Second Annual Challenge of Travel–Staycation edition

Hello folks!  I’ve been so looking forward to creating something oh so very Ottawa for this wonderful challenge put on by Erin Prais-Hintz.  I found some great inspiration and my execution fell so short of what I had in mind I just can’t show you yet.

I’d start by telling you all about Ottawa.  I was born here, and I’ve never left.  I just moved from little bit further east when it was my own home we settled into.  I’m not done with this idea though, I am going to save all the details for when I post a completed piece I can be proud of.

Would you like a little tease?





So for the moment, I will be off to enjoy everyone else’s staycation views and inspiration while I figure out how to stop forcing it and let something good come about.


get the InLinkz code

Challenge of Music reveal

Hi folks! I’m a bit behind but will have a post up to share some musical inspiration and so on later today

Update! I was going to be ready well ahead of time and somehow I kept putting down my piece since I wasn’t feeling the “fun”.  Of course this kept up until last night when I simply couldn’t keep my eyes open after spending the morning at the spa (this is at least partly Erin’s fault – more details tomorrow).

Cue the music!


Let me start by apologizing for the sound quality, I really wish it was better.  This is the fourth time I’ve joined Erin Prais-Hintz for her wonderful challenges.  I always have so much fun discovering new things or looking at familiar things in a new light.  When she said we were going to stick with the music and music only I thought that made good sense, but didn’t have a clue where I would start.  I must have had Trinidad on my mind from sharing my Uncle’s garden the other day.  I was trying to think back to some of the first instrumental music I knew – steelpan.  I can picture the album cover now.  I don’t have a record player in my home so it didn’t make much sense to borrow it, and it would be hard to share that way too.  So you get the next best thing, a live performance.

If you aren’t familiar with steelpan (or steel drum) wikipedia gives a great run down. The take away that comes to my mind: this is a modern instrument, various places reporting it as the “only instrument of the twentieth century” and that has a nice way of falling in line with polymer as a brand new art material also.  I searched and searched for a piece to really move me specifically and while I did so I was at the workbench creating the whole while. This page has some great clips from various events and the clip above was my favourite.  It’s really like performance art, so much energy and movement I don’t think it is possible to not move to this music.

I’m not sure of the correct terms but, I find while I hear the variety of all the notes being played there is also an overall din that feels like one tone to me. So I created a colour – from many – but without mixing the whole way so you read the overall as a steely blue but close inspection will show a whole variety of blues, whites, silver and a couple pinky shades.




From this mass of polymer I made a variety of beads and components, not sure of how they would come together in the end but hoping for a pan shape, and some movement.  I wired the pan shaped beads with some magenta wire and knew they would make a mass of dangles… aha I’ll make a lariat!



I tied some faux suede cording to a donut that I constructed as the focal with another bead and ruffled disc tied to it.  Two more of these discs are tied on up the “side” and then the long dangles are a collection of the pan beads and some draped tube beads at the ends.  I would cut the cords right there after the knots.  But I’m not happy with it yet to be honest.  I seem to just have lots of weight and not so much of the movement I was after.  I think I could improve this by actually attaching them to chain. 



I kind of like how it looks like this, but gravity doesn’t agree with this arrangement.  The easiest thing would probably be to take it apart completely and start fresh.  I just couldn’t face it last night and thought, nope, I’ll keep it fun as Erin insists and just show you my general direction here.  I’m sure the day will come to complete this [If I knew anything about music I would joke here about someone’s unfinished symphony].

Thanks again to Erin for letting us all join in the fun! Please join me in checking out the wonderful music, inspiration and creations I’m sure everyone else has come up with

