Hi Everyone,

At last month's Guild meeting, Wendy (the Wendy of Cabezel fame) wasn't sure about one of the shapes that she was playing with. It's about 2.5 inches square and I thought I could put it to good use so she gave it to me to play with.

Dad has been wanting a replica of one of my pieces that he calls "The Three Wise Men", which you can see here. But he was disappointed that the original piece was only about 1.5 inches tall, also made with one of Wendy's Cabezels. I thought Wendy's prototype would be perfect to try out for this project and it worked really nicely.

The piece can no longer be called "The Three Wise Men", but I've decided that it can represent Dad and his four children.

For some reason or other I couldn't get the colours to come out the way that I wanted them in the photo, but you get the idea. It's also not as crooked looking as it is in the photo. I think there's some close up distortion going on. It's prettier than it looks.

I've already done another piece with the frame and I'll post more on that later. For me, Wendy's prototype is a keeper. It's such an easy way of making something that looks nice.

And my hobby room is still clean though I do have some putting away to do. I'm teaching the reindeer tomorrow at Guild so I've got my supplies strewn all over so that I don't forget anything.

Cheers,

Sandy

Tutorial - Christmas Reindeer...

Hi Everyone,

I'm teaching how to make reindeer next week at Guild and thought that you'd like to learn as well.

Skills required: Beginner

Here's what you need:

• Scrap clay that's somewhat brownish rolled on thickest setting, 2-3 inches long and wide
• Brown clay that contrasts a bit with scrap clay rolled on thin setting, same size
  
• 5 toothpicks
• Coppery wire or other wire, about 12 inches, scissors or wire cutter
  
• Red clay if making a Rudolph nose, black clay for regular nose
  
• White and black clay to make eyes, pea size, or just use googly eyes
• Something to colour the toothpicks with (I use a combination of Future and Pearlex)
• Christmas embellishments
• Optional - Pearlex powder in brownish colours for the body to highlight texture
• Wire brush or sandpaper for texture
• Glue (I like Weldbond)
  

Step 1 - Paint the toothpicks and set aside to dry.

You can paint them gold or brown or any other colour that you want. I simply made a puddle about 1 cm across on a tile with Future and poured some bronze PearlEx into it and then used my fingers to apply to the toothpick. I put one end in some scrap clay to allow to dry. You can see the toothpicks in the photo below.

Step 2 - Form the logs for the body and the head

Layer the thin brown clay on top of the scrap clay and run the two sheets through the pasta machine and three or four sizes down from the thickest setting. This combines the clay into a longer sheet.

Roll this sheet into a log with the good colour clay out. Cut 3/4 inch off the log to make the head. You'll note the jelly roll cane on the inside which simulates the rings on a tree.

Compact the rest into a log that's about 1.5 inches long. These are approximate estimates, you may decide that you want a smaller head, bigger body, etc. Leave it to your taste. The logs shouldn't be perfect - they're supposed to simulate wood.

Shape the nose of the head using a blade. This should be rustic - it's kinda like sharpening a pencil with a knife for those who have done that. Five or six cuts should be enough - it should look like an axe was taken to the log.

Do the same for the chest and tail of the body log.

You can texture the log if you want - use coarse sandpaper or a wire brush and drag it along the body and the head to simulate a bit of wood grain. Bring up the texture with some PearlEx or other powder as an option.



Step 3 - Insert the legs and neck

This step simply creates the holes for the leg and neck. You can remove the legs prior to baking, or you can leave them in. Either way you'll be pulling them out to glue them back in. Make sure that Rudolph stands up on his legs and that the head doesn't make him tip over.

I find that cutting the toothpicks to 2/3 length seems to work the best. But you may decide you want him to look more leggy or more like a dachsund. The choice is yours.



Step 4 - Create the antlers and hanging loop.

The thickness of wire is a matter of personal preference and taste. Thinner is easier to work with.


Cut a piece about 6 inches long and fold in half. Start twisting at the fold like you were twisting a garbage or twist tie. Go about a half inch or so. This is the tallest part of the antler. Take one of the loose ends and about a half inch in fold it again and then start twisting at the fold to make the second antler. Twist the two strands together a few times and start the third antler by doing another fold. Twist the third antler and then continue twisting down the rest of the wire to make the complete antler.

This sounds more complicated than it is - hopefully the picture will show you what to do. On the right is the completed antler and on the left is the start of the second antler.

Create a hanging loop if you want him to hang. Loop some wire around a pencil or other cylinder shape to get the size hook that you want. Twist the ends together like you did for the antlers.

Insert the loop on the top of the head near the back. If you're not sure of the position, put some ribbon or thread through the loop and hold the deer up by the ribbon. He should hang somewhat normally.

