Linda's Magic Workshop - Linda Britt Design

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.