Bronze Pig, the art of Jill Johansen

I stumbled upon this image.. I think it is so beautiful, and what an amazing idea a Koi Mermaid.
She was done by Jill Johansen, a Canadian artist.
Her website is Bronze Pig, and you can purchase her designs on items at Cafe Press at http://www.cafepress.com/bronzepig/

I dont know Jill from Adam, as the saying goes, but I find her variety and subject matter interesting. Interesting, as in , Yes I like, not "oh thats interesting" I just dont know how to say thats not to my tastes. And I really like the variety of her artistic stylizations.

Thumbs up to Jill, she does truely beautiful work.

Now I just have to get my cafe cash account straightened up, and Im gonna buy something!

New CafePress Store

I opened a new CafePress shop.

http://www.cafepress.com/hazketchup

it was inspired by my friend's daughters obsessive love for ketchup. For her birthday we made her some cute little customized t-shirts.
Well they were such a hit when she wears them, I decided to put them on cafepress.

enjoy

Chihuly

I previewed a documentary on Dale Chihul's work for my art history class this weekend. I am always so amazed at his work. In the office building the hubby used to work at, they had a series of photos from his river installation in Norway.
I want to find a way to create this is clay.
I will lose the quality of the class, but I want that quality of organic.
I am already planning next time we drive to CA, that we will spend at least half a day in Oklahoma City, where I will go see one of his installations. The local museum had one of his pieces. One. not nearly as powerful ad the collections of glass he puts together.
But hey that one was pretty.

SALE TIME

The holiday season is upon us.
Right here right now
So what does that mean for the Pithy Art Blog? What does that mean for the etsy shop?
it means SALE SALE SALE

I have a lot of really cool unique items in my etsy site
Zoeowyn and they all need a new place to live. They are not enjoying their lives in storage. I do try to keep the storage system a way and happy place for them to be, however it does not grant the jewelry the same freedoms that wore pieces have.

please find it in your hearts to help these items have a new life, a new freedom

Source of inspiration

the Polymer Clay collection
Originally uploaded by Zoeowyn

Im always surprised at where inspiration comes from. Sometimes its a challenge, sometimes its a random idea, sometimes it just comes from experimenting, and altering and experimenting and altering.

Unfortunately recently Im not getting very inspired. Im getting very--oh whats the word? The extreme opposite of inspired--Depressed.
Instead of seeing a bright spot and a point to jump off from, Im seeing ideas that all I can wonder is why didnt I think of that?
Im seeing people do something amazingly simple and sell it in droves. I try to do something simple and sell nothing.
Frankly my sales are nil.

I set up the booth at the recent neighborhood garage sale. I figured there is no entry fee, I might sell something. Well I did sell something. And again I got lots of genuine complements. Im getting good at being able to tell the difference from "interesting" read "weird", or "my friend so and so would love this" read "this is weird and my one freak friend would like it;" from actual real compliments.

Im thinking I might enter the local Christmas Village, since then people would be in the mood to spend money.

Im getting nervous about the upcoming Ren Faire. Im contemplating reducing my prices substantially just to move product. I dont want to sell at wholesale prices, but I want to move product.
If my sales aren't outstanding this year its my last year at the faire.

The Black Calaveras

The Black Calaveras
Originally uploaded by Zoeowyn

I havent posted in a long time. My day job is kicking my butt!. Lots and lots of prep work. October is in 2 days that means Ren Faire and Halloween and the baby will be 6!
Can I still call her my baby?

PCAGOE's monthly challenge is this week, go visit www.pcagoe.com and vote. voting starts Oct1--Wednesday.
The only reason Im able to participate this month is I planned ahead and made this little entry piece back in June!
Yes some times I am organized.

I havent gotten to do more with clay than just get a therapeutic mush it in and around my fingers for at least a month now. I take that back--I was able to turn out a quick commission for a birthday present. I cant find the surface to my work tabe, pretty soon I wont be able to find the table! I havent (sob sob) even gotten to order some bronze clay.
My requirement was having a work surface.
Guess I need to find some cleaning time.

