Home Show

I'm toying with the idea of doing some home/open house type shows. I want to start selling some of my stuff but I don't really want to go to the work and expense of art and craft shows yet. So I think I'm going to try doing this type of thing starting sometime after the new year. That should give me enough time to figure out a few of the details and get an idea for displays. I'm going to ask my mom to host the first one with her friends because I have this problem with trying to sell to my own friends. I feel like my friends would buy stuff out of guilt rather than really liking something. I know that is probably just silly, but I think I need a little more confidence in my work before this feeling that I am somehow manipulating them will go away. Strangers won't feel bad telling me no.

Beads and Thoughts

OK, not the greatest pictures in the world but you get the idea. So here's what I've been thinking; I really like making floral canes, but I feel like typical floral beads aren't my style. I think I make them well enough but I think I'm more leaning towards the black and white set. But those still seem like they are missing something. Well these are my thoughts and those are my beads. :)

Roses Roses Everywhere!

I made a few new rose canes the other day. I really like the way they turned out. I've already put them up on Etsy along with some other newer canes.

Color Wonder

I have recently discovered Crayola's Color Wonder markers and finger paints. They are a clear "paint" or marker that only shows on special paper. So my two year old can color off the side of the paper (or couch for that matter) and I don't have to clean up her lovely art work from where it shouldn't be. Such a wonderful invention! I'm fascinated by color and this has naturally led me to Maggie Maggio's blog "Smashing Color". She is what I would call the color guru particularly of the polymer clay world but also in other artistic fields as well. Anyway, I was looking through her gallery of works and I saw her lovely watercolor beads...jaw droppingly beautiful I must say. Well I had to try to make some of my own. I'm not entirely sure of her technique but I made my best guess and came up with some beads that I am very happy with. They definitely aren't as good as hers but I'll take them! I'm still struggling with finding my "thing". I don't know if that makes sense but I want to find my style, my voice in my work if you will. I want to be able to make a piece and when it is all said and done someone could look at it and say "That is Keila Hernandez's work". Right now I've been doing a lot of imitation and experimenting but I haven't gotten there yet. I don't know how long it takes for an artist to find their voice but I hope it happens soon. Well here are the latest pictures of my stuff. Maggie style beads and an experiment with metal leaf, liquid clay and a heat gun. (very fun by the way!)

Tragic Loss

No, no one has died, however I have suffered a great loss. In my husband's good intentions of making our computer a happier machine by reformatting it, he failed to double check that my pictures were entirely backed up. Therefore, I have LOST nearly all of my pictures from the past 8 months. This includes not only all my recent clay work but even worse the pictures of my kids. I am a excessive picture taker, I want to savor every moment and (eventually) put all my picture in a scrapbook. Like most scrappers I am about a year behind in my books so I hadn't even printed any pictures except for some from March... I suppose life goes on but I am just about in tears about having next to no pictures of my 9 month old son.

This was all a few days ago and to lift my spirits I just finished the biggest cane I have ever made. It had so many components (and a lot of translucent) that it just kept growing and growing. By the time I was ready to reduce it it weighed 1.5 pounds! I know a lot of people make canes a lot bigger than that but most of mine are just a few ounces. I was almost afraid to slice it after I reduced because I was so scarred that it would be terrible and I would have wasted all that time (nearly 4 days) and clay. But when I cut it open my fears were relieved and I think that it turned out pretty good. Let me know what you all think.

In Progress

Here are some pictures of the things I'm working on right now. I was visiting Donna Kato's site the other day and I was admiring her translucent cane work so I decided to try a bit of my own. These colorful beads are what I ended up with. I still have to sand and buff them but I couldn't wait to take some pictures.

The next 2 pictures are the results of my new clay extruder! I was at Hobby Lobby and I couldn't resist getting one. Even better was when the lady in the checkout behind me gave me a 40% off coupon! What a deal! So I've been having a lot of fun making extruded canes in several colors. I also picked up a cabochon mold so I've been trying that out too. I'm not really sure what to do with them yet but I'm sure something will come to me!

Finally, I made these little ladies from a tutorial in Polymercafe. They are about 1 inch tall and they have a hole through the shoulder to make them beads. Kinda fun but a little time consuming.

Links I Love

Here are some of my favorite most visited sites and blogs for you to enjoy.

www.polymerclaydaily.com
www.etsy.com
www.catherienarts.com
http://www.npcg.org
www.polymerclaycentral.com
www.silastones.blogspot.com
www.claychicks.com