On the road again....

I've been traveling quite a bit. Hubby and I had a wonderful week of vacation in Newfoundland,then I came home and immediately left for Maryland to take a polymer clay class and then to Pennsylvania to visit my mom. I'm in PA now, borrowing my mom's computer. To those nice folks I met in Newfoundland: It will be another week or two until I can get home and post the photographs I promised you. Please come back later.

Another Frame

One of my guildmates, Laura McIntosh, is having a baby and has decorated the nursery in a jungle theme using green, yellow and white. I made this picture frame for her but don't tell her. She hasn't seen it yet.

It's a Frame Up!!!

The infamous Daniels 12, my best friends in the whole world, got together again, this time in Niagara Falls. We were all freshmen together in a small dorm called Daniels Hall and after seeing each other every 5 years at reunions, we decided to start having our own private reunions. It has become sort of a tradition to exchange small gift items, so last time I gave everybody Altoid tins covered in clay. This time I decided to give everyone a picture frame - covered in clay, of course. I bought unfinished wooden frames at Michaels, baked them, sanded off any resin that oozed out, coated them with Modge Podge, and then added clay. This was a technique I learned from Gaby Orbach at Morrisburg. For most of them I used Bev Larose's texture sheets (which I think will be available soon through Shades of Clay) either covering the clay with PearlEx powder and then running it through the pasta machine with the texture sheet, or texturing the clay and then adding pigment. (Click on photos for larger views.)



















Even the ones made with plain gold or silver clay looked nice. Then I got playful - this is my first try at the extruding technique. Kewl.

Morrisburg, Day 2 and 3

Georgia Ferrell, aka Iggy, treated us to Fanciful Fabric and Other Stuff.
Georgia encouraged us to play with liquid clay and a variety of materials including yarns, thin fabrics, ribbons, sparkles and, essentially, anything we can think of.


Wendy Orlowski made a New Year's resolution to use up some of her stash before buying anything new, and as a result, came up with a class called Resolution Steampunk. We were told to raid our tool boxes and garages and to take apart obsolete items in order to find parts appropriate to the Steampunk trend. The results were spectacular.



In addition to workshops, there were a variety of swaps. Everyone was encouraged to clean out their studios and bring unwanted items for the "Table of Junque." It looked like Filene's Basement as we elbowed each other aside to find the good stuff. We also swapped canes and beads.






The queen of miniatures, Jacey Culham, showed us how to create a picnic of miniature hamburgers, hot dogs, fries and donuts. Yum. Then there is poutine - yuck - the Canadian dish consisting of fries, cheese curds and gravy.












Last year's mystery project was so much fun that we did it again. On the first day we were each given a small square of paper with a fragment of a photo on it. Our job was to duplicate the image in clay, matching colors and size. Then on Saturday night, we each stuck our square onto a larger canvas.



Margi Laurin supervised the project.


And we produced this masterpiece.

Rite of Spring

Once again I was lucky enough to attend "Morrisburg", the clay retreat held in Morrisburg, Ontario for members of the Quebec and Ontario clay guilds. Kudos to Margi Laurin and Violette Laporte for another well-organized, well-run, and FUN event. That's Vio having fun on the right.

As usual the workroom was a hubbub of creativity.



Gaby Orbach got us started with a workshop on interesting surface techniques including a silkscreen effect that doesn't use a silkscreen. We used the results to cover wooden picture frames or to make jewelry (jewellery for Brits and Canadians).



Next Sandy Willis showed us how to have fun with flakes, although at first we weren't sure if she was referring to us or the stuff from Grummer. It turns out we colored little iridescent flakes and used them to make sparkly surfaces which could be used in many applications.

Finally, Violette Laporte showed us how to create lovely books using covers made of clay. We tore or cut paper and then bound everything together using a needle and thread in a technique called Coptic stitching.



More on Day 2 tomorrow........

Budapest 2

While my friend was busy with official duties, I traveled around the city by bus, subway and streetcar to do some sightseeing. The public transportation system was wonderful and easy to use despite the language difference. In addition, the city is quite friendly to bicycle riders with lots of bike lanes and even special lights at some intersections.

Among the top sites are Heroes Square with its huge statues and large park beyond. It was too cold and breezy when I was there so I was happy to retreat to the subway and head for the fabulous opera house.

The Opera House is absolutely spectacular. Tours are given in 6 languages each afternoon and even though I was there at a low tourist season, the tours were full. You are allowed to use flash and a tripod, but the tour moves so quickly that good photography is very difficult. The grand staircase is shown at right.

Finally, one of the best things about Budapest is the wonderful view along the Danube. The Parliament building (first photo) dominates the river during the day as well as at night, and the view from Castle Hill is phenomenal. By law, no building can be higher than Parliament, except for St. Stephen (at left in second photo), which is the same height, thus making clear the importance of both the State and the Church.


(Click on photos for larger views)

Budapest

I had a great time visiting my friend, Her Excellency April H. Foley, the US Ambassador to Hungary. She's the tall one; I'm the short one in the blue suit. Her tour of duty is over now, but we had one last hurrah in March. One of the official events I got to attend was the flag raising ceremony for the anniversary of the 1848 Revolution. Because of the threat of violent protests, crowds were kept very far away from the Parliament building, so it was a bit odd to have such a big ceremony for about 50 observers, a group of diplomats and military representatives from a variety of countries. The Hussars on horseback were cool. (Clicking on the photos will take you to larger ones.)

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Taking a tour of the Parliament Building is an absolute must. The entry over the grand staircase is magnificent. Inside you will see the Holy Crown of Hungary, also called the Crown of Saint Stephen. There are a variety of stories about how the cross was knocked crooked.
Back when Parliament was for men only, they were allowed to smoke in the halls but not in the chamber. Cigars last a long time, so the men would place them in a numbered slot of a metal device conveniently located on a window sill, go in to hear a speech, and then return to finish smoking. Havanas were the longest lasting cigar, so a good speech, one that kept the men inside listening, was said to be "worth a Havana."

More later....