I really need to find some crafting time.
It puts me in my happy place, and right now Im not in my happy place.

paisley cake and topper

paisley cake and topper
Originally uploaded by Zoeowyn

In my search for a way to make my living from art, I occasionally mentally breeze thru the wedding industry.

This is an industry renowned for extreme spending in creation of “that perfect day.” My thinking is if they are going to drop some funds on decorations and jewelry to create a fairy tale perfect illusion, why not drop some on me?

Well I have tried to make some wedding specific jewelry. I didn’t even price it extremely outrageous for a wedding, just made it white and sparkly. No buyers.

Well then I have been thinking about cake toppers, more as an extension of the cake decorating Sarah and I have been doing.

Cake toppers are 2 things: sizable business and intimidating!
What kind of topper would I do?
The generic figure? well if someone is going to spend money on my work, why would I make it generic, that’s what Walmart’s wedding section is for.
The custom look alike figure? EEEK! make a figurine that might actually resemble someone without actually making it look deformed? This is intimidating, but then again if I were to do it, this is how I would do it.

Ok so, I think I’m going to try to make cake toppers. Great, how do I practice? Ahhhh, find a cake and make a person for the top of it. Who? the cousin already got married…

Who???

Ahh the cake for Diana!

We toyed with making architecture for her, but then realized we needed it to be more of her than of where she is traveling to. So henna patterns and paisleys! And my brain said put her dancing on top!

At first I didn’t think I was going to have time, second I didn’t think It would turn out.

This is my first representational figurine. I know the concepts of armatures and have read enough articles, as well as created figurines with bases to know how to start. I also understand the anatomy of a face, and again read articles and books and such on building faces (but have not built a face from scratch before that actually looked like a face—I use molds)

Well it turned out, and it turned out ok, and it took a reasonable amount of time. Of course I’m still not sure how I would be able to price it. I did some research and wedding cake toppers are not cheap. So then how much would non-wedding cake toppers be?

Obviously I need some practice.
But it’s a good start.

I like this idea!

this is a component clay cane.
As in its ment to be used as part of some thing, its an enhancement instead of the star.
Most canes I see for sale are the star.
Whenever I think about selling canes they are stars. --I dont mean a literal star I mean the focal piece.
Good idea!
this is by Valleycreations.etsy.com

And its currently on sale

Its time to prepare for the holidays!

So were were at dinner the other night and the restaurant has a gift shop attached and...
I am amazed at all the Christmas and Halloeewn and Thanksgiving stuff already out. I mean it is only the first week of August.
Then again as a kid my crafty aunt always had X-mas gifts made, done and wrapped before September.
And now here I am thinking gee should I make some holoiday appropriate items?
Im not in a halloween mood and yet it probably is halloween product time.
And I should probably be thinking about X-mas products and presents as well.
Im not too good about this being ahead of the craft market for product, but I guess its time I did some preplanning.
I wonder what I should do?
I know I have a slew of Day-of-the-Dead items I want to make
and I should start planning out some potential Christmas craft classes, as well as make some ornaments.
I dont want to be the Christmas shop, as I am a die-hard 12 days of X-mas fan, and I dont like seeing all the lights go up before Thanksgiving. by the time the day comes around Im ready to be done, and Id rather be ready to get started, with the end party on twelfth night, but thats just me. Maybe a few Santa pins wont be too horrible.
Now as far as the halloween stuff....
I want my stuff to be seasonally appropriate, but not limited to the season
Valentines day is good for that, I mean hearts are good all the time, they dont have to be red and rosey to be a heart
ooh maybe I could that, holiday hearts...
ooh idea is a brewing.....

Too cute!

Shes a wall dancer
I found her on etsy!
kerijoy.etsy.com

Interesting techniques in polymer clay

this piece is made from a carved mold
its by arzumusa.etsy.com




Its a carved egg, the exact hows I am rather clueless on, but it certainly is interesting from folkartfromtheheart.etsy.com



this looks like stained glass to me by CookiesCreations.etsy.com

School days school days la la la la la

Ack!
Summer is "over." We go to school on Friday.
Im temped to feel sad, of all the things we didn't really do, but it was so incredibly hot this year we would not have been able to do things anyway.
This is great, the kids wont be bored and I will have some serious crafting time!!
I think the first project has to be to clean up some. Currently my work area is a dumping ground, and Im working around the mess.
I really need my work surface back, sepecially since I want to do some BronzeClay, and I wont even purchase it until I have a work surface!

