Balls in blue

I really wanted to write blue balls, but I think that has ‘other’ connotations…

These are from a new line, Blown Polymer.
Hollow, and that is a quarter dwarfed in the center.

All polymer. The ribbon is also polymer! I am currently working on some ideas in gray. After a bit of settling into my new space, I am full of ideas. Cannot seem to work fast enough!

I did enter three pieces into the 2009 Bead Star competition…did you? No, I will not be posting/showing the items I entered.

Artist survey benefits both participants and provides scholarships for the visual arts. Take the survey to be eligible for the $100 sweepstakes and to help describe today’s artist community.

Valerie

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I’ll never be a movie star

Someone named chall4 on YouTube uploaded the following:

You know I just had to post it here! Thank you chall4!

Yes I look out of place, nervous and weird. Why? Because I was all of those things. To meet FMG founders Chris and Stuart Freedman and was an unexpected honor. Let me see if I can phrase this well… The couple has presence. There is a feeling of warmth and true enjoyment of others from them. I wanted to move to Grants Pass!

A reminder….Interweave’s Bead Star 2009’s deadline for entries is May 1. And the early bird deadline is today.

Valerie

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gifting doubles CONTEST!!!!

Did it again. Bought a duplicate of a book. This one is authored by Kristin Omdahl.

There are a couple of fabulous shawls I am itching to stitch. My summer months I crochet. They are spent in the mountains in very cramped quarters. I am on call 24/7 for the entire two months. Any handwork needs to be extremely portable…and for me crochet is the most portable and forgiving of all handwork.

Anyway..I’ve digressed yet again. I bought this book twice. (Yes, I have a couple of more duplicates sitting on my shelves…sigh.)
Rather than return this item, losing the postage twice in the process, I’d rather gift it!

Hence the contest….

Answer the following question correctly and it is YOURS! (To be fair, please answer on this blog for all to see. The first correct answer wins. If you are first, the automatic queuing of responses will validate your entry. Easy!)

QUESTION: To what use did I put Future on Sunday?

Good luck,

Valerie

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Parchment Transfers

I received a wonderful email from Sandy that I am sharing with you.
Her results with the parchment paper transfers are exactly the same as the results I achieved.

Hi Valerie,

You are so kind to share the parchment paper transfer technique and sell the paper.  I bought some paper from you a couple weeks ago and thought you might be interested in my experience with it.  I tried it with by HP inkjet printer and was able to get 3 prints from one image, each being lighter of course.  Once the sheet of images sat around for a week they did not transfer as brightly but still worked.  The ink on the transfer is very easy to smear and gets onto other papers so they are not easily stored.  I also have an HP color laser and that worked fantastic.  I made some transfers to Premo clay and left them over night before baking and they got rather sticky on the surface and smeared easily.  I had also stacked the clay transfers with index cards in between - not a good idea.  I got perfect transfers to the paper but luckily the image on the clay was unharmed and not that much lighter.  My final mishap was to bake a covered pen on accordion folded card stock (this was an image I had just transferred and it felt dry to the touch- I got some color transfer to the card stock during the baking.  Again the piece looks fine, but I learned a lesson. 

Again thank you so much for sharing.  I have already impressed some of my clay friends with your technique and they will probably be buying paper from you too.

Sandy

Keep those results coming. Send pictures!
Thanks Sandy for the kind email, for the info, and the permission to share.

Valerie

Technorati Tags: polymer clay,transfer,parchment

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Call for Entries

Bead Star 2009!

Yes. That is me. I amazingly was selected as 1st in Seed Beads and then Best in Show.
It is easy to enter and I encourage all to give it a go.

From Interweave:

Deadline May 1! Grand prize is an all-expense paid trip for two to Bead Fest Santa Fe 2010 and $1000 shopping spree from Fire Mountain Gems

Loveland, Colorado, April 15, 2009: Interweave announced today the final casting call for all beaders and jewelry designers in the United States and Canada to enter the second annual Bead Star challenge—an exciting competition with more than ten thousand dollars in prizes and a Grand Prize all-expense paid trip for two to beautiful Santa Fe for Bead Expo 2010, $1,000 in beading supplies, and the cover of the new magazine, Bead Star (www.BeadStar.com).

The deadline to enter is May 1, 2009 and no entry fee is required. "It's as simple as uploading a photo of your design from our website," says Bead Star Editor Leslie Rogalski.

Winning entries will be published in the second annual issue of Bead Star, the first-ever beading publication comprised entirely of prize-winning designs selected by beaders worldwide, available on newsstands nationwide this December 8, 2009 from Interweave (www.Interweave.com).

Watch the YouTube.com Slideshow Presentation of the 2008 Winners at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAfXtM8ej0g

Beading Daily Editor Michelle Mach describes Bead Star best: "It's like American Idol for beaders—but better. You won't have to forgo your morning shower and stand in line with thousands of other sweaty contestants for days as you wait to audition. Simon Cowell won't be judging the finalists—the much nicer editors of Beadwork and Stringing will select them. Instead of phoning in your votes, everyone on Beading Daily—readers from all over the world—will get a chance to vote online for the winners."

It's Up to the People to Choose the winners

The editors of Bead Star, Stringing, and Beadwork magazines will select the top 20 finalists among submissions in each of nine design element categories:
Crystals, Seed Beads, Glass, Pearls, Stones, Metals, Plastics, Designs Under $25, and Designs with a Heart. Then enthusiasts around the world will be able to log on to BeadStar.com May 15-30, 2009, and cast their votes for their favorite designs among the finalists.

"We want real beading enthusiasts from around the world to participate in the selection process," says Rogalski. "So, after our editors select the finalists, we'll leave it up to the people to pick the winners."

A first-place, second-place, and third-place winner and two honorable mentions will be awarded in each of the nine design element categories. All first place prizes are valued at $500, second place prizes are valued at $300, and third place prizes
are valued at $100. One Grand Prize winner will be selected by the Grand Prize sponsor, Fire Mountain Gems, from the first-place category winners. This Grand Prize winner will receive a trip for two to beautiful Santa Fe for Bead Expo 2010, win $1,000 in cool beading stuff, and see his or her design featured on the cover of Bead Star magazine. Bead Star's 2008 Grand Prize Winner

Last year's competition garnered more than 1,000 entries and
the finalists were voted on by nearly 10,000 members of the Beading Daily community. The Bead Star 2008 Grand Prize winner is Valerie Aharoni, whose project, "Gild & reGild," was featured on the cover of Bead Star 2008. Aharoni's first-place project in the Seed Beads category was chosen by Grand Prize Sponsor Fire Mountain Gems and Beads among the nine first-place category winners.

Valerie

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Discontinued Products

Don’t you just want to have a hissy fit ( or present the decision makers with the raspberry award) when a product you work with and rely on is discontinued?
Sure there are work-arounds and substitutes. Nothing ever seems to work just like the product that is no longer available.

Just happened to me. I found a short cut to extensive sanding a while back which relies on Liquid Softener for FIMO polymer clay. That is what the label reads. Manufactured by Eberhard Faber.
Ahh, you say. Try Sculpey diluents, or mineral oil. How about liquid clay.

Nope…not as effective. And just what do I use it for?
Know how there appears a gray bloom after sanding? And the only way to get rid of it is to sand with ever higher grits and then to buff, buff, buff?
I don’t.
I sand with 1000 (usually 800) as my finest grit. And yes you can still see the scratches. Put on a bit of Liquid Softener for FIMO polymer clay, leave it sit overnight…smooth, beautiful matte finish!

I miss my Liquid Softener for FIMO polymer clay!!!!

Valerie

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