Insert the antlers towards the back of the head on either side of the hanging loop or a bit further ahead.



Step 5 - Create the nose and eyes.

Use a bit of red or black clay here if you like. Since this is Rudolph, I cheated and used some miniature plastic globes that are supposed to represent lights that I bought at the Dollar Store. I pushed the ball into the clay and then took it out again so that it didn't bake.

Create black and white eyes if you like, or be lazy like me and give him googly eyes.





Step 6 - Bake for 45 minutes to an hour.

I bake the antlers in the deer and take out toothpicks and nose if it's plastic. In this particular case the neck toothpick didn't want to come out of the body and was really firmly wedged in so I just let it be and baked it like that.

Don't worry if the clay cracks. It can on the thicker pieces. But this is supposed to be dried wood which often has cracks.

The picture to the left is before he baked.



Step 7 - Assemble and embellish.

After he's cooled, put some glue on the ends of the toothpicks and insert back into the body. If you're like me the leg holes have gotten quite big with all the manipulation of trying to make him stand.

Glue on the googly eyes, insert the nose if you haven't already, and add something for around the neck. You can make it out of clay if you like or use other Christmas trinkets.

That's it!

All in all, he's pretty easy to make and there shouldn't be too many frustration points since imperfections are expected.

And surprise of surprise I've managed to keep my hobby room clean. Stuff went back where it was supposed to right after I finished with it.

Enjoy!

Sandy

Our new key holder

Hi Everyone,

This was one of my many, many, many unfinished projects because of my disaster of a hobby room.

Now that everything is clean, it only took about 20 minutes to finish.

My husband has been complaining that our keys seem to be multiplying and we've got nowhere to put them.

The backing to this is what you would put magnetic tins on - sort of what you see here. I never did get around to using it for its original purpose and it has been sitting in my hobby room for a while.

I decided to cover the metal with textured and pearlexed scrap clay. I punched out about three holes per backing square and put rare earth magnets in the holes. The clay is glued on the backing with Weldbond.

Husband is going to put this close to our doorway and it'll hang all (I hope) of our keys. I put most of the keys on and gave it a good shake - the keys stuck where they should have.

And I'm thrilled to say that everything has been put back in its place in the hobby room so I still have a tidy room to tackle my next project.

Cheers,

Sandy

The best money I've spent all year...

Hi Everyone,

As some of you have noticed, I haven't been blogging for quite a while.

Why?

A lot of reasons, but probably one of the biggest was my complete disaster of a hobby room. It's been worse than it's ever been, including worse than the photos shown here. I was down to about 4 square inches of workable space with a small trail to walk through to get to it.

Every time I tried to get enthusiastic about claying, I'd venture in, spend a couple of minutes in contemplation, and then quietly and quickly walk back out.

For some reason or other, I couldn't find the strength and willpower to tidy it. It was just such a daunting task. And every time I got more than my 4 square inches of space available, I would start something new.

I am a starter, not a finisher, by nature. It's not unusual for me to get a sweater knitted except for the last sleeve and then lose enthusiasm.

So I finally got smart and asked my friend, Janice, to help me for a fee. I've mentioned Janice before here. She's typically perfection when it comes to claying. Turns out she actually likes organizing other people's spaces. And she's very, very good at it.

It took her about 10 hours to do this. I have underpaid her in my opinion, and she thinks I've overpaid her.

I can't promise how long this will last, but it's certainly done wonders for my enthusiasm.

Cheers,

Sandy

I have been busy...but not claying

Hi Everyone,

I've been incredibly busy the last while, but nothing much related for clay. Work requires longer hours this time of year and when I do come home I've been planning my mother's cruise and what to do. I've probably spent close to 100 hours on this project and it's finally come to an end. Mom's only real criteria was that the cruise have a private balcony and that they spend two days in Russia.

Her husband's criteria was that he would prefer to see Rotterdam.

That turned out to be a miscommunication which I learned only after I booked the cruise. He thought he had been told that Rotterdam had direct flights that he could use his air points for. It would have been so much easier if that had been the case.

Sounds simple, eh? Not so much.

I really, really, enjoy planning trips, and, according to my husband, it's something I'm pretty good at.

But it's harder when you're planning it for someone else then for yourself, particularly your mother who you feel very protective of. Her husband? Not so much - he's younger, much bigger, and not likely to get taken too much advantage of. He's been an Indian chief and a prime negotiator in multi-million contracts. Don't get me wrong, he's been a part of my life for more than 30 years and I love him, but I don't feel as protective of him.

This was very much an up and down project from despair to not getting it right to wanting to high-five anyone I could find on the street because I was so impressed with myself for what I had come up with (through the help of many, many others).

I finally think it's perfect so I'm in high five mode at the moment.

