Germany and the Lil' Fishies

I know what you’re thinkin’ 'bout this title… now that’s just a strange combination. I'll tell you in a minute...

So what’s the Diva been doing lately? Clay’s had to take a back seat for a lil’ while longer. In my few spare moments I’ve been working on mixing custom clay colors and making chips for my clay recipe reference pages. So far I’ve got three color pages pinned down – hopefully this will show up as more vibrant-looking work in the future. Gotta tell you, though, mixing miniature color samples by hand has proven to be a real pain in the…fingers…

I’ve been going thru some of my earlier pieces and hope to have a few more photos for you in the near future. Meanwhile, above is some eye candy by German artist Margit Bohmer , reminiscent of those paper beads we used to make as children.

Finally – I’m kind of a closet tropical fish person. Very relaxing to me – gazing at colorful lil’ fishies flitting here and there. When I was a kid my family lived in West Berlin, Germany where my dad was stationed in the Air Force. He was the fire chief at the Templehof Air Force Base way back in the late 60’s. While there, we had a nice aquarium at home, and there was small koi pond just outside the front door of the firehouse.

So in honor of the lil’ fishies of my youth, I wanted to share another plaything with you – you’ll find it on the left of this page. You can customize the number and color of the fish as well as the color of the food. Have fun feeding them by clicking somewhere on the blue area. The resulting lil' green specs? Lunch!!

Want your own fish for your own blog? Click on the "AB" on the top left of the fish graphic and pay him a visit - cool stuff at his site!!

Ta for now –

Snow Day!!

This is what six inches of snow looks like. (check out the table on the right)

We've only had about two inches this year - thought we weren't going to have any more than that. But I've been wearing my snowflake earrings (thanx, Kathy!) and hoping for one "REAL good snow" before spring arrived ... this'll do. Very cool-looking this morning - as a transplanted Yankee, there's a special place in my heart for the white fluffy stuff. And right now it looks especially nice because the snow has stopped and the sun is peeking in and out of the clouds.

What was NOT cool was the power outage earlier this morning - woke up 'bout 1 am and noticed that it was extremely quiet - and dark - and cold...it took PEPCO about three hours to restore power to the neighborhood. Inside the house - quite chilly...outside - awfully pretty, even without moonlight.

Got a two-hour delay to report to work today - but since I know how Washingtonians behave on the highways in the snow - I think I'll just be safe, take a day of annual leave, stay right here and play with some clay for awhile.

Or mebbe I'll do something else - like laundry, some dusting, my reading assignment, shovel some snow...

(oh,who am I kidding?)

Cristi Friesen and a Bad Hair Day...

...no, not Christi's hair - I'm talkin' 'bout my own...

Christi Friesen is a fabulous polymer clay artist with a slightly twisted sense of humor and a wonderful easy-breezy teaching style. I would love to have a chance to take a class from her! I’ve read pretty much all of her books and I am a constant lurker in her Yahoo group. I’m fascinated with how she makes creating with clay SO easy! She’s really fond of critters – and in one of her recent books entitled Cats, she shows how to create clay cats of all kinds - large and small. Besides - I understand she accepts chocolate as tribute from her students ... as a Godiva Chocolate gurl, I totally understand!! Check out her website - TONS of great eye candy in there!

Being a Leo, I’m quite fond of lions. This one is my first attempt at making one – I call it “Bad Hair Day”. Those who know me can attest that I have many of those…bad hair days, not lions. The piece is about 4” across – right now it hangs on the wall of my studio...

(ahem…the room previously known as my daughter’s room).

I’ve also uploaded a few more photos – a couple more leaf pins, and a few examples of the art doll angels I made for my office mates for Christmas. Feel free to go to my Flickr page to take a look. Check out the slide show on the left...

Ta for now – I’m off to watch the Oscars!

No, I haven't forgotten...

...just been real busy these days. In addition to work, there's the church website that needs updating, trying to get my Flickr page to show a decent slideshow, and a taking a crash course in editing and uploading videos to the web. Speaking of which - check out Ethan...found him on YouTube...




I remember that look...AND that sound...my own kids used to make that sound. Loved to hear it even back then...but it was usually a precursor to learning that it was definitely time to take a nap - a "baby meltdown" usually ensued.

He's just TOO cute! Whenever I've been in a bad mood this week, this video puts a smile on my face! BTW - if I ever meet Ethan - remind me to NEVER let him near my newspaper until I've read it, OK?

