The weekend is almost over ...

... which means the day job is waiting for me around the corner. It's going to be so hard to get up really early again!

As I don't know if Mabel will be overwhelmed by this fact (I found muses can get bored easily) and run away to Maui or Australia (in which case she could bring me some opals) , I took the chance to quickly work on another piece, a huge cross with lots of Swarovski crystals - blue and clear - and a faceted midnight blue glass bead as focal.

The addiction has taken over, that went quickly.

Here it is, if you want to see more pictures, you can find it here in my ArtFire studio.

P.S. "She has been telling stories about us again." "Nah, you are kidding, what did she say this time?" "She said we don't use the new box." "Doh, what does she know? Let's show her."

And that's what they did this evening. In abundance. Greebo, Esme and Ponder.

Here's just one example. Let's make the human look like a fool. Well done indeed.

Wondering ...

What it is wrong about this picture? After I almost tripped over this box for the fifth time today, I felt something was not quite right. Then suddenly I knew. There is no cat in there!!

As in all households ruled by feline emperors new boxes don't stay empty for long here. I have enough examples to prove it.

Esme often prefers her boxes not empty as in this case. I'm not sure if she ever read those books, but she camped out with them for weeks until she chose a new place to chill.

There had been another box resident before her. Gandalf still had a towel in it then that you could also use as a roof when he demanded absolute peace. Doesn't it look cosy?

I am not sure what Greebo had in mind here. At any case he looks highly concentrated. Maybe he tried to make the box take off by sheer willpower?

There are lots of pictures of Ponder in various boxes. My favorite one is this although he scared me a little with that determined look of his.

Meffi looks as if she was ready to get packed up in this picture. This is an unusual picture, the little diva prefers baskets usually in which being carried around she loves.

I have no doubt that Merlin slept in this box very comfortably. Not. You know how cats are. They never cease to amaze us.

So now back to my question.

What is wrong with that big and new and lovely box that none of our cats wants to try it out .....?

Any theories?

Beginnings

It's funny, but I really struggle with this week's subject for the Polymer Clay Smooshers' blogring. If it was spring now, it would be a lot easier, I guess. New flowers, leaves, the world awakening again.

The year's beginning is not of that much importance to me, though. To me really it is just another day, all that has changed is a number in the year. This is not supposed to sound depressed or anything, I just don't like to pin changes to a certain day.

So I'm going to shamelessly steal an idea I have seen several times before and feature shops that didn't have a sale on ArtFire yet. Believe me, I just don't understand why. You are in for a trip through some great studios. Ready, set, go!

Let's start with this beautiful pendant by Jill Kollmann Designs. Don't you just love those rich, earthy tones?

Art Deco is one my very favorite styles. This lovely bracelet with its geometric design reminds me strongly of it. You can find it in the studio of 11 Bold Street.

I rarely make beads although I love them and I admire anyone who creates them. Janine Design has done a great job here. The green in these beads almost makes me forget there is snow outside!

Lynard Skynyrd is a turtle, an adorable one. He swims in the K. Bish Gallery, but I'm sure he would love to see something of the world!

Ready for some browsing of your own? I'll leave you alone then. Here are the cookies, here's some cocoa. How about lighting a candle and diving into the beauty of polymer clay?

Mythology

For me the first myth when I got to meet mythology was why the "Reader's Digest Book of Fairy Tales and Myths" started on page 732 and didn't contain any fairy tales. Well, forgive me, after all I was just a small child. I never found out if my godmother also owned the other volume.

I didn't mind because I loved this book. Prometheus and the Cyclops, Aeneas and Mucius Scaevola, Baldur and Loki, Siegfried und Kriemhild, they were all there. I read it again and again.

So when the poll closed for the Polymer Clay Smooshers' challenge with the result "Mythology", I was really excited. The only problem was it was so hard to decide what to choose.

I stuck with the Greeks for my entries.

