When I saw this ceramic focal cabochon at Bead Fest I was so intrigued by it that I just had to own it. I love science fiction and this reminded me of a planet floating out in space. I had no idea what I was going to do with it at the time. Like most of the pieces I create I had to wait for it to speak to me. I'm very pleased with the way it turned out. Any opinions??? I love hearing your comments and critique. You can find this piece in my Etsy store.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday Season. I have felt like I've been on a non-stop roller coaster. It's  been a fun and thrilling ride but I'm glad it's over. It was great being with my family and all the craziness that happens when we are together. But this roller coaster is finally coming into the station. I have a few quiet minutes to reflect upon the last year and set some goals for the new one. Last year was full of dreams. I wanted to do so many things that never happened. I wanted to make and sell more art and jewelry. I wanted to take classes to improve my skills. I wanted to get out into the world and meet more people who had a passion for the same things I did. What happened? Work! That's what happened. My brain could not contain all the ideas I had while sitting at my desk all day but by the time I got home I was too tired to manifest them. No more excuses.....It is time to turn those dreams into reality. So here we go.....New year, new roller coaster, and new ride.

Position Eliminated

Few things in life are as demeaning as showing up for work only to be told your position has been eliminated. Yes, this is my circumstance. Since I had more seniority then most of the people left, I only took one sick day in the past year, and being the perfectionist that I am, always crossed my T's and dotted my I's, I questioned Why me? I was told I fell within the matrix, with no further explanation. What exactly does that mean? Oh, I finally figured it out. It meant I was 58 years old and I had a Mouth and a Voice. Imagine that? I have never been a "YES MAN" or woman as the case may be. Contributing to the common cause makes me happy. I believe in working as a team where everyone contributes freely. Evidently this corporation does not agree. A mind is a terrible thing to waste. Wouldn't you agree? I know God did not put me on this earth to fail. He has given me talents that I must now tap into and expand to their full measure. I have no time in my life for negative energy. Having lost my place as a cog in the corporate wheel it's time for me to focus on building a new wheel, a better wheel, a beautiful wheel, one that will take me on new adventures. I invite you to come along with me because adventures are always more fun with friends.

Curiouser and Curiouser

I started this tag on Saturday morning. I spritzed it with Tattered Angles and loved the background. Then I stamped it and didn't like it at all. The more I looked at it the more I disliked it, so I threw it in the trash. A few hours later I thought I might be able to salvage it so I pulled it out of the trash. I used some diamond glazed on it. Let it dry and didn't like it. Back in the trash it went. I really hate throwing things away so I dug it out again. I pulled off the diamond glaze covered it with a face flower and started adding 3d elements for interest and texture. Ahhhh Haaaa it started to show promise. In the end I really like what became of my salvaged piece. Curiouser and Curiouser how these things work.

A Day at Longwood Gardens

I live near Longwood Gardens. These gardens are so massive that you can't get through them in one day. They are absolutely beautiful with surprises around every corner. Whenever I need to find some peace and tranquility this is the perfect place to go. Recently I took my sister for a stroll and these are some of the pictures I took. I particularly loved the Water Lily Garden on this trip.

Tired of Waiting

So it's been 18 months since I wrote anything on my blog. I surprised myself when I realized that. I knew that it had been a while but 18 months...... Anyway...... I have been doing some things and I hope to have them posted soon. I've really been thinking a lot lately about my art and where I want it to take me. I feel like I've really been stagnant as far as putting myself out there. I looked into my fully stocked card inventory but not one of them have been scanned or posted. Shame on me. I keep dreaming of making a living with my art but I'm not doing very much to promote myself. I'm tired of waiting for someone to knock on my door and say "Hey we've heard about your work and we'd love to see it". Yeah, that is not going to happen. I've come to the realization that if people don't see what I do, they don't even know that I do it. I guess this is the place to start, right here at The Art Buffet. That is the reason I started my blog to begin with. I wanted a place to show my work and share some techniques with fellow artist. I also wanted to belong to a community that wasn't available in my area. I wanted to bounce things off other artist for critique. Kind of hard to do when you're not showing anything. I need creativity in my life whether it's my own work or I'm ooohhhing and ahhhing over something someone else has done. I do believe it is time to reassess my artistic goals, get off my keaster and make them happen. On a lighter more positive note the Beach Babes shadow box on my previous post was published in the Winter edition of Somerset Studio Gallery Magazine. I really feel like I've got it I've just got to believe in myself to do it.

Starting to get my life back

I know that some of you have wondered where I've been and why I have not been diligent in my swaps. Well here it is in a nut shell. With one daughter getting married, one in college, another one starting college in Aug. and another one starting in 2 years I found myself in the unfortunate position of giving up my days and finding a real job....with a paycheck.
We celebrated my daughters wedding on Oct. 9th and I started the new job on the 11th. I know, no rest for the weary. A couple week later my husband had a severe allergic reaction to some dye given him for a CT scan. Buyer Beware this could be Hazardous to you Health. He looked like someone had dipped him in a vat of acid. After 3 weeks of pain, sleepless night, and eventually his whole body peeling he returned to work. That was the week before Thanksgiving. I prepared our wonderful feast here because he still could not travel. We where thankful to have him on the road to recovery. Then Christmas came upon us. I'm not complaining but boy does this job put a cramp in my style. I had no gifts made or bought. I leave the house at 5:30 am and return at 5:30 pm with hungry children, husband, and dog waiting for the much anticipated evening meal to appear. Needless to say my art room was very lonely without me. Every time I had to go in there for something I could hear the walls saying "Come back to us, we need to inspire you to create something." Now that this year has come to an end, I'm looking forward to finding some time to do the things that make my soul sing. I'm dedicating every Sunday to church and art. So if I have flaked on you in a swap I am in deed very sorry. I hope you will understand and accept my sincere apology. If you have been following me and I've given you nothing new to see, I apologize, stay tuned for some wonderful things in January. I hope everyone has a wonderful Happy New Year. If you're going out please drive safely, if you can't drive safely stay where you are. Remember you are loved.

