We Don't Want Zombies on the Lawn

I just had to share this AWESOME video. It makes me so happy I can hardly stand it lol.

Plants vs. Zombies

I can't figure out how to download it yet..but when I do I'll post the actual video instead of the link.

CHECK IT OUT

So for St. Patrick's day I had some left over temporary green hair dye from last year. I never got to use any of my St. Patrick's day fun stuff from last year, actually, so this year I went all out. ^_^

Not to mention my husband bought me some more fun stuff!!! He got me cute little bows for my hair, and an AWESOME green plaid skirt. oddly enough I totally forget to wear the skirt after I got home from work...

But I bought cupcakes and cookies, painted my nails and did my makeup green. I even had green scrubs and socks!! It was GRRREAT!

So here's the ID I decided to make for deviantart, as it secretly is my wish to be Irish. It's the only country in the whole world I ever hope to visit some day.

What an awesome St. Patty's day...

Hope it is just as fun next year!

Tips Again

Allright so starting back up, I have more polymer clay tips from our lovely monsterkookies. Here is her next article:

"Don't use those crappy Sculpey or Fimo glosses for your creations. Their expensive as hell, you only get a tiny bit in a jar, and their usually very gloopy and annoying to apply. Do yourself a favour - go to the hardware store and ask for "Varathane". This is found in the paint department with all the wood stainers and such. Make sure you buy the WATERBASED formula, in GLOSS not semi-gloss. This stuff sells for about $7.00 for a 946mL tin and you will not need to buy anymore gloss for a very long time. This stuff works wonders - it may be for wood, but this stuff has IPN technology which means Interpenetrating Polymer Network which means it's going to soak into your clay, adhere well, and make your clay creations damn spiffy looking.

To get that lovely glass-look, give your pieces the triple coat treat. Dip it once and let it hang to dry. As it dries, say after about 10 minutes, give the bottom of your piece a little wipe with a paint brush. That way, your pieces don't dry with a hardened gloss-drip on the bottom. Do this three times and you'll have some damn shiny goodies! Looks especially good on coloured pieces.

After your pieces are glazed, leave them to dry in a place that isn't going to collect dust. Cover the top of your drying rack with something that keeps the dust out.

Let the gloss on your pieces dry for a good 24 hours. At this point, your gloss will be at it's peak hardness and it will have a nice flawless coat on it. Peachy!

Depending on where you live, eyepins can be hard to find. Instead, get yourself some good strong wire, make long "U" shapes and stick them into your pieces before you bake. After your piece has baked and cooled, take out the wire loop and apply a bit of adhesive to the ends of the wire and stick them back into the clay. This guarantees it will never fall out. I use a tube of Household Adhesive - it works wonders. It's like cement.

Keep all of your clay in Ziploc baggies or an airtight container. I prefer the airtight container. This keeps the dust out and it keeps the clay "fresh" and soft. It's like a good cookie jar! A good idea is to keep a container for opened clay and another container for unopened clay, that way you don't start a new block of clay when there is already one opened. If there isn't any more Red in the opened-clay container, than you can go to the un-opened clay container to get a new package. If there is none in there, I guess you should re-stock!

Stock up on clay at sales from Michaels, get coupons, do whatever you can to save a few bucks. Saved dollars equals more money to spend on nifty tools. Or food. Or something. If you don't have a Michaels craft store, TheClayStore.com sells Sculpey III for only $1.50 per block. You can also get blocks of Fimo for $1.75 and Kato for only $2.00.

People tend to get discouraged when making polymer clay icing for some reason. The problem is often not enough mixing. You have to work those muscles! The best tool is the handle of a plain flat-back spoon. It works much better than stir sticks and a spoon doesn't break. Just mix some warm kneaded clay with TLS and mix like hell. If it's too thick, add more TLS. It can be baked with the rest of your unbaked clay at the same temperature, so don't get flustered when trying to figure out the baking times.

When baking my clay, I always bake at 275*F whether I am using Fimo or Sculpey or both at the same time or Fimo or Sculpey or both with TLS. It's all the same. Smaller pieces that are under an inch thick I will bake for about 20 minutes. Thicker items go for a bit longer. This temperature hasn't failed me yet.

