blog, make her day!

Alrighty, the feature talk is all out of the way didn't I say something about a give away? I totally did! What am I giving away and how can you enter? Well I asked the Twitterverse to peruse my shop for suggestions on what to offer as the prize and votive holders won by a landslide!

Now since every one's home decor is different I'm not going to just choose a set (That's right I said a set of two candle holders) to send out. I'm going to let the winner choose the colors, and if those colors don't happen to be in stock, I will make them specially for you!
How do you enter to win? Well I had an idea for a contest but since this is my first give away I'll save the idea for next time and do a "traditional" give away first. So here's what you do, go to my shop and look around, come back here and post a comment with a link to your favorite item (no link no entry sorry) and that's it! Make sure you leave me a way to contact you should you win, your blog, email, etsy shop whatever. But that's not all! Want more entries, well you got 'em, 1 extra entry for each of the following:
1)follow my blog (already do, just let me know)
2)blog about my give away (please leave a link here after you post)
3)follow me on Twitter @claymuse (already do, just let me know)
4)Tweet about my give away (make sure to mention @claymuse so I'm sure to see!)
Make sure you mention in the comments any of the above so I don't miss your extra entries!
You have from now until next week Tuesday May 26th 2009 at 9am EST to enter. This is when I will enter every one's entries into a spread sheet and use a random number generator (Random.org) to choose a winner. I will mention the winner here on my blog as well as contact you directly for your shipping info (which will ONLY be used for shipping your prize)

Whew that was a long post wasn't it! and you only got product photos! how about a pretty picture of the tree in our front yard in full bloom just as the sun started to set?

Sickness came for a visit last week and wouldn't go home!

2009-05-12T05:28:00.001-07:00

Those of you who are still stopping by to read my blather, thank you! And I can't believe you stick with me through my very sporadic once a week updates, thank you x3! As soon as I resolved myself to be a more constant blogger sickness descended on my house.
The man woke up the Sunday before last sick as a dog and spent all week miserable, in and out of work and going to the doctor twice. By the time Thursday (and the GWAR concert woot woot) rolled around I thought I had made it safely through his illness without catching it myself. Nope! Sniffles and a scratchy throat. I'm still stuffy but I didn't get it nearly as badly as the poor guy did so I'm really not complaining.

Since I haven't been around much I thought I'd post two recipes I copied from my Grams this weekend.
5 star Vodka Sauce
(for about 8-12 oz of pasta)

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup onion finely chopped
1 garlic clove finely chopped
a 28oz can plum tomatoes with liquid
1/2 cup Vodka
a generous pinch of crushed red pepper (the recipe states 1/2 tablespoon, that is so very spicy, way way way too spicey, trust me!)
1/2 heavy cream
salt to taste

In skillet heat oil over medium heat, add onion and saute until tender, about 5 mins, stir in garlic and saute one minute. Add tomatoes and liquid, vodka and pepper. Simmer, stirring to break up tomatoes, until sauce is reduced and thickens, about 15 mins. Stir in cream and simmer until sauce thickens, about five minutes. Season with salt to taste.

Easy and oh so very yummy, it's even marked with VERY GOOD in her cookbook!

Second recipe, Greek Pizza
1 pound turkey, cut into thin strips or ground (we use ground)
2 cups thinly sliced onion
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon each lemon pepper, minced garlic, oregano
1 thin crust pizza shell (Boboli)
1 cup chopped tomatoes
12 kalamata olives pitted and slivered
1 package (6oz) crumbled feta

Combine turkey, onion, parsley, lemon pepper, garlic, oregano in a large bowl and toss. In a large skillet over med/high heat saute the turkey mixture in oil about 5-7 minutes or until turkey is no longer pink in center. Place pizza shell on baking sheet top with turkey mixture, tomatoes, olives and cheese. Bake at 450 for 10-12 minutes.
**when using fresh tomatoes add at end as recipe states, if using a can of diced tomatoes toss them in at the beginning and saute them with the turkey mixture**

I have a package of spinach in the freezer dying to be used. I may just sub in spinach for parsley and nix the olives (i love em, the man, not so much)

Gosh, it's been so freakin long since Kim gave me this award, I don't think I'll be doing the whole pass along dealy right this very moment. But I have to post it here now and say a huge thank you to Kim!

This is to be given to the bloggers whom you visit everyday or every post, and who leave evidence that they visit you often as well. As Kim mentions this can be kinda hard to measure as people are sometimes shy to comment. (I read almost every blog I follow almost every post, but mostly feel like I don't have anything useful to say and don't comment, so I'm a big culprit here.)
Do me and yourself a favor and stop on over Kim's blog beacuse she's awesome, and funny, and well worth the read! Thanks again Kim, and know that even if I'm not piping up everyday, I'm so there laughing with you!

it's Tuesday you say? Really? Oops!

2009-04-28T08:12:00.000-07:00

This week was a crazy one, and as you can tell I missed my weekly update. Sorry about that folks, I'm not even sure what I did that made the week just fly on by, but whooosh, there it went.
I was supply shopping for an order of covered keepsake tins my stepmother asked for, and finishing two of the ten of them.

Of course while I was at Michaels I had to buy another skein or three of yarn. I knit my first little stuffed friend. A tiny turtle, green with purple stripes. I found this pattern free online!
Sunday the man and I went to the mall to try to find a video game we've been wanting for a while and finally decided our budget would allow us to grab it. Well they didn't have it, so we went out to eat instead, but tiny turtle had a great time out, we chronicled his adventures with our cell cameras and I made a lil collage....

Yesterday I knit up all the pieces needed to make him a lil sister, today I need to finish stitching and stuffing her.
I also spent a lot of time with the man's mom this weekend. We went to their church tricky tray Friday night, I won a watch and a dozen roses and got to meet a few more neighbors, we grabbed a few slices first, it was a general good time had by all.
Then Saturday was the next town over from ours' garage sale day. Bright and early we went out looking for some furniture for my hopefully will become my craft room one day/spare room. I got a nice solid wood table and two huge solid wood cabinets on the cheap. And I got myself some sunburn for free, since I forgot to cover my lily white arms with the spf50 sunscreen that was on the coffee table!

I'm also very excited to have met Tracy aka Popcornfeet on etsy, aka the crazy suburban mom on blogger. She had posted in the etsy forums, a call for fun items under $10 and a feature on her blog for the one she bought. Lucky for me she loved my retro green flower barrette! Which she photographed and mentioned on her blog with linky's and all the fun stuff! I'm the jerk who didn't post here right away directing some traffic her way, so go over there now and check out her awesome blog!
Speaking of Tracy and her awesome blog... she was awarded a pretty nifty award, which *jumping with glee* she has passed along my way!
Thank you so much Tracy for my very first blog award!

"The blogger who receives this award believes in the Tao of the zombie chicken - excellence, grace and persistence in all situations, even in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. These amazing bloggers regularly produce content so remarkable that their readers would brave a raving pack of zombie chickens just to be able to read their inspiring words. "

I believe the thing to do now is pass this bad boy along to 5 blogs I would brave the zombie chickens to read...

The Stapelia Company
Neddle Tatting and Other Nonsense
TotusMel's Wunderkammer (double the TotusMel, double the fun!)
Insanity and Bliss
Sassy Glass Designs

Another week passes

2009-04-16T05:36:00.000-07:00

Another week has passed us by, seems like I have a habit of blogging on Thursdays!
I survived Easter Sunday/First Holiday in my new house/first family holiday I've ever hosted as a *cough* adult *cough*. YAY! The parents all got along, I met my Mom's boyfriend, and my man's grandmother was very happy with my no longer pink but blonde hair. (*stomp*grumble* I miss my pink hair!) Honestly I'm just glad it's over!

