Spanish Market in Santa Fe

Rudy and I went to Santa Fe to see Spanish Market. We hadn't been in years...I'm pretty sure it is was one of our first dates together around 20 years ago. The highlight was seeing the Miraculous Staircase.

The whole show was beautiful except for an excruciating cramp that had me on the curb in agony for 15 minutes. Rudy rubbed my foot and calf as passers-by joked if they could be next...! It was painful, funny and embarrassing. But still a fun day :o) There are more pictures on my flickr site.

Sanding paint off...

Doing this has passed my mind more than once. Finally yesterday as I was sanding and buffing a few lentils, I noticed a some lonely beads sitting there. These had been antiqued about 6 months ago. Here are what they look like with the surface slightly sanded with 1000x and then buffed. I love the look! Thought we should look at some of the same beads (in necklaces) without sanding and buffing the surface paint off. I'm looking forward to trying this with different colors of base clay and different colors of paint.

Since taking Donna's workshop and getting her book, I've purchased a heat gun, some petal point ink pads and Liquid Polyclay. I want to try some different things with the floral beads.

Oh, and this post is for Susan...who thinks I'm totally ignoring my clay ;o)

Emmie is taking up most of my time...

Which is fine...I love puppies. But I hate how they chew and bite everything in site. When awake, she's a handful lemme tell ya. This is how I like to see her...completely worn out from play :o)

Favorite Flickr Color Inspiration

Most of us need a jolt of color from time to time to get the creative juices flowing. I'm not claying much right now because of the heat this summer (and trying to house train a rambunctious puppy), but I always need that color fix to keep my head in the game. Take a look at some of my favorites on flickr.

Kaleidoscope Images
Floral Images
More Florals
Doors and Windows of Spain
The Southwest

My entries to P&P 2007

Some of the artists that entered the NPCG's Progress and Possibilities contest are showing what they submitted.

I appreciate all of the time and effort that the judges put into the scoring process, but was disappointed that they didn't comment (they have the option/space on the scorecard to do that) on any of my entries.

I think *I* know why my pieces didn't place, but being able to see what they saw, well I know that would have helped me immensely. I admit that I hurried with the finishing process to get them submitted in time...and these were among the very first floral beads of this style. So, I'm sure they were a little rough around the edges.

I did get a personal email from one of the judges letting me know "how refreshing it was to see original work with a lovely sense of color and design." That meant the world to me to hear that and that she took the time to let me know... :o)

Thank you Donna and members of the PPPCG

Wow, what a wonderful weekend I had. To get away with DH for a few days to Colorado, clay with crazy women, see beautiful moutains, eat and drink. Donna Kato put on a wonderful workshop for the Pikes Peak Polymer Clay Guild in Colorado Springs on Saturday. I clayed with Donna and friends whilst Rudy played golf. After the workshop, we had a quick drink and lots of hugs to hold us over until we could all get together again. I even bought Donna's yummy new book and got it personally autographed. Here are a few pictures for you. I have to get out of town more often ;o)