Sunday, December 25, 2011

Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight!

May the spirit of Christmas bless you with love, abundance, joy, and peace in your heart!
Wishing you all the very happiest of Holidays with your family and friends.
May your New Year be better than 2011 ever was.
Relax. It is all good.
Santa Can Christmas 2011
Marie Segal



Friday, December 23, 2011

Happy Holidays, all of them. My gift to you- Focal button- diy

Happy Holidays to one and all, that means all of the holidays. No matter what you celebrate, you are important to me. Blessings all over you and yours and may the new year be very kind to you.
2012, how can it get any better than that? :-O

This is my gift to you.

Thank you for following, your kind comments and support, your friendships, and a reason to keep going everyday!

Large focal buttons can be used on handmade coats, purses, bags, and scarves. Or they can be put on factory manufactured things to give them a little individual style all their own.
Easy to make and great for adding a little flair and uniqueness to a special gift.
This is also very basic instruction. You can use a clay machine if you want and if you do, use the thickest setting for everything.

You will need:
Black Cernit
Two accent colors of Cernit, I used turquoise and poppy red
Cocktail straw
Clay blade-SB
Makin's clay cutters-M36002 set of 3 squares
Pearl-ex powder-658, I used Aztec Gold
Makin's Texture sheet set- 38003 I used the "weave" one
Button mold, I made my own from old German glass buttons
Rolling pin or dowel
Ball point pen




Condition black clay and flatten in to a pancake shape.













Roll with dowel until about 1/8"thick.

Roll clay on to texture sheet.












Use largest square cutter and cut out square.













With a little of the Aztec gold powder from the lid on your finger rub the gold powder in to the four corners of the black textured square. Leaving the center of the square free of powders. Put the powder only on the top of the black square and keep it away from the sides of the square too, we are going to place a twisted coil around the square.
Wash your hands to remove excess powder.










Condition and roll out turquoise clay to about 1/8" thick.














Cut out medium square from set of cutters.













Put turquoise square on top of the black textured square off-center from the black square.
Condition some of the poppy red clay and roll in to a coil about 1/8" in diameter and then do the same thing with some of the turquoise clay.









  Twist the two colors together.

















Roll the colors together on the work surface.
Roll down to about 1/8" in diameter.













Place the twisted rolled out coil around the large black square.



















Roll out a smaller coil of the poppy red, about 1/8" in diameter, and place around the smaller turquoise square.










Make a button from your button mold or some other decorative center.













Powder the top of the molded button.
Place powder on your finger from out of the lid.
Rub your finger around a couple of times to smooth out the lumps and then brush on to the clay lightly and in circles.
You can also roll the whole ball in powder. Make it a little bigger to begin with , press into the mold and then cut off the back so it is flat with the mold.
This insures that there is fresh un-powdered clay on the back to attach to the turquoise square.










Press gently on to the turquoise square.















You could leave the button like this, but I am going to add a couple more things.













Roll 4, 1/8" or smaller balls of black clay and place in the corners of the turquoise square.












With a ball point pen tip make a little mark in each of the black balls.













With one end of the cocktail straw cut a hole on the right side of the button top.
Turn the straw over and use the other side of the straw to cut another hole on the left side of the button.
I have cut my button holes so the button will sit and be sewn on diagonally.











Like so.
Bake for 30 minutes in a pre-heated 275 degree F oven, shut off the oven, and let cool till you can touch it, in the oven.



















Happy Holidays Ya'll, all  of them!!


Saturday, December 17, 2011

Come play with us



Cabin Fever  Clay Fest in Laurel, MD is just 2 months away - Feb. 17-22, 2012...have you registered yet?  27 Workshops - 15 Instructors - 1, 2, 3 or 6 days of non-stop creative fun!  AND -You could win a $200 scholarship just for attending!  Register for the pre-conference only, the conference only, or both...pick your choice of instructors!  Still time to ask for that holiday gift you've wanted! 
Visit the website here at: www.polymerclayfests.wordpress.com

It's not too late...there is still time for you to attend and win! It’s easy … all you do is register for the regular 3-day conference!  Winners will be selected and awards given during the conference. To register, download registration form here.

We have another year with a full schedule (
workshops descriptions hereof incredibly talented instructors in polymer clay, metal clay, mixed media, and metalworks including Blair Anderson, Jana Roberts Benzon, Jeffrey Lloyd Dever, Lindly Haunani, Liz Potter Hall, Linda Hess, Doreen Kassel, Barbara Lewis, Shannon Nelson, Kathryn Jo Ottman, Nan Roche, Lynne Anne Schwarzenberg, Marie Segal (the 2012 Creative Pioneer and Innovator Award Recipient), Sarah Shriver and Laura Tabakman.  

If you haven’t attended CFCF yet, it’s an action packed one to six days of non-stop creative learning and fun and we want you to be part of it!  We will also be honoring Marie Segal with the Creative Pioneer and Innovator Award at the Tuesday evening celebration and there will be an opportunity for you to bid on some incredible items at the silent auction! 

