Gotta say,

I love this photo!  

Taken at Ft Meade at one of the several Christmas events the kids have attended there with Joe & Amy.

Amy's blog is full of photos and info about their most recent activities.  Amy mentions her mother's family Christmas gathering a few weeks ago.  One of my favorite stories from that weekend didn't make Amy's blog.  Derek came running from the play room at Amy's cousin's house, crying, saying, "God's not happy!  God's not happy!"  Amy asked why God wasn't happy.  Derek replied, tearfully, "Cuz he's not sharing his blessings with us!"  ("he" being Amy's cousin's little boy, who was a bit overwhelmed with all of these cousins invading his space and his stuff.)

We're gearing toward Christmas, shopping done, wrapping caught up and most of the decorating done.  I have a bunch of Santas that need to be placed somewhere other than on the floor near the tree.  :)  Faron did grocery shopping today, and aside from picking up "fresh" stuff like fruit and some dairy stuff, we're ready there, too.  Faron's been great.  he isn't wild about decorating, but with me so sick with the kidney infection, he really stepped up, mostly prodded by Ron, but hey, whatever it takes!

I'm slowly getting back to my "normal".  Have about 5 days more of antibiotics to take and hopefully that will be it.  Faron's on the lookout for projects to do after Christmas until he gets called back to work, hopefully long before the projected date of April 9.  We plan a few days with Joe and family to celebrate Christmas with them on their turf, after the New Year, so I'm hoping to be fully recovered well before then!  And of course, my nephew Justin is getting married New Year's Eve so that's my short term goal for feeling really well.  

Sorry my posts are so sporadic.  My computer really isn't happy about me editing photos much these days.  I was happy to snag this one from Amy's blog!  :)

me<><

Wow, it's time to vote again.

I can't believe I haven't blogged at all in the past month!  I'm sorry.  I will definitely try to do better.

In the meantime, we can vote here - our new webmaster consolidated voting into our regular blog, rather than having two locations for you to think about.  :)

It's TIME!!

August 2011 Challenge: Under the Sea

Under the Sea

Why do we love the sea? It is because it has some potent power to make us think things we like to think. ~Robert Henri

This month's theme "Under the Sea" gave the PCAGOE artists a chance to explore their love of all things blue and watery. Members could create whatever they wanted within the theme's context as long as the piece consisted of at least 50% polymer clay.


And the entries are:

1 - Love at Sea by Marie of YoungCreative
"Waves crash over the lovers in this art piece based on an antique illustration of  "Manon Lescaut."  I started by hand-coloring the illustration that I embedded in liquid polymer  to create a "canvas." I sculpted a Mokume Gane sea, adding more coats of liquid polymer as well as regular polymer accents to build dimension. Alcohol inks and paints enhanced the colors." 

2 - Fish out of Water by Line of playsculptlive
"Inspired by Cristi Friesen, my  hero!"

3 - Under the Sea Trinket Box by Jill of JKay Jewelry
"Viva Decor gave my guild some of their new artists' clay to work with during our recent demonstrations days at the local fair, so that's what this little box is made of. It features some miniscule real shells, while the rest of the little embellishments are molded from the same clay. I made the molds for the ship's wheel, the star fish, and the sea horse."

4 - Mermaid's Necklace by Randee of RMK Design
"faux limestone pebbles" 

5 - Shades of the Sea Cuff Bracelet by Susan of 11BoldStreet
"My entry for the PCAGOE Monthly Challenge is another of my signature liquid polymer gauze bracelets. The base was tinted in sea shades of aquas, blues and greens, with silver accents reminiscent of sparkly waves. The polymer focal has patterns of "scales" and impressions from sea shells."

6 - Under the Sea Pendant by Maggie of Maggie Day Studio
"Polymer clay, paint, and resin pendant"

7 - Under the Sea Journal by Becky of  BeckySueCreations
"It is made from polymer clay and put onto a spiral journal."

8 - Memories of Maine necklace by Lisa of HiGirls
"Polymer clay lobster claws are accented with black paint and pearlized clay beads.
Seashell is polymer clay molded from an actual Maine seashell in pale pink and translucent clay with mica powders."