BRONZE CLAY!!!!

I must have had my head in a hole!
Bronze Clay!
I just found out about it last night --the pieces pictured are by Yvonne M Padilla--of course that day-of the -dead skull in the middle is my favorite!
I could not go to sleep with my brain going in a million directions of what I could do with Bronze Clay!
I need to get my work surface organized, and I need to invest about $50 since I already have the kiln for PMC
oh the possibilities!!!!

unfortunately I can't just order it immediately right now today, I have to be responsible and get other things done like, work!

She won!

Im so excited to announce that my Spiderwick Fairy tied for second place in the monthly PCAGOE challenge. She tied with an adorable little Phantom of the Opera robot by ittybittiesforyou, who I look at and think its a mini metal Gerard Butler! (he played the roll in the movie)
A great Harry Potter movie poster by ametista won first place.
I would have voted for it myself.
Wining entries can be found at
http://www.pcagoe.com

PCAGOE monthly challenge

spiderwick face
Originally uploaded by Zoeowyn

"Its Show Time"
This months challenge was based on TV or Movies we love.
This months challenge for me was time and space related.
I have entirely too many movies that I LOVE I couldn't think of anything that I could do in a timely fashion. I kept thinking what what what.
ideas that surfaced included Highlander, 1001 Arabian Nights, 300, The Mummy, Eragon. All the ideas that stemmed from these were all very time consuming.
My art table is currently in a state of disaster, and the floor space leading up to it is also a bit of a mine field. How was I even going to find the space to work, let alone the time to clean to get to the work surface.
The deadline ticked closer. This morning a post said midnight tonight.
I thought ooohhhh, I've participated every month since joining Id hate to miss, but I have no ideas.
Well the kids are listening to Arthur and the Invisibles, the little boy actor is the same kid in Spiderwick.
and I love those flower fairies in Spiderwick. I thought gee I can't make one of those and have it do them justice. Then I realized this isn't about copying something from a movie, its about being inspired.
I just happened to have bright yellow, pink and spring green in the top of my clay bag.
I decided to make a flower fairy inspired by the movie Spiderwick in my style of my muse pieces.
I will have this flower face up on etsy very soon, if not by the time you have read this.

Spiderwick face on etsy

PCAGOE monthly challenge, Voting starts August 1

What would life be without art?

257489-R1-22-3_023
Originally uploaded by Zoeowyn

Boring!
and much cleaner.
I have piles of random art supplies all over the place. And of course they certainly arent limited to just one room.
We recently got InDemand digital cable. If you have it are you aware they have FREE kids activities?
Yes thats right FREE kids activites.
Mine were kept busy for several hours in the middle of the hot hot afternoon making origami penguins and bats and boats and fortune cookie boxes.
It was great!
I dug out some origami paper I had in my collage/scrapbooking drawer and they used the whole pack!
They were learning manual dexterity-fine motor skills, they were actively engaged! They then took their little creations and played with them!
Yes I know TV time needs to be limited, but when they were engaged learners with the TV I say, TV time is OK.
And it saved us adults from whining, Sponge Bob, and heat stoked children!

What would me life be with out art?
cleaner, yes, but so much less interesting, so much less active learning and creative problem solviing skill development.
Life would just be less interesting
and more whiny!