A while back I won a $15 gift certificate for Ruth @ AllOverArt's Shop in her monthly giveaway, I still haven't spent it because I'm so torn over two of the pendants that I just can't choose. Well folks she's at it again (it is a monthly giveaway afterall) and I'm throwin my hat in the ring once again, if the random number generator fairy smiles on me again I won't have to choose between pendants and can get both! With this mention I'm simultaneously upping my chances and diminishing them, I get a second entry, but all of you lovelies have a chance to win too, if you pop on over her blog and check it out for yourself!

I finished the books my friend lent me and he was right I loved them! Rose of the Prophet trilogy, by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. They are the ones who wrote the original Dragonlance trilogy. The first book was slow going, I really didn't get hooked to the point of can't put it down until the last 100 pages or so. And then I devoured the last two books, and of course, I'm a lil sad that it's over, that there is no more to read of Khardan, Zohra and Matthew, but it was truly a great story! If you liked the dragonlance trilogies and dismissed the other Weis Hickman series (like I had at first) you may just want to pick these up, and remember, its slow to pick up, but if you keep reading you wont be sorry, sooner than you think you may not be able to put them down.

Slacker, party of one.. right here!

2009-04-09T06:18:00.001-07:00

Blog slacker that is.. otherwise I've been keeping very busy.
As mentioned before Easter Brunch will be at my house on Sunday and while at most there will be eleven family members here I'm going a bit crazy at the thought.. My house just doesn't seem put together enough, my spare room is not really put together as a real room yet... I need to mop all the floors, I've been cleaning like a mad woman all week! Not to mention the fact that although my man's parents have met my grandmother, in over 4 years together they have never met my mom.. my mom is, shall we say, an interesting lady who can sometimes rub people the wrong way.... She's (and me too honestly) the type you either love right away.. or hate... (example: my mom and I have matching shirts I got us from Vegas that Say "If you think I'm a B**ch you should meet my Mom(Daughter)we wear them out together... yeap she loved it!) I'm hoping since they adore me, they'll think my mom is quirky and love her too! Doesn't mean I'm not nervous as all heck!

That's and avatar of me and my mom...a few years ago doing an ad spot for a friends horror film company....we aren't your typical mother daughter pair I guess!
Paranoia aside...... it should be great really.. I'm just a giant worry wart!
What else has been happening? Well I've wanted to learn to knit forever I never had anyone who could teach me (my gram that lives near by could only crochet, and that was before the RA destroyed her fingers)..
My man took me out to lunch on Saturday and while we were out he asked if I minded if we stopped at the bookstore... me giant bookworm that I am.. would I mind.. pfft.. lets go sweetheart! Mind you I have 3 books a friend of mine lent me that I ha vent finished reading yet... So I looked at the fantasy novels,browsed the fiction section, made note of the new book said friend and I wanted to read to tell him I saw it on the shelves... and headed over to the art/craft section to find some polyclay books.... The section was HUGE.. I mean really HUGE.... and I looked.. and looked and looked.. and only found TWO books on polyclay... TWO, and both were on making beads, which I honestly can do without a whole book thank you very much... But there was an entire wall of knitting and crocheting books! So I just decide to browse through the complete idiots guide to knitting and crochet.... My man comes up to me after he found the graphic novel he found worthy enough to buy... took the book from my hands and bought it for me!! YAY!!! We didn't stop and get any knitting needles or anything, we just wanted to get home... but once there I dived into the book... and started practicing casting on stitches onto a pen with old scratchy yarn from an old craft project. Next day we were out and about and I got a pair of size 8 needles and two skeins of yarn to learn with, best to see if you can do something before investing too much cash into it.
I've completed one practice piece in a garter stitch (I just used the knit stitch trying to get used to it)... I had accidental been adding a stitch on the end by pulling the last loop the wrong way, so I learned how to decrease a stitch... I was left with something mishapped that I though now what the heck do I do with this... as I was smooshing it to turn into a blob monster.... I realized I had accidental made a perfect fingerless glove! well not perfect perfect.. but close enough.. I'm wearing it right now.. great cushion on my wrist at this computer desk!
Yesterday I learned the purl stitch and now have a few inches of nearly perfect stockinette stitched fabric that will probably become my first ever scarf.. if I don't ruin it while learning to switch colors!
I was going to sign up for twitter today, but the name TheClayMuse is taken.. claymuse isn't so I may take that one...I'm just a wee bit intimidated with this whole twitter thing... keep an eye on my sidebar, if I take the leap I'll be adding a follow me widget!
And since you only got a tiny little pic and I got nostalgic while browsing photobucket for it.. here's some of my artwork from a few years ago.. I haven't drawn pencil portraits in forever! (Click to enlarge!!)

He's dark and brooding over something or other.....

graveyard self portrait.. yea I'm an odd one....

Alex... wonder what he's up to these days.....

Someone HELP!!! I'm being bitten by a cute vampire!!!!!

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Easter's near, time to make Pizzagaine!

2009-04-02T10:07:00.000-07:00

I'm going to be a bit lazy here but I really want to share this recipe with as many people as I can because.. well it truly is my favorite meal, and I only ever get to eat it once a year! In reality I could make it whenever I want but the ingredients can run a bit expensive depending on your local deli! Oh the lazy part is, I posted this in a recipe thread last year when I made my own pizzagaine with only a little of my mom and gram's help (they were there but I was determined to do this on my own)... So I'm copying and pasting that post...
Weird thing is my Gram keeps a half recipe written, which she usually doubles, and my mom the whole one...which she usually doubles... and we wind up with like 6 whole pies and a bunch of min casserole single pies...

The whole recipe makes about 3-4 pies so I'll be posting the half recipe.. it contains weird measurements I'll bold them to make sure you make note of the change...
two part recipe.. the crust ad the filling.. first the filling (because we make it first and let it rest while making the crust)
Filling note on the meats, when we get them cut at the deli counter we ask them to cut them slightly thicker than normal sandwich meat
Filling
1 1/2 lbs pot cheese (ricotta)
1/4 lb ham
1/4 lb peperoni
1/4 lb prosciutto
1/4 lb salami
1 block of mozzarella cheese (normal size block of Pollyo which I think is 8oz)
1 egg

Mix the Ricotta (no need to drain) with a sprinkle of salt and pepper and the egg.
We slice the meat into "grids" so you get little rectangles but you could also tear it into pieces by hand. Separate the meat into the ricotta mixture (I say separate because we stack up the meat and cut into little rectangles and then have little stacks to separate for easier mixing)
Its best to add the meat slowly and mix everything up every couple of handfuls... If your not squeamish use your hands to help mix, we have bent many a spoon over the years mixing Pizzagaine up...
Cube up the mozzarella (into about 1/2 inch cubes) when about half the meat is mixed in start throwing in handfuls of the mozzarella as well..
you may not use every little bit of the meat, we usually have a little of each type left, it's hard to say when to stop adding the meat.. it's really an eyeball it kinda thing.. just use almost all of it and you should be fine

Pie Crust
2 cups of Flour
1/2 Tsp baking powder
1/2 Tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1 3/4 cups of shortening (Crisco) CUT IN HALF!!! only use half of this in the recipe, my gram never bothered to figure out what half of a cup and 3/4ths is)
1/2 an egg (same deal.. beat the egg in a little bowl and divide in half .. just eyeball it)
1/4 cup of water
1/2 tablespoon of vinegar

Mix the dry ingredients together.. cut in shortening (you know whatever half 1 & 3/4 cups is) Add the 1/2 an egg, water and vinegar mix to form the dough.

you guys know how to roll out pie crust right? This is a two crust pie btw.. one for the top one for the bottom..well do that.. line a pie tin.. plop some mixture in the center.. you want it to reach the top of the pie pan.. then spread it towards the outside of the pan with a circular motion, DON'T PACK IT DOWN!!
hehe this is a heavy heavy mixture.. if you stamp it down and pack it in there it will be heavy as a rock when baked. When this is filled you lay another crust on top..pinch it closed and "bird feet' as my sister says the top crust a few times with a fork so it will release steam a bit..

