Willow and Me

Six Rings - Part Two

2012-02-03T19:32:00.003-05:00

I had a partially successful firing of the first three rings. A successful firing, to me, is something I don't have to do anything to after except for polishing. Unfortunately, this wasn't quite the case.

Everything sintered just fine, so in that way it was successful. The problem was with the shrinkage. It seems that shrinkage in sterling clay isn't quite as simple as I thought. In the last post, I said that the clay didn't shrink as much as the package said it would. I would like to rephrase that. The ring shanks don't seem to shrink 25 percent. The settings for the stones, however, do. The settings shrunk enough to pop out the stones on two of the rings. One was pretty simple to fix, but the other took a bit more work. In the end I did get both stones set.

The second set, with the small stones was a bit easier knowing what to expect as far as the shrinkage went.

All six came out of the carbon with a small bit of yellowish coating that was easy to remove with a scratch brush. About an hour in the tumbler was enough to brighten them up. They seem to be much stronger than the same rings in fine silver would be. I cannot bend the bands.

I loved making these rings. My favorite setting is the one with just the four corners, with the channel on just two sides running a close second. I will continue to work with sterling clay, and I want to explore the shrinkage issues a bit more.

Six Rings - Part One

2012-01-20T15:46:00.002-05:00

A while back I made a couple of rings with square stones. They weren't exactly alike, but similar enough that they went well together stacked. A customer bought them and asked me to make another, similar but not the same, so she would have three to stack. When she picked up the set, she asked if I could make three more. She wanted a total of six, three with smaller stones, three with larger.

When I made the first three, sterling silver clay was not yet available, so they are fine silver. I made them thick enough so they would be fairly strong, but I knew the two colors of silver wouldn't match perfectly. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to make all six out of the new sterling silver. They would be stronger and all six would match in color.

I made a prototype ring. I came out great, but didn't shrink as much as I thought it would. But now I have a good idea of ring shrinkage on sterling, which doesn't seem to be anywhere near the 25% shrinkage rate I have read.

So accounting for the new shrinkage factor, I started making the rings. For thin rings like this, I use a method I developed so that the ring shank is seamless (rather than cutting a strip and wrapping it around a mandrel and joining it). I started writing a blog post about the process a long time ago, but never got around to publishing it. I will give a step by step tutorial at some point, but right now I will just go over the highlights of making this particular set of rings.

I cut all the ring shanks out of sterling silver clay and left them on brass tubes so they would keep their shape while drying. It also gives you something to hold onto when working with the shanks. I usually only do a rough shape in the wet clay and do most of my work in the dry clay state.

Because I made a mistake when ordering the stones, I only had the larger stones, so I set aside three of the shanks for later and roughly set the three stones in clay. The colors are hard to see in this picture but they are deep purple, sapphire blue and ruby red. The stones are absolutely gorgeous. I may have to make something for myself with the ones I have left.

I then start filing the ring shanks so they are an even thickness all the way around. You can see in this picture that I don't cut them completely round because I want to have the top of the ring have some kind of a shape.

I put them all on the same tube so I could file them together and be sure the sizes and shapes of the shanks matched.

After I do some rough shaping of the shank, I will also roughly shape the stone setting and then attach it to the shank with slip.

In the photo below, you can see all three drying. On a couple of them, you can see marks where I have drawn out the shape in Sharpie.

After they are dry, I fill in the gaps with clay and build up areas that might need it. Once that is all done, I start on the refining of the shape. On the ring below, I wanted the stone to be held on just two sides and so I carved away the clay where I wanted it to be open. You can't see it very well in the photo because of the angle, but the opening goes under the stone and right through to the other side. Once this ring is fired, the shrinkage will hold the stone in place securely.

I also wanted to carve a little design on the sides of each ring as something special that only the wearer can really see. You can see that I have sketched it out in pencil and below shows my favorite tool for carving like this. It's just an awl with a shortened shaft. It has a nice sharp point and gives a pretty good impression.

Finally, after sanding, shaping and refining the surface on each ring, I carved a design on each. The very last thing I do before firing is to thoroughly clean the surface of the ring so that there is no dust left on it. Also cleaning the stone with alcohol is necessary because any dust left over from sanding will fuse to the stone during firing.

Here are the three rings ready to be fired. Sterling clay requires a two-part firing, which I will discuss in my next post.

Upcoming Class Schedule

2011-12-08T09:44:00.001-05:00

This winter/spring I will be teaching some classes through the RSU 24 Adult Education. I have listed them below. They will all be held at my studio, located at 130 Oak Street, Suite One (bottom floor), Ellsworth, Maine. To register, you can visit http://rsu24.maineadulted.org. Feel free to email me with any questions at info@willowandme.com.

COPPER CLAY

Mondays, January 23 and 30 and February 6 and 13, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.

With the rising cost of silver, many people are turning to alternative metals to make jewelry. In this class we will explore copper clay using Metal Clay Adventures' COPPRClay and Art Clay Copper. This class will be suitable for beginners or for those who have used other metal clays and would like to try copper clay. We will discuss the differences between the brands of copper clay as well as how they differ from other metal clays. We will learn techniques for making several pieces of jewelry. The instructor will have tools available for use in class and tool kits are available for purchase ($40). A supplies fee of $50 will be payable to the instructor on the first class, which will include a 50 gram packages of each kind of clay and other necessary supplies.

Metal clays are mediums in which metal is suspended in an organic binder which can be worked much like modeling clay. It can be shaped and molded. When fired at a high temperature the binder burns off, leaving a pure metal piece. Metal clays come in many varieties including silver, bronze and copper.

PMC FOR BEGINNERS

Saturday, March 24, 2012, 9:00 to 3:30
Bring a bag lunch (a refrigerator and microwave are available)

Learn to make your own fine silver jewelry with Precious Metal Clay. PMC is a clay with fine silver particles in an organic binder that can be worked much like any other clay, and when fired at a high temperature, the binder burns away, leaving a pure silver piece. Students will work the clay in all forms, from wet clay through the firing process. Many techniques will be covered, with plenty of time for experimentation and questions. At the end of the course, you will have, at a minimum a finished necklace and pair of earrings, as well as the skills and knowledge to work with PMC on your own. A tool kit and supplies will be available for purchase from the instructor. The cost for the tool kit, which includes everything you will need to work with PMC, a 16 gram package of PMC, and the findings to finish a necklace and a pair of earrings is $75.00. Additional PMC will be available for purchase.

BRONZE CLAY

Mondays, April 23 and 30 and May 7 and 14, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.

With the rising cost of silver, many people are turning to alternative metals to make jewelry. In this class we will explore bronze clay using Metal Clay Adventures' Fast Fire BronzClay. This class will be suitable for beginners or for those who have used other metal clays and would like to try bronze clay. We will discuss the differences between bronze clay and other metal clays and learn techniques for making several pieces of jewelry. The instructor will have tools available for use in class and tool kits are available for purchase ($40). A supplies fee of $40 will be payable to the instructor on the first class, which will include a 100 gram package of Fast Fire BronzClay and other necessary supplies.

Metal clays are mediums in which metal is suspended in an organic binder which can be worked much like modeling clay. It can be shaped and molded. When fired at a high temperature the binder burns off, leaving a pure metal piece. Metal clays come in many varieties including silver, bronze and copper.

OPEN STUDIOS: For those accustomed to coming in for Open Studios on Monday nights, on weeks that there are classes, Open Studios will be held on Tuesdays from 4:30 to 8:30. Non-class weeks will have Open Studios on Mondays as usual.

New Classes for Fall are Up!

2011-10-04T11:13:00.000-04:00

Now that it's October (I still can't believe time is going so fast!), I have finalized my list of classes for the rest of the year. For those of you who have taken my classes before, you will be familiar with the format, for everyone else: I have mixed level classes every Monday night from 5:30 to 8:30, each evening with a different subject relating to metal clay. Students are welcome to come into the studio any time after 4:00 to work independently until the class starts. Others who wish to work on their own but do not wish to participate in the class are also welcome. One thing that is different is that each class is priced separately, depending on the subject matter. Some classes go more than one week.

I have had a lot of requests for bronze and copper clay classes, since the price of silver keeps rising, so my first two classes will be quick "tastes" of bronze and copper clay. Because of the nature of firing these clays, classes must be split into two evenings. This class will be appropriate for those who have used silver clay before and want to try the bronze and copper clays, as well as for those who have never used clay before.

I will also have classes on making your own textures with some new techniques I learned when I was at Haystack as well as hollow forms and one evening dedicated to working with dry clay in which I will have lots of tips, tricks and demonstrations, including how to reconstitute clay. This is a great thing to know if you tend to accumulate a lot of shavings and leftovers.

Two Saturday workshops are also scheduled. They are geared towards beginners but any levels are welcome to participate.

I have worked hard to make it easy for you to register for classes. You can register right through my website and pay with PayPal or credit card or reserve a space and indicate you will be paying by cash or check. One thing to note is that deadline for registration for a class is one week prior to the beginning of class to be sure we have enough supplies for everyone.

You can see full descriptions of these classes as well as register at www.willowandme.com/register. Each is also on my calendar, which you can find at www.willowand.com/showschedule. I will also be adding these as events to my Facebook Page, which you can check often for updates. That will be the best place to check for cancellations as well. I am very excited about these classes. I hope to see you there.

Sterling Silver Clay

2011-09-12T16:41:00.002-04:00

One of the things I have been dying to try ever since the article came out in Metal Clay Artist Magazine is Lisa Cain's recipe for sterling silver clay. But I didn't have any PMC Pro and I didn't have an extruder.

Then I went to Haystack and met Lisa and she talked about the sterling silver clay, which, again, made me want to try it. I did have the PMC Pro, as it was one of the suggested items for the Haystack class, but still no extruder.

Ever the problem solver, I remembered a comment Lisa made during her discussion saying it was too bad there wasn't a mini bread kneader machine we could use instead of the extruder. Then a light bulb went off! Of course! I had made many a pie crust and similar items in my food processor. And it so happened I had a mini food processor/chopper that I never used. So I dug it out and gave the recipe a whirl, so to speak. I followed everything in Lisa's instructions, with the exception of the extruder. Instead, I sprayed the processor bowl and blade with some Cool Slip and broke the piece of clay into small bits and ran it through the food processor until the bits balled up together. And then I broke it up into pieces and ran it through again. I'm not sure how many times I did this, but at least 10 times. Then I wrapped the clay up and let it rest overnight.

The next day the clay was a joy to work with. It had a very creamy feel and didn't seem to dry out quickly at all. I made a test slab, two cards thick, and a ring mini-mosaic ring. The base of the ring was three cards thick with little mosaic pieces (two cards thick) attached with slip. The ring sanded wonderfully, but it broke. I think this was less the fault of the clay and more a matter of me squeezing a bit too hard on the ring. It broke cleanly, though, and I repaired it with slip.

I fired it according to Lisa's directions, which is a two-part firing. I didn't let the piece cool much after the second firing because I was too excited to see how it came out. So I dug it out of the carbon with my long-handled tweezers and quenched it. It looked much like fine silver PMC does right out of the kiln, but it was grayer in color. It brass brushed well. I tumbled the ring for about an hour and the photos show the result. I have not yet patinaed it. I have tried to pull the ring apart to test the joins I made when it broke. I can't get it to pull apart with my fingers.

The test piece bent well and didn't crack or break, unlike the PMC Pro I used earlier, which was very brittle and easy to break (and I followed the firing directions to a T).

I am very happy with the results. I didn't measure the ring pre-firing. I made it very big, keeping in mind that Lisa's article says the shrinkage on rings varies widely. It shrunk about five sizes, I would estimate, judging from the mandrel I formed it on (which is larger than any ring sizer I have). I have always worried about rings and their durability in PMC. Now I can make them in sterling. Other than rings and cuffs, I would probably stick to regular PMC because it does take quite a while to make the clay.

Thank you so much to Lisa Cain for the hard work she put into this recipe and all the testing. Her directions are very clear and easy to follow and it's thanks to her that the ring came out so well!

Haystack Wrapup

2011-09-06T15:52:00.003-04:00

Wow! The summer has gone by in a flash and so did my week at Haystack. Even Hurricane Irene, which ended up being mostly just wind in that part of the state, couldn't keep me away. Unfortunately, some people did get held up due to the hurricane.

This year we had a wonderful teacher, Patrik Kusek, and our TA was Lisa Cain. I have admired their work for years and it was like meeting a couple of rock stars for me! Patrik's teaching style was such that I immediately felt comfortable. Our focus was to be on our artistic voice, which is a challenge for me, not having come from an artistic background. We did several exercises to bring out our artistic voice and help foster creativity. It made me feel much better when Patrik said that he didn't used to consider himself artistic and when I found out Lisa creates many of her pieces without first drawing them out, as I often do.

We learned a lot of dry construction techniques, and even with those I have used before I found new and easier ways to work. We also used found objects, something I do very little of. I tried to push myself to do things differently than I normally would and the pieces I made are a bit different than my usual work, I think.

We worked on shadow boxes to practice dry construction techniques and as a way to showcase things important to us. This piece is called "Haystack 2011". The texture on the front is carved into the dry clay and is meant to look like the wood boards that are used on the interior of all the buildings at Haystack. The "window" is the shape of the buildings. The back is made with a texture that I thought looked like rough waves. I thought that was appropriate considering we arrived during Hurricane Irene (which really wasn't much in that neck of the woods - just a lot of wind). In the window, I embedded a tiny piece of green sea glass I found on the beach the morning after the hurricane.

We also made rings - something in which I need practice. My first ring is also my favorite piece of the bunch. Patrik showed us a mosaic ring he made out of many different bits of textured clay. This is my version of it, set with a very large cubic zirconia. I love this technique and I think I will do more.

The other ring I made is called "Trash and Treasure" and was inspired by another walk on the beach. I was picking up bits of broken shell, sea glass and other things I thought were pretty when it crossed my mind that those things I considered "treasures" were or had been trash to someone else. If you enlarge the picture you will see have embedded sea glass, tiny shells and bits of sea urchin shell in resin. On the bottom are bits of a piece of partially burned newspaper that I found in the woods on the same walk.

I also made a pair of earrings with the same theme.

Continuing with the found objects theme, I decided to use a piece of mica given to me by one of my classmates to encase a luna moth wing I found earlier this summer and have been keeping in my flower press ever since.

This piece is large - nearly three inches across. It looks simple, but a lot of work went into the shape and size of the frame, as well as the consideration of the best way to showcase the wing. The mica was split in half with a layer under the wing and a layer over, sandwiched in between the frame and the backing and then all layers were riveted together. It holds the wing nicely and the mica gives it a sort of sepia look.

Haystack is such a beautiful place. I don't think anyone could go there and not be creative. I hope I stretched my artistic wings a bit. I know I will use many of the brainstorming techniques I learned from Patrik! We also made a mobile with words to describe our artistic vision. I will keep mine right on my work table to remind me of Haystack and the themes I want to keep in my pieces.

One more year until the next class!

Customers' Favorite

2011-08-05T13:25:00.001-04:00


Make a Wish Brooch

Earlier this summer, I submitted two brooches to Alone Moose Gallery in Bar Harbor. It was a part of their "36 Brooches by 36 Artists" exhibit to celebrate their 36th year of business. I was glad to have the chance to make a couple of brooches because I don't make them very often.

A couple of weeks ago, I got a call from Sherry Rasmussen, the owner of the gallery, that my "Make a Wish" brooch had won "Customers' Favorite". I didn't know that the exhibit also included customers voting on their favorite, so I was pleasantly surprised to hear I had won. And my piece sold as well!

Detail of Dandelion

This is the first time one of my pieces has won anything. It's very exciting and flattering, especially since there were several artists in the exhibit whose work I admire.

Back of Brooch

The dandelion and puffs are raised and have a sort of rough feel to them. I used resin and embossing powders to get the puffy sort of look I wanted.

I originally thought that the piece that won was the other brooch I submitted, called "Fiddlehead". It is a reversible brooch with my fiddlehead design on one side and a curly stylized tree on the other. It is still on display at the gallery.


Front of Fiddlehead Brooch

Metal Clay Artist Magazine

2011-07-22T11:47:00.000-04:00

Last summer I spent a week at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. It was a wonderful week working with PMC with no limits or restrictions. One of the pieces that came out of that workshop, which explored hidden objects and containers, was my first "Peekaboo Pendant". I wear it nearly every day and it's still one of my most favorite pieces.

I've made others and they are always very popular. Last winter I taught a workshop in making them and my students made some gorgeous versions. I would have to say that, except for my Willow pendants, the Peekaboo Pendant has been my most popular design.

I have never submitted photos of my work to any publication before, but took the leap a while back and sent a few photos to Metal Clay Artist Magazine. Within a very short period of time, I received an email from the editor about my Peekaboo Pendant, wanting a one sentence description as she thought she might use it in their next issue. I excitedly held my breath, but tried not to get my hopes up too much that it would actually be used.

Last week I got my copy of the magazine - a special second anniversary issue - and quickly turned to the gallery section. There is was, right beside some really fantastic pieces by artists whose work I have admired!