One of my favorite stories ever was the one of Philemon and Baucis, the old couple who showed hospitality to the Gods when none of the rich people in their town did. The rich people got a flood and Philemon and Baucis got their home changed to a temple whose custodians they were until their time came. One of their wishes had been that none of them should survive the other, so when it was time, they were transformed into a pair of intertwining trees.

To honor that beautiful end I made a pendant showing the intertwining trees with the plate being from polymer clay and the bezel from wire crochet.

For my second piece I chose another one of my favorite characters - Medusa. The gorgon lady had been a beauty, but after flirting (and more) with the wrong man, Pallas Athene changed her into a hideous creature just like her sisters were. She was the only mortal gorgon, but she had a valuable weapon. One look at her hair made of snakes, her sharp eyeteeth, her long tongue and her glowing eyes turned people into stone.

Perseus finally defeated and beheaded her, being protected by a mirrored shield.

My Medusa is made from a polymer clay face cab which I caught in a wire crochet bezel onto which I added little wire snakes with their tongues sticking out. I attached the head to a barrette blank, something new for me. I can imagine wearing that very well - I might have to make one for myself ;-)

Both pieces are in my ArtFire studio now.
By the way, there is still my sale going on, 20 % off everything!

What does it say about me ....

... that I prefer to get a ceramic black hand for Christmas instead of a Smartphone (no, no one wanted to give me one, but I didn't even want one)?

... that I have more fun with this high heel black satin ringholder than with shoes to wear (says the sneaker girl)?

... that when looking at the bath oil we got I first notice the beads on a string around the bottle and wonder what to do with them and do not check out the scent of the oil?

... that I really, really want a "Rock, scissors, paper, lizard, Spock" t-shirt and/or one of Sheldon's t-shirts from Big Bang Theory?

... that I enthusiastically spend hours and hours to crochet a "man", but hate to spend 20 minutes folding laundry?

... that I get all jumpy about a gift consisting of differently colored wire and a crochet hook?

... that my nightstand holds wire, pliers, crochet hooks, books and the DVD player remote control?

... that I want to be like Kowalski from the Penguins of Madgascar?

You know I'm not sure I want an answer .....

Quote of the week

Today I wanted to bring you a quote which is profound, perfect for a new year's beginning.

You guessed it already, huh? I couldn't come up with one, probably because I started searching too late. Instead let's sing a song together, a folk song that appeared in a fine movie:

"Show me the way to go home
I'm tired and I want to go to bed
I had a little drink about an hour ago
And it went right to my head (or it's gone straight to my head)
Where ever I may roam
On land or sea or foam
You will always hear me singing this song
Show me the way to go home"

Know the movie? Of course, it's Jaws!

 Picture by Mila Zinkova

Cheers, totally not profound, to a new year of quotes!

Jaws, USA, 1975

2011

I'm a little late, it's already after midnight and therefore the 2nd of January. I procrastinated and then again I didn't. I just didn't do what I had planned to do. A great way to start into the new year because you might remember I don't make resolutions anyway - like getting things done in order for example ;-)

What I did do is take some bling pictures. Where the bling is you want to know? It's there, believe me, only there hasn't been good light all day. Fog is not my friend.

If you know Swarovski you also know it's hidden somewhere in this picture. Not the Swarovski, the bling! I keep staring at it and don't even want to put the two pieces away.

Ok, so I am a newbie to this. I have been told I'll be lost now and looking at the different colors I got I am afraid "they" could be right. I won't tell names ... you out there, you know who you are.

This is the second heart I made. The first one had no beads, but boy, do beads change this design!!

It's in my ArtFire studio now, sparkling away.

I have been slightly obsessed with stars lately, maybe the holidays are to blame. This one is a little plumper ("figure"wise ;-)) than the others, I gave it an extra row all around and I like it. You can find it in my Zibbet shop.

The stars are still stuck in my head with a different idea, somewhere in that long queue, so I'm pretty sure you will hear from them again, they might look a little different, though. Nope, not saying anything else.

I hope you all had a great first step into this new year!