The reason for my absence

My sister and I participated in a local arts and crafts fair. I really had to step up my production to have anything to sell, and have had to take all week to recover. I set up an etsy shop to sell them online. If you haven't visited etsy, you might just love it, it is full of handmade items. I find it addictive. I have already listed a few on etsy and plan to get more up over the next few days.

I am hand making some of the beads. The green ones including the pendant in this necklace are made by me in green translucent clay. I am not crazy about how the pendant hangs, I have decided to restring it before I post it on etsy.

Someone I know is buying this one for someone else. Just in case the someone else happens to read this.

I feel the need to explain the orange and black theme to those who aren't familiar with my hometown, these are high school's team colors.

This is one of my favorite sets, I am torn between selling and keeping it for myself. However I did list it on etsy so snap it up before I change my mind. ; )

My cousin is purchasing this set for her mom, I am not worried about her mom reading my blog obviously. I do have some similar beads left to string into something though.

These blue beads are some of my favorites, my pictures came out like poo on them so I am going to retake them. I have a couple of necklaces in this color scheme.

These are for long hair, does anyone know their real name? I am glad I finally got some Kato clay so I could make them. (Kato stays flexible after it is baked, unlike the sculpey I have so much of.) I have some pretty brown clay I need to make some more in another color scheme.

My rock scrapbook embellishements. It was a whim and I think they came out well. Didn't sell many though, I think I didn't display it well so people knew what to do with them.

Playing with the left over clay from the autumn leaf jewlery set. More scrapbook embellishements.

Honest feedback appreciated. Hate it? Love it? Too amatuer?

The Art of being Crafty

Crafty

adj. craft·i·er, craft·i·est

1. Skilled in or marked by underhandedness, deviousness, or deception.

2. Chiefly British Skillful; dexterous.

Recently a post came through on the polymer clay group I joined about whether we are crafters or artists. Personally I don't have a problem with the term crafty. In fact being crafty has paid off for me this week.

Example #1.

I have a bed of squash and melons coming up for the second time. The first time the squirrels made it through my defenses. This time so far so good, I even have one plant that is growing big. While I would like to think it is all due to my superior, squirrel abatement skills, I think this guy might be helping me out. Instead of being horrified and killing it when I spotted him laying near my melon bed, I obviously went and got the camera. Don't get too freaked out boys and girls, this is a bull snake, not a rattler, not too big only about three feet. I am glad to have him or her around, squirrels beware. I feel like definition number one here, luring innocent watermelon hungry squirrels to their death, but I am okay with that.

Example #2
Being skilled with ones hands means you have lots of things to give away to your friends and family. Sometimes you are the lucky recipient of such gifts. Hyperher, is a crafty lady, and she very sweetly send me this bag this week as a belated birthday present. Please join me in telling her how much she rocks. YOU ROCK, and definitely fall into category #2 there. Please don't drool on your keyboard as you look at the picture.

Example #3

Giving away those crafty items can be so rewarding in unintended ways. I mentioned in my last post about making a scrapbook for my cousin going to Princeton for the summer. My aunt, her mother, has had a hard time of it of late. Her son is in Iraq, her mother passed away in February and now her daughter got on a plane today and flew for the first time in her life, across the country, alone. In fact she had not been speaking to my mom, over some of the arrangements for my grandmothers estate. My mother has been very worried about her sister, she felt like the emotional stress of those situations was causing the problem. In fact we had a going away party for the cousin that they did not attend. However when she saw the silly scrapbook I made at my mom's request for her daughter, she called crying and they are reconciled. I would have never expected some silly crafting to be the catalyst for that.

So upward and onward. These are my last batch of beads waiting to be sanded and buffed. I have great hope for them. Maybe they can instill world peace. ; )

Does this upset you?

1. International Breastfeeding Symbol Pendant Necklace, 2. Mary Cassatt painting Breastfeeding Pendant, 3. Renoir Breastfeeding Pendant Necklace, 4. Dalou Breastfeeding Pendant Necklace, 5. Mary Cassatt Drawing Breastfeeding Pendant Necklace, 6. Solario Breastfeeding Pendant Necklace, 7. Solario Breastfeeding Pendant Necklace, 8. sling baby, 9. mama


First I want to recognize the artist who created these lovely pendants. She has an etsy store, Such Pretty Colors and a website, and you should be able to access her flickr photo set from the credits under the photos. She also has a blog, I found these pendants a while back searching on how to make polymer clay photo pendants. (Which I still have not mastered by the way.)

