as long as i am here doing some editing, i thought it a good idea to add a new post...
today i finished painting the trailer for breast cancer action kingston (canada) survivor dragon boat racing team... the weather certainly wasn't very cooperative for the last seven or eight weeks, given that i was using oil based paint. . .

never again. regardless of what the paint store experts say, i will always use acrylic from now on, so that i can use water to clean up, etc.

but the work turned out pretty well, considering that sign painting is not my forte!!! the amazing thing is that the color purple is exactly the same as the color of the team's shirts -- and this the more surprising because i had to pick a color chit at the store. . . they couldn't scan the shirt...

here she is. . .

good morning, world and thanks for another day...

there sure are some talented polyclayers here in canada.... it seems to me a good idea to post some here as the days go by. . .

first of all, tho, i will toot my own horn a bit. for august, i was the featured scope artist on kbkb, kaleidoscope builders knowledge base, a yahoo group for scope builders.

this scope is about 5 inches tall, has an oil filled chamber, and i call it a hope scope. i have given these to very dear friends battling breast cancer.

well, another week -- or two or three -- has gone by and i am trying to keep up to date on my posts... i also have another blog wicca'd words here on blogspot and my last post there shows an absolutely astonishing likeness between my late dog koki and a little one named sophie i met last weekend.

Clay wise, i am getting ready for my annual polymer clay weekend here at my studio. this year we have gera scott chandler presenting her Secretive Women workshop. here is a photo of two of her marvelous creations.
september 15 - 16 will bring a wonderful weekend to the participants at this workshop held in godfrey, ontario.

well, today i had my first disaster with polymer clay after nearly six years of working with this fantastic medium.

if anyone has had any experience with bake and bend or knows if the problem was that one cannot rebake it, please leave a comment. . .

i am broken hearted. . . my artisans guild is having a challenge "The Great Toilet Roll Cover Challenge" so i decided to crochet one from bake and bend, which i mixed with premo. baked it in long yarn like strings and crochetted a wonderful cover. then i decided to add some decoration. . . two blue herons and some bull rushes with a batch of lily pads on top with a lotus like flower and a tiny little toad. . . well, there is not much left except a lot of little bits of clay. . .the temperature was correct, i have baked before on this tin with no trouble. . . waaaaaa

but i think i will enter it in the challenge just like this anyway.

well, it certainly has been a long time since i posted. . . but so many things have happened i find it very hard to keep up. anyway, i shall start again to update my posts.

the very best news, polymer wise, is that i made it as a featured artist in the august, 2007 Crafts Report, Insight section -- scroll down to page 4, and there i am. . . it was so exciting to find it as i had no idea i was there.
a friend and i were going through the online magazine to renew a subscription and when we saw the box for featured polymer clay artists, we decided to have a look. . .

imagine my surprise!!!!!
above is the photo that i sent to them...

here is another photo of a chess set i made featuring inukshuk, the truly Canadian symbol found only in the Arctic of this great country.


i am about to set up a paypal account and sell thru etsy. . . but i also do custom work and would be happy to hear from you.

my website www.beekslanestudio.com

well, i can't believe that nearly a month has gone by since my last blog. however, since i have been spending a lot of time working on my web site, i am not really surprised.

i would put a photo here with my hair disheveled and my grin askew, but i don't have one. . .
however, i am happy to announce that in a day or two my web site will be out there with everyone else's! hooray!

i am beginning to get involved in a bottles of hope program here in my community with my small group of polyclayers. a wonderful optician, marc raymond in kingston, donated a huge box full of little bottles for our group to use. thanks very much.

gotta run now, i sure hope i can keep to my pledge to post at least every other day from now on. and post some photos of the finished bottles, and other new work that i am doing.

cheerio for now.....

my friend carolyn, who is an awesome knitter and handloomer, had a birthday a few days ago. here is a photo of the little present i made for her. . .

and that is some actual knitting on those wee little needles. . . the little 'pot' is about 2 inches in diameter with polymer bits after one of the styles carolyn uses for her amazing cardis.

the little ball of yarn is also polymer, but the actually knitted bit is some embroidery thread which i knitted with those wee needles.

happiest of birthdays to a wonderful friend.

i can't believe how hard it is to get started on these blogs..... i wonder if i am the only one who finds it so?

i just thought i would start this one today as it is my birthday and i am 66 years on this earth at this moment, well, not quite, as i was born at 10:30pm. thanks, mom!

tomorrow i shall post some photos of my polymer clay critters; i have just spent the last hour reading thru polymer clay daily, a great site for anyone who sees this and hasn't been there.

by then i will have gotten the willies out of my system and will be able to start doing some posts about my own clay work and about that of those who inspire me.

til then. . .