I guess I've been crafty for a bit

thing a day ness
Originally uploaded by Zoeowyn

I’ve been drawing since I could hold a crayon. That’s a given in my family.
I think I learned to sew when I was 7 or 8. Mom had just gotten a new Vicking sewing machine. It is a rusty red color, iron body. That machine rocks. She taught me some, I taugh myself more, I took lessons. I’ve been sewing ever since. I remember trying to make a pair of white canvas knee high converse type shoes in the 9th grade. I didn’t do so well, forgot to add fabric for the calves, my legs are wider than my ankles.
In the 6th grade I learned to knit and crochet.
Jewelry making started sometime in high school.
I went to art school, and its been pretty constant ever since……

Things I've learned the hard way

the big diamond
Originally uploaded by Zoeowyn

2 weeks ago I took a wire wrapping with Dale Cougar Armstrong. We made sculpted wrapped pendants. During break I found this great oversized "diamond" and decided that it was perfectly ostentatious and needed to be wrapped in brass --gold would have been, well too costly and frankly just not tacky enough. After all this diamond is a paper weight and over 2 inches in the round.
Well I wrapped it up . It sucked. I went too fast. I need to learn to slow down ad be more controlled and precises with my work. Tihis is an on going lesson I seem to constantly need to learn and re-learn.
So I pulled it apart and rewrapped the loverly stone. I used loads of wire. A also learned do NOT mix your wire wire hardnesses.
This is wrapped using square and round wire. It makes for a visual difference in texture--ok subtle but its there. But the problem in the round wire was deaad soft and the square half hard. Man this was a bit*h to wrap. First of all DAle did warn us against doing this in half hard wire, but then I had to go and mix my hardnesses.
what a control issue that was
not again
or if again I at least KNOW what Im setting my self up for right?

Anothe lesson I learned the hard way was not to cure dimentional objects in my little toaster over, that i used exclusively for polymer clay.
I fired the head off of a dragon box.
Ruined.
Poor beastie, no head.
Fortunately I was able to give him a new head.
Its one of the few dragon boxes i've ever sold.


I also discovered after quite a bit of work on this one bottle, that the cobalt blue glass bottles from Micheals are in fact not blue glass but plastic coated glass. No wonder when i was washing and wiping this dragon down with alchohol the bottle color looked like it was changing. It was! (no more blue bottles for me)

Spider web

spider web 2
Originally uploaded by Zoeowyn

I purchased this awsome ruby glass from an etsy vendor (MoonDancer.etsy.com), not knowing what I was going to do with it, just had to have it. One of the ladies in the wire wrapping class found the spider. Mary, who I sat next to, and I plotted this little masterpiece from there. The egg sac was mary's idea.
I love it its perfectly wicked!

Things I made this weekend....

suppliments bracelet
Originally uploaded by Zoeowyn

I was oh so lucky to take a wire wrapping class this weekend. On the drive over I thought "boy Im glad classes start at 10 and not 9"
When I walked in the owners face told me I was WRONG, the class started at 9. Fortunately the teacher, Dale "Cougar" Armstrong, told me to get my butt in there, since she figured I could catch up.
I took a weekend class set with her back in October, and it turns out I "get it." I need to slow down and to practice but this whole wire wrapping thing I get.
So in class we made a cute little wave ring, which it is now my challenge to turn into a bracelet (yep Cougar homework). And the sculpted cab.
Ive already made 5 of these since class, and one was a commission!!!! (need to get a pic of that--made to match a dress for a wedding!)

well if the class didnt creatively kick my butt into gear. I came home and whipped out my PCAGOE challenge piece as well.
Thats the pic for this blog, you see I dont have pics of the rest yet. Thats scheduled for later this week, then I will get those posted

Heres a link to Dale's blog. For the post on Stardust Designs Bead Shoppe, Im in the pic, standing in the VERY back
wearing the rib cage shirt with the barely controlled red hair
http://www.cougarscreations.com/blog/index.html

July PCAGOE challenge Personal hero

July PCAGOE challenge entries
Originally uploaded by divadea

This months challenge: Personal Hero. The entries are really quite a collection of out-of-the-box interpretations. Any where from a color study for a late grandmother to an archetypal figure of service animals.
Mine is the tongue in cheek "charm" bracelet of my daily supplements.

Voting can be done over at www. pcagoe.com

random voters win prizes

Things I like

two fold post
one fold: I reaslized I don't need to blog huge amounts of info when I blog, its ok to just post a quickie


two fold: I really like these little shrines, I find them very inspirational, and I want to make some
this is a Guardian Angel Box by SilverSunbeam


another two fold: Here is another loverly. wire wrapping and peridot colroed pearls, how can it go wrong? This tree is located at starsb117's etsy shop

Mom says TV is a bad influence....

