Vote Block Party Press for 2009 Craftiest Bastard!

I don't usually ask for votes, but I would really love to win this one! Crafty Bastards is one of my favorite shows! Just click the button below to vote. It's super easy and I would really appreciate your support!!

You can see my vendor page and get directions here. Come see me there October 3, 2009!! If there's something specific you'd like to see there, let me know and I'll be sure to bring it!




Thanks in advance for your support!!!!!

Be Inspired to Vote!!!!!!

I voted (And I've got the sticker to prove it!) Did you? Here are some fun election items I found on Etsy to help you get in the mood to brave the lines:










Presidential Poster from Elloh.etsy. She will even include the winner of this election!














There is demographic that I think both candidates missed this time around and it's definitely the Tofu vote. I first saw this little guy at the Crafty Bastards show in June when a little boy proudly showed it off to me. Brilliantly created by ChrisCreatures.etsy.com















Rep voting and look good while you do it with this great necklace from metalsgirl.etsy.com.













In case you forgot what time it is.......


















Thanks handcrankedUSA.etsy.com for making it that simple ! It's your right, it's your duty, it's time to VOTE!!

Masquerade Ball - PCAGOE October Challenge - VOTE & WIN

It's that time again for the PCAGOE (Polymer Clay Artists Guild of Etsy) to display our talents in our monthly challenge. With Halloween around the corner, we decided on a mask theme. The members came up with some incredibly innovative mask designs. You can go to pcagoe.com and vote for your favorite to be entered to win one of 2 polymer clay prize packs worth over $100 each and donated by PCAGOE members. Here are all of this month's entries:


My entry is the last one and I call him the "Avian Prince" :

I was inspired to create a bird mask from these prints by rosiemusic.etsy.com (formerly Menta). I used one in a treasury list a week or so ago and I just couldn't stop thinking about the bird masks in her prints, so I decided on the bird from there. I didn't really use her imagery so much, as she had full face masks, and that seemed like too much work for me. I also new I wanted to do individual feathers since I could easily carve a stamp of those and i was thinking more along the lines of a bird of prey than a song bird.














This was my first mask and will have to say it was not easy. I burnt the first base that I made, but luckily I was able to salvage the beak (thank you liquid polymer clay!!) Then some how a bunch of feathers on one side got broken off while it was sitting on my kitchen counter before cooking and mysteriously the broken pieces were missing (obviously some was trying to conceal the damage, hmmm....). I finally got it in one piece and baked and then was able to paint. Of course I was in a hurry and tried to distress it before the paint was thoroughly dry. That's why there are some large chunks of paint missing. I decided that rather than painting, I would go with it and started chipping away at all the feathers to make it look like it was purposeful (Ha!). He turned out looking a little more like the Chicken Prince than a bird of prey, but overall I like the way he turned out. I even found out that if I leaned him on his beak, he can stand alone, so now he is on display in my living room. It's always fun to try something new. Making a mask was never high on my creativity to-do list, but I found it to be a lot of fun. Be inspired by the PCAGOE's masks and either create your own or use their innovation and creativity as a jumping point for you to try something new, stretch your creative muscles and create a masterpiece of your own. (And don't forget to vote!!) Polymer Clay Productions also has a polymer clay mask tutorial on their site. Check it out for some more inspiration.

I almost forgot. Kyle was inspired by my mask to create his own. He mixed the colors, I cut out the base and he did all the embellishments. The mask is wearable , is all polymer clay and is modeled by his brother,Trey. It also glows in the dark! For fun, we entered it into the Etsy Costume contest:

PCAGOE August Ocean Challenge - Vote & Win

This months challenge was to create a piece of polymer clay art inspired by the Ocean. I have watched tons of nature/animal/ocean show in TV (my oldest loves animals and animal shows) and I remembered one where there was a huge school of silver fish and they were moving through the water in this big constantly moving mass. They were all silver and the shimmered as they twisted and turned as a group. This large school of fish inspired my entry this month titled, Safety In Numbers. It is an ACEO created in polymer clay with acrylic paint. The background is the ocean which deepens in color as you move down the ACEO. The lines in the background are meant to convey movement and add texture. The fish themselves were hand drawn and carved. Each fish is exactly the same and is painted with a shimmery metallic silver color that changes with the light (same as the fish in my inspiration).















Here are the rest of the entries:

To vote for your favorite and to be entered in this month's drawing for a polymer clay prize pack valued at over $100, just go to pcagoe.com and complete the form at the bottom of the challenge post.

Inspired by A Summer Memory

The PCAGOE (Polymer Clay Artists Guild of Etsy) is having their monthly challenge and the theme this month was Summer Memories. I thought long and hard and had several summer memories that I wanted to capture, but since I could only enter one piece, I had to narrow it down. My mind kept wandering to the beach and the colorful beach ball that we would get each year. Inevitably it would get lost or popped or left behind, so each year we would get a bright shiny new one. Oh the joy! My kids do the same thing now, so the tradition continues and the memories grow. These memories led to my entry, the beach ball rings.
The red, yellow, white and blue one represents the old school balls (and my childhood memory) and the pink, yellow and green represent the newer memories. They are both so fun and despite their size (1 1/4" diameter) amazingly easy to wear. They are a perfect way to keep a little summer with you all year round. They are listed in my etsy shop, and custom colors are available, just contact me with your request!

Here are the other incredible PCAGOE entries. To vote for your favorite and be entered to win one of 2 polymer clay prize packs, got to pcagoe.com (use this link, or click on the entry picture below) and complete the voting form at the bottom of the post to enter!
After you vote, take a little time to think about your summer memories and how you could translate them into something creative that will keep the memory alive all year round!

I Create Therefore I Am

A great way to get the creative juices going, is to join in on a challenge. I love doing challenges. They seem to help me focus and I really like the ideas that I come up with. The PCAGOE (Polymer Clay Artists Guild of Etsy) has a monthly challenge. This month the challenge was to create a self-portrait. This is what I created, a self-portrait ACEO titled, I Create Therefore I Am.















I knew I didn't want to do create an exact replica of myself, so I decided to think about who I am, rather than what I look like. I am many things, A Mom, wife, sister, daughter, Aunt, friend, confidant, businesswoman, blogger, etc... but the overwhelming thing that I am is an artist. Some days I feel like creating is like breathing and that if i can't create something, I will suffocate. I spent many years trying to deny my need to create and am very happy that I no longer need to contain that part of myself. This freeing is what inspired me to create this ACEO. The head represents me and the wheels of creativity are turning. The background is the ideas being transferred to my hands and becoming reality once I create them. I used the bright colors and the texture because they inspire me. All of the images, except for the head were stamps that I had carved before this project, so it was fun to use some of them again for a completely different purpose.

Remember, joining challenges can be a great way to get inspired. Just remember that it is a challenge and just a beginning point, so you will still need to decide what to create and how to turn your inspiration into reality.

To vote in the PCAGOE challenge and be entered to win a basic polymer clay kit from polymerclayproductions.com just visit the PCAGOE website and vote today!

Another great creative challenge can be found in the Etsy etc. forums every Monday. It was created by Jewelstreet.etsy.com and anyone can join in.