Linda's Magic Workshop - Linda Britt Design

We’ve been driving by the exit sign for Montezuma Castle for two years.   We never took the time to stop and explore until this past weekend.   What an interesting place.   Montezuma Castle National Monument is about 50 miles south of Flagstaff, Arizona off I-17.   Big exit sign!   We parked and walked up to the visitor center to be greeted by a Desert Grassland Whiptail Lizard.   It seemed he was just waiting to be photographed!   The Greeter - Desert Grassland Whiptail The path from the Visitor Center was fairly short and the cliff we saw was very high.   The castle is a 5 story, 20 room dwelling built into the cliff recess 100 feet above the valley.   The Southern Sinagua farmers began building in the 1100’s Common Era.   It’s funny how places get named.   The early settlers assumed this place was Aztec in origin and named it Montezuma Castle.   We now know that Montezuma never came this far north from his home in Mexico.   Down the path a bit is another building complex

I just took Donna Kato’s class CONTEMPORARY SQUASH BLOSSOM PENDANTS from Craftartedu.com As I was about midway through the video, I realized that this might be one of the few classes where I actually stopped the video to make the project at each step just the way it was presented.   The end result was very close to the class photo with a few exceptions to color shading.   I’m very happy with what I learned and with the piece.   While making my squash blossom, I followed the directions for mixing the colors, backing the cane slices and applying the canes, etc.   Copying a piece makes me feel uneasy and that’s why I tend to just watch the video or take classes that show a technique and turn me loose.   Could be I’m missing some of the finer points that way!   Thanks Donna Kato! After I finished the pendant, I decided to use some of the leftovers and make buttons and beads.   Sharing some with you. Buttons ready to sell! Might be my next creation!

 Pin made from 'Bench Scraps'  Polymer clay, etched copper, cold and hot connections  For the past 10 years, my friend Judi and I have been going to Art Unraveled in Phoenix AZ.   It’s always in August and lately it’s been at the Embassy Suite in Scottsdale AZ.   Yes the weather is hot- 113 degrees a couple of days!   But it is in a nice cool hotel and we are so busy in our classes that we don’t notice the heat.   It's a great conference and I highly recommend it! Balance Beam Bracelet - etched copper, turquoise, warm connections This year Judi (from Tucson) and I (from Prescott) met at the hotel on Saturday afternoon.   There is always a Shopping Extravaganza Day with many vendors and raffle prizes.   It’s where we find out about new product and visit with old and new friends.   We planned to meet about 3 p.m. and spend an hour shopping.   The first order of business was to sign up for the raffle.   The grand prize was a $500 gift basket (in this case it was