Zs tree cake front
Originally uploaded by Zoeowyn

How can TV be bad for me???
This is my soon to be 8 year olds cake. its a jungle tree. It is 7 "layers" of cake plus fondant tall. its all edible except for the leaves and inner supports. The bark is chocolate fondant and modeling chocolate. the mushrooms are those little melting candies and fondant.
The mantra for the 2 days it took to bake and decorate this puppy was "What Would Duff Do?"
WWDD
Yes I love Ace of Cakes
No I dont bake, thank the gods I have my friend Sarah. She actually said her job is to make it taste good mine it to make it look good. This is our second cake creation together. The first one was he son's lego cake.
We are planning what the next step in our growth cake wise is--recipes and piping and royal icing practice!

Sugar Skulls

Today was my last day for the annual cultural teachers training camp.
Last year I taught just cane dancing. This year I was way so happy to be asked to teach some visual art classes in addition to the belly dancing.
The teachers who take this training camp are all wide open and receptive to other cultures (ok one of the reasons they come). I wish more area teachers would come
I know the director would like for more teachers to come.
Its fun, its wonderful, its a load of in-service credits, something teachers really need!
This week I taught bark painting, and henna, and andikra cloth decorating.
Today’s class was decorating the sugar skulls. I used plaster in the molds, and they turned out so great.
One of the other dance instructors came in and she is Mexican. So she was telling us how her grandmother would make sugar skulls, and how they would go have a picnic at the grave sites. It was great. I felt a bit like a fraud (this was all me—she didn’t once do anything to make me feel that way). Here’s this woman who grew up in this culture taking my class, and I’m teaching it because I LOVE making decorated skulls, and I love the whole concept of honoring people from our past.
All the teachers had fun with today’s class. I think they had more fun with today’s class than any of the other ones because it taxed their artistic skills the least.

Shifting to neutral

neutral
Originally uploaded by Zoeowyn

Or, what is that color anyway?
Its more grey than brown, and more brown than grey. It may lean a little toward green, but then again maybe its leaning toward purple. It definitely not grey because grey is a mix of black and white, this color seems to be some muddy mess including all colors, with out actually being a color. Its "color neutral." Some people call it taupe. This non-color- color comes in a limited range of shades, because once it gets too dark it is definitely a brown, and once too light it becomes a bisque/ivory tone.


Now with all of the wonderful colors available in polymer clay would anyone actually want to work in "color neutral?"
That’s simple, when the clay is a base for a surface treatment. Color neural won't cause any adverse effects to the treatment color, it just lies there and "takes it," and lets the surface treatment be focal. Then again, there are times you just need mud.
Shades of grey wont cut it for mud, and the shades of grey are infinite. Yes grey is a neutral, so is black and so is white. Black and white are extremes and will alter the surface treatment results.

Grey is the extreme neutral, but it can also be "flat" and "colorless." It's not so simple to get a basic 50% grey.
That’s a grey that is perfectly balanced between the light of white and the dark of black. The pigmentation in black is intense. Be prepared to need more white than black. Also, add little bits of the black to the white as you blend. This will help control the sheer quantity you blend, as well as give you better color control.
Color neutral has some color body to it, so its not as flat. Like grey they are many shades, but they are in a smaller range. There are a few commercial color neutrals available to purchase, but the real fun is in blending your own. This is a great way to use up any scrap you may have. The best neutral colors come from blending a bit of everything.
It helps to be familiar with your color wheel when blending a neutral color.

Colors that are opposite on the wheel, complimentary colors, not only do these colors look great together, but when they are blended together they cancel each other out. This is good to know so that when you blend your pile of scrap, and notice that your "neutral" is a bit too green, you can add a red based color to even it out.
Now that you have blended your neutral color what can you do with it?
I like my color neutral clay to be a base for colored mica pigments. The pigment colors really show thru with out seeming "neon" like they do when on a black clay base.

