Instinctively Animal

A new blogring has begun for us Polymer Clay Smooshers. This time around there will be a theme every week, which is open to the interpretation of the blogger. This week the theme is 'Animal Instinct'.
Now I've been around reading some of the blogs people have written so far and the thing I am struck with is how many of them deal with furry animals. There is no problem with this, I like furry animals..especially when they are just images on a computer screen. See, I'm allergic to pretty much any animal with fur, be that a cat, dog, mouse, horse or rabbit. Animals with feathers don't sit well with me either, cos they make me sneeze as well.
So here I am, faced with blogging about animal instincts, my head filled with images of furry cuteness and I am thinking 'I need to write about animals that I'm NOT allergic to'.
So that pretty much leaves scales... or shells. I'm not going anywhere near the creepy crawlies, unless its butterflies or dragonflies or ladybugs.
Then it occurred to me that I have an 'animal instinct' association that I can blog about.

Fish.

I love fish! I'm a Pisces, I learnt to swim when I literally jumped in the deep end of a pool, I used to be a competitive swimmer and I have always felt a 'kinship' with fish. I also do not really like to eat fish, I don't mind shellfish, like prawns and lobster, but I really do not like eating fish that look like fish. I can remember having some massive barneys with my mum growing up when she wanted me to eat baked Snapper. I'd look into that poor fish's eye and want to cry. These days I only eat Tuna or Salmon and then not very often, and always out of a tin.. it doesn't look like fish then. I know, I'm kinda weird. If you've been reading this blog long you will have already worked that out!

So with fish in mind I went for a little wander amongst the Smoosher Studios. There are lots and lots of new ones, The Smooshers tripled in size recently! On my wander I found some great fishy items! Let's take a look...

A Little Fish Story

Laughing Moon Arts

Japanese Koi Nishikigoi Polymer Clay Silver and Grey Pendant

Medusa's Adornments And Arcana

Handmade Custom Wooden Dolphin Looking Left Key Chain

C. Newcomb's Woodworking

Reba the Fantastic Fish

K. Bish

Handmade Seahorse Large Cane

Creative Art Center

Ok, so the last one isn't a fish fish, but he is so darn cute I don't think it matters!

And I would like to take this opportunity to welcome all the new Smooshers!

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Shining Star

This week is the first week of the brand new Polymer Clay Smooshers Blogring. Each week one of our members will be blogged about by our members, and who better to start us off than our wonderful Guild Master - Coltpixy.

I 'met' ColtPixy, aka Star, quite early on in my journey of online selling. She introduced me to the wonders of Mica Shift. As I was quite new to polymer clay I hadn't heard of it, but I fell in love straight away. I was inspired by the wonderful Mica Shift she had in her ArtFire Studio. So much so that I bought one of her Mica Shift Fish Magnets and a Purple Lucky Bunny Booty keyring.
Over the course of the last almost 18 months Star has become one of my best friends. She is wonderfully supportive and caring, always ready to listen and inspire. As a Guildmaster she has turned the Polymer Clay Smooshers into one of the most active guilds coming out of ArtFire. As a Guildmaster myself I understand how much work it requires, and I have even borrowed a couple of Star's ideas - because frankly she has the best ideas!
Whilst Star's main media currently is Polymer Clay, she is accomplished in other artistic pursuits, including the creation of some amazing Mosaic pieces. Her attention to detail is evident in everything she creates and has really come to the fore with her recent exploration into the world of miniatures, and in her fabulous sculptural pieces.
If you want to be amazed and inspired check out her ArtFire Studio, or drool over her deviantArt deviations, or you can even follow her blog to get sneak peeks at works in progress, finished pieces and all manner of interesting topics.

If I achieve nothing more than friendships with people like Star during my life, then I have achieved more than I could ever dream of.

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Excuse me while I drool..

We are back with another Handmade Artists' Forum blog ring post. This week's featured artisan is kitzbitz, who just happens to be a glass artisan. Now to me, as a jewellery maker, there is not many other things that make one salivate in such a way as Artisan Lampwork beads do. Just a quick look in Kitzbitz's Etsy was enough to make me need to wipe my keyboard. She has some of the loveliest purple lampwork beads I have seen in a long time. It seems to be a difficult colour to get or work with in glass. She also has a website where there is even more to drool over.
Not only does she make and sell lampwork beads, but she also makes jewellery items that include her lampwork beads and she sells frits, murrinis, twists and shards to other glass Artisans. I love the idea of her 'Mojo Boxes', lots of different bits and pieces set to a theme to help spark creativity. If I ever dive into the world of lampwork or glass fusing I know one of the places I will be shopping!
So if you are glass artisan, or a jewellery maker, or just someone who loves looking at beautiful things, drop by the Kitzbiz Art Glass Website, visit Kitzbitz on Etsy or take a look at her blog.. it will be well worth your while.

