Linda's Magic Workshop - Linda Britt Design

Blending Old and New Memories  Attentive Care  The swag over the window behind my Christmas tree combines old and new memories.  The celluloid reindeer were my grandfathers and the ornaments represent memories made over the years.  For me 'attentive care' means caring for each other, for friends and family and for myself with loving attention. I like the term 'attentive care'.  It reminds me to be in the moment - the here and now!  It reminds me to appreciate the life experiences that made me who I am. The Curious Angel Curiosity!  I never tire of watching the birds and animals in my world.  I am curious about their habits, their colors, their field marks and how they interact with each other and with me.  Yesterday I went out the front door and found about 14 (yes I counted) Ravens in my neighbor's and my yard.  They were on the ground hopping around and calling to each other.  They were in the trees calling to each other.  I felt like I had inter

Pam and Linda photo by Ken Barr It was a cold sunny Prescott day and good friends were in town.  A day to share stories and memories and to explore new places.  We decided to explore the trail in the Granite Dells across from the Phippen Museum here in Prescott. It was an easy trail and with 3 Nikon cameras and a cell phone we knew there would be lots of picture taking! A piece of the plane at the crash site Each of us noticed the same and different aspects on the walk.   We looked at the site of the U.S. Constellation crash that  occurred  several years ago  while we took a few pictures.   We took the left fork for a short distance before deciding we should have taken the path on the right.   There were a lot more giant patterned boulders along the other path!     Before we turned back we found patches of ice.   And we found needle ice formations.   Of course, we did not know they were called ‘Needle Ice’ until we got home and researched.   What an amazing find.   We a

                When I took the original picture of the white seed pod, I had no idea it would be the beginning of a series.  First there was the challenge of making a translucent polymer seed pod, then came the seed pod jewelry.  Now the seed pod made of sterling silver metal clay.   I think this is the last of the series.  It was fun to take the idea from photo to translucent to solid forms.   I've  learned a lot about forming and joining shapes in different mediums and about patience and experimenting!  So here is the  procession  of the 2013 Seed Pod!

I've been stuck in seed pods this fall! This is my sterling silver piece.  I thought it might be difficult to mold the silver clay into the correct shape and of course I tried several forms to accomplish the support. Among some of the solutions were egg cartons (they were not quite the right shape), paper (it did not hold its shape) and microsphere clay (it was too crumbly or I did not have the expertise to use it). Finally I rolled the clay to 4 cards thickness and used my paper pattern to cut 4 sections of the pod.  This is the same pattern I used to make the translucent polymer pod.  Then I used big bead of air dry clay as supports for the sections.   I also used a special form I made to be sure the 4 sections would fit together correctly and dried them separately.  Once dry, I knew I could sand and glue them together with water and clay and they would keep their shape.  The same texture plate was used as in the previous polymer seed pods and love the way

Tubes – what to do with them? Recently I took Cynthia Tinapple’s class ‘Extrusions’ at CraftCast.com.    They have great classes!  https://www.craftcast.com/recordings/learn-make-extraordinary-polymer-clay-extrusions-cynthia-tinapple   One of the new tools I learned about was the tube adapter for the Makin’s Extruder.  I would tell you the make etc. but after I unwrapped the three adapters (each was for a different size tube), I threw away the packing. I think I got mine from Cool Tools.  I did not find this video until after I made my tube and even though it is for metal clay, it is a good demo by Cool Tools to show how the adapter works in the extruder http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTdD8MVifWc This is what it looks like.   It’s the circle with the raised stem.  There were few directions so I played around with it and put the clay in the extruder, put the adapter with the stem side out next to the clay and the round disc in the cap and screwed it all together.  I extruded!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/124597313/go-a-little-wild-brown-black-necklace?ref=shop_home_active Having a cold really slows a person down.  I rested, drank liquids and ate chicken soup.  Finally I just had to play.   Since seedpods have been on my mind lately, I made a polymer cane that I think looks like the inside of a nut!  I made earrings, beads, and buttons with it.  I made a bangle bracelet.  Then I decided to play with animal skin canes.  Leopards, zebras and giraffes!  More beads and buttons and bracelets to add to the collection.  http://www.etsy.com/listing/124595458/animal-skin-bangle?ref=shop_home_active It is probably a good thing I just had a cold because I could really get carried away with wild animals and even nuts!

Basking Polymer Lizard Today I needed a distraction and as I was browsing through tutorials on the internet, I came across Kathy Weaver’s “How to Make Fimo or Sculpey Polymer Clay Lizards”.  http://creatorsjoy.blogspot.com/2010/02/how-to-make-fimo-or-sculpy-lizards.html   Sounded like fun and I remembered a bordered cane in browns left over from another project and decided to make my first polymer lizard.  Since I have the real things it was easy to see how legs and feet and heads really look.  They made great models.  And my first lizard was fun to make.  

Taking a side trip to Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge, we made a sharp right turn off the highway onto a side road and were treated to one of nature’s dramas.  Fortunately I had my camera ready! A group of Sand Hill Cranes were in a farmer’s wet field and I started taking pictures of them.  I was so excited that they were close enough to get some details.   All of a sudden two of the cranes started jumping in the air spreading their wings and dancing.  The mating dance can take place all year and is quite the athletic event!  Sand Hill Cranes, their take offs and landings, their calls and dances and their sheer group numbers make them unforgettable and one of my favorite birds.  Read more about them at http://lindabrittdesign.blogspot.com/2011/12/migration-of-sand-hill-crane.html http://dnr.wi.gov/eek/critter/bird/sandhill.htm http://www.nwf.org/Wildlife/Wildlife-Library/Birds/Sandhill-Crane.aspx

One sunny fall day while walking by Willow Lake I took some photos of lovely translucent white seed pods.  They were worn by the wind but still standing.  Their shapes were ragged and lantern like.  They hung from straight white dried stems and I just had to see if I could recreate them in translucent polymer clay.  I've been thinking about how to do that for a few weeks and decided it was time to jump in and experiment.  I thought I’d share some of the steps I took. First I bought my 3 packages of Pardo Translucent Clay at Hobby Lobby (all they had).  I had not worked with Pardo before and I love it!  Not sticky like some of the other brands of translucent.  I’m hooked! After making the lantern pattern, I found a great texture plate to give a cell like organic texture to the clay.  The clay was rolled to #6 on my Atlas machine because I really wanted the translucent quality. The first time I did not use wire and I like the look but it was not strong enough.