The bristles of a toothbrush work wonders for making fine-textured baked goods like sugar cookies. Just dab it into the clay until you get the effect you want.

A great way to make some texture in your cookies and cupcakes is to take a small square of polymer clay, stab it and scrape it with a sharp object to make it all textured, and than bake it. Now you have a texture stamp! Just press and push and drag in the clay that you want to texture.

The best clay to make icecream scoops is Fimo Soft, hands down. Sculpey sucks for making realistic icecream - it just doesn't have the same texture. Fimo has a more crumby texture if you drag your finger down a piece of clay, whereas when you drag your finger down a piece of Sculpey it warms up and smooths down.

Don't mix acrylic paint with TLS for syrups and such. It cracks in the oven. Use oil paints, inks, pastel shavings (both oil and chalk) and eyeshadows. These all work very well.

A great way to add a little bit of colour to baked goods like waffles, cookies, and such is to grate a little bit of brown dry pastel or eyeshadow and brush it on select places for that golden brown baked look. Just don't overdo it or you'll lose the base colour.

If you are making thin pieces on your clay objects, a great way to make them more sturdy is to build the pieces around wire or stick a piece of wire through it when you are finished sculpting it.

If you have to make a really big object but don't want it to be super heavy or use a lot of clay, ball up a piece of aluminum foil and build the clay around it. Just make sure the ball of foil is pressed nice and tight.


That is all for now! More next time! Hehe."

Amazing, as usual. This happens to be my favorite article of hers, and I'm actually going to go out and buy new glaze because of her. I have noticed how terrible the Sculpey glaze is...so I'm grateful for her advise!!!

Monsterkookie's website: LINK
Monsterkookies deviantart: LINK
Monsterkookies on etsy: LINK

Artfire Special Sauce

I'm not in a huge mood to blog as of yet, but I'm getting there. For now I'd like to show off my little ninja charm!

GREAT news, he got featured as the item of the hour on artfire! How cool!?!?! I found out from a guild member, and then realized that they had sent me a message letting me know as well. lol.



On an even more off topic note, I've started playing the WoW trading card game (TCG). I looooove it!!! So fun. ^_^ And I also got a really cool haircut! Yay!

Feature!

So I got featured by the awesome ABitOfColor. You can find her blog (where I am being featured! yay) here.

Please check it out! She has a great blog and I'm excited to be a part of it.

I super apologize for the recent absence. I am in the process of moving and have been at my mom's and internet-less for two weeks now. BUT tomorrow we get to start moving our stuff into our new house!!!

*rejoices*

Unfortunately the place STINKS like cigarettes SO bad it made my eyes burn. T_T Any good tips on getting the smell out? There isn't much carpet so we're repainting everything in hopes that will help some....

Wish me luck! Once I'm all moved in I'll continue with my posts on clay-crafting and other fun stuff I haven't been able to share. :)

Revamping

So I've been playing around with the color scheme and placement of stuff on my blog. I completely forgot I could change all the colors around after I adapted this new format hahahah.

Anyone out there know where I might get some blog templets? I'm super new to this whole thing and I really want to be able to put my gadgets on the right AND left side of my blog...but I don't knw if that's possible. I'll try to do some research and post my findings, but if anyone else knows more than me and would like to share I would MUCH appreciate it. :D

Anyways...one of the people we're moving out with recently got in a car accident(technically his fault) and now he may not be able to move out with us. :(

We still have other options with the couple we're moving out with. We just may not get the house we wanted to rent. So...we'll see. Either way we're moving out, and either way it's going to be awesome.

Long Time No See

Ahhhh so I totally noticed I haven't posted a blog in a reeeeally long time. My apologies. Life is a bit hectic, and I've put my business on hold for the most part.

We're going to be moving hopefully at the end of the month, and with that it is hard to try and be creative while packing...so I've just decided I will wait to make a clean start at our new place.

Until then...I'll tide you over with some more fun clay tutorials!!! YAY.