Wegener's Update

2011-07-22T11:10:00.000-04:00

Every so often I get comments on my blog or emails about my entries about my struggle with Wegener's Granulomatosis. I don't write about it very often because, truthfully, I don't like to think about it too much. By that I mean that I don't want it to be the be-all and end-all of my existence. Yes, I'm a person with an autoimmune disease, but I don't want that to be my entire identity. It's always there, but it's only a small part of me. If I focus on it too much then I tend to become consumed with it, which, for me, is counterproductive. This is not to say that I don't take the disease seriously. I do. But I can't let it take over my life.

Having said that, I do feel I owe it to those who have read my Wegener's entries to give updates every so often. It's still there and requires me to ration my energy. I can pretty much do everything I always did, except I sleep more, or I pay for it. Sometimes it takes me a bit longer to recover from a big event (such as a weekend craft show). I do have trouble remembering to get my bloodwork done every other month, though. As long as I take my medicine the arthritis part of the disease (which is the symptom that affects my life the most) is manageable. I do have flares every so often and I have learned to work through them with extra pain meds, hot baths and rest. (Massages also help.) When things do get bad during a flare, I have gotten pretty good about asking for help from my family and friends.

Having a rare disease such as Wegener's can be lonely at times. Those who don't have it can't relate to some of the issues that come up. However, in this technological age, there are so many online groups that have other Wegener's sufferers who are always happy to give advice or a kind word. I personally don't know anyone else who has Wegener's, except for those I've met online, but I have received a lot of support from a couple of people I know who have Rheumatoid Arthritis. It's not the same thing, but they have similar symptoms with their joints and are on the same medications. I suppose in some ways all autoimmune diseases are the same.

So what I would like to say to anyone who reads this and is having problems is: keep your chin up. It does get better. Maybe not back to the way you were before Wegener's, but it will be a new normal that isn't so bad most of the time. And thank you all for your comments and emails. They mean a lot to me and I hope my (infrequent) posts about Wegener's help.

Arts in the Park this Weekend

2011-07-05T16:36:00.000-04:00

I'm in top gear getting a bunch of new pieces ready for Arts in the Park this weekend (July 9 and 10). It's an awesome show on the waterfront in Belfast. Come see me and all the talented artists from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Here's a sneak preview of some of the things I will have there.

I got the enameling bug and these earrings are some of the results.

Below is a closeup of one of a pair of earrings I have been working on for quite a while. They are enameled with the plique-á-jour technique, in which the enamel is wet packed into cells in the metal with no backing so the light can shine through. This was my first attempt and is my take on a lupine.

I also will have several new bronze pieces, as well as many in silver.

Next week I will start my stint at the Bangor Outdoor Market. It is a fun market in downtown Bangor on Thursdays from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. There is live music every week. It's really worth checking out.

I've moved!

2011-06-14T09:48:00.002-04:00

Not far,though!

I always knew my little studio/teaching space was temporary, and now it's officially someone else's (well, I still have a few more things to clean up). So I've moved downstairs in my husband's office. The good news is there will be more room for classes and I have access to a larger, better sink. (Those of you who have taken my classes know that I hated using the little bathroom sink.)

I will still be teaching and at my studio with the same schedule as always, which is on my calendar. You can now find my studio at:

130 Oak Street, Suite 1

(ground floor - on the State Street side of the building)

(With Herrick & Salsbury, Inc.)

Ellsworth, Maine

Right in My Own Backyard

2011-06-12T10:28:00.000-04:00

I usually write something about my business or jewelry making for my blog, but I had such a wonderful experience yesterday and I really would like to share some pictures.

My husband and I went kayaking on the Union River which runs practically right behind our house. We have been wanting to do this for a few weeks, but the tide schedule and our personal schedules have not cooperated until yesterday. We put in a the Ellsworth "harbor". I put that in parenthesis because it's not so much a harbor as a dock and a little boat ramp. Ellsworth's not a very big town but the landing is on a fairly well traveled road and there was lots of traffic. But once we put our kayaks in and got out into the river, it was so much different.

We see lots of different birds in that area, including hawks and bald eagles, many times while sitting on the bridge waiting in traffic. I saw a huge bird land in a tree, but it didn't have a white head, so I paddled over to get a closer look. I took a bunch of pictures and after enlarging them on my computer, I confirmed what I had hoped on the river: It was a juvenile bald eagle. It was pretty ragged looking, so it might have been molting. He wasn't too happy with us watching him and eventually flew away.

We also saw so many seals, I lost count. I have a lot of pictures of water where the seals were before the went back under the water, but I did get a couple of them watching us. They are quiet and you never know where they are going to pop up.

Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of the three seals swimming quickly upstream, jumping in and out of the water, like dolphins do (I'm sure there is a word for that, but I don't know what it is). They were so close that I actually got splashed.

Further downstream there were no more seals, but it was so quiet and peaceful, you wouldn't know that you were right in the middle of a town, except for seeing the occasional house and the one person mowing their lawn. I didn't get to see any otters, as I hoped I might, but we did see a peregrine falcon high up in a tree.

There were also two loons chasing each other in what Steve thought was probably some sort of mating ritual. They were too fast for me to get a picture.

I was blessed and honored to see these beautiful animals, especially so close to humans. It's amazing what you can see right in your own back yard.

Custom Pieces

2011-06-07T13:09:00.000-04:00

I've got stuff all over the place and in every stage of completion, as well as a bunch of pieces that were finished ages ago, but I haven't yet listed. Well, today is the day I took pictures of a bunch and will be listing them in my Etsy Shop over the next few days. There are also some that won't make it to my shop because they are custom orders, but I still want to share those.

I was very pleased and honored to be asked to make earrings for a bride to wear in her wedding in July. She wanted a certain color stone and I couldn't match it exactly. She and her mom saw me enameling and decided to use a color I happened to be enameling with, which was a perfect match. I rounded up the enameling so that it would look like a cabochon.

I have also made a couple of brooches for a shop in Bar Harbor that is doing a special brooch exhibit. Both are made with texture sheets, using my own drawings. The first is called "Make a Wish". The fuzzies on the dandelion are slightly raised and secured with resin.

The second is a reversible pin. The dangle part has a swirly tree design on one side and a stylized fiddlehead on the other. That part can be removed and turned over to hang on the pin portion. I suppose it could also be worn on a chain.

I used a jewelry lacquer to seal the patina for the first time on this piece. I've been afraid to because every other thing I tried ended up changing the color of the patina. This one didn't, though. I didn't spray it, but actually sprayed a pool of the lacquer onto a piece of plastic and "painted" it into the depression where the lacquer is.

If you would like to see more photos of the two pins, you can see those here.

Higher Grounds Artisan & Vintage Market

2011-06-01T14:28:00.000-04:00

I know summer has started when I announce my first show of the year. I'm looking forward to this one, which sounds like a lot of fun.

Higher Grounds Artisan & Vintage Market

Sunday, June 19th

10:00 am to 3:00 pm

119 Water Street, Hallowell

For more information visit: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=149676535104975

Hope to see you there!

Serendipity and More Adventures in Bronze and Copper Clay

2011-04-28T19:29:00.000-04:00

My last experiment combining copper and bronze clay didn't go very well, but I tried again and this time I had success! And I learned some things along the way.

First, I'll share a piece that's just bronze clay. When I take them out of the kiln, they have some fire scale and are a pinkish color. I have been polishing them with my flex shaft and some 3M Radial Disks. I decided to leave a bit of the pinkish color in the texture on this piece.

These pieces are to be earrings for myself. I wanted to make something that had all three metals I've been using, so I used one of my favorite textures (a shell with worm holes in it) and cut circles of the same size. I wanted to show the difference in shrinkage of the clays. It's kind of hard to see here, but the copper is considerably smaller. BronzClay only shrinks about 10 percent while CopprClay shrinks 15 to 20 percent. I had misread and thought they both shrunk only 10 percent, which may have been part of the problem in my last firing.

This piece is all bronze, but it I wanted to show what happened to it. I had it sitting on top of the plaid flower pendant I showed in my last post and it picked up a cool orangy patina. I decided to polish off the dragonfly and leave the rest. The picture doesn't show that there are some blues in the patina, too. I will apply a lacquer to preserve this patina.

Here is another version of the dragonfly pendant, which is made with a mold I got at Cool Tools. Here is my first bronze/copper combination. I filled the dragonfly depressions in the mold with copper and let it dry. It took a while to clean up around the dragonfly so there was no other copper in the mold. I then pressed in a thick slab of copper clay and let that dry. It came out pretty good, I think, except for a couple of cracks in the wings. You can see the difference in the colors fairly well in this photo.

This next set is to be a necklace, bracelet and earrings. It's hard to see the color difference, but it's there. Here I made bronze pieces with this design that is vaguely Japanese to me. I let those dry and then pressed them into thick slabs of copper clay and cut out frames. When I made these, I still thought that copper and bronze shrunk at the same rate. Another bit of serendipity here: The copper shrunk more, but instead of cracking, it domed the pieces, something that's a bit hard to see here.

I had some bits of both clays left and decided to see what would happen if I combined them. I made a flat piece of each, put one on top of the other, rolled them up, sliced the rolls and rolled out the pieces. It gave the clay a Mokume Gane kind of look. It worked and does show up on the fired pieces, except not as much as I would have liked, so I patinaed them with Baldwin's Patina, so the copper shows up a bit more. I will try this technique again now that I know a bit more about it and that it works. One of the keys is not to mix the clays too much or you lose the marbling.

Lastly, I will leave you with a photo of the necklace I made with the flower and plaid piece that I turned green with Baldwin's Patina. I was lucky to find these frosted glass beads that matched perfectly.

Adventures in Bronze and Copper

2011-04-24T19:42:00.000-04:00

I've been experimenting a lot with bronze and copper clay lately. I've learned to really like the bronze. I'm still on the fence about the copper but that might be because I'm allergic to copper. It makes me sneeze when I file it and itch, too. It's strange that bronze doesn't do the same thing since bronze is 90% copper.

After reading an article in Metal Clay Jewelry (a publication by Art Jewelry Magazine) about bronze and copper inlay, I thought I'd try it. Basically you stamp, carve, or somehow make a depression in one of the clays (I chose bronze), let it dry and then fill the depressions with the other clay. Pre-firing I was pleased with my pieces.

Post firing not so much. The copper in the Willow piece wasn't even visible. I tried grinding it down to see if maybe it had gotten covered or something with the bronze, but it wasn't.

The bracelet didn't come out too bad. I added Baldwin's Patina to it, which is supposed to darken the copper to a nice brown but not change the bronze.

My biggest disappointment was the brooch with the swirly leaf. I was so happy with it pre-firing. Post firing, though, showed that some of the copper "disappeared" or something. I'm really not sure what happened. I will have to go back and read the article to see what I did wrong. Here is the brooch, both pre-and post-firing. I did add Baldwin's Patina to it and it did bring out the copper more, but it also accentuated all the problems with it.

I'm thinking fine lines probably aren't the best idea for this medium. And maybe I need to make my impressions a bit deeper. I am intrigued enough with this technique to keep experimenting.

The last piece, the flower shape with the tulip in the center came out okay if you didn't know that the tulip was supposed to be copper. It also "disappeared". It can't have burned away because copper fires at a higher temperature than bronze and I fired at the bronze schedule. Plus it's still there in that there isn't a depression where it's supposed to be. It's just bronze colored now. I think I will play with the firing schedule a bit with a slower ramp time and see if that helps.

I patinaed this piece with the Baldwin's as well. The directions say not to let it dry on the piece, but this is what happens when you do. You get a nice bluish green similar to verdigris, which I decided to keep. I've protected it with a layer of Renaissance Wax.

Back in the studio I have another experiment with verdigris type patina which I decided to leave over the weekend. I'm interested to see how it turns out tomorrow.

Buttons!

2011-04-06T20:26:00.000-04:00

I have been thinking about making buttons for a long time, but I had my doubts about whether people would spend the money to buy fine silver buttons. And the price of silver isn't going to go down any time in the near future!

So I pulled out my bronze clay and my copper clay last week to make beads for the Beads and Baubles Show and decided to try a few buttons. I have plans to make more designs in copper and also some in bronze at some point. You can see them in my Etsy shop or at the Beads and Baubles Show this weekend.

A Sure Sign of Spring

2011-03-25T10:15:00.000-04:00

Even though the snow that keeps falling from the sky and the cold temperatures seem to indicate otherwise, I know Spring is on its way because my first show of the season will be next month. That is the Beads and Baubles Downeast Spring Show. I've been working hard making handmade PMC beads and will also have a selection of my finished jewelry for sale. Most of the beads and pendants that I will have at the show will be brand new and will not be listed anywhere else for sale until after the show, so here's your chance to grab up some new focal beads for your jewelry designs. Below is a sneak peek at some of the beads and over the next week or so I will be showing more previews here and on my Facebook page.

There will also be many other bead and jewelry artists with many beads and finished jewelry to choose from. It has been an awesome show in the past and looks to be just as good this year.

I have also been accepted into several shows this year, including one new (and big) one for me:

Arts in the Park, Heritage Park, Belfast, Maine on July 9 and 10.
Bangor Outdoor Market, Downtown Bangor, Maine - Thursday evenings beginning July 14
Common Ground Country Fair, Unity, Maine, September 23 through 25
The Gifted Hand Fine Art and Craft Show, Ellsworth, Maine, November 11 and 12

As always, you can check my calendar for upcoming shows as well as PMC Classes I will be offering.

Sweetland Retreat and My Upcoming Class

2011-01-20T15:35:00.000-05:00

Thank you to Jamie Ribisi-Braley of Sweetland Retreat for sending me a copy of an article that was published in the Kennebec Journal. The article is about Sweetland (which is an awesome place by the way) and has a great mention of my upcoming Peekaboo Lentil Bead Class. I've converted the article into a photo document. If you click on it you should then be able to click again to zoom in and read it. If you can't, I've saved a larger copy on my website, which you can see here.

Fun with Enamels

2011-01-09T19:30:00.000-05:00

I've wanted to try enameling for almost as long as I've been working with PMC. Finally, I broke down and bought myself an enameling on metal clay kit from Thompson Enamel, which comes with ten enamel colors. I have done a few test firings of the colors and tried my hand and wet packing two pieces. They aren't perfect, but I am pretty happy with the way they came out, since it was my first time.

I can tell already that I am going to like enameling. I love the look of the transparent colors and can't wait to try some more (I've already ordered a few more colors).

The heart shaped piece above was made using the impression of a very interesting shell I purchased from Pixie Supplies.

The above photo was taken from Pixie Supplies' shop: http://www.etsy.com/listing/54903677/true-heart-shell.

Mixed Levels PMC Class

2011-01-03T14:38:00.002-05:00

I have confirmed the dates of the Mixed Levels PMC class I will be teaching at Ellsworth High School. They will be listed below, along with the subjects I plan to cover that day. The course is 12 weeks long, broken up into three four-week sections. You can sign up for one or any of the sections, depending on your schedule. The first week of each section will be devoted to beginners' information or review of some basic information if there are no beginners. You can sign up for the classes here: http://ellsworth.maineadulted.org/. As of this writing, however, no classes have been listed on the website so keep checking.

The schedule and planned subjects are below. All classes are on Monday nights (there will be no class on school holidays) from 5:30 to 8:30 at the Ellsworth High School Art Room.

Part 1:
February 7: Beginners
February 14: Back to Basics: Working with Greenware
February 28: Back to Basics: Finishing, Polishing and Burnishing
March 7: Back to Basics: Working with Slip/Paste

Part 2:
March 14: Beginners/Review
March 21: Making Bails
March 28: Pinbacks and Soldering
April 4: Fixing Breaks and Mistakes

Part 3:
April 11: Beginners/Review
April 25: Patina: Liver of Sulphur
May 2: Catch Up/Students' Choice
May 9: Catch Up/Students' Choice

Important note: The Adult Ed Program will be requiring a minimum number of students to be registered for the class to go forward. If for some reason there aren't enough students to meet that minimum but there is some interest in the class, I will consider the possibility of holding independent classes.

I have a number of other classes coming up including a Peekaboo Lentil Bead Workshop at Sweetland Retreat in Manchester. You can check my calendar on the right side of my blog for dates and links.

Metal Clay Heads Giveaway

2010-12-07T15:28:00.000-05:00

Every other month my fellow Metal Clay Heads and I do a giveaway on our blog and feature the artist who is giving away the piece. This time it's me who is being featured. You can see the blog post here:
http://metalclayheads.blogspot.com/2010/12/turning-nature-into-lifetime-treasure.html#comments

I am truly humbled and very pleased by the comments so far. Thank you all so much for your support.

Holiday Shopping Schedule

2010-12-01T10:09:00.005-05:00

I am very excited to announce that I will have times for viewing and purchasing my handcrafted jewelry, just in time for the holidays! Beginning Friday, December 10 through Monday December 20, I will have studio and retail hours at 130 Oak Street, Suite 2, Ellsworth, Maine (beside Hewins Travel). Please come by and visit! The hours will be:

Holiday Shopping Schedule

Friday, Dec. 10 and 17: 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 18: 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Monday, Dec. 13 and 20: 12:00 noon to 4:00 p.m.

