Rings - day seven...

I liked yesterday's ring so much, I made a few more:

Today's ring turned out great!

I love it when something turns out.  I came up with this idea after making yesterday's ring.  I think this one turned out ever so much better:

I went simple...

I've been up late the last couple of nights making these rings--they are a wee bit complex to put together.  So I decided to go with something a little simpler tonight.  Well, the particular paper punch I used made it not quite so simple.  Something to keep in mind for next time. 

Anyway, I like the concept and will have to revisit it sometime soon:

Happy Independence Day!

I can't take credit for this idea.  I was talking to my daughter's best friend and she said I should make a Fourth of July ring.  Hmm...but what?  She said make a flower with petals out of flags.  Brilliant!  Thanks, Amanda!  Flags were too time-consuming, though.  So I adapted the idea a wee bit and came up with this:

 

MUCH better...

This is a much better size:

Still not quite what I want, though.


Here's how it compares to the ring I made the other day:

*sigh*  Back to the drawing board (so to speak)....

Snail's Trail ring...

I've had this quilt cane for a while.  It's one of my favorites--Snail's Trail--and I repeat it fairly often.  I like these colors and decided to make this ring:

I hope the second half of the year is better than the first...

Let's face it, I kind of frittered away May and June.  I had reasons (both good and bad), but I'm a bit disappointed in myself.  So I'm trying to get back on track for July.  I'm going to take a break from beads and make a ring a day this month.  Here's the first one:

Hmm...it's a bit bigger than I wanted--I'll have to give it another try. 

Another view:

Ben Franklin Clay Day...

Ben Franklin had a "Clay Day" a week ago.  They asked me to bring some stuff to display and to do some crafting while it was going on so people could see the wide variety of things you can make with polymer clay.  They had a bunch of other stuff going on as well.

Well, I'm never one to turn down the opportunity to show off, so I was happy to go.  I had a great time!  Here's one of the canes I made:

Now one of the great things about canes, is what you can do with the "waste" clay.  I grabbed my handy-dandy tri-bead roller and whipped up these:

 *happy sigh*

Class samples...

I'm going to be teaching a class at Ben Franklin in August.  Here's some samples:

I like the shapes.  I tried to use some of the Pantone colors in a couple of them.  The pink/purple one is my least favorite.  I love the black and white one, though--the cane was really old and crackled when I sent it through the pasta machine.  I thought about trying to smooth the surface, but I just really liked it with the texture.  A happy accident!  The one in the middle is actually the only one that turned out the way I planned it--I love the colors and the marbling.

I wasn't completely lazy on my trip to Alaska...

I managed to take along some supplies just in case I felt like making something while we were at sea.  I made a few canes:

Last Clay Camp post...

Here's the last few photos from Clay Camp--these first few are Meredith's and Nan's (sorry--I can't remember which ones are whose)...

And the last two are Carla's--I just love the colors and how they work together...

More Clay Camp Creativity...

Here are some more things people made at Clay Camp.  Bambi...er, Shannon made these:

The piece on the right was part of her "Starry Night" demo (see--I did forget a demo!).

Julee made these cool beads:

I love their shimmery simplicity!

I honestly can't remember who did this:

It's very pretty, though....

Maria made some fabulous things:

I'm always envious of the very cool things she makes (I'm so tempted to steal an idea or two).

There's still a few things left to show off...tomorrow!

So what were other people doing at clay camp?

Like I said earlier, I didn't think to dig my camera out until late in the weekend.  But I managed to get a few shots of some interesting items.

Like these wallet/credit card holders by Pamela:

The photo does not do them justice!  Here's a look at the inside:

Her daughter Mariah (I'm pretty sure I'm spelling it wrong) made these elegant flowers (I made her show me how to do them):

Dawn made some very cool stuff (and it's her first time at Clay Camp!!):

more Monday at Clay Camp...

Where were we before I took my sublime trip north?  Oh yes...rings.  I made this one:

Another view...

*sigh*  I keep piling up all these rings that I just love and do NOT want to sell....

Alaska!

I thought I'd have more time to post a couple of things before I went on my cruise to Alaska.  But I had to get caught up on my many jobs, so it fell by the wayside.  Here's a pic from our 49th state:

Beautiful, yes?  It's the Sawyer glacier in the Tracy Arm fjord.  I must admit, I'm having a bit of a tough time getting back to my real life....