I did manage to find a little time to make something for January’s Monthly Muse inspiration…

I’ve been hard at work on the color mixes for the Kato Spring 2012 polymer clay color recipe ebook and hope to have it ready to go soon. Next on the agenda is working on taxes and cleaning my studio. It’s amazing how quickly the mess gets out of hand. What are your plans for the month of February? Anyone working on something new and exciting?

The blast from the past happened a couple of days ago on Facebook. My friend Amy posted a couple photos….


…These were the beads that were on the cover of of Polymer Cafe magazine (Summer 2006). The frenzy refers to the good ole days of eBay when bidding frenzies often occurred.

Onto learning new things. I think it’s important to continually learn new things, whether or not you do something with that knowledge is another matter. My journey with polymer clay began when I took a couple local adult ed classes from a local art teacher one winter for something to do….I tend to be a hermit in the winter. One of the classes was making cutesy Christmas ornaments out of polymer clay. Cutesy isn’t really my style, but I fell in love with the material. The other class I took that winter was painting a paint stick Santa. I enjoyed the class and my Santa turned out very cute, if I do say so myself. It wasn’t something I wanted to pursue, but I’m still glad I took the class.

The only other art/craft related class I’ve taken was for a beaded caterpillar bracelet several years ago (shown above). Again, I enjoyed the class and learned some new skills, but it wasn’t something I wanted to pursue. I really enjoyed the few classes that I’ve taken, limited as they are. So, why haven’t I taken more classes? Mainly due to lack of local availability and/or lack of funds.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that a local shop (really local as in 3 blocks from my house), offers classes in lampworking, fused glass, wire wrapping, mosaics, stained glass and more. The best part is that the classes are very reasonably priced. Oh yeah, I see many classes in my future. Now, where did that money tree get to?

Today I wanted to share what Veronique Hoffmann (Fimomaus) created with this color palette.

The combination of the crackle look with the flowers (in the photo below) is very eye catching. Veronique definitely wins the prize for participation in the color palette a week challenge. Ok, there’s not really a prize, but if there were, she would win it. She was far and away the best at keeping up. Be sure to check out Veronique’s other work.

“Color is my day-long obsession, joy and torment.”
~Claude Monet

As you might have guessed by the above quote and photo, I have been mixing Spring 2012 colors. My goal is to have the Premo Spring 2012 Polymer Clay Color Recipe Ebook in my shop by this weekend. I also hope to have the FIMO and Kato versions finished before the end of the month. Of course, I’ve yet to put up Christmas decorations or do any Christmas shopping…..

While we are on the subject of color, the purple issue of From Polymer To Art magazine landed in my mailbox Saturday. This issue marks the magazine’s first anniversary. Congratulations to Saskia and Marjon on a job well done! The current issue (purple) is filled to the brim with beautiful projects, artist interviews, informational articles and much more. Of course, you won’t want to miss my “Let’s Talk Colour” section, which includes color trend info, color recipes and collectable “Deal A Muse” cards that are included in each issue.

My trip consisted of driving my parents to Texas and back. The trip was for my step-dad, who has terminal cancer, to be able to see his daughters and grandchildren. While the trip wasn’t for a happy reason, I did get to spend the weekend with my best friend. We have been friends since we sat at the same table in kindergarten, which has been many more years than I like to admit to.

Now, it’s time to play catch up….
Here’s is this past Monday’s color palette a week (CPAW).

For all my polymer clay peeps….if you haven’t seen Lindly Haunani’s guest post on Polymer Clay Daily, please check it out and take the survey!!! Not only is this a chance for your voice to be heard by polymer clay manufacturers, you have a chance to win an autographed copy of Terra Nova – Polymer Art at the Crossroads, released in conjunction with the opening of the Racine Art Museum’s exhibition.

I have email to catch up on, blogs to read and a mountain of laundry calling my name, but maybe I’ll take a little nap first…..