Additional hours by appointment

130 Oak Street, Suite 2, Ellsworth (Beside Hewins Travel)

www.willowandme.com • info@willowandme.com

(207) 460-1077

My jewelry will still be available for purchase at www.willowandme.etsy.com.

Metal Clay Class and Open Studio Schedule

2010-12-01T10:01:00.002-05:00

I'm pleased to announce the schedule for my Metal Clay Class and Open Studio Hours, which will be held Mondays beginning December 6, from 4:00 to 8:30. The hours are open to those who would like to work with metal clay in the company of other metal clay enthusiasts and have access to tools and materials. Each week at 5:30 a new technique will be demonstrated and discussed:

Technique demonstrations begin at 5:30

Dec. 6: Make a framed photo pendant or pin
Dec. 13: Photo inlay with resin
Dec. 20: Rubber stamp making
Dec. 27: Polymer clay tearaway technique
Jan. 3: Lentil beads

These will be at 130 Oak Street, Suite 2, Ellsworth, Maine (beside Hewins Travel)

$15 per evening, plus materials purchased includes use of tools, kiln firing and instructor assistance ~ please pre-register

Advance reservations are requested. Please call (207) 460-1077 or email info@willowandme.com

New Classes and an Announcement!

2010-11-17T16:43:00.003-05:00

I have some new classes and exciting news to share with you! First the classes:

Fine Silver Pendant Workshop
Saturday, December 11, 10:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Greene's Hill Artisan Studio, 65 Ellsworth Road, Blue Hill
Cost: $60 (includes PMC and findings to finish necklace)

To register, call (207) 374-5148 or 1-866-676-7530

Using rubber stamps, natural items or a variety of items with interesting textures, you will create a one of a kind fine silver pendant from (PMC) Precious Metal Clay. You will come away with a finished necklace and a taste of working with PMC. This is a short, project-driven workshop. While some background and information on PMC will be given, the focus will be on making and finishing the piece. All skill levels are welcome.

All materials and tools will be supplied by the instructor, including the PMC and the findings to finish your necklace.

If you have ever wanted to try PMC, this is a great chance to try it without the pressure of purchasing tools. PMC is a very easy-to-use medium which allows even beginners to make beautiful, pure silver jewelry.

I have also submitted a proposal to Ellsworth Adult Ed. for a mixed level PMC class. It will start sometime in January. It will be on Monday nights from 5:30 to 8:30, but I do not have a start date yet. Once I do, I will let you know.

In addition, I hope to be teaching a class at Sweetland Retreat in January or February on making a peekaboo lentil bead. The proposal has been submitted and once dates and times have been ironed out I will post more details here.

And finally, some exciting news for me: Beginning December 6th, from 4:00 to 8:30, I will be having PMC Open Studio evenings. The students taking my current class have expressed a desire to continue even after the last class on November 29th, so I have arranged for temporary space at 130 Oak Street, Suite 2, Ellsworth, Maine (it's the office right beside Hewin's Travel).

The studio will be open for anyone who wishes to come meet and work with other PMC enthusiasts. Everyone is welcome to work on their own using any tools and materials I have available. I will also be there for assistance and direction should anyone need that. There will be one kiln firing each evening, between 7:00 and 7:30 and anyone attending can put pieces in. I hope to cover one topic each evening as well. I am working on a schedule and will post that when it's all worked out. The number of weeks this will run depends on when the January Adult Ed class begins.

The charge for an evening will be $15, and I will have a limited amount of supplies and PMC available for purchase. If you wish to have something specific, that I don't have available, let me know and I can order it and have it for you for the next class.

Currently, I am asking that people notify me in advance by telephone: (207) 460-1077 (leave a message if I can't answer) or by email: info@willowandme.com if they intend on attending the first evening. At the first evening's class, I will have a sign up sheet for the next weeks' classes. If you cannot attend the first week, let me know which weeks you can attend by calling or emailing.

These studio evenings are intended for those with some basic knowledge of metal clay, if you have never worked with metal clay, you may wish to take the December 11th pendant class, which will give you a taste of working with PMC, or the January Adult Ed class which is intended for both beginners and more advanced students.

It is my hope that I will be able to expand these nights further to some weekend classes and workshops as well as other open studio times. That is dependent in large part on the numbers of people interested. So if this sounds like something you may like, please attend! Thanks.

I would like to add a word of thanks here as well: I have truly enjoyed teaching PMC and I want to thank Joy and Jamie of Sweetland Retreat who gave me the chance to teach my first class, as well as the students in that class who were very patient with me. The students in my current Adult Ed PMC class also deserve thanks: Mary, Tess, Deb, Beth, Amy, Jeani, Kristen, Hilde and Vicky have encouraged me right along and helped spark the idea of this open studio time. Thanks to all of you!

Sneak Peek and the Gifted Hand Show

2010-11-11T08:21:00.001-05:00

I've been furiously working to make a few new things for the Gifted Hand Show,which is tomorrow and Saturday at the Ramada Inn (formerly the Holiday Inn) in Ellsworth. Click here for more information on the show.

Here's a sneak peak. I've made some new designs as well as a few of my most popular pieces. Some of them go quite fast at shows, so be sure to get there early if there's something you might be interested in.

I will also be doing something slightly different for some of my pendants. They will be available to purchase separately from chains for those who have their own necklaces. There will also be a selection of sterling silver chains and rubber and leather cords for purchase with the pendants.

Hope to see you there!

Gratitude

2010-11-05T17:23:00.005-04:00

Gratitude Wood Letters by Such Simple Gems

I have something I really need to say... Thank you!

Who am I thanking? You. If you are reading this, I'm thanking YOU! Why? Well, because you are reading this. You're either reading it because you follow my blog or you are a Facebook fan and for both of those things, I want to thank you. I do keep an eye on the numbers of followers I have both here and on Facebook and both those numbers have been steadily increasing. Thanks to a good friend who shared my Facebook page with tons of people, I have a whole boatload of fans on my Facebook page. I thought it would reach a point where the numbers would stay steady, but they have continued to slowly climb.

I have fewer followers of my blog, but still many more than I ever imagined I would have. And I appreciate each and every one of you. Some of you I know through my Etsy teams: the Etsy Maine Team and the Metal Clay Heads Team, while others I don't know at all. I'm not sure how you found me or what your reasons are for following my blog (or fanning me on Facebook) but I want you to know that I certainly am grateful.

And I would like to hear from you. What would you like to see on my blog and on my Facebook page? I try not to overdo the spammy sort of things, and try to post things that will either be informative or entertaining to you. When I try a new technique, I like to let you all know of it, but are there other things you would like to see? On my Facebook page, I try to limit my postings to things metal clay or jewelry related and any new items I list on my Etsy shop. Would you like to see more? Or maybe less?

I am truly interested in your opinions and value each and every one. Please feel free to post suggestions and opinions in the comments section on my blog or Facebook page, or you can email me if you prefer: info@willowandme.com.

I wish there was a way to thank each of you separately, but I respect people's privacy and don't want to spam you so I thought this might be a better way to do so.

Appreciation Cards by Little Gracie Cards

Finally!

2010-11-02T18:42:00.001-04:00

That's "Finally!" for two reasons: Finally, I am updating my blog because FINALLY I had a bronze clay firing that actually went right. Prior to this, I've done two batches, with a total of four pieces and only one actually came out useable. One over-fired and melted and the other two cracked and are unfixable. So it was with fingers crossed but without high hopes that I put this last batch in.

I should say that I'm using the new "Fast Fire" BronzClay. You can read about my first attempts at using it here. I have not used the original BronzClay so I can't compare the two.

So what did I do differently in this firing to make it successful? Absolutely nothing that I can tell. I think it was just luck or happenstance. Other than that the only difference was size and shape of the pieces. The larger pieces were completely flat and the other pieces were quite small. I made some plaques that are to be Christmas Tree ornaments.

And here is a photo of a couple that I have finished. The round plaques are about 1 3/4 inches in diameter.

I also made some bells. Ever since I went to Haystack this past summer, I was inspired by Donna Penoyer's whistles. I have though it would be really interesting to make my own type of musical instrument and after having read that large bells are generally made from bronze, I thought the bronze clay would be a good medium to try for bells. My favorite is previewed at the beginning of this post and all are shown below. They do actually ring and each makes it's own sound, apparently dependent on the size and shape of the bell. The tallest of these bells is about 1 1/2 inches. These were experiments but I had so much fun making them I would like to make more, maybe even some that could be tiny earrings!

It's great to have a medium that doesn't limit me as to the size of pieces. PMC is and will always be my favorite, but I can't imagine making large Christmas ornaments out of it - they would have to be so expensive! I can only hope that my future firings will be this successful because I would love to experiment more.

The Making of a PMC Piece: The Video

2010-10-13T20:36:00.001-04:00

I have posted before that I have a slideshow that I show on an electronic frame when I'm at craft fairs explaining the process of making a PMC piece and I photos of that slideshow on this blog a while back.

I have been working on the slideshow and have created a Powerpoint presentation that has transitions and animation and I think looks a bit sleeker. I've used a website called AuthorStream to convert it to a format that is viewable on my blog as well, so here is a short video on the making of a PMC piece. It doesn't have any sound and it's about 3 long. I hope you like it!

the making of a pmc piece

See more presentations by willowandme | Upload your own PowerPoint presentations

Upcoming Classes

2010-09-15T10:52:00.001-04:00

I've finally worked out the details for some new classes with Ellsworth Adult Ed. I'm very excited to be teaching these. The first will be a Beginner's PMC Class which will be on Mondays from October 4 through the 25th from 5:30 to 8:30. The second class, on Mondays for three weeks, beginning November 1, is called "PMC Experimentation" and will be a bit more informal. It will cover some of the subjects that the students in the first class would like to go into in more depth. If no one has anything in particular, I will cover things like adding color to your PMC work and perhaps hollow forms if time permits.

If you are interested in taking either or both of these classes, you can register with Ellsworth Adult Ed here: http://ellsworth.maineadulted.org/courses/course/precious_metal_clay_pmc_for_beginners
http://ellsworth.maineadulted.org/courses/course/precious_metal_clay_pmc_experimentation

The dates and times on the listings are sort of messed up right now, but I have been in touch with the Adult Ed schedulers and they assure me that the classes will be held on Mondays and are as I have listed above.

Haystack

2010-09-09T20:49:00.000-04:00

I just recently spent a week at the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle, Maine. It was an absolutely magical week! I took a week-long workshop in Precious Metal Clay called Holding Dear and Breaking Free: Dynamic Hollow Forms in PMC with Donna Penoyer, an extremely talented PMC artist.

Haystack is built on the side of a mountain overlooking the sea. I needed only to look out the window I sat beside to have beautiful views. I am really bad about taking pictures, but there are plenty on Haystack's website and I encourage you to visit it as well as Donna Penoyer's site.

The atmosphere at Haystack is one that promotes creativity. There's a special energy running through the place. With many workshops running concurrently, there are students exploring many art disciplines. During this particular session there were workshops in clay sculpture, glass, blacksmithing, writing, book making and basket weaving. I felt immediately comfortable there, arriving in time for dinner and orientation on Sunday evening.

The food is phenomenal and all meals are provided so that all you have to do is think about creating. Our studio started right off after the orientation with introductions. There was a good mix of experienced PMC artists (extremely talented artists) and newbies. All of the people in the PMC workshop were artists in some discipline and several were silversmiths.

We were encouraged right from the beginning to push our creativity and technical skills and to try new things. As I have said before here, I have never really considered myself an artist, never having had formal artistic or design training, but through some discussions, Donna helped inspire me to think differently about what I was working on and to make it more than just a piece of clay, but something with meaning. We focused on containers, hollowforms and hidden objects, but were not by any means limited to those.

During the week, I was able to get to know many of the others taking the workshop. Due to the closeness of our workbenches, there were some I got to know a bit better than others, but everyone I met was wonderful. Donna is an outstanding teacher, giving plenty of demonstrations and instruction, but also allowing us time to explore on our own. She was always available to answer questions I had, technical or otherwise. Donna has worked with PMC just a bit longer than I have and I am so impressed by her work, which is very intricate and detailed. Her specialty is PMC whistles and we had a chance to make a small one.

It was so wonderful just to be able to create without worrying about interruptions or whether or not I would be able to sell a piece. To create for the sake of creating is a luxury I haven't had very often. The array of tools Donna had available for us to use, as well as the metalsmithing tools in the studio allowed me stretch a bit. The creative atmosphere of the people in my group made it a magical time for me. My life is rooted firmly in the reality of a stay-at-home mother and all that entails, so being able to put all of that aside to focus on something as enjoyable to me was a gift.

My only regret is that I did not stay there. I registered as a day student and commuted an hour each way every day. I think I missed out on a lot that way as I didn't get to socialize with the others in my group as much as I would have liked. There were nightly lectures by the teachers, but I only stayed that late one night. Apparently there were also several late nights in the studio, the stories of which I would listen to with envy the next day. I regret not being able to get to know some of the people better. To be with others who love working with PMC as much as I do was another gift, one that I don't often experience.

I hope to be able to take more workshops at Haystack and I also hope I will be able to take another class with Donna Penoyer. She definitely has a talent for teaching and for working with PMC. I told her I wanted to be her when I grow up and I truly mean that. I admire her work and what a wonderful, happy, encouraging person she is. (Thank you, Donna, for inspiring me!)

The ring at the beginning of this blog post was made at Haystack, with my own texture sheet (we learned several techniques for making your own textures) and the piece below is entitled Look What I Have and was inspired by one of our discussions about hidden objects and containers. Other pieces I made at Haystack can be seen here.

Wegener's Update

2010-08-28T08:31:00.000-04:00

It occured to me recently that after all I wrote about my Wegener's Granulomatosis last April, I haven't said a thing about it since. Usually I don't like to bore people with my aches and pains and whatnot, but since you all were so wonderful sitting through my whining that month, I thought I'd let you know what's been going on since.

I have found a local rheumatologist who is awesome and is working with my Boston doctor well. My first local rheumatologist was a strange chick indeed and didn't play well with others.

I have been trying for months to get off of prednisone with no success. Everytime I'd get down to a low dose, the arthritisy pains, especially in my hands and wrists, would come back. Then I went on vacation to Prince Edward Island and ran out of meds. I don't know if it was the relaxation or what but I didn't hurt. So I just kept not taking the prednisone. Now, about five weeks later, I have some morning stiffness, especially in the wrists and elbows, but generally I'm feeling pretty good. Naprosen seems to take care of the occasional little flair. I've also stopped doing my inhalers and, knock on wood, I can still breathe okay. My new rheumatologist has suggested that I can try to go without the singulair and see how I feel. That would be another pill down.

I recently went to Boston to see my doctor down there and as long as I'm still feeling okay come December, I can start tapering off the methotrexate too. Yay! That one is what keeps the immune system from attacking me but it also causes me to get some really lovely infections. Or rather it stops my body from fighting off infections, so I get everything going.

So all in all things are going well. I hope now that I'm off prednisone I can lose some weight. My ultimate goal is to get to a point where I've only got to take a multivitamin, some vitamin D and maybe my antidepressant. That's the one pill I don't think I'll ever be rid of. Or at least I don't want to. Every time I've tried over the years has been a very bad scene so in the interest of my sanity and that of those who have to live with me, I'll continue on that.

So that's my update. For the moment, the Wegener's is being kept at bay. If all goes well when I taper off the methotrexate, we may be looking at the R word (remission), but I don't like to say it too loud yet, just in case. Don't want to jinx anything. I know I'll have some bad days, but hopefully they will be few and far between.

SALE!

2010-08-27T11:50:00.001-04:00

Now through September 8th I am having a sale in my Etsy shop. It's 20% off everything in the shop. Even things that are already marked down - and there are a bunch of them scattered throughout the shop. I will refund the 20% via PayPal. And check out my Facebook page for something special!

I'm also very excited to announce that I will be in a week long class at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts next week. An entire week to play and experiment with PMC will be heaven and I can't wait! I will be home at night and so will still be able to check my Etsy shop and messages, though.

Fast Fire BronzClay - My First Look

2010-08-19T12:39:00.000-04:00

I have had a packet of Fast Fire BronzClay sitting on my bench beckoning to me for a week or so, but I haven't been able to sit down and try it. Finally, I was able to make some time.

I have not used the regular BronzClay due to the long firing time required. Turns out my kiln, which is a fiber kiln not a fire brick one, is probably not ideal for long firings like that anyway. I have tried both of the copper clays: ArtClayCopper and CopprClay and the jury is still out on them. I haven't been able to get consistent results from them like I have with PMC. PMC3 will always be my favorite, I think.

I had read that the new BronzClay feels like marshmallow. I can't compare to the old, but I can say that I do see why people would say that. It's got a lighter, less dense, feeling than silver or copper clay. I kind of liked the feeling. It didn't seem to dry out too quickly and took a texture quite well. I only bought 30 grams, which didn't go very far because I made a fairly large and thick piece from a butterfly metal stamping.

