These are to pretty to use

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I love making pretty soaps almost as much as I enjoy using them. I like this new style I made last night. These are a little more labor intensive carving the flowers and applying them on to the soaps for a 3D look but I enjoyed doing it. The drips are a little messier then I like but I can live with that. And to top it off they smell divine.

As much as I love using them I am often told at shows that my soaps are way to pretty to use and often the best sellers are the pretty but less fancy bars. I always tell people as pretty as they look they are even better to use. I am on a mission to get people to pamper them selves and use the pretty soap, tee hee hee.

I have been making some really pretty palm wax candles the last couple of days. Palm wax is a cool wax when it hardens it makes a beautiful crystal like star burst pattern on the surface of the candle. I really like them each one looks different and special. yesterday I made cinnamon scented and today I have been making sweet pea scented. I will post photos in a later post.

Wabash Valley Herb Faire 2008

This is a fun little festival that happens in our town every Mothers Day. It is a Herb and art themed festival on the Wabash River.

This will be the second time I have done this festival. The first time I sold very well and picked up a boutique spot for about a year that was profitable. I had to skip it last year because my tent top needed fixed.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that the weather stays nice and I can keep my tent sides up and enjoy the crowd.

I have one more festival scheduled for the first weekend in June them I am done with festivals until the fall.

I have been having fun making bath soaks today. I made a nice peppermint/ chamomile salt foot soak that is great for tired feet. I also made a English rose milk and oatmeal soak. It is so nice for softening your skin and smells good too. I really enjoy making and using them. I think I am going to go use one of the foot soaks right now for my tired toes.

Polymer clay cane swap

I belong to a awesome group of polymer clay- aholics at Polymer Clay Central. Polymer Clay Central is kind of like my online guild. It is filled with wonderful caring and sharing artists.

One of the cool things we do there is swapping. Last month Linda Weeks hosted a geometric cane swap. I joined one group I sent in 4 canes that I made and Linda sent me back 4 canes from other artists . It's always fun to open the box when the swap items come back because "it's like a box of chocolates.. you never know what you are gonna get." { sorry Forrest Gump I couldn't resist}

I got some lovely canes in return all of them are in colors that I never use so I was excited to be challenged to work outside of my color comfort zone. I am finding that I like working out of my color box and I would like to share the first item I made using one of my swap canes.

I believe the person who made the cane is Nancy Welch, I apologize if I have the name wrong the writing on the wrap was smudged. It is a beautiful Kaleidoscope cane made in golds greens and brown.

I used the cane to make inlays for a the gold bracelet in the photos. The pattern in her cane is so delicate and detailed she did a very nice job. Thank you Nancy..

I would like to thank Linda Weeks she was a wonderful swap host and I would recommend any one to join a swap hosted by her

What I do with scraps

I make a lot of clay pattern sheets for beads and veneers and sometimes there are scraps left that are to nice to mush up so I like to figure out ways to use them.

I used the left overs the other day to make these cute little flip flop beads. They are tiny only about 3/4 th inch and the straps are made with tiny seed beads. The bottoms even have treads like real flip flops.

They are so fun to make and I think they will make so really cute summer earrings. I think I will make a pair for myself one pair for my shop and list the rest for other people to make things with.

These were so fun to make I think I will make some more scrap flip flops....

Red Barn Market

The last 2 days I have been set up at the Brocton Red Barn Market in Illinois. This is the second year I have done it I really enjoyed it.

The promoters and staff are excellent and well prepared they take wonderful care of the vendors and customers.
It is a jurried show for fine crafts and antiques.

The setting is a big red horse barn in rural Illinois. The stalls are where the booths are it is fun and a challenge to set up there. It was a fun atmosphere . The crowds were really good.

My soaps were a big hit, I am glad because that means I get to make more.

My husband Jose had a really good time he loves antiques and he found a lot of things he couldn't live with out.

The photos are of my set up in my little horse stall midway through day 2. Because I am forgetful I didn't get any photos yesterday when my setup was fresh and full but you will get the idea. There is also a photo of Jose antique shopping.....

I am pretty tired but very happy...... I think I am going to go curl up on the couch and watch Torchwood on BBC America. Good night.....

Rose themed treasury...

I acquired anther treasury tonight. It is rose themed and I was inspired by the beautiful English rose scented goats milk soap I made today. I am really happy with the treasury. Here is a link please check it out of you have a few minutes. http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=36812

Craft Show

Tomorrow is the start of the spring craft show season for me. I am so glad I enjoy doing them.

I spend all winter making things for the spring shows and my Etsy shop. The first show of the season is a good one for getting feedback on what I have been doing over the winter to see what is working and what is not. It is also a good time to promote my shop.

Another good thing about the early shows is they are more relaxed and it's a good time to network with other crafters about upcoming shows and meet local promoters looking for vendors for fall shows. I am being a lot more choosy about the shows I do now; I use to do any show that asked when I first started out. I do mostly juried handcrafts only shows; there are less of them but I do better at them.

So I need to go to sleep now so I will be bright and cheerful for the morning.

I am ready for spring!!!!!!

This is a compact mirror. The top is enbellished with polymer clay. I didn't use paint to make the design the butterflies are made with a techneque called milifori cane work. It is fun to create pictures using nothing but colors of clay. I usually make all of the canes I use in my work but in this piece I used a butterfly cane made by C.A. Therine she makes beautiful canes with high details. The bracelet at the top of the page is another spring themed piece I will add to my shop in a day or two. It is made from polymer clay tiles using floral canes that I made. Pink is a color I like to use for spring themed things.

Spring please come soon; I have a terriable, terriable cold and I need some sunshine and a warm breeze.........