Like the new Diva icon? Didja see it up there, top left? That's me on a good hair day and in my favorite clothes (if I could, I'd wear jeans every day)! Check it out (the icon, I mean) when you come visit - I'll be trying out different outfits from time to time, and mebbe even different hairstyles.

Want to try it yourself? Go to blessthischick.com and play for a while! And once you create your "diva", drop me a message and show her off!!

toodles, darlin'! Hope to have some eye candy for you real soon!

One Incredible Lady - One REALLY cool piece of art...

I saw this mosaic piece on another blog this morning and was blown away - I had to share it with you. I'm a sucker for mosaics, and found this one particularly exceptional...

Ponsawan Sila is a polymer clay artist who lives in Indiana - I love her choices of color and her designs...and especially her willingness to share how she creates her work. I've been reading her blog for a few years now. You've really gotta check out her blog and see a closeup of the piece!!

About a year ago, Ponsawan came face to face with one of a parent's worst nightmares - her beautiful daughter Ada was in a horrific traffic accident - hit by a drunk driver - and has been battling back from a coma for many months now. Ponsawan has carefully chronicled the ordeal in a blog she calls Dear Ada - and while caring for her daughter she's still been creating with clay. She hasn't lost her touch - to me it seems that her work gets more beautiful with time!

I'm a firm believer in the power of prayer, and that God has a purpose for all of us. So if you will, please offer up a prayer for Ada, for Ponsawan, and their entire family - that His will be done, and that she continues to bring joy to so many others thru the work of her hands.

Ponsawan - you ROCK!! Keep doin' your thang, gurl!!

My sister...

I love my sister...

We don’t get a chance to see each other much. But when she comes to the DC area, she likes to look thru my “toys” and my “sparklies” to see what she can bring back home to Connecticut.

A few years ago I brought her over to the “dark side” by teaching her jewelry making. Gotta admit, I’m a bit jealous, because her designs and color combinations are WAY cuter than mine...

But I digress.

Over the holidays she came to visit and discovered my polymer clay addiction. She promptly went thru my stash of stuff and took a few of my creations home with her. Her co-workers liked what they saw and asked if there were any more...so I sent her a box with some extra goodies – and got a request for a few more. Here’s some photos of stuff I’m sending off to the ol’ Nutmeg State in a few days…

And jus’ for fun – here’s a YouTube vid that’s had me laughing for a few days now. I’ve never been caught in a flash mob…but wouldn’t it be fun?

I (heart) Obama!

This has been a most amazing day!


I'm having a hard time finding the words to express exactly how I feel about all the events transpiring around President Obama's inauguration. Like many, I watched the proceedings from my couch, with my coffee and fuzzy slippers...my youngest, however, braved the cold and the crowd along with her boyfriend and a few others (oh, 'bout a million or so)...

It was a wonderful thing to see, and I'm guessing that this young man will be just the leader we need. God Bless ya real good, President Obama...I look forward to good things - for all of us - in the very near future.

Oh, yeah/ my experiments with the inks and translucents?

Fail.

Obviously I should read a bit more before I attempt that again. I added the hot mess to my scrap clay heap, and took up another project, as you can see.

The latest copy of PolymerCafe has an article (and tute) by Dr. Ron Lehocky on his Hearts fundraising project. A very noble cause indeed. He began by talking about his need to use up the extra scrap clay and canes...

...well, of course I just glommed right onto that scrap clay thing. My scrap clay stash is almost large enough to sculpt a large German Shephard. And I have a hard time figuring interesting ways to get rid of all of it.



So what you see above are 21 hearts made of some of my scrap clay and scrap canes. Once I smooth them down with cornstarch and refine their edges, I'll bake, sand and buff 'em up. Valentine's Day is getting closer, and I'm sure the ladies at the office will tell me if they like them or not. We all gotta have a heart pin in our lives, don't we?

OK.

I've caved.

My family (especially my children) will either be very proud or chagrined that I've finally decided to start a blog. I suspect they'll also be coming in occasionally to see if I've written embarrassing things about them... oh, well.

My reason? I love reading other folk's poly clay blogs, marvel at all the wonderful eye candy, and am impressed that there are even a few artists that share my world view.

My plan is to show off my lil' polymer clay projects, share works and other things I find inspiring, and oh, yeah, occasionally fire off on things, people, circumstances that are workin' my last nerve. How often? I dunno - I guess I'll find a rhythm eventually...

I've been busy at my work table experimenting with ink and translucents - and I'm dusting off the ol' camera. So stay tuned. You never know WHAT you might find here!

- Cheryl