Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Mother's Day Giveaway!

The PCAGOE Team is having a Mother's Day Giveaway!


All you need to do to enter is go to http://pcagoe.com/ and...


1. Post a comment to the Mother's Day Giveaway post. Make sure you provide two links: a link to a PCAGOE item you like (just search “pcagoe team” on Etsy) AND a link to your own blog.


2. Agree to make a blog post about PCAGOE if you win the prize.


Isn't that easy? Comment any time between now and midnight EST on Mother’s Day (May 10, 2009) to be entered in the drawing. A winner will be drawn on May 11 using a random number generator.


The prize is this gift basket full of goodies from PCAGOE artists.





Where do you go? http://pcagoe.com/ !!

Saturday, April 25, 2009

And the winner is....

Congratulations to the winners of the PCAGOE Team Spring Fling Scavenger Hunt!

The winner from those who found the Iris Ad in my shop is .....




starryeyed24 !!



I do hope you like your prize, a Baker's Dozen Buttons - mixed colours!


Please visit http://pcagoe.com to see all the winners of our event!
Stay tuned for the next contest coming soon!

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Going Green

Yesterday was Earth Day, and in spirit of the occasion I took a serious look at my family's lifestyle to see just how green we are.

First of all, we compost everything we possibly can, from newspapers, dryer lint, hair, food left-overs (no meat byproducts), leaves and even use normal woodchips as mulch for my flower beds. The woodchips are from when the township cuts down old, dead trees. I have two normal compost bins, plus a big pile that is made up of sod (from landscaping), leaves, and small brush. The compost is used in my flower beds and garden. In my garden I use straw to help keep the soil moist and to keep down weeds. We do not use chemical fertilizers or weed killers.

We recycle everything our township allows us to. As I have an office cleaning and yard maintenance contract with a local business I recycle from there as well. We throw out only one bag of garbage between our home and that business a month.

Going shopping, I use fabric bags I got a few months ago, plus I purchased a number of mesh produce bags from ficklefaerie and even gave some of those away as Christmas gifts last year. I buy our meat in bulk from a local butcher shop, (saving on lots of packaging) and freeze portions in my own freezer. I also tend to freeze or can a fair amount of produce in the summer and fall. (Fruit, veges, etc). I make our own jam too.

I wash laundry in cold water, and use a liquid detergent. I am looking into making my own in the future, in addition to other household cleaners. I also purchase soaps, body scrubs, lip balms from individuals who make their own such as carvelcountrysoaps , bovinebubbles, carmelsoaps, and ShannonsIrishBliss.

Living in the country makes it hard to carpool, but I do try my best to either do errands on the days I am working in town, or save them up and do them all in one day. It does help a bit.

In winter we have a programmable thermostat that allows the house to be cooler at night when we are sleeping and during the day when we are not at home, just warming the house a bit before we awaken or come home after work. In summer, we have all windows open at night to cool down the house, and close them up when we wake up, thus keeping the house cooler during the day. Most often we do not have the air conditioner on.

Also, when we bought the house, we pretty much striped it to the timbers and re-insulated it. Next on the list will be new windows. So for now, we just cover them in plastic in winter, to reduce drafts.

We never use disposable plates or flatware, and we rarely package things in bags (just the stuff we freeze). We prefer to use containers that can be re-used over and over again. In the summer we are apt to barbeque more often than cooking inside.

So, that is as far as I have gotten in my list. I am sure there are other things we do to be more "green" but for right now, this is a good start. I hope to continue adding to this list as time goes on.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Happy Earth Day!

I love Earth Day! For so many reasons:




I love the idea of re-using, reducing and recycling. Now there is up-cycling and re-purposing too! Like the little flower bud vases in my shop, which were once little spice jars, jazzed up with polymer clay. What do You do for Earth Day? I know I will be cleaning house, and looking for more things that can be re-used rather than just thrown away!


















