oooh, this looks like a great book :o)

on Amazon. I think I'll put it on my wish list :o)

One of the reviews that I read:

Not even 25 pages in and I had to stop reading and make notes on ideas I had for art pieces. This book has some kind of voo doo spell that gets your art mojo flowing like crazy. What I love about this book is that there are no "instructions to make your own identical artwork" but plenty of art talk that sets your mind on fire with ideas for your own art. I'm having the best time with it. I should also add that the paper, colors, even fonts are gorgeous and the highest quality. A real pleasure to pick up.

Speaking of recycling...and the Holidays.

I've been recycling Christmas cards for about 5 years now.

Save all of the cards that you receive this year and cut off the fronts of them...you can use those neat scissors to get a deckeled edge if you want. Now, get your handy-dandy whole punch and some thin ribbon. I think you can figure out the rest.

Today, I hung one, and only one lone Christmas decoration.

I do this every year before Thanksgiving...then on Black Friday when every one else is shopping, I'm usually at home seeing what other decorations can come out and play. But I will have lots and lots of Floral Ribbon Chokers up on my site for Cyber Monday.

Hope you are thankful for all that you have. I know I am. Have a great Turkey day :o)

I'm sorry, I just had to laugh...

at these "Hate Mail Holiday Cards"

But, I think I would rather send these beautiful Mandala Cards instead.

Dogs make me smile...

If you'd like to see "Pugs in Hats" look here... :o))

New photo box...not so new pieces...

I'm trying out my new photo box and lights in hopes that the pictures will be good enough for Maggie and Lindly's color book. I think they're pretty good. There are a few more on my flickr site.

Amy Butler fabric and rubarb on etsy...

Well, I've gone and done it...I've joined etsy. It's going to take some time to get some things listed in my shop, but I'm there at least...and I can see I'll be spending alot of time there. While surfing on etsy, I found a beautiful bags and purses in a fabric that I am totally in love with...Amy Butler.

Master's Workshop in Seattle

My friend Bobbi has been buying beads from me for a long time also, like ShaLayne (who I'm a bit worried about because she lives in Poway, CA and I've not heard from her since the fires).

Bobbi sells beautiful jewelry, and this morning I saw a number of my pieces in her ebay store if you're interested in gifts or pieces for your collection. She even has a necklace starting at just 99 cents!

Donna beads...split pods

More pod designs from Donna Kato

ShaLayne's bracelet

This is the first bracelet that I've seen with my beads used. ShaLayne has been buying from me since the beginning...she does beautiful work! She also has an etsy shop. Jael blogged about the bracelet here...thanks Jael :o)

Albaquirquie

Albaquirquie,
originally uploaded by MikeJonesPhoto.

Here is what it looked like this morning over the city...hopefully the weather will be this nice when Jana is here next week...

Balloon Fiesta pics on Flickr

Floral Pendants

Here are a few that I made for the festival last weekend. Hope you like :o)

GoFest weekend...

had lots of entertainment (mariachis, flamenco dancers, music), many colorful people and all in all, was a great time. I'm sure I'll do the show next year, this has the potential to become a mainstay festival for downtown Albuquerque. Notice the booth in the background behind one of the mariachis.

I have more pictures on my flickr site, although not the best I have ever taken *g*

Ready to start...

stringing...yuk :o(

I'm not good at it...I'm very indecisive, taking apart...putting back together. Thank goodness I got a good night's sleep.

Same old...

I'm just doing way too many of these, but since they sold well at the last show...I don't have much choice.

I must have ADD. I just get tired of making the same kind of thing much quicker than I ever used to. I find myself getting bored much easier. And...believe it or not, now I feel I must do some beads that need sanding. I guess I'm just wanting to feel the silkiness of hand sanded, hand buffed beads.

Have a great weekend all of you...

Didn't take me long...

to get tired of the pearly look...I'm back to more of the graphic/bold designs. I think the name Southwestern Orchids has stuck. I loved looking at Donna Kato's new work, so maybe that's what called me back to some black and white with intense color.

Loving the color...

I posted the autumn floral set already at PCC, but since I love how they turned out, thought I should get them here on my blog too. The new multi-colored set I finished last night in between watching the US open. We may go to the NM Wine Festival today, so not sure if I will be at the clay table...

Perfect pearls on Black

Made these last night...I used Perfect pearls again with my own home made textures. The copper blue center one is a little sloppy...I was tired, but wanted to finish these.

Sigh of Relief...

I made canes...thought about colors...nearly drove myself crazy. Then after working with rubbing texture to see what kind of effects I could create, I was "oh so happy" when I saw these cool drag lines on the middle floral bead. The big one in the center of the blue/black ones. See them? Anyhow, so I went merrily along...cured these and set out to make more using that same texture and making more drag lines.

Bing! Grabbed them out of the oven and was unhappy with the shiny surface...I forgot that straight Kato can make stuff very shiny. So, then I was sad again for a day, worrying about ways to get rid of the shine. I think someone along the way (Jana probably) told me to bake them in cornstarch to avoid the shine. But that just sounded like a big mess.

So, to make a long story as short as possible, instead of worrying...like I do...I worry a lot my kids tell me (*g*)...I decided to us the shine to my advantage. Which worked out soooo much better. Sparkle is supposed to be "in" anyway this fall and what better way to sparkle and shine but with perfect pearls and texture? And I can use virtually any cane that happens to be sitting on the clay table. Happy again...no worries... :o)

I have no idea...

why I did this and how I will get it off the glass ;o)

Cross is coming along...

You can see the progression on flickr...

Beginnings of a cross...

I love churches and crosses...and no, I'm not religious...I'm spiritual *g*

At the NM Arts and Crafts Fair, the artist next to me (Dee Sanchez who does incredible floral and scenic paintings; I spoke about her in an earlier blog entry) told me how much she likes crosses. She says artists who make them out of anything (tin, wood, ceramic) always seem to sell out. And, I want one of her paintings, so I'm hoping we can do a trade. This is the beginnings of my first cross...which will be small.

Oh, and Tejae...the texture yesterday is from a basket :o)

Texture junkie

Wow...two posts in one week. I'm on a roll...

I ran around the house and yard today looking for texture. I had no idea I would love this one so much...can you guess what it is?

Finally back at the clay table

I spent most of the past week cleaning (sort of), organizing (again, kinda) and making blends (lots of them, but I still need more).

As soon as I clean the table off, it becomes a major mess with only about a 12 inch space to work in. That's what I do, I crowd my area with too much and then it's nearly impossible to get any work actually finished. I was going for a bigger piece but ended up playing it safe with these few floral pendants, although they're a bit bigger than the earlier ones. I think they look like crazy southwestern orchids or something.

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)