Isn’t it funny how you see things from a different perspective when you’ve been away for a while. When we moved into our house about a year and a half (ish) ago we did what most people do, shove a few boxes away for unpacking ‘later’. Of course those boxes have just sat there waiting and gathering dust (and being tripped over) so the time came for them to be dealt with.

This house is quite small for a family of four so I’ve had to be resourceful and creative with space. Coming home one of the first things I realised is that I can do this much better and so I’ve been madly cleaning out and reorganising cupboards all over the house. So far the pantry, laundry cupboard, under the sink, the plastics cupboard, my polymer clay cupboard, the area on top of the pantry, the tablecloth cupboard, Miss K’s wardrobe, our ’smalls’ draws, boxes in our bedroom, the girls shoes and parts of the back patio have been sorted through. Phew, no wonder I’m tired.

In cleaning out of course I’ve been able to rid ourselves of a bit of junk and included in that are my polymer clay beads/pendants/experiments. For the first time since I started claying four years ago I THREW OUT SOME BEADS….AND IT FELT GOOD!

I really felt as if these beads have been holding me back, I have always learnt that in clay you never throw anything out as you can always recover beads or someone will love them. The only trouble is that I had held on to these and they were either flimsy, broken or not fit for public viewing.

In sorting through my cupboards and stash I have also been taking hundreds of photos (each bead/set needs to be photographed from at least 5 angles for listing in on-line stores). I am determined to sell what I already have made before really launching into anything new.

Sometimes I feel that its a good thing to rid ourselves of whats holding us back. Really dealing with all those little corners of our lives that are taking up space is important. I need to continue this cleanup but from a spiritual angle, there are plenty of ‘unpacked boxes’ in my life that I ignore (and trip over every day), eg: bitterness, anger, jealousy….things I push to the side and ignore. These only gather dust. It takes a bit of effort to sit down and deal with these things and one of my aims this year has been to sort some of that out. So far I’m probably only part way along that journey.

Anyway, getting back to the beads. Here’s a photo of some of the beads I’ve photographed so far:

And here is about two thirds of what I have to photograph yet (the rest being larger items or pendants);

If anything there catches your eye then either let me know or pop on over to my Etsy store as I’m listing every day.

My friend Christie has awarded me with a blog award. Thanks Christie! Her blog Childhood 101 is all about……you guessed it childhood but from her perspective as a mother who has a background in education and child care. Its worth adding her to your blogroll as she gives great insight and tips on a variety of childhood topics.

As part of the award I need to share 7 things about me so here goes:

1. The first thing I do in the morning is walk direct to the kettle….however before I have a cup of tea I do the breakfast dishes from the girls and hubby. I can’t stand dishes in the sink.

2. I have been selling online for two and a half years now.

3. I really enjoy spending all day at home with my daughters. I do have times of being bored but these only last about 10 mins as there’s always something to do.

4. I’m all about layers. I like everything to have meaning including the objects in my house.

5. In Uni I did a whole year of painting rocks. That is I painted abstract paintings using rocks as the source. I scanned actual rocks in and then blew the pics up and used that as a resource. I did this because the previous year I painted a lot of figurative work and got tired of the lecturers reading too much into the work.

6. God is of utmost importance to me.

7. I love to try my hand at most things creative but like to keep it on the ‘art’ side rather than the ‘craft’ side. For a long time I was opposed to using a pattern as I felt it was someone else’s work or idea but in the end gave in using patterns for sewing and knitting seeing as I don’t know how to fully design most things from scratch (but I’ll give it a go). Still on my list of things to try are silversmithing, bookbinding, textile art (large scale), professional photography and more gocco printing.

So, now I need to give this award to 7 other bloggers. Here goes:

1. Tania from Myrtle & Eunice – She describes herself as ‘Mother of three, wife to one, designer and craftster of the slightly obsessive kind.’ I really enjoy the variety of topics she discusses on her blog.

2. Lotta: The barefoot princess – Lotta is one of my fellow Etsy sellers and she is always honest and interesting in her writing. She loves sparkly things and makes some great jewellery pieces.

3. Etsa Sketch – Another fellow Etsy seller but from over east. We met at the first ever Esty meetup I went to (crashed) about two years ago in Sydney. Her printmaking work is really fabulous, figurative mostly and really modern.

4. Car from Carrose Creations – Car is a Mum who knits and sews and her blog is always interesting. I really enjoy her posts, especially about her latest knitting adventure or creative experiment with her daughter.

5. Liza from Lillybuds – Liza is another WA Etsy seller who makes very original and unique button bouquets. I make some of the pieces that she uses on the top of her bouquets and have done a variety for her including fawns, acorns, butterflies, birds and nests, cupcakes and lemon meringue pies. Her website is also worth taking a look at to see the range of her bouquets.