Bake this in the oven at 350 for about an hour... let sit for about 15 mins before diving in..
don't eat it all at once...

note this recipe can make over 1 pies worth of ingredients.. you may get two pies, or juuust short of two pies.. usually we make so so many that with the left over crust and filling we put the filling in mini casserole dishes and cover them with the crust.. these bake for about 45 mins (gotta make sure that crust is done)
__________________

I really do not want to know how bad Pizzagaine is for you...I just can't wait to make mine this year! On that note, I'm having Easter brunch at our house this year! Oh man.. I knew it was going to happen too... our new house has a beautiful screened in sun porch and it was only a matter of time before my Grams decided we needed to do a holiday here! I think I'll be doubling the above recipe so I have some for brunch and some for myself and the man during the following week!

On an exciting note... Over at the blockheadradio weekly challenge I've got some stiff competition going, neck and neck with another artist, we keep over taking each other by only a few votes... I can't stop checking, or biting my nails!
If you haven't voted yet pretty please with a cherry on top, would you mind popping over and giving baby true blue a boost?

Thanks for stopping by!
Feed my blog monster ----> he's hungry and thinks your comments are oh so yummy!

Rain rain go away....

2009-04-01T09:06:00.000-07:00

Man, don't ya know it.. whenever you want to play/work outside... there comes the rain! Of course there is plenty of work to do inside as well.... Just not the work I wanted to do!
I cleaned the lizards cage today, problem is the pet store near where we moved doesn't carry the white reptile calci-sand by zoo meds that my little guy is used to.. They do however carry another brand of calcium sand that I know is safe for leopard geckos, problem is, Slick Nick is one picky little brat! Not only is the sand not white.. but it's not as powdery, it's more textured. Now Slick always gets ticked off when I clean his cage because for the interim he gets stuck in a dark shoe box.. he HATES the shoe box.. and he usually gives me the stink eye for a while before he crawls back in his rock for his daytime sleepykins. Well.. whew.. boy I wished for the stink eye today! First he freaked out so much he nearly broke his neck trying to climb up the glass and out of the cage when his toes hit the sand(leopard geckos can't climb glass unlike their other gecko cousins who can). So I took him out and let him chill on my chest till he calmed down, then he hung out with me till he tried to make a break for the floor... Back in his cage he's sitting there, on top of his large rock.. shooting daggers at me with his lil eyes, refusing to touch the new sand... I just took this with my cell (quality sucks)

he is so mad at me! I keep tellin him tough tooshy mister.... it needed to be cleaned and I wasn't driving 45 mins away to get him the sand he likes!

Moving on... I won my category in the Artisan's challenge last week, which means I'm now in the weekly challenge! It's pretty stiff competition over there at the moment! I'm neck in neck with one artist.... it's gonna be close..
So if you would be oh so kind.. and pop over there and vote for Baby True Blue by TheClayMuse (second entry on the list) I would be ecstatic!

If you didn't see the shout out post before this one, please check it out.. those 2 lovely ladies who deserve a bit of exposure!

Spring is here.. I have flowers peeking through the leaves to prove it....

Thanks for stopping by!

A shout out or two.....

2009-03-30T08:26:00.000-07:00

I'll probably be posting again a bit later on today, but I keep meaning to shout out to two wonderful ladies out there in the crafting world, and well.. jerk that I am from time to time I keep forgetting!!! So before I forget, yet again... may I present to you Danielle, of CreationsByDanielle . She is a fellow Jersey gal, I came by her shop via the EtsyNJ street team yahoo group... Another wonderful Jersey gal had been asking about copyright/royalty free pictures and I passed along a teeny weensy bit of info that I found while unsuccessfully searching for royalty free pin-up girl pictures to use in a few projects. Well wouldn't you know Danielle sent me an email with a link to one of her sold items, she had some goodies that were just what I had been searching for, and she offered to send me a few free of charge! A few days later and I received 10 that's right TEN wonderful images!
Her shop is full of so many nifty goodies! If I had some spare cash hanging out you can bet your bottom I'd be snatching up a few things... like this hand crocheted poncho...

or how about these vintage clover studs?

So why don't you pop over to her shop and see if anything strikes your fancy...

But wait there's more! I did say two wonderful gals didn't I?
Debbie over at Polymer Clay Ponderings had a giveaway recently, to try to get more followers on her blog... She had a tutorial on how to make adorable bunny pins like this one that she gave away..

Sadly.. the goal, to get more followers.. wasn't as much of a success as it should have been... Don't ask me why... I love her blog... a bit of claying fun..complete with tutorials from time to time, a bit of life.. and an astronomy picture of the day (on the sidebar). Debbie is just full of umph and I just love to visit her blog! And how psyched was I when I won that little cutie pie.. I'm anxiously awaiting the mail man as we speak!
So what are you waiting for? Pop on over and say Hello! to Debbie.. tell her I sent you.. spread a smile!
Thanks for stopping by!

Back in the swing of things!

2009-03-28T10:14:00.000-07:00

First and foremost.. THANK YOU!!!! Everyone who went over to Blockhead Radio and voted for my dragon.. I'm way in the lead so it's looking like I will be asking for your votes again next week when I move to the weekly challenge! Just checking out the other categories though, one jewelry piece has over 300 votes.. stiff competition! On to the post....
So it took almost a week before the antibiotics fought enough of the infection that I could mostly function again. Also Vicodin makes you very sleepy,dopey, and well.. not one for the going going going of daily life. I neglected almost everything all week.. well everything except my couch and the wonderful fuzzy blanket my Gma Barbie made me, we spent some serious quality time together these past two weeks (uh the blanket and me... to clarify *wink*)
Yesterday I was feeling well enough to get back in the saddle so to speak. When I woke up and looked around the house *shudder* it was a disaster! Dishes over flowing the sink, they had taken over the counter AND part of the kitchen table.... There were dirty clothes in the living room.. seriously, the living room, don't know how that happened! Forget about the explosion of dirty clothes in the bedroom... could barely see the floor. Oh and my poor stove....it had about an inch thick coating of grease and grime and gross from a week of barely coherent cooking (oh did I mention while cooking chicken cubes the other day for ceaser salad that I managed to loose 4 pieces under the pan into the gas flame while stirring... yea I was a wreck).
So I eat me some breakfast while the light on the lizard's cage is cooling enough to change...put yet another dish in the sink, get dressed, change Slick's light to his day bulb and BAMO it blows out... I know we have spare lights around here somewhere.... searching for 20 mins (put his night light back in) and all I find are 2 spare nighttime bulbs... no day bulb... Good thing I'm dressed and ready to leave the house cause off I go to the pet store, with a little piece of scrap paper that says 60W Neodymium.. because I always forget what type of light he needs!
Ok we're back in the house... lizard light properly changed and my jaw is starting to throb.. oh come on seriously.. I refuse to take narcotics today.. I pop an extra Advil and hope it makes the swelling go down enough that I can no longer count my pulse in my teeth... What to do first? It was beautiful outside and I didn't want to be stuck in the house all day, but I knew it needed work... and I needed to work on some etsy stuff too...So I made myself a compromise.. Start some laundry and while it's washing/drying go outside in the sun and take some product shots! Which I did for about 4 hours. The sun was so warm and it felt good to be outside (well except when I was running in to tend to the laundry.
Laundry done and folded, about 100 good pictures taken but the kitchen was calling!
Another 2 hours of cleaning later and all the dishes were finally done and my fingers hurt from scrubbing the stove, but I was no longer sickened by the sight of my own home!
So I sat at my computer and edited all the shots I'd just taken, after going through them and editing them I was left with 50 pictures that were usable.. 11 items now have pictures good enough for my shop.. But I of course have no idea what to charge for anything, so nothing has been listed yet... Here are a few of the shots I'll be using...

