The things that make me happy

One of the most important things for me in posting all these tutorials is to see my subscribers "take flight", so to speak.
In  my "end of the month, new month" video that I posted in August, I was talking about how other artists who post tutorials on youtube tell you "I am showing you this, but don't copy me, make your own". And I said that I say the contrary, "copy me. I put this out here for you do make it. Copy exactly what I'm doing until you have the handle on the technique, and then put your own touch on it and develop it further."
This is how you evolve as an artist. This is how the whole art community evolves - by learning the how to's from each other and then bringing it to new levels, adding our own touch.
I am exceptionally happy when I see any of you making something that I have shown in one of my tutorials perfectly. And I am exceptionally happy when I see one of you actually taking it to the next level, and putting your own personal touch. The discovery in art is the "thinking outside the box". It's looking at another artist's work and then your mind starting to buzz with the "what if" possibilities of bringing what you see to a new level.

I had made an applique pendant during my last Sunday's live event. People have posted absolutely beautiful and perfectly made pendants using that technique, some did it at the same time with me, some did it afterwards.

And then Leona shows up. With a totally new combination of colors. It looks so beautiful that it blew me away. The color combination of the skinner blend background and using black for the applique part, make it look like an alien landscape. Leona, thank you for allowing me to start my day looking at something beautiful.

This is Leona's pendant.

I had already been blown away by Nancy's pendant, with the use of dark blue and white gold glitter.

Today's tutorial - Kalyana effect explained

So it still has about 1 hour to upload. For tomorrow, it's already uploaded and scheduled the Stroppel cane tutorial - actually both Stroppel canes with variants.
After which for Friday (I'm not done yet with it) will be two pieces made with each of the Stroppel canes (one of them with a variant)

The cane caps from TinyPandora.com are supposed to be delivered Friday, so I will do Friday afternoon the translucent "floating" Tsunami cane and a piece with it.  That will be uploaded for Saturday.

After which I will be taking a few days break - of course we will have the live event on Sunday at 2 pm CDT - but I need to catch up with stuff.

If I get the ok from the enamel manufacturer, I will upload the testing and review video too.

In the mean time, for next week:

I just got in the mail the Sculpey clear (yay!) and a few colors and samples from a not so known mica powder and glitters company. These pigments are fairly general use and the company does a lot of business in body painting, but I am sure that they will work wonders on clay - they already told me they have one other polymer clay artist who is using them. And the colors! OMG the colors they have! You will see.

Until then they sent me 2 glitter samples, one very fine and delicate and pink with iridescence, and the other one is a dream in blue - the glitter is of various sizes, but the blue is absolutely fabulous.
Pardon the quality of the photos, the new camera is not supposed to get here until the 18 so I'm still stuck with taking photos with my crappy phone.

Feast your eyes!

Sunday

Well, Sunday has come and is almost gone. I did have an amazing day. I barely started to feel a little tired in the past 15 minutes or so.

Woke up a little after 5 am. Ingested the required insane amount of coffee so I can function - this is no joke. I am one of those rare people who have LOW blood pressure as a norm. Even at 56, I still have low blood pressure. MY normal is anywhere from 100 to 110 systolic and 68 to 76 diastolic. When I wake up it's in the 90s so I do require a large quantity of caffeine and liquids before I can walk and move around without getting dizzy.

After which I was actually able to put together 3 of the pieces that were laying around waiting. Took photos. Only got one of them uploaded in the store for now but getting ready to upload the other two as well. I do think that I will make a video though because on these specific pieces it's hard to get a good photo. And I'm not talking about a photo that would do them justice and show all the nice 3d effects, but a good photo - exactly because of the 3d effects and layers the photos look like if they're blurry! Take a look

You know these from the "3d ripple blade effect" tutorial

This is the "Key to my heart" necklace. It's got a purple cat's eye opal bead and this heart key charm - take a look in the store to see it better!

See what I mean?

Anyway. Also did some varnishing on some focals and beads that needed it. Worked on the new piece with the "barbed" cane and did the last two beads on one of the assymmetrical necklaces. Sanded everything I worked on today (well except for two).

Had the live event - which was a lot of fun. And it looked like everybody was enjoying themselves. The piece I worked on came up cute as a button, but I will not finish it today. In my mind (crazy artist mind) it requires a combo of chain with very large links and smaller (medium) links of various shapes and patterns, to do justice and keep the whole spirit of the piece as it came out. For me always pieces are like they are waiting to come into existence, and I'm there just like some kind of tool who helps them get born. It is true that about half the time I do plan my pieces, about 90% of the time I start with something in mind. But the truth is that about 90% of the time what I had in my mind/planned is not what comes out.

So, here's a glimpse of my work today

From top left going right - 2 beads that just got out of the oven, part of an asymmetrical necklace; beads that got varnished, part of a summerish necklace. New ear rings. A mokume gane abstract pendant; part of another asymmetrical necklace

Beads from today's live even (doodle canes - a symphony in black and white) and beads of the new piece I am making with the "barbed cane" of yesterday's tutorial/ I just finished sanding all of them

A closeup of that long bead. I thought you might want to see it better

Top: set of bracelet, pendant and ear rings that got first coat of varnish, need to apply second coat. Bottom: focal of the new piece. I think I'll call it "undersea lair" haha

As you can see, busy busy. I think I will call it a day though, because of being on the chair at the work space too long, I started to get really bad painful cramps in my back muscles (that area where they took out the largest muscle and the remaining ones can't compensate for the lack of that one). So I learned in the past years to not push it, because if I do, I will need at least 2 days to recover.

