Quilted in Clay

My computer has decided to be extremely difficult today and I may just have to break out the Bailey's soon! But first, here's a slice from a gorgeous Celtic knot cane from Jennifer Patterson of Quilted in Clay, who also happens to be the winner of the pendant bails I'm giving away. The colors that she's used for this cane are just phenomenal! I really think I need a pendant like this. I have the perfect shirt to wear with it, too.

Jennifer, who is a full-time polymer clay artist, travels frequently to quilt shows and other venues to sell her work. She was recently given permission to duplicate quilt patterns designed by the late Ruby S. McKim. This pansy quilt design is one of her newest in the McKim line. Simply beautiful work!

In addition to being such a hard-working and talented artist, Jennifer has a wonderful blog which I read faithfully. She's also the talent behind the "Hidden Magic" technique which has become very popular in the past couple of years. You may have seen her article on the process in the Fall 2003 issue of Polymer Cafe. She has lots of wonderful things to share on her website, including a peek into her caning process and a tutorial on the Ohio Star cane.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and Jennifer, contact me here with your address so I can mail the bails out to you!

Spilling over with glee . . .

. . . because so many of you had the right answers to the quiz I posted this past Tuesday! And, those of you who didn't have all the right answers only missed one or two. Excellent! Okay, here are the correct answers in order:

1. Leslie Blackford

2. Katherine Dewey

3. Elise Winters

4. Sandra McCaw

5. Cynthia Toops

6. Laurie Mika

7. Sarah Shriver

8. Grant Diffendaffer

9. Lindly Haunani

10. Jeffrey Dever

The name that was drawn as the winner of the Klew bead from all the correct entries was . . .

Donna Stein! And since she forgot to send me her mailing address, she better put on her most comfortable shoes and start walking if she wants to collect her bead!

If you have time to spare this weekend, spend some of it perusing through the websites of these talented artists. There's much to see and appreciate and learn from.

I have one more thing to end the week with. When I decided to start a blog, I knew immediately what I would call it. "Imagine Uncommon Things" is sort of the mantra that runs through my head and helps to keep me inspired. I recently came across a single sentence in Grant Diffendaffer's wonderful new book, Polymer Clay Beads, that I feel strongly compelled to share with everyone I know. It speaks volumes about inspiration, creativity, and the fearlessness to try new things. And, it says much about him as an artist.

From Grant: "Making something you have never imagined will greatly increase your ability to imagine things you have never made, and then go on to make them."

I could write for the next ten years and not come up with anything better than that.

How Clay Savvy Are You?

Are you ready to find out? There are so many wonderful artists out there working with polymer clay and if you've been paying attention, you know that many of them have a readily identifiable style. If you consider yourself a serious polymer clay aficionado, then you should have no trouble at all passing this simple test. Below are 10 pictures of some beautiful polymer clay work. All you have to do is send me an email with the names (both first and last) of the artists who created these lovely pieces. Spelling counts, so, if one of them happens to belong to Kim Cavender (which it doesn't, of course!), please don't refer to her as Kim Cadaver. Be sure and list the names in the order in which the pictures appear, as well. I'm not giving you any clues but if you can correctly identify the artists by name, you may win a Klew. Everyone who sends me the correct answers by midnight (Eastern time) on Thursday will be eligible to win a bead from my Klew collection because I firmly believe that sharing is a good thing. Please supply your mailing address with your entry because it's a long walk to West Virginia if you have to pick it up in person. And since I have no employees, EVERYONE is eligible to play one time. The winner of the bead will be chosen from a random drawing of all the correct entries and I'll post the names of the very talented artists shown here on Friday. If no one correctly identifies all of the artwork in these photos, I'll be very sad! Good luck and have fun!