Rainy Day

I am having one of those "Do you ever wish you had more hours in a day?" kind of days. I have SO much to do but no time! Or do I ??? I have never mastered the art of time management but It seems that I hear that from many crafty folks. I certanly do not feel like one of those crafty folks right now but I know she's still here hiding and watching and learning just waitng to come out and get all Martha Stewart on somebody!

I really just needed to write and connect today! I am hoping this rain won't slow me down and I can get my sluggish self MOVING!!!

Is it Fall yet?

I am enjoying the cooler weather we have been having but also being very realistic. Our weather is so crazy it could be 90 degrees tomorrow you never know!

I have been in a moderately crafty mood lately and made 2 Octoberish canes. One is the Breast Cancer Awareness ribbon and the other is a SPOOKY skull and cross bones. OK it is not that spooky but I guess it is kind of cool. I was thinking when I made it how I would like to think I could do a lovely pictorial tutorial of how I made it but it , like many other things in my life was "thrown together". I used Sculpey III for the face and eyes and (mistakenly) used Studio by Sculpey for the back ground. I knew it was very soft so I mixed it with some Sculpey III but when I reduced it the orange background squished all over the face and bones. SO I cut out a lot of the orange and mixed a little of it with silver and then repacked it, all the while shaving off excess so I could see what I was reducing. Now wouldn't that be a lovely tutorial?

Back to school and such...

I just read back through my post and just realized that I am quite ADD today, so stick with me...
Well my kiddos went back to school yesterday and I thought I would fell a sense of relief because I would be freed up to be creative but I just can not get motivated. My mom shared a thought with me on procrastination that she read in a book that I thought was interesting. I have ALWAYS been a procrastinator and have looked at it as just a stopping point that I have been in until I get revved back up to work, clean etc again. But in the book this person's idea was that procrastination is actually falling back. If I look at it that way I may be more motivated to get things done (by force of course. OOOO Dr. Seuss) because I surely do not want to go backwards. I have a hard enough time inching forwards day to day.

SO, I have a project I am working on that I am going to finish today. I am making a dog adornment, necklace, I just can't find the right name for what it is, but a little dangly thing to hang off of a dog's collar. But not just any dog, my favorite celebrity blogger Perez Hilton's dog Teddy Hilton. I emailed him to get and address and HE EMAILED ME BACK!!! OK I am not 15 anymore but I was very excited. I have made a cane out of Polymer clay in the likeness of his beloved dog Teddy Hilton and I am going to (somehow) fix it so it will attach to his collar. I am still on that part of the project. How to do this??? This is my challenge!

I also saw a link on WHIP UP to a poop bag that attaches to a dog collar. I may give that a whirl today too. (MUST NOT LOOK AT THE PILE OF CLOTHES TO FOLD...)

As I mentioned my babies returned to school yesterday and loved it! We have such a great Elementary school here! I Don't know how I can possibly have a 7 yo and a 9 1/2 yo when I feel like I am a teenager. I don't think my brain developed past 17 years old. That was me rocking to the Jonas Brothers last Friday people!!!
(ok so Henry did not go to school but doesn't he look SO cut in the little Appalachian T-shirt?)


















I just heard about this organization and I love it! http://www.beadforlife.org/ I am very interested in reusing materials but if reusing materials helps women get out of poverty that is just amazing! Wouldn't it be fun to teach homeless or poverty stricken women in the US to make these beads? I have made them and it is lots of fun! My daughter even loves to make them. These beads can also be made from fused plastic bags. I have been working on fusing a lot of bags but that is one of my many "in progress" things I have done!

Since I am rambling and jumping from project to project, check out Family Fun this month. http://familyfun.go.com/There are lots of fun things to make by upcycling. I just made the reusable sandwich container out of a plastic gallon jug. Easy and really GREEN!!!

Have fun being creative!

Late night discoveries

I have been up searching the web for new and interesting sites and I stumbled upon called Natural Medicine Talk http://www.natmedtalk.com/ and have found it to be very interesting. The Health forums are full of diverse topics but the first one that caught my eye was about cancer since my father and aunt are dealing with it right now. I also saw more info about Vitamin D. I have heard more and more about the benefits of using it and there were so many people on the forum that had experience with using it.

I even learned how to give an Indian Head Massage. Now if I can just teach someone to give me one!

I really found Natural Medicine Talk to be easy to navigate and I really loved that they highly discouraged spammers! I never like giving out my email address on a website but I felt much better about doing so on this one.

My goal is to get healthier, more organized, and defiantly more sleep! So GOODNIGHT!!!

I have a really hard time changing ANYTHING I do. It seems recycling has always been something I have done, although that could not be possible growing up in the 70's & 80's. It was always disgusting to me that people would throw trash on the ground but the thought that reducing the amount of trash and possibly even reusing some of the things we use was just not there for me. I do recall thinking how cool it would be to collect aluminum cans to take to this "magical "place to get money for them would be never wondering WHY they are taken there!

Now my whole family recycles! My kids bring bottles home from school! I love finding ways to reuse items that normally would go to Goodwill. That is why I love the website Whip Up! http://whipup.net I have it on my home page because she has 5+ new crafty things to do everyday and many of them are recycled and upcycled items! I just love finding new websites to ponder and drool over! Cute Little Disaster http://cutelittledisaster.blogspot.com is a great blog too!!

