Linda's Magic Workshop - Linda Britt Design

For Christmas, my brother Dave, gave me a 3D Stereo Drawing Pen that we both thought looked like fun!  I waited to try it out until now after watching a couple of Youtube videos.  It came with blue and pink filament and I read the directions, put it together and started to play.   The first thing I made was a pink pyramid with 3 blue flowers and it turned out ok.  I learned how to start the hot filament on paper and then bring the pen up into the air as I pushed the button to release the filament.  It worked great and I realized it would take a little practice to learn to control the pen without making so many squiggles. Tonight I sat down to play again and was in the process of making a blue lizard when I noticed the blue filament was tangled. I let the pen cool down - the tip gets pretty hot as it melts the filament - unplugged the pen and straightened out the tangle.   The evening went downhill after that as the blue filamen...

One day is not enough!  I'm not sure a week would be enough.  The San Diego Zoo is one of my favorite places to visit and my recent trip did not disappoint.  The zoo is huge so you just have to start somewhere. There are metal sculptures tucked among trees and bushes, sitting on logs and posts.  It's a nice contrast with the animals. Exhibits throughout show prehistoric and modern changes in environment and animals.  The habitats for the animals are as 'real' as they can be made given the amount of land available.  I talked to a guide for a while and she explained some of the research the zoo is doing in other countries.  They have a program that helps save the elephants in Africa by offering a living wage to poachers with the understanding that instead of poaching they will help track the elephants and work with the zoo program.  I was impressed with the amount of conservation research they do.  Here are just a few photos for you ...

Sometimes a special person asks for something and even though you had not planned on doing it, you say ‘Yes, of course, I will’!  That is how the second generation of polymer sun catchers came to be.  It’s been a while since I made the first batch when I was experimenting with polymer clay and alcohol inks.  I should have made some notes but of course since it was an experiment that expanded into a dozen eye catching dangles I just did not think I’d need them.  Previous post - http://www.lindabrittdesign.blogspot.com/2015/08/making-sun-catchers.html I started conditioning several packages of translucent polymer clay (Premo) and found that some were crumbly.  I softened those with Sculpey Clay Softener and continued to put them through the pasta machine.  (For those of you who do not work with polymer, conditioning the clay usually required putting the clay though the widest setting on the pasta machine many times).  Then I divided the w...

January 1 , the beginning of a New Year, an arbitrary date on a manmade calendar January 1 , the beginning of a New Year, a point in time to reassess where I am and where I want to go    I picture bubbles as far as I can see filled with interesting ideas and things to do, to see, to think, to dream and learn.   When someone says to me, “How do you do all those different things?” I respond with a chuckle, “I have a short attention span!”.  But the truth is that there are so many bubbles to explore.  I want to know the ‘how’ and the ‘why’ and to see where else I can apply that knowledge.    That’s when the creativity just bubbles up and I have to try!    This year of 2016 will find me exploring bubbles and sharing them with you!