Linda's Magic Workshop - Linda Britt Design

It's not too soon to think about holiday ornaments - especially if you are making them!  The holiday season gets hectic for all of us and if you are like me I may get too busy to enjoy what I'm doing.  I find it relaxing to start making the ornaments in time to really enjoy the process.  Each year I decide what kind of ornament I want to make.  This year I decided to make these polymer stacked ornaments and teach a class at The Prescott Art Market.  The snowflake cookie cookers I've been collecting are the perfect outline shapes since they graduate in size.  For my prototypes I'm using some scrap polymer clay and chose these colors - a light, a medium and a dark - to overlap. Deciding which layers get holes and what colors to stack gives me the opportunity to embellish. Textures, rhinestones, lines, and embossing powder and the holes for hanging are added.   The ornaments are cured (baked at 275 degrees F)  and they are read...

One lovely morning not long ago, Peter and I went to the Prescott Gem and Mineral Show.  Having lived in Prescott for 8 years and making jewelry, you'd think this would have been one of my first stops.  Like many people I know, exploring our own town gets pushed aside until we have visitors.  The Prescott show (held in Prescott Valley Civic Center) was a pleasure to visit.  It was very interesting and not overwhelming.  We actually had space to look at the items and talk with the vendors.  Lots of variety in both polished and rough stones and in finished jewelry.  This was a welcome experience having attended the gem show in Tucson which covers the city of Tucson and takes days to see. At one of the booths I was introduced to stromatolites.  A small stone that had layers and concentric circles making a very interesting pattern caught my eye and my imagination.  It would make a great mold for metal clay and polymer clay.  O...