There's no place like home!

Black hearts can be beautiful too!

Celestial keepsakes....
And seriously, what category do I put a keepsake tin in? Oh did I mention I got that dreaded tag your items correctly email? Not that I wasn't paranoid about that enough! The problem has hopefully been fixed...

Oh and last night I cast some resin on two coasters (the two I decided to try to salvage) I'll post pics of them once cured.. they may need a second cast.. mmm do I wait 72 hours before recasting? I think I will to be safe...
Thanks for stopping by!

Wisdom teeth bring pain not wisdom!

2009-03-23T08:28:00.000-07:00

So where the heck have I been for over a week? In agonizing pain thats where! My bottom left wisdom tooth decided it wanted to pop out a bit and get infected, with no job or insurance I waited a week before seeing a dentist. I thought it was just breaking through not infected.. Well I was wrong, so now I'm on horse pill sized antibiotics and (thankfully) vicodin.
So I'm loopy doopy doped up, but I'm not in pain and I've actualy slept through the night the past two nights.
How are the coasters going you ask? Well.. I transfered two of the images so far, the first, well the clay had little wrinkles in it that I didn't see and the image was scratchy looking. The second, one little bubble of a spot didn't touch and there was a blank spot. The second was better than the first.. so thats encouraging. It's a lot easier to transfer smaller images. Today I'll be trying to salvage those two with a different technique... I'm going to reprint the images on plain paper or cardstock, modge podge them down to the messed up coasters and resin cast on top of that. If it works then I'll no longer try the tranfer technique on something so large and save my tranfer paper for pins and pendants and smaller things like that. If it doesn't work.. well then I'll keep trying to perfect the original idea.

Now I need your help with something...
I entered the artisan challenge at Blockhead radio... my baby blue dragon is in the 3d category... I need your votes!!!!! If I win this challenge I get to go up against the other categories for some free advertisement for my shop.
So pretty please... with sugar on top.. pop on over here and vote for my dragon!
Thank you oodles!
(sorry no pictures today!)

WoW Coasters

2009-03-13T11:05:00.000-07:00

WoW.. as is World of Warcraft.. the online game.. MMO..
I got a "new" coffee table.. well since I didn't have one and it's was my man's sister's it's not really new... Anyway.. I got a coffee table.. YAY! My living room feels more like a living room and less like a bachelor pad.. Best part is that it's underneath is set up as compartments, 6 open squares.. with 4 little baskets to keep things in.. many clay things are filling them now.. and the table top is covered in projects and beads.. and it has inspired me to make something new, and to use a medium I've never played with before....
Coasters! to protect my pretty wood coffee table from water stains!
Here's what I'm doing (I tested the whole process on a little picture and it worked great!)
So.. I went through my Warcraft screenshots folder (because I'm a screenshot addict there was a lot to choose from) I picked 5 interesting landscape pictures that had no UI(user interface) showing.. I edited the shots down to 4 inches square (the ones I print will be mirrored images so they transfer the right way) (and since the shots are my resolution size, they were rectangle and a pain to decide where to crop!)
These are the shots I'm using:

The sky flying past Zul' Drak in Northrend

Purple sky over the water.. honestly don't remember where I took this one

Outland sky... specifically I think Netherstorm, on a floating piece of rock by (I think) the Stormspire

This is a crater in the ground in Northrend.. Pretty sure it's in Icecrown.. don't hold me to that!

This is taken on the Flight Path from Dalaran to I think it was Kaskala...Might have been Kamuga.. Who knows, I was flying to do Walrus dailies.. (and I know how absurd this all sounds if you have no contact with a current WoW player and aren't one yourself!)

So now that I cropped and sized my pics what am I going to do? Print them out on t-shirt transfer paper on my Desk jet... The I'll take a BUNCH white FIMO and roll it through my pasta machine between two sheets of wax paper to avoid getting any dirt, fuzz, lint, or bits from the rollers in the clay. I'll probably flatten them to the 7ish or 6ish setting on my pasta machine (9 being thickest, 1 being thinnest).
Then I'll take my clay sheet(s) and lay them on my work tile.. cut out the pictures and lay them on the clay, I'll use my poly roller to make sure the paper it completely touching the surface of the clay... I'll take my straight blade and cut the clay to 4in square around the transfer paper and bake at 230 (fimo soft bakes at a lower temp than most polymer clays) for about 35-40 minutes. While still warm (about 3 mins after removing from the oven) I'll peel the transfer paper off the clay and allow to cool.
After everything is cooled I'll remove my clay from the tile and transfer it to a wax paper (or foil not sure which yet) covered sheet of cardboard and mix my self up some Easy Cast resin (this is the new material I get to play with.. and I need to not get addicted to yet another craft!) As soon as the resin is mixed Ill pour it onto the clay... not too thickly.. I'll spread it with the edge of an index card, cover them with a large Tupperware container (to keep dust and bits from getting in the resin) and allow it to sit for about 10 mins.. Then I'll check on the coasters to make sure there are no bubbles.. if there are I'll exhale gently on them (with a straw) the CO2 in my breath will pop the bubbles, (stubborn bubbles will be popped with a toothpick but I haven't run into any yet). Then they get recovered and left alone for at least 24 hours. It takes 24hrs for this resin to "soft cure" meaning it's mostly set, you won't mess it up with your fingerprints but the resin can still be cut easily with a craft blade and shouldn't require sanding to smooth the edges. This is when I'll trim the edges if any resin spread too far and lift them from the covered cardboard. Then they get re-covered with the Tupperware and left alone for two more days! Then I'll cover the bottoms in felt and should have my self some pretty nifty home made gamer geek warcraft coasters.. I might make some as gifts but since WoW screenies (I believe) are property of Blizzard (the corp. that makes WoW) I won't be making any to sell.

Well.. that was kind of a how-to post wasn't it? You could use this method to make your own coasters with any picture you have on your computer...(note: never use a tool used on polymer clay for food prep! so don't use your pasta machine or rolling pin unless you plan to dedicate it to claying! Old wine bottles make great rollers for clay...)

So many projects

2009-03-11T11:02:00.000-07:00

I have so many projects up in the air right now!
The short(er) list:
complete 1st step of coaster project while resin experiment cures
glaze earrings
build bracelet(s) out of heart beads previously made
finish tiling paper mache box
mailbox plaque
"Pandora's boxes"
make a mini castle
new dragons
new devil critters

And that's the shorter list.. I have so much more I'd like to do! So many ideas! My spare room (where most of my craft stuff is) is overflowing with boxes and bags full of crafty goodness just dying to be used. I was looking for some clear glass beads this morning and found a bag full of mini paper mache boxes, wooden frames, mini note books and a few other things I got with some x-mas cards and totally forgotten about!

The other day I finally got around to fooling around with mica effects (click to find out what the heck I'm talking about) in the metallic clays. I used gold.. not sure if I'm going to actually do anything with the long Celtic knot ghost image. I could make it a pin, or magnet, but I think it may wind up in the "first attempt" bag, where some stuff goes never to be seen again!
The earrings are the earrings referenced above in my project list. I think I'm actually going to glaze these, maybe even list them.. that is, if I can resist wearing them on St. Patty's day! The green clay is actually metallic.. the photo is dark due to no pre-picture planning on my part!

