I had a great time.  It was a very low key event for me, and I had as much fun out of class as in it.  The workshops were all half day classes and tended to be project oriented.  I found the format to be very approachable and low stress.  It made for a fun four days.  I don’t put pressure on myself to finish projects during class so I don’t have a pile of things to show off.

I did finish a name cane in Judy Belcher’s class.  Sorry about the fuzzy photo.  I took the picture with my phone and it doesn’t do macro.  It was a small cane to start off, but as it got reduced to a couple of really teeny sizes, I probably have a lifetime supply.  I have wanted to do a name cane for awhile, but I’ve never taken the time.  Judy had some fabulous tips which made the process pretty simple.  Now I want to make some word canes.

All the teachers were very good and a lot of fun.  We worked on books, boxes, shrines, pendants, organic shapes, mokume gane, caning and chunky bracelets.  Lots of variety to make everyone happy.  The rotating teacher format was a bit odd in that you really don’t meet people in the other class groups until everyone gets together for a party on the last evening.

(Sarah Fisher’s amazing poker chips.  Each one a unique double sided work of art.)

I have to give my roommate, Sarah Fisher, credit for a lot of the fun I had.  We had a grand time exploring various restaurants within a few blocks of our hotel.  We enjoyed the hospitality of the concierge facilities at The Venetian.  We laughed a lot.  We spent time at the spa in our hotel.  We explored other casinos, but didn’t do any gambling.  It was great to share the experience with a friend.

(the Chihuly ceiling at The Bellagio)

If I had to pick a single most memorable experience, it would be going to see the Cirque du Soleil show “O” at The Bellagio.  Breathtaking.  Pure enchantment.  I want to go again.

©2008 Libzoid Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Yesterday was fun! I had a class with Judy Belcher in the morning on making name canes and general approached to signing your work. I made a “LiBZ” cane which I love. Given how small I’ll eventually reduce it, I should have enough for years to come even though the cane seems pretty small now.

There are slot of people at the event who have attended many times before. It’s a different set up than other conferences I have been to. Here everyone is divided up into four groups. Everyone takes all the classes. You set up your workspace in your assigned room and the teachers rotate around the rooms.

I have to admit to skipping the afternoon workshop. The allure of the spa here at The Venetian was too great.

This morning’s class is a clever folding box project with Sue Kelsey and this afternoon is organic shapes with Kim Cavender.

©2008 Libzoid Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Since I don’t feel like dragging my laptop across the country this trip, I’ve downloaded the Wordpress iPhone app so that I can post from the road. I’m writing this post on my phone as a test. If you’re reading this then you know I’ve been successful.

The schedule is pretty packed, so I’m not promising I’ll post, but at least with this new app I’ll be able to blog if the mood hits me.

Off to start packing now!

©2008 Libzoid Blog. All Rights Reserved.

For some reason today I started thinking about my “Aha!” moment.  That was the moment when something clicked between my head, my hands and my heart and I realized polymer clay was “it” for me.

I started playing around with polymer clay some time in 2001.  I’d get together with one of my crafty friends and we’d try different things, often sparked by something on the Carol Duvall Show.  One day we covered pens with polymer clay.  The we tried some simple caning.  I had made a pile of Christmas ornaments with Fimo around 1992, but I put it away after that and barely thought about it.

Something clicked that one day with my friend.  I started searching the internet for information on polymer clay and tried a ton of tutorials.  Around that time I called my husband at work said “This is it!  This is what I want to DO.  This is the material that sings to me.”

I have often wondered why this material and why that particular moment?  I grew up doing crafty things.  I was the youngest of three children by a span of 7 years.  I remember my mother giving me a craft project book and I spent a lot of time working on projects that appealed to me.  I took pottery lessons for several years.  During my junior high and high school years I explored batik, egg dying, soft sculpture, silk screening and calligraphy.  Over the summers I took workshops at the Farmington Valley Art Center.  I loved it all, but nothing ever clicked.

Then one day almost 25 years later, I had that “Aha!” momet.  Anyone else have a moment like that?

©2008 Libzoid Blog. All Rights Reserved.

It didn’t help that I got the results of my submissions to the National Polymer Clay Guild’s Annual online exhibit, Progress & Possibilities.  None of my pieces were accepted as finalists.  I am disappointed, but I am okay with it too.  I would be more frustrated right now if I hadn’t even submitted anything.  I am happy with the direction my work is going.  And I appreciate that the Art Jewelry category is the most competitive category.  Still, the news didn’t help my overall malaise.

Wednesday was metals class at the Guilford Art Center with Lanette Barber.  In keeping with the tenor of the week, the soldering gods weren’t with me.  I managed to get one piece out of four soldered.  I’ll have to redo the rest next week.  Fortunately, Lanette spent a lot of time going over various techniques for stone setting, so it wasn’t a completely wasted morning.