There's always a tomorrow, isn't it?

I will probably do the little "top hat caterpillar" tomorrow. I don't have a lot of time, I have the appointment with the orthopedist at noon, and that means that by the time I'll get back home I'll be pooped. Also, if they give me tomorrow the shots in the hands, probably won't be able to do anything anyway.

Tuesday and Wednesday at this point are inter-changeable. It will all depend how I feel Tuesday.

Yes, I will make another piece with the "barbed cane". I always do make a piece with a technique I just made a tutorial of, don't I? *smile*

I will also do the low-temp enamel test and review next week. Hopefully by the end of the week I'll get the ok to post it from the manufacturer. 

Don't forget, Saturday morning CDT (probably 9:30 or so) I will have a live event. I decided to do the "monthly wrap-up and plans for next month) live, so I can answer not just the questions I got in emails and messages, but also live questions. No worries, the Sunday Clay with me is still on.

You all have a great end of the week-end!!!

Tile bracelet tutorial finished

Ok sorry for that. Apparently the blogger app is just for reading and publishing, not for editing.

Anyway. Just a short note.

The tile bracelet tutorial is ready. I will make a short presentation video about it on youtube. This is a paid tutorial, otherwise you have to be one of my sponsors or Patreon patrons to have access to it. It will be available soon in my online store as a paid tutorial. It is made with two different pearlescent canes, with a pattern that continues from one tile to the other, all around the bracelet.

On a different note, I am now starting a public tutorial on a very versatile jelly roll cane.

Here the tile bracelet photos. I tried to take photos of the whole pattern wrapping around the bracelet.

Extruder strings tutorial this afternoon

I am about 1/3 done taping. I went ahead and mowed the lawn while the first part of the piece was baking. Going to take a shower, then head out to buy some fruit, then finish this.

Will update later. I gotta go. Don't want to be still out and about when it's 96F in the shade.

Update 12:30 pm

Finally back home. Put almost all the groceries away - had to stop, rest and allow for my pain pill to start working. The whole trip took again about 45 minutes longer than it usually does, because of the darn road work. I might rest until PCT's live event, being stuck in traffic and having to be in the same position made my back muscles really really spasm.

Still debating which stamp to use for the central part of the piece of the tutorial. AND what technique I want to use for it - isn't that terrible? I'm torn between chalk pastels and alcohol inks. Anyway, the whole tutorial is based on the extruder-strings-ran-through-the-pasta-machine technique.

You've probably seen it already in this form:

Yea, I clay-doodled last evening. And I could have sworn I had used turquoise blue but I guess the artificial light tricked me. That will teach me to make sure I put the clay in its designated color folder.

Anyway, yes, it's based on this technique, but it's not this. You know how I like to do the "think outside the box" thing, so it's completely different. Well, no not really completely, it still uses the strings thing. Well, You'll see.

As more news, I talked to my orthopedists' office this morning and apparently my hands should have responded better to the shot, so they scheduled me for another shot. And they told me once again I will, at one point have to go get surgery.

My hands have a double-whammy, in case I didn't explain it before. My cervical spine is very messed up - two pairs of vertebrae slipped (C3-C4 and C5-C6), almost no disks left between C2 and C7, the foramens (those little openings through which the nerves come out of the spine marrow) are very narrowed - that's where my loss of function comes from - and lots of osteophytes, the spine cord is actually compressed in several spots.
On top of this, I have osteoarthritis of the base of the thumb. I know, you can't see a thing, and my hands look normal. Because I have OSTEOarthritis not rheumatoid (inflammatory) arthritis. There's no inflammation. But I have on both hands bone spurs at the base of the thumb that cut into the tendons, making movements like pinching, grasping, buttoning/unbuttoning, etc very painful.

So, even if I'm not happy about the perspective of having to have spinal fusion in my neck sometime in the future, I really can't wait until they say "ok, no more shots, time to laser out those bone spurs in your hands". Seriously. I'd have at least that pain gone.

Will update later - not sure if new post or just update this one.

Update 9:15/ Sorry I'm so late. I'm afraid I narcolepsied for a while, haha.

Anyway, here's the  tutorial

Third tutorial ready for upload and don't forget live event today

All right, I got the third tutorial that I had shot right before my fatigue episode all ready and it's uploading now. Should be up in one hour by what youtube says.

Here it is.

Don't forget the live event! Starts in about 2 1/2 hours.

On another note, after the live event - which will get recorded and published on youtube automatically - I think I will not make another tutorial until either Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday morning. My hands are killing me, we keep having all these storms around and that is not easy on me. On Tuesday I see my spine and pain care doctor and I will get a set of my cervical spine shots that usually reduce inflammation on the arms/hands nerves that are severely pinched in my neck, and that makes my hands hurt less and be more "responsive". Depending on how fast the shot works - the next tut will be either that afternoon (I go early in the morning so I have time to rest afterwards) or Wednesday morning.

Managed to get everything resined up last evening. Finally.

Now I need to get some more pretty cardboard to pack the pieces I made that are crowded on the kitchen table.