Friday, December 25, 2009

Christmas out west and the giveaway winners




Merry Christmas to all of you in blog land, I hope that you all are feeling full and sitting around with all your loved ones. I hope you also got everything you wanted and more than you can ever imagine.
Christmas is mostly nostalgic for me and I miss my family and friends that have left this earthly existence, I miss their touch, their voices, and their smell. I miss my time with them, they made Christmas what it was. Spend time with those that are here now and make the most of it for you, them, and for the ones before.
I got this in a newsletter I subscribe to the day before Christmas and it seemed to make things a little easier for me, maybe it will help those of you that miss your loved ones too.
  "As you think of me today and always, I will be standing by your side. The best gift you can give me this time of year is to celebrate and laugh with me like we always did. I may not be physically present but I will make my presence known...a flickering light, the phone going off, a cardinal in the snow, my shadow in a picture, hearing my voice, smelling my scent, feeling me stand behind you. I promise you this...you will always have me. Until we are completely together again, I am wrapping you in a blanket of love that will surround you in your most trying day. Feel my arms around you, holding and comforting you. Here is my holiday wish for you:
"I wish for you strength when you are weak and need me to hold you up. I wish for you laughter when you can't bear the thought of smiling again. I wish for you light when your flame goes out and clear vision to see me in dreams and in others as you walk along the winding road of life. Always remember...I'm not dead, I'm different.""
From Maureen Hancock's newsletter




 I am so sorry I didn't get to these sooner, with Christmas and not being fully up to par, I fell down on the job!
The Winners for the giveaways are.
part one- Chris
part two- Frances Bauer
part three- Frances Bauer
part four- Mrs. B
I will talk to you all soon.
Bless you all. 

Saturday, December 12, 2009

9th Giveaway- part 4


This ornament is part of the 9th Giveaway also.
This can be personalized for you.
Leave your comment on this post under words of wisdom for this ornament.
Closes on the 16th of December 6pm pst.

9th Giveaway- part3


This wedding couple is part of this giveaway.
Leave your comment on this post under words of wisdom for this set!
Closes December 16th at 6 pm pst.

9th Giveaway-part 2


This Beary Merry Bear is part of the giveaway too.
Leave your comments on this post under words of wisdom.
Ends on the 16th of December at 6 pm pst.
This bear can personalized for you!

9th Giveaway- Night before Christmas-part one

'Twas the night before Christmas and Santa was running late.
He slept in that evening; he had so much on his plate.
He forgot to set his alarm, Mrs. Claus was snoring too.
He should have been out in the toy shed, getting ready for me and you.
One of the elves said "Does anyone know where Mr. Claus is?"
Rudolf said, "I have to go get all those maps of his,
I will check on him and Mrs. Claus."

Pause...







This is how Rudolf found Mr. & Mrs. Claus as he busted in the door.
If you want this ornament set, leave a comment in the words of wisdom comments.
Closes December 16th at 6 pm pst.

Fave Crafts Giveaway

This is not the giveaway I am going to post later but it is a giveaway I am involved with. It is very similar to the first giveaway I ever did back in May on the 19th here
http://mariesegal.blogspot.com/2009/05/1st-giveaway-thank-you-thank-you-thank.html


Win this Kit!

We are giving away 1 Glitter Flower Pendant Kit. Enter with the form below.

 
1.If you blog about this giveaway at your blog, we’ll give you an extra entry. Contact us with a link to the blog post.


2.If you twitter about this giveaway, you’ll get an extra entry. Again, contact us with a link to the tweet.


3.If you add a link to us on your blogroll or website, we’ll give you an extra entry. Again, contact us!


Contest ends December 25, 2009. You can enter once daily, so return often to improve your chances of winning!

Here is the link!!
http://www.favecrafts.com/sweeps/Glitter-Flower-Pendant-Kit-Giveaway#

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Flower Cane







1/2 block of porcelain white or translucent Cernit
1 small pea size piece of colored Cernit
1 block of opaque white Cernit
Scrap clay or other colors to make the beads out of
Clay blade
Pasta machine
For all of the products above, you can get them at my husbands on line store.
http://www.clayfactory.net/


1. Condition a half of block of Cernit porcelain white or translucent until soft and pliable.

2. Add a small pea size ball of color to the conditioned half block of clay. Mix until it is one color.

3 Roll the colored clay in to a plug that is about 1" in diameter.

4. Condition and roll out the Opaque white clay on the 5th thickest setting in the pasta machine. Trim one edge of this sheet to get a straight edge.


5. Lay the colored clay plug on the straight edge and cut a strip the width of the plug and long enough to wrap around the plug.

6. Roll up the plug in the sheet.

7. Roll the plug over the sheet in front of the plug gently and roll the plug back. Cut inside the line you will see on the sheet with the blade.

8. Remove the excess sheet, set aside, and then roll the plug and sheet up. The ends will match or very close.
Press the edges together and smooth the seam away.




9. Cut the plug on the side with your clay blade about half way through the plug. Do not cut where the seam was.

10. Gently move the cut open and take the excess sheet and place in to the opened cut. Close up the cut in the clay with the excess piece inside the plug.

11. Trim the excess sheet off at the edge of the opening on the plug.

12. Make another cut in to the plug on one side of the center cut and place the excess sheet piece in to this cut and trim away the excess level with the plug side.

13. Do this again on the other side of the center cut.

14. Close all the cuts with sheets and gently press everything together.

15. Compact the whole plug together.
Squeeze it in the center from all sides to form a little waist. As you rotate and press the cane move up to one end of the cane. Then turn the cane over and start at the center waist and rotate and press and you move up to the other end. I keep doing this until the cane or plug is longer and half of the size around that it was. Do not worry about lumps and bumps. The rolling will take the lumps out. By compacting the plug this way, it will keep the cane from shifting as much inside.
Then place on your work surface and roll the whole log down to about 3/8" in diameter.
You will need 5 pieces about the same length for the petals.


16.  Make a little pinch on one side of each of the petal logs where lines come to the outside of the log. Turn over the logs to the other end and pinch each one of those ends.

17. Line up the pinches on a log by holding the pinches and rocking them in to alignment.
Then pinch down the length of the cane from pinch to pinch. Do this to all 5 pieces.
Make the point on the log down the side pretty sharp.



18. Place three of the logs together with the points in the middle. There will be a little canal or channel down the center of the three logs.

19. Roll a small coil 1/8" or a little larger depending on the size of the channel to go in the center.











20. Now place in the other two petals lining them up from one end to the other.
Gently press from one end to the other on each petal to press it together.

21. You can pack the outside with color or you can coax the cane down by gently sliding your finger and your thumb down the dips on opposite sides. Then turning the cane around and sliding down the length of the cane again. You keep turning and sliding and the cane will lengthen. Then I turn the cane over from end to end and do it the same process again. It will not be all perfect and you will have a knobby end, I take advantage of the smaller and larger flowers when I use them. This is a very gentle process. If the dips fill in you can run a tool down the length of the cane.




22. This is the cane pulled out. You slice these off as thin as possible and place on to a core of clay in the color of your choice.
It is not imperative for the beads I do to have the complete cane slice and when I roll these in to the core it will give the illusion of many layers.





It is important to watch color that you apply the slices to, it will change the color of the petals.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Wishing you happy Holidays filled with love

I am so sorry I have not posted in ages. The whole family has been sick since Thanksgiving.
My head has been in a fog for weeks.
I am still coughing.
I hope that none of you ever get this.
Thank you all so much for writing.
Stay warm and be well.