Here's the second part of Monsterkookies' wonderful polymer clay articles. Here is the original post if you would rather go there and check it out please do! Not only does she give some helpful hints but a lot of great info on what Polymer Clay actually is:

"If you remember your kindergarten days, you might re-call several occasions in which you mashed and poked away at that vivid and doughy sculpting clay called Plasticine. This stuff would entertain me for hours, and I always loved it more than Playdough because it would never dry up. Whenever something looked all wrong, you could just ball it in your hands and roll it around some more to create something entirely different.

Polymer clay is quite similar to Plasticine. Both of these clays are somewhat solid when you buy them, but are softer from the heat of your hands. They both have an "oily" feel to them that leaves that residue on your hands, and they do not harden in the air. Plasticine is one of those clays that does not solidify at all, unlike Polymer Clay which, when baked, turns hard as a rock. So, if you intend to create a figurine, piece of jewelry, or some dollhouse miniatures that you would like to last forever, than Polymer Clay would be your best bet.

But Polymer Clay is a clay in name only. It is actually PVC based, and is more of a moldable and sculptable plastic than anything. It doesn't actually contain any Earth clay at all. Polymer Clay doesn't require any curing in a kiln, but it does require you to bake it in a conventional oven, ranging from 265* F to 275* F for about 15 to 20 minutes, depending on the thickness of the object you are baking. Afterwards, you may choose to sand buff it to create a surface sheen, file down any imperfections, and than leave it as-is or gloss it with a water-based finish.


Polymer Clay isn't a new concept. In fact, it has been on store shelves for almost 40 years as a sculpting material, and even longer for other purposes. So, it's no surprise that there are a vast array of clay brands and colours to choose from.

The most popular and well-known brands of Polymer Clay are Fimo Soft and Sculpey III. Through the years, these companies have come out with different formulas for their clays, so the texture and feeling of the raw clay in your hands has changed tremendously overtime. For a beginner, I would suggest that working with either Fimo Soft or Sculpey III would be your best bet, namely because they are easy to handle and easy to find. You can easily find other brands as well online, such as Premo or Kato Polyclay, and they can also be found in your local hobby or arts & crafts store.

Polymer Clay generally comes in small 2oz packs of one particular colour, although many brands also offer boxes of 24 or 32 small packets of various colours to get you started. This may be your cheapest option if you have never worked with clay before. If you wish to create something with just a few colours, than you might be better off just purchasing the small amount of colours that you need. You may want to go ahead and buy just one block of each brand just so you can get a feel for their qualities and decide which brand works best for you.

One of the most favourable aspects of working with Polymer Clay is that it comes in so many colours. There is basic colours, fluorescent, metallic, pearl, glow in the dark, translucent, glittery, and even textured clays. Unlike sculpting materials like Terra Cotta, you don't have to spend all the work painting your creations afterwards. The option is always there if you would like to add details after your goodies have been baked with paint such as acrylics.


The great thing about colourful Polymer Clay is that it does not shrink or alter shape after baking, and most of the colours only change hues a very small bit and are quite unnoticeable. The downside of so many colours to choose from is trying to keep them separate. If you have several packages of opened clay, you may want to invest in some zipper-top baggies and an airtight container. If you have too much clay to handle, invest in one of those plastic organizers with the different compartments. Grab some sticker labels, write down the colours, and stick them on the matching compartments. This will keep your colours separate and clean. A good idea is to keep opened clay in one place and un-opened clay in another place to avoid opening several packages of the same colour when you already have some opened.


Cleanliness is another huge factor in Polymer Clay sculpting. Light colours such as White and Yellow just love to pick up specks of dirt and dust from the air and your hands. Even when your hands appear clean, these specks somehow seem to find their way onto your clay. Here are a 3 steps to keeping your clay nice and clean.

1) Keep a smooth and clear work surface. An ideal surface would be a big chunk of ceramic tile or glass. Clean thoroughly with soapy water, baby wipes, or some rubbing alcohol. After the surface starts to get tacky or oily again, keep paper towels and alchohol to give your surface a wipe down.

