Looking Forward to March!

I just received confirmation for my classes at the Northwest Basket Weavers Conference in Port Orchard Washington in March! It's going to be action packed with all sorts of speakers, auctions, gallery displays and classes. I'll be in constant motion as I have three classes that extend over all four days.  If you are interested there are still spaces for late registration. 

Spring-ink

On these winter-windy days I'm enjoying myself working on making rings and pendants for Spring and Summer Sales with this technique that seems to have "turned a corner" with the effect I'm getting. I love winter and snow but the theme of these pieces is decidedly spring themed.

I'm going to have a healthy stock of work set aside for when I'm taking basketry courses in the Spring and best of all I can see a great connection with this technique and a besketry related course I'm hoping to take!

Inky Doodles

7:37 am Here's a selection of rings and pendants reading to go into the oven. I like the way they've turned out with funky sketched images and my fingers will be firmly crossed when they hit the heat. The surface layer of the clay is translucent and things can go awry in spite of my best intentions. More in 20 minutes....

8:06 am PHEW! The clay fired perfectly and after an ice water plunge there's a nice suggestion of the foils under the translucents layer. Next step- pour resin and employ buggle avoidance.

8:32 am The resin is poured. The rings are nestled in a tray of barley to hold them flat. I'll leave them all in a dark place and take them out occasionally to poke air pockets with a needle and use a mini torch to get rid of buggles. It may take all day so I'll likely put these pieces under the lights tomorrow morning. 

Scritch Scratch and Blue Haze

The scritch scratch sheet was a success and I made three bangles and ten pairs of bezel and resin earrings with it. The overall effect is very dreamy with shades of blue, green and purple and I've named the run of work from this sheet "Blue Haze".

Noodling With Scritch Scratch

I really like scritch-scratching and poking designs into sheets of skinner blended clay then going wild with alchohol inks. Sections of the sheet  can be run gently though the pasta machine to emphasize the original scratch marks. I also put a layer of translucent over sections of the sheet then add swaths of ink to get great colour effects.

This sheet will end up on FuSion Bangles and in earring and pendant bezels.
More tomorrow..... 

Wild Things- imagine the possibilities

It's exciting to explore basketry related blogs and websites these days because class scheules are starting to pop up! I discovered Jo Hart's Wilderness Basketry Blog and was especially interestd in her Wild Things basket- it speaks to me with it's organic undulations. I'm booked for the course in May... it will be a lovely trip down going along the coast of the Olympic Peninsula then south along the Hood Canal.

a New Look

Welcome the the new digs! Yes- this IS aMused Studio. I like to re-invent the blog every year and this background is amazingly similar to what I see as I sit at my keyboard- blinds and reeds so it's a natural for 2012.
Along with a new blog I like to start the new year with a fun new dayplanner-  an old fashioned one that doesn't need a battery of any sort and is neither Apple or Android. (I do love my Samsumg Tab tho!) 
The year 1912 has always fascinated me- probably because of the Titanic so I chose this one to carry me through the year! 

My calendar indicates that today I should be packing for a weekend on Galiano Island. We hope to do a bit of kayaking if the weather is accommodating. I have a fully loaded Kindle- I'm currently reading the Night Circus. I'll also  take a few big plastic bags in the hopes that I'll haul in some kelp and other beach goodies that will work in basketry.
Monday is a start day for a huge polymer production push. I have to get a solid inventory of earrings and Fusions done in what is predictably a very quiet time in shops and galleries. Hopefully I'll have a nice stash of kelp drying as I work with the polymer. 

Welcoming 2012 with Gifts

Happy 2012!

 My first project here in aMused Studio was to do the draw for the year end goodies- thanks for all the comments! I put the names in my little cedar basket and the winners are.....

Vesta Giles-

Shelley Poole-

Mary Mills-

Congratulations!

The surprises will be in the mail as soon as the statuary holidays are over!

My second project is to document what the studio looks like here on the first day of the new year. I did not clean up- I just took the photo- as Anderson Cooper might say- "I'm keeping myself honest". You can see the little basket used in the draw and some organizational turmoil on my desk. Rushes collected on Saltspring sit to the right reminding me to get a soaking bin. The polymer worktable is to the left with some balls of scrap clay waiting to be reconditioned. I resolve at some time to vacuum but I also resolve to accept that this room will never be consistently tidy.

The third project was to add the title of the last book I read in 2011 then get set to start my Reading List for 2012!

The fourth project is to head to the shore to launch my kayak - my back is working properly again and I'm feeling like a celebration!

Cheers!