A Belated Show and Tell

About 2 months ago, I had asked polymer artist and dear friend, Betsy Strebe of Strebe Designs, if I could purchase one of her Limoges style boxes. She generously offered to send me one as a gift. Because I know she puts a lot of work into these lovely trinket boxes, I said that if she would like, I'd make something to send to her in return. She agreed, and she sent me this beautiful little box:

Limoges style box by Betsy Strebe of Strebe Designs

Inside of Limoges style box by Betsy Strebe of Strebe Designs

Betsy's little box is displayed in one of my polymer art shrines in my studio. This little shadowbox display contains a few of the little gifts I've received from other polymer artist friends over the years... (I have a couple of other polymer art shrines, so this is only some of my treasures from friends)

In this photo: Top Orange Mokume Gane box by Susan O'Neill of 11BOLDstreet, 2nd shelf Blue Marbled egg by Angela Hickey of Polymer Clay Creations, 3rd shelf Limoges style box by Betsy Strebe of Strebe Designs, 4th shelf Polymer appliquéd glass heart ornament by Linda Riopel of NKDesigns, 5th shelf Millifiore egg by Cindy Matthews of Arrowdale Art Studio, 6th shelf rock and succulent plant pendant by Maiah Tanner of Walk Home Happy, bottom 2 shelves are some little pieces I made (place holders until I get other small polymer gifts to fill those spots!)

As an added surprise, Betsy also gifted me these lovely gift cards that were created with her own hand carved stamps! Beautiful!!

Hand carved stamped designs on note cards by Betsy Strebe of Strebe Designs

Backside (logo) of hand carved stamped cards by Betsy Strebe of Strebe Designs

It took me a while before I finished the piece I made for Betsy and sent if off to her. When I received her piece, I had been in the middle of a major studio reorganize, where I moved all the furniture around (more to come on that later...). Then I had to spend time creating my Cocky Trump sculpture, then I got busy with Thanksgiving, creating ornaments and finally having to deal with pet injuries and family health issues. So I decided today I was going to sit down and finally get these lovely gifts posted for show and tell! Aren't they gorgeous?! I'm so glad to have an example of my dear friend's work in my collection of polymer art from artist friends! Do you have special collections of art in your home? Tell me about it in the comments, and be sure to go check out Betsy Strebe's work at Strebe Designs!

Thanks so much again, Betsy!! I absolutely LOVE my beautiful little Limoges box, and the gift cards too!

Oh, I almost forgot... here's the little container I made and sent to Betsy:

Going to pieces

This time of year is so crazy busy for me with garden work and preparing the house for summer.  May always seems to be a month where I feel like I'm running from the time I get up until the time I collapse into bed.  So... this is a quick pop in to post about the challenge for this month and my entry.

This month's theme was mosaics.  And as always happens, many great interpretations on the theme were crafted.  Here's a sampling of the entries:

Please remember to go to the PCAGOE blog to vote for your favorite 3 entries before midnight 5/7/13 EST.

Here's a larger photo of my entry: 

 

I began designing this piece in my head in the middle of March and it literally took all of April to pull it together.  The polymer clay tiles were created using various techniques.  The brilliant blue tiles were created with mica shift, the lime green back feathers were simply a skinner blend of greens, and the darker green tail feathers were a take on Lynda Moseley's controlled marbling technique.  For the green of these tail feathers I did a controlled blend of teal and emerald greens with one contrast of rust red, then I took the blended sheet and cut it into strips which I assembled bargello style before I cut all of the individual tiles.  The tray's background was created with a blend of clays and mica powders to create a look similar to Travertine marble. The hundreds of pieces were all hand cut and individually glued in place, then a grout was smoothed over the entire piece.  The piece was sanded and buffed and coated with a protective finish.  This piece will likely end up in my mother's hands, as she loves peacocks and I think she'd love receiving this for Mother's day.  She has always been such a strong influence on me and what I create... when I begin creating something special like this piece she's never far from my mind, so it's no wonder I tend to create special pieces themed with subjects that she deems beautiful.  And it's no wonder that when I feel like I'm scattered by all that awaits on my schedule, thoughts of my mom can always ground me.... truly an amazing woman.