I STARTED Early--Took my Dog--And visited the Sea--
The Mermaids in the Basement Came out to look at me
--Emily Dickinson

Friday, February 28, 2014

Thing a Day 2014, day twenty-eight

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Polymer clay cat (or is it a dog?)...

I was going for a cat, but I've gotta admit...it does look like a dog....

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Thing a Day 2014, day twenty-seven

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Polymer Clay Flower Ring.

I seem to make these flower rings a lot.  Some of my scrap canes make very good petals and this is a way to use them.

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Thing a Day 2014, day twenty-six

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Angel ornaments.

I think I'm done with angel ornaments for now.  No promises, though!

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Thing a Day 2014, day twenty-five

thing a day 2014 25
Alien with red balloon.

A friend of mine wanted an alien with a red balloon.  So here he is (he's about two inches tall).

Monday, February 24, 2014

Thing a Day 2014, day twenty-four

thing a day 2014 24
Polymer clay beads...

It's amazing what you can make with leftover scrap clay from quilt patterns.  I just can't leave it alone....

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Thing a Day 2014, day twenty-three

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Polymer Clay Fox. 

I was going to cover it with a quilt pattern, but I like the way the scrap clay marbled together on this little fox.  So I left it as is.

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Thing a Day 2014, day twenty-two

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Polymer Patchwork Platypus

I think I might like this one the best (well, after the giraffe).

Friday, February 21, 2014

Thing a Day 2014, day twenty-one

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So tired...I didn't have any inspiration tonight, so I made a few beads (technical computer issues didn't help)....

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Thing a Day 2014, day twenty


It's funny how things work.  I planned on doing another animal figure, but when I sat down to make something, this little Japanese ornament came out....

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Thing a Day 2014, day nineteen

thing a day 2014 19
Angel Ornament

I really like the colors in this "hen and chicks" quilt pattern.  As an over-all pattern on the hen and chicks figures I did a couple of days ago, it didn't turn out as well as the snail's trail pattern did for the other animal figures.  But for this ornament, where the borders are more prominent, it works really well.

Thing a Day 2014, day eighteen


A swan, using the twin star quilt pattern....

Monday, February 17, 2014

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Friday, February 14, 2014

Thing a Day 2014, day fourteen

Someone commented on the giraffe over at Thing a Day and mentioned an elephant.  Ta-da!


Thursday, February 13, 2014

Thing a Day 2014, day Thirteen

I was talking to a lady at work and she mentioned how much she liked giraffes.  It sparked a thought and I couldn't wait to get home to craft this little critter:


I really like the coloring for this one.

Monday, February 10, 2014

Thing a Day 2014, day ten

Someone commented about my snail over at the Thing-a-Day blog.  They thought it would look cool on a horse.  Well, I'm never one to turn down a challenge....


Sunday, February 9, 2014

Three-color Snail's Trail Quilt, part two

Ready for part two?  Here we go...


Take your cane from the first part and reduce it down until it's 3/4" or 1" square.  Cut into four equal (more or less--I know how hard it can be) pieces and orient as below:


Push together and reduce.  Cut again into four equal pieces.



Again, push together as shown and reduce one more time; cut into four equal pieces:



Push together one last time (this is one time further than the two-color cane).  Ta-da! (again with the "ta-da").  The finished cane!  Well, mostly finished...we'll get to that in another post.


Here's the cane with the two-color cane for comparison:


Thing a Day 2014, day nine

I made two  more polymer clay house beads (the ones on top).  Boring, I know, but I have a plan for them….
thing a day 2014 9
The two new ones were made with left over components from the snail’s trail pattern used in the first three beads.   They went together pretty easily today, so I was able to slap these beads together.

Three-color Snail's Trail Quilt Pattern, part one

Now that we've done the basic snail's trail quilt in two colors, let's up the ante and try it with three.  The basics are the same, condition/mix your colors and from into square logs.  EXCEPT...make one each of your color and two each of white (or very light color).


Refer to the previous tutorial for cutting directions (I got lazy--sorry!).


Okay, ready for putting it together?  Here we go.  Start with putting the squares together in checkerboard fashion (make sure the white pieces are kitty-corner to each other.


I've managed to orient the instructions this time, so that the light orange color square is always on the top left.  Hopefully, this will make the instructions a bit easier to follow.  I'm going to refer to the colors pictured for the tutorial, so substitute the colors that you are using when putting it together.  Take the smallest light orange color triangle and put it on top (longest edge to the checkerboard). 



Sometimes, the triangle pieces don't quite fit.  If the difference isn't too great, it won't matter, but you can always stretch the triangle piece to fit or shrink the checkerboard a bit.  Okay, next...place one of the smallest white triangles on the right side (again, longest edge of triangle against the checkerboard).


Next step, place the smallest green triangle on the bottom.


And then the other smallest white triangle on the left side.


Ta-da!  Now for the next part.  Take the next smallest light orange triangle and place it on the upper right side of the cane.


One of the next to the smallest white triangles (have I lost you yet?) goes on the lower right side.


Then the next to the smallest green triangle goes on the lower left side.


Do you see the spiral beginning to happen?  Finally, take the other next to the smallest white triangle and put it on the upper left side.


Next few steps:  light orange triangle on the right side, white triangle on the bottom, green triangle on the left, then white triangle on the top.



Looks nice, yes?  Tune in for part two--reduction and recombining....

Friday, February 7, 2014

Thing a Day 2014, day seven

I used another snail's trail quilt pattern to make this snail.  I thought it appropriate....


I was going to post the first part of my next tutorial tonight, but I'm sick, so I'm going to bed early.  Have a great night, everyone!

Thing a Day 2014, day six

I fell asleep on the couch last night and didn't post my thing-a-day.  So I'll post it now:


It's a little house bead...I've put a penny with it to show the size.

I'll be doing a tutorial on this particular snail's trail quilt pattern.  But I have two or three other ones to do first.

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Snail's Trail Quilt Pattern - part three

Okay, let's reduce this puppy.  I usually reduce it to 3/4" to 1" at this point.


Once it's reduced, cut off the distorted ends and cut your cane into four equal pieces.  Make sure each piece swirls the same way and then rotate them until they look like the pic below:


Push the cane pieces together and reduce again.  Cut into four equal pieces.


Orient the canes all the same way and push together.

At this point you can leave it as is, or reduce and recombine one more time.  It just depends on what is pleasing to you.  I've been guilty of taking it too far and recombining the pattern out of existence. 

Here's a couple of things I've done in the past.  The first one is taken to the point in this post.  The second one was recombined one (maybe two) more time.  How many times you cut and recombine can make a big difference.


Next up:  Three colors!