Happy Valentine's Day

Reflection

The world is a looking glass and gives back to every man the reflection of his own face. William Makepeace Thackeray

Beaded Sculptural Piece

Above shows the detail of the using peyote stitch to build small walls giving it a 3-D effect. This one is finally done. I'm happy with it. I usually have one or two of these beaded free form pieces going and when I'm in the mood, I can pick one up and not worry about where I left off in a pattern. I have one that I started 3 years ago and am still working on. I do like structured pieces, but abstract, free form art just makes my heart sing.

Free Screwed Up Heart Tutorial

Another free tutorial by Christie Friesen. This one you can watch on YouTube and follow along.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwiUbF3S09I Wishing you love, laughter and a day full of screwy fun.

Two Hearts

A red ribbon tied around one.......

and a blue ribbon around the other. Polymer clay canes and crystals.

Love is All Around

I'm just sayin'......

there was a Desert Valentine just about everywhere....

even on the edge (lower center rock of photo) of this small mountain pool at the top of Waterfall Trail in the White Tank Mountains.....

and nature's carving of a heart on the side of a boulder. See what I mean about getting fixated. It's a good thing February is a short month. I'm a little nervous about next month.... I may start seeing shamrocks (sorry).

Happy Valentines Day

Wishing you a day full of sweetness. The real kind.....not polymer clay.

Free Heart Earrings Tutorial

These are the cutest foil and polymer earrings by Emma Ralph. Her blog is called EJR Beads and the tutorial can be found HERE. She thoroughly explains the materials needed and how to use them.

Hassayampa State Park

Look at that perfect gray heart at the end of this petrified wood and the interesting markings on the wood.

I did get some beautiful reference photos to paint from. Our plein air painting group is trying to stay within a two hour driving time for our painting trips. This Arizona state park was only a half an hour away, so it was great.

It was so serene with the sun coming through the twisted trees and the light dancing on the grasses.

None of us had our plein air equipment in backpacks and the terrain was too rough for our rolling carts, so all we could do was take reference photos. I was quite happy though. The reflection of that palm tree in that bright blue water was worth the trip!

Wild At Heart

Animal instinct, wild attraction, love gone wild. I made this wild heart from one of my polymer clay tiger canes. Wishing you some wild in your day today.

No Strings Attached

The pure, No Strings Attached Heart is made from pure red polymer clay. May you find some pure acceptance today with no strings attached.

Love Notes & Tutorials

Wishing you a song in your heart and Love Notes all week! I made the bottom of the heart from one of my wrapped Skinner Blends and the top half from one of my lace canes.

Above is Desiree McCrory's Lace Cane. Her site, Desiree's "Desired Creations"(click HERE) is full of detailed instructions, inspiration and innovative designs. She has a great tutorial for making Lace Cane beads......click HERE and the Skinner Blend HERE.

The Love Bug

The Love Bug has the shape of a heart and a bite you will never forget. I sculpted this love bug from one of my large polymer clay canes. She makes her appearance annually around this time.

Love's A Blooming

"Love's a Bloomin" polymer clay heart I made from one of my flower canes. It's baked, sanded, polished and ready for Valentines Day.

The flowers at Lowes Home and Garden Center were beautiful. I feel kind of bad posting this with so many of my blog friends snowed in and sick with winter colds. Maybe it will cheer you up a little? Hope so. Spring is just around the corner.

Love ROCKS!

I sculpted the above heart shaped rock from polymer clay.

I tried to match it to the very large heart shaped rock I spotted while I was out plein air painting with our art group.

Love really does rock!

Free Puff Heart Tutorial

This one is from Craft Bits.....click HERE. Combining the polymer puff hearts with the polymer valentine candies would make an adorable bracelet.

Polymer Clay Valentines

I made these a while ago using simple, basic, brightly colored canes. I love them. Polymer Clay Central has clear instructions on a checkerboard cane....HERE and a striped cane HERE. You can find instructions for the Skinner blend and many others on their main index page HERE. Hope your day is filled with simplicity and beautiful colors.

Free Gift Tag Tutorial

I LOVE this simple stamped heart tag from the very talented Mitsy at Artmind Etcetera blog....click HERE. Mitsy generously shares numerous (and I mean numerous) tutorials on her blog with beautiful photos and clear instructions. That gift tag is so simple and elegant.

Desert Valentine

Isn't that the sweetest little cactus heart you've ever seen?

We were visiting some family and friends for a couple of days and spotted the desert valentine and gorgeous purple cactus in our friends' landscaping. Made my day.

There's all 6'7" of the hubby so you can see that's a mighty big brown paper bag. We were at a resale book store tracking down some knitting and painting books I saw online. Found the books I wanted, had a great time and got some good photos. Now back to the studio.

My Beading Heart

Embellished free form peyote or sculptural peyote as some like to call it.

I used to do a lot of these necklaces back in Chicago before moving to Arizona. I hung them from pretty organza ribbons and they were embellished with lots of sparkles.

Every once in a while one would turn a corner and want to go in another direction. I actually remember when I made this one. I was going through a very sad time. I called it "My Mangled Heart-Hit by a Mac Truck and Dragged 20 miles".