Interview!

dreambottles
Originally uploaded by Zoeowyn

I've been interviewed!
http://www.pcagoe.com
I am the member interview of the moment
yeah me!

PCAGOE May Challenge Entries

PCAGOE May Challenge Entries
Originally uploaded by divadea

Hi folks its time to go vote at www.pcagoe.com
select your favorite floral item...I know this month is hard, Im cant vote as a member, but I really dont know which I would pick, after all they are all cool!
My top three:
the card in column D Row 2
Light switch column B Row 6
Fairy girl column A row 7

Evolution, maybe, then again

I've been making dragons out of polymer clay for over 15 years now. The blue dragon on the hair clip, is possibly my first one. And the little guy with opal eyes guarding the gems is possibly my first dragon bottle.
As Ive made protecting dragons Ive notcied a few things have changed.
One is the size, Im just getting bigger and bigger. Im also adding in more detail. Detail really makes the design more complete.

One thing that hasnt changed is the mica/luster powder finishes. Ive been utilizing that means of enhancement the entire time, and whats interesting, Im still using the same case of shimery eye shadows I used when I started. I still have them, they are from a gift with purchase make up kit from princess borgesia that I got in 1990/91. They still work great!

alcohol inks

dragon
Originally uploaded by Zoeowyn

There once was a little dragon who was unhappy with his color. Hes was a bright bright orange. After he took a bath in assorted acrylic paints and rolled around in some buffing wax he was still unhappy with his color....

I never really used alcohol inks for anything other than a "paint."
Then it hit me upside the head "alcohol," I could use rubbing alcohol to thin it out!
I soaked a q-tip in alcohol then in the indigo colored ink. It worked great!
the colors on the dragon, intermingled with what was left of the acrylic paints, and the range of colors from just a few dabs of ink were amazing

So to end the story
the little dragon turned out quite pleased with his new range of colors.

Paisley bubbles and dots pendants class

paisley bubbles and dots pendants
Originally uploaded by Zoeowyn

May 4, Sunday: Polymer Clay Paisley Pendants (1:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m.)

Great Paisly Pendants you can wear with panache! Learn how to cut, layer, and texture with this fun project. Polymer clay is an affordable and fun medium to dabble in. Join instructor Laura Medeiros in all the fun. Cost: $40; supplies additional cost and purchased from instructor. Note: 2-student minimum required for this class, please call and reserve your space!

Class location:

Stardust Designs Bead Shoppe
43 Brookwood Terrace
Nashville, TN 37205
Phone: 615-352-5355

Across from Target on Whitebridge Rd.
Behind Mr. Whiskers

Style

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.
This takes place in an alternative 1939. Stylistically would you call it deco-punk? or streamline-comic?
Whatever the style I LOVE IT. The film was created all "green-screen" based technology, there ya go that's the techie stuff. Lets talk about style. it takes all the best of the original King King (I say that one scene WAS the back ground from the original KK movie on Kongs island), then add some Flash Gordon, toss in some Metropolis, knead in some Lost Horizon, take a Journey to the Center of the Earth stir well with American stream line and art deco, and baste in comic book art.
It was awesome!
I think the movie was ok, after all Angelina Jolie was dead sexy with that eye patch, too bad there wasn't an equivalent male character--the guy who plays Sky Captain = yeah ok whatever, and stylistically he did not fit! He was not comic book hero style, too thin too weak jawed. Gweneth Paltrow was the brassy heroine, could have been brassier. Angelina, wasn't in the movie long enough to weaken her character, same with the quirky scientific side kick- he was plucky and smart mouthed and geeky.
The plot included everything from kid napped Russian scientists, flying robots, ray guns and miniaturized elephants, there is also a mysterious bad guy.
I wanted to see this when it first came out, but life got in the way. I found the DVD at some flea market for $2, cheaper than renting, so it was mine.
I only now got around to seeing it.
I let it play 3x while I created some jewelry.
I will become one of my favorites to work to, my biggest problem is I will really want to see the visuals.
And it will be great for the kids, child safe, and a great way to entice them to watch some old classics

unplanned collaboration

I was in need of some waves for my mermaid. I participated in a bead swap on the Polymer Clay Artists Guild of Etsy.
My last set of beads arrived today. They are by Papernclay.
they are not only little swirly waves BUT the combination of the background I covered my box top in an hour before they arrived AND the back ground color from my mermaid cane.
They couldn't have been more perfect if I ordered them!