The Challenge of Music participants Erin Prais-Hintz
Alenka Obid
Ali McCarthy
Alicia Marinache
Amy Severino
Amy Grass
Carolyn Lawson
Cece Cormier
Cynthia Riggs
Ema Kilroy (bowed out)
Emanda Johnson
Emma Todd
Erin Kenny
Evelyn Shelby
Evie and Beth McCord
Gerd Andersson
Holly Westfall
Jennifer Justman
Jenny Davies-Reazor
Jess Green
Judy Campbell
Karla Morgan
Kay Thomerson (bowed out)
Kristina Johansson
Lola Surwillo
Lynn White (bowed out)
Malin de Koning
Mallory Hoffman
Mary K McGraw
Melissa Meman (bowed out)
Melissa Trudinger
Michelle Escano
Michelle Bourbonniere
Michelle Heim (bowed out)
Michelle Mach
Molly Alexander
Molly Schaller (bowed out)
Monique Urquhart
Niky Sayers
Pam Farren
Rebecca Anderson
Sally Russick
Sharon Palac (bowed out)
Sharon Driscoll
Susan Kennedy
Tari Kahrs
Tracy Stillman (bowed out)
Veralynne Malone

Challenge of Colour reveal

Welcome!  I’m a little late to the party today.  I’m actually waiting for the sun to come up enough for me to take some pictures to share what I created for the challenge.  This is the third challenge I’ve joined Erin for, and it’s very exciting that she had Brandi join in as a hostess this round.  What a team!  I knew I was going to love working from this challenge starting point, satellite photos from the United States Geological Service that Brandi palettified.  I can’t wait to hop around and see each of the palettes.  Here is my starting point



Normally I would do a little research about lake Amadeus, but I can tell you I didn’t know off the top of my head where it was and I decided to keep it that way.  With this challenge all about the colour I opted to look no further than the image in front of me. 

I work with polymer, so the starting point for me with something like this is to mix up a bunch of colours and see what comes of it.  The only real plan I had was to experiment with some techniques and create a sheet of polymer similar to the picture.   In progress the acid green was a lot brighter, but as I worked that intensity got a bit turned down as the stretching of the process thins the polymer and the darker shades beneath change the colour.  

I love exploring polymer like draping fabric.  I take a thin sheet in my hands and fold and ruffle until I’m happy.   I think I made a mermaid to swim in this lake!



When I was done with this long look on leather, all the parts knotted together I thought it might be fun for it to do double duty and be worn short too.



Now she looks a little bit more like she is swimming.  Of course if I had this plan all along I would have a neater connection for that little swirl of wire acting as a hook clasp.  I think I will go back with more polymer and beef it up a bit. 

I’ll update with some more details later, just posting on my lunch break now.
I can’t wait to see what everyone else has come up with! 

Erin Prais-Hintz
Brandi Hussey
Rebecca Anderson
Kris Auderer Chrizette Bayman Lori Bowring Michaud Courtney Breul Lynsey Brooks
Stephanie Buss Iveth Caruso
Shannon Chomanczuk
Lisa Cone
Cece Cormier Lori Dorrington
Dawn Doucette
Jeannie Dukic
Kim Dworak
Beth Emery
Janice Everett
Pam Farren
Donetta Farrington
Gloria Ferrer Cherrie Fick
Therese Frank
Patty Gasparino
Tanya Goodwin
Ambra Gostoli
Jess Green
Denielle Hagerman
Mary Harding
Karla Hartzog
Kim Hora
Emanda Johnson
Jennifer Justman
Sue Kennedy Ema Kilroy
Lee Koopman
Linda Landig
Kirsi Luostarinen
Cynthia Machata
Alicia Marinache
Beth McCord
Mary K McGraw
Karen Mitchell
Cheri Mitchell-Reed
Aimee Moisa
Karla Morgan
Penny Neville
Becky Pancake
Kashmira Patel
Alice Peterson
Kayla Potega
Debbie Price
Bobbie Rafferty
Caron Reid
Nicole Rennell
Cynthia Riggs
Andrea Ross
Sally Russick
Annie Scherz
Pam Sears
Renetha Stanziano
Sandra Stein
Kristen Stevens
Tracy Stillman
Sherri Stokey
Lola Survillo
Kay Thomerson
Jo Tinley
Emma Todd
Cory Tompkins
Pam Traub
Melissa Trudinger
Michelle Tucker
Shelley Graham Turner
Monique Urquhart
Rachel Van-Walsh
Patti Vanderbloemen
Lesley Watt
Lynn White
Joan Williams

Michaels Toast of the Town Necklace hop

And a Finally Friday necklace, make that two - or really four since they’re both reversible.  Since the Toast of the Town necklace can also be worn a bazillion ways I’ve totally lost count.  Lets go straight to the pictures.