What I researched:

• Which cruise line and which departing port
• Which company to give a tour of St. Petersburg, Russia
• What they should do before and after cruise
• Where they should stay before and after their cruise
• What they should do during cruise
• How to get them to places before and after cruise
• Best flights and locations to fly into

They're flying into Brussels to take a cruise out of Rotterdam. I spent days looking for a place for them to stay in Rotterdam and wasn't happy with any of my choices. I use tripadvisor as a bible for my choices and Cruise Critic is also becoming my new best friend. Finally I found the solution through some help on many different fronts. Instead of Rotterdam, they're touring a bit of the Netherlands.

They are going to Delft, first, then The Hague. The cruise has stops in Copenhagen, Berlin, Talinnin, St. Petersburg, Helsinki, and Stockholm (though not necessarily in that order). After that it's a trip from Rotterdam to Brugge (Bruges, Belgium) for three days and then finally on their way home.

To start, they're getting picked up at the airport and transported to Delft where they basically get to pass out after an overnight flight. The next day they've got a private tour of Delft and The Hague through The Dutch Travel Advisor (also based on feedback from Cruise Critic). Edwin has been great to deal with and if his tours live up to his service via e-mail I'm sure Mom and her husband will be in for a real treat.

During the cruise, I've organized a private tour for them in Russia based on feedback from Cruise Critic. It'll be just the two of them with a guide for two days. The company I chose was SPB Tours and so far the responsiveness and the care they put into their answers has been wonderful. So much so that I used the same company for their tour of Berlin. I hope it lives up to expectations but I can't see how it won't because for the life of me I've been unable to find anything negative about them. Much easier than booking a tour through the cruise line which would have required that my parents give up their passports prior to the cruise to get Russian visas.

My last despair from yesterday turned into joy today based on a suggestion from RonaldoC on tripadvisor which turned the light on for me by suggesting that they don't stay in Brussels and go to Brugge. Right now they're on their own in Brugge, which I chose over Brussels for the intimacy and quiet but are staying at a lovely combination of B&Bs called The Huyze Hertzberge and the Cote Canal which I just confirmed about an hour ago. The owner, Caroline, gets rave reviews on her service so I don't feel bad about leaving them on their own under her care.

I probably put more effort into planning their trip than I would have my own. I chose quality and service over cost for them. I turned down several highly ranked places that had iffy service.

I love the contrasts that I've chosen for them and here are a couple of pictures of the places that they're staying.

Day 1, Delft, Hotel de Emauspoort, ranked #1 by TripAdvisor and I'm so thrilled for them to be here, they're staying in the Vermeer room. Renata and I spoke over the phone so that I could get some answers to some questions and I immediately fell madly in love with her voice and kindness. They've endeared me forever in how they're going to try to accommodate an early arrival and they sound genuinely interested in making sure that my parents are taken care of.

Day 2, The Hague, the Steinberger Kurhaus hotel, ranked #9. It's got a casino which will be fun for Mom. I don't have any personal interaction with the hotel, Edwin is arranging it, but with a picture like this, how can it go wrong?

Quite the contrast in day 1 and day 2, eh?

Anyhow, that's what I've been up to the last several weeks. Now I've got some household stuff to work on and then maybe I can get back into claying.

Now just to keep my fingers crossed and a huge great big monster thank you to everyone who helped me with everything.

Cheers,

Sandy

The finished birthday cake

Hi Everyone,

I took the day off and decorated my husband's birthday cake. Here's the final product. The verdict from my husband is that it's a little too girly and if I had gone with a green icing for the background instead of the yellow then it might have been man enough for him. Having said that, he's OK with it and happy that I'm proud of it and will be very content to eat it over the next several days.

I like it, but it's a bit too symmetrical for my tastes and to do it again I'd do the roses differently.

I was kept company by a couple of wonderful girlfriends and the cake went together very smoothly. Wine took away most of my rest tremor and the roses weren't too bad to make. I am loving the paper towel method of smoothing the buttercream icing - I wish I had discovered it years ago.

I think this is one of the easiest cakes I've ever done - other than tinting a whack of icing the wrong colour of yellow, which will be used for something else, there were no major problems.

I still have some cupcakes to decorate and I've got some ideas for that. I've also got an extra round cake to do and a lot of icing left over so I will probably play a bit more. But this is the official birthday cake.

Cheers,

Sandy

Pretty impressed with myself

Hi All,

Friday is my husband's birthday and every year I do a cake for him. This year I've decided to go elegant and traditional. I've never successfully done buttercream roses before and I thought it was time to learn.

These are my first attempts - I'm happy enough with them that I think I can do them for the cake.

The centre one is made out of modelling chocolate, but my husband decided that he didn't like that so the icing roses it is.

I'll post photos later of the hopefully very successful cake.

Cheers,

Sandy