9 - Clown Fish Desk Set by Angela of Polymer Clay Creations
"Cute orange clown fish swimming in a beautiful aqua and blue sea to brighten up your desk."

10 - Octopus's Garden by Kathy of ElPasoClayNation
"This little tile is made for the July Under the sea challenge. I got to try out my new jar of Polypaste, too."

11 - Blue Coral Brooch by Amanda of Polyclarific
"This entry for the August PCAGOE Challenge is a pretty little brooch. Its rough edges remind me of coral and its colour of the ocean. The brooch is 2.5cm in diameter and 2cm deep."

12 - Ocean Wave Lentils necklace by Janice of BlessedBeadJewelry
"Ocean Waves mokume gane focal beads paired with pearls and mother of pearl."

13 - Ripples by Berit of ClayCenter
"A business card holder decorated with polymer clay. My entry in the August challenge "Under the Sea". The technique is mokume gane/mica shift with several layers of pearl clay. It is completely flat even though it looks three dimensional."

14 - Go Swimming with Me by Arlene of Ashpaints
"This small tin canister has been re-purposed to simulate an underwater abode. Colorful fish swim in and out between blades of seaweed and coral branches up from the sea floor. Swirls in multiple colors of blue trim the edges and the lid to finish the look."

15 - Fishy Fish by Jackie of The Pleasant Pheasant
"This is my PCAGOE "Under the Sea" Monthly Challenge Entry, a new fish cane that I made and really like! Being back to caning is awesome. :) This fish is from a tutorial by Desiree McCrorey."

16 - Polymer Clay Seal by Deb of Renaissance Gal of San Antonio
"He's a fun little critter from a class I taught."

17 - Lampshade Under the Deep Blue by Cindy of Arrowdale Art Studio
"It is a lampshade for a custom lamp (which my husband has yet to finish - the parts have been more difficult to find than anticipated, but we will persevere!) The lamp shade measures 6" wide by 5.5" tall and 3" deep. The "sea" is made entirely of translucent polymer clay tinted with various shades of alcohol inks and then blended and pieces to achieve the mottled colors. Each of the pieces are made from canes (the fish and sea plants) ore other shades of clay colored or blended as I went along. I used embossing powders for the crusty look on the stuff on the bottom, and used pigment inks to even out colors where needed. There are a couple of candles burning inside the shade, which accounts for the white-ish streaks and the subtle glow. A 40W light bulb will be used in the lamp, which is for our grandsons' bedroom nightlight."

18 - Sealife by Els of Beadelz
"Inspired by Helen Breil, with a shell (abalone/ zee-oor in Dutch) from the (southern) French coast."

19 - Pink Mermaid Figurine by Phoebe of Happy Creations
"Mermaid figurine is hand sculpted out of polymer clay. She has long flowing brown hair. Her body is a pearly fuscia pink color with green scales. She is holding a real sea shell. She is wearing a necklace of a gold sea star and in the center is a pink Swarovski crystal gem. Her body is coated with a light dusting of glitter dust. I hand painted her face and scales with acrylic paints. She is coated with a glossy finish."

Several of the entries are available for sale in our members' store. Please visit the individual shops to see these and other wonderful listings.

Vote here.

Note - I'm number 17. 

me<><

Interviews, doctor's appointments and company!

It's been a very lively week at the Matthews' Abode.  Faron has had four - FOUR!! - job interview calls, counting one for Target, who offered him a job.  He turned it down after getting all these other calls (we're hoping that was a good decision) and we're hoping to hear more definitely about these other.  He has an interview to work at the Shikellemy State Park next Thursday - if it's enough hours, that's the job he'd really like although the other two are decent enough.  He's also applied for a few others that seemed to be perfect for his skills and experience.  So please, everyone, keep praying for his job situation.  And for my nephew Justin, who is also job hunting. 

