Auction for Ada - Round two is over

Thanks everyone for a successful first round of Auction for Ada. More items need to be auction off to the good home. If you would like to bid on any item, just send me a email silastones@aol.com to tell me which item you want to bid on and how much. I will update the highest bid as it come in.

Artist: Ronna Sarvas Weltman

This beautiful "Wednesday Night on Mars" necklace featured in her new book "Ancient Modern - polymer Clay and Wire jewelry"
is about 3 1/2" long. You will bid on the necklace and the signed book by author.

Item No. 1 - Ronna necklace & book.

Artist: Grant Diffendaffer

This recursive molded beads is about 1 1/2" Dia. x 3/4' thick. You will bid on one necklace.

Item No.2 - Grant necklace.

Artist: Judy Dunn

This beautiful Origami Crane is 5" from one wing tip to another. you will bid on one bird.

Item No. 3 - Judy Red Crane.

Artist: Artwork by Juliet

This pretty earrings is2" long. You will bid on a pair of earrings.

Item No.4 - Juliet Red earrings.

Artist: Susan Turney

This gorgeous pendant is 1 1/2" x 3" long.

You will bid on one pendant.

Item No. 5 - Susan pendant.

Artist: Barbara Forbes-Lyons

This pretty bracelet is 8" long made with Glass and silver beads. You will bid on one bracelet.

Item No.6 - Barb bracelet.

Artist: "Mo" Maureen Taylorson

This pretty pendant is 1" x1 1/2" with matching earrings. You will bid for a set of necklace and earring.

Item No.7 - Mo necklace & earrings.

Artist: Elsie Smith

This colorful pendant is 1 1/2" x2 1/4" .

You will bid for one pendant.

Item No. 8 - Elsie pendant.

Artist: Maureen Thomas

This Faux wood bracelet with glass beads, strung with stretch cord, will fit to most waist.

You will bid on one bracelet.

Item No. 9 - Maureen bracelet.

Artist: Kat Gedrich

Big, bold and beautiful beads. This necklace is 22" long.

You will bid for one necklace.

Item No. 10 - Kat necklace.

Artist: Artwork by Juliet

The Polymer clay teapot pendant was made by Diana Kelsey is 1 1/4 x 1 1/2". You will bid for one necklace.

Item No. 11 - Juliet necklace.

Artist: Lynda Struble

These pins are so adorable. You will bid for both pins.

Item No. 12 - Lynda Pins.

Artist : Ellen Rumsey Bellenot

This pretty pendant is2 1/2" x 3", come with a black cord.

You will bid on one pendant.

Item No. 13 - Ellen Pendant. Artist: Judy Dunn

This gorgeous Origami Crane is 5" from one wing tip to another. You will bid on one bird.

Item No. 14 - Judy pink Crane.

Artist: Ponsawan Sila

This pin is one of the series "Woodland Pin". The pin is 1 1/2" x 2 1/2". You will bid for one pin.

Item No. 15 - Ponsawan pin.

You will have 9 days to bid on these items starting on Saturday, October 9th, 2001 at noon, and the auction will end Monday, October 18th, 2001 at noon (Central time).

Happy bidding. :)

Auction for Ada - Round One is now over

Dear Friends
Thanks everyone who participated in the Auction for Ada last year. After, successfully, auction off half of the donated items, I realized that we paid almost 25% to Ebay. Still, I have a few items left and would like to continue the auction through this blog. I will run the auction myself. Here is how you can participate. If you would like to bid on an item, the must have item, or items, you can email me: silastones@aol.com, to tell me which item you want to bid on and how much. I will update the highest bid as it come in and will contact you as well.
There will be a couple rounds of auction and each one will last for 2 weeks. I will contact the person with the highest bid of each item for payment arrangement. A small shipping fee will be added to the final bid.
If you have any question, please do not hesitate to ask.
And, if you can help spread the words through your friends as well, I would greatly appreciate it.