Once dry, the BronzClay feels more flexible than silver and copper. Silver, especially, is fairly rigid when fully dry, but the BronzClay was bendable and I was afraid I would break it. It feels softer when filing it as well. Wet clay seems to stick well to dry so it's easy to fill cracks and holes.

I fired it in carbon for two hours at 1525 degrees as per the directions. I put it in the kiln before I went to bed and just waited until morning to take it out. It was covered with a crust (oxidation) that wouldn't easily wash off in running water (although the instructions said that it would). Pickling removed some, but polishing with my 3M polishing wheels removed it better (I started with the yellow wheel and moved up).

I am not entirely happy with the finished product. The bottom of the butterfly's left wing has lost some detail and also has some pitting, and it was hard to remove the crusty stuff from the pits. I bent the wings a bit to put the butterfly in a bit of a curve and it separated from the part of the body that I had added to the wings. It does seem to be sintered all the way through, though.

Here is a photo of the bronze piece (right) beside the metal stamping I used for the design to illustrate the shrinkage, which is significant. Even though they look the same color in this photo, the bronze butterfly is a nice warm gold, but polishing did not get it as shiny as I expected. I did not try tumbling it.

All in all, it might be worth trying again. Like the copper clays, I think I will have to experiment a lot before I can rely on it to do what I expect every time, like silver clay does.

One final note: I found when first working with copper clay that I must be sensitive to copper, as my hands itched and I sneezed a lot when working with the dust. Unfortunately, the bronze clay gave me the same reaction, which only stands to reason since bronze is an alloy that includes copper.

New Gallery Pieces

2010-08-12T19:56:00.003-04:00

A while back I mentioned that I was accepted into a gallery and I have been working on pieces for them ever since. I'm very excited to announce that today I sent a package to Trinket & Fern in Portland with some new pieces made especially for them as well as some pieces chosen from my inventory to compliment the rest.

With an eye toward Fall, I made some leaf pieces with autumn colors.


Maple Leaf Necklace

Autumn Leaves Post Earrings

Autumn Leaf Necklace

As well as a more subdued set.

Leaf Impression Necklace

Leaf Impression Earrings

My favorite piece is this Sea Urchin Necklace with a champagne cubic zirconia in the center and a sterling silver chain that was hand-knit by me.

As I said, I have also chosen a few pieces from my current inventory, including my Copper and Silver Flowers and Leaves set, a bracelet and a butterfly necklace. To see the whole collection and for some alternate views, you can click here.

Also, a reminder: I will be at the Winter Harbor Lobster Festival this Saturday from 9:00 to 4:30. I will have some new pieces for that show in nautical and botanical themes. I hope to see you there.

Lastly, some news: For those of you who have been interested in taking one of my classes, but cannot during the day, I am working on something in the evening. I'll post more information as I have it.

Time Flies When You're Having Fun (?)

2010-08-10T18:57:00.000-04:00

Wow! Has it been a week already since my last blog post? By this time I had planned to have a blog post all written about the new Fast Fire BronzClay I received, but I haven't even opened the package yet. I'm itching to, but I have been busy... Mostly I've been busy being sick with a nasty non-strep throat infection. Thanks to the medication that keeps my autoimmune disease from attacking my body, other organisms can sneak in and wreak havoc. I'd like to say I've lost weight because eating anything felt like swallowing razor blades, but I'm sure the high calorie ice creams I managed to choke down made up for any calories I might have lost.

But I've tried to keep busy. I have been accepted to a gallery in Portland for which I am making new pieces and a show this weekend as well (Saturday: Winter Harbor Lobster Festival). I am working on pieces and displays for that. I have been able to procure some more louvered closet doors (cheap!) and I'm expanding the upright displays I first tried in Belfast. I'll post photos once I'm done.

In the meantime, a sneak peak at what I'm putting in the kiln.

And what has been out of the kiln and is in various stages of finishing.

And don't forget to check out the first ever giveaway by the Metal Clay Heads going on right now! It's going to be awesome!

A Couple of Little Changes

2010-08-04T12:37:00.001-04:00

I'm always trying to make my life easier, especially when it comes to updating my website. A while back I made some changes so that my blog feeds directly to my site so I don't have to put important things in manually. That saves a ton of time. Another time saver has been linking my website to my Flickr page so I don't have to manually make new pages for photos every time I want to add new pieces to my gallery. Now I just upload to Flickr.

And now I have discovered Google Calendar, so instead of just having a list of upcoming events, I have a calendar which I update on Google and then it's automatically updated on my website. There are also some tools for my followers, too. You can go into my calendar to get more information on an item (I think you might even be able to map it with Google maps, but I haven't tested it yet). The calendar is also searchable and can be viewed in several formats. For those who want to be reminded of events on my calendar there is a button for that, too. And for those who want to add my whole calendar to their calendar or get a feed of my calendar, you can do that as well. I was thinking the search tool might be useful for those looking for upcoming classes. Here is the page: http://www.willowandme.com/showschedule.html

I have also put a feed of my upcoming events on my blog and you can click on any of them for more information.

For those of you on the Etsy Maine Team, I am trying to work on something similar for our team site so that everyone's events, shows, etc. will be on there and easily searchable.

Probably many of you who are more tech-savvy than I will have known about this for a long time. I have known for a while that there was probably a way to do it, but I just hadn't taken the time to investigate and figure it all out. I hope that this little change will be useful to you and time saving for me!

Slacking ...

2010-07-28T22:03:00.000-04:00

I have just realized that I haven't done a blog post since before I went on vacation. Oops... I'd like to say I've been busy working hard since I got back, but I've also been visiting with friends, both new and old but newly found.

Vacation was a very restful week on Prince Edward Island, which is beautiful and quiet - just what I needed. Lots of farmland (with some very tame foxes) and gorgeous beaches with the coolest looking rocks. I even found some sea glass. I did have a brief encounter with the Canadian health care system, which was brief and relatively inexpensive and painless. I have no complaints there and the out of pocket expenses were probably not much more than I would spend here with copays and deductibles.

I got to hear a lot of people speaking French and even listened to a bit of French radio. I'm pleased to say that I understood a good part of it. Unfortunately, I chickened out and didn't dare to speak French to the family in the camper right behind us. I spent a lot of time just reading (Under the Dome by Stephen King, which I highly recommend - the best I've read by him in a long time).

They have lots of wind turbines (not windmills as my son informed me - they are not grinding anything). There has been a lot of talk about wind farms here so I was quite curious. These things are absolutely huge and there are several wind farms on PEI. We saw one that had at least 50 turbines.

I can honestly say that I found them graceful in the way they turned and I didn't think they took away from the beautiful vistas at all. At the large wind farm, we got out and listened, because there has been lots of talk around here about how noisy they are. To me, they sounded much like wind in the trees with an occasional mechanical humming - much less loud than the traffic on the road in front of my house. I know there are some that will disagree with me, but I didn't see any problem at all with them.

And now back to work. Here's a sneak peek at what's on my bench right now. I have 48 grams of clay in various forms drying right now, including pieces for some more sea urchin stuff and some sand dollar pieces as well. Willow pendants have been selling well so I am making a couple more of those. I don't have very many bracelets in inventory right now, so I have plans for some. I hope to work on some copper clay this weekend, but I also may be visiting with some friends. I haven't spent time with friends in so long and it's delightful to have a bit of a social life again. Also, I have just ordered some new bronze clay which I am excited to try. Hopefully, I will have some finished projects to post soon, but I also have some socializing to do. You know what they say about all work and no play...

Back and Forward

2010-07-13T21:08:00.001-04:00

This past weekend I had a phenomenal time at the Belfast Arts in the Park. On Saturday it rained for a bit in the afternoon but it didn't stop the people from coming out. Sunday was a different story. It rained all day, but I was surprised at the number of people who ventured out anyway.

I changed my booth setup a bit, removing a couple of tables and using some old louvered closet doors as makeshift walls on which I hung flat neckforms. I was very pleased with the look. The "wall" contained my beaded jewelry and the tables my PMC and silver pieces.

This week, I will be taking some much needed time off. I will be leaving my Etsy shop open for browsing and purchasing but items won't be shipped until July 22. Have a wonderful week. I will leave you here with a picture of Daisy, the very cute and well behaved dog who belonged to the booth directly behind me (in fact, in the photos of my booth she is asleep under the umbrella that is under the tree).

Custom Pieces

2010-06-29T17:44:00.000-04:00

I like making custom pieces. It gives me a chance to try something different. I thought I would give you a peek at the custom orders I have made lately.

Thank you to all who requested these custom pieces for the privilege of working with you!

On Perfection

2010-06-22T18:32:00.001-04:00

I like to walk alone because that's my time to think. This morning I was also on the hunt for some leaves and flowers to use in a class I will be teaching this coming weekend. As I stood looking at a bush, trying to decide on the perfect leaf, I thought of that word: Perfect. Perfection. What is it? What was I looking for?

The idea of perfection is something that I have been chasing all my life. As they say, we are our own worst critic, and I am sure that is true for me. I measure myself by that elusive perfect and always fall short in my own eyes. But I don't expect perfect from others. Why should I expect it for myself? I suppose I could trace it back to something in my childhood or spend forever talking about it in therapy. In fact, I have talked about it in therapy. A lot. It is the root of all my problems, I am sure, my pursuit of perfection.

My brain equates imperfect with not good enough. In everything: The way I look, the things I do, the jewelry I make. But, the truth is, I am imperfect. So are you. So is everyone. If you think you're perfect, then you have more problems than I do.

I give great advice. To other people. So when I think about something like this, it's best for me to think about how I would talk to someone else about it. So here's the part where I tell you that imperfect does not equal not good enough and that it most likely is not only good enough it is the best it can be.

If I keep telling myself this, maybe one day I will believe it. I am what I am and I'm not perfect. But I do my best and, while that is not perfect it is the best I can do. It's tiring and self-defeating to continue to chase perfection. Also, futile. And our imperfections are what make us who we are and aren't necessarily bad. What I see as an imperfection in a piece of jewelry I have made, someone else sees as a quality that comes from being handmade, or they don't see it at all. Like Willow's eyes. Crossed eyes are considered a defect in the Siamese breed and a disqualifier in shows. But I wouldn't have her anyway else. Her crossed eyes make her the goofy-looking, clumsy, sweet cat that she is.

I know I would tell you here, if you asked, to accept your imperfections, and perhaps even embrace them, but while I think I've become a bit easier on myself as I have aged, I'm not sure I'm ready for that.

As I thought of these things, I chose my leaves. And they are not perfect, but they beautiful as they are and the best they will be.

Where is everything?

2010-06-17T13:55:00.001-04:00

If you've been in my Etsy shop in the last couple of days, you may have noticed there are less pieces in there. Where'd they go? Well, to two shops for consignment:

The Barking Dog on Sargent Street in Winter Harbor, owned and run by Jane Keegan. This shop has some awesome handcrafted things, including Jane's needlefelted animals (and, of course, my jewelry), all by local people.

Findings on Main Street in Ellsworth owned and run by Kaylie Rosborough. Findings is a new shop in Downtown Ellsworth that sells beautiful things including jewelry and clothing. I didn't have time to look through it completely (there's even an upstairs), but if the first floor is any indication, the things she sells are quality hand made, mostly local.

So check out these cool shops and look for more new things to replace what I have taken out. If you have suggestions for pieces I should attempt, please let me know! I'm always looking for new ideas and inspiration.

BIG Sale

2010-06-14T08:40:00.000-04:00

Hello friends and followers. I have decided to have a big sale in my Etsy shop: 25% off everything in my shop. I've never had such a big sale. It will run from today through Midnight EST on Sunday, June 20th. It will include everything in my shop, including those things that are already on sale.

A couple of things you should know: For this week, I will be suspending any gifts to charity that normally would go along with purchases (Hope Jewelry and Willow Jewelry), because, unfortunately I can't afford to do both. This sale does not include custom orders, but does include everything else in my shop. I will refund the 25% to you via PayPal.

Also, I will be going through my inventory today and tomorrow and removing things to take to a couple of consignment shops in my area. I don't know yet what I will be taking out so if there is something you really want from my shop, you should let me know that so I will keep it in there for you. I don't know when I will be adding new items to my Etsy shop, either.

If you are not in the market for jewelry, I would appreciate it if you would forward this to someone you think who might be.

Thanks!

What's Coming Up

2010-06-07T15:09:00.003-04:00

The summer show season is beginning and I have a couple of things coming up this week. First, the Bangor Outdoor Market begins this week. It will be held on Thursdays in June and July from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. in West Market Square in Downtown Bangor. I have done this market in the past at a different location and it was a lot of fun. It's held in conjunction with a concert each week and, along with a lot of vendors there is yummy food, too. Click on the link below for a list of the vendors and more information.

http://www.downtownbangor.com/Outdoor_Market

Also, this Sunday, June 13th, I will have a booth at the 37th Annual Old Port Festival in Portland. There will be tons of vendors and other activities all over the Old Port from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. It's my first time there, but it sounds like a lot of fun. A map with all the activities listed can be found here.

I hope to see you at one or both of these events.

PMC Classes: The Whats and the Whys

2010-06-02T14:16:00.002-04:00

You may have heard about PMC (Precious Metal Clay) and want to try it. Or maybe you haven't heard of it but would like to make fun, nature-inspired silver jewelry. Either way, a PMC class may be just the thing. I offer two types of classes: A short, fast-paced workshop in which you come away with a piece or two of nature-inspired jewelry and a full day in-depth class which will give you the information and foundation you need to work with PMC on your own. The shorter workshop is perfect for someone who is unsure about trying PMC and in this blog post, I will discuss some of the things that we do in those classes. After that, I will tell you why I think you should take a class (other than the fact that it's just plain fun!)

For an explanation of what exactly PMC is, you can go here. To see how you can go from a small lump of clay to a beautiful pendant and a pair of earrings, you can follow along with me here.

The 3 1/2 hour workshop is just enough time to make a necklace and perhaps a pair of earrings using your choice of natural items. My favorites are leaves and flowers and for this blog post, I have chosen leaves to make a pendant and those little whirligigs that fall out of maple trees (I think) for earrings.

The reason I like working with PMC so much is you can use almost anything to create textures. There are several ways to get the texture onto the clay, depending on what you want your final result to look like. I'll show two of those. In the first, I will use the most straightforward: Impressing a leaf directly into the clay. In the shorter workshop, we focus on just making impressions in the clay like this example.

First, I choose my leaf. I'm honestly not sure what kind this is. I pick leaves everywhere if they have an interesting shape or texture. I found this one in a friend's yard. Using about one-half of a 6.3 gram package of PMC3, I roll out a slab of clay. Placing the leaf carefully on the clay, I roll again impressing the leaf into the clay. I use a template to cut out a shape I like, in this case I chose a teardrop, and I cut a hole for hanging later. At this point, I pull the leaf off with tweezers, but leaving it on won't hurt. It will burn off during the firing process.

Because it is a little more complicated, the process of using molds is not covered in the shorter class. I will use the other half of the clay to make earrings out of the whirligigs (from now on, I'll call them pods because whirligigs is just too darn hard to type right). My plan is to make a pair of earring dangles that look like actual the actual pods, rather simply pressing them into the clay as I did with the leaves. To do this, I first must make a mold of the pods and I do so with a two part silicone mold compound. This compound is used by taking equal amounts of each color and kneading them together until they are one uniform color and then pressing the pods into the mold. Once the mold is cured (about 5 to 10 minutes), the pods are removed and you can see the perfect texture left in the compound.

To make the pods, I simply roll out slab of clay and press it into the mold. I flip it over and remove the clay and cut around the pods. I have added rings on the top because I don't want to put holes in the pods.

Once both the pods and the leaf pendant are dry, I clean the edges up a bit and they are ready for firing. This is the part that is like magic to me. After as little as ten minutes in a kiln, what went in as a dry piece of clay that looks more like ceramic than silver, comes out of the kiln as a pure silver piece.

In a class, we would then finish the pieces, polishing them as much as each student likes and using liver of sulphur to accentuate the texture if so desired. Using jumprings to attach the earrings and pendant to ear wires and a neck cord, the student will now have earrings and a necklace that are original and sure to be noticed.

If you have heard of PMC, you may have read articles, books, blog posts and tutorials on how to use it. You may have even seen videos. There are tons of them out there by some very talented PMC artists. So you wonder why you should take a class like this if you can find all the information online for free. That's a very good question and I have what I hope to be a couple of very good answers to that.

In a class, you are working with less pressure. Most people who have worked with metal clay will tell you that opening that first package of clay is a bit stressful. How are you supposed to get jewelry out of that lump? Reading all the books in the world isn't a substitute for a good live demonstration and the ability to ask questions. Because you will have them. Trust me. What's the best way to cut something out? What do you do with the clay you aren't using? What if I make a mistake? You will learn lots of tips and tricks that you may find online or in books, but it would take you a lot of reading to find some of those tips. I am still learning new things all the time.