Want to donate an item?...donation form is attached!

Review the workshops descriptions here and fill out your registration form and send it in.  It’s that easy!  Then, two (2) lucky attendees will be selected at the Tuesday night celebration. For additional information, please email cabinfeverclayfestivals@yahoo.com.   To register, download registration form here.

Kathryn Ottman
Central MD PC Guild, PCCAF and Cabin Fever Clay Fests

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Can-tastic Christmas wrapping- FaveCrafts Blog hop






Ok time for finished on the fifteenth, Favecrafts.com monthly Blog hop.
I do want the glass cutter, so if you could please go there and vote for me I would be so grateful. All you have to do is like my Can-tasic blog post on their site.
Click on the Button right here and it will take you there

Ok this one is pure genius. I learned it from my uber-talented paper buddy Jodi.
She says she learned it from someone else.
Who-ever came up with this, is brilliant, and I am having a blast giving presents wrapped this way.
The look of pure puzzlement when you give this to some one is totally worth it.
Then after they open it they are still trying to figure out how it got in there.
You can even package the gift with wrapped candies, M and M's, Beans, gummy candies, and anything else that will give it a little weight and make a noise when it shaken, because they will shake it. LOL turn it upside down and look at it like they have never seen a can before in their lives.
Of course you can always use tissue paper.

You will need:
Christmas paper or scrapbook paper for whatever holiday you are giving this for
Scissors or paper cutter
Double sided film tape
Tags
Bows and ribbon
gift that fits in the can
Pop top can (You cut the bottom off of the can)
Side cutting can opener
Packaging stuffing (suggestions above)
E-6000 glue
Ruler
Cloth Measuring tape

Cut open the bottom of the can, save the pop top side for the fun.















Empty out contents and wash and dry can thoroughly.
If you can let it dry completely for a while after wiping out.










Measure the side of the can from the bottom of the ridge where the can starts and to the bottom where the can ends.
With a cloth measuring tape measure around the center of the can for the circumference and add 1" to the measured length.
The measurement on my can is about 12 1/2".
I used scrap book paper and it is only 12" by 12" so I had to piece another strip of paper in there.







Cut the paper to the height of your can.














Add tape to can, press on and take off paper.

Add a couple of more strips about an inch apart, do not peel off paper from those










Add paper and peel off strips of paper as you go.














Cover with paper all the way around.















On the end of the paper place a strip of tape and press to the can.














Press paper to can. There is about a 1/2" left there.













Place tape on strip and place on can to cover the blank area on the can.














Like so.












Make sure your gift fits with room on the top and bottom.














Place filling in the top of the can. Remember we are working from the bottom.











Wrap ornament in a sheet of tissue and place hook side down in the can, when the person opens the can the ornament will be right side
up.











Place filling on the bottom of the ornament and gently in around the sides.
Tuck in the filling away from the edge of the can.












Glue the lid right around the edge where I am pointing with E-6000.












Place bottom on can. Turn the can over and place something heavy on top of the can till it is dry.














Wrap with ribbon and give away.
I used the paper I covered the can with to make a tag.
There you go Can-tastic wrapping.









Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Something of interest- Etsy's best

I don't usually do Etsy showcases, but in one day I was sent some interesting stores.
The first one is someone who I featured in one of my blogs Halloween weekend. She is the Day of the Dead Catrina I took a picture of at the Day of the Dead Festival.
She saw my blog and contacted me, how cool is that?
Here is the blog post
http://mariesegal.blogspot.com/2011/11/wonderful-halloween-weekend.html
She also sent me some much better pictures to share with you.
This Catrina's name is Nathaly
She has two Etsy Shops too.
One is for shoe accessories and hair baubles, Lola Lolita
http://www.etsy.com/shop/girlwithredshoes
And the other shop is a vintage finds shop with things from all over the world. La Femme Moderne
http://www.etsy.com/shop/LaFemmeModerne
Take a look at Nathaly's shops, she has incredible things in them. 
I love this blog! I am so excited to meet and know more about Nathaly and to have better pictures of her too. At the DOD Festival I wondered about her and who she was. I did not get to talk to her there at all, she was surrounded by people most of the time.
What an incredible costume.
How can it get better than this?

 The second wonderful shop is from a fellow guild member and friend, Beth. She thought I would appreciate this shop. The shop was featured in her paper on Sunday. She knows I love Day of the dead and art, so she sent me the shop only a few minutes after Nathlay wrote me. I thought this must be a blog post or something.
This my friends is Raw Bone Studio
http://www.etsy.com/shop/RawBoneStudio 
Cute, right??
These beauties come from the mind of Robin Romain.
I love these tin can skulls, It is a skull and tin can, how can it not be more perfect? Sardine cans?? Can it be my next palette? I seriously doubt it, I can not stand sardines. I will leave that to Robin  and her friend and artist Joe William Crabtree.