Experimenting with Copper Clay

The Kansas City chapter of the PMC Guild (i.e. KCPMC Guild) met this week to exchange copper clay charms. These folks are used to using silver clay to create so the copper clay, with it's different properties and more complicated firing procedures was new to most of us. These are the pieces I received after swapping an equal number of charms made by me.

My charms looked like this. As you can see, I was the only one who opted for lots of black antiquing rather than the shiny polished look or the matte "from-the-kiln" rainbow patina. YBNRML?

To see more, go to the KCPMC guild blog.

It's Spring Down Under!

In the midst of our wintry weather and bare trees, its hard to imagine setting up little faerie gardens in the back yard . . . but that's what's happening in Australia. I recently sold a couple of my faerie garden gates to Etsy customers from Australia. Perhaps simple things just make me happy, but it was a thrill to ship off my handiwork to the Land of Oz!

The first gate went to a creative mom, planning a faerie birthday party for her 6 year old daughter - complete with faerie invitations, costumes and a new gate for the real faerie garden in their back yard. Check out their wonderful faerie birthday party and more at http://liscassey.blogspot.com/. (Lissy's a scrapbooker and a VERY creative mum!)

The gates are about 4" x 5" and usually made from copper, steel and/or brass tubes and wire. Sometimes I also make wooden gates, like the faerie beach-house gate below. I used recycled slats from a salvaged old rolled blind that I just couldn't throw away when we moved cross-country. Dale thought I was dingy, but those thin wood slats work just great and are better off in a faerie garden than in a landfill in Calfornia!

 

Traveling Apple Core Beads

Sometimes a simple email can make my day. Two days ago I received a simple message on my Etsy conversations inbox...."I talked about your darling earrings for the craft exchange on my blog today!" with a link to her Bei Mondi blog.

I had completely forgotten that a few weeks ago I uncharacteristically responded to a "round robin" craft exchange....it was from a good friend and did not require receiving lots of emails. So I sent off a pair of my apple core earrings, added my name to the list and forwarded the exchange to the required number of crafty friends. They most likely did not reciprocate since I have not received anything in exchange, BUT I did score some blog "ink". It's always cool to know someone likes what I did. Very encouraging.

Thanks for the link, Leslie! Check out her blog here. She's another artisan jewelry artist/mom/blogger/et al.

You can see more of my apples and apple core beads in my online photo album.

They are also for sale in my Etsy shop.

Feeling Slammed

It is simply amazing how little studio time I'm getting these days. I've gotten so involved with local arts groups that it seems I am only working on guild projects. Thank goodness deadlines motivate me or nothing would happen.

So, check up on me at the

• Kansas City Polymer Clay Guild (www.kcpcg.blogspot.com or www.kcpcg.org)
• Kansas City Chapter of the PMC Guild (www.kcpmcguild.blogspot.com or www.kcpmcguild.org)
• EveryDay Fisk Family Stuff (http://bylynettetoo.blogspot.com/)
• ByLynette's Etsy Shop (www.bylynette.etsy.com)

Gardening with Mom

June is for gardening - before it gets TOO hot and muggy in Missouri. (We sort of overshot and managed to spend the last 4 days sweating buckets!) My sweet 82 year old mother was visiting this week and we managed to turn a corner of my yard into an entryway to the garden. We dug out patchy grass and sod, laid down that black garden weed barrier, stepping stones and a layer of bark. We planted a few baby hollyhocks against the fence and some creeping thyme between the pavers....although it may not survive the current heat. I'm watering!!

Here are the results of our efforts....
BEFORE:


and AFTER:

I think I'll eventually decide to bury the downspout pipe, when it cools off a bit. Quite an improvement, huh?