Secondly, there is the cost of purchasing all the tools you will need to work with the clay as well as some sort of firing option. In most classes, especially beginner classes, all the tools are supplied for you, as well as the clay. You don't have to worry about which tools are the best or how much clay to buy because it's all there ready for you to start playing with. And chances are the teacher will have his or her own collection of stamps, molds, templates and textures that they have amassed over years to which you would also have access. If you decide after taking a class that PMC isn't really your cup of tea, you aren't stuck with a bunch of tools you might never use again, but you will still have a piece or two of really nice jewelry (that you can tell people you made yourself) for probably less than you would pay to buy the jewelry outright.

If you fall in love with PMC like I did, you will leave knowing that if you spend the money on tools and books it won't be wasted and you will also have an idea which tools you liked the best. In the full-day beginner's classes, I offer the tool kits used in the class for sale and I give a demonstration of torch firing, the least expensive firing option available. My goal is that you will go away with the information you need to work with PMC on your own. The short workshop I offer is quick moving and doesn't offer as much background and foundation information for working with clay outside of the class as the full-day class, but it's a lot of fun and a great way to make a gift for someone.

And now that I have described a class, showed you what you will make in a workshop and given you the reasons I believe it's best to take a class before first working with clay, what are you waiting for? Find a class and sign up today! I have the following classes coming up and I'm working on scheduling more so you can keep an eye out on my schedule page.

Nature-Inspired Jewelry Workshop

Saturday, June 26, 2010 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

at Sweetland Retreat, Manchester, Maine

PMC for Beginners

Thursday, August 26 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

at Woodlawn Museum, Ellsworth, Maine

Check out this blog I'm in

2010-05-28T20:45:00.003-04:00

Thanks so much to Peggy of Magenta Sky Studio, Three Bridges Sewing Co., Treasure Scents and TBSC Textiles for featuring me on her blog. Thank you also for being such a good friend, Peggy. I am lucky to have such wonderful support. Here's a link to the article: http://magentaskystudio.blogspot.com/2010/05/artist-feature-lisa-salsbury.html

Fresh From the Tumbler

2010-05-26T19:41:00.000-04:00

I've had these on my bench for a while trying to decide how best to use them. I made rose leaves, lilacs from molds I made from the first lilacs in my back yard, a lilac leaf and a couple other things that aren't shown. Finished pieces are coming soon.

Playing with my newest toy... um... tool

2010-05-25T16:26:00.002-04:00

A while back I posted about ordering a kit to make my own rubber stamps with. It's been sitting on my desk for about a week but I just haven't had time to sit down and figure it out. I've wanted to try photopolymer plates for a while, which are very similar to what I bought but need a ultraviolet light. For a while they were all out of my reach, price wise, but a recent search turned up PhotoCentric (This is the US site for a UK based company. You can find the UK site here.

They seem to be a great source for several different kinds of stamp making kits from the UV photopolymer to one that cures with a regular 60 watt light bulb. That one is the cheapest and I thought would be a good starting point for me. The kit comes with four packs to make two different sized stamps (the largest actually will make two stamps each) as well as all the other tools (except for the light and light bulb) you will need to make stamps - even some graphics.

The directions are very clear. Your image or drawing must be black and white only, with the background black and what will become the stamp white. I have wanted to have a few small stamps with words and some emoticons for making charms and so I simply typed some up in Microsoft Word and reversed the colors.

The imagepacs are small packages of a gel substance. They are shipped in, and should also be stored in, a black box as any bit of light will begin to cure the gel.

The process is easy enough. You place your graphics face up on an enclosed plexiglass clamp, set the imagepac on top and then put the other half of the plexiglass thing to make a sort of sandwich. It has strong magnets which hold the items quite tightly and flattens out the imagepac well. Placed about 7 inches under the light bulb and on top of a black sheet of paper, the whole thing is cured, with the paper side down, for two minutes, flipped over and then cured for another 12 minutes.

Working quickly after that, the pack is opened , and placed under warm water, scrubbing with dish soap and then supplied brush to remove the unhardened part of the stamp (what is under the black part of the graphic). Keeping it in the light too long will harden the parts that are not covered with black. After that, the piece should be hardened under the light one more time, this time covered in water. At that point, the stamp should be ready to use.

My stamp came out well, I think, except the graphics weren't quite as deep as I thought they would be. But that could be due to any number of factors, including the fact that my graphics weren't black enough. It is recommended that an ink jet printer is used, but I don't have one, so I used my laser printer. I would like to try it again using transparency sheets. You can also buy, through the company, special ink jet film to print on.

The stamps are deep enough to make a stamp onto paper, though ,and I suspect they are also deep enough to make an impression in PMC. The stamp remains fairly pliable and easy to cut, so I may cut this one into smaller stamps and attach them to wooden dowels or something similar. The kit comes with an acrylic stamp base and the back of the rubber stamp is sticky enough to stay firmly on the base, but is easily peeled off so a different stamp can be used with the base.

I will be continuing to play with making more stamps and texture sheets and experimenting to get better, deeper impressions. All in all, though I do like this kit. You can also buy refills of the imagepacs in several different sizes.

Sneak Peak - Lots of Things in the Works!

2010-05-17T20:08:00.001-04:00

Straight out of the liver of sulphur for these pieces. And currently in the kiln are what will be great Father's Day presents: A couple of tie clips and a tie tack that is also for a challenge I'm that's going on on the Metal Clay Artists Thread that I follow. Pictures of those will be coming soon. I also got my new toy (stamp making) today and I'll be playing with that very soon.

Tales from a Tool Junkie: Anticipation!

2010-05-14T11:19:00.001-04:00

One of the reasons I like working with metal clay, as I'm sure I have said before, is the wonderful textures you can use with it. I have scads of rubber stamps and texture sheets and I have even experimented with making my own by carving into rubber stamp making material (turns out I'm not the best carver in the world) and also by trying out the polymer clay tearaway technique. Of course I have been using natural textures since I started using PMC - leaves, flowers, etc.

I like the look rubber stamps give because they are clean and professional. My carvings on stamp material or linoleum block aren't so much clean and professional as amateurish and primitive. That looks okay for some pieces, but sometimes I prefer the polished look. The problem with rubber stamps is the copyright issues, as well as the fact that I can't say that every single bit of the piece, right down to the texture, was made by me.

So I've been coveting kits for making rubber stamps for a while now. Until recently all I could find were UV photopolymer plates on which you can use a drawing or print to make a plate that cures under a UV light. So that's what I had my sights on. But I never purchased a kit. I've become recently more and more frustrated because what I see in my head just won't translate to the clay. Like I said, I'm not much of carver and many times I want something deeper than the tearaway technique gives me - for filling in with resin, etc.

Well, I'm happy to say that I finally broke down and bought a stamp-making kit. It's not a UV one, but one that cures under a regular 60-watt bulb. It's sort of the bottom of the line kit, but I figured that if I really like it I can upgrade without too much expenditure and if I hate it, I'm not out hundreds of dollars.

So look for some more original things from me and a tutorial/review of my kit when I receive it. Until then, I'll be camping beside the mailbox waiting.

We Have a Winner!

2010-05-01T18:44:00.002-04:00

It's May 1st. My baby turns 15 today! But I have some down time and thought it was time to do the drawing for the hope necklace. You will remember that I started trying to raise awareness for Vasculitis and Wegener's Granulomatosis by writing about it during the month of April. And as an incentive to people to help with this endeavor, anytime someone began following my blog, or re-blogged, posted on facebook or tweeted about my blog and Wegener's, they got a chance to win the copper and silver Hope neckace I made just for this drawing.

There were 20 entries all together. I've run the list on a randomizer and I'm about ready to generate the number on random.org. And so, without further ado, the winner is...

Elizabeth D.

Elizabeth is one of my newest followers. Thanks so much for following my blog.

And thank you to everyone else who participated and spread the word. Doing this helped me, too. I have been contacted by others with Vasculitis diseases, and it's always nice to know we aren't alone, isn't it? According to my site statistics, there are others who have come here after searching various Wegener's and Vasculitis terms. I hope that what I wrote helped or encouraged them in some small way.

At the beginning of the month I made some copper HOPE charms to include in sales from my Etsy shop. I have a surplus and would like to give one to each of you to thank you for all you have done in spreading the word and supporting me. If you would like one, simply email me your mailing address (blog@willowandme.com) and I will pop one in the mail to you. I promise I will quickly lose your address and will never use it to contact you unsolicited.

Again, thanks. I am humbled by the support I received this month.

Lisa

Vasculitis Awareness Week

2010-04-28T13:26:00.000-04:00

As you know, I've been boring the pants off everyone this month writing about Vasculitis and Wegener's in anticipation of Vasculitis Awareness Week, which is this week. But I'm now half way through the week and I haven't posted at all about it. Not so on the ball I guess.

Last week I took a bit of a detour from the medical facts and actually wrote from the heart. It was hard for me to do because I'm used to being all stoic - always telling people "I'm fine" when they ask. But I wasn't feeling fine at all, physically or emotionally and decided to "own it" as my therapist would say.

I have to say that I am pleased and humbled by the outpouring of support I got through emails and comments. Not to mention 10 new followers. Thank you all. You really gave me that little boost I sometimes need to keep going.

So now for a reminder. At the beginning of the month I announced a giveaway to encourage people to share information about Wegener's and Vasculitis with others. In exchange for doing any of the following, you get a chance to win the Hope Necklace, pictured above. It is made with copper clay and precious metal clay, which I riveted together. It's hung on a thin double cord of of sterling beading wire and has a sterling silver clasp.

So here's what you have to do to get an entry:

become a follower of my blog,
tweet about a blog post,
post information on Facebook about one of my blog posts,
become a fan of my Willow and Me Facebook page, or
mention my giveaway and Vasculitis in your blog.

Several people have done those things, but I haven't been able to keep track of it all. I need you to pop me an email to blog@willowandme.com each time you do one of the things on the list so I can be sure your entries are included? I just need your email so I can notify you if you win, but I will not share it with anyone at all for any reason.

You have the end of the month to make sure I have all your entries. My plan is to draw for the winner on May first, but that is also my baby's 15th birthday (no so much a baby anymore!) and I don't know how busy I'll be that day. I will do the drawing by Monday, May 3rd at the very latest.

You also have until the end of the month to have any purchases you make at my Willow and Me Etsy shop go towards my donation of 10 percent of my sales in April to the Vasculitis Foundation.

Thanks again!

Wegener's Sucks

2010-04-20T13:49:00.000-04:00

I've been feeling sorry for myself a lot lately. Unfortunately, it happens more than I care to admit. I've been sick, with a cold that made itself so comfortable in my lungs that even a week's worth of antibiotics couldn't make it go away. Or else maybe it's my new normal to have my chest hurt when I breathe. I don't know anymore.

Originally, I was going to write about the treatment I have undergone with Wegener's for this post, but I have decided to share my misery with you instead. Probably misery is too strong a word, but I sure do feel like crap in more ways than one. When I started writing about Wegener's this month, I had visions of reaching hundreds of people through the power of the Internet. I know I don't have very many blog or Facebook followers, but I was counting on the fact that some of my followers would pass on and it would all snowball into one great discovery of a rare disease. Well, that didn't happen. As far as I know, I have had seven different people repost, tweet or share on Facebook a total of 13 times. I didn't ask for money. I even had a giveway as a prize. The more someone shared with others the stories on Wegener's, the more chances to win they would have. Perhaps no one liked my prize. I thought it was pretty good and it was my first attempt at using both copper and silver clay together. *sigh*

So then I have asked myself is it because my stories are boring? I'm sure they are. I bet reading about Wegener's is not any more fun than having it. So, wallow with me, will you, a bit as I talk about what it's like to live with Wegener's? I'll try not to whine too much.

What's it like to have Wegener's? Well, sometimes it is only a minor inconvenience and other times it really sucks. At the best of times, I have a runny, stuffy nose. Whenever I blow my nose, I either blow pink stuff or dried, crusted blood. I have a hole in my nose and I whistle when I breathe. Probably no one can hear it but me, but it's annoying, especially when I'm trying to sleep. I find I breathe through my mouth a lot because I don't always feel like I'm getting enough air and my mouth is always dry as a result. On good days I have enough energy to get through the day. I try to exercise because I know that is good for me for many reasons, and I do walk mostly, but when I try to step it up, my hips and knees start to hurt. My left elbow and my right wrist hurt almost all the time and I get sinus headaches fairly often. Naprosen is sometimes my best friend. I take what seems like a bazillion pills a day for all my various ailments. Once a week I give myself a shot of a toxic medication that slows down my immune system. I have to be extra careful not to catch anything because whatever I get always goes into my sinuses and lungs. I'm supposed to do two different inhalers a day but I'm trying to wean myself off those to see how my lungs feel without them.

I'm one of those "high risk" people who had to have the H1N1 and seasonal flu shots. That's no big deal to me, because I have never really been bothered by needles. I bruise easily and cuts don't heal as fast as they used to because of the Methotrexate injections. Thankfully, the folic acid I take helps counteract the nausea I had when I first started the injections. Just as another annoyance, my hair has changed. I am thankful I haven't lost it (which my doctor tells me is possible, even on the lower dosage of MTX that Wegener's patients take), but it feels all wispy now, like old lady hair. I have to have blood and urine tests every two months to make sure my liver and kidneys aren't damaged by the disease or the medications I take to fight the disease.

When it's bad, it's really bad. Take everything above and add nosebleeds a couple of times a week, difficulty breathing and chest tightness even without exertion. Aching in my joints, especially my hands, so bad that I can't type or do my work without stopping to rub my hands a lot. Exhaustion. And much, much more. And I'm one of the lucky ones - my Wegener's is considered limited because I have no kidney involvement. I can't imagine having to undergo dialysis or having my trachea stretched because the Wegener's causes swelling that tightens it up so you can't breathe.

Sometimes worse than the physical problems are the mental ones. I get frustrated with myself when I don't have the energy to do something. Each time I have an ache or pain that's new I wonder if the Wegener's is spreading. As I type, my chest hurts every time I take a breath. Does that mean the Wegener's is causing more problems with my lungs? I had a chest x-ray today, so if there is damage, it will hopefully show up. I read once that Wegener's patients often don't look sick. So it's hard to reconcile the way I feel when I look just fine on the outside. And I try not to complain too much so most people don't know that I even have this stupid disease. Each time I have to get stronger reading glasses, I worry that the Wegener's is affecting my retinas (there are some preliminary studies that link Wegener's to retina damage - and I already have early-onset macular degeneration). I worry about what will happen if it spreads to my kidneys. I worry that it's a potentially fatal disease.

I know that I should be thankful that it's not worse. I can still do most things as long as I take care of myself. I don't have cancer and I'm not incapacitated. Most of the time I am thankful, but sometimes it's not easy to be thankful when you don't feel well.

So all in all I would have to say that Wegener's sucks. Having it sucks. Being tired all the time sucks. Trying to explain to people what it is sometimes sucks. So please help me spread the word. Tweet about it, post about it, talk to someone about it. And let me know that you have so I can know that maybe the word is getting out (email me at blog@willowandme.com). Thanks.

Get a Grip, Willow!

2010-04-14T09:05:00.000-04:00

I think I have mentioned that in my studio there is a kitty shelf in the window overlooking the new bird (more precisely squirrel) feeder my father-in-law made me. The sun shines in that window beautifully in the afternoon and sometimes I put my photo box on the shelf when I take pictures of my jewelry, which I did the other day. Apparently, I had left a rock I sometimes use as a prop on the shelf.

Well, Willow didn't like it very much. Yesterday, she spent a lot of time sitting on the table just under the shelf staring at the rock. Then, every so often, she would reach up and touch it with her paw, prodding it to see if it would move, I think.

Eventually, she got brave enough to get up on the shelf and give the rock a good sniff.

Finally, when it became obvious she wouldn't settle down with the rock there, I moved it down onto the table. So then she had to check it out there.

Then she spent a while sniffing the spot on the shelf where the rock had been. She never did settle down on the shelf and hasn't since. God, she's strange sometimes.

Sneak Peek of Bead and Baubles Downeast

2010-04-13T17:10:00.002-04:00

Beads and Baubles Downeast
2nd Annual Bead and Jewelry Show

Maine Grind Building, Main Street, Ellsworth

Friday, April 16th, 12:00 noon to 6:00 p.m. and Saturday, April 17th, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Click here for more information.

I would love to see you there. Along with my finished jewelry, I will have some handcrafted beads, charms, pendants and clasps, all made by me of PMC (Precious Metal Clay).

Silver and gold swirls lentil bead and domed charms.

Large leaf pendant made from Copper Clay.

Top: Two Twig and Leaf toggle clasps.

Bottom: Leaf hook clasp.

Wegener's: My Journey (Part II) and My Research

2010-04-12T08:36:00.003-04:00

I ended my last post having had a lot of problems, searching for a specialist and having done a ton of research. What I found in my research: Wegener’s Granulomatosis (gran-YOU-low-ma-toe-sis) is named for a German pathologist who first described the disease in the 1930’s, but Wegener’s Granulomatosis wasn’t widely used as a name of the disease until 1954. Granulomatosis refers to the granulomas, or collections of immune system cells, that can occur in the body’s attempt to wall off what it perceives to be an infection.