One of the interviews had him going for a physical and drug testing as part of the interview process - he hasn't been offered the job but that's out of the way.  The physical went well (of course he's basically healthy - heart is strong, etc.) but his blood pressure was 160/98. He's been very stressed recently about the job situation so I'm not surprised.  He saw our Dr W on Tuesday and got a prescription for BP meds and after only 2 days his BP is approaching normal levels.  Of course, suddenly getting all these interviews helps a lot.  :)

Our niece Elicia has been in town most of the summer.  Her husband is in Iraq (Army) and she and the boys (Zavier & Zander) came back home rather than stay at Ft Hood all summer.  of course, it's been stinkin' hot here so she didn't quite escape the intensity of Texas summers.  :)  Anyway, the three of them came to visit last night and we had a very good visit. The boys are lively and energetic and latched on to Uncle Faron and amazingly remembered all sorts of stuff about our house from their visit at Christmas.  We very much enjoyed the visit and hope we get another chance to see them before the go back to Texas - Robert is due home soon. 

Only one photo for you:

My entry into the new monthly Challenge of the PCAGOE, "Under The Sea."  It's a lampshade I made from translucent polymer clay (I used the better park of a 12oz block of KatoPolyclay.)  I dyed the clay with alcohol inks and blended and rolled and pieced it together to get the look I wanted.  Then I made odd bits of stuff for the sea floor.  An anchor, several green, leafy bushes, a few pieces of coral and a starfish and a bunch of rocks.  Oh and the octopus.  :)  I'd made the fish canes last year for another project, a large panel of polymer clay art that is now hanging in Derek & Jared's bedroom, along with a few smaller pieces and the mobile and light switch cover I made, all using the same base colors and canes. 

This is actually a lampshade, measuring 6" wide, by 5.5" tall and 3' deep.  The transucent clay, even dyed as this is, allows the light to shine through nicely.  Thing is, the idea i had for building the lamp didn't work - or rather, we can't find a lamp kit or supplies to fit well enough that I'm not endangering my grandboys by putting this in their room.  So we're continuing to search for the right lamp guts and then this goes to the boys.

That's about it.  Remember, as of the first of the month you'll soon be able to vote for the Challenge.  You'll hear more about it right here, real soon.

me,.,

A new project and a couple of photos I promised from the other day.

First, our sweet, wee Emily getting mashed in the face with a cupcake by her great-grandma. 

Hazel just held the cupcake.  Emily would mash her face into it, not wanting to miss a tiny bit.  She had cake and frosting everywhere!  :) But it's lemon so you can't really see how messy she was. 

And I promised a photo of Ron when he talks about scary movies. (Which is where he is as I type - at his friend Bobby's house, eating Chinese and watching scary movies.)

Before I got that shot, though, he noticed I had the camera and waited expectantly for me to take a photo:

This was at just before 6 am.  And he was rarin' to go. 

Faron got a new project to work on yesterday.  A friend had this old piece just hanging out at the back of his property, and wasn't interested himself in re-building it, although he'll be happy to use it when Faron finishes it.  (WHEN....)

Anyone know what it is?  He got it from Hank Schoeneck if that helps anyone to figure out what it is. 

His job interview went well this morning, as far as he could tell - they said they'll call him by the end of the week for a 2nd interview.  I guess that means he made the first cut?  He didn't like that they asked all those goofy situational ethics questions:  "You and a co-worker are working alone.  You see your co-worker steal something.  What do you do?"  Or, "You and a co-worker don't like each other.  Do you ask your supervisor never to ask you to work together?"  Faron finds all of that stuff very silly.  He comes from an age where questions have a right and a wrong answer and you don't take your personal stuff to work.  Easy. 

We continue to search the web for other places to apply and today he applied for a position of custodian at Lycoming College. 

I got out swimming yesterday but due to some kind of strangeness between Dr W's office and Silverscript/CVSCare prescription coverage, I've been waiting 3 weeks for one of my main pain meds.  And today, I ordered a refill from the local CVS of the prednisone I've been taking and they gave Faron one of the scripts I'd ordered through mail order! Crazy.  So he has to go back down the road now to get the prednisone.  I'm hurting.  I've been claying, of course.  Currently working on my challenge piece for next month's Challenge, "Under The Sea."  It's a piece for my grandboys' bedroom.  They got all of the bits I did last year with that theme for another challenge, which I think was "Flora & Fauna."  That's all I'm saying for now.  :)

me<><