2) Keep your hands clean. I find that washing up with dishwashing liquid and letting your hands air dry works the best. Cotton towels are monsters for little specks of dust, so avoid them. Also avoid wiping your hands on anything or touching anything. A good hard wipe with a paper towel on your hands does wonders in getting off any dust. Keep a scrap piece of clay to roll between your hands to get off any spare dust that the paper towel didn't pick up.

3) Work with dark colours last. Dark colours leave dark residue on your work surface, and when you are rolling light colours on the same area, you are going to pick this residue up and your colours can get very muddy. Also, red seems to be a bad culprit in bleeding into other colours, so consider this a "dark" colour.

Another addition to Polymer Clay is the very useful "Liquid Clay" usually sold under the names "TLS - Translucent Liquid Sculpey" under the Sculpey brand, or "Fimo Decorating Gel" under the Fimo brand. Use liquid clay on your wire when you insert it into the clay before baking. This keeps it from slipping or falling out eventually, and acts as a very good adhesive or glue. When you attach pieces of clay to each other before baking, try adding a bit of Liquid Clay to the joint before sticking it on, as this will ensure a strong grip onto the clay base. Liquid Clay can make very attractive garnishes, such as frosting, icing, syrup, and glaze. If you add some colour, either by Oil Paint or by shaving in some hard coloured pastel, you can make yourself some glaze or syrup. If you add solid clay to the liquid clay, you can stir it constantly to a smooth consistency and make some very tasty looking frosting or icing for some clay cupcakes. Liquid clay can be baked with the rest of your clay at the same temperature and the same time, so they can be combined effortlessly.

Polymer Clay can be rolled out and cut out with cookie cutters, it can be pushed through a clay "extruder" to create strands in all different sizes and shapes, it can be sculpted with an unlimited amount of tools such as toothpicks and Popsicle sticks, and it can be rolled into different shapes and stuck on itself. Experiment! If you look up "Polymer Clay Tutorials" on the internet or in a bookstore, you will get many helpful resources to get you started as well if you do not know where to begin.

You can do a lot with clay. It doesn't just have to sit on a shelf and collect dust. You can wrap pens in it, create picture frames and light switch panels, or you could do what I do - make some jewellery! Before baking, try sticking some wire loops or eye pins in the clay so that it can be hung on things like jumprings and earring loops. Polymer Clay makes very attractive necklace pendants, rings, keychains, and all sorts of accessories that anyone can enjoy.

Sculpting with Polymer Clay is an entirely different world where you are free to create all that your imagination conjures up. What I have explained will get you started, but if you are ever curious to know more about the art, there is a wonderful Polymer Clay encyclopedia on GlassAttic.com. The creator is a Polymer Clay guru, and she is always happy to explain anything you need to know about the wonderful art of Polymer Clay. Experiment and enjoy!"

AWESOME is all I have to say about Monsterkookies article. I know she's helped me out a ton and her work is simply amazing. And I must reiterate what she says about GlassAttic.com. I talk to the lady who runs it on Craftster.org and it really is the encyclopedia of clay crafting.

I myself have a hard time managing the site, but it is still full of helpful knowledge if you can get along without pictures! lol

Anywas, here is a link to Monsterkookies Deviantart page, and here is a link to her Etsy shop. Once again, please check out her amazing work.

Delicious Giveaway

This giveaway is from the amazing DoubleDippedSweets. And now I really want to go buy some of the awesome Valentine's sweets. ^_^ I want her Valentines Oreos SO BAD!!!!!




And these Valentine's Chocolate Caramel Pretzle
That's right. I haven't done a giveaway in awhile, so I'm going to show off this delicious Etsy seller, and encourage you to go check out the giveaway HERE. Sticks.

Clay Making Tips #1

Ok, So I'm going to start a small series of some amazing tips that monsterkookies put out on Deviantart.

She has an amazing gallery that you should check out, and not to mention her cute items that are listed in her Etsy shop.

On to the wonderful tips that she so generously posted. You can find the original post HERE, and I highly suggest not only checking it out but also checking out comments on it that people have made.

Here is a copy of the post she made:



"I often get a lot of questions about the way I use clay, and I thought it would be fun to give you a bunch of random tips that can make things a bit easier and look much better! I use many of these tips myself, so I hope that you will find them useful!

