When I first opened a shop on Etsy to sell my work, I was hoping to concentrate on selling clay purses.  I've made several, and the ones I have and use are in great shape.  I made one for Hazel and it got broken - courtesy of being put in the back of her van before a tire was heaved on top of it!! (no names shall be revealed here for that action, but the culprit is a grandchild who's name begins with E.  There are several possibilities, but as shes only 7 months old, I think Emery's safe on this one.)

The ones I made for Rachel and Jennie are each broken, too.  I suspect they received similar abuse.  But they do hold up well, when it's taken into consideration that they are practical to a degree, and art entirely. 

But I digress...

When I joined the PCAGOE, there was already a thread on the Guild forum in which we could ask for a critique from other members of our etsy shops.  Photography is a huge issue.  Clear, attractive, uncluttered photos are not an easy job, but necessary to highlight the work and not the props we may use. Another issue is our shop banners.  This is my original banner, made by a claying friend (Penni Jo Couch, a very talented clay artist) I met online. (All of my claying friends are online - haven't met another one in real life yet!) 

She took the background artwork from one of the purses I have for sale, and then added what I thought I'd be emphasizing in the shop, my purses.  Well, they haven't sold.  I think people are a bit afraid of them.  I've since added jewelry and sculpture and mixed media pieces.  One of the suggestions I received was to change my banner to reflect that I don't only sell purses, or, to add more purses to my shop stock.  I did both.  New banner:

And, I started work on two new purses to add to the shop.  One is still in process, and it's challenging me in its own way, to do things I've never done before.  Pretty cool, but I'm taking my time. 

Here is the other:

It hasn't been cleaned yet, but I dusted it with cornstarch before baking to remove any fingerprints, and so it'll need to be washed.  It's about 7" tall, and 4.5 inches wide, and an inch and a quarter deep.  It'll have a cord running through the top and into the bottom, which will serve to keep the two pieces together, as well as make it possible for it to be worn around the neck.  It's just large enough for a cell phone, a bit of cash and a tissue, and maybe a credit card.  I was quite pleased with it.  It comes apart under the overhanging roof. 

However, and I realize this is at least partially visible in the previous photo...

Alas, I think I can rescue this.  I plan to try to seam the crack with liquid clay and a heat gun, and then make some vines to cover the cracks.  But it did make me sad to see it! 

On another note, I had my annual physical on Wednesday and I've lost 5 lbs since the last time I was there, meaning that the doc couldn't nag me too much about weight, and he gave me a flu shot (regular kind) and a pneumonia shot, and an EKG, just to compare with the old ones, to see if there's any additional problems since I was first diagnosed with a blockage.  He also mentioned something about checking out my corotids, which he's done before.  There are small tumors in my neck that make it difficult, if not impossible, to feel my pulse there.  Given our family history, he likes to make sure things are ok there.  I guess that means an ultrasound, but no appointment has been scheduled yet.  I guess they'll let me know. Also have to have a mammogram, and he ordered about a dozen blood tests.  He has a "vampire" there, so at least that's one part out of the way!  And, he prescribed antibiotics for my - you guessed it - feet, which are a mess, as well as a corticosteroid ointment.  That means I don't have to bother someone to take me to see Dr. Herbst to get those taken care of.  Whoohoo! 

Basically, for a sick woman, I'm doing really well. 

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Faron is cancer free!!

Thank you, Lord!

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I should have posted this earlier in the week, but I've been so involved in my clay, I just didn't do it!

THE WINNERS VOTED ON BY THE PUBLIC:

1st Place BeeTreeByMe

2nd Place - 11BoldStreet

3rd Place - JKollmann

WINNERS VOTED ON BY PCAGOE MEMBERS:

1st Place - BeeTreeByMe

2nd Place - SCDiva

3rd Place - JKollmann

Congratulations, everyone!

127 votes were cast this month, from the following countries:

Unites States - 113
Canada - 7
United Kingdom - 2
Spain - 1
Isreal - 1
Netherlands - 1
Australia - 1
Czech Republic - 1

* * * * * * * * *

Congratulations to all the winners - all of the entries were terrific - well, except mine.  I really wasn't happy with it, but I'd commited myself to enter and it was time, so I did.    The winner of this challenge, "beetreebyme," aka m.e., has already posted her March entry in our flickr photostream, as have a couple of others. The bar is already very high! 

AND, my very bestestest friend, Lois, won one of the voter prizes!   

I've been working all week on my texture piece for March's challenge, so watch for that - it'll be appearing soon. 

Faron gets his test results on Monday, but we're feeling pretty confident he's free from cancer.

We got about 5 or 6 inches of snow on Wednesday - nothing like the extra foot they got in Baltimore on top of the 3 feet from the weekend.  Joe & Amy were able to head out for North Carolina for her sister Lori's wedding, bearing the cake topper I made.  I do hope they think to take lots of photos to send to me so I can post them here!     Congratulations and best wishes, Lori & Jeff - I pray a long and fruitful marriage for you. 