Now I did my level best to follow the directions so thoughtfully written by Erin Prais-Hintz, but I did adapt on the fly a bit.  I talked about my shopping trip and how my palette changed, but I ultimately steered back to more blues.  I started with the pale green shell beads and the few oval pyrite.  Then I grabbed the teal ring and the Crystazzi glass pearls I had already (both also from Michaels).  Next up I made two styles of polymer beads and the toggle bar (the bar is actually a bead gallery pendant hanger I transformed).  Once I had all that I was still needing something in the 4mm range to spread all over.  I was craving a little more texture, so in went the blue apatite chip beads and I love them here, I should have used more.


I can’t wait to see all the variety born of this design, this is a blog hop after all.  Please be sure to visit Erin’s blog to check out her next incarnation of this design and link on to all the other participants.  Many thanks to Erin for the design, and inspirational push to try it out myself.

…But before you run off, I did promise you two other necklaces.  The focal pendants for these I created a few years ago and once I saw the Design Seeds palette I thought of them right away.



The beads featured along with the pendants are all created from the same polymer canes, I think this particular cane design I learnt from a Donna Kato book.  These longer squiggle beads and large hole beads are both available in my etsy shop.



Here is the second design.  I’m pretty sure that the clasp below is a Vintaj one I think I will need more of, since I really like how this design came together – if I do say so myself!

Many thanks to Shannon also.  Her regular choosing of palettes helps me not get lost in the sea of gorgeousness that is Design Seeds.

The Michael’s trap

It began innocently enough.  I saw Erin Prais-Hintz’s post offering up a challenge involving her stunning “Toast of the Town Necklace” she had created for Michael’s.  I’m borrowing her picture to show you – isn’t it beautiful!



Her latest challenge shows three different colourways, each up for grabs, and my first thought was “hey I have those blue ceramic coins!” See I just had to join in.  You can join in too, if you comment on the post – her post – today.

Then I saw Shannon Chomanczuk’s Finally Friday post featuring a primarily blue palette for reveal also on November 2nd.  It sure felt like a blue version would be the way to go.  This is “crashing blues” from Design Seeds



I set about collecting blues and decided that a quick trip to Michael’s was in order.  It was 50% off beads this week…



Bear with me on the iphone pics, I just had to share tonight. On the left are some polymer coins I made a few months ago and a couple of glass rings (from Michael’s too) that I’ve had for years and a die formed two-tone polymer shell starting point that I had in mind as a toggle bar. On the right are some of the blues I had on hand, destined to be part of the bracelets I have planned for 7000 bracelets.

So off to Michael’s I went, coupon in my pocket, and polymer coins in hand to pick out some more bits. Here’s what I came home with



Hmm, sorry if there was some natural light you would see that is a whole mass of green beads, not blue at all.  You know what’s better than 50% off beads?  Still great 80% clearance beads, it’s not like they go bad! Now dear American friends, you get a much better price on beads than we do, it depresses me to see the difference. But still, a good deal all the same. On the left we have the mass of pale green shell beads (they say “Aqua” but they lie) and one stand of Pyrite ovals.  In the center I’m auditioning some other glass rings I had.  Lastly, on the right I couldn’t say no to the jade and ceramic rondelles.

This is the point were I decide it’s time to hurry up and leave so I don’t spend more. Which I do.  While making stops at the thrift store and Homesense for show display type items I realize I left Michael’s without what I meant to buy with my coupon!  This is the trap. They always keep me coming back.

That’s my story. Oh wait, no that’s not it, I almost forgot.  When I got home and walked over to the mailbox to pick up the mail I had left Friday since it was raining,  I found this



I tried not to get my heart set on it since I was pretty sure my sweet hubby was not going to be keen on picking this up for me. (I would totally help but someone has to stay with Averleigh).  I showed him the picture, he claims there was a “guilt trip” and it’s now in my garage.  Thanks babe.  I’m also not allowed to ask him to carry anything heavy in such a scenario for the rest of the year.  Fair deal I say.