Four Days of Non-stop Polymer Clay

Looking for my Bead Soup?
I am home alone and look what trouble I was able to get into. 

I spent 4 solid days into the wee hours playing 

with this new Stroppel Technique, 

chopping up old canes and scraps and this is what you get.  

Love it!  

I tried it with 3 different base colors; black, white 

and lastly gold which I was hoping might come out a little like 

Gustav Klimt's quilt in his painting "The Kiss". 

Here are some of many creations from this polyholic binge:

This is my favorite piece from the session- It can be either a shawl pin or a hair accessory.

Here is a closer look - it is thoroughly buffed and then antiqued with silver paint. 

A pair of earrings made with trimmed edge scraps from the gold Stropple cane.

A black heart on gold with the Chatoyant- (mica shift) technique.

Ths is a bullet bead - can you see the person standing there?

This was created with Stropple scraps using a mirror image trick. 

Still loving my acorn mold- scraps again.

More autumn leaves. 

Green swirl buttons.

Green blend large button.

Green Swirl Large button.

First Green Blend Shawl Pin.

Second Green Swirl Shawl Pin.

Stay tuned- there is so much more- I just need to photograph all the work.  

Have a Spectacularly Spooky Halloween Y'all! 

Heather-Aquariart

My little time fairy...

If you are looking for my bead soup click HERE. 

Autumn is here and I feel so invigorated by the cooler weather. 

 I no longer have to walk my dogs at the crack of dawn 

to keep from overheating them and myself.  

There really is nothing better than a brisk walk in the cool morning air 

facing a gorgeous sunrise. 

An old hymn I loved plays in my head each morning:

"as I fall on my knees with my face to the rising sun,

Oh lord, have mercy on me...."

I love a challenge but I don't always make the deadlines.  

(She needs a name!!) 

Help me! see contest info at the end of this post. 

She is very mischeivious, I caught her trying to hide chocolate in my portulaca...

This little munchkin 

is my entry for my Polymer Clay Guild's challenge: 

"A Stitch in Time"

and my Art Quilt September Challenge: 

"use hand dyed pleated silk to create something". 

(Why not kill two birds with one stone- 

because I love birds!!! 

I would rather make one creation that suits two purposes.)

I sculpted her face, hands and feet from polymer clay 
and then painted her face.

She has a tiny wire needle in her right hand. 

The clock is made from Tim Holtz metal clock parts 

I made into a mold.

Here she is Busting a Move- "Trying to take off"

Her wings are created with wire and 

textiva 

(the sheet form of angelina fibers-
which by the way comes in many wonderful colors) 

They got really beat up while I was sewing her little dress

(another lesson learned the hard way)

so I will need to take them off and remake them. 

Here she is supine, resting from all the hard work 

of trying to fly with her damaged wings.

PS- that white stuff under her is the fantastic tile 

my husband brought home for me. Isn't it awesome?!

She is a chocoholic too- thus the roly poly belly 

which is stuffed with wool batting scraps inside gathered felt

and adorned with pleated hand dyed silks and rose ribbon 

from my fabulous friends at Vegas Airs. 

Sandy and Diane (the owners) are extremely talented and creative doll makers. 

I am thrilled to call them my friends, teachers and inspirators!! 

Please take a minute and go visit their website. 

They sell great supplies, many of which they make themselves 

and they have online classes.  

It is so fun to see their creations, so detailed and exquisite.

If you love Halloween you will love this doll.

So if you feel inclined to give this little fairy a real name 

please leave your suggested name in a comment on this post.

I will choose the name I think is most fitting next Saturday- October 30th> 

The winning name creator will receive a surprise gift handmade by me!!!

So,

 please leave your email 

or 

come back next Saturday to see if you won 

so I can get your shipping info.  

And Have a Wonderful Fall Weekend!

Heather-Aquariart

A Gift for a Dear Friend

Click HERE if you are still cruising the blogs like I am for the Bead Soup Party.

The Second Kiss Supine

I dabble in some beadwork, 

mostly I like the meditative state 
that making beaded spirals puts me in

and 
the fun of trying new color combinations.  

I experimented with a combination of 
size 8 and 16 seed beads to create this spiral.

And the star pattern was in the book;

 "Beading with Cabochons" by Jamie Cloud Eakin

I picked up at the library last month. 

I found Sandy: Glass Art Cabochons on Etsy 

while browsing another blogger's bead work.

I had to get this cabochon 
and make my friend Diane this necklace for her birthday. 

(She chose the star shaped setting 
because she is an astrologer) 

She guides and inspires me to never give up- 

keep following my creative heart and mind and trust the universe to take care of me.  

She and her husband have a print of the painting-
 "The Kiss" by Gustav Klimt.  

She was thrilled that I made this for her.  

I apologize for the lack of pictures this week- 

I dropped my camera while on the tripod 
and thought I broke it. Yes sheer panic!!