It took about 16 tries of shaving the stamped image of the knot without cutting too deep or ruining the effect! But it came out pretty good for my first(16th) try!
I love the earrings! the flaky 3-d effect is just too cool.. by the way, did I mention all the gold surfaces are flat! No really I swear.. FLAT! I love nifty tricks like that!

Do you remember this bracelet?

Or these pendants?

Well they inspired me to make more swirly heart beads! I made a bunch with the same scrap log as above...

And some that are just black and silver.. (No photo yet sorry guys!) I went and bought some memory wire for bracelets.. instead of hooking my own charm wires together.. I'm not so good at the wire loop bending process yet! Hoping to get those bracelets done this week though!
How many projects do you have on your "short list"? I can't be the only one with a bunch of half finished projects and/or great ideas floating around!

P.s. Don't forget to check out the EtsyNJ Spring Fever Sale... It ends in 3 days! There are so many great shops participating....

I've been so busy, but it feels like I've gotten nothing done.....

2009-03-09T10:21:00.001-07:00

Everyone has a day like that right? well for me it's been about a week or two. I seem to be going going going and have virtually nothing to show the world for it. I guess that's how life is from time to time, we get so wrapped up in every little thing, we let day to day life overwhelm us. We really shouldn't.. let life overwhelm us... We all have goals, big and small for our futures, we get wrapped up in work, and counting dollars, and we are always stressing about tomorrow, and days beyond. It may be cliche to "say" this, but tomorrow isn't a certainty, and the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. No matter how hard we work for the carrot at the end of the stick, it may not be there when we finally reach it, through no fault of our own, and not for lack of running the race.
Now I know that sounds a bit dark and pessimistic, it's not meant to be, it's merely meant to get us to think, after all, when you finally reach the "carrot" you may realize, it's not what you wanted after all, or you may have found a "carrot cake", something bigger, better, and yummier to strive for. heck you may have even decided that carrots aren't your thing... Am I loosing you?
The point is, daily life, and stressing about it and the future, can lead people into misery.. or just general grumpiness. I myself, I get a little cranky from time to time. What we have to remember, more cliches I know but, each day is a gift, tomorrow may never come, life is lived in moments and memories; how we remember those around us.. how they remember us. Life isn't about tomorrow, it's about today, and why spend today miserable, or cranky, stressed or what have you? Find one thing to smile about, one thing to laugh about, smile to the counter clerk at the coffee shop, (smiles are freaking contagious I swear it!). Admire beauty in everyday things, spend time with the ones you love. And quit freaking out about tomorrow already!
Isn't this a pretty flower? I'm proud of the photo I took and how I fiddled and played with it in paint.net. I'm also very happy to have the man in my life who brought me these flowers, I look at them and remember to cherish each minute, no matter what we're doing at the time. These are the things I have to remind myself of what I get in this.. OMG I'M SO BUSY, I haven't done anything, I'm running out of savings, can't find a job, haven't even blogged in what feels like forever... type of mood.
So what did I do about it.. well I went and ran my errands, I chatted with Amanda at the pet store while she got crickets for Slick (my leopard gecko), she showed me the new baby lizards they got in (sooo cute I want to bring them home). Then I went to the convenience store, and chatted with Terri at the counter while she rang me up... I was cheery and perky and smiling, I made other people smile, it made me feel good. So now I'm home and I needed to vent and get all... self help... for a moment. And now... well what mood.. who's cranky? Not me.. not anymore... I just needed a reminder.....Did you?

I had a goal today....

2009-03-05T11:25:00.000-08:00

Well two actually.. One was to figure out how Google Base works and get my etsy shop feed hooked up, which I think I may have accomplished. I'm not sure yet, I set it to update at noon and It's now somewhere around two thirty and it's still processing. Keeping my fingers crossed on this one for the moment!
My second goal was to figure out a new name for these guys...

I had been calling them "Devilishly Cute Computer Companions" and sometimes just devil critters. But the first moniker, while adorable and chock full of alliteration (which I love!) feels too.. boxed in.. like I'm saying.. this guy sits on your computer/computer desk and no where else... when heck he could hang out anywhere! I had the first one I ever made keep me company while doing dishes, he sat on the windowsill the first week of his life. It wasn't till after that week that he found his permanent home on my computer tower with all my other little friends!
I'm asking for some suggestions! I know there are a bunch of creative minds out there... what would you call these little guys?

I've got SPRING FEVER!

2009-03-03T13:08:00.001-08:00

You can also check out this blogpost for all participating shops if you're like me and just like to clicky clicky!
http://etsynj.blogspot.com/2009/03/spring-fever-sale.html

Check out the awesome sales going on...
I'm going to work on the black and silver heart "beads" I started making on FRIDAY!
I'll return with less of an advert post later.. But I think all these shops deserve all the exposure they can get, and the spring fever sale is just goodness for all!

Hi my name is Christina & I'm a follow-holic

2009-02-28T08:44:00.000-08:00

Happy Saturday to all! When I loaded up google this morning I realized I may just have a problem... I'm following roughly 50 blogs, in less than a month! I think I'm a follow-holic!
One of the lovely blogs I just started to follow recently after seeing her commenting on more than a few of the blogs I already followed. It's SassyGlassDesigns I just got lost for about an hour when I found my way over there. Check it out if you've got the time. This morning I woke to two surprises from Sandi over at SassyGlass, 1 she would like to have my etsy mini on her blog.. How cool is that I'm just totally psyched! Thank you so much again Sandi!
And she tagged me for a little blogosphere fun! This is the first one I'm participating in so here goes.
The rules of this one are as such: go to your picture file and blog about the 4th picture in there, then tag 4 other bloggers to do the same.
Since all of my pics on this computer are in folders I went to the fourth folder and choose the fourth picture,

This picture was taken back in April, my other half (seen in the pic) was sent to Vegas for 4 days for the APEX convention for work. He was only at the booth for two days, to save money on the flight.. they sent him out two days early.. (think about that for a second let the non-logic sink in). Since he was being sent to this show alone, and it happened to fall on the days I wasn't in classes he asked me to come, I paid for half my ticket, he paid for half and off we went. As soon as we got there we got a rental car for the day and drove out to the Hoover Damn (well we did check in first), it was breathtaking... This picture however was taken on our way back from the damn. On the side of the road the was a large hotel/casino and I of course had to pee, so we stopped... as we were walking back to the car I noticed a gravel path off the parking lot it lead down to an awesome view and the neatest rock faces.
I snapped a few really cool pics there, we decided this one would be perfect for the inside cover of a cd, if my other half should ever decide to become a brooding musician. The front cover is the third picture....

Vegas was awesome, I was only there for 3 days really as I left at 6am the last day to make it to History class the next day in decent shape. I didn't do as much as I wanted, so much left unseen, I would love the chance to go back one day!
Now who to tag? Lets see.....
Ramblin Mama at Random Splashes of Thought
MulchandMore
Jess at C Line Creations
and
Becca at Happiknits

Ok have to run and get sandwiches for the other half.. Looking forward to some serious blog reading later!

