Spring buds

One of the coolest surprises about moving (esp. during the winter time) is finding out what kind of foliage you are adopting. Imagine my sheer delight to find all these buds after a good rainfall last week. It’s so pretty and cheery - I love it!

Last week some of my crafty gals came over to have another polymer clay night and I am finding that the more I do with the stuff, the more I am growing to love it. Joy’s obsession with it began over a year ago and she will cover anything in it. Literally. Journals, pens, animals and children, whatever strikes her fancy. We joke around that we’re afraid to leave things at her house because she’s going to give them back covered in polymer. But in all honesty it really is a versatile craft in that you can do so much with it, and it doesn’t cost much to get started. Maybe she’ll do a Polymer-101 on her blog once she returns from jet-setting around Europe (*wink, nudge*).

So after making the beads for the bracelet that I put in the shop on Friday (and thank you to those who purchased them!!) I had some time to kill and decided to make something for myself. Joy made me a clay cross for my birthday last year that I use during my prayer time as a visual and something to hold for whenever I might need it. I love it so much and use it often, however it has gone awol since we moved. So I decided I would make another one and put my own touch to it.

I love how it turned out, especially the colors. For the center I used a wooden cross that you can purchase at craft stores in a bundle pack, that way it’s not too heavy and you just mold the clay around the shape. The beads added a nice finish to it, I thought. And since I had some clay left over and loved the way the colors marbled, I made two beads (surprisingly) and fashioned them into earrings. They’re not normally earrings I would wear, but I do love them so much I’ll probably get over it.

And that’s all for now. I’m planning a shop redesign and update for April, so I’m hoping to get a jump on that when we get back from vacation, in addition to other crafts that I am dying to complete. Here’s a pic of my little biker on his favorite toy, the strider. The no-pedals feature teaches them balance faster and it works - he’s getting pretty good at it! Have a great week everyone!!