After a few hours of browsing 
to see what the damage would be to purchase a new one. 

My daughter, Jessie (McG(eye)ver), 
fiddled with it and fixed it!!

I am eternally grateful to have her in my life and home.

So you will be seeing me on BTW, 
I Heart Macro and Flickr this week.
I will also be adding some new items to my etsy shops. 

Heather-Aquariart

Las Vegas Polymer Clay Guild September Challenge Pieces

If like me you are still Blog Hopping and looking for my Bead Soup Click Here.


Somehow, September got away from me. 

I missed the monthly LVPCG meeting because I was sick so this is late 

but better late than never right?
(LVPCG What is that you ask: The Las Vegas Polymer Clay Guild)

Here are the entries for the September Challenge-

"A Stitch in Time"

First Marty Oroark made a wonderful little sculpture of Betsy Ross whose stitches became our very own American Flag. 

She also sent me a photo I just have to share of a Caroler- 

not for the challenge but a great inspiration for Holiday items.  

Don't miss all the tiny details in this one like the little dog hiding under her  coat

Next I have a sewing lovers's delightful little table of notions by Mary Wilson. 

I can't wait to see this one in person. http://aquariart-chocoholic.blogspot.com/2011/09/big-bead-soup-reveal.html

My biggest fan...

If you are looking for my Bead Soup Reveal Post click HERE

Sometimes when you least expect it someone surprises you with their thoughtfulness.

This someone happened to be my husband John.

He came home with this a little while ago and I was stunned. 

He had a piece of marble water jetted  for me- this is my company name.

I am always amazed when he thinks about me and supports my efforts in such unique ways. 

I guess that is why we are still married after 35 years. 

So sweet. 

He also brought home two types of tile for me to photograph with. 

They are truly something I have never seen.

One is a marble with deep ridges carved horizontally across the tiles in neutral white and grey tones.

The second is mosaic sheets of a variety of sized semi transparent glass bubbles.

These are leftovers from projects that have been finished downtown. 

You will very soon be seeing pictures of my work on these tiles. 

I love these little gifts of thoughtfulness

and my husband too. 

Short today, I am going to go spend some time with my little family.

Have a great weekend.

Heather-Aquariart 

Art Bead Scene September Challenge- Gees Bend

If you are here for the Bead Soup Blog Hop click HERE

I was so excited to see that this month's challenge involved a quilt as inspiration. 

This is the quilt:  

"Housetop"--twelve-block "Half-Logcabin" variation, ca. 1965

Cotton, Wool Corduroy, 77"x 65"

Lillie Mae Pettway, 1927-1990

Gee Bend's Quilter

I am familiar with the Gees Bend quilts and their history.  

These women used every scrap of old clothing, flour sacks ect to create their colorful quilts.  

They are all hand stitched, they could not afford sewing machines.  

Their wonky lines and unusual color combinations 

are what make them true examples of folk art and american ingenuity.  

I wanted to capture that in my entry so I started with old thread spools. 

I decoupaged tiny fabric scraps onto the spools 

and then colored the portions I could with permanent felt tipped pens.  

I created tassels with cotton crochet thread in black and white 

and pulled them through the spools so that they could dangle.  

When I saw the fabric with words on it in deep beige and black I immediately thought of scrabble tiles so I raided our old game and drilled holes in the letters B, D, E, E, E, G, N, S... 

if you unscramble them you can spell "GEE'S BEND"!!

Then I had the pleasure of creating the tiny little quilted bib portion 

complete with batting and free motion stitching 

in purposely imperfect lines to mimic the wonkyness of the inspiration piece. 

There are four layers; the pieced fabric top layer, the wool batting, some stabilizer 

and then fabric lining to cover all my threads from attaching the spools and the scrabble tiles. 

This was a really fun challenge for me because I am also an art quilter, 

belong to my local guild Desert Quilters of Nevada and enjoy all the very talented ladies in my  monthly "Art Quilts Ect" Circle where we share all our work. 

I loved combining that passion with another jewelry piece.  

Thanks ABS!!

The Big Bead Soup Reveal

Hi everyone, 

This is the day all of us, 

the Bead Soup Blog Party participants,have been waiting for. 

Here is the link to our gracious host Lori Anderson Click Here,  

and the entire list of jewelry designer's websites so you can follow the blog hop.

My partner is Beth Bricker    

Click Here  or  Here to see the wonderful and generous amount of ingredients 

she so carefully packaged, labeled and sent meand the stash I sent her. 
Here: Vintage Sweets to meet Beth and see  her creations. 

I loved how Beth labeled all the beads because 

I am not an expert about different types of stone and crystal and 

I haven't labeled my stash carefully so I tend to forget what a lot of my beads are called. 

I really love the smokey quartz, the czech beads and 

those chunky black tourmaline beads are just amazing. 

