CREATIVE CRAFTING

Archive for June, 2009

A couple of weeks ago the children next door found a toad in the yard and wanted to put it in my pond.   So over they came (5 and 3) to place the toad in the water.   I had to remind them not to step on the flowers…the little girl asked me why and I could have stated the obvious about killing my flowers, but instead I told them that my garden was full of fairies and gnomes, and that if they weren’t careful they would hurt the little people.

Of course, this led to more questions about what were fairies and gnomes and how come they couldn’t see them, where did they hide and so forth. We sat on my porch eating Ed’s chocolate chip cookies and milk for about an hour and talked about fairies and gnomes. If you have inquisitive children of your own I am sure you can imagine the questions put to me. Their mother was just as enraptured by the questions and answers as she was by Ed’s cookies!

So to make a long story short…they come over regularly now to check for fairies and gnomes always very careful not to step on my plants.  I have put a few “fairies” made of polymer clay out in the garden for their enjoyment and mine!

If you are wondering where I get my ideas it is mainly from this book:

I am currently working on my first gnome…it is not too bad, can’t wait to show it off!

It has been awhile since I last posted.  I have been busy planting my gardens, learning more about polymer clay, and having fun with different projects.   All of which I will be posting about in the coming weeks.

Here is one such project that has been keeping me busy.  I made some for myself, my daughter (who also has a beautiful garden), my new daughter-in-law who hasn’t learned the fine art of relaxation with gardening, but I made a set for her anyway just in case!

I put pictures of the project at the end of the article….so have fun!

Design by Roxane Burkett, Sheryl Eggleston – Stamp Studio

Materials and Tools:

* Premo! Sculpey clay in the following colors:
o Pearl 5101, or White 5100, or Ecru 5093
o NOTE: Any light pastel can be mixed by adding a tiny ball of colored clay to white or pearl clay. This is all a matter of choice!
* Small, medium, or large metal eyelets (available from Stamp Studio)
* Sculpey Super Slicer or craft knife
* Stamp Studio “Sweet Pea” Stamp #E551
o NOTE: Other flower species are available in these plant stake stamps from Stamp Studio.
* Pigment Inkpad in color of choice: you can use black, dark green, olive green, whatever strikes your fancy. Inkpads from Ranger, Tsukinekko, Stewart Superior, Colorbox will all work beautifully. Heatset Re-inkers used with a disposable pad will also work as will Lumiere paints from Jacquard.
* Heat set fabric markers or other permanent, colored markers in colors of choice. Or, assorted Gel pens in flower and foliage colors