Linda's Magic Workshop - Linda Britt Design

Peter and I just returned from our summer road trip to the Great Sand Dune National Park in Colorado.   I'll be sharing some of the sites along the way in the next couple of blog posts and hope you enjoy them. Alamosa Nat'l Wildlife Refuge(   https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Alamosa/about_the_refuge.html ) This is a wildlife refuge that covers 11,169 acres and has a mission to enhance the wetlands and desert habitats while providing protection for migratory birds.  It is located in the San Luis Valley in south central Colorado. It wasn't until we drove into the visitor's center and followed the scenic trail that I realized what diverse habitat existed in this area.  The road followed the Rio Grande where we saw a Ruddy Duck in breeding plumage.  I love the male's blue beaks!  Ruddy Duck in breeding plumage At the visitor center there was a large milkweed plant that was different than the ones we have.  I did not see any Monarch butterflies but the blo

I like a more free painting technique  Polymer Clay Universe 2017 has some really fun online classes and I'm learning different techniques for polymer clay.  I want to share the results of one class I've enjoyed.  It's titled  'Mini Masterpieces' with Syndee Holt.  This is the link to the site in case you want to check it out!  https://createalong.teachable.com/p/polymer-clay-universe/ Syndee shows how to use the Jelli Plate, design transfers, silkscreens and alcohol ink pens for coloring.  She also demos ways to finish the jewelry pieces and attach cords. There is so much information and Syndee explains the steps completely. For years I've been experimenting with ways to use my personal photos in jewelry and now I have another to add to my list.  I can make a black and white laser copy of my photograph and size it in Photoshop, repeat it and then transfer the finished design directly to polymer clay.  That will be another post! For this project I use

Finished piece It's been quite a while since I tried to sculpt anything but it's been in the back of my mind for a time.  After watching tutorials by Aniko Kolesnikova better known in the polymer world at 'Mandarin Duck', I just had to try sculpting a journal cover.  This is a link to one of her tutorials that you might like to see.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2QLifZkONI Of course I had to try lizards...specifically young Bearded Dragons!  I have 2 live ones and was able to check on details often.  I'm sure 'Willie' and 'Mario' wondered why I was so interested in their parts. This picture is of the flat sheet of shaded brown polymer and acts as the background for the sculpture.  It is important to make this the actual size you want for the cover.  It can be trimmed when you are done but it's difficult to make it bigger.  This one is 8" x 11".   Background It took some time and a failed lizard before I got th