Linda's Magic Workshop - Linda Britt Design

This is one of my solutions to the weak link in my Experimental Petal Neclace: I cut the curls off the tops of my petals and added eyelets.  Let me say that the Fiskar Eyelet kit I found on sale at Joann's a year ago really worked for this job. What a great little tool! I was able to rewire the copper loops that attach to the chain and here you have it!  A little more wire but everything is stable and this should be lots of fun to wear. Experimenting with this has increased my knowledge of polymer clay, its limits and possibilities.  Thanks to everyone for your interest and suggestions!

I have an idea about making flowers from polymer clay and I know I will have to experiment to get the idea to become a reality.   I want to use translucent clay with some color and I want to control the shape of each petal.   I’m also thinking large rather than tiny.   I want the petals to glow as the light comes through. Ready for the oven I began by using Premo translucent clay and Premo 5504 Fushia.   I conditioned each one separately. The fushia was rolled on a 4 setting and the translucent clay between 2 pieces of rag paper on a 5 setting.   The translucent slab went down first.   Then I sliced the fushia into 3/8” strips and layed them criss-cross on the translucent.   My multi colored fushia, gold, and copper foil went down next and another slab of translucent on top of that.   I rolled all that on a 1 setting and then cut the petal shapes.   I made a general paper pattern and kept cutting it smaller as the petals got smaller. Planning the Necklace I also made a

Vermillion Flycatcher There is a place just northwest of Phoenix near Wickenburg AZ that draws birders and nature lovers.   It is a desert oasis with cottonwood trees, palm trees and a pond where frogs and water fowl are found.   The Hassayampa River Preserve was purchased in 1986 by the Nature Conservancy and is being restored.   “ In the Sonoran Desert, riparian areas nourish cottonwood-willow forests, one of the rarest and most threatened forest types in North America. An estimated 90 percent of these critical wet landscapes have been lost, damaged or degraded in the last century. This loss threatens at least 80 percent of Arizona wildlife, which depend upon riparian habitats for survival.”   http://gosw.about.com/od/bestsightstosee/a/hassayampa.htm The Hassayampa River courses 100 miles through the Sonoran Desert and most of the water flows underground.   It looks like a dry riverbed until you dig down a little ways and feel the moist sand.    In the preserve, the wat