Beach Babes

I found this great shadowbox at Goodwill and couldn't wait to do something with it. Not bad for 97cents. You can get the best stuff at Goodwill and their prices can't be beat. I always buy costume jewelry there to break up for componants. I picked up the shells on the outer banks of North Carolina and the paper came from Graphic 45. If you like vintage stuff you should check them out. If you like this see my etsy store, it's kneadtobead.

Clay and Stone Focal Bead

I was experimenting with some sculptural elements and a piece of jasper (I think) If anyone knows what this stone really is please tell me. I knew when I purchased it but I've forgotten. Even though it was labor intensive I had fun with it. I'd like to try another when I find the time.

Halloween ATC

With fall in the air and Halloween just around the corner I wanted to make something a little scary for an ATC swap that I just did. I like making ATC from polymer clay cuz they're very sturdy and last forever. They also ship very well. We all know how gently the postal service handles our beloved art projects...not. So I hope you find some inspiration from my scary skull ATC.

Folded polymer beads

I was playing with some clay and trying some new techniques with ranger ink and mica powders. I thought I would share some of the beads I made. They have a lot of visual texture but the beads are as smooth as glass.

Textured Skinny

I recently joined a swap called "It's all about texture". This was one of my favorite swaps. My daughter saw me working on it and wanted to help. It gave me a great opportunity to teach her how to make fabric beads from muslin. She had a blast, and I loved watching her. I think we'll always remember the night we made fabric beads together. I stamped the glossy cardstock with resist ink then sectioned it off and blotted each section with different colors. I wrapped a pipe cleaner with fibers and glued that down. I used the beads my daughter and I made. There was paper towel under the fabric when we dyed it and the paper towel looked so cool I used some of that too. I also used some clear microbeads and the face in the upper corner is polymer clay. This is one that I almost don't want to give away. I just hope the receiver likes it.

How to make a hollow structure from an egg shell

Today I'm sharing a polymer clay technique using an eggshell and good old fashion vinegar. You can make a beautiful lattice structure to embellish on the outside or leave an opening to decorate the inside of you structure. I'll run through the steps with the visual following.
1. Blow out the inside of the egg. This works better if you stick a skewer inside the eggshell and scramble the egg a little before blowing it out the other end.
2. Decorate the egg shell with conditioned polymer clay. Leave enough open space to achieve a nice open look. Make sure you create a base for your structure to stand.
3. Bake at the manufacturers recommended time and temp. You can cushion your structure on polyester fiber fill or stand it on its base.
4. If you want to add more embellishment to the outside of your structure you can do it at this time, then rebake.
5. Gently tap a few holes in the shell of your egg and completely submerge your egg in apple cider vinegar. Old butter containers work great for this. You don't want to seal the lid but you do want to put a little bit of weight on the top to hold the egg shell under.
6. Let the structure stay submerged for about 3 days. When you take it out a lot of the eggshell will be dissolved. It will look rather gross. Rinse you structure and chip any remaining shell off with an x-acto blade.
You now have a wonderful open structure to embellish however you want.

Citra Solve and National Geographic... A match made in heaven

I recently tried a technique of painting citra solve on national geographic pages causing the ink to bleed. I came up with some really cool backgrounds for ATCs. Check this out.

Fairie Necklace

I spent the week end in Boston with a group of music students. Although it was an enjoyable trip I missed my beads and my paper so today I played with beads all day. This is a pewter charm with crystals. These purple crystals are some of the prettiest I've seen. I've loved spending the day in my art room but alas the kids are due home any minute and then it's back to the mom thing.

Playing with collage

I've spent the last couple days getting my hands dirty with collage. I've been doing a lot of straight forward stuff lately so it was really fun to let loose a little bit. Here are two of the ATC's that came out of last nights fun and games.

This one's for you Andrew

When I woke up this morning I didn't even want to move. Somehow a nasty cold snuck up on me through the night and caught me completely unaware. I had been looking forward to wirefest all week and the mind was so ready but the body was weak, literally. The longer I laid on the couch the will to move took over, and I forced myself into the shower. I knew if I could keep moving I'd find myself at wirefest....and I was right. To make a long story short I met a charming young man named Andrew. We had a lovely conversation, I bought some beautiful pendents, and he gave me an ATC. Just that meeting was enough of a reason to get up today, so thank you Andrew. My gift to you is this wonderful Korean Salmon recipe. I hope you find it as delicious as I do.


2 lb salmon fillet
3 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 tsp oriental sesame oil
1 tsp. vegetable oil
1 quarter-size slice fresh ginger, peeled and finely minced
2 green onions, finely minced
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 Tbsp. sesame seeds
1 Tbsp. sugar

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl. Pour over both sides of fish and let marinate in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Cook on grill until done, about 5 min on each side. Enjoy

Paint Sample ATC

Hey it's been awhile since I posted anything so here is a new ATC using a paint sample card from home depot. It was fun to use it for something totally different than a sample card.

Gwenivere

This is one of my favorite ATC's so far. It's very simple but the componants came together so well. I just love it.

Some Valentines Cards to Warm Your Heart