There are some beads totally new to me that really intrigued me; 

the amber red deer horn beads, the antler button and the deer bone beads. 

Fortunately I was so inspired  that I got started right away because I have been sick this week.

I could not be the queen of the last minute this round. 
I was unable to use all of the goodies she sent but have plans to use them in the future. 

Not only did these beads inspire jewelry but they also told me a story, 

  So grab your coffee or tea and relax and enjoy a little Mountain Romance.

The air was cool and crisp, perfumed with a refreshing balsam scent from the glorious pines all around her. It left a fine mist on Mira's skin contrasting sharply with the crackle of dry fallen leaves under her feet. They both stopped at the same time without saying a word.  The music of  water trickling in a rocky bedded stream was not so distant now.  He knew they were almost there. She had no idea what he had in store for her, simply put he had said: "I have a surprise for you today and had handed her a rusty old key."  

"What is this for?" she had asked and he simply smiled and said: "You will see soon enough." Mira loved the way that smile made her heart flutter and as she looked into his eyes she knew how much she trusted and cared about Josh. She could almost see the thrill of being surrounded by nature coursing through his Inuit blood and just before he turned to continue their hike, she looked down from his eyes, and between the lapels of his plaid flannel shirt  to the dream catcher he always wore around his neck, just over his heart. 

Mira loved the feathers that hung on either side and the unusual seed in the center. She wondered had he made it as a child on the reservation and what dreams had he captured in that tiny net. She was going to have to ask him more about that one day but for now she simply followed him through the forest paradise.  Similar to a slow crescendo in a Beethoven Symphony, the soothing but exciting music of the stream was getting louder and the forest brighter as they approached a clearing.  Like little fairies playing hop scotch with magic wands glistening in their tiny hands , the light of the sun flitted on the green and sandy brown pebbles and floated away down stream on the fallen leaves, temporarily blinding her to what lay ahead. 

When Mira's eyes had time to adjust to this sudden burst of light, a gentle gasp excaped her lips.  There before her was a bridge, surely hand made from logs in this forest that led over the stream bed to the most perfect little log cabin she had ever seen. She had always dreamed of living in the woods someday, relishing the clean air and the beauty mother nature hid in the emerald forests of these rugged Northwest Mountains, away from the noise of the city and all it's frenzied occupants.  Josh took her hand and led her to the center of the bridge. Then he did the strangest thing.  Still holding her hand in his he knelt down on one knee and said, 

" Mira, you are holding "The Key To My Heart" 

and the key to this log cabin I built with my own hands just for you.  Will you spend the rest of your life here with me?" And like a gentle breeze  he whispered "... I love you..."  

Mira dropped to her knees in front of him, tears burst from her eyes and trickled like the stream down her cheeks but the smile on her face said,  "Yes... yes, a thousand times yes." She would never have to ask about the secrets in his dream catcher, she would live them with him for the rest of her life. 

Okay,

 now you know I have read a few too many romance novels in my lifetime 

but with 360+ blogs to read 

I thought you might enjoy this little enhancement to your reading pleasure. 

Before the necklace I made a bracelet and earring set too. 

Here they are:

For the mountain loving women like Mira; 

an everyday casual type bracelet and earring set 

she could wear with jeans and a nice flannel shirt 

while cozying up to the fire in her perfect little log cabin in the woods.

 

I loved the contrasts between the turquoise (Josh the inuit), 

the round horn beads (mother natures creatures recycled) 

and the chunky black tourmaline beads (like the charred wood in a fireplace) 

so I wired them together for the dangles.  

The smokey quartz (smoke curling from the chimney in the log cabing) could stand alone. Copper was my main choice of metals for this set 

The necklace has both copper and antique brass components. (Male and female characters)

 I added the stone chips and leaf chain to the bead soup 

because it helped to let your eye trickle (like the stream) 

from all the details of the key clasp on the left (key to his heart and cabin)

and the dream catcher on the right side of the necklace.

(Josh's dreams to be shared with Mira) 

The tawny czech glass beads reminded me of split logs with some bark left on. 

(inspiring the log cabin and the bridge) 

and I used the fabric Beth wrapped my soup in, 

torn to create the plaid ribbon to evoke a casual feel to the necklace.

(the lapels of Josh's flannel shirt)  

Lastly (For all of you who are cynics)- 

I wrapped one piece of the smokey quartz with copper wire 

in the head of the rusty key to symbolize 

how slightly clouded our heads get when we are in love!!  

Just kidding.... LOL 

I for one am a hopeless romantic and isn't that what jewelry is all about? 

Enjoy your blog hopping!! 


PS Check out the  HUGE CLEARANCE SALE  in my heatherp22 Etsy shop-  
starting Tuesday Sept 20th, ending Sept 30th!! 
BUY ONE GET ONE FREE!! 

Heather-Aquariart