How to throw a kids Polymer Clay Party!

We were recently hired to be the entertainment for an adorable little girl's birthday party. What a great time we had teaching the kids how to play and create with polymer clay. There were approximately 20 children there ages ranging from 3 - 12 years old.

It is important to chose an age appropriate project. We chose to work with plastic cookie cutters in various shapes and sizes. This eliminated the need for the use of a clay blade. Each child was instructed to pick any three color balls they wanted to swirl together, flatten out and cut into shapes. After baking we attached magnets to the backs to create kid-made magnets.

All the kids had a great time and everyone did such a wonderful job. Each child's creation was a unique work of art! Here's how we prepared for our party!

Step 1 - Learn about your location. Two most critical questions are
A. is there an oven?
B. is there a smooth surface to work on? (We had to bring large floor tiles as the tables at our location were textured.)

Step 2 - Opened a bottle of wine (or drink of choice) and drink.

Step 3 - Precondition all of the clay... so now you know why we recommend wine! It is important to precondition the clay before the party as it can be a lengthy process. We quartered 2oz. bricks of clay and rolled them into balls. Then we kept the colors separate by placing them, in all things recycled plastic apple cartons. Waste not, Want not! These are very handy items to have.

Step 4 - Repeat step 2...wait til you see Step 5!

Step 5 - We needed enough rollers for at least 20 children, but acrylic rollers are expensive. We had to get creative and came up with the idea to cut 1.25" pvc pipe in to 8" individual rollers. This was easy to do and very inexpensive and you can purchase the pvc pipe at any hardware store. Since we cut these ourselves with a tile saw, we did need to go back and sand the ends for a smooth finish. After that we threw the lot in the dishwasher and when they were done and dry we packed them up and ready to go!

Step 6 - Repeat step 2 again...

Step 7 - Now its time to pack for the party. Wooo Hooo! We used 2 large canvas totes for the rollers, cutters, rubbing alchol (to clean up during and afterwards), magnets, scissors and party bags to carry their project home. For the clay containers we used a jewelry tray tote for they stack very nicely on top of one another.

Step 8 - Now sleep off all the wine you drank (ya lush!) knowing you're all prepared for the party tomorrow!

Step 9 - Have a great time!

A Cause Close to Our Hearts

Some of you may know that Carrie has a son with Autism. We are always on the look out for ideas to raise funds and awareness on behalf of Autism. This is a cause that is near and dear to our hearts.

We were contacted by "Autism Delaware", an organization of people with autism, families, friend, and professionals connected to the autism community. Their mission is to improve the lives of people with autism and that is something we wanted to be a part of.

We donated a one of a kind handmade Autism Awareness necklace. All proceeds from our "Clay for a Cause" section are donated to Autism Speaks. For more information on Autism and what you can do to help, please go to http://www.autismspeaks.org

This OOAK Autism Awareness necklace includes a stunning hand blown glass pendant in primary colors, flanked by faceted Cherry Quartz, primary colored glass, beautiful Mother of Pearl, finished with a lovely Sterling Silver toggle clasp and dangling Autism Awareness ribbon bead.

We like to talk about our friends...

...only the good stuff though!

This weekend we're featuring our unbelievably talented friends and fellow guild members of the PCAGOE in an Etsy Treasury that's currently #1 on the first page!

We're being featured at.....

NICO Designs blog!

Well, I woke up this morning checking out all our shops on Etsy and two wonderful things I found...we had another sale in "The Clay Shoppe" and we had a conversation waiting for us in our "Yoga Fairies" shop.

NICO Designs convo'd us to let us know she's featuring our sweet little "Namaste" yoga fairy on her blog, along with a couple of more beautiful items as well.

So click here to check out her blog! Thanks NICO Designs!

Namaste!

Calling all Clay Shoppe Customers...

If you've made something with our molds, we would love to see it. We have created a special blog post to showcase your work. Please convo us with pictures of your work at The Clay Shoppe and we will blog about it!

Marina of Meridian Studio commissioned us to create a custom mold of a specific flower. So we made her a hand carved mold and look what she did with it!

Thank you Marina for sharing your beautiful creation with us.

So send us a picture of what you've created with one of our molds and we will feature your work here.

Ciao!

A Tasty Thank You

So here's how we got a tasty thank you...

We shipped out an order from The Clay Shoppe to a very nice fellow Etsyan who was kind of enough to leave the following positive feedback, "Shipping was super fast & the mold was packaged very well. Unfortunately the mold arrived in two pieces (darn USPS!), so I'll have to order another soon. Thanks, ladies"!

She was happily surprised when we informed her that we would replace her order at no charge.

She was so happy in fact that she sent us the most fabulous Vegan Chocolate Chip cookies that we have ever tasted. We were so impressed with them that we had to share our story with you.

These cookies were light and delicious the chocolate chips were divine and it's just lucky that she sent us an even amount so we didn't have to fight over who would get the last cookie...lol. Even though we are very good friends it would have been ugly!

So go check out Cream Bakery and indulge your guilt free sweet tooth!

We have a winner!

We have a winner! We meant to announce this the night of the 31st, but here we are!
This month we drew the names from one of Carrie's favorite purses, a Sol Sisters original bag! They have a fabulous Etsy shop...totally worth checking out!

And speaking of great purses....Congratulations to Nico Designs for being this month's lucky winner! Nico Designs also has gorgeous bags for all occasions in her Etsy shop...go see for yourself!

Stayed tuned for the February monthly drawing post coming soon...hopefully this week! See what fun prize will be won this month!

Thanks to everyone who participated! You are all invited back to try again for more chances to win!

Enter to Win...it's Free!

This month you have the chance to win a great prize
from one of our very own shops!

What better way to highlight your loved ones, who's pictures inevitably
end up on your fridge, than to surround them with the icons of love...hearts!

Set of four handmade, one of a kind,
(well, four of a kind if you wanna get technical)
polymer clay heart shaped magnets. Approx. 2" x 1.75" each.

Artisan: Kathy Jones

Here's all you have to do to enter:

1. Click here to visit our shop Ametista.

2. Once there, pick out your favorite item in the shop.....When your finished, exit the shop and you'll return to this blog.

3. Come back to this post and post a comment telling everyone what you liked about the item you picked. (See "Comment" button below.)

4. PLEASE be sure to leave your contact information, either your email address or Etsy shop if you have one, so we can reach you if you win! The winner will be contacted on or before March 2, 2009. If after a week we haven't heard from that winner, we'll pick another winner.

5. We will draw the winner's name on the last day of the month, 2/28/09 after 5pm/pst.

Great news...
We ship world wide! All are welcome to participate in this fabulous drawing! Good luck everyone!

Sunday, March 29, 2009

1st Quarter

The Moon is in Taurus.

Things begun now, when the Moon is in Taurus, do last, tend to increase in value and become hard to alter. Brings out an appreciation for beauty and sensory experience

Sunday is ruled by the Sun and it's influences over the day are healing, spirituality, endings, homes and houses

The color of the day is Gold.
The scent of the day is Eucalyptus.

Llywellyn's 2009 Almanac

Time is running out...

Only one day left in our free drawing! You could win a really cool prize, so what are you waiting for?

Click here!