Big Thanks.. works in progress

2009-02-26T09:38:00.001-08:00

I want to say a HUGE thank you to my fellow etsynj members and those of you in the blogosphere who helped me out with my plea for help, here and elsewhere on the net! Even if some could not offer advice, they offered kind words which probably helped me even more, given how frazzled I was yesterday.
Mother Nature has decided to grace O'burg with a bit o' rain today... Kind of fitting seeings how this week's sweet treat theme was Let beauty rain down upon... I didn't participate this week, but you should definitely swing by there later today when the sweet treaty goodness is unveiled!
Oh yes, the rain! It won't allow me to retake pictures today.. unless it clears up out there soon.... So what I'm going to do is sit down with Paint.net and fiddle with the levels in my pictures from the last post... The contrast/whiteness tool doesn't like me... let's see if the level tool and I can learn to get along! I'll post a few side by side before/after shots (not a million like before!)
I'm trying to decide what to do in the new pictures... I have read 50ish articles from various web sources (etsy storque, handmadeology, a few links kindly sent my way) on Backgrounds, lighting, post process editing, scale, props, placement.... Lots of ideas but I have no idea what's going to work.. methinks I need reinforcements.. of the best friend variety.. to help me with a photo day.
I have a bunch of harcover fantasy books that I think may work to place my dragons on.. with a pencil or pen.. set it up like a desk, or even on my wood coffee table, if I could get the lighting right in the living room. I'm just afraid it would be too.. much.. never know till you try.. I'm also fiddling with the idea of taking some drawing paper and sketching out "Here there be dragons" and start to ink it in.. leave it unfinished, with the ink pot brush and pencil in the shot with the dragons... less color, easier to control.. probably less busy..
Man my head is reeling with possibilities!
As for prices.. I'm still wavering! I've gotten a lot of positive feedback on the value of my work... As artists we are our own worse critics aren't we? I've always had that problem and sometimes I need a swift kick in the arse, or a slap upside the head that says "Hey you.. yea you.. your stuff.. it's good.. get that though your thick skull.. or I'll have to whack you again!"
The overwhelming response of, "What are you.. crazy?" to my proposed lower end prices did get through to me... Earlier today I said $8 for devil critters.. (seriously I need a new name for these guys) and $15 for dragons. I talked that over with the matriarch of my family (my Grams... how wonderful she is deserves it's own post!) She said what MulchandMore said.. it's easier to lower prices than to raise them! She suggested $20 for the larger dragons (of which there is only one right now) and $18-$19 for the smaller ones. $10 for the critters. I reiterated how that felt high to me and she proceeded to ask me if I listened to what she said (about lowering prices) or if I called her to hear myself speak! She said try it out through at least the end of the etsynj-wide sale... and if I was still uncomfortable to lower them a bit...to $8 and $15. So I guess that's settled!
As for the sale, I've muddled that out myself and I've decided to do Everything in the shop Buy One Get One Half off (equal or lesser value). Now I just need to put more stuff in my shop.. so time to shush up.. and get into paint.net to edit some pics!

Pictures Pictures Pictures! And a plea for help!

2009-02-25T08:30:00.000-08:00

So I finaly got some pictures taken with the tripod I got and the lightbox I created. Sadly the lights/bulbs I had just don't work so well.. So I took the box out to the screened in porch and snapped away for the hour of perfect sunlight mother nature decided to grace me with. Sadly I still think the pictures are too dark... I'll have to get new bulbs and two lights with adjustable necks (I only have one at the moment). I took 5 pictures (posting only 4) each of the dragons I have currently finished as well as two computer companions. I included a quarter in one of each of the shots to give a reference to their tiny sizes. The pictures are formatted for etsy listings at 1000 pixels square( click to enlarge.. way enlarge!)

Isn't he just too cute?!? I am so in love with this little guy, he's just looking up at me with those intense orange eyes, clutching his carnelian with all his newborn might and my heart just melts!

Remember Ruby? I blogged about her a while ago.. I love the tripod lightbox and macro setting on my camera.. look how much better these pictures are.. no flash or blur and you can see how sparkly she is!

Now this little guy has been hanging out with me on my computer for MONTHS now! Duer put him up there when moving stuff around and I've been tempted to not list him ever since... He's got a peculiar look about him.. but I've become quite fond of him.. he's quirky.. and has my wickedly odd sense of humor.... He just wants his own space I think.. he won't stop complaining to Batman about how crowded it is up on top of my computer.. (see this post)

Can you tell the sky was begining to cloud a bit by the time I made it to this guy? They don't look so dark when you veiw them full size, I think because of the shine and sheen on him it brightens it up. I tried to adjust the contrast and white balance in Paint.net but it messed with his coloring and sparkle so I used the undoctored photos here. He'll be the first to be rephotographed when I get the light thing fixed. To top it off for the life of me I can't remember what kind of stone that is he's holding.(if you would like to hazard a guess that would be helpful!)

On to the two devilishly cute computer companions.. Maybe I should think of a new name for them, just because my man and I have them hanging out on our comps doesn't mean thats the only place they can go! I just so love the alliteration...

So now for the plea for help.... I need advice on a few things,
First of the pictures... they are way better than anything I have taken so far.. I think you can pick up the mica powder shine, true color and detail with no blur or flash problems.. but are they still way too dark? Are they etsy worthy? I don't think they are treasury worthy but should I post them to my shop or go back to the camera?
Second.. price.. I'm having a terrible time figuring out what to price the critters and dragons... I was thinking $5 for the critters but I'm afraid it may be too much, but they take a few hours to make plus materials.. The dragons are the real stumper... they are tiny as you can see from the quarter, but they use a good chunk or clay to make, the mica powders weren't cheap.. and they take hours and hours upon even more hours to make... The one time I sat down and made a whole dragon start to finish in one day it took me 8 or so hours...probably closer to 9. It seems like a long time for something so small without oodles of detail.. but they really do take forever to make right... when I rush bad bad things happen.. My man says $20 but I have a hard time thinking that they are worht that much.. I said $10 and he told me I'm underselling myself and that I'm too critical.. But I think someone would be more willing to snatch a cutie up for 10 than 20 dollars...They'd stop and think and there would go the impulse... Should I split the diff so to speak at $15.. still seems high to me.. taking into account my candle holders are $6 large barrettes are 3.50 small barrettes ae 2.50 they'd be much higher priced than anything else....
Can you tell I'm agonizing about this I could really use the advice!
Last plea for help then I'll show you a pretty picture and end this long windedness....
There will be an etsynj-wide sale begining of March and I need to post what promotion I'll be doing asap! I'm stuck between.. Barrettes.. buy one get one free (of equal or lesser value). OR Store wide sale everything buy one get one half off (any item of equal or lesser value). This sale is going to be the kick in the bum than I need to get my dragons and critters posted.. and a few more things I have in the wings...
What do you think? Please please any comment on anything is appreciated.. I need the input!
Now a tranquil thank you picture for reading all of that! my birthday flowers bloomed, here they are hanging out in my bay window brightening up my day and hopefully yours too!

Happy Friday!

2009-02-20T10:47:00.000-08:00

So Last night I joined byhand.me and they have this neat feature, like an etsy treasury called spotlights.. So I haven't added my sho or edited my profile, added a banner or picture.. what I did do.. was create a spotlight.. I searched etsy with the tags etsynj, dragons & fairy.. here's my first spotlight There is a way to embed it, but I can't seem to get it to work at the moment. I'll have to fiddle and see what works a bit later.
So I have to go to Walmart and try to get a tripod for my camera, I also wanted to take pictures today while the sun was still out. So I, of course, got sidetracked and finished building my blue dragon, my fingers look like smurf fingers! he needs to be de-fingerprinted powdered and baked!
It's freezing out there... and now I kinda don't want to brave the craaaazy wind I hear out there...If i don't though I know i'll keep procrastinating and not go for who knows how long....
Ok here I go.. really.. i swear...
If I get pictures taken today I'll post some...

