Making new friends... literally

How many coincidences occur in each day? I am amazed at how many I trip over. I’ll read a book about someone named “Lucy” (not that common a name anymore). In the very next book, I’ll encounter a Lucy, then on the news or in a TV show. This past week, the name Peter Saulter in two back-to-back fiction books (by different author). The coincidences I rack up in each day are just astounding. A friend of mine said that they occur in everyone’s lives but other people don’t notice them. I wonder…

So where’s the coincidence here? I was reading a couple of Piers Anthony books (don’t think I’ve picked one up in ten years). In one was a lady dragon, just as pleasant as can be (as opposed to the usual kind). At the same time I came across Polymer Clay Express’ instructions for making a scrap dragon (here). I wasn’t looking for dragons, merely scrolling though tutorials.

            It looks like the next project should be a dragon.  But, what do dragons really look like?  A search through websites and books brought up three types of dragons:  the fierce fire-breathing dragon (often shown in Asian art), a lizard with wings, and a cartoon character with a potbelly and smile.  hmmm... (Go ahead.  Do your own search.  You’ll see.)

Poly Clay Express' scrap dragon really was the place to start. This little guy was made with scraps of gold and copper clay.  His lovely mettalic finish?  Eye shadow.  (Hit your dollar store and get the shiny kind.)

A note about the eyes:  I attached a rhinestone for each eye (yellow seemed to be best for his coloring, doncha think?)  But, they actually melted a little in the oven.  For the next dragon, I pressed in the flat space and glued on the eyes later.

The wings are kind of challenging.  And it goes back to that same dilemma: what do dragons look like?  Do those wings need to hold up their weight or do they have magical strength?  (again, I think the word here is “hmmm…”)

After the gold dragon, of course, it was on to the next dragon (can't have a lonely dragon: they get into all sorts of mischief). In the spirit of "scrap dragon" I turned to my opened clay. But, in the spirit of my eternal adult ADD, there had to be a pattern to it. So, I designed a rainbow. The new dragons horns were gold and green, his neck blue, his body purple segueing into pinks (not exactly ROYGBIV but it calmed my overactive mind). I just couldn’t get his wings right and his dorsal ridge (or whatever you call it on a dragon) is way too big (we need a long session with the grinder). After he baked, I ripped off his wings while they were still soft and set him aside to await inspiration.

It was about this time I discovered Poly Clay Plan Challenge on Yahoo. Their monthly challenge is lots of fun. I looked at the upcoming challenges and, end the very next day, was the Rainbow Challenge! O.K., here I had coincidence working against me. Had I not ripped the wings off, I could have entered the challenge. *sigh*

Eventually, I made new wings from shades of purple with gold glitter and glued on his pink eyes when he was done baking.

The next month’s challenge was “black and white and red all over” and I won second prize so it worked out well in the end.

 

Ismay's necklace

Ismay is my #1 fan. She thinks my work is fun and inspired. How wonderful it is to have someone in one's life as a cheerleader. I'm sure she has no idea how much her comments mean to me. Yes, I have fans on etsy and madeitmyself.com, but it's nice to hear from someone on a regular basis.

This necklace is not the first piece I made for her. I just finished a brown bracelet because she wouldn't stop drooling over the one I made for myself. Not a fan of soggy wrists, I thought it easier to make her one of her own. It used up the last of a brown and cream cane. That means that our two bracelets are the only ones like them in the world.

The evolution of the necklace is probably quite common even if I found it remarkable at the time. I was working with two pearlescent clays, one in purple and the other in green and gold. I was experimenting with a couple of techniques at the same time, mica shift and centennial bicone beads. The result was some beautiful swirly beads with all combinations of greens, purples and gold. But, when I thought about the colors, they suited Ismay's spring coloring better than my own summer coloring. Hence, her necklace not mine.

Focal beads - There are two varieties. Some are the three colors lightly swirled. These were boldly colored beads.

Gold "pearls" - vintage beads

Mica shift beads - 4 green beads demonstrate the drama of mica shift. Unless you knew what that was about, you'd swear there were two or three shades of green clay, not just one.

Gold swirl beads and tube beads - These were used for length. The tube beads won't show except at the back of the neck so the smaller, rounder shape is more appropriate.

New bracelet - double sided tiles

I just finished what I think is a rather interesting bracelet. All of the beads and tiles are made from some rose and white canes I made recently.

One side of the bracelet is the tiles at far right. The other side is alternating graphic tiles. The beads are made from all three canes.