What started me thinking was an article I read about Triclosan from antibacterial soaps and such entering the water and being found in dolphins. http://www.care2.com/greenliving/triclosan-found-in-dolphins-2.html I was thinking about all of those silly emails I get about how we survived in the 70's without seatbelts, antibacterial soap, carseats etc. That is a little extreeme but knowing about the harmful chemicals that still enter the water is something important to think about. I work at a preschool and we squirt antibacterial hand cleanser like life depended on it! BUT, all of the kids and teachers (ME) still get sick. So, how do you get parents and teachers to stop doing something that was developed out of a fear of sickness when they will still have a fear if they don't use the product? Does that make sense?

We are so used to doing whatever is easiest that it really seems that trying something new is never going to happen! If we can start small and suggest other options to friends and family then one day we can make BIG changes!!! I also think if stores would stop handing out plastic bags for groceries and "give" reusable bags there would be another BIG change! Change consumers options and give them new ones. Just a thought.

Those are my ramblings for now... :)

I am working again! I tried the torn watercolor paper technique I learned from Cindy Leitz http://www.beadvideos.com/video/014-4-torn-clay-watercolor/on my newest beads. HMMM I think I need more practice! Oh Well I had fun.

My paper beads look so cool! I will post them once I get them all shiny!

My friend and I went to the Charlotte Farmers Market this Saturday and I found out that I can sell my beads and jewelry there for only $10 a space! I am looking forward to that (except for the heat). I met 2 vendors that are especially cool.

One has a business called Lollipop Monkey. Cute name huh? She uses the most beautiful and modern fabric to make belts, bibs, mirrors and more here is a link to her website. http://lollipopmonkey.com

The other vendor has a company called 'O My Soap'. Cute too! http://omysoap.com She and her parents make homemade soap, lipbalm, and other (as I call them) "smellgoodies"!

These are local women selling what they make and I LOVE IT!!! Check them out!

Outside the box

I am always complaining that doctors and other professionals don't think outside the box and now I know why. Because I secretly know that I want to think outside the box more. I buy book after book and read craft websites, I buy magazines but hardly EVER try the tings I see. I stay symmetrical and sometimes boring in my jewelry design. I have decided that will try to step outside that box and try new things.

I want to make my own clasps like I saw in the new wire step by step magazine, and I am going to work with copper to add in with my polymer clay like I saw on Cindy Leitz's website. I even saw how to make jewelry with paper!I am really exploring that technique. How cool to have that added in with my polymer clay beads!

It would be so fun and easy for my kids to do and we could begin to use paper that would normally be recycled or even (GASP) thrown away! My kids are so appalled that a friend of theirs does not recycle. The thought of throwing a bottle glass or plastic in the trash just sends shivers down my spine!

Speaking of that, I went to high school with someone who is really doing great things in the clothing industry using 100% recycled materials. Here is a link to a story on his products! They look really great! http://www.myfox8.com/wghp-minc-dirtball-fashion-090715,0,3491695.story You will have to copy and paste, I'm still new to this...

Just a random picture of a really BIG Praying Mantis I saw!!!

Saturday...not a productive day

I am really excited about my etsy shop http://kimisen.etsy.com (if I do say so myself). I have worked really hard to make my beads and jewelry as nice as I possibly can. I am now trying to make my messy workspace orderly and set up so it makes sense to me. As hard as I try it still stays like this...

If you have any suggestions I would LOVE them.


I did apply one idea I read about. I put all of my blades in a toothbrush travel container. Very nice. Now I don't worry about dragging my arm across them in my tool holder and cutting it. Also, it is a good place for them so my daughter won't get cut when she is working in my space.








Speaking of that, anybody ever experience this...the work area has been vacant for a day or so and everyone in the house is busy but the first second I sit down I have 2 kiddos looking at me asking if they can use my space to make beads. I am so torn between me being selfish and wanting to be alone and being excited that my kids are interested in art.

Update!

SOOOO! I have been very slack about posting but I have been working so much on my polymer clay beads! You must subscribe to Cindy Leitz's polymer clay video tutorials! I have learned so much from her. The link is on the left side of my page.

I have taken her idea of the "Jupiter Bead" and expanded on it a little. I turned it into a disk bead and stamped it. Since I did not have ink or whatever may have been an appropriate medium for staining my bead, mixed a bunch of colors of acrylic paint together to form a gross color of brown slathered it on the disks and then wiped off the excess. I was quite proud of the results. With a light coat of future floor polish, the paint was set and I am happy!


I also used a Jupiter bead to make a key chain! LOVE IT!!!
Here is a close-up of the bead then one of the dangly things !:)

My daughter and son love to make the beads too! I think My daughter has perfected her lentil bead and now she wants to sell them like Mommy does. Go girl!!!!

Sushi (polymer clay style!)

I have become fascinated with miniature foods made with polymer clay. I saw a tutorial on making polymer clay sushi rolls and I decided that I MUST try it since I love sushi so much! I am very happy with the results and now I am suddenly very hungry for a California roll from Sushi 101.

Still figuring this out but here goes...

First post!!!

Well I decided to find a place to spill my thoughts and show off my work. I figured if I spend so much time reading other people's blogs then maybe I should write one of my own.

I am posting pictures of a project that I just reduced. I had this grand idea of creating a sun in large form and reducing it way down so I could use it for many things. I really did not know what I was doing outside of working from pictures I had seen online. SO...I worked for 3 days and used LOTS, did I say lots of clay for this project.

Once I reduced it and cut into it I realized that somehow one of the sun's eyes was "missing". It had some how dissapeared into the clay. Now my lovely sun is one eyed in some of the slices and winking in others. LIVE and LEARN! I figure if I expect my kids to make something good out of a mistake then I will too! I will post what creative things come out of my mistake.