Say It Ain't So!

I ordered an old issue of Polymer Cafe magazine because there was a specific article in it I wanted. So it came yesterday and I'm doing a quick browse through it and see this iguana, a runner-up in the True Color challenge.

Wow! That thing is excellent! Such details - the toenails and scales and eyes and spikes ... Just wonderful I think. Maybe with years and years of practice and a brain transplant, maybe I could make something that good someday.

Then I read the caption.

WHAT?? "One of my first attempts at sculptures". Are you kidding me?!
I threw the mag down in disgust. MY attempts so far at sculpture have not been good. Other-Half says, don't be discouraged, you just need to find a class to take where they'll teach you the basics and start you off with something simple, like a snake. A snake? I tried a snake, I says. They'd need to start me off with something really simple, like a marshmellow.

With a grunt I pick the magazine back up and continue reading. It gets worse. Much worse. Did you read the last sentence? "I'm 13 years old ...".
Say it ain't so! Put to shame by a 13 year old's first attempt. Sigh.

Kim, if you're out there, GREAT job.

Christmas Cactus 2009

A month or so ago while doing a residential job, I commented to the homeowner on the large plant on her patio. She told me it was a Christmas Cactus and that it blooms into pretty pink flowers once a year. She offered to give me a cutting from it but I said, no, I'll kill it for sure. But she said no, it's easy to grow, just put the cuttings in water and when roots start growing, pot it.

So I took some cuttings home and put them in a glass with water and left it on my front porch. There didn't seem to be much change at all from day to day. It wasn't dying, but it didn't seem to be growing either.

Then the second weekend of October, temps dropped and we had snow in the forecast so I moved it indoors. Placed it on the shelf over my kitchen sink, directly under the cabinet light. Within days, it was noticably bigger. The little bumps on the ends grew into pink buds, and then the buds started blooming. It's blooming like crazy now, a new bud opening almost every day.
(Click images for larger pictures.)

Close-ups of one of the buds blooming.
Pretty isn't it? Since it's called a Christmas Cactus I don't think it's supposed to be blooming this early, so it's probably getting too much light under the cabinet there, but what the heck. If I keep it there maybe it'll keep blooming all the way to Christmas.

Sparkle Plenty Necklace

Isn't this just super fabulous?!
Sparkle Plenty
Conversation starter show stopper stunning!
Festive one of a kind piece with real pearls and Swarovski crystals - and free shipping - how could you go wrong with this?
It happens to be a MoeArt creation and Moe happens to be my Aunt but I'm not being biased (well ,maybe a little), I just think it's a fabulous piece that deserves some attention. :) Check it out.

Brain Beads Bracelet

Feeling encouraged after the Earth Bead II bracelet and some practice making twisted loops I made this simple strand bracelet.

You can see I drilled some of the holes off-center, but look at the ends! My best attempt yet. Third time's a charm they say. :)

The beads don't look like brains (do they?) but the lump of scrap clay I made them from did, thus the name if you're wondering.

Earth Bead Bracelet II

After the first necklace I decided I HAD to string up - and do the ends - on some of the loose beads I had made before moving on to anything else.
I had enough Earth Beads left to do another bracelet but thought another plain strand would be boring. So I decided I'd make the original single-strand bracelet into a double-strand bracelet. And I decided having the two strands lying together would be no fun, I'd have to make a separator somehow.
No idea how I was going to do that, but I was bound and determined.
This is what I ended up with:

The ends on the new strand were an improvement over the ends on first strand and I was pleased as punch with the separators. Can't explain how I got there, but the separators are on double lengths of jewelry wire so they are stiff enough to keep the strands separated and strong enough I think that they won't break.
I've worn this a bunch already and so far so good, no breakage and it fits over my wrist bone just the way I like, a bonus I guess of learning to make your own jewelry. And I'm learning I thinks!