A Bazillion Things..... (loooong post)

2009-02-19T11:12:00.000-08:00

So it's been over a week since I sat down to blog, I've been too busy reading other peoples blogs and creating my lil butt off... So what's new you ask? A bazillion things!!
It was my 26th birthday yesterday... mostly uneventful.. the holiday delayed my birthday cards so I got 3 phonecalls in a row, I got to talk to my grandmother in Indiana, my Dad in Mississippi but I missed my Aunt Steph in Wisconsin cause I was eating dinner at that point.. Have to call her back.. My Dad and I have these awkward conversations on the phone (last night was no exception).. We just don't know how to talk to each other I guess.. He's lived in Mississippi my whole life and I live in NJ, I did live with him for almost 2 years back when I was.. oohh 8...so it's understandable.. I love him he loves me and we know that and thats what counts. He sent me the website he's set up to show the construction on their new house and in the email he suggested my man and I come down for a visit...that made me so happy I seriously almost cried.. I'm an odd one I guess.
My sweety brought me home some flowers and a stuffed froggy (I love stuffed animals, I have BAGS of them from when we used to go to 6flags every week.. those claw machines.. I'm also a herpophile- I love lizards, reptiles and amphibians.. so stuffed frog = win!)
I used my christmas gift from my mother ( a GC for a 1hr swedish massage at her salon) The massage was great, then I slept funny last night and re-kinked my shoulder... oh well....
When I got home from the shop I tried to finish my project for this weeks Thursday's Sweet treat... Well I finished it.. at 10om missed the deadline. so I'l post my pics here and email Natasha for the mini treat... along with last weeks theme.. which I will also post here...
So I had made these heart beads.. I intened to make them earings but I couldn't get the wirse to bend right or them to hang correctly.. so.. They became my first ever bracelet.. and I love it!
The theme was Dreaming in Color..and I got my inspiration in the oddest place...
Last week I made a statuette for the challange and I was putting her on a base with taller flowers around her.. when I was doen I decided that it looked wa too cluttered and took away from the statue.. so I took down the flowers.. pulled the cover of solid clay off the scrap I used for the base and balled/twisted up my scrap clay and left it on my workspace.... trying to think of what to do for this week.. staring at the log of clay.. it hit me.. the colors in it were hypnotizing me... I took a thin slice of it off and the inside of the log looked so ... psychadelic... I HAD to use it for this week's challenge...

Neat-o right? So night before last I used chunks of the scrap off the end and formed a bunch of hearts.. mainly 2 sizes... then I took slices off the log of scrap and flattened them with my polyroller.. one side striped the other swirly .. I covered the tops.. alternating sides of slices used, peirced them with the charm wire and baked... and went to sleep.. Yesterday I constructed the bracelet..I used a charm wire in each and looped them together, andded a few rings for length at the end and a clasp.. this is the result....
While hanging to dry before heat setting the glaze...

and three different views of it on my wrist, so you can see most of the nifty patterns

I also made two pendants the same way...

And... a turtle! in this pic he's hanging out with the turtle I made last week.. they were glazed at the same time...
hhmm that photo is a bit blurry isn't it.. I apologize!
So.... you know when you forget to put out the recycling? Good thing I forgot this week because I scrounged two Guiness bottles to hang my projects from while they were glazed... my man came home to this site yesterday and laughed so hard he nearly cried.. not sure why it was so funny to him.. I was just being innovative!

Ok I'm jumping around a lot here forgive me... Last week's Sweet Treat Challenge was where the wild things bloom... I made this statuette..

The pictures just don't do her justice! Each rose is handmade petal by petal.. no molds here! I had some pointy ended roses, mostly bigger than the ones I used here.. I made more of the smaller ones which I did use... the larger ones were given stems and added to the base I mentioned before... then being to cluttered were disassembled (back to pointy ended roses for now)....
Speaking of clutter and roses.. I was shocked at myself when I pulled out the ziplock baggies that had my roses in them.. I have soooo many little things that I'll fear I'll never use... check out all the neat little things I had stashed away... (click to enlarge)

one say I will find a use for all that stuff... a mushroom fairy garden... lizard and frog magnets....who knows.. but I shouldn't forget about them all again!

And lastly... in previous posts I mentioned redoing my bathroom.. well the paint is finaly on the walls (save a bit of touch up here and there needed with a small artist brush)And well.. I'm not sure if I like the color or not.. I don't NOT like it... but I sure don't love it.. I do however think it does what we wanted.. make that green look less 1970's... What do you think?

Well thats all for now.. I had waaaay too much to say.. I still have more but damn this post is long enough no? My purple dragon is done baking/cooling.. time to glaze him! Maybe I'll post (shorter) again later..
And if you read all of that.. you deserve a cookie! A whole plate of cookies...

Owwiie..

2009-02-11T05:31:00.000-08:00

So my hand is all sorts of sore from two days straight of scraping and sanding. I still had two walls to sand today but turns out I can't hold the sanding block because my poor hand is so achy! So looks like the bathrooms gets a days respite from my wrath!
On the bright side, I can try to make something for the Sweet Treat challange today! If my lil fingers will cooperate!
I also have a cute chubby purple dragon to de-fingerprint, powder and bake!
And the cutest lil turtle that needs to be baked too, poor guy has been hanging out all week!
Okies, time to get crafting.... Joy!

Wallpaper and the smell of fabric softner!

2009-02-10T14:50:00.000-08:00

So it's taken me two whole days to get the wall paper completely off the walls. There were 3 (more) layers of paper, the last being a real pain in the keister to get off. I'm taking a quick break right now before sanding to let my hand rest.. it's very sore from scraping.
When we took the wallpaper off the walls of the kitchen we used this gel stuff called DIF, it smelled horrible, barely worked, and was so sticky it took 3 hours to wash the walls, forget the floors! So for the bathroom (since it was my project) I decided to try a trick my grandma told me about, hot water and fabric softner. For the first two layers it worked great... and let me tell you, spring fresh smells way better than Dif and I'm not nearly as sticky! For the last layer I think it was 5% solution, 95% muscle.
I'm wondering if I'm going to have any time at all do participate in this weeks Thursday Sweet Treat challenge I have to be finished by end of day tomorow... with still more bathroom to do.... I had a really neat idea too.. actualy a few.. maybe I'll just have to mail them to Natasha afterwards to be part of the monthly-mini treat.. for submissions of past themes..
ok I really have to go sand the walls and wash them... no matter how much I want to bum around the net!

Busy Monday!

2009-02-09T09:09:00.000-08:00

I had a million things that I wanted to do today and I know I can't get them all done. So I've narrowed it down. Corned beef was on sale this weekend, so I'll be cooking that this afternoon, I do however have to run out and get beer to cook it in, I think I'll splurge on some Guiness.
We moved into our new house in September and still haven't gotten all the painting/wallpaper removal done yet. This weekend we decided to buy some crazy color paint for our bathroom. Here's the skinny on our bathroom color scheme... Mainly it's avacado colored, a subdued avacado, reminiscent of a sage, but still 70's style color, the tub and sink are this green, as are most of the tiles (they are beige with this green flecking every few tiles is a solid green) There is this striped pink and yellow rose wallpaper. Needless to say this isn't really our style... So I ripped the 1st layer of wallpaper off the wall yesterday and pulled out my HUUUGE stack of color swatches (every color glidden makes, I got the swatch). So Mike and I are going through all these swatches, everything is too bright too dark too bleh or clashes like hell with this green! So I say come on lets be daring! Lets pick something we normally wouldn't, it's only a quart of paint and if we don't like it we can change it right? So I try to think, aside from a 1970's bathroom, what color schemes would I find this green as part of the pallette? Something southwestern possible came to mind, then I started thinking to try to pull a highlight color out of the natural wood from the doors (and everywhere in our home). So enter tinderbox it really looks better in person than this photo from a color matching website (go fig) we'll see how it goes. It's either going to look really good... or ghastly and need to be changed asap! So I scored and sprayed the wall paper. I'm going to go scrape my lil tush off for a while. Then sanding, and hopefully primer before I have to run out to the store and start cooking.
I also have some dishes to do and some laundry to fold.... Dishes and laundry begin to feel like some odd paradox... No matter how much you clean, there are always more...

Digital Cameras and Silly Computers....