I WON I WON I WON!!!!!

The Creators and Entrepreneurial Mavens over at Crafted Online had a little contest.
There were in need of a tag line.

I submitted the following for consideration, my focus was about emphasizing the comfort of being at home:

Learn from the comfort of your home

learn while in your jammies!

Learn while surrounded by your own tools

come learn with us, you dont even have to shower or wear make up

(ok these are just getting silly)

from the comfort of you own home, and bunny slippers

we dont require you brush your teeth, but your dentist might

learned online, crafted by you

they went with:
Live Teachers, in the comfort of your home!

I won a copy of Make It Mine magazine.

So if you are looking to learn some crafting thingy go check them out!

Egg voting time

Its the Polymer Clat Artists of Etsy Guild Challenge time!

Im still recovering from the impact of this challenge:
Cover an egg
oye!

All the entries are in
you have only a few days to vote for your favorite!
(Pssst: I'm entry #17)

http://pcagoe.com/

my thing-a-day for february

more thing a day projects
Originally uploaded by Zoeowyn

The plan was to join the thing-a-day for February, of course I had a mental laps, and did not sign up in time. I still wanted to go for it, so I did. I kept track along with a few other crafty folks over on tribe, as we conducted our own unofficial thing a day.

I have photos of some, and not of others, here goes my list of February's thing-a-day


Feb 1 • I made a body stocking
its shiny and purple
Feb 2 • I worked on my altered collage box, painted a Hamsa
Feb 3 • the kid and I made her habitat dioramas of an African savanna, we poked grass into styrofoam blocks, glued it the front, modge-podged the definitions on the outside of the box, and modge-podged a photo wrapped around on the inside of the box
Feb 4 • design and start carving a hamsa print block

Feb 5 • I ended up getting a bit carried away with the hands and drew a bunch more
Feb 6 • I fixed a bracelets link, I collected the stuff for my belly dancer altered box and cleaned off the table in the art room so I can use it for art.
Feb 7 • I finished the hamsa block print
Feb 8 • a friend and the kids and I made heart crayons (see earlier blog)
Feb 9 • We made more crayons
Feb 10 • I painted the edges of a painting that I need to finish
Feb 11 • I painted a second layer and taped the sides of a canvas
Feb 12 • I finished the striping and black detail work on that canvas and one other one
Feb 13 • I finished painting the sides, and did the eye details,
I actually finished and signed one of them!
Feb 14 • I ended up taking pictures to post, and some doodling
Feb 15 • I started my Swimmy etsy fish project (see earlier blog)
Feb 16 • I "moved" into my clay bag and taught a friend how to make scrap cats
Feb 17 • I finished the fish

Feb 18 • I finally got to use the hamsa block I carved, and I made some gift cards
Feb 19 • I posted process images of the fish I did for etsy, the pics were crap, but I posted them anyway on flickr
Feb 20 • I got a good pic of the fish and made a lizard on a rock, and some plant life fimo
Feb 21 • I baked the creations from yesterday, made some more Hamsa cards, sewed the "'first draft" of a dance costume, tomorrow I make the revisions to the outfit so its dance-able for Saturday
Feb 22 • Finished dance costume
Feb 23 • Performance Art! Performed in the costume
Feb 24 • made and burned a little hamsa pendant
Feb 25 • had flu but still made a hamsa pendant
Feb 26 • had flu worked on mermaid cane
Feb 27 • made a dragon bottle, and a scrap dragon
Feb 28 • shopped for cake decoration supplies worked on mermaid cane
Feb 29 • worked on mermaid cane

Finished the mermaid cane on the 2nd, posting its picture here as well!

