Ever since watching the movie "Dave" I have Sigourney Weaver on my mind, singing "Tomorrow (Annie's song)" with a thin little voice, when I hear or read the word "tomorrow". Talk about Pavlov's dog.
Tomorrow IS only a day away and that day away is the day we will go to Wales. Ah, I can see your frightened little faces. You know what it means, don't you? Pictures!
I will be back on Sunday, so you have a few days to take a real good breath and mentally prepare for my return.
In a desperate attempt to keep up, catch up, whatever, I listed a few things in the last days, mainly in my poor neglected DaWanda shop. Only to put it on vacation in a while. That probably wasn't very smart. I could have done more exciting things like folding socks.
Why is it that always one sock is missing? Where did all my socks go? Is there a parallel universe inhabited by single socks? Maybe there is a deeper meaning behind all this?
Oops, back to the subject.
Behave yourselves and play nice together or you will all be banned from the sandbox.
And please have a great time!
P.S. Look at the picture. Three single socks!!
I was 12 and sitting in a movie theater with one of my best friends. After we came out, we started fighting.
The movie was Star Wars and the fight was about who would get Princess Leia. My friend was so sure it would be Luke Skywalker. I thought Luke was a goody two-shoes and insisted on Han Solo to be with her.
We all know who won in the end.
If I asked you, what quote from the movie springs to mind first, you would probably choose this one. It has been altered for parody many times and it's a classic.
"May the force be with you." The other day I almost said it to my boss when she left for a stressful meeting and I use it if someone has to tackle a difficult task.
Star Wars, USA, 1977
I'm a fan of Mel Brooks. I really am. And even if I love Young Frankenstein that I quoted before, I think High Anxiety is my favorite one of his movies.
I'm a fan of Alfred Hitchcock as well, so maybe that is the reason.
High Anxiety is an homage to Alfred Hitchcock and half of the fun is to recognize the movies the scenes are referring to. The plot itself very obviously refers to the movie Vertigo.
The cast is superb. Cloris Leachman as Nurse Diesel is unforgettable and the talented Madeline Kahn as the girlfriend looking for her father is great. Well, you already know I love her.
My favorite quote however is by Brophy, the chauffeur, who picks up Dr. Thorndyke (Mel Brooks) at the airport.
He takes Thorndyke's suitcase and tries to carry it, but ....
"I got it. I got it. I got it." Thump! "I ain't got it."
You hear that a few times throughout the movie. It's a very handy quote or are you trying to tell me that never happened to you? ;-)
High Anxiety, USA, 1977
Hermy was excited. He had an invitation for a party and star parties are usually big fun. They had milk from the Milky Way, they talked a lot and danced and it got very late.
The next morning Hermy woke up with a headache from the noise and he still had puffy eyes from not sleeping enough.
What was it his friends and he had been talking about last night? Their future, right. That had been towards the end when all he had finally longed for was his bed.
And what did they want to be? Silent stars, spectacular stars, nope, that wasn't it ... shouting stars! They had even vowed to follow that path with all their little hearts.
So Hermy became a shouting star. Not all his neighbors were happy about it .... if they only had known and could have told him that the friends had vowed to become shooting stars!
You can find more pictures of him in my Zibbet shop.
We had some great rain today. Am I in a silly mood? You can bet on it! ;-)
Creative Critters - that is the ArtFire studio of Michelle from Ohio.
Michelle says she has been an artist since she was a child and started playing with her first lump of Play Doh. She also says that when she is not outside tending to her gardens, taking walks or watching the animals, she likes to create.
And boy, does she create!
Not only does she work with polymer clay to make sculptures and jewelry, but she also sews and knits.
Her studio is full of great items, whimsical sculptures, dolls, teddy bears and they are mostly inspired by fantasy. Don't expect the usual stuff, though. Michelle definitely gives each item her own special touch.
Now the tough part was to choose some favorites of mine to show to you. As Michelle also loves cats, I thought it would be ok to let my cats help me, but surprise, surprise, they didn't choose any of the cat items. I guess they don't like to share the attention.
Ready? Let's start.
I expect you all to go awwwwww now because that is what this cute little seal deserves. Aren't the eyes just perfect?
"The Thwarting of Baron Bolligrew" by Robert Bolt is an English play for children. The "Augsburger Puppenkiste" turned it into one of their puppet play and it's one of my absolute favorites. What does that have to do with Creative Critters, you ask?
Well, this little fellow always reminds me of it!