2009-02-03T13:47:00.000-08:00

So how did I do on my list yesterday? Okay I'd say... I did the dishes, I folded those clothes, I finished my dragon and an art deco brooch for the blog project.. but I couldn't find my camera, so no pictures and no new etsy listing... no biggie! I found my camera this morning and was trying to take pictured for about two hours... I don't know if it's my camera, or if my hands are shaky, or if it's because half of what I was photographing was very shiny/sparkly but out of about 100 pictures, no lie 100 only 6 of which are even remotely useable...
needless to say that is not a good ratio... I'll need to seriously sit down and try to figure out this thing out...
To top that off.. I can't access another 25ish pictures because my computer decided.. meh.. it was tired of reading my media drives and needed a break.... it does this now and then.. the sdmini drive doesn't show up in my computer, no green light.. then.. whenever it feels like it.. BAM! it works again no problem.... Silly Computer!
Anyhow without further ado... pictures..
So my computer is getting a little crowded! (so is Duer's[my better half] but that picture was crap)

No etsy worthy pics of any of these guys yet.. but completely cute computer companions for your enjoyment:

I did finish baby Ruby last night isn't she adorable? too bad these are the only two pics that came out ok.. she's soooo very shiny even the slow flash was too much!

Ok as mentioned before.. I'm making some things inspired by the great blog project Thursday's Sweet Treat. This week's theme is Poetic Sea.. I wanted to post pictures of this in stages as it was being created, but like I said, couldn't find my camerea! Now this was the first time I ever tried this project and I'm happy with how it turned out being the first one ever.. of course I'm obssessed with everything that is even a tiny bit off about it but that's just the artist in me.. my own worst critic..

The bottom dangle faux Bakelight turned out perfect.. well not the carving in it.. but the finish and faux bakelight-ness of it.. perfect!
Next time the deco lady gets a border around her to seam it up better.. it looks a little slapped in there this way.... the colors came out so great.. the texture too... They are exaclty what I was going for when I thought poetic sea.. wavy dep blues and turqouise...overall happy with the first shot (repeating myself aren't I?)

Sadly my finished ruby red slipper sharm is NOT photographing well.. too much detail and too uch shine maybe? I don't know... It's so frustrating.. as soon as I get a decent pic of it I'll post it up here.. I'm so proud of how cute it turned out!

Oh oh oh oh.. So I love to find niche online communities and today I joined a new one it's the EtsyNJ street team (a street team is bunch of etsians joined together by a commonality in this case.. living in New Jersey) I'm really excited to get to know some fellow NJ crafters!

On a non-craft/etsy note...
I finally spent some of my xmas gamestop gift card on some DS games... one of which is so well done and addicting! It's called Big Bang Mini even if you don't have a DS check out their website just to get an idea of what I'm talking about here!
The art is so well done, the background scroll on the first level (Hong Kong) blew me away. It's very much like an old fashioned arcade shooter.. think space invaders for the new millenia.. with fireworks.... and pirate penguins... I've been playing a board or two while on the gryphon in WoW.. got a 3 minute trip across Northrend? No problem, where's my DS!

Ok.. time to do some dishes....
didn't I just do dishes yesterday? Why are there always more dishes?

Today I will...

2009-02-02T09:25:00.000-08:00

Ok so, I spend too much time browsing the net and not enough time actualy doing stuff that I keep saying I'm going to do.. so today.. A list (now mind you I planned on making this post like 3 hours ago.. so yet again.. easily sidtracked table for one.. right here)

Finish little red dragon! do it Christina... you know you can.. just need to get out the fingerprints, apply the powder and BAKE HIM.. how hard is that? you can do it!
Start something for this weeks Thursday Sweet Treats Challange
Do the rest of the dishes!
Finish folding the clothes that are in the hamper in the middle of the living room that you started at 7am.... stop being lazy! (ok maybe this one should be number one)
Take some pictures of my little computer companions and list them on etsy.. (you knew you were going to list them when you made them, can't get attached to everything you make!)

Five things.. I think I can handle five things.....

maybe I'll make lunch and make one last trip round the etsy forums...... yea.. thats it.. then... the list tackling begins...

I will post later with some pictures of a finished little red dragon, a poetic sea peice in creation and some devilishly cute computer companions! (oh alliteration how I love thee!)

Easily Sidetracked....

2009-01-30T15:02:00.000-08:00

So the other day My best friend and I went out to the local rock shop and I picked up a BUNCH of stones for dragons and other things.. Bri picked up this really nice, larger sized carnillian, which she then gave to me and told me to make a dragon especially for it... Which is when I realized she still didn't have one of my dragons... sooooo I took the carnillian she gave me and made a cute lil dragon just for her (this lucky lil guy actualy got 2 stones! all the other dragons were jealous until he went to live with bri) (cell phone pic be warned)

So as I mentioned before I want to take part in this blog project... I sat down with my clay.. and wound up not even doing anything for the project, instead I started making a mini dragon with the red left over from my pinch pot and ruby slipper... so now my work tile is has 3 works in progress all red.. none of them have to do with the sea at all! I'm easily sidetracked!

(another cell pic, worse than the first i know)
I'm going to attempt to finish this baby dragon, or at least get him some limbs before i need to cook dinner!

Note to self; wait an hour after waking before etsy-ing

2009-01-30T08:11:00.000-08:00

So I woke up this morning and my alchemy in progress was accepted, finished, processed all I needed to do was send the invoice. So I opened apypal, and sent my customer a etsy convo that I'd be sending the invoice shortly and when paid items shipped etc etc... then I can't find her email addy anywhere on etsy, the transactions page, anywhere.... so I convo her again.. that I need her addy.... and then I find it... on the reciept of the transaction where I had already looked 3 times.. So invoice sent, one last apology convo and I feel like a total dope! Very unprofessional.... sure I'm just enjoying my hobby and hoping others enjoy the product of my imagination... but geeze! Unacceptable!
So from now on... I wait until at least an hour, or two after I get up to even go anywhere near etsy!
We live we learn, Ce la vi and all that jazz am I right?

So moving on.. I think I'll be participating in Thursday Sweet Treat Blog project this week..
I have about a bazillion ideas running through my mind about what to do for "Poetic Sea"
ideas both big and small... a covered frame with subtle blue green and white tones inside the frame a quote from Whitman's Sea-Drift ....
ooohhh or an art deco lady.. brooch.. with line art waves.. in a shimmery blue "base".. I could try the new transfer technique too...
hmm...
Ok lets get crafting!

I've joined the ranks!

2009-01-29T13:49:00.000-08:00

Well I've been convinced to start blogging. I had a hell of a time choosing a name for myself and my blog, I decided to use my etsy name since i seem to be consumed by the need to create in clay!

Part of me feels like I've turned my back on so many projects, I had been doing a webcomic (slightlycracked.comicgenesis.com) then school started back in september and with all the work it slipped out of my focus. Now that I've graduated and have time to draw I just can't seem to get my butt back over there. Instead I'm firmly planted in the clay seat!

I'm so proud of my etsy shop (theclaymuse.etsy.com) I've made actual sales.. to actual people.. (and my Aunt Steph, who just so happens to be awesome!) I completed my first Alchemy project today!

Stupid shakey hands! and I have no idea why the color came out so orange-ish, they are this bright cherry red color.. I keep thinking like an old corvette! I wonder if it's because I took them in the sunlight or if there is something funny with the settings on my camera.

Oh and I actually posted in the etsy forums today asking for a little advice on what to do with my pendants that I've been making. Like these (again today with the shaky hands/blurry photos.. you can't even see the detail in the Ahnk)
I think I came up with a good solution, listing them alone, but with an option to buy a chain/cord to go with it.

I had more to say, but I should go do some dishes....
Reminder to self, check out the Thursday Sweet Treats blog tomorrow....