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With a chance to win one of these great prizes! 

Voter Prize Pool(PLEASE CLICK PHOTO FOR LARGER VIEW):

1st row, l-r: ClayCenter, SCDiva, SilverGateStudio, JKollmann

2nd row, l-r: MarciaPalmer, RMKDesign, WorthingtonFox, RiverValleyDesigns

3rd row, l-r: ClayHappy, PolymerClayCreations, LaurelSteven, NKDesigns

4th row, l-r: BeeTreeByMe, Jencom72, StudioSChiek, SpiritMama

Many of the entries are also available for sale in our members' etsy shops, so please check them out to see these and more one-of-a-kind works of polymer clay art.

You may sign up for our monthly e-newsletter when you vote. We would love to be able to tell you about our upcoming challenges and our special promotions and charitable projects.

Thank you for voting, and please join us next month, when our theme will be "Texture", a very popular category among our members. You are sure to see many gorgeous creations!

* * * * * *

You have until midnight tonight, EST, to vote, and get entered for the random drawing among non-member voters.  Click this LINK to vote. 

The Polymer Clay Artists Guild Of Etsy

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I am sharing a request made by Karen & Ann Mitchell. The following is the message Karen left at PCC Forum:

“Dear friends,

Last week, my sister Ann and I were demonstrating polymer clay at the CHA Winter 2010 show, when Carol Duvall stopped by the booth with Kelly, the producer from her original show. Carol is in the process of putting together an online version of the Carol Duvall Show. The financial backers of the new icraftnetwork.com would like to know that there is a strong support network in the craft community to view Carol’s new show. I request only on thing from all of you: please e-mail your show of support (it could even be as simple as “Bring back Carol Duvall”) to this e-mail address: icraftwithcarol@yahoo.com. That’s all I ask !

Not only would it be wonderful to see Carol crafting again to a broad audience, but it also would be tremendously beneficial to the crafts industry. As you may or may not know, Carol Duvall put polymer clay on the map and raised the awareness of her viewers on this amazing material’s versatility. Thank you for showing your support,

Karen Mitchell”

Another polymer clayer had shared this on her blog and I got permission to share it here.  I love Carol Duvall.  She always asks the questions of her guest artists that I'd ask if I had the opportunity.  I even watched the reruns on HGTV til they took them off, after production stopped on new programs.  It was her program that led me to want to try polymer clay, and it was on her program that I learned to do more than just pinch a pot together with the clay!  Donna Kato, Lisa Pavelka, Becky Meverden, Judy Belcher, Emi Fukushima, and of course, Karen & Ann Mitchell all "taught me" way more than the basics about this wonderful medium, from the on-air craft room on the Carol Duvall show. 

So, if you miss Carol like so many of us do, write to the address above.  You'll be put on a mailing list to keep you informed as things progress.  

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Lots and Lots going on!

is to mimic many other substances.

My friend and fellow PCAGOE member, Lynda Moseley of Diva Designs, has been experimenting with faux jade:

to great effect, don't you think?  She has several colors of jade going, from lavendar to red to yellow and green.  And she's obviously got a cool selection of stamps for this process, too! 

Lynda is one of the officers in the PCAGOE and has been extremely informative and helpful to me and other newbies.  She does some of the most beautiful image transfer work I've ever seen, like this:

Her finishes are nearly perfect - so smooth and no fingerprints whatsoever.  She avoids handling the clay at all, using plexiglass sheets and ceramic tiles to handle her pieces once she gets going.  I'm practicing using her techniques for this and I must say, it definitely works, although I have a long way to go!

Hats off to Lynda with her experimentation with faux jade, especially considering she did it when she felt her "muse" had departed for warmer climes.    She also got a mention today on Polymer Clay Daily, a blog which features all the latest and best happenings in the polymer clay world.  Very Big Deal to be mentioned there! 

Remember to vote in the challenge going on this week, if you haven't already!

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for your favorites in the PCAGOE challenge for February.  Here are the entries:

What an amazingly diverse bunch of items, considering they all follow the same "theme".  Here are the artists:

1. Summer Pendant by M.E. of BeeTreeByMe

2. Red and Burgandy Pillow Beads by Linda of NKDesigns

3. Morning Glories by Kelly of KellyPlaysClay

4. Victorian Rose Necklace by Lynda of SCDiva

5. Faux Amber Bangle by Eugena of Eugena777

6. Cortney’s Life by Angela of ElementalDragons

7. Faux Topaz Cuff Bracelet by Susan of 11BoldStreet

8. The June Twins by Cindy of ArrowdaleArtStudio

9. Celebrating March by Marie of YoungCreative

10. Marigold Clay Painting by Angela of PolymerClayCreations

11. Emerald Beads by Terrie of Cloud9ClayCreations

12. Peridot by Jill of JKollmann

13. Daffodil on Faux Turquoise Bracelet by Janice of BlessedBeadJewelry

Please follow this LINK to cast your vote beginning Feb. 1st through midnight Eastern Feb.7th.  You will directed to a new website to cast your vote.  The voter box is at the bottom of the page.  So please scroll all the way down.

