Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Mica Shift








I previously posted about a technique called Mica Shift. At that time I invited fellow artists to send me their pictures of what they have done with this cool, yet simple, way of working with clay.

Maureen of "Maureen Thomas Designs" , Gina of "Mosaico" , Lori of "Cutesis" and Polly of "Snowdovedesigns" all happily provided me with pictures of their interpretation of Mica Shift. You can see more of their work at all of their Etsy shops, links are provided above.

And The Winner Is.....


The results of the voting tallies are in...the winner is BeeTreeByMe with her wonderful rendition of lightening bug memories...you can see the official results here.

Congratulations to all who entered!

Monday, July 30, 2007

The Latest...

Hello Friends...well, I've been a bit behind lately and I'll tell you why.

I have managed to take on another roll at PCAGOE and have volunteered for the Managing Position for the Store Standards and Guidelines Committee. This will initially be a big task getting things underway and organized, but it can be done. As soon as the ball is rolling, routine tasks should seem second hand and should take little time on my part as well as for my fellow committee members. And let me tell you, they have been a big help in this adventure.

So, as a result of all this new work I'm doing...I haven't had much time for my other clay tasks... But as a litte tid bit to tide you over, I have added a couple of new links that are geared towards beginner and intermediate skill clayers. One is simple, something that most of us need to do, it's how to clean your pasta machine. No, no...it's not "get out a wipee and go over the machine"..there's quite a bit more to it than that...check it out down in "Clayers Links". Also, there is a link to take you to a site where they explain how to do the Mica Shift method. Very interesting indeed. If you decide to try out this technique, email me with a picture of your item and I will post on my blog here along with your contact information.

Alrighty...good luck and happy claying!

Thursday, July 26, 2007

CAST YOUR VOTE AND WIN!!!!!


The PCAGOE Monthly Challenge for July is up and runing. Please visit the PCAGOE website to see all of the entries and to vote for your favorite. All voting entries will be entered in a drawing to win free prizes. Good Luck everyone!
Also check out the Etsy Treasury for the Challenge... http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=4112

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

PCAGOE on Etsy

Check out my Etsy Treasury list I made for the PCAGOE group. It's also my entry into the Etsy poster contest. The contest is a pretty neat idea to not only get the word out about Etsy, but to give some promotion to shops too. Here's the link explaining the contest... and here's the link for the actual Treasury List... "Poster of PCAGOE Beauty" Check it out, it's a great way to see the wonderful talent of my friends on the PCAGOE group.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

July PCAGOE Challenge...

Voting will start on the 26th..so mark your calendars..it's coming up fast. I'll post here when it's time to cast your votes. This months entries are really quite good, so it's going to be a tough fight for all the entries.

Please visit http://www.pcagoe.com/

Monday, July 23, 2007

I'm in another Treasury!

Cool! Check this out...this listing is independant from the PCAGOE group I believe.

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=3778

Let's hope our little dragon finds a home this time.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

I'm on a Treasury List!

Can you believe it? I made it onto an Etsy Treasury list....! Take a look here. http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=3716

Thursday, July 19, 2007

My Entry for the July PCAGOE Challenge
















Summertime Memories...

Meet Cicada George. He's my entry for PCAGOE's July challenge. I hope you like him. See the story behind George HERE .


The voting for this months challenge will be hosted at http://www.pcagoe.com/. I will post as soon as I know when the polling is open. Good luck to all the entrants and good luck to those voting!

Sunday, July 15, 2007

What Am I Working on Today?

Having missed the last PGAGOE entry deadline, I've decided to jump in on this next one. The theme for July's entry is "Summertime Memories" and I have a wonderful idea that I'm working on diligently.

The only hint that I will give everyone is that it is a sculpture, since that is working out to be my specialty at the moment. It will probably be around 4-5 inches in height in total.

The idea was born from a wonderful memory of my daughter. It is actually from this summer, and makes me chuckle every time I think about it...gotta love em. Kids can be so strange sometimes. One minute they're grossed out by the slightest little thing, then the next minute they're grossing you out and thinking nothing of it. I'm sure there are quite a few that can relate to this.

So, I will not be posting a picture of my entry until I have submitted it for the challenge. Once that is done, I will post a picture here with an explanation of the story and a link to the voting on the PCAGOE website.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Tool Review: That Silver Thingey Over There...


Okay..who wouldn't accumulate tons of the "latest and greatest" tools if presented with unlimited funds. Right...exactly...the key term here is unlimited funds. Even with my "Limited Funds" I have to watch what I spend, so I kept that in mind as I headed off to the Marley Flea Market last month.
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My intention was to be open-minded and focus on finding something that would work as a wonderful tool for my claying. I knew ahead of time that there would be those "Guy" booths selling, so I marched right over to them. You know the kind, they sell all sorts of items...files, electrical plugs, wire twisters, plastic levels, cheap paint brushes and rejected dental tools.
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Yup, you read right...dental tools. I don't know how, I don't know where they get them, but they do. They had a few different styles not limited to the normal jab your gums kinds of picks and mirrors. But they had some that resembled small spackling knives and others I can't even describe properly. However, I did find one that seemed like it would work well.
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As I examined this tool I noticed it had a good balance in my hand and a comfortable grip. On the one end it had a sort of spear type shape where the edges were softly rounded to an edge. On the opposite end it had an angled shape with a rounded end. One side was completely flat the other was domed and curved softly to the edges. I also noticed that the symmetry wasn't completely perfect on both ends, but it wasn't anything drastic. Perhaps the best feature, I noticed, was the price. It was selling for a whopping 2 dollars. ("Cha-Ching...SOLD!") I thought in my head. I handed the vendor his money and tucked that baby in my purse, anxious to try it out.
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When I had a chance to test drive this little gem, I noticed it would indeed work well. Both ends were perfect for blending due to their round tapering nature. One end, spear end, was perfect for detailing finger nails or for scoring lines and the other end was ideal for removing excess clay. Being that it was made of steel, it's hard surface was perfect for unforgiving, merciless pressure when needed or for gentile finesses as called for. The slight symmetry flaws that I previously noticed were easily correctable by light sanding with a foam sanding block and polishing with an emery board.
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This dental tool is fitting in well with the rest of my collection of tools and is used pretty much every time I clay. It fit well within my budget, worked precisely and was a good "multi-tasker".
If you are on a budget, I highley recommend you keep your eyes peeled in unusual places. Don't think of looking for traditional mass produced claying tools, think of what function you want to accomplish, what is your goal? With an open mind,a function as a goal, and limited funds, you can pretty much find a claying tool anywhere you look.

Saturday, July 7, 2007

A Work in Progress...


A few months ago I was contacted by a wonderful person in England who wanted to commission me for an Alice in Wonderland Doll. So, I took her up on the offer and it is turning out quite well. She'll be jointed at the shoulders, elbows, hips and knees. She'll also have her trademark locks and dress as well. But so far this is where I am at with her.

Friday, July 6, 2007

Voting is Over...


Thanks to all who have participated with entries as well as with voting...it was a close one.

Marcia from marciapalmer.etsy.com was the winner for this months challenge. Jump over to http://pcagoe.com/ to see the runner ups as well as to who won for participating in the voting.

Keep checking back to see what the next PCAGOE challenge will be.