Another reason, the Most Important Reason, is that it is my son's 18th Birthday! 18 years ago, at 5:55pm I was given the greatest gift of my life. A 6lb 14oz little boy. And how he's grown! Now about 6 feet tall and very slendar. I am so very proud of him! Happy Birthday T!!

On another note, there is still 2 more days to participate in the Spring Fling Scavenger Hunt being held by the PCAGOE Team. For full details, you can read further down, or check out my shop . Hope to "see" you there!

Monday, April 20, 2009

Thank you IndieNorth!

One of my little flower bud vases made out of repurposed spice jars covered in polymer clay canework has been featured on IndieNorth ! They are having a lovely feature on Gifts for Mother's Day.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

What a wonderfully Dremel day!

Yesterday was a wonderful, warm sunny day. It actually reached 22! I spent most of my day outside, weeding flower beds, planting my gladiolus bulbs, and also put in a little holly bush I had gotten after Christmas. I am not certain that one will survive though, we shall see. I buried an overripe banana at the base of my rosebush, which will give it lots of wonderful potassium and hopefully help it grow and flower quite nicely this year.

I now have my flower beds ready for the woodchip mulch that my husband will be getting for me next weekend.

I also spent many hours removing excess stain from some bamboo canes I had purchsed. One of which I plan on building a little trellis for my rose bush. The others will be cut into smaller pieces to make some windchimes. I do so love the sound of bamboo windchimes, so mellow.

My copper pipe pieces have now been punched and smoothed, and the red stamping has also been removed. The next step is to design the actual windchimes I will be making with those. I used my Dremel for the smoothing and for the removal of the red stamps.

For the first time, I also attempted to use my Dremel for sanding and buffing some polymer clay beads and pendants. All I can say, is that I am glad these were practice pieces. The felt and cloth buffing circles are not quite what I expected. I will have to figure out how to make denim circles, and sandpaper circles out of my wet/dry sandpaper.

I did manage to make some moderately straight holes for the beads though. There are about 4 of the 10 that did not work right. Again, it is definately going to take practice and a lot of trial and error in order to learn how to use my toy effectively, to acheive the desired effects.

Today, I will be cutting my bamboo, drilling holes in them, and designing the actual windchimes. Later on, I will post some pictures.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Spring is Sprung!

Every winter, I dream of spring coming and the wonderful feeling I get from seeing the little flowers poking their noses out of the cold earth.

This year, winter seemed to last forever. But....winter is finally over (I think) and spring is truly here! I have my yearly showing of crocii and now my daffodils are putting on a lovely display. The way I have them planted in my garden, they show up in one spot, and as they slowly fade, another patch is starting to bloom. Before the daffodils are done, the tulips start blooming as well. Oh and I must not forget, my muscali are blooming too!

In anticipation of a lovely showing in my flower beds this year, I checked out some lovely flower themed creations on http://www.etsy.com/ and here are just a few of them.

By clicking the pictures, you can go directly to the listing and definately check out their shops for more gorgeous jewelry!

Oh, and don't forget, the PCAGOE Team is having their Spring Fling Scavenger Hunt until April 34th! Just head over to http://www.pcagoe.com/ or you can click here and you can see who is participating. There are some awesome prizes (one from each participating shop) to be won!

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Happy Wednesday!

Woo hoo, the middle of the week, and a day off too! This is a very long week (it seems) and I only have the one day off. I might even be able to get a few things done that I have been putting off. Maybe.

Have you checked out all the wonderful shops that are participating in the PCAGOE Team Spring Fling Scavenger hunt? If not, keep reading and see if you can find all the Spring Fling ads for each of the participating members. Some awesome prizes available to be won!

Monday, April 13, 2009

The Spring Fling Scavenger Hunt is here!













The Spring Fling Scavenger Hunt is here!

I am a member of the Polymer Clay Artists Guild Of Etsy and we are having a PCAGOE Spring Fling Scavenger Hunt!