This piece, the Lion Fish mermaid, just blows my mind. Isn't it gorgeous??
Check out Michelle's studio, I'm sure you will find something that you like, and while you are at it, why not hop over to her blog as well? Have fun!
I'm sorry, I really am.
So you sit there, type in a keyword and happily click on a link leading to my Etsy store in the hope it'll give you what you want. And then - the shock. Where are they? The stitch markers, the green glass flower plate, the brass or chocolate leaf sprigs?? They are nowhere to be found? All there is is jewelry, wire and a bit of polymer clay? Oh, come on now, Google, aren't we constantly being told that you are our friend?
If you think that's all now, don't be fooled. There is much more damage done. Let me give you a list once more of my favorite keywords that led to my Etsy store the last weeks - beside the stitch markers etc.
1. Zipper flowers - I might be able to make some from wire, but if I am not much mistaken, I haven't mentioned the word zipper anywhere yet.
2. Cotton convertible dress - again, I DO NOT SEW. Not a dress, not a shirt, not a skirt. I don't sew, Google. Get over it.
3. City girl cap - no idea what that is. Am I only allowed in the city wearing a special cap? I'd be grateful for hints on that one before I get myself arrested.
4. Sugar and creamer set with tray - I bet I could make that! Of course the sugar and cream wouldn't stay in their bowls with all those holes that happen to be there with wire crochet, but ... ok. I guess I can't make that.
5. Vinyl monograms for cars - now we start to make sense. Not!
6. Inlaid cribbage board - ok, I can't even think of a good comment for that one.
7. Environmentally friendly spoon rest - you know if you take one of my little bowls and maybe put kitchen tissue undernea... you don't think so? Just a try, I don't, either.
8. Buy a mojito pound cake - I don't sew, I don't bake. And if I bake, I don't sell it out of fear of being sued.
9. Polar bear totem - huh???
10. Live poultry t shirts - I think that's my favorite one. Without thinking much I imagined a live chicken clinging to a t-shirt, then I figured an image of one would do, too. Next I thought maybe there is a punk band called "Live Poultry", I wouldn't be surprised. I still don't know what the person was looking for, but I know it was not in my shop for sure.
To be honest and open, though, there was one visit from the keywords "wire crochet". 27 pages in one visit. I sure am glad at least somebody had fun on my Etsy for 4 minutes ....
.... and it was one of Deronda Designs meltie cabs I had in my hands. I had been wanting to do something with it forever.
Just look at it, isn't it gorgeous? It makes me think of hot chocolate that has been topped with whipped cream and now the cream is slowly melting into the chocolate. I can almost taste it on my tongue.
Being a cab it needed a bezel of course, but for quite a while I hadn't been sure if I wanted to use wire in a matching color tone or silver. I finally decided today and I think it's was the right decision.
To tie it in with my comparison to chocolate, I'll just say the bezel could be a silver cup.
I then added three sterling silver chains on each side.
You should check out Deronda's studio on ArtFire, either bring very strong nerves or your purse, it's pure temptation. I have never been disappointed so far and will be back again and again!
You know how there are things you don't want to do? Places you don't want to go? And still you know you have to, but you don't want to be first because you are afraid or because it's yucky?
This week's quote is perfect for these occasions, I find. It's from the first movie I ever saw all on my own at a theater, "Raiders of the Lost Ark", the first Indiana Jones movie.
There is the scene in which Indy and Sallah open the Well of Souls in the middle of desert. The floor seems to be moving and Indy drops the torch in just to see the place is full of snakes of which he is terribly afraid.
Sallah looks in and says: "Asps ... very dangerous. You go first."
That cracks me up every time I see the movie. I know ... I'm easy to please.
Raiders of the Lost Ark, USA, 1981
Huh? If her name is Valerie, why Emily Claire Creations? Valerie says she is so inspired by her two daughters that her studio was named after them.
When I think of her, I think faux. Faux stone, faux ceramic, faux metal - I love how she mastered to imitate things in polymer clay to make them look real.
She herself is not "faux" at all. She is a lovely person, witty, helpful and incredibly talented. I'm very glad to have met her.
Now let's have a look at some of my favorite items in her ArtFire studio.
I love trees and I like the feel of these earrings. They remind me of little tokens that we used to collect as children, only much more beautiful!
With this item Valerie would have fooled me at first sight. I really thought it was precious metal clay and was surprised for a moment because I didn't know she worked with it. She doesn't, it's polymer clay. Isn't it amazing?