As you will recall, I stated that the prominent sign of Vasculitis is inflammation of the blood vessels. In Wegener’s, the small and medium blood vessels are affected. It is not contagious (although a person might have a secondary infection that is contagious). It is a fairly rare disease. Depending on what you read anywhere between 1 in 20,000 and 3 in 100,000 people are affected. The incidences are rising, but I think that might be due to the fact that more cases are actually recognized as Wegener’s. Anyone at any age can get it, but it’s most common from middle age onward and slightly more prevalent in men than women. There is no indication that it is hereditary, but research is currently being done on that subject.

Wegener’s can manifest in nearly every place in the body, but is most commonly seen in the upper respiratory system (sinuses and nose), lungs, trachea, eyes, ears, skin, joints and kidneys. Up until the 1970’s, Wegener’s was almost always fatal. Now with certain medications, the progression of the disease can be slowed and many times put into remission.

Signs and symptoms of Wegener’s vary widely, as it affects so many areas. Frequent sinus infections, or infections that won’t go away despite several rounds of antibiotics, are one sign. Frequent ear infections are another. Many people get a scratchy, hoarse throat, sometimes due to the extra post-nasal drip, but may also be due to a narrowing of the trachea. Chest pain, tightness and difficulty breathing may be a sign Wegener’s has gone into the lungs. The problem is that all of these are symptoms of other things, which makes it very hard to diagnose Wegener’s.

A less common sign of Wegener’s is a perforated septum, which means a hole has formed in the cartilage that separates the two nostrils. Generally, this would be caused by the death of tissue due to lack of blood flow to the area, because of the inflammation of the blood vessels. The loss of cartilage in that area can cause a saddle nose deformity, which means the nose, from where the bone stops (Feel the bridge of your nose. The bone ends and the cartilage begins about halfway down.) collapses. For some reason, this has scared me more than anything else, perhaps because it’s one of the only visible signs of Wegener’s. Probably it’s a vanity thing, too. The hole in my septum can be fixed (and so can saddle nose deformity) but not until the disease is in remission, otherwise the hole would probably just open up again.

Some people never have sinus problems, but instead the disease attacks their trachea and lungs, or their skin, making red and purple pustules and rashes. I know of two other people in my area (although I haven’t met them) with Wegener’s. One has had the most trouble with her trachea and has had to have it stretched several times. I think they can only stretch a trachea so many times and then I don’t know what they would do. The other person lives near my mother and was recently hospitalized for kidney problems. Her Wegener’s appears to be more advanced than mine.

There are few tests to diagnose Wegener’s and none of them are fool proof. The first test most doctors are likely to perform if they suspect Wegener’s is an ANCA test, because that is less invasive. An ANCA test is a simple blood test which looks for the presence of a certain antibody which is often found in the blood of Wegener’s patients. The problem is that a negative test does not mean that one does not have the disease. There are many patients with Wegener’s and negative ANCA tests. This may be because there are only a few ANCA antibodies and are hard to see or it may be because the lab or technician is not familiar with Wegener’s enough to recognize the antibodies. Unfortunately, many physicians stop at a negative ANCA test and do not pursue any further. A positive ANCA test, on the other hand, almost always indicates some level of Wegener’s. My first ANCA test was negative. (It wasn’t until about six months later that I had a positive ANCA test, after my blood was sent to a lab that was more familiar with the test.) At that point, the ENT suggested a biopsy of the nasal tissue, which usually will show the characteristic granulomas that appear with Wegener’s and differentiate it from other Vasculitis diseases, such as Sarcoidosis. Mine was negative. False negatives in biopsies (especially nasal) are common in Wegener’s.

Other tests include cat scans and MRIs of affected areas, but they are also not fool proof. Spots on the lungs can appear to the pneumonia. Biopsies of affected tissue are often performed, looking for the granulomas that are frequent in Wegener’s. Often diagnosis is made by a physician even after all of the above tests are negative.

That was what finally happened in my case. My primary care physican agreed to set me up with a specialist in Wegener’s. There is a list of them on the Vasculitis Foundation website. There are only a few in the country, all at teaching hospitals, such as Boston University, Johns Hopkins and the Mayo Clinic. My doctor’s office can be slow in scheduling referrals, so I took it upon myself to email the head of the Rheumatology Department at Boston University Medical Center. Much to my surprised, he responded the next day – which was a Sunday. I had described my symptoms and history and had outlined all the tests I had had thus far. He was very nice and said I should call his office the next day to schedule an appointment.

I did and finally saw Dr. Paul Monach, who is an absolutely wonderful doctor. He spent at least an hour with me on my first visit. He had already read my records and told me right up front that I had Wegener’s, no matter what all the tests said. Apparently my case is pretty classic. He was also very encouraging, saying he was confident that we could get the disease under control. He suggested treatment, but also listed to my thoughts and ideas. He answered all of my questions and not once did I ever feel rushed. I now see him every couple of months. The drive to Boston is worth it to see someone who is familiar with Wegener’s. He also is the head of their clinical trials and so is up to date on newer studies and treatments.

My case shows that it is very important to be your own advocate. You know your body better than anyone else. I knew something wasn’t right, and wanted an opinion of someone who was familiar with Vasculitis. I really wasn’t expecting to be diagnosed with Wegener’s. Strange and rare diseases are things you read about or see on the news, not something that happens to you. But I’m thankful for the diagnosis. I don’t mean to say I’m happy to have a rare and sometimes debilitating disease, but I am happy to know what it is so I can meet it head on.

Next time I will discuss my treatment and living with Wegener’s.

An interesting sideline: Dr. Friedrich Wegener, at least at one point in his career, worked for the Nazi regime in Germany and Poland. The conclusion of a very interesting article outlining the research of two doctors at the Mayo Clinic, describes the views of many people regarding Dr. Wegener:

The role of physicians during the Nazi regime has been highlighted previously [20, 21]. The facts we have uncovered do not prove Dr Friedrich Wegener guilty of war crimes. However, the evidence suggests that Dr Wegener was, at least at some point of his career, a follower of the Nazi regime. Dr Wegener’s mentor, Martin Staemmler, was an ardent supporter of the racial hygiene. In addition, our data indicate that Dr Wegener was wanted by Polish authorities and that his files were forwarded to the United Nations War Crimes Commission. Finally, Dr Wegener worked in close proximity to the genocide machinery in Lodz. His interest in air embolism is also troubling. Although we know that Wegener was a popular and skilled teacher and colleague, our data raise serious concerns about Dr Wegener’s professional conduct. We suggest that the eponym be abandoned and propose ‘ANCA-associated granulomatous vasculitis’ as an alternative.

See the full article here: http://rheumatology.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/45/10/1303.pdf.

In the 1980’s, shortly before he died, Wegener was awarded a “master clinician” prize by the The American College of Chest Physicians, but this was rescinded once his association with the Nazi regime was discovered.

Lastly, a reminder: Please help me spread the word about Wegener's and Vasculitis. If you do, you will be entered into a drawing to win a Hope Necklace. See the details of the drawing here.

Wegener's: My Journey (Part I)

2010-04-07T16:07:00.001-04:00

Before you start reading this blog article, I want to remind you that part of my aim in writing this series is to raise awareness about Vasculitis and Wegener's Granulomatosis. Please help to spread the word and you can be entered into a drawing to receive a Hope necklace I have made. Please click here for more details. Thanks!

I research everything and I worry about everything, too, which isn’t always a good combination. So whenever I find something that doesn’t seem right, I worry about it and I research it. That’s what led me to do some pretty strange searches one day. I started out with “hole in nose” on Web MD. And that led me to this happy paragraph:

The nasal septum is the structure between the nostrils that separates the nasal passages. The septum, composed of cartilage and thin bone, can develop a hole (perforation) in the cartilage as a complication of previous nasal surgery, from cocaine use, excessive nose picking, trauma, cancer, or diseases such as tuberculosis, sarcoidosis, or syphilis. As damage reduces blood supply in the septum, the cartilage begins to die, and a hole develops.

Nice. Very encouraging.

I suppose I should back up a bit and explain just why I was doing such a search in the first place. Last winter I had a spate of colds that turned into sinus infections and bronchitis. I had also had had bloody noses for several years. Due, I thought, to all the blowing and wiping as well as dryness, not only the outsides but also the insides of my nostrils were sore. I had decided to try some saline gel I found that was supposed to be for just such a thing. I’d been using it for a while and it really did help. One day when applying it, though, something didn’t feel right. It felt like a hole, which I thought was strange. I had never noticed one before. But I don’t make a habit of sticking my finger up my nose so I wasn’t sure. Using my lighted makeup mirror and a bit of contortion, I confirmed that was exactly what it was. A hole in my septum – going right through. Ewww.

So that’s what led me to read the encouraging paragraph above. Okay, so now I knew there was such a thing and it had a name: perforated septum. Gotcha. A few more searches yielded similar results. Perforated septums are not terribly common and there are only a few things that can cause them. Great, I thought. Which one of these things caused mine? Let’s see: Nasal surgery? Nope. Cocaine use? Yeah, all the time (I know you can’t hear the sarcasm, but it’s there). Nose picking? Nope. Trauma? What kind of trauma? No one has recently punched me in the nose. I had read in another place that nose piercings can cause a perforated septum (Duh! Isn’t the whole point of piercing your nose putting a hole in your septum? Well, I suppose if you want a nose ring like an ox.) Nope, no piercings.

So that left me with four other very cheery words: cancer, tuberculosis, sarcoidosis or syphilis. I hadn’t heard of sarcoidosis, but it didn’t sound very good, especially being linked with the other three. Since I didn’t know what it was, that seemed a good place to start, especially since the odds of me having the others were pretty slim (I hoped) – and in the case of syphilis, zilch. I clicked on the sarcoidosis link on Web MD. More encouragement there. It was described as a rare disease that caused tissue damage, and sometimes heart and lung failure. But not everything fit. I didn’t have a rash on my face as was described.

Over a week or so I worried and brooded and researched some more. At some point, after searching many different combinations of words and symptoms, I finally found a small blurb about Wegener’s Granulomatosis. Of course I had never heard of it, but at least I had or had had in the past more of the symptoms than those that were listed for Sarcoidosis.

I decided I had better make an appointment with my doctor. I think the receptionist thought I was nuts when I told her why I wanted to be seen. That was only the first of many people to say, “You have a what in your nose?” Or misunderstand and think I said deviated septum.

I really like the physician’s assistant I see at my doctor’s office. She listens. She doesn’t act like I’m nuts or making things up. And she did listen. Then she looked in my nose with the thingy they used to look in your ears and stuff and confirmed I had a hole in my septum. She couldn’t remember having seen it before and went through my records. She wanted to know if anyone had ever mentioned it before during examinations. No, I think I would have remembered something like that. I had seen her a lot over that winter and the winter prior with several prolonged sinus infections and bronchitis that refused to go away. I'm sure she had looked in my nose and she would have reported something like that.

She asked me the standard questions: Had I ever snorted cocaine? Had I had any recent trauma? Nose piercings? Nope. Nope. Nope. We talked about my history of bloody noses over the last several years and she told me there were a couple of things that could cause a perforated septum (about which I had already read), but they were very rare and she doubted they could have caused it. It was time to see an ear, nose and throat specialist to see what he made of it.

The ENT didn’t think it was Wegener’s either, but one good thing was that I had also seen him for sinus infections the prior winter. He had done CT scans of my sinuses then and he looked back to confirm that in those there was no perforated septum. So it had happened over the last year. He went up in my nose with a scope and looked all around. He ordered some blood tests and said that depending on what the blood tests said I might have to have a biopsy of the area to get a diagnosis. He checked my throat at the same time because Wegener’s can also cause narrowing of the trachea, but he didn’t see any narrowing with his scope. So I did my blood tests and went on my way. He did give directions for saline rinses once or twice a day.

In the meantime, I was still sick with bronchitis that wouldn’t go away. Or something in my chest anyway. I was told I had asthma or allergies. The conjunctivitis I was getting must also be allergies. It was almost springtime – that must be it. I was given inhalers, which helped a little. I was on so many antibiotics over those two years that I couldn’t keep track. The previous year I had a long bout of bronchitis and I had just gotten off antibiotics for a sinus infection that literally lasted over three months. I had no energy and I slept as much as I could, but I was coughing so much that wasn’t easy either.

While I waited for the results of the blood tests, I kept researching, but now I focused almost completely on Wegener’s Granulomatosis, because the ENT had confirmed that it was probably the most likely cause, even if he didn’t think it was plausible to have caused it. I found the Vasculitis Foundation, which I have said before has a wealth of information, and several patient-written Wegener’s guides and a patient online discussion group.

It was starting to make sense to me. Nearly every symptom that was listed and the progression of the disease seemed to fit. Bloody noses? Check. Nasal crusting? Check. Chronic sinus infections? Check. Of course the perforated septum. Chest and breathing problems. The more I read, the more things made sense to me and the more scared I got. All the blood tests were negative for an antibody that is often found in the blood of Wegener’s patients. The next step was a biopsy of the affected nasal tissue. Not a pleasant procedure by any means, but I have been through much worse. I went back in a week and the doctor told me that the biopsy was negative. I had already read that it’s not unusual for false negatives in Wegener’s biopsies because many labs are not familiar with the test and what they are supposed to be looking for.

Things just kept getting worse. I was sick all the time. I had chest pain and tightness and couldn’t breathe, which landed me in the hospital emergency room. I began having conjunctivitis like symptoms and ear infections. I started keeping notes, especially because the ENT didn’t seem like he really believed me. Once we got the negative biopsy, he was ready to say he didn’t know what caused it but wanted to go ahead and fix it. Reconstructive surgery on my nose. I wasn’t sure I wanted to do that without somehow talking to a specialist. Someone who really knew Wegener’s.

Looking back on my notes now kind of scares me. I’ve forgotten in the last year all the things that bothered me. I began having pretty severe pain in my hip but also what my Rhematologist later called “roving arthritis” which would move from day to day. One day I would wake up and my knee would hurt really bad. Then my elbow the next. My wrist and hand the next. It got so that my hands and wrists hurt all the time. It was hard to work on my jewelry or even type. I thought he would think I was crazy, but it’s apparently a classic Wegener’s sign.

I talked to my PA again. She had also done some research and we both really thought it would be a good idea to get an appointment with a specialist before I went ahead with surgery on my nose. And so the search began for a specialist…

Next time: the results of my research.

Note: I wanted to put a graphic in here that related to Wegener's, but they were all either copyright protected or not very pleasant to look at.

May Flowers (in April)

2010-04-06T19:20:00.007-04:00

I love using leaves and flowers in my jewelry. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of choices this time of year in my neck of the woods. I have found a solution: Pressed Flowers! I found some by PetalAnnie on Etsy. I bought three different sets, all very nicely packaged to prevent bending. I was itching to try them out and I didn't wait. I tried pressing the flowers into the clay. The impressions are not always as deep as I like but the patinas came out really nice. These were all done with just liver of sulphur. I think they almost look like paint.

This necklace is a bit more purply than the photo shows. I made the chain on that necklace by knitting sterling silver wire on a spool.

The cord on this necklace is actually a medium brown and matches the flower patina quite well.

While I was working with the flowers, I thought it would be nice to also have some of the actual flowers on a piece and I decided on the Secret Garden Necklace, which has a 22 karat gold accented design on one side and a little garden of flowers and leaves set in layers of resin on the other. I had already tried a test to see how the flowers would hold up in the resin, but I still wasn't sure whether these particular ones would. The lighter flowers and leaves almost look translucent.

I still have quite a few flowers left, so look for lots more!

Vasculitis - General Information

2010-04-02T11:18:00.001-04:00

First, I want to begin by saying I am not an expert in Vasculitis or any of the other topics I will discuss over the next month. I am a Wegener’s Granulomatosis patient. Much of the information I will be providing I have obtained with extensive research for my own benefit, as well as information I have received from my doctors. The Vasculitis Foundation was and still is a main source for much of my research. I strongly suggest visiting that site for much more in depth information that is presented in an clear and understandable manner.

I cannot, therefore, give advice, except to say that I strongly urge you to seek medical care as soon as possible if you or someone you care about has symptoms which might indicate any of the Vasculitis diseases. Believe me, waiting or pretending it’s not there won’t make it go away and could make it much worse.

Vasculitis is a family of 15 auto-immune diseases, whose main characteristic is inflammation of blood vessels.

What is an auto-immune disease? It’s a disease in which the immune system mistakes the body’s own cells for a foreign body or invader and attacks those cells. Most people have heard of Lupus and/or Rheumatoid Arthritis, which are both autoimmune diseases, but few people (that I have spoken with) have heard of Vasculitis.