Z with the the original zizzer

Z with the the original zizzer
Originally uploaded by Zoeowyn

Big Z little z what begins with Z?
At this point Zoe shouted "I do!"
Last week for the school Dr. Suess parade she was selected to be in it from her class (only 8 kids from each class were in the parade, the school is that big).
So she comes home and says she wants a Zizzer Zazzer Zuzz costume.
I say "Ok when?"
She says "Monday!"

3 discount white sweat shirts and 2 bottles of spray on fabric coloring, and 2 pads of post-its, and ta-dah

one 7 year old Zizzer Zazzer Zuzz

the Polymer Clay collection

the Polymer Clay collection
Originally uploaded by Zoeowyn

MY husband thinks if Ive gone this far to organize them I should set the drawer up chromatic order.
The damage was mostly done at the latest Michaels 99 cent block sale. I ended up going back 4 times.
It seems like a lot at first glance, but then when I use it I think, on no I've already used so much gold!

This doesn't look like a problem to you does it?

Im not allowed to work alone

dragbox
Originally uploaded by Zoeowyn

Ever.
Whenever I start to "work" in clay it becomes a family affair. I have even gone as far as getting the kids their own clay supplies, since they usually want the ones I am currently using! I have a "clay bag" that is free access clay. They are encouraged to use their personal supplies first, but inevitably they NEED the color I am using, so they can get it from the clay bag.
If they don't want to do any work they have to sit in my lap. I work with sharp knives so they have learned to sit next to me, unfortunately they still lean on me, fortunately they love me, and want to be with be, and think its really cool that I make stuff with clay and they get to use mommy's tools (but not the really sharp blades).

Im IT!

I’ve been tagged!
And, yes I’m, gonna play!
Here are the rules:
A. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog
B. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
C. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as their blogs. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

A. My tagger: chickietsy

B. 7 facts:
1. I have red hair, crazy wild frizzy curly red hair, and its natural!
2. Men in kilts! yummmmmmmm
3. Crushes: the hubby, Gerard Butler, Tarkan, Billy Zane, Keanu Reaves
4. If there was a way that I could be the big bread winner and let my hubby stay home with the kids I would. Not that I don’t adore my children, I love them the bits, just that he is sooooo much better at it than pretty much anybody. He has the BEST daddy magic, and it not just my kids, it’s all kids.
5. I am blessed with instant karma. This is usually how I know I have made a bad decision, because payback is instantaneous and as embarrassing as it can possibly be.
6. I have art ADD. I start too many projects, purchase the supplies for too many project, and never seem to actually finish, or even start them. This is probably why I work in so many mediums: sewing, painting, clay (polymer and PMC and occasionally ceramic), collage, print making….
7. I have had my own art business in one form or another since I was 18. My first one was called PopPix. I custom painted teeny bop stars on t-shirts. My biggest order was for my cousin’s boss’ mother. I did 10 t-shirts of some guy on a motor cycle. I even had a commissioned sales person. I think I paid her a whopping 50 cents for the sale of one shirt.

C. 7 people tagged (this was the tough part, finding 7 "random" blogs that haven't already been tagged or are arent already "playing" Im cutting myself off at 5, or this will NEVER get posted
1. idiosyncratic daydream
2. Maureen Grey
3. Divadea
4. tejaesart
5. kabidesigns

My First CAKE!!

Jonathans Sixth Birthday Party 001
Originally uploaded by Mat Culpepper

Well, actually I was about 8 or 9 when I made my FIRST cake, and I put in 3 to 4 cups of water instead of 3/4 of a cup!
This is my first "Ya know that fondant stuff is a lot like fimo, I bet I could do that" cake.
Yes I have been watching Ace of Cakes, yes I want to be like Duff, but a girl, with hair.
Here it is the lego Star Wars cake!.
Its based on the Lego Star Wars video game, apparently the reg lego block is the big points thingus, and when you are blow up you explode into blue and silver and gold coins.
The lego blocks are 6x6 cakes--6 of them, 4 in the green block, 2 in the red.
The "coins" are frosted DingDongs.
As soon as I get all the pics in one place, I will post a step by step of what we did (I has a partner in crime, shes the one who did the actual baking and picture taking!) in words and pictures.