- Your work surface is extremely important. I find that working with your clay on a ceramic tile works best, but you can use marble or granite or even a piece of glass. This is great because the clay doesn't stick very easily. Plastic is okay, but it isn't the best.

- Keep your work surface dust free. Dust is your enemy. It is everywhere! Before you work with your clay, give your work surface a nice big wipe with some paper towel and a bit of rubbing alcohol or get some of those alcohol wipes. This gets off any surface dirt that may be on the surface as well as the dreaded dust.

- Your hands need to be as dust free as your work surface. What I do is wash my hands with dishsoap before I start, and than I either air dry my hands in front of my fan or I wipe them with paper towels. Don't use towels - they are LOADED with fuzzies. Keep a good supply of cheap papertowel. I use the "Green" papertowel that is made from recycable materials because it is better for the environment.

- Your hands are dirtier than they look! Do yourself a favour and keep a white piece of clay on hand to wipe your hands and work surface with before you start. You can use this piece over and over again. You don't HAVE to use white, but if you do use white you can really SEE that it is working. You'll be surprised how dirty it gets after awhile.

- Before you begin, you need some clay! I would recommend buying one pack of each type of brand and see what clay you really like. This way, you don't buy ten colours of one brand and figure out you don't like it. A lot of people find that Sculpey III and Fimo Soft are the best brands to start out with because they are easy to work with.

- Richer colours stain your hands, such as blue, black, and red. When you go to use a lighter colour, this residue from the richer shades will discolour your lighter shades. To avoid this, you may want to do all your sculpting and shaping with the lighter shades first, and than use the darker ones. Or just wipe your hands down after each colour with some rubbing alcohol and paper towel and than give that scrap white piece of clay a little bit of a knead to get all that crud off your fingers.



- Your hands and fingers are your friends. Look at all the beautiful work they do! Take care of them. All that clay handling and washing of the hands can take it's toll. When you aren't working with clay, give those hands of yours some nice treatment. Keep your nails maintained, keep your hands soft with some cream of some sort, and be nice to them and they will keep working for you for a long time!

- The most expensive tools aren't always the best. In fact, I don't think I own anything spectacular. Things like toothbrushes, safety pins, and toothpicks are your best tools!

- No matter how clean your hands and surface are, white clay always seems to attract the most dust. However, there is a way around this. Before you begin to bake your clay, get a cotton swab and dip it in some rubbing alcohol, and give the white a little bit of a wipe. The swab picks up all the dust and leaves the surface nice and clean!

- If you hate fingerprints on your pieces, get yourself some of those surgical gloves. If they are too big and bulky or make the process more difficult, get yourself some "finger cots" to cover your thumb and index fingers. You use these fingers the most.

- Liquid cay is great for smoothing out imperfections. Just put a tiny bit on the clay and rub it in. Another good way is to use rubbing alcohol and a cotton swab to get a smoother surface.

- A fantastic way to slice canes is with a thin piece of wire! Or a one of those wire cheese cutters. Heh.

:tp: I would invest in an acrylic roller for rolling out clay. Wooden rollers really stain up easily and aren't too smooth. Instead of rolling out clay on your surface, lay down a ziploc baggie, some tracing paper, or parchment paper to roll on. It won't stick.

- When cutting canes, it is best to either put them in a freezer first and slice them when their cold to reduce distortion, OR you can bake a small piece of the cane at once, and slice it while it is hot right out of the oven. This completely gets rid of distortion since the clay is already set!

What do you think? Should I give more tips again sometime?

Want to see my work? Check out my website at MonsterKookies.com. You can look through my gallery to see my past work or you can check out my shop to see what's in stock. For those of you who don't use Etsy, you can also just get it directly through me. I am always taking commissions!"

As you can see her stuff is incredible and she knows what she is talking about. Those mechanical looking hearts are made out of clay. Her tips have certainly helped me out a lot, and I hope they help you too! Stay tuned for the rest of her posts, or check out her deviantart and find the articles yourself if you find yourself impatient! ^_^

There's Not Much to Say

So I'm going to show you Sir Edworth Lawrence the First.

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