Thinking Aheart...errr....Ahead!

I am so tired of the snow and cold. Then I was thinking, "Oh well, soon it will be Jan., then Feb, etc...and they will be here before you know it. Then, I got inspired by looking at CF"s new book when i saw these funny face hearts she had made. So I decided to make some of my own, and naturally I have to be anal and try and sculpt real looking faces on them. I really need to work on just letting go and be more free with my claying so things can be more whimsical looking. I think these are a bit creepy as far as hearts go, but I like creepy, after all, who else decorates for X-mas with a black tree and a santa skull on the mantle?????

Ch, Ch, Ch, Channges...and chilly....

Well, it snowed here yesterday, and was about 28 degrees. Today the weatherman is claiming we are going to have a major jump in the temperature to the mid 50's. So I thought I would post a picture of this little snowcat before he melts away! (not really, he is another polymer creation in the Kool Katz line!). He is for sale on my ebay shop if you follow this link: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&item=230313236182

Meowy Christmas.....

It sure has been a while since I have been to my blog! Actually, I do visit it, thinking it automatically updates itself! Anyhow, I have not been in much of a claying mood lately, but when I did get my mojo back, I decided to add some Hoiliday Kool Katz to the Kool Kritterz line! Here are just a few ideas I came up with. I also am now incliding an adoption certificate with each one that is signed and numbered and packaging them in little pet tote boxes for shipping to their new owners!

Beaded Beauty! (to me anyway)

I set up at a bead show this past weekend. I made 52 Day of the Dead skull beads, and only 3 sold! Hello people! These are all the rage now and so I decided to take out my beads and make a couple of necklaces with them. I then proceeded to list them in auctions on ebay to see if the rest of the world is up on this trend! I hope they are or I will have to wallpaper a room with the leftover skulls! Anyway, I like them and think they are cuties! Hope you do too!

New creations in the studio!

click photo for larger image

It has been a while since I posted, but it is almost here....Halloween! I have been feverishly trying to make up a skull design for some beads. Then I thought to myself, I said "Self, why not try and make some of you favorites!!! Day of the Dead skulls". So, after repeated tries at different ways to create them in Polymer clay, these little guys are what I came up with. Another addition is more of the Kool Katz, these are the Trick-or-Treaters! They are all part of the Kool Kritterz line that I developed. I have also added some Kool Kidz to go gather up some spookie goodies! Enjoy them!

My Favorite Time....

My favorite time of the year is getting closer and I have been focusing on all kinds of creations to make! I love the color pallette of this time of year and can sit and stare aimlessly at the changing leaves, all the while memorizing colors I want to blend with my clay! Here is a "little devil" to start the mischief of the halloween season. I call him Diablo!

A Pair of Puppies!!

I had a custom order for these 2 cuties. It is to be an anniversary gift for her husband. I wanted to keep them they were so cute when I finnished! She ended up liking them so much that she ordered another set for his office! now that panic is setting in to be able to make them look as close to each other as I can! Wish me luck.

'Till the cow comes home....

Oh well. I finally did it! After months of lurking on the Wee Highland Cow site, and seeing one in person (or is it cowson??) at the clay retreat I just attended, I just had to "adopt" one of these adorable little cows. Her name is Caitir and she arrived Monday by Royal Mail from Scotland! I am planning on giving her a Blog of her very own, so keep checking. I need to think of a creative title for it! My friend Sue also followed suit and adopted one for herself. We had a clay day the other afternoon, and the two gals played on the computer a bit, check it out....

Snail (in the) Mail.....

I decided to host a snail swap after a discussion on one of the yahoo groups I belong to got onto the topic of the little pesky garden critters, and whether or not they have eyes, and if so, where are they! I googled the subject and the info I found stated that they do indeed have eyes and that they are placed atop the little antennea like things on their heads. So the call for snail swappers went out, and slowly but surely, they started to make their way into my mailbox, (the one at the end of my driveway!) I am posting the photo of my little escargoians after they came out of the oven. I need to decide which I am swapping though. As you can see by the photo, i decided to give mine eyeballs IN their heads as opposed to on their antennae! I think they are cuter that way. The largest one is approx. 2" tall, and as usuall, i have to challenge myself to see how small I can go. i could have gone smaller, but did not have any teeny shells, so I quit while I was a head. Hope you like 'em!

Clay Weekend in Connecticut!

I just got back from an exciting claying weekend in CT at the Clay connection retreat! I met up with lots of friends there and we had a blast. Several of us entered our creations in the Bottles of Hope challenge sponsored by the guild.

(visit http://www.bottlesofhope.org/ for more info on this)

I am happy to say that my bottle won a blue ribbon for the Best Sculpture category. There were so many great designs, and I think all came away winners as the descisions were very difficult for the judges! All entries will be donated to an individual being treated for cancer and each bottle is majically filled with well wishes and hope for it's recipient.

My little tenant...

This little tree frog has lived on my deck in a jumbo flower pot for the last 3 years. Today he is hanging in the cup holder in the cooler lid like it is his own little swimming pool. I am a bit concerned because this summer I have not had one single frog or toad in my built in pool. Every year I pull at least a dozen of them out each day, but this year there have been none! This is sad to me because I know that the amphibians are a good marker for what is happening with the enviroment. There were not even any tadpoles in the pools cover when we took it off at the beginning of the summer.....I am sad.

Trying it on ebay....

I am trying to establish myself on ebay. So as far as committing goes, we will see if I can do a better job there than I do of posting to this blog! LOL!!! I have made several pieces to try and sell on ebay, and will try and list at least 4 items every Sunday evening. Here is the link to one of them if you feel like checking it out and please let me know what you think if you do! http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=230268922324&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=013

I'm trying to keep this up!