Second, I wonder why these images bothers so many people. I am sure most of us have heard of Facebook removing pictures of breastfeeding mothers because it violates their terms of use. Myspace does this as well, according to one of my friends who had a complaint filed and a picture removed this week. The photo in question was an oil painting not unlike some of those pictured here. (I should note I have accounts on both sites.)

Personally I have seen much more offensive photos of scantily clad girls who want to be my friend so they can spam me to death about visiting their porn site, or help me learn how to make money.

As a mother, who breastfed both of my boys, I am well aware of the opposition to breastfeeding. For the life of me, I don't get it. If I had dime for every time someone said something chastising to me like I don't have a problem with it unless, they can chew real food, ask for it, walk, I could have bought formula. Except I didn't want to, I was lazy and cheap and washing bottles and buying formula seemed stupid to me. Of course I was lucky enough to stay home or work part time both times for the first year.

I am more shocked by the discouragement most hospital nurses give to breastfeeding. I was discouraged with my first. The second time around the nurses didn't give me any guff, God bless them, because I was loaded for bear if they had even whispered to me about formula. I can easily count on both hands friends who have been outright discouraged, have been chastised and generally given a hard time about it. I had one daycare director, actually suggest to me that if I insisted on breastfeeding, I should pump it and feed it from a bottle so I knew exactly how much he was getting. She told me she disapproved of breastfeeding, I thought that was especially sad since she was the director of a grads program at a high school, and was in charge of helping guide the teen mothers.

One of my most angry moments was using a tucked away breastfeeding nook at our local mall on day, completely covered, I am not the bare all type of girl, and getting ugly looks from the mall walkers. I was very pissed me off, they saw the signs, they could have not walked around the booth.

I know breastfeeding isn't for every mom, since work or medical issues often prevent it. However I feel like social pressure should never be the reason. I don't know why I was so adamant about it, since other than one girlfriend, I knew no one else who was doing it. It wasn't a tradition in my family. However the possible benefits for my child seemed, to outweigh any misgivings I might have had. I can see why painters through the ages have chosen to document it, I still have fond memories of my babies, suckling, staring intently at me with a tiny hand curled around my fingers.

I think it is sad the female breast is so sexualized in this country that is the only use we can see for it, and not for the other reason God made them.

More Hummingbird Jewelry

If you were so unfortunate to read my twittering last week, I repeatedly mentioned working on my mother's birthday present. I decided to repeat the hummingbird theme I did for my mother in law but in green my mom's favorite color. However I tried the polymer clay wings again, I wasn't quite happy with the beaded ones. My first batch made it through sanding but didn't make through buffing, so I tried again with a thicker layer of clay and then a backing of clay.

She really seemed to like it. I told her she was market research and had to tell me what is wrong with it.

While I think my finish work was improved from my last piece, as I edited the photos I noticed a few partial fingerprints I missed. I am working on some photo transfer pendants for mother's day and am coating my fingers in cornstarch first to try and prevent fingerprints.

So do any of you want to be market research for me? I am going to give away one hummingbird pendant this week. Winner gets to choose between the purple beaded wing model or the green polymer clay winged model. To enter the contest simply leave me a comment, and I will pick a winner randomly. Feel free to link the contest for your blog buddies if you like. The giveaway will end on Tuesday May 14th at midnight and I'll announce the winner on Wednesday May 15th.

My Polymer Clay Habit

Some of you may have wondered what I do when I am not wrangling pests.
(I'll let you use your own judgment about if I mean two legged or six legged pests.)
I have been starting making beads a couple of years ago, but due to moves, life etc, I had put this hobby on hold.

I have been reading polymer clay blogs and wishing I could be on the level of this, or this and this.

Thankfully my aunt, who lives nearby, had some extra room in her studio and let me have a corner. The best way to learn is to practice, and I needed a gift for my mother-in-laws birthday. My husband suggested hummingbirds and this is what I came up with.

I think the colors look a bit better in person, I don't have any fancy schmancy lighting equipment.

I need to work on my wire wrapping skills.

Luckily she tends to love whatever we give her, even if I am not so sure about it. Now I just need to make a bunch more to perfect it.