Now to my very favorite piece, the Spring Wild Flowers choker. How she made the clay resemble sandstone like this, I don't know, but I love the effect she created.
You can also find Valerie on her blog and now last, but not least at all - she is having a sale, 15 % off!! What are you waiting for? Run!
Today I had an appointment with the chimney sweep for the annual emission check. No, I am not talking about the cats' litter boxes. They are handled by the Biological Warfare Agent Commission.
As you know, Ponder loves visitors. He heard the door and down the stairs he ran to join in the fun. He was a little disappointed at first because he is desperately (once a year) in love with the pretty female chimney sweep, but the guy was nice, too. Patted him, told him how beautiful he is (as if he didn't know ...) and he was all dressed in black! While he started working, Ponder checked out his equipment.
Since that little brat invaded my home, I have been thinking about sending him to boarding school. For his own good, mind you. I just couldn't decide if it should be a school specializing in music - as he is such a wonderful singer - or sports - as he loves to run, jump, roll and sometimes almost fly.
But now it's settled. After opening everything that was fastened with velcro, using nose and paws, Ponder decided himself. He wants to be a chimney sweep when he grows up!!
You remember a few days ago? The birthday gift?
It has arrived safely!
There is this friend, you know. I mentioned her before. She is such a witch! In a good sense. We are both Terry Pratchett fans and that was what brought us together. I like to call her Granny Weatherwax, she calls me Nanny Ogg (for people who don't know Terry Pratchett ... maybe you should check out his books, they are great fun).
And then there is Jamie from Glasstastic Treasures. In her lampwork bead studio you can find sea critters, camels, dinosaurs, hearts, corn-on-the-cob, so cool, and and and ....... and a witch's cauldron. Black with a filling of green bubbly stuff. My friend is not that much into jewelry, so I had to think hard how to do the cauldron justice.
"Eye of newt, and toe of frog, Wool of bat, and tongue of dog, Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting, Lizard's leg, and howlet's wing,-- For a charm of powerful trouble, Like a hell-broth boil and bubble." 
Shakespeare sure had a way with words and then it clicked and I went to do a little magic of my own. Long grey hair, a battered pointed black hat, clutching her broken spoon, stirring the poisonous looking boiling green goo, there the tiny witch (1.5 inch including the "grass") is standing. She looks concentrated, I guess the potion has to be ready in the morning. A love potion? Something to heal sick goats with? Or maybe a facial mask! 
"My" witch wrote that she liked her. I bet the two are getting along just fine! ;-)
I just remembered that I turned another of Jamie's awesome creations into a gift.
This time it didn't become a witch, but ................
The UFO with the seed bead lights is silver tone wire, crocheted in shape.
It has been a while that I wanted to try and make face cabs from polymer clay. But you know how I am. Too many ideas at once, getting distracted easily, feeling the urge to experiment with something.
Yesterday that urge led to me a face cab. All week it had been so hot that my motivation was close to zero. I started a few pathetic attempts at playing with clay, but not much came of them. I was sitting in my "laboratory", thinking, rolling a ball of clay between my hands, mixing colors, twisting it, putting it through the pasta machine and suddenly I found myself with a disk on the table in which I had pressed two indentations with my forefingers. Eye sockets!
I had mixed the colors to make them resemble dark wood which was perfect for a face. I thought it would be really nice if it looked like some ancient tribal mask. And finally my first face was done. But ... what to do with it?
At first I thought I'd just make a bezel for it. When looking for a matching color, I stumbled upon my brass wire. It's the wire I had started five projects with which I threw away almost right away. Brass is springy, hard and really makes your hands sore during crocheting. But -
1. hadn't I promised to use what I've got?
2. stubbornness set in.
3. the color fit the cab perfectly.
Sigh. What are fingers good for anyway? They'll heal.
When the bezel was finished, it seemed something was missing. That was when I decided to turn the pendant into a star.
I think it was the right decision and you?
Today's quote is from one of my all-time favorite movies, The Wizard of Oz.
It's just perfect for the heat wave that hit the country at the moment and that I have problems to deal with. You know me, I'm the cool type ;-)
"I'm melting!"
That is what the Wicked Witch of the West - as seen above with one of her cool flying monkeys - screams when the water that Dorothy uses to put out the fire on the scarecrow touches her and makes her melt. I use it a lot these days!!
The Wizard of Oz, USA, 1939