The names of each item are linked to their photos in the flickr challenge pool, so you can read what each of us wrote about our pieces, as well as see a larger photo.  The names of our shops link to our Etsy shops. 

I'm very excited that I finally joined this group - I've considered it since I first opened my Etsy shop but just didn't think it'd serve any useful purpose - wow, was I wrong!  This is an incredibly generous, supportive and fun group of artists, concerned mostly with enjoying our art, but also with promoting our Etsy stores in the most effective way possible.  For us, that seems to be as a group.  Each of us, as you can see in this challenge, has such a different artistic "eye," and we're really not competing for business.  We all want the others to do well.  Every sale is celebrated.  Ideas are generously shared and even our flops are encouraged.  After all, we learn from our mistakes, eh?  And if we don't, it seems like one of the others might! 

Please take the time to vote for your favorites.  There are great prizes offered in a random drawing to non-member voters, as shown in this mosaic:

These are prizes donated by various members of the group, as noted here

First Row:

 A desk pen set by ClayCenter, a brooch by SCDiva, a magnet set by SilverGate and a necklace by JKollmann

Second Row:

Pendant by MarciaPalmer, Necklace by RMKDesign, pendant by WorthingtonFox and pendant by RiverValleyDesign

Thrid Row:

Pendant by ClayHappy, Set of buttons by PolymerClayCreations, Pendant by LaurelSteven, and a pendat by NKDesigns

Fourth Row:

Pendant by BeeTreeByMe, set of beads by Jencom72, earrings by StudioSchiek, and a pendant by SpiritMama

Members of the group vote separately, so entrants can be recognized by their peers and by the voter pool itself.  Both recognitions mean a great deal to each artist. 

VOTE!!

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I've been on a bit of a caning frenzy of late, when I wasn't working on the butterfly piece (although that was one of the canes - or rather, two - that I've included here) or the challenge pieces. 

Here are samples of the canes I've made in the past 2 weeks or so:

The butterfly canes you've seen, but I also did a series of black and white canes - I made a bunch of pieces with them last week but haven't finished sanding them yet to get them properly finished and listed in the store.  I did a few translucent and white canes yesterday.  I did a few trial pieces using those yesterday - they awake baking.  Those are cool in that, if sliced thinly enough, when applied to a piece, the translucent clay should disappear, leaving you with white stripes or checkerboards or spirals.  There's also a sample of my "signature" cane, the little blue-wrapped one on the bottom left.  The "M" part of my sig is hard to read but it's there.  I used only the clays left on my board after the butterfly piece and the bases were made, so my choices were limited.  And then I made the purple and pink flower cane from another cane I'd made a while back.  And finally the red and whilte extruded "Klimt" cane.  I'd like to do a few more today but we shall see.  I have a few other things I'd like to get into as well. 

Hmmm...

Faron had his biopsy yesterday and Dr Rockoff was very encouraging, saying that in the dozen or so samples he took, he didn't see any tissue samples that looked obviously abnormal.  His PSA levels were within normal ranges, too, so we're much encouraged.  We find out in two weeks what the biopsy results are. 

We have such a wonderful support system of family and dear friends.  We are definitely blessed in that department.  Thank you all!

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My pieces are finished, and while they aren't quite what I'd hoped, I sent off the submission photo anyway. 

We were to submit a piece that depicted our birthstone and/or birth flower - for me that's June.  These two little girls just popped up in my sketch book one day, and that was the end of trying to design a pretty piece with roses and pearls.    A whole story came with them, about how they are misnamed - Pearl has the roses and Rose is wearing the pearls.  They also have siblings born in other months who are named for their months, or' stones or flowers, too.  Garnet and April, January and Ruby.  Fortunately the Junes weren't blessed with any boys - who knows what kinds of names they'd have gotten! 

You may see other entries and vote for your favorites (voting is anonymous so don't feel you must vote for my entry!) after the 28th of this month at the PCAGOE website. 

The great-niece formerly known as Princess Rachel came up the other night to hang out and spend the night.  We had a great time giggling over a few secrets and then I introduced her to Skype video chat with Amy & Derek.  (Joe was on Guard duty and Jared had crashed for the night already.)  She was wearing her new chapeau, part of her ongoing development of her "look," and I like it a lot.  Don't you?

She looks like Ethan now, doesn't she?  Still very much her mother's daughter, though, and also very much her Aunt Sandy's niece.  (Dave's sister - both the kids look like her, and Robin.  I guess they look like Dave but Sandy is the feminine version. )

I had a bit too much fun playing with that photo in Photoshop, so I may switch it out to an un-messed-with-version.  Or not. 

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