I was going to list each Vasculitis disease along with its identifying symptoms, but I assume you want to finish this sometime today. The names of the diseases are: Behcet’s disease, Buerger’s Disease, Central Nervous System Vasculitis, Churg-Strauss Syndrome, Cryoglobulinemia, Giant Cell Arteritis, Henoch-Schönlein purpura, Hypersensitivity vasculitis, Kawasaki disease, Microscopic Polyangiitis, Polyarteritis nodosa, Polymyalgia rhematica, Rheumatoid vasculitis, Takayasu’s arteritis and Wegener’s Granulomatosis.

Vasculitis specifically attacks the blood vessels, which causes inflammation. Inflammation of blood vessels causes a weakening and narrowing of the blood vessels. This deprives affected tissues and organs of blood supply, resulting in tissue damage. Different forms of Vasculitis can affect different blood vessels (Wegener’s, for instance, affects the small and medium vessels). Some varieties are relatively specific to certain organs or systems, but all can affect most any area of the body.

The symptoms of Vasculitis vary widely, depending on the form, but all usually include general aches and pains and fatigue. There will undoubtedly be symptoms related to the specific organs or systems involved as well (in the case of Wegener’s, chronic sinus issues are often seen).

Vasculitis diseases are quite rare and often difficult to diagnose because many of the symptoms mimic other, more common, diseases. Blood and urine tests and x-rays, CAT-scans and MRIs may help with diagnosis. Many times a tissue biopsy of the affected area is necessary. Because Vasculitis can be mistaken for other diseases, it is important to continue to seek medical attention, especially if current treatment is not helping.

Vasculitis diseases reach over all ages, genders and races. They can cause permanent organ and tissue damage if not treated early. There is no cure for Vasculitis but it can be treated with immuno-suppressant and steroidal medications. With treatment, Vasculitis can go into remission. Without treatment, it can lead to severe disability or death.

On that cheery note, I would add here that most people I have spoken with or read about are able to cope with Vasculitis with medications and lead a relatively normal life. Some people are able to get off medication completely and go years between flares. Others are on medication for the rest of their lives.

Research is ongoing in all areas of Vasculitis and what is useful in one type can sometimes be useful in others as well.

For more information on Vasculitis in general and the various diseases in the Vasculitis family, you can visit the Vasculitis Foundation website, which has a wealth of information. I cannot recommend it enough. It has been a huge help to me. It also has a list of physicians who specialize in the different Vasculitis diseases, as it is not always easy to find them.

Look for more specifics on Wegener's Granulomatosis next week.

(Please spread the word by about Vasculitis and let me know what you have done by emailing me at blog@willowandme.com. Thanks!)

Giveaway and Vasculitis Awareness

2010-04-01T10:55:00.006-04:00

April 25 through May 1 is Vasculitis Awareness Week. I will be spending the month of April doing various things to bring more attention to this family of diseases. Why? Because I live with Wegener's Granulomatosis, one of the many forms of Vasculitis, every day. Throughout the month, I will be writing blog posts about my experiences with Vasculitis and Wegener’s. I will need your help to spread the word and so I am having a giveaway – an incentive for you all to help me - on May 1^st. I will be giving away a necklace made especially for the giveaway. You can see it here.

You can have a chance to win this necklace by doing any (or all) of the following:

become a follower of my blog,
tweet about a blog post,
post information on Facebook about one of my blog posts
become a fan of my Willow and Me Facebook page, or
mention my giveaway and Vasculitis in your blog.

Doing any of those things will give you one entry into the giveaway. You just need to let me know what you have done by emailing me at blog@willowandme.com. Each time I make a new blog post, you will have another chance to spread the word (and be entered again), but you must email me each time you do so I can keep track. Please include a link to, or copy of, whatever you have done. At the end of the month, I will tally all of the entries and, via a random process, will choose a winner. If you are already a follower of my blog or a fan of my Facebook page, you have automatic entries for those. Just pop me an email to let me know you want to be entered.

In addition to raising awareness for Vasculitis, I think it’s important to raise funds for Vasculitis research. So, for the month of April, ten percent of all the sales through my Etsy shop will go to the Vasculitis Foundation. Each purchaser will also receive a copper Hope charm as a thank you gift. For April, I will suspend all other donations I would normally give so more money can go to this cause (usually, I donate $10.00 to an animal-related charity if someone purchases one of my Willow Necklaces).

For the month ahead, look first for some general information on Vasculitis and then more specific information on Wegener’s Granulomatosis. After that, I will talk about my journey to diagnosis and living with Wegener’s. I will focus on Wegener’s, because that is what I live with every day.

For more information on Vasculitis in general and its various forms, visit the Vasculitis Foundation. A wonderful place to read stories and get information from other sufferers of Wegener’s Granulomatosis, is a Facebook page dedicated for Wegener’s patients and those close to them.

Thank you for all your help in spreading the word about these diseases! If you have questions along the way, feel free to post them in the comments and I will try my best to answer them.

Giveaway Sneak Preview

2010-03-29T11:46:00.003-04:00

It's almost that time! In April I will be blogging about Vasculitis and Wegener's Granulomatosis in honor of Vasculitis Awareness Week, April 26th through May 1st. I will also be having a giveaway at the end of the month. More details to come, but here is the prize:

I ♥ Hearts

2010-03-22T10:26:00.003-04:00

My Etsy shop has recently reached 200 shop hearts. I am very appreciative of every single heart I get and I wish I could give each person who hearts me a gift, but if I did I would go bankrupt! So I celebrate the milestones.

I decided when I got my 100th heart I would give a small thank you gift to each 100th heart. So here is a thank you to Brookes of Gorgeous Green Mama (who makes the cutest bottleneck necklaces by the way). She has a hard time with earrings, so I decided to make her a double heart pin. It's on its way, Brookes! And thanks, again!

The cute card I attached the pin to was made by Mallory Alisabeth.

My Newest Project

2010-03-18T15:34:00.002-04:00

Ever since I started working with copper clay, I have been wanting to pair it with silver clay pieces. I haven't dared to fire them together yet (although I did buy a book about it), so instead I depended on good old rivets. Here is the result:

The leaves are PMC and the flower is COPPRClay. The flower rivet is Argentium sterling silver and the rest of the rivets are copper. It hangs from large-link Argentium chain and I put an Argentium magnetic clasp on it to be sure it is sturdy.

Coming Up in April

2010-03-16T10:39:00.007-04:00

Wow! April will be a busy month for me, for a change. Usually it's one of my slower months as the craft fair season hasn't started yet, but this year I've got some stuff planned:

~I'll be doing The Beads and Baubles Downeast Spring Bead and Jewelry Show on Friday, April 16th (12:00 noon to 6:00 p.m.) and Saturday, April 17th (10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.) on the second floor of the Maine Grind building on Main Street in Ellsworth. I'll have some finished jewelry there, but the focus will be on handcrafted pendants and beads made from metal clay (silver and copper).

~On Tuesday, April 27th I will be teaching a workshop from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon at the Woodlawn Museum (known to locals as the Black House): Making a PMC Pendant. This will be a quick and fun way to make your own jewelry piece to keep or to give for Mother's Day. For more information or to register, you can go to the Woodlawn Museum website.

~Last, but not least, April 25th through May 2nd is Vasculitis Awareness Week. As you know if you have followed my blog for a while, I have Wegener's Granulomatosis, a form of Vasculitis. It's a fairly rare autoimmune disease. While most people have at least heard of the more common autoimmune diseases like Lupus and Rheumatoid Arthritis, many people have never heard of Wegener's. And so to raise awareness and help raise money for research, I will be donating 10% of my sales through my Etsy shop during the month of April to the Vasculitis Foundation. Also during April, I will be giving small copper Keep Hope Close to Your Heart charms with each purchase.

To bring more awareness to Wegener's and Vasculitis, I will be writing a bit about my experience with Wegener's and I hope to tell others' stories as well. Along with that, I will be doing a giveaway. In order to raise awareness, people have to hear my story (and those of others) and to hear my story, people will need to read my blog. So in order to get more people to follow my blog, I will be giving away a large Keep Hope Close to Your Heart brooch. The design is still in the works and once it is finished I will have photos, as well as more details on how to get a chance to win it.

So, stay tuned for more information. If you or someone you know suffers from any form of Vasculitis, I would love to hear your story and possibly include it in my blog in April.

My (Virtual) Shopping Trip

2010-03-12T10:13:00.017-05:00

In my spare time, I look around on Etsy and dream about what I would buy if I had all the money in the world. Actually, if I had all the money in the world, I'd be writing this from a beach in France. So imagining a warm breeze, sand beneath my feet, a glass of wine and a beautiful sunset, I am going to go on a virtual shopping spree. If you want to join along, close your eyes for a moment and imagine the sun, the sand and your favorite drink... (Unless indicated, all of the sellers below are members of the Etsy Maine Team. I like to support local artisans whenever I can.)

I already have a scarf and a shawl from Lizzyoos and I love them! But one can never have too many shawls. You know, for those chilly evenings on the French Riviera! I love the colors of this one. She also has a couple of beautiful summery sleeveless dresses, but, alas, they wouldn't fit me!

I think I'll need a purse on this trip, too. I like this one from Becky Rose. Becky weaves her own fabric and makes the most beautiful things from it!

And while I'm at it, a nice dress would probably be a good idea. Here's a beautiful vintage one from Cinderella Lollipop.

I'm sure I'll want to write home to all my friends and family and what better way to do it than with cards from Cozink (who just happens to be the Maine Team Featured Artist of the Month).

And last, but not least, I can't come home without a souvenir. I love vintage and I love books, so it only makes sense that my souvenir would be a vintage book from La Pomme Vintage, an Etsy shop located in France.

Thank you for coming along on this little trip with me. Until we meet again, au revoir, mes amies!

More Copper Clay Fun

2010-03-01T13:23:00.004-05:00

In my last blog post, I discussed my experiments with the two brands of copper clay and their firing schedules. I didn't make anything except pieces for comparison.

This past weekend I experimented some more, this time making pieces to be used in jewelry. I have learned a few things from these experiments, which I will share here. I used ArtClay Copper but fired it using the firing schedule of COPPR Clay, as I have found this to be the best option.

I made several pieces: One pin, one failure, and some charms. The clay was still moist when I opened the package, but it did have a black layer of crud on it. I had expected this, having read it would happen, and simply scraped it off and discarded it. I'm glad this doesn't happen with silver clay! It would kill me to have to throw away as much silver as I did copper.

First on the failure: I have a terracotta cookie stamp with a Celtic looking wreath on it. My idea was to have it as a pendant. It didn't work well and the piece broke into two pieces during firing. It was the last piece I made and I am not sure if it was moist enough when I began working on it. The clay had some cracks in it that I tried to fix with slip. I had read also that anything that can absorb moisture (like wooden stamps, etc.) shouldn't be used with copper clay. I believe that applies to terracotta as well.

Lessons learned:

Slip is not the best choice for fixing large cracks. The repairs did not stand up to the firing process.
Copper clay seems to dry out quicker than silver clay and it's very important to keep it moist.

I feel pretty fortunate that the broken piece was my only major failure. My other pieces went quite well. I like that I can feel free to make thicker, larger and more substantial pieces with copper clay without worrying as much about the ultimate price of the piece. As I said, I made a pin and several smaller charms. Copper clay takes well to silicone molds, as well as rubber stamps. After firing, I played with liver of sulphur to add patinas to the copper. Never having worked with copper before, it was an interesting experiment.

More lessons learned:

Plain old copper wire purchased in the hardware store fires well with copper clay.
Working with dry unfired copper clay is very messy. Everything gets coated with an orangey powder.
Copper doesn't take a patina quite the way silver does. The blues and greens aren't as vibrant and it takes much longer to reach those colors in copper than in silver.
Applying gel liver of sulphur undiluted directly to the copper will turn it black instantly (it's slower with silver), which is great if you want dark crevices, but aren't patient.
Polishing the high spots removes patina well and gives the pieces a wonderful new-penny shine.

I will be working with copper clay more and more, by the looks of it. I am going to experiment with ways to include both copper and silver clay in the same piece.

Copper Clays - Firing Tests

2010-02-23T10:18:00.010-05:00

For a while now I have been wanting to try the new copper clay and finally broke down and got some. There are two different kinds, each with different firing requirements. Not knowing much about either, I decided to try both out and experiment with the firing options.

The two types are COPPRClay and ArtClay C op per. I bought the smallest packages of I could of each, made pieces out of each and tried both firing options with each. Details for each clay, including their firing requirements can be found at the links provided above. Here is what I found:

COPPRClay came in a 30 gram package. It has the longer and more complicated firing schedule and should be fired surrounded by activated carbon (the full firing schedule is available at the link above). It was darker in color than the Art Clay Copper and the manufacturer recommends storage in the refrigerator. Even after drying, the clay was bendable and felt more like PMC in it's leather hard state.

ArtClay Copper seemed to dry out less quickly. It came in a larger 50 gram package. It is not recommended that ArtClay Copper be stored in the refrigerator. Both can be dried on a warming plate, just like PMC. When dry, ArtClay Copper is lighter in color than the COPPRClay and feels more like PMC in its greenware state. The manufacturer recommends storing ArtClay Copper in a vacuum sealed bag (like the ones you can buy for food) and then placed in another bag with a moist paper towel. I don't have a vacuum sealer and I wasn't going to buy one just for this so I put the clay in a ziplock bag, pushing out as much air as I could, and then putting that bag inside another bag with a wet paper towel. I haven't used it again, so I don't know how well it retained it's moisture. That will be a subject for my next blog post.

I tried the COPPRClay firing schedule first, but used pieces of both kinds of clay to see how well they fared comparatively. That schedule requires first firing at a slow ramp on a kiln shelf to burn off the binder and then another slow ramp firing with the pieces embedded in the carbon (to create an oxygen-deprived environment and prevent black fire scale). Because of the slow ramps and the cooling in between, this process took me a good part of the day (I mean it took my kiln - I only had to program it and wait). It made my kiln quite messy and darkened the shiny stainless steel firing pan. I don't know if this will happen each time I fire or if it was only because it was the first time using the carbon.

After digging the pieces out of the carbon, the ArtClay Copper was shiny copper. The COPPRClay looked more like terracotta at this point. Once I brushed it with a brass brush, it took on more of a coppery sheen. The COPPRClay shrunk more than the ArtClay Copper and seemed bendier and less strong than the ArtClay Copper piece.

I next tried the firing instructions from the ArtClay Copper, with pieces of each type. The firing time isn't nearly as long - a hold time of 30 minutes. The directions suggested placing the pieces into a pre-heated kiln and also taking the pieces out while still red hot and quenching them. The instructions said this would remove the black coating that forms on the outside of the clay (the whole reason the COPPRClay is to be fired in carbon is to avoid the black coating). It does remove the black coating - at least mostly - and a few minutes in warm pickle removes the rest. The ArtClay copper did quite well with this firing, but the COPPRClay didn't survive. The piece was pretty much all firescale and it crumbled during the quenching process.

Below are photos of the three pieces that survived. All that has been done to them at this point is brass brushing (other than pickling the one marked ArtClay Copper b). The two pieces on the left are the pieces fired with the first (COPPRClay) method and the one piece on the right was fired with the second (ArtClay Copper) method.

The results and my opinion? Well, certainly the firing schedule for ArtClay Copper is much simpler, and it has been advertised that it can be torch fired (which I haven't tried), but the black fire scale coating that came off during quenching was quite thick and left a considerably thinner piece of copper. On the other hand, the ArtClay Copper came out of the first process just beautifully colored with no brushing needed (although brushing shined it nicely). It is stronger and less pliable than the same thickness of COPPRClay fired the same way, and substantially thicker than the ArtClay Copper fired with the ArtClay method.

So at first glance, I like the ArtClay Copper better, except that I prefer the way it comes out with the COPPRClay firing method. I haven't worked with the pieces after firing much, except to brass brush them and I will be anxious to see how actual jewelry pieces will come out using it.

To be continued...

Looking Back. . . and Looking Forward - Part II

2010-02-15T19:13:00.003-05:00

My last blog post was a bit maudlin. I was concerned about my sales for 2009 and I was trying to decide where to go from here. You may recall I wondered whether to focus more on PMC or on beading.

Since that blog post, I have made my decision and several things have happened to encourage me in that decision. I taught my first class in PMC, which I believe was a success. It was small, but I was able to give the students a lot of information and gave them a chance to make several things from PMC. In addition, in the past week I have had three sales from my Etsy shop, one of which is my first overseas sale! While not a lot by many standards, this is very encouraging to me, especially since all those sales were of PMC pieces.

It's probably obvious by now what my decision was: I will be focusing the most on metal clay adventures and beading will be done to support that. The first thing I decided to do was re-work my studio a bit. My work table was getting out of hand and I have re-organized it so the essentials for working with PMC and metals are within reach and beads and other things have been put on shelves elsewhere in my studio so my worktable isn't quite as crowded. My before (left) and after pictures are below.

So what's next? Well, I have a few PMC pieces in the works. Some have been made and fired but not yet made into jewelry. Others are waiting to be fired.

And something very exciting for me will be some new experiments. I have been wanting to try copper clay for a while now and have finally decided to take the leap. There are two different types/brands: COPPRClay and Art Clay Copper. Each have different instructions for firing and I decided to buy a bit of both and see which I prefer to work with. Look for my results in my next blog post!