6. Sugarfish – About to have baby #5, Ruth will have her hands full but from reading her blog I can see that she’s a great Mum and very capable! Hope all goes well Ruth.

7. Kate from Two Little Banshees – A wonderful Mum of three, Kate makes the most gorgeous soft toys which are all her own design. I am constantly amazed at how much she gets done inbetween running around after her twin four year olds and her gorgeous little baby. Good luck in Sydney Kate (selling at the big show!).

The bloggers I have chosen will need to do the following if you want to pass on the award too;

:: Post the logo of the blog love token
:: Thank and link to the person who passed it on to you
:: List seven things about you
:: Pass the token on to seven other bloggers (and leave comments on their blogs to let them know they have been loved).

SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE
================================================
All items in my Etsy shop are currently 25% off the shown price. Come and browse to see what you can find! Please wait for an adjusted invoice before payment is made. Sale goes until SEPTEMBER 7 2009.

Here are some things you can find in the shop;

circus collection beads

Daisy Chain Necklace

Little Lady Brooches

Tea Light Candle Holders

Blue Bell Earrings

Monet Necklace and Earrings Set

and much more!

I saw this mag on-line last week and thought it looked interesting then the other day I was wandering through Borders and saw it on the shelf. I decided to buy a copy as it seems just down my alley (I rarely buy magazines). I’m loving the content, its all about eco friendly creativity and although I’m not the sort of person to have a huge eco friendly leaning I really love the indie market that it focuses on. Indie being independent. Etsy and MadeIt (where I have on-line stores) are all about Indie markets, pretty much everything handmade and non commercial (which I’m all for). I’m not a fan of brand names and love the individual uniqueness that comes out of the handmade movement. I really love to create things which are one off (or ooak) which are more mini art pieces than mass produced craft items. This magazine suits me, I may have to ask for a subscription for my birthday later this year!

This coming weekend my Polyclarific work will be for sale at the next Made On The Left market which is this weekend . I won’t actually be there myself but a friend is manning my mini stall for me on commission. I’ve been working on my stall presentation with the initial aim of making it as easy as possible for her to set it up but I quite like the new look. In the future I might have some backing cards printed up but this time I made my own stickers and cards. Here’s the new look display:

Monday we had another meet-up with different sellers from Etsy here in Western Australia. Its always fun to swap ideas and information but also to have a good chat. I had to take L with me and the pram made it a bit crowded but I think she enjoyed the day too! Can you believe I had one here at my place in June but was running around so much I got no photos! Here’s the pics from the meet-up:

Left to Right round the table: ThyLady, SusanMossArt, GetSilvered, niinaaoki, planetlime, myself Polyclarific and little L, princesslotta, Osier, 17threads, smithandbird and Odd Girl Out.

Top right in the Grey is our hostess Sarah from TeaForBini – thanks Sarah!

Lauren with little L

As I mentioned previously I am planning on opening up a new shop. Before I do this (and as part of my new action plan) I need your opinion. I have quite a lot of artwork to choose from which I have done over the last 10 years or so. Only some of it is uploaded to my flickr account but I have selected the ones on there which I think may make good prints. There are 25 in all.

Please note that flickr squares the images and many of these are rectangular, if you would like to see the full image, please visit this section of my flickr:

All Paintings and Drawings

Please take a look through these images and leave a comment underneath as to which ones you would see as good prints. Which ones would you consider purchasing? I will only be doing A4 and A5 prints to start with (as in copy paper size and postcard size). Thank you for your input.

If you would like more information about any of them just ask and I’m happy to fill you in (eg; medium, size, inspiration)

I thought it was time I showed some new items that are in my Etsy store. I have made the last lot of mica shift into some earrings, pendants and rings and they will be listed soon. The most recent pieces I’ve listed include:

Feminine Florals Barrette

Aqua Necklace Set

Olive Green Elegance Earrings

and eventually I will be listing these, the new mica shift jewellery (if you are interested in any of these pieces, drop me a line and I can arrange it):

Pendant

Ring

Pendant

Pendant

Earrings

Earrings

Earrings

In the coming months I hope to start a second Etsy shop in which I will be selling prints of my artwork. I wanted to reference my daughters in the naming of the shop, however I’m finding it hard to decide on which name. This is where I need your help. Please vote in the poll below as to which name you prefer for this sort of shop. I’m fairly sure that Kelu is a language and I realise that RoseEstelle has nostalgic vibes but I don’t think that matters. Whichever appeals to you the most is the one you should choose. Also, if you have a better suggestion please feel free to leave it in the comments, I need all the help I can get! Thanks for voting!

The May Polymer Clay Guild of Etsy Challenge is currently up for voting. You can go here to vote. I entered this challenge and have been trying my hand at this new technique ever since. I really like its elegant simplicity. Sometimes simple is best I think.

A reminder of what my entry looks like: