My Old Man wins two ribbons

I entered My Old Man at the Evergreen Fair (Monroe, WA) competitions under Sculptures, Fine Arts section and today, I found out that he got two ribbons, First Place and Special Award! Pretty cool!

Seems like everybody won awards but it is still super cool that he has a nice big ribbon to affirm his awesomeness. My Old Man was created last year during the Wendy and Toby Froud workshop in Portland, during a very difficult time in my life. He is very special to me. So I am very happy and proud that others can see how special he is.

If you want to see him, he is still on display at the Evergreen Fair, Building 500 till September 5, 2016. He is in a glass case in the middle of the middle room.

If you want to read My Old Man's story, please click here.

Erbie

Hi there! I want you all to meet Erbie, my new gardener - he loves plants, eats petals and just generally enjoys hanging around the shrubs everyday. He has those big flat fingers that helps him grab on to branches easily, big feet and toes for hanging on too, and he also has gliders to help him get from one tree to another.

Erbie is usually in a happy mood, unless Frost comes in and freezes the plants or some inconsiderate fellow stomps on his garden home. But other than that, he's as jolly as Santa's elves.

I started Erbie before the holiday but was not able to finish it just till this weekend. He was inspired from a painting I made a few years ago, a simple black and white line drawing of a sprite flying without wings around a water deity. But as I worked on him on clay, more things came out like he developed a protruding nose, awesome hair and Tarsier like fingers for grabbing branches.

Pinoy Santa

Moonies or not, my Filipino (Pinoy) Santa's finished. I like his face, quite pleased with it in fact, so I don't want to waste all that effort despite the annoying moonies.

Here he is, all painted and dressed. He is my interpretation of a Filipino Santa so he is wearing the traditional formal wear barong (or the closest I can to a barong), over a canvas undershirt (not really your typical shirt material but it was what I had on hand) paired with a red, velvety, very much Santa-like pants. I remember when we had to perform traditional Southern Tagalog dances in school, the male costume is a usually a white shirt and a pair of red pants, so I thought the barong with the red pants would look good on him. The velvety part is a nod to the season.

Collar needs to be adjusted.

Bayong is a bit small for all his toy goodies!

Of course Santa needs a bag with goodies, so I gave him a bayong. Bayongs are bags made with woven palm leaves. Nowadays, there are a lot of fashionable bags and handbags made with the same or similar materials in an updated style. 

Filipino toys

His goodies are also traditional Philippine toys. First we have taka (paper mache) horse. These are usually colored bright red with black hair and colorful line drawings. It was quite a sight to see those during Christmas or town festivals -- tons of red horses all lined up!

Next we have the slingshot or in Filipino, tirador, the top or turumpo, toy guitar or gitara, clay pots or palayok and the sungka. The clay pot is also colored red with white designs on it like the taka horse. This is also typical of toy clay pots sold during Christmas and town festivals. You can buy them as miniatures and boy, were those fun! The pot is sitting on another clay creation, which acts as the stove. You put the coal directly under the pot.

I don't know the English translation for sungka, but it is played by two players. The bigger grooves at the end of the board is assigned to a player and it acts as their "home base". They collect their "subi" here, subi is the shell each player collects when they pass their home base. Each groove, minus the home bases, has six shells or pebbles in it. Both players start playing at the same time by choosing one groove from their side of the board, putting all the shells in it in their hand and then dropping one shell or pebble in the consecutive grooves after. They will also drop one pebble in their home base but of course, skipping the competition's. When you get to the last shell in your hand, you pick up all the shells or pebbles in the groove where you were supposed to drop it. The player who drops a shell in an empty hole loses his turn. He or she can only continue to play when the other player loses his or her turn in the same way. The player with the most pebbles in his or her home base wins. Ooh, I hope that description is accurate! It's been ages since I last played the game. I do wish to have another sungka, but I want the more intricate carved ones with feet stands.

Wow, all these brought back very fond memories of childhood. I wish I could go back soon to celebrate a town fiesta or Christmas in the Philippines.

Just for fun, I also gave Pinoy Santa a fake beard with elastic band.

Santa has the moonies

More than three years ago, while still based in Dubai, I ordered Cernit, Living Doll, Super Sculpey and Paper Clay online. A lot of those made it back to the USA when I moved here. I have not had the chance to really use them till now so it's catching up time. But that also goes to say that a lot of my polymer clay have been in stock for years! They're still good as far as I can tell and those that became a little hard is fine with a dab or two of clay conditioner.

So now that I have tried most of them, I'm still not decided on which I really like to use. I love the white Cernit for miniatures, like my mini dogs. They have a very ceramic like finish which I love. For simpler works, like my creepylicious bottles and Halloween eyes -- which by the way are also available in Spooked in Seattle Gift Shop -- I love Original Sculpey White because it's soft and easy to work with.

But for dolls, I'm not decided on which is the best. I've gone through my Living Doll and most light colored Cernit without problems. Now, I'm going through Super Sculpey beige and having a tough time. I've made two dolls with it and both came out with the dreaded whitish, half circles just beneath the surface.

At first I thought it was the tape covering my armature showing through because the first doll was an experiment in size so I did not want to use too much clay on it. However, the second doll, which is going to be Santa, had more than enough clay coverage so I am definite it was not the armature showing through. Turns out, those whitish half circles which peppered both dolls are plaques or moonies (more on plaquing or mooning here).

Ugh those new moons

Quite appropriately named come to think of it, they do look like a plethora of new moons! They are ugly, and because I'm not planning on painting over my Santa, they are super annoying!

One solution to prevent this, I read on GlassAttic.com is to add a little Premo when you condition the Super Sculpey. Another is to avoid drastic changes in temperatures. I still have to try these two solutions to know if they will work for me. For now, I'm putting Santa aside because getting the moonies was simply frustrating.

To take my mind off this unexpected block, I took a break from polymer clay and made a rag doll over the weekend. This going to be a Christmas gift for my niece. Shhh... don't tell her. ;)

My Old Man at the Frouds Faerie Character Workshop

Back in February, I saw an FB post that Wendy and Toby Froud will be holding a faerie character workshop in Portland. Portland! That's only a three-hour drive from here so you can just imagine my excitement.

Wendy is the woman behind Yoda. Yoda responsible for, she is. Wendy is the fabricator, having sculpted the great Jedi Master. She also worked with Jim Henson (creator of The Muppets) in "The Labyrinth" and "Dark Crystal". Both oh so lovely films!

Toby is her son and he also played the cute baby offered to the goblins by sister Sarah in "The Labyrinth".  Toby embraces this colorful history with Stripey Pajama Productions where he works with Heather Henson, daughter of Jim Henson, to produce the wonderful imageries of "Lessons Learned".

The workshop was for April, my birthday weekend, plus hubby and I are fans of "Portlandia" and we've been talking about going down there -- everything just clicked. So of course I signed up and just managed to get my name on the list.

But shortly after, that was all but forgotten. We got the news that my Dad had cancer. I couldn't leave his side. He was in and out of the hospital so much that it was just impossible. I would have cancelled but friends insisted I needed a break and that they'd be there for him. By some luck, schedules worked out and for three rainy days, hubby enjoyed the peace and quiet of a B&B to relax and read while I was immersed in the fantastical world of the Frouds.

Wendy & Toby Froud

Wendy took us through a journey of imagination where we met curious characters that served as our guides to this magical world, a world where each workshop participant met the character that we respectively recreated in polymer clay.

My Dad never left my thoughts and that was probably the reason why I met a very tall, skinny, bald guy wearing a loincloth who sat on his hunches in my vision quest. Reading this back to myself, I am reminded of Gollum but no, my guy is far from Gollum. I was reminded of a very tall but skinny Kapre (a Filipino folklore character who is always described as a gigantic, hairy guy who lives in big, old trees, smoking cigars) and he had the most serene expression I've seen in a long time. He handed me a miniature house which fit in the palm of his hand.

I nicknamed him My Old Man and he was definitely bald. At that time, the radiation treatments had caused my Dad's hair to fall off and he decided to have it shaved. He was self conscious about it at first, but like the cowboy that he is, he soon got used to it. One day we were driving home on our way back from the hospital and he suddenly blurted out for me to slow down. Surprised I asked, "Why? What's wrong? I'm driving the speed limit." And without batting an eyelid, he responded, "The wind is messing up my hair!"

Another version of that is when I helped him put a shirt on. He snapped at me to be careful and I was so worried I hurt him, he quickly followed it with, "You're messing up my hair!" And then he laughed in that silly laugh of his that says he got you. I miss my Dad. It's going to be his sixth month this November. So this post is really for him. My Old Man is a tribute, I realized later, to him. Same way I realized while writing this blog, that this post is about my experience at the workshop as it is about him.

My Dad never really explored his artistic side professionally but it was always showing up. He built a boat out of popsicle sticks just for fun. He'd show us how to draw naughty drawings that would end up in a cute dog. He helped me work on my projects. He always had a book or art material for me to try out. Even when he was sick, he showed me how to cut an eggplant so it's even and decorative at the same time.

But back to the workshop, after meditation, we beat foil to form and kneaded clay and got the best advice on sculpting ever! Those three days were too short. There was so much to learn. I still can't get over the fact that even though they showed us how to do it and even though both Wendy and Toby started with the same materials we did, their works were simply brilliant! It's like they went from crunching foil into a ball and in the next second it transformed into this wonderful doll so full of life, dressed in such whimsical clothes. It's really magic. And as this art goes, it's better to show them in pictures.

Wendy showing us how to work on the face. Her doll became this lovely creature on the right.
It's magic I tell you! It's magic!

Following suit and building up My Old Man's face

Toby showing us the tricks of costuming.

The workshop area was in the basement of the Fernie Brae Gallery in Portland

When I saw the pile of materials for us to play with – and it was a huge, 
wonderfully diverse pile – I couldn't resist trying on different possibilities and 
eventually decided to give My Old Man a monkish hairdo. 

Wendy's Faerie & Toby's Creature

With Toby Froud and his creature. Toby decided to create a creature to show us
how to sculpt them in comparison to a regular humanoid face.

With Wendy Froud

All our creations pose for a group photo

And finally, this is My Old Man. My Dad got to meet him a few days before he left us. He even named him. But for the life of me, I couldn't remember the name he said.

I decided against my vision of a character in a loin cloth. We created posable dolls with soft bodies, so it really would not have worked. Also, there was so much materials available it was so much fun to try clothes on!

We also learned about the Froud Swirl - I hope I remember the term correctly. It's a muddy concoction of paint that you use to dirty up and create authenticity with your doll's clothes. Toby advised us not to be afraid to get in there and paint it on their costumes. But man, that was one of the most terrifying things to do during the workshop! It's like you're trying to destroy your own work after carefully building it up. But it's a key trick. So splash on I did. My tentative strokes did get a few splatters in there.

Got some clothes upgrade. Imagined him as the pauper king.

This last picture is by pure coincidence. Having finished My Old Man back in April and going straight back to my Dad's side after the workshop, I never really got a chance to take proper pictures. So I went out in the middle of writing this blog to take photos. After I downloaded them, I noticed this photo I took of my Dad and me in my downloads folder and their poses were so similar I had to include it here. 

My Dad would have been 67 on November 12. My Old Man keeps him company now. 

--- 

In related posts, it took time before I was able to take up clay again but if you want to check out what I worked on after the workshop, click below:

The Twins Part I

The Twins Part II

The Twins Part III

Hoggle in the making

Beautiful day. The sun was out when I got up, letting me see the clear blue sky for a change. With buttered homemade blueberry muffin, brewed coffee and Hoggle waiting on my work table, I'm set for the day.

Hoggle is one of my new works for my Etsy shop. I'll be creating more before I upload them. So gotta keep busy, busy.

Purple hearts & Clay heads

My friend Malen bought this purple and gold heart pendant during the last ARTE Souq. Not being a jewellery maker, I made it as simple as I can so it's meant to be tied at the back when worn. 

However, the material of the necklace itself is plastic so it easily can slip off - which it did! Luckily, she noticed and did not lose the whole thing. So I took it back and added those thingamagigs, they are like wire coils that you put at the end of accessories. I put two, and run both ends inside each one so that she can just pull each them to the sides and adjust the length. Then I made a knot at the end of each and slightly burnt it to prevent them from slipping through. She's seen the photo and loves it! That's always good news :). So I have to do something similar to the others I've already made.

On another topic... I've had a stash of clay (Super Sculpey, Cernit and La Doll) hidden in my drawers for months now. Some of them are from the USA, I asked hubby to bring them back for me and the others were bought from the Philippines, when I went last November. I've been putting off using them because they are more expensive, and not available here. But the reason I got into clay making is because I fell in love with art dolls! And so far, I've only made one.

This is made from Sculpey Original, the same materials I've been using for all my clay works. The pumpkin head though is made from Super Sculpey - he was my first test for that clay, which I think I made before November last year (that's why it's a pumpkin). I just wanted to see how I can work with it, both sculpting and painting it.

So last night, while watching The Beastmaster, I sculpted a face. The eyeballs are pre-baked balls made with a combination of SuperSculpey and white Cernit. Underneath this face is a baked skull (with the eyeballs already embedded), a technique, I learned from the Madsculptor.

I've tried making faces before with just a ball for an armature (some with no armature at all) but they would sometimes look skewed. With the skull armature, I was able to even it out easier. This is far from what I would want it to be but I am quite happy with it.

I do need more practice (look at that uneven nose!), and most specially in keeping my workspace and hands clean! This head has tons of flecks and lints on it. But I am quite excited, I love how this clay is firm enough to work with, how the indents I make stays and that it is flesh colored so there's really no need to paint it, like what I've been doing with all my cutie clay work stuff. Now, I have to find a good wire to use for the body - all the wires I've been able to get are quite soft.

If you want links to tutorials, here's one by Nadiia Evans that I really enjoyed watching over and over again.  

And a great tip from Twinessence is to use reference photos even if you're just working on a face, and do not need to look like anybody, but it helps get details and a more realistic look (this is a three-part video so just follow the links to part 2 and 3). Didn't do that with my first trial face but I will in my next one. 

Hopefully, my next face would look much better! 

Creature Features

Different creatures have caught my attention this week. It all started with a cute little monster I saw on Pinterest. It simply sparked my imagination and I went off to craft adorable creatures and cute little monsters of my own.

It's but natural I guess, I loved the Alien movies. I loved Predator too. Don't ask me details about the story but when I saw those flicks, I was fascinated with how those creatures looked, how they moved and how they acted. They were absolutely, morbidly fascinating.

I specially love recreations of them. In souvenir shops in Karama Souq, and Mall of the Emirates, I saw metal artworks of both the Predator and Alien. These artworks were made of tubes, bolts and nuts and were simply amazing! And they were available in both life and table top sizes. (Note to self: gotta buy one of each).

Are you familiar with the movie She Creature? Yes, loved that mermaid lore too - quite fascinating the way the writers went back to the original mermaid/siren mythology that these sea creatures are harbingers of doom.

So today, I was filling my quota of how tos on sculpting and I found myself watching one of Stan Winston's School's Youtube videos. It was about the creation of another monster creature - Pumpkinhead. It's a 1988 horror film about a father who would do anything to avenge his wronged son - thus releasing Pumpkinhead into the world. 

One of the guys in the FX team also worked on Predator. This video documents how they went about creating the monster, highlighted the important characters they needed and most importantly, documented all the fun they had in the process.

I want to learn all these things! It's officially on my wish list. But for now, I'm satisfied with the videos. Tomorrow, I'll probably be just trolling their Youtube vids to watch more.  

So, here's my video find of the day, I hope you enjoy watching it as much as I did! 

Back to Star Wars & Fascinating Creatures

Have been busy with other projects but the good news is, it's been going on a more or less steady pace this last week, so I am able to return to crafting. First thing I did was organize my materials in a more coherent manner. I'm tired of spending half the time looking for things. 

After sorting out a new area to gather all craft materials, I cleaned out some box organizers to sort all the new findings I bought in Manila a month ago. I am not a clean freak, but it feels good to sort, organize and clean. For me, it also frees the mind from clutter and gives room for inspiration and creativity to flow in. 

Another new equipment I'm using is a lazy daisy which I found at Ikea! It has a bigger diameter so I have more workspace than the first one I bought from a smaller grocery (and that one doesn't really turn).  

I find that Darth Vader is always great at the ARTE Souq. Dispplayed the broken one at the last souq at Timesquare and it got several inquiries but I couldn't sell it knowing the light saber was broken. And since I did not have enough time to work on new stuff, no Star Wars inspired items on that day. 

Now, it seems I'm going back to Star Wars. I made another Darth V, a human jedi and a Twi'lek Jedi. Today, my imagination was still caught on the Twi'leks - made another Twi'lek Jedi, a Twi'lek non jedi and a baby Twi'lek.

Also managed to make a Harry Potter, Hermione and a UAE-inspired one. Pretty good turnout for the night. They are baking right now in the oven - I'll post photos when they're all colored and done. 

Wonder what creature from the ST world will fascinate me next. :)

The colored Dart V on the right is actually a Mrs Darth - notice the flaring skirt?  

ARTE Souq Ikea (Nov 2, 2012)

It was a Darth Vader day. My day opened with the sale of cutie pie Darth Vader (about 1.5" tall) and ended with the bigger Darth (about 4" tall) being broken.

A group of teens passed by and saw the Star Wars inspired items and immediately bought lil Darth. Yey! First sale of the day.

Unfortunately, towards the end of the evening, not much people were passing through so I started reading my book. A lot of kids from all ages have grabbed the clay collectibles, particularly the one in the red shayla and Darth Vader, so I don't mind kids holding them. They are sturdy and will not break easy.

So there I was reading, when I heard a couple of kids gab excitedly about Darth Vader (he is such an attention getter!). As I looked up, I saw one of the boy's hand grab Darth Vader and use his other hand to bend the light saber the other way. He quickly put it back, still talking to what I assume what his sister, and walked to the other side of the table. I took Darth V and sure enough, the light saber was broken, I looked at the kid and all I can stammer was "You broke it". Kid promptly turned around and disappeared in the crowd that suddenly formed going out to the parking. There goes 4-5 hours of work in a blink. I can repair it but I don't feel comfortable selling items that have been repaired.

Sigh. Guess I have to be more vigilant about warning kids to be careful.

That said, I got a good sale from my Gingerbread and Camel Christmas tree decor, so yey again! Lots of people found the Shrek Gingerbread man during torture and after torture adorable and bought them as sets.

By the way, thanks to Rohini of Ragmatazz for including my little mummy in the ARTE Halloween blog entry. Little Mummy also found a new home yesterday, as an adorable little boy promised his dad that he will keep him beside his bed and not be scared. Awww.

Big shoutout to all my friends who dropped by to give their support (and much-needed bathroom breaks!).

Here are some images from my table yesterday.

In the morning after set-up

Near closing time

Gingerbread and Camel Christmas tree decor. I also have "Shrek" Gingerbread Man during and after the torture versions.

I was also super duper lucky with my highschool friend Dea coming over to say hello before going off to sniff out great jewelry finds at ARTE. Her hubby, Chef Andrew made sushi and I got two full boxes! It was yum, I gobbled up the first box for my sit in dinner, since the souq yesterday was until 9pm. 

Yum!

Anyways, one more week till the next ARTE Souq - gotta get busy again creating more Christmas Tree decorations. Hope to see you at ARTE Souq Timesquare on November 9!

Camels & Christmas

Happy Halloween!

The rest of the world is still celebrating Halloween but for us it was last night. And instead of scaring ourselves, hubby and I decided to laugh the night away at the premiere of Here Comes The Boom. Quite a funny and uplifting movie, thoroughly enjoyed it.

That was our treat to ourselves, the major break in our last two days' mad rush to finish work.   I've been creating new items for tomorrow's ARTE Souq Ikea. Been working mostly on some Christmas tree decorations - I have some pretty cute Christmas camels that will be charming your socks off.

Here's a preview of the Gingerbread men. Bet you would recognize this fellow here. Each piece will come with a red silk ribbon to make your Christmas tree more merry.

Hope to see you tomorrow at ARTE Souq Ikea!

Make Your Own Cool Wall Clock

Cleaning up my hd is so harrrd to do... (can you hear a tune with that?). While I'm waiting for the trash to empty, I'm reorganizing and sorting my folders. Got reminded of this mini tutorial I wanted to post a while back - cool wall clocks! 

When I moved to a new flat, I wanted a super cool wall clock - fun, creative and big. Unfortunately, the ones I liked were out of my budget. Then the idea started - I'll make my own!

I went home, decided where I want to put my wall clock and looked at the stuff I can use. I've always liked the idea of those modern clocks with  pieces that go directly on the wall. I went online and found how others do it and apparently, there are kits you can buy and all you have to do is attach it - but where's the fun in that? 

My wall clock is made of air dry clay, an Ikea clock mechanism and velcro tapes

At the time, I was experimenting with air dry clay, I had a pack I picked up at the art store (also available in groceries and school supply stores) for only AED12. The clay presented limitless ideas - I can create any characters for my "numbers". Finally, I settled only four characters to represent: 12, 3, 6 and 9. As you can see in the picture above, 12 and 6 are actual numbers and 3 is a bird and 9 is a weird face. 

Here's what you need:

1. Air dry clay (or oven-baked polymer clay, it's really up to you). You can also use styro or felt pieces from your kids' unused toys (or buy new). 

Air dry clay for AED12

Considered using this bunny head too

    Other ideas:

    - old plastic domino pieces

    - number blocks (the light ones) 

    - photos on foamboards (light and cute)

    - big, lightweight metal numbers you can buy at craft shops

2. Paint if you're using clay.

3. Velcro picture-hanging strips (found mine at Ace Hardware) - I think this is genius! By using these velcro strips, you can change the designs anytime you want. You can also change the batteries of your wall clock without damaging your design or wall. 

Here's what you need to do:

1. Decide the numbers you want to put up - you can do it like mine, just four pieces or put all numbers in. 

2. If you're making clay pieces, just be sure they are light enough so that they don't fall. Your velcro strips will tell you up to how much weight it can hold, but because your pieces will be smaller, you'll also have to cut it to fit. Paint your clay pieces and let them dry. If you're using other materials, clean them and make sure they do not have lint or other things sticking to them that may make the velcro tape loosen it's hold.

3. Get a ruler and pencil, and mark the spots you want to put the pieces on. I measured the width of my space and marked the center. Then I measured from the center to where I want to put the "numbers" and made sure that they were even. Mark it with small pencil lines. 

4. If you're going for other materials like felt or plastic numbers then they are pretty much ready to use. So just cut your velcro strips to fit at the back. Follow the instructions on putting it up, specially cleaning the surface (both on your piece and the wall) before you attach. This will ensure that it stays on. 

5. Attach your center piece or clock mechanism. I got mine from an Ikea wall clock, the center was black so I just painted it over with white paint using floral patterns. Then attach the "numbers". Be sure to follow your pencil marks.

And there you go. A wall unique wall clock that you can proudly say, only you have. My wall clock has been up there for over a year, have changed batteries twice and have removed the pieces several times to show friends and it's still up and working. 

Let me know if you try this and how it turned out.

Star Wars set is done!

And just in time too!

I did not imagine it would take me more than a week to create all nine characters. Granted I had stuff to do in between, but I really thought this set would go faster.

I am so proud of my babies - is this vanity? I love each one to bits! I almost don't want to see them go. Doesn't help that I love Star Wars. That's the reason why I created the kawaii versions that I displayed at ARTE Time Square two Fridays ago. That's what my client saw and that's why he ordered a full set.

While I was painting last night and earlier today, I've been listening to Etsy Online Labs - they've got a lot of testimonials, workshops, tips, newbie tips, seller guidelines that are really worth listening to. It was quite cool that I'm finishing up an order and learning how to keep my shop up, specially since I'm a newbie on this selling platform and need all the help I can get.

Alrighty, right now, I'm going to take a break. Well, clean up my stuff first, my computer table is a mess - splattered paints and all. Take more photos of the ST set - this is the last time I'm seeing them :( and pack them up for delivery. Hmm... that break must wait. Quick glance at the clock and it's almost five, and delivery is at 6. Sigh. No time after all. Oh well.

They're done and I'm happy.

Darth Vader

Wow! Darth Vader has been really giving me a hard time. I thought today would be dedicated to painting that custom ordered Star Wars set - but instead, I decided to start my day creating a new Darth V so that he looks more in scale with the rest of the group. Well he does look like he's part of the group of course, but I just want him to blend better.

For some reason, the arms were not working with me... had to redo it several times, and when I finally called it quits, the arm with the light saber had the temerity to one up me by falling miserably down - the arm was torn from the body (if it had sockets, I'd say the arm was torn off from the sockets!) and the light saber looked like it received a good beating. My arm connecting skills today were just off.

So, I left home for a break. Went to a teen bopper break (Happy birthday Tetel!) at the Dubai Festival City Planetarium - short movie about astronauts and a pizza dinner with the rest of the party. I was looking forward to the movie because the last planetarium I visited in Singapore was simply amazing! The 3D effect seemed to engulf us.

Sadly, that's not the case here. It was not a real planetarium to begin with - they had a dome-shaped screen at the ceiling inside a huge corner facility of the mall beside Dino Live show. The Dino Live Show was making a lot of dino sounds that were a bit distracting, the place was not properly dimmed and the projectors did not seem to be all in sync so you get fuzzy outlines on the images.

The fun thing though were the bean bags. The floor beneath the dome were littered with bright orange bean bags, and as soon as we saw them, we zoomed straight to the middle and made ourselves comfortable.

I know astronauts do amazing stuff and all these space research has done so much for technology and our lives - but man, knowing that being an astronaut can give you bone density loss, muscle loss, three-day motion sickness and put you at risk of radiation, that mean, horrible vacuum, extreme cold and  other hazards - you have to wonder who would be sane enough to dream of becoming astronauts (yes the glory! the glory! the science! but the danger, the inhospitable environment, the health hazards!).

That said, it was an over all fun night.

Also dropped by Hard Rock Cafe to check in on a friend's event  before heading home.

Now, I'm waiting for the oven timer to go off and tell me that my latest Darth V is a huge success!

I also started a personal project - a chess set. I don't know how to play chess but since I first saw themed designed chess pieces I've been in love. Star Wars, LOTR, and Philippine-inspired pieces are some of my faves. Last time we were in Cyprus, we bought a Greek gods set for my husband's son. Made in Greece (ha! I love that! The stuff we bought from there were either Made in Greece or Made in Cyprus - none of that Made in China stuff).

For my set, I've decided to go with a Star Wars theme. The number is a bit daunting but I'll work on it one piece at a time.

There's the timer... gotta get my Darth V out now. 

The Breadmaker

Finally, The Breadmaker is done! The basic sculpt was done more than a month or two ago, but I just wasn't quite sure where I wanted to take it. Do I paint it? Realistic colors or monochrome? Glaze it? I just wasn't sure.

So I posted the unfinished work in my FB page and a lot of comments voted for keeping the terracotta look. That felt right to me. I did like the terracotta look very much. But I felt that it just needed something more. So I took out my chocolate antiquing medium and started applying it all over. And this is the final result. Now, I know it's done.

So I present, The Breadmaker.

Height: 5.5"
Width (from elbow to elbow): 5"
Material: Polymer Clay

Let me know how you like it. Thanks!

Also please visit my Etsy shop at www.OrangeJarArt.etsy.com.