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Getting back into it.

It has been a few weeks since I last blogged. My offline life has been extremely busy, including major surgery on my man. I also had a couple of days where I had no internet or phone - you don't know what you've got until its gone!
So this is a short post, to let you all know I haven't forgotten about you. And I will get back into one of my favourite blogging activities, promoting fellow artisans.
I will also be doing a new giveaway, but I will probably wait until the silly season is over!
My creative mojo has taken a little break, but will hopefully be back soon.
So until the next blog...

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CatsWire and BeadSire!

I was hanging out on Plurk again.. seriously addictive place.. and I was chatting with a couple of fellow artisans. One is an Australian, like me, known as BeadSire. The other is from Germany, known as CatsWire. And I was thinking about doing another Plurkie Promo, and it occurred to me that their names rhymed.. which was amusing to me. So here I am. I pulled together a spotlight from their online stores... but had 9 spots to fill, so I apologise to BeadSire that I only picked 4 of hers.. I had to make a choice..I guess I could have done two spotlights.. but I'm pretty sure they wont mind sharing.



CatsWire has three different online stores, and the pieces I spotlighted of hers are randomly selected from all three of them - CatsWire Etsy, CatsWire ArtFire and CatsWire DaWanda.
Beadsire can be found at BeadSire Etsy.
Both of these wonderful women are extremely talented artisans, and they both love to use wire, but the pieces they make are vastly different and truly unique. They have both also extended the hand of friendship across the internet, and for that I am truly grateful.
By promoting other artisans, especially those who have touched me in some way personally, I hope to show to them how much I value their friendship, support and creative abilities.

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Plurkie Promotion!

For now other reason, other than that I can, I have decided to promote some of my wonderful Plurk friends. For those that dont know, Plurk is a social network that helps develop real friendships as well as being a great tool for promoting yourself and others.
So I have done a little spotlight with 9 of my Plurk buddies, along with a little spiel about them and their studio.



CreativeHaven - This is one seriously wonderful woman. She creates beautiful jewellery pieces and handmade soap! The piece of hers that I selected grabbed my eye because of the fabulous colour, but it was such a hard choice, there is much to drool over. Do yourself a favour and come and see for yourself at CreativeHaven.. bring tissues to mop up with :)

Shake Your BonBons - The pick I grabbed is from ShakeYourBonBons on ArtFire, but she also has a webpage you can order from. As a self proclaimed chocoholic her bonbons and other delicious creations are decidedly dangerous! The genius behind Shake Your BonBons is also an awesome lady and very talented food columnist.

28SideDesigns - I have long been fascinated by historical pieces, such as Renaissance clothing, which may be due to being a chainmaille nut. And one of the things that 28SideDesign does is create made to measure outfits like this, including corsets and cinchers. Added to that are other wonderful creations, including embroidered pieces. Her studio is well worth a visit.

EmilyClaireCreations - Now this is one talented lady. Hand her some polymer clay and she will create a masterpiece. I know EmilyClaireCreations via the Polymer Clay Smooshers and we are all in awe of her creations. I found it really difficult just to pick one item, because they are all worthy of promotion.

Gundowerks - This is another member of the Polymer Clay Smooshers, and another maestro with polymer clay. I often have difficulty noticing that her pieces are made with polymer clay, they so often look like something else, such as metal or glass. I was going to pick one of her jewellery creations, but decided to go with her beads, because frankly they are da bomb!

Catinalife - This lovely lady is a member of the ArtFire Chainmaille Guild, yes that's right, the one I am guildmaster of LOL. I was going to pick one of her maille pieces, but had to go with what has to be one of my absolute favourites in her studio. She has an incredible knack for bringing out the best in the items she works with, showing them to their fullest potential. Check out Catinalife.. you will be drooling for hours.

SilverRiverGlassWorks - SilverRiver has more than one studio on ArtFire, each with its own speciality. SilverRiverGlassworks features her fabulous handmade Artisan lampwork beads. She has a wonderful eye for colour and this is apparent in her beads. Anyone who creates jewellery pieces should bookmark her studio.

LeatherMadeNice - Do you like leather? Because LeatherMadeNice has awesome pieces, many of them personalised and made to order. I love the smell of leather and have always wanted a handmade leather handbag. I often feel the tug on my Paypal when I drop by for a looksie. A personalised leather creation would make a fabulous gift for Christmas.

AuntiFranni - This lady absolutely rocks! Not only is she one of the nicest people I have met online, she is also an absolute whizz with an embroidery and sewing machine. When you go to AuntiFranni's you will find awesome and fun patches, badges and appliques, as well as cozies for bottles, lipbalms and usbs.

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