Seabasstiania Warrior Fish!

She was a group birthday gift made for Debra Quartermain www.debraquartermain.com . She started out as a "fish fish", but had an unfortunate accident in the oven when she jumped off her stick during the final cure. Her left fin broke off completely and when something breaks the best way I know of to fix it is to make it better than before. Warrior fish with adorned battle scars was born. She's made from Kato Polyclay http://www.katopolyclay.com and the beautiful Lisa Pavelka stamp for decorating the base https://www.lisapavelka.com . Helen, Frank and Mindy-- Seabasstiania leader of the deep sea bass thanks you!

Lovely Little Matching Number

What better for an elf to go holiday shopping in than a set of matching heels and purse? Who could resist the glitter of Swarovski cystals and the Pavelka stamp design (from JHB) set into shiny Fimo clay! These are a "Looking Good" addition to anyone's tree. - mz

Fun with Modge Podge
This week’s ornament is one that I’ve made some time ago but which I really still love. It’s a simple glass ball that has been decoupaged with black Mulberry paper, thin red tissue and some beautiful old music paper of which I had a couple of sheets and which I keep every last scrap of because it’s just so gorgeous. The combination of black, red and old paper really works for this ornament. It’s a simple process to decoupage the papers onto the ornament with Modge Podge and finish off with a final layer of Modge Podge just to seal it. And when the Modge Podge dries all over your hands you get to do that scary kid thing and peel it off like you're peeling off layers of skin - eeewwww
-hb

Cindy Gimbrone aka Lampwork Diva
Make a Confetti Ring to Wear at Your Next Holiday Party!

Holiday Sparkly Fan Pull
Lisa creates a dress up look for a ceiling fan

Linda's snowman
Some paper, beads, and fabric are transformed into an adorable snow guy.

Ornaments so easy... even a kid can do them!
A recycled idea from last year using pearl UTEE!

Poinsettia Madness
Beautiful poinsettias in glass.

Poinsettia Ornament
Polymer clay and glittery snow recreate a Christmas memory

Shiny Little Things
Felting for the Festivities!

Strands of Beads
Melissa has a quicker than quick snowball pendant for a perfect last minute gift.

The Butterfly Project—Only a million more needed!

In an effort to remember the 1.5 million children that were killed in the Holocaust, the Holocaust Museum Houston is collecting 1.5 million handmade butterflies. The Butterfly Project is special to me because my father is a survivor of the Holocaust and is part of Steven Spielberg’s Shoah Project http://college.usc.edu/vhi/.

Nicholas Stargardt wrote--"Children were neither just the mute and traumatized witnesses to this war, nor merely its innocent victims; the war invaded their imaginations and the war raged inside them." The war still rages inside many survivors and their children.

I made these butterflies using Kato Polyclay and they are now part of the Butterfly Project. “Joseph’s Butterfly” (the one of many colours.. get it?) was made using a Kraft Lady Art Mould, colored with Jacquard alcohol inks mixed into liquid polymer medium, topped with a gentle layer of AMACO’s Rub ‘n Buff and sealed with Lisa Pavelka’s Magic-Glos. We hope to make many more over the next few months. The blue one is my favorite with its subtle ikat style colouring and a hamsa made of Swarovski crystals.

Please take a few minutes, read up on the project at www.hmh.org/minisite/butterfly/index.html I encourage everyone to read the poem “I Never Saw Another Butterfly” by Pavel Friedman, and help the museum reach their goal.

mz

Finishing touches..

I was on a big clean up rampage on the weekend - more news about why coming up, suffice to say it involves someone by the name of Lynne Ann, polymer clay and breathtakingly beautiful canes. But, my lips are sealed. Back to the topic - which is the half finished pieces of clay I've had kicking around in the bead bin marked - “not done yet”. They're cool looking leftovers from a faux diachroic bottle that were just too good to throw away. They are made using Jones Tones foils, paints and PearlEx powders from Jaquard. I covered the bottle itself with a 2 part epoxy and, while I liked how the leftovers looked, I wasn't about to go to the trouble of brewing up a mix of epoxy just for them.

So, instead, I gave them a nice thick coat of Lisa Pavelka’s new (and wonderful), Magic-Gloss which leaves them beautifully glossy and finished. Since these were leftover pieces and their edges weren't great, I swiped a fresh blade from Helen’s desk, did some magic with my eXacto knife and then covered the raw clay edges with adhesive foil tape which is normally used to prep stained glass pieces.

I like how it all came together. I'm tossing up whether I'll finish it with Liver of Sulphate but, for now, they qualify for the finished bin.

Let The Sun Shine

I've been waiting a long time for the sun to shine through the clouds so I could take Lisa Pavelka's new Magic-Gloss outside for a test drive. Magic-Gloss is a dimensional glossy liquid that cures rock hard in sunlight. I baked it, refrigerated it and left it out on my work bench for a few days. It still kept a perfect surface tension, never bled over the edge and stayed exactly where I wanted it.

The Paisley texture is also a Pavelka design. I made little cooing noises over it at the CHA trade show and she let me play with one. I had to dig it back out of Helen's desk, but that's another story. The photo is polymer clay with foil adhered to it, then indented with the Paisley texture plate. To remove the foil from the design, yet leave the foil still in the indented lines, simply stick box tape on and pull it off. I saw Anne Igou do this at CHA and thought--wow, so I had to try it. mz





Now I dug a little deeper into Michelle's stash to find this magic piece. It's bright pink clay stamped with Lisa's paisley stamp and this time the raised pieces have been dusted with interference colors of PearlEx - gotta love that stamp. HB