The members of PCAGOE are sponsoring a Spring Fling Scavenger Hunt from April 13 to 24, 2009. To participate, visit my shop during that time and search for the hidden Spring Fling image among my items. When you find it, send me a message through Etsy that includes the URL (address) of the listing where the image is hidden (or just click on “contact” from the item where the image is hidden, and the item info will automatically appear in the subject line.

My shop is here: jewelzodonnell


That's it! You must be a registered Etsy user to qualify, so if you have not already registered, please take a moment to do so, it's Free and you can join in our fun! Registering is fast and easy.
On April 24, 2009, I will draw a winner at random using an online random number generator. I will notify the winner by return convo and make arrangements to issue you the prize. I will also post the winner’s name here on my blog. So don't forget to check your convos!


My prize is A Baker's Dozen Buttons (13, mixed colours, and I’ll throw in a little bonus too). To see a picture, please check out this previous blog post.

Here is a list of the other participating shops. Each member is offering a different prize! You can also visit our team website - http://pcagoe.com/ - for a complete list of participating shops and the prizes they are offering:


Prize:50% off any in stock item in shop or 20% off any custom item
——————————————
prize :pendant
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prize: 35% off any item in stock
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PRIZE: One Tree Focal of choice
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prize: free set of magnets (4-5) in winners choice of available colors.
—————————————–
Prize: 25% off any item in the store
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Prize : Special spring pendant
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Prize: Bakers Dozen of buttons
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Prize: Wee Beastie shaker egg
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Prize: pendant
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prize: Vinho Verde Cascada necklace
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prize: $10
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Prize: Winner picks any item in the store
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Prize: $50 gift certificate
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Prize: $20 Gift Certificate
—————————————–
So what image do you look for? This one!






Sunday, April 12, 2009

Happy Easter!

Lots of things going on here lately, so it has been a bit difficult to find the time to write.

I got a new toy the other day, a Dremel with a work station! Of course, the dear hubby thinks it is his toy LOL! We shall see. I might let him use it "occasionally".

I will be working pretty much all week, so will not have much time to post, or even craft (boo hoo) and today we will be heading into Hamilton to spend Easter with the family. Hopefully next weekend will be a crafty one!

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

PCAGOE Team Spring Fling Scavenger Hunt coming soon!


I am getting quite excited about this up-coming event. It is going to be fun! Are you ready for it? There is going to be quite a few shops who are participating in this event, so keep tuned to see who is going to be there!


Details of who and what the prizes are will be posted soon!


Monday, April 6, 2009

PCAGOE Team April challenge

Have you voted for your favourite yet? I have! It is sooo hard to choose one entry over all of the amazing pieces entered this month. To me, they are all winners!


To check out the entries, and to vote for your favourite, go to http://www.pcagoe.com Don't forget, as a voter you will be entered into a draw and could win a gorgeous prize!

Voting ends April 7th!

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Sonya of whimsicality4U on Etsy

I had the opportunity to learn about a wonderful lady by the name of Sonya. She has a shop on Etsy.com called whimsicality4U and is definately worth the visit!
I started working with clay about 5 years ago. It's fun and equally mortifying to look back at some of the first things I made. ;)


Honestly, I started working with clay because some of my friends were wearing the "mass produced and mass marketed" clay bead jewelry, and they were paying a fortune for it. I was teaching art full time at that point in my life, and I thought, "I can do that." Turns out there was a lot more to it than I originally thought - but it's been a rewarding ride.


I love the capacity polymer clay has to mix intriguing color. I consider myself a colorist - I love color and have always been intrigued by the way colors play off of one another. Color has powerful psychological attributes that can engage us and draw us into specific moods. Polymer's color characteristics lend themselves to creating intricacies that are difficult to achieve in many other media. It allows me to work in a 3-dimensional format while preserving the integrity of a truly rich, vivid color palette.