Artist: Wiwat Kamolpornwijit
This gorgeous necklace is 16" long, the pendant is 1"x11/2". You will bid on the necklace and a pair of earrings.
Item No.1 - Wiwat Gold & Silver Necklace.
Artist: Wiwat Kamolpornwijit
This gorgeous necklace is 18" long, the pendant is 1"x31/2".
Item No.2 - Wiwat Black & White Necklace.

Artist: Yonat Dascalu
This gorgeous pendant is 11/2"Dia. with 16" cable.
Item No.3 - Yonat Blue pendant #1 .

Artist: Christine Kelsey
This gorgeous necklace is 18" long, the pendant is 13/4"x21/4".
Item No.4 - Christine Mica Shift necklace.

Artist: Sophia Lenz
This Gorgeous necklace is 16" long, the box pendant is 11/4"x2"x3/4" with a pair of earrings.
Item No.5 - Sopia Box necklace.

Artist: Kim Cavender
This gorgeous face pin is 1 1/2"x 2 3/4".
Item No. 6 - Kim Face Pin.



Artist: Judy Dunn
This gorgeous Origami Crane is 5" long from one wing tip to another.
Item No.7 - Judy Purple Crane.


Artist: Yonat Dascalu
This gorgeous pendant is 1 3/4"x1" with 16" cable.
Item No.8 _ Yonat Pink Pendant.






Artist: Lynne Ann Schwarzenberg
This gorgeous focal bead is 1 1/4" dia. and 1/2" thick, comes with a pair of earrings.
Item No. 9 - Lynne Ann Focal bead.





Artist: Wiwat Kamolpornwijit
These gorgeous earrings are about 1/2" square.
Item No.10 - Wiwat earrings.


Artist: Yonat Dascalu
This gorgeous pendant is 1 1/2" dia. with 16" cable.
Item No.11 - Yonat Blue Pendant #2.

Artist: Judy Dunn
This gorgeous Origami Crane is 5" from one wing tip to another. Made with Polymer Clay.
Item No.12 - Judy Orange Crane.

Artist: Christi Friesen

This Steampunkery Chameleon was made by Christi during class in 2009. It is 2 1/4"x 1 3/4" .

Item No. 13 - CF Chameleon.

Artist: Christi friesen

This cute Dragon was made by Christi during class in 2009. It is 2 14"x1 3/4" .

Item No.14 - CF Green Dragon.

Artist: Christi Friesen

This gorgeous Red Bird was made by Christi during class in 2009. It is 1 3/4"x2 1/4".

Item No.15 - CF Red Bird

Artist: Christi Friesen

This gorgeous garden pendant was made by Christi during class in 2009. It is 1 3/4'x2 1/4".

Item No.16 - CF Garden Pendant.

Artist: Christi friesen

This Lion was made by Christi during class in 2009. It is 1 3/4"x2 1/4".

Item No.17 - CF Lion.

Artist; Christi Friesen

This gorgeous Crystal Bird was made by Christi during class in 2009. It is 1 3/4"x2 1/4".

Item No.18 - CF Crystal Bird.

You have 2 weeks to bid on these item starting Saturday, September 25th,2010 at noon and the auction will end Friday, October 8th, 2010 at noon (Central time).

Again, Please email me : Silastones@aol.com

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The Jewelry connection

The Jewelry Connection is the on-line, live program on Sunday afternoon at 2 pm.. Host & producer, Mona Hair, was kind enough to include me last week among the other Artists who participate in "Ring a Day" project.
My section start at about 30 minute into the program, and it last for about 10 min., but if you have time to watch the whole program, you will learn about other artists as well. Since she did not contact me in advance, there is a few misunderstanding about the necklace on the cover of the book that was not my work, but it belongs to Barb Fajardo. 4 of my necklaces were in that book.
Other than that, it is nice to know that my works bring a lot of smiles and inspiration to many.

Feast of the Lantern

Every year, at Spades park on the eastside of Indianapolis, there is an outdoor show that let the artists show/sell their arts from noon to 11 pm. At dusk, hundreds of lanterns are lighted throughout the park.

One year, I had a few lampshade kits that come in pieces and when put together, accordingly, they look very pretty at nite. People will line up to buy the lampshades from us. This is good because I made so much money selling them, at the same time, they