I am trying to remember to post on the blog, but time goes by so fast that I keep forgetting.

I am going to have to write myself a to-do list each day, with what i need to do the next day! It seems lately that if I do not write it down, I will forget! I have to remember where i am leaving the notes to myself, or it will be a loose/loose situation! Anyway, I am back from a weekend class, actually I have been back a week now, in NYC with Lindley Hunani. I stayed at my friend Liz's house with another friend, Sue. We all attended the class and had a really great time and met some really nice NY clayers! i am hoping to go back soon for a visit with Liz and I will see alot of the NY ladies in CT at the Clay Connection at the end of July! I feel like I cannot post a written blog with our adding a picture, so here is one i just took a few minutes ago out on my deck with my 2 precious babies, Chicky and Cooper. (Little Chicky is the boss, believe it or not!)

It's been a while...

WOW!

It has been a while since I posted. I guess i failed "diary dedication" class. I have been busy in the studio creating. A friend showed me a photo of a bead and asked if I could make one. It was a fish with the face of a cat. i thought to myself that it was kind of strange looking, so I put my own spin on it and here are my results! I added arms and made them more non-creepy looking. I call them the "Mer-Cats". I since have been on a faux bone criusade and will stop when I runn out of that bone cane I made!

Donna Kato weekend, wooo-hoooo!

I had the chance to take a workshop with the polymer clay great, Donna Kato this weekend. She is such a sweet person and so modest about the GREAT talent she posseses! I also had the honor of her seeing one of my pet portrait beads in the gallery where the class took place, and she asked if I could do one of her faithful friend, an adorable Australian Shepherd named "Doc". Of course I jumped at such a request and felt very special to be asked. Here is the piece I did for her, and I was floored when she told me to pick out a bracelet in return! I cannot believe I now have a Donna Kato original in my collection! It is going to be framed and hung in the studio for sure!

Another poochie....

Here is the latest in my little excursion of doggie sculpted beads! I am hoping to get a tutorial finished on how to make them and have it downloadable from this site or my website, http://www.darbelladesigns.com/ . Hopefully with the help of a couple of good friends, I can get that done! I am going to try and make a few more dog beads tommorrow for the groomer up the road. Also some from a couple of requests I got from a yahoo group I belong to. It is Memorial Day weekend and I am looking foreward to claying and relaxing. Check back to see my progress...

Been a little busy the last few days...

I have been busy these last few days and have not had time to post as I hoped to do on a daily basis. I am preparing for a show in Lexington Mass. with my other polymer clay guild I belong to. We are doing a combined show with the painters guild. i am hoping to post my pieces tonight on the blog, so stay tuned.......

Bead Show Today....

Well, today I went to the Big Bead show in Mass. with my sister Heather. As usual, we bought lots of things we did not need. What else is new! I actually was good considering all I have gotten at past shows and still have not used! I must focus on using all the things I have in the studio.
It is cold and wet here today and my bones and joints a reacting poorly, so no claying today. I did manage to bake the lamp I am working on for a Gallery exhibit with my clay guild in Lexington, Mass. It is called "A Brush with Polymer" and we were asked to interpret our renditions of the painters guilds artwork they are exhibiting with us. I will post the picture of the lamp and the photo of the painting for comparison as soon as I make the shade for the lamp. Hopefully tommorrow I will not be in pain and get more claying done for the exhibit!

Dog Portraits

I was recently asked to sculpt a pair of dog earrings by the owner of a local bead shop. Little did I know, but she apparently has a large customer base that are dog lovers and owners! She called me for the next several days with orders for her customers. I have been having a lot of fun, as I myself am a dog (all animals actually, except ants!) lover. Here is a picture of a German shepherd I had to make for a lady that lost hers recently. I had to re-do it several times, however she was not happy with it because it still did not look like her dog. (Everyone I showed it to alongside the picture thought so). I think it is hard for someone to grieve over the loss of a pet and therefore cannot see that although the bead came out great, it cannot fill the void of the lost pet. So now I will offer it for sale on my website, and I am sure there is someone out there that will adopt it! I think from now on I will have to really explain to customers that I try my best to duplicate their pet, however, if it is a lost pet, they may not see it as good as others do because it literally cannot fill that empty space, not even the acquiring of another pet could, so sometimes. we have to move on and accept another life into our hearts.

Mid Week mind block...

Here it is, Wednesday, and I am feeling not very creative. Or rather I should say that in my mind, I have lots of ideas, but the body is physically unable today. Lots of pain....I wonder if it is the fibromyalgia kicking my butt today????? I hate that on days my mind is roaring to go, the body aches, and on days the body is feeling like a kid again, my mind is in slow motion and will not kick into gear! Hopefully tommorrow will be better, but with the rain scheduled over the next few days, looks like pittsville is near! Here is a past work I did called Karma Kameleon. Enjoy!

Great weekend...

I had a great weekend. My friend Lizzy came to visit and stayed a few days so she could join us crazy claydies for our monthly guild meeting! We all tried a technique from an old Bell Amoire magazine and it was interesting! I am going into the studio tonight to work on several pieces i am making for my other guilds exhibit called "A Brush with Polymer". We have to interpert in polymer clay the way we see different artists paintings that were submitted for our consideration! I need to get crackin' cause they are due this weekend! Procrastination is my middle name!

My New Blog !

My friend Liz helped me set up a blog! I am sure to screw it up!