Tonight I am enjoying the slow pace of Halloween in our neighborhood.  We get just enough trick or treaters to make it interesting.  Our old neighborhood was much busier and required a much larger candy purchase.

You know your kids are growing up when their costume choice becomes an excuse to go around wearing pajama pants all day.  M wore pj pants and a comfy shirt, stuck a tiara and her head and declared herself Sleeping Beauty.

©2008 Libzoid Blog. All Rights Reserved.

I’m going to the Clay Carnival in Las Vegas next month and I needed to make a pile of poker chips to swap there.  I got out my Stewart Gill paints and just played around.  They’re definitely not high art, but they were fun to make.  Plus I got a chance to use translucent Kato clay for the first time.  Wonderful stuff.  Very clear, easy to make extremely thin sheets and it bakes up with a shiny finish.  The more I have worked with the new Kato clay, the more I love it.

I started the day with metals class at the Guilford Art Center.  I had a grand time soldering some bezels together.  It was so great using the studio’s acetylene torches.  Having a decent torch makes the process go really quickly.

I use 24 guage sterling strip to form the walls of the bezels, bending the shape I want with chain nose pliers.  Then I solder that closed.  File the joint smooth and solder the form to a base sheet of sterling.  Then using a jeweler’s saw I cut the shape out of the base sheet and file, file, file until everything is smooth.  It still takes a fair amount of time to make them, but at least I wasn’t fighting with my tiny torch.  Now I’ve got four empty shapes.  Think of all the possibilities!

©2008 Libzoid Blog. All Rights Reserved.

The Guild has also set up two Flickr Groups.

The first Group is for SCPCG Members to share photos of their work from their own Flickr account.  There aren’t very many photos up yet, but I hope there will be soon.  If you are a member of the guild, please join the group and add some pictures of your work.  Check it out here.

The other group is an open group for posting photos of Bottles of Hope.  Share your photos of Bottles of Hope you’ve created here.

©2008 Libzoid Blog. All Rights Reserved.

This is the door down to my studio space.  It looks innocent enough, and yet it has become my nemesis.  You see, I just can’t seem to get myself to open the door and head down to my studio.  I’m in a slump, feeling sort of blah and creating absolutely nothing.  If you’ve read my blog much, you know that I get derailed from creative work pretty easily, but this has been a rather extended slump.

I just can’t make myself cross the threshold.  I think about it.  I resolve to spend time just puttering around the studio, cleaning up or something.  No pressure plans.  But I stay rooted to my chair in front of the computer.  I come up with other tasks and busy myself.

I think I am coming to the end of this particular creative block however.  Maybe it’s because I’ve been thinking about writing this post, and talking about it is a step toward resolving my problem.  Maybe it’s because we had a guild meeting yesterday, and I always feel revived in the company of my friends.  In any case, this morning I had an idea for a mixed-media wall piece that I want to try.  I need to go shopping this week for some fiber and fabrics so it may take awhile for me to really start on it.  Still, the feeling of this idea building inside me may be enough to get me to open that darn door.

©2008 Libzoid Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Metal bezel forms work really well with polymer clay.  These days I usually make my own from sterling silver sheet or wire, but there are more and more online sources for bezel forms in silver and inexpensive base metals.  Here are 5 sources I have found:  (as usual this list is in no particular order)

Ornamentea sells very cool low relief base metal bezel forms in a wide variety of shapes and sizes.  You can even cover the mesh shapes with polymer clay.  They also sell coordinating chains and findings. As with any of these type of rigid bezel forms, I recommend popping the polymer clay out after it is baked and reattaching with a judicious ammount of two part epoxy.

Singaraja Imports has great “bead frames” in silver in a wide variety of shapes.  They work wonderfully with polymer clay.  You can order online, but I highly recommend checking them out in person if you can get to a bead show on their schedule.

Objects & Elements, Susan Lenart Kazmer’s online shop sells a variety of very cool and unique bezel forms designed primarily for use with resin.  They work equally well with polymer clay.  Her bezels are available in silver and in base metal versions.

Polymer Clay Express has an extensive collection of bezels.  Since they specialize in products for polymer clay artists, they have a range of different items.  Scroll down the jewelry findings page on their website.

John W Golden’s supply shop on etsy has a selection of interesting bezels.  I haven’t ordered from him, but I think the double sided shapes are really intriguing.  I found a link to his resin jewelry videos on You Tube the other day.  Watch all three parts if you are interested in working with resin.  Lots of good information.  By the way, resin looks great over polymer clay.

©2008 Libzoid Blog. All Rights Reserved.

And for contrast, a picture from this past summer:

Maybe I can sneak a picture of them this weekend.

©2008 Libzoid Blog. All Rights Reserved.