"Got By With a Little Help From My Friends", actually a TON of help.

In June my sister hired me to make a necklace and earrings for a friend. I was really stressing about this project because I have never met the woman, knew noting about her style and it was for her son's wedding rehearsal dinner.  All I knew was her dress is black and white,  my sister said she  doesn't wear "big" jewelry and it should not be anything to wild or hang down too low on her neck.  I played around with a few techniques and  they just did not seem right.  Decided to try swirled lentil beads using black, white and red; simple yet interesting.    I had pretty good luck getting then to swirl properly but had seen some stunning lentils where a small amount glitter has been swirled. It reminded me of the tail of a comet.   I had never used  glitter in lentils or ay other bead. Were those sparkles really glitter in the clay or on top of the clay?  Maybe it was glitter paint put on later.

I found the answers to my questions and the conficence to give it a try at Cindy Lietz, The Polymer Clay Tutor at beadsandbeading.com.  I did a search at her site for lentil beads and found several past blogs.  After posting my questions and uncertainty several clayers gave me suggestions.    Thank you to all who helped me in this journey, especially Sue F.  who went into detail on a technique I had never tried.  
Thank you to all in Cindy Lietz Community.  The necklace and earrings were a big hit.  

Clay Storage Ideas

I have been know to say, "I have enough scrap clay to pave my drive way."  It is true.  I have a tendency to lose track of how much good clay I have.  I am a very visual person and  have  repurposed a wood  Pepsi box to keep unopened clay.  I love my Pepsi box.  It stands upright and each section holds five 2 ounce  blocks of clay; it looks cool displayed like that.  But once a block has been opened I tend to  use part  and then put it "somewhere"; Lord knows I would never want to put a opened pack in with the ones in my pretty, pretty Pepsi box.  Like it has to be...perfect. 

Recently, while cleaning my clay area found lots and lots  of partial packages of the same color  and realized just how much clay I have---all over the place.  Many of these treasured finds had other colors of clay mixed in or were dusty from sitting opened.  Wow, I really do not need to worry about running out of clay any time soon.  I found a very inexpensive way to keep opened clay clean and tidy. Ziplock sells   plastic containers and the square one to be the perfect solution.  My local grocery had them on sale for $1.99 for a 5 pack.  I really like them because they are large enough for what I need and I can see the color through the plastic; the raw clay does not stick to the containers. They can also be stacked-that makes me look organized even though I am not.  This is an easy way to see my inventory before ripping open a new clay pack.  It is also  great to keep a smidgen of custom mixed clay  with the same color family.     
Now my scrap clay pile is really scrap clay rather than for something when I cannot find a home.

Hope you find this tip helpful.   Clay On !!

It has been a Looong winter. Where have I been?

It has been a while since I posted but I have been busy.  I really wish I knew more about how to use this blog, in fact I feel like a Dope-David Letterman calls himself a dope so it is a good thing. Been doing more with clay again and as soon as I figure out how, I will post some pictures.  I need to take a community Ed class on Blogging.
 I am working on necklace for a friend of my sister.  I think that is called "being commissioned.", that sounds really strange to me.  Well I have all the parts done but now to get it put together.  I am going to grab my daughter and have her show me how to post pictures.
My husband just retired from the Iowa Dept. of Transportation.  his first week as a retiree was a busy one and he said, "I have been so busy I don't know how I ever had time to work.  I recently moved my clay stuff from the guest bedroom to the front porch so he can paint the guest bedroom.    Everything at my new location is a mess but we are making progress.    

I'm Back......

Hi, I have been away a while but will again be posting on my Blog. I want to thank Cindy Lietz (beads and beading.com) for encouraging all of us to post pictures on our blogs. 

I will be perfectly honest...I have NO idea what I am doing!! I may end up with clay pictures on this blog but then again it may end up being a picture of the floor.   I was able to select this pretty blue color in a font  large enough that most people my age can read it.  So, all is good.  

I continue to be immersed in Polymer Clay and love every minute of it.  I taught 2 PC community education classes last Fall.  I just finished teaching another community education Polymer Clay 10; the students made really pretty projects; I am SO proud of them.  I am teach two more classes in the winter session and then 3 again in the Spring session.    

I used to have to stalk people in Michaels and hobby lobby to tell them about the Des Moines Polymer Clay Club.  Now I have a captive audience and make a little extra money to support my clay habit. 

My husband has found a store to sell my clay heart necklaces.  He actually getting interested in this clay stuff.  He downloaded pictures from my camera to Photo Shop and help string hearts on cording and took the necklaces to the store.  I have an appointment at another store on Thursday to see if they want to sell my necklaces.  Maybe someday I can quit my "day job."
So, onto trying to find the help page to add pictures.