(GLIMPSES OF LIGHT One of a Kind Artisan POLYMER CLAY Pin Brooch)




It's difficult to name a specific piece that is my personal favorite. But I certainly have favorite color collections that I have put together in a variety of jewelry formats (earrings, bracelets, pendants, etc). My top three favorite color collections would be Star Struck, Easy Spirit, and Serendipity.
(STAR STRUCK Handcrafted Polymer Clay Mosaic Earring Pendant Set - One of a Kind)





I find inspiration in the upcoming fashion color trends - I research fashion catalogues, color forecast websites, and fashion magazines like ELLE. But I'm also greatly inspired by the "Altered Art" and "Upcycled Art" movements that are storming our culture. CLOTH PAPER SCISSORS is a wonderfully inspiring periodical for anyone feeling a little stumped :)
(STEAMPUNK Time Moves On - Even When Your Heart Aches... One of a Kind Polymer Clay Pendant with Heart and Watch Gear)





My biggest piece of advice for people who are considering working with polymer clay would be to practice, practice, practice. Learning to manipulate the clay is a refining process. Like most things that are worth pursuing - you will get better with time and persistence. And a PASTA MACHINE is a MUST!
Thank you Sonya, for taking the time to talk to me about your fabulous artwork!
If you want to check out her shop, just click on her name, or any of the pictures of her gorgeous jewelry!

Saturday, April 4, 2009

And the winner is...

Thank you all for commenting and entering my contest for the Morning Dew mini note cards!








Here are the entrants:


1. Pegg
2. Dre
3. Carol
4. Kathy
5. Craftymoose
6. Kate


And the winner is....








Number 3!!!


Carol!!! Congratulations Carol, I will be contacting you to get your snail mail addy!

Friday, April 3, 2009

Last day for comment and win!

Today is the last day for commenting on what item in my shop would make the perfect Mother's Day gift. Tomorrow morning I will draw the winner from those who have commented.

Thank you to everyone who has entered so far!

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Happy April!

What a month it is going to be. Spring is here, and I am anxiously awaiting my flower beds to start blooming and looking pretty after such a long winter! So far I have crocii blooming and the Tulips and Daffodils are poking their noses up quite nicely.

To start off with a lovely show, here is the PCAGOE Team monthly challenge for April. The theme this month is "Anything Faux" . With polymer clay one can make so many things that look like something else. Snake skin, semi precious stones, ivory, bone, wood, and metal, just to name a few.

So here is the wonderful entries for this month's challenge. I did not enter in this month, so that means I can vote! Please, go to http://www.pcagoe.com and vote for your chance to win a gorgeous prize!




1. Faux Jade Beads by RMKDesigns
2. Faux Fossil Pendants by BijouxJardin
3. Bakelite and Turquoise by labeanabags
4. Faux Raku Vessel Necklace and Bracelet by stonebrash
6. Lab Pendant by jkollman
8. Faux Ivory Necklace by oneandonly
9. Faux Shells by liukse
10. Antique Leather Album Covers by nancblades
12. Faux Turquoise and Copper Necklace by chicki
13. Faux Collage - Two Edwardian Ladies by SCDiva
15. Faux Brazilian Amethyst Agates by polymerclaycreations
16. Faux Turquoise Necklace and Bracelet by PBijoux
17. Faux Jade, Jet, Cameo and Amazonite by LaurelSteven
18. Marble Sewn Pendant by amantecatl
19. Faux Ivory, Turquoise and Jade Pendant by carengoodrich
20. Faux Opal Necklace and Earrings by mspete928
21. Faux River Stone Necklace by juliespace
22. Wild Fire - Faux Cloisonne Necklace by Eugena777
24. Faux Opal Fit for a Queen by CreativeSpiritToo
25. Faux Ivory and Turquoise Game Board by AlmostARTifacts

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Spring Fling Scavenger Hunt

The PCAGOE Team Spring Fling Scavenger Hunt is Coming soon! Keep watching for all the details.


I will be offering this as a prize in my shop for my lucky winner. A mixed colour baker's dozen (13) handmade polymer clay buttons.



Don't forget to read down about my comment and win contest. You still have 3 days left to win a lovely set of 20 Morning Dew mini note cards! You can leave your comment, and convo me on Etsy with your email address.