Congratulations to Lauren!

2010-02-03T17:58:00.005-05:00

Congratulations to my Etsy friend Lauren (silentlanguages)! One of her very cool maps is featured in Etsy Finds.

Looking Back. . . and Looking Forward

2010-02-03T16:35:00.002-05:00

I have been looking back at the last year or so and thinking about the year ahead. This is the time of year I begin to plan the craft shows I will apply for and pound out my summer schedule, so it only seems natural to look at other aspects of Willow and Me, too. This is hard for me because this is the part I hate the most. I stink at the business side.

Financially, Willow and Me didn't do as well as I had hoped in 2009. I hope it was just the economy, but there's no way to know for sure, I guess. So with that in mind, I am trying to think of ways to improve for 2010. I want to try some new craft shows, maybe heading towards southern Maine and staying pretty much coastal, but that costs money and I am a bit afraid that the economy hasn't improved enough for people to want to spend. I do plan on doing the old standbys that have been good for me in years past.

I have been selling on Etsy just about a year now. It's hard to get noticed, although I can say that I made it on the Front Page TWICE (with the same, item, but still...) and I have started keeping a scrapbook of all the blogs I have been in. I have been in several by people that I didn't know (people that I know count too, but being on a blog written by someone I don't know gives me an idea of how visible I might be to the big world out there), which is good, I think. For the first time, I spent some money on advertising, but there is no way for me to judge if I got any sales from it or not.

I have been trying to study some my fellow Etsiers' shops to see what makes them successful. What are they doing that I could do to grow my business more? I don't want to get rich doing this, but I do need to make some money in order to keep working. Mostly, I make jewelry because that's what I like to do, but it's an expensive habit! One of the things I have noticed about successful shops is their "brand". By that I mean that the items they sell are mostly similar in style.

My items are all over the place. That's because my history of jewelry making is all over the place and it has taken me a while to figure out what I like and what I don't. I have everything from beaded jewelry to fine silver PMC jewelry to Beaded Bouquets. I think there are too many different things and not very much that is consistent throughout my pieces. So now comes one of my conundrums: Where to pare down? What I would like to do is concentrate more on my PMC pieces and concentrate on lines that are nature-inspired, like my leaf pendants and my pussywillow jewelry. That's what I would like to do, but whether it is financially feasible is another question. I still have tons of beads - and I mean tons. I could sell some of them as destash and use the others only to support what I do with silver, or I could continue to do some beading, too. I think I might continue to make a few Beaded Bouquets, if only because I do get requests for them occasionally from past customers.

One of the reasons I want to continue with PMC is, of course, because I like it better than any other medium I have worked with. I feel like there are so many things I can do with it. And this coming weekend I will be teaching my first class in PMC. If that goes well, I would like to teach more, but I also need to work with it more to improve and expand on techniques that I can teach.

I don't have any answers to these questions right now, but I am going to continue to think them through over the next few weeks. For those of you who might read this blog, whether you are a follower or not - whether you know me personally or not, I would love to hear your opinions as well as suggestions and stories of things that helped you. You can leave a comment on my blog here, convo me at my etsy shop or email me at info@willowandme.com.

And thanks to those of you who have followed me and those of you who have supported me and, last but definitely not least, those of you who have bought my pieces in the past!

Tear-Away Technique for Making Texture Sheets

2010-01-26T18:54:00.007-05:00

One of the reasons I like PMC so much is that you can use so many different textures with it. In this blog post, I am going to do an experiment with a technique I first heard about in my certification class: Polymer Clay Tear Away Technique. I’m writing this as I go along, so as of right now I don’t have any idea whether it will work or be a complete failure. I am also going to try my own twist on the technique.

I want to address why I would want to do this in the first place when there are so many ready-made texture sheets and rubber stamps available. Well, for several reasons: First, if I want a piece to be truly original, using a commercially made and readily available texture sheet isn’t the way to go. Anyone can purchase them, which means my piece won’t be unique. Second, I will have a piece I can say is truly mine, right down to the texture, which I will draw myself. Third, I won’t have to deal with copyright issues if I use my own texture. This can be an issue for an artist if he or she plans to sell the piece.

And so, after searching the internet, I found several sources for instructions on this technique. I will be using this article by Celie Fago: Hinged Metal Clay Box Pendant, which first appeared in Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist Magazine in 2006 and is available for download at the link above. If you are at all interested in this technique, download this article, as Ms. Fago has a lot of good background information that I won’t go into here.

Basically, this will be a test to see if the supplies and tools I have will work with this technique. It requires photocopies or prints made from an older photocopier that has iron-based toner (I have also read carbon-based toner). I do have both a toner-based photocopier and printer, but neither is that old so I don’t know how well this will work. The first step is to get my artwork onto my paper (which should be a glossy 32 lb paper – Hammermill or Staples is recommended – and I just so happen to have some of that on hand (yay!)). After fighting with my scanner for a while, I did manage to get my doodle scanned in so I could clean it up. The instructions say it has to be black and white only – no grayscale, so I have to work to get it clean enough to use.

The next step is to get my clay ready. It calls for white (or very light) Sculpey III. I don’t have that. I have white Premo (made by Sculpey) and a pearl Sculpey III (also white Sculpey Ultra Light, but that is such a different texture, I’m not going to try it), so I think I will try both. I’ve run the Premo through the pasta machine at the highest setting and now it’s time to burnish. Putting the image face down on the clay, I rub with my hand in a circular motion for a couple of minutes.

Now I’m and letting it rest under a light for 10 to 15 minutes. Then I burnish and rest it again. After resting, it’s time for the reveal by grasping the edge of the paper and pulling quickly like you would a Band-Aid. And so here are the results of my tests:

The first attempt (with the Premo and a print from my HP 2600n printer) kind of worked. Part of the clay tore off like it was supposed to and part of the image just transferred to the clay.

The second attempt was just something to do when I was waiting for the first attempt to rest. It was with an image from my HP Printer and using Sculpey Ultra Light. I didn’t expect it to work, and it didn’t. The clay just wasn’t right.

The third attempt, with an image from my photocopier and pearl Sculpey III seemed to work better. It’s very faint, but it is there. I’m going to try and bake this one and see how it goes. (It really wasn't deep enough.)

Next I tried some plain vanilla Sculpey III (by that I mean with no sparklies like the pearl has – and the color is vanilla) that I found with another image from my Sharp copier. This one definitely worked the best. The image was thicker and pretty sharp.

The last one is a total experiment. I had read, as I mentioned before, that carbon based toner works best so I wondered what would happen if I drew with charcoal (which is carbon based, right?) onto the paper and used that image. This one was a bust. I am guessing it’s because the charcoal drawing was just too light.

Bottom line: my experiments didn’t work very well. What worked best was the darkest image with the most black using my older Sharp toner-based photocopier printer on the plain vanilla Sculpey III. Basically, follow the directions in the article (and don’t experiment like I sometimes do) and it will work. It might work better if I had access to an older copier. I could tell which was going to work the best after the first resting stage because I could already see the clay attaching itself to the toner through the paper. I'm pretty pleased with the final results. The texture is quite shallow but still visible. The texture sheets give the depressions (the parts that are raised on the texture sheet itself) a rough, matte look.

Back to the Beginning

2010-01-16T12:48:00.003-05:00

I began making jewelry with beading, but since my discovery of PMC, I have done less and less beading, which is too bad because I have a ton of beads just screaming to be used. So I have decided that since I am out of PMC and more won't arrive until late next week, I would pull out the beadboard and work on some of the beading projects that I have been thinking about for a while. Here's a sneak preview.

Challenging Myself

2010-01-11T13:39:00.003-05:00

This piece has been in my mind for a very long time, at least in an abstract way. I wanted to do a photo album/book type of pendant. Originally, I wanted to make it with a cover and one page inside (room for a total of four pictures). I just wasn't sure how to make it open. I wanted something that looked more like a book than just attaching the pages with jumprings would do.

I figured the best way to do it was a hinge, but I also decided that that would make it difficult to do the extra page in the middle and so, at least for my first attempt I decided just the two pages, front and back, would be best.

As I normally do when I am faced with new challenge, I researched the best way to make hinges out of PMC. They have to be pretty exact or the book won't open and close. I found several articles on how to make PMC hinges and I kept those in the back of my brain for quite a while. I think it's been probably a year since I first thought of this project. When I would be trying to decide what new project to start, the book would come back into my head. But I never started it.

Then, a couple of months ago, I saw an announcement at www.metalclayfindings.com for a design contest for the new Metal Clay Artist Magazine. The requirements were that you needed to purchase a set of Metal Clay Findings' findings and incorporate a certain amount of them into your piece. I got the set of findings, but I was busy with Christmas things and didn't get a chance to really look at the findings until after the holidays.

As soon as I saw them, I knew I would make my book. Included in the set was a fine silver tube, 3mm in diameter and 25mm long, which looked like the perfect size to try hinges.

And so I plunged into what might be the most technically difficult piece I have made. I had to solve the problem of the PMC "pages" shrinking while the tube did not. I also had to make a rod to fit inside the tube to hold the hinge together. How would I hang it as a pendant? How would I keep it closed?

I'm not the kind of person who can draw something out and figure it out. Drawings help but I figure things out better by actually doing them. I worked slowly, deciding on a design for the front that would incorporate one of the bezel settings and several of the tiny silver beads provided in the kit. I decided to make the closing mechanism part of the design as well. I used one of the included embeddable jump rings to attach to the fine silver rod I was making to fit inside the hinge. To solve the shrinkage problem, I decided to do a double firing.

I am very pleased with the way it came out. The pendant is about 22mm tall and 17mm wide (closed, not including the jumpring). I set a fancy jasper in the middle of the front along with a design I made with the little silver balls. The jasper goes well with the patina, I think. The closure wraps around the the jasper setting and holds the book closed pretty well.

The deadline for submission of photos for the contest is February 1. I'm still trying to decide whether or not to enter this piece. It's not perfect, for sure. I can see things that I am sure others would not. Whether I do enter it or not, it was fun to, and a challenge as well. I learned a lot in the process.

Crazy Cat Lady

2010-01-05T10:17:00.008-05:00

I have always told my kids that when I grow old I'm going to be the crazy cat lady. Well, they already know I'm crazy, so it won't be that far of a jump. Because I love cats so much, I have quite a collection of cat-related items, all of them in my studio, which really isn't all that big. In the interest of showing parts of my work area (and of not doing any actual work), I thought I would share some of my cat related items.

Below is one of the many shelves in my office, which has, starting on the left, a little metal lady with magnetic kitties stuck on her (appropriately titled "The Crazy Cat Lady"); a picture of Willow and Sammie; Bastet, the Egyptian goddess and protector of women, and a kitty pin given to me by a friend (I get a lot of cat gifts. The frame here was given to me by my husband.)

A kitty clock. The tail is supposed to swing like a pendulum but I have never been able to get it to work.

One of my wall groupings. Starting at the top and going clockwise is a sign that says "Thousands of years ago, cats were worshipped as gods. They have never forgotten this.," a picture of a siamese cat that was taken from a calendar, a lovely little card with siamese kitties that I framed and, lastly, a watercolor by Rachel Parker. This particular picture is from a calendar, but I also have several prints by her. I love her renditions of siamese cats. You can check out her work by clicking on her name, above. I highly recommend it.

This is the right side of my window seat. On the bottom are pillows, one with a siamese cat embroidered and another that says "Try to be the person your cat thinks you are." Above are two more prints by Rachel Parker.
Below are the newest additions to my collection, which I bought today (along with the plaque pictured at the top of the page), even though I shouldn't have. I couldn't resist. The clock in the middle represents Willow, a seal point Siamese. On the left is Joey, who was a blue lynx point Balinese and who died in 2007 at age 19. Lastly, on the right is my fat cat Sammie.

Oh, and the real thing as well. My father-in-law made me a bird feeder for outside the window of my studio for Christmas. I wanted it so the cats could watch the birds and squirrels and, as you can see, Willow loves it.

I have much more in my collection that I won't bore you with, including some lovely ACEOs by endlesswhimsy of the Etsy Maine Team. My sales fairy, Seraphina is holding a kitty and I have a lovely kitty ornament hanging on my computer that I got in our Etsy Maine Team holiday gift giving thingy from Kirsten of anabelfuzz. And right now I am drinking coffee out of a mug that says "Crazy Cat Lady". Yup, that pretty much sums me up.

Looking for Some Last Minute Gifts?

2009-12-18T10:49:00.004-05:00

If so, come visit me (and a few other artists) at the Maine Grind tomorrow, Saturday, December 19th from 9:00 to 2:00. I'll be there with my jewelry and I know there will be some beautiful paintings there, but I don't know who the other crafters/artists will be, but there is sure to be something for everyone there. And you can warm up with a cup of coffee!

Irrational Fears Challenge

2009-12-02T19:57:00.004-05:00

Fellow Etsy Maine Teamer DreaBunny issued us a challenge: to make something that represented an irrational fear we have. I thought about it, but wasn't sure if I wanted to do it. How in the world would I depict my irrational fears:

Fear of people not liking me
Fear of people laughing at me
Fear of making a fool of myself
(obviously, I have issues).

So I thought about it some more and even mentioned it to my therapist, which prompted a discussion about WHY I have these fears, and I remembered a certain incident that happened when I was in grammar school. So for the first time, my therapist set me homework and told me to do the challenge.

And here is what I came up with. But bear with me, there's a bit of a story to go with it.

When I was in second grade I had a teacher who did not like me. I never figured out why. I was a pretty good kid and always did what I was told, didn't talk back, etc. She was mean. And scary.

So one day we had a project to make houses out of milk cartons. We had a lot of fun painting and decorating them. Some people even put them on stilts.

Then Mrs. Crowley spread some newspapers on the floor in the back of the room so the houses could dry. The problem was she had stuck me in the back of the room and had put the newspapers and houses so close to my desk I barely had room to move. I asked her if she could move them a little but she said there was plenty of room.

Well, this scared me. I was sure I would do something to the houses. I am, and have always been, a klutz.

At some point I had to get up. I don't remember why, but I do remember putting it off as long as I could. I tried to balance myself and walk carefully through the little space, but I was so afraid something would happen. And it did....

I lost my balance and fell on top of all the houses and ruined them!

Some kids laughed at me, but most were mad because I had ruined their projects.

Mrs. Crowley was really mad at me and yelled.

It's funny the things we remember, isn't it? Most of grammar school is a big blur, but this incident is very clear in my mind, even these many years later.

The kids are made from wooden figures covered with polymer clay. The teacher is all polymer clay. The school stuff (map, chalkboard, books, milk cartons and newspapers) was downloaded and printed from a site that makes printables for dollhouses and stuff. I made the desk and shelves out of toothpicks and mat board. The tiles and wallpaper I designed on the computer and printed out. It's all set up in a cardboard box diorama.

The Art of the Thank You

2009-11-25T12:20:00.016-05:00

They say that the art of letter writing is declining. I agree and, unfortunately, I am as guilty as anyone of contributing to its demise. Another slowly declining art is the Thank You Card. I used to write a lot of thank you cards, but the busier my life is, the less I tend to sit down and write a card to thank someone for a gift or a kindness.

It's a shame, too, as far as I am concerned. Everyone likes to be appreciated and thank you cards are a wonderful, inexpensive, and quick way to do that. I don't know about you, but I still get excited when I get something in the mail that isn't a bill or junk mail. This holiday season I have decided to send lots of thank you cards.

I have been complimented not only on the fact that I send thank yous but also the way in which I write them. I'm not Emily Post, but I do believe there are certain things that should be included in every thank you card:

A mention of the gift (or kindness) - specifically, not just "thank you for the gift".
If the gift is money or a gift certificate, tell the giver what you plan to use it for (or already have used it for).
How you will use or what you have done with the gift.
Even if you don't really like the gift remember it's the thought that counts. You can find something nice to say about it (it's useful, colorful, etc.). If you can't think of anything nice to say, just thank the person for thinking of you.

I always keep on hand a bunch of cards I can use for thank you cards, some specifically meant for that purpose, other just blank all-occasion cards. For me half the fun is choosing the card. I recently purchased these cards from fellow Etsy Maine Team member Cozink. I can't wait to use them.

In the interest of buying local, I try to buy from my fellow Etsy Maine Teamers when I can. Fortunately, there are many Maine Teamers who make awesome papergoods.

I love these little butterflies by KT Paper Crafts:

Here are some cute ones that would be great for baby gifts by whimsidoodle:

Here's a great idea for getting your kids to write thank you cards after the holidays from
ajoyfullife:

These tiny cards from oliodesigns would be great to send to your Etsy buyers:

Speaking of sending thank yous to your Etsy buyers, I ordered these little Moo cards for that very purpose:

You may prefer to make your own cards. Blank cards of nearly any size and shape can be found in craft stores, along with rubber stamps and endless supplies of embellishments. I made these little cards in a leaf printing class at Sweetland Retreat.

So when you are holiday shopping this year, pick up a package of cards and be sure to thank those who think of you this season.