Orlando Fandango is just around the corner. May 19th!  This will be the second time I've attended this fantastic polymer clay retreat. Each year, the Orlando Area Polymer Clay Guild hosts this teaching/retreat. This year's teachers are Christi Friesen, Maureen Carlson and Penny Jo Couch.  Check the Orlando guild link above to see examples of the things we will be doing.

There is so much more to the retreat than the classes...making new friends...reuniting with old friends, observing lots of free demos, eating chocolate, eating ice cream, staying up late, eating chocolate, getting up early, sleeping in, eating chocolate...haha...I guess I am thinking a lot about chocolate right now!

It's four days of just plain fun!  And the Orlando Guild works very hard all year long, just to make it happen!

This year retreaters are swaping mini treasure boxes and can bring any handmade item of their choice for a blind brown bag swap.  I would love to show you mine, but it's a secret!! I promise to post what I get in return and pictures of what I gave also....AFTER I return.

There are two competitions: Bottles of Hope and Hidden Treasure.

All the artists attending the retreat have the option of having a small area to sell their wares in the Boutique.







view of the campground

Bottles of Hope for children

more BOH

All in all, it's a great week of sharing ideas and getting inspired by other artists!  I can't wait!

Slides....

I was browsing one of my newest favorite sites...Milliande Art Community for Creative Women
 and just happened across this slide show...so I decided to make one of my own. thought you might like to have fun with it.  It's always nice to display some of the things you do in a different way.  so......have fun!
You can go here to add a slide show to your blog, facebook page etc....

Cupcakes Anyone?

Here are my new rings.  I took them to  Breezy's  (my local bead store in Brandon, Florida) so my two friends, Kim and Deb could take a first look.  I'm looking for some feedback here.  They are chuncky for sure and have a puffy look to them    Deb looked at them and said they looked yummy like cupcakes...so....that's what I'm calling them Cupcake Rings...something sweet for the month.  I will be listing in my Artfire Shop in about a week.  Each is one of a kind, made from polymer clay, with a trendy bottle cap base that  is  adjustable in size.  They are embellished with Swarovski crystals (which I bought at Breezy's Beads) and some have some freshwater pearls also.  They are girlie and fun and springy!  Hope you enjoy.

I'm Thinking Bunnies!

Spring is in the air and it's time for the bunnies to start hopping around!  The local polymer guild I belong to had a bunny contest.  Here are the entries...one of them is mine.  Can you tell which one.????

Cleaning Day!

Well, the parrot class was ok...I had  two students and boy...we worked hard!  Everyone was so nice and sooo creative!  The sad part is we worked so hard we forgot about the time and everyone had to leave rather quickly,  I thought I took pictures, but I must have forgotten because I can't find them on my camera...boo hooo....We are planning a second class, but I need five people to make it worth my time...gas is so expensive and I travel 40 miles each way to do the class.

Be sure to drop by and visit this great store...http://www.scraporium.com/index.html  Next to beads and polymer clay, paper is at the top of my list.  I love how it feels, smells and looks.  And you can do so many different things.  This time we are gonig to work on using stamps you have with metallic foil and ink.  We are also going to learn to make a bullseye cane and a spiral cane.

I also taught another class that week and here are some photos of their focal pendants they made. It was a lot of fun and such nice people! We got together and made seascapes...using charms we had and little pearls and a few other things. Definately a Christie Friesen inspired moment!