Steampunk Polymer Clay

Buckle your seatbelt and get a cup of coffee, this is going to be a long post! Let’s start with the crafty stuff.

I’ve been playing with polymer clay and having a blast!!! This entire pendant is polymer clay…except for the wire part that is used to hang it from a necklace.

 

I attach them to a necklace like this…this way I can have one necklace and many pendants…saves a snarly mess in my drawer lol!

Some I like more than others…I’m not terribly thrilled with this one. I can’t wait to see if they sell at the Spirit of Christmas Bazaar at our church. Might not be what the people around here are looking for…we will have to see!

Also my husband just got home from an elk-hunting-trip in Colorado. Lucky boy!!! (I was going to craft the whole time he was gone but ended up sick and didn’t do much at all – what a let down!) While he didn’t get an elk another hunter in their party did so we will be able to try it out. They divided the meat evenly … that’s a nice way to do it! We will be cooking some up tomorrow. Here is a view he had while sitting on the mountain waiting for the elusive elk…

Because of his job he doesn’t get to have a beard…but this is what he looked like when he got home! Full beard!!! Doesn’t he look like his brothers Mary!!!!

Here is the horse he rode from time to time out there. Another in the party brought two. They use them to get the elk back to camp once they process them a bit in the field. Otherwise it would have taken them all day…we (me and the kids) wish there was a picture of hubbie on the horse because we just can’t picture it. He is not a “horsey guy”.

Here is a picture of camp. That’s one of two wall tents they had out there along with our Rhino. Still love that Rhino. They used one tent for cooking and hanging out and the other for sleeping.

Here is another view from camp. So peaceful! He had no cell reception up there so we didn’t talk to each other for around NINE DAYS! That’s the first time that’s happened since I’ve been 17! It was strange, didn’t like it. I told him the “no girls allowed” rule is dumb. I’m coming with next time! lol. I think the next trip will be in five years or so…one of our boys will be 21 by then and the other 16. (weird to think about!!!) Next fall I have my sites on Montana. I want to take the kids there and camp through Yellowstone…I just can’t get that place out of my mind. We had such a good time when we went a couple years ago. It just made me awestruck…

I’ve also been busy with some household crap stuff. I finally put the end to a quest that began about two years ago with this stuff -

I’ve been asking around for something to remove caulk in hardware stores for a couple years. I’m not kidding you when I say the salespeople would look at me like I was crazy. I even had one laugh at me. Well, while in Home Depot I asked again and the THIRD person to help me in this store plucked this stuff right off the shelf and said “This is what you’re looking for” like it was no big deal. Over the years I’ve asked dozens of people…just had to find the right one.  My bathroom caulk had gone black, probably mold. And it wouldn’t come off. I scrubbed and scraped and it was stuck on for eternity…until I got this. I still had to use plenty of elbow grease as it isn’t magic, but IT CAME OFF!!! Oh happy day! My bathtub doesn’t look all cruddy anymore. It drove me nuts that I’d clean it and it would still look dirty. NO MORE – it looks CLEAN!!!

I also cleaned the carpets with my carpet cleaner. I use Melaluca laundry detergent he to clean them and nothing works better. You can’t buy it in the store, only from an at home person…like Avon. I get it from my mother-in-law. (thank you!!!) Full disclosure: I had a tiny Chihuahua who came to live with us untrained. She never did get the whole “pee outside thing” completely down pat.  grrrr. Well, this stuff gets the stain and stink out. And it doesn’t smell while drying. (Other cleaners would get the stain out but then the house would smell like pee while the carpet was wet and anytime it was humid) I just use around a tablespoon in my carpet cleaner. It even works on old stains.

I’ve also been baking again. I’ve made dinner rolls a couple times and cinnamon rolls a couple times and I’ll be processing a couple laundry baskets of apples today. That kinda takes care of any crafting time. By the end of the day I’m so tired I want to send the kids to bed by 7 so I can go myself.

Take care and Happy Crafting!!!!

Beeswax and honey soap

Here is one thing I did with the processed beeswax. I made some beeswax and honey glycerin soap. I poured the soap into a little honey hive candle mold I had – perfect! (Why I don’t get rid of things!) I packaged this little soap and a few others to give to the people who gave me the wax and the most beautiful honey you’ve ever seen. I used a recipe similar to one of these.

(Cell phone picture – my camera batteries are currently powering a wii controler!) Isn’t this little bag cute! I got a pack of 10 at Michael’s for a dollar! This is the easiest way to wrap something…I love using little bags.

I’ve also been mending. Darning. Here is one example. These are my husband’s boiled wool hunting pants. He’s HARD on them! I’ve spent about 2 hours darning various holes all over the darn things. And the holes aren’t in convenient places…not getting in there with the sewing machine! This hole is right under the pocket and along the (super bulky) seam and then goes a little further down. Argh! Well, I’ve done the best I can.

At least I have the proper tools. I keep all my darning supplies in an old treadle sewing machine drawer. I purchased the darning egg at a local antique store for about 10 dollars. It has a metal cuff that holds the socks in place. All the darning yarn I’ve picked up at thrift stores for pennies, and my Grandma has been giving me hers. It’s becoming quite a collection! I’ve also been darning socks. We all got new socks and then my dryer ate them! Brand new socks!!! The dryer tore holes in several pairs so I’ve been darning them up. It’s actually kind of fun.

Well, that’s it for now. I have a whole crafting palooza planned soon – I’m going to really make a mess around here and hopefully finish up some old projects and start some new ones. I plan to take a week and really tear into them.

Happy Crafting!!!

Life is fascinating!

Can a person ever learn enough? The fascinating part is that there is always something new to learn and explore. I was doing a good job cleaning my house and just “researching” on the computer in the evenings…darn pinterest! Well a pin about water marbling your nails caught my eye and next thing you know I had all my nail stuff out and was playing.

Not bad if I do say so myself!

Then I noticed my beeswax was starting to mold so I thought I better process it right away. (A friend has bees and the best tasting honey ever! They give me the wax.) I started with this -

And some really grungy combs -

And am now in processing mode. I found a couple helpful articles that I’ll share if this turns out – lol! Basically you boil the comb in water with low heat and let it cool. The bee legs and other debris settles to the bottom and the wax rises to the top. It shrinks when it cools so it’s easy to lift out of the pan and then throw the water out the window. Do this a few times until your wax is clean. I’ve also been experimenting with boiling the wax in a nylon to strain it the first time but I didn’t like how much was stayed caked to the nylon…this stuff is precious! I have some projects planned to do after I have clean wax. See…always something to learn! Again I get “I don’t have time to do any of that…” well, I’ve decided I don’t have the time either…but I do have tremendous DRIVE to do this. And DRIVE trumps time. Something else has to give…like my messy basement. (Upstairs is done) I just won’t invite anyone to the basement any time soon. lol. And, while the wax is cooking I’m going to be cleaning my kitchen…gotta keep an eye on the wax anyways. So I’m crafting AND cleaning!

Happy Crafting!!

Polymer Clay

Whoa summer is going too fast!! And that makes me feel like I have to go faster to get everything in and done…and I’m feeling overwhelmed. The mess in my house has also exploded – like it does this time every summer and that makes me feel even more overwhelmed. I haven’t crafted but a little bit last week. That makes me sad – but what I made makes me happy -

I saw a pin on Pinterest and fell in love with the leather looking technique using polymer clay! Well, amongst all the chaos around here I had a birthday. Another one – it’s a good problem to have lol! My mother-in-law sent me some mad money for a present and I purchased a pasta machine thing Like this one to be used for polymer clay. Love it! And it’s an easy technique – I want so badly to play with it again! I keep telling myself later, when you have time…darnit!

Here’s another one I made for a peace-loving-friend who has a birthday next week.

Well, to address the chaos in my home/life I’ve made a decision to limit my time volunteering for the next couple weeks and to limit my time crafting and to clean up the house! I decided to tackle the problem (house) from top to bottom front to back. Yesterday I spent 6 hours cleaning my daughter’s room and the hallway upstairs. And. I’m. NOT. Done! Still have hallway to finish and two boys rooms upstairs. We are wiping down baseboards and walls and purging toys and clothes. My poor little guy had to try on a lot of clothes yesterday to see if they fit and we have two garbage bags of clothes to donate now…and room to put his school clothes once we buy them. I figure if I do a GOOD JOB it should last awhile. I hope that’s not wishful thinking. Fall will bring school and heavy volunteering at the church – time will be limited. And every time I think I have a full day to do something someone tries to schedule me for something or I have an appointment. Argh!!!! After cleaning and cooking all day yesterday I finally sat down at around 9 PM and thought “OK what should I do…clay? felt?”…and decided to read a book instead. There was nothing left in me energy-wise.

Oh – yeah, I also walked/ran a little bit in a 5K race last weekend. You can read Julie’s story of the day here. The ONLY reason I did it was because Julie asked me to. It sucked. I gave all of myself to that race and almost died. (and then felt strangely proud of myself for a few days! I like that feeling!) Julie has done this before and likes doing it. I think she’s nuts. But…when I got home my husband was saying how he could be faster…long story short – we are doing it again in October, and my husband is going to race me. And I’m gonna whoop his butt!!!!!! So I have to train. What is this world coming to? I’m going to try to jog a race? Oh boy. I don’t know how…but I can’t let him beat me can I? lol!

Happy Crafting!!!

Getting white pillowcases white again!

Remember when I made these pillowcases? It was in early June. We’ve used them everyday since then. Of course I wash them, but then put them right back on the pillow. Well, they were starting to look dingy. Really dingy. Not only does our head transfer oils to the case all night but I use moisturizer and sometimes don’t take my makeup off like I should. (Cause I don’t use makeup very often and forget! lol) We also live in an area that has a lot of iron and all our whites end up looking dingy really fast anyways. This bugged me. A LOT! These pillowcases are sooooo soft and smell so nice when washed I want to use them for a long time…just don’t want them looking dirty even when they are clean. Well, somewhere in my brain I remembered they used to boil clothes a long time ago and decided to investigate. I got on the internet and spent waaaay too long learning about boiling clothes. I’ll make it short and sweet for you – I filled a large pot with water got it on the stove and added a healthy squirt of blue Dawn dish soap, put in my pillowcases and made sure they floated freely, put the cover on and got it up to a boil. Then I just poked at them for a bit with a long wooden spoon and turned off the burner and let them sit for a bit. I rinsed them like crazy in the sink and hung them to dry. They are once again SNOWY WHITE!!! No bleach needed!!!! (I don’t care for bleach, I think it smells and breaks down the fabric, also can cause yellowing…probably because of all the iron in our water)

After I washed these cases I used the same water and boiled all my micro-fiber cloths too – they smelled so much sweeter. Then I used the boiling water to clean out my slow sink drain. It was a good morning!!!! I think the blue Dawn dish soap is the key. I’m gonna start buying it by the gallon lol! FYI - I’ll probably boil them a few times a year to keep them nice and white…

Happy Crafting!!!

Collage for the library…

I made this collage for the library – it was supposed to be a “quick craft” and ended up taking me several days! It went through many UGLY stages before I was finally satisfied. My hope is that they frame it and sell it with the understanding that I will add a quote if the buyer wants one. I’m so bad with quotes! And, they are personal…so this way they can pick what they want.

I think it’s the final details that bring a collage together – I liked it a lot more once I did some pen work -

It’s hard to catch it on camera but this collage glimmers with different pigment powders and paints. I was inspired by this pin on Pinterest. I started with a piece of cardboard and mod podged torn up magazine pages over the entire thing – then traced the bird and branch and painted around them…it gives it all a nice texture.

It was also Abby’s birthday this week – I made her a couple new pillow cases and put some new pillows in them.

I got the fabric at a garage sale for one dollar!!! The fabric on the cuffs was from my stash – a gift from a friend of a friend.

She likes them! (And Grandma Mary we did get your phone call and card – thank you!!)

Well, that’s it – got a new project on the craft table right now – here’s a peek -

It was a wooden tray that I’ve started painting and papering… Happy Crafting!!!

On today’s craft table…

This REALLY IS what my craft table looks like LOL! I worked really hard one day and cleaned up my office (where my craft table is located) and then proceeded to make an even BIGGER mess. I’ve been having a lot of fun with collage. I’ve been pinning different things I see on the web and am now trying out some new techniques. I anticipate a lot of “fails” but that’s OK, collage is forgiving…you can just paint over it again!

This is one collage almost finished…

I have this hanging over our bed. It’s a reminded that LIFE IS GOOD! What you can’t see is that I’ve doodled lots of important dates all over the picture…just little reminders that LIFE IS GOOD! Do you like how I framed it? heh heh. It’s a happy accident!

I LOVE that I can change it out whenever I make something I like better!! So EASY!

In other news we took Abby to camp again yesterday. She was soooo excited! And last night we had a QUIET HOUSE! Abby was at camp and the boys were each at a friend’s home for the night. It was weird and even weirder to wake up to a quiet house too. Not bad weird…good-but-I-wouldn’t-want-it-to-be-like-this-every-day-weird. It’s so quiet I just want to lay on the couch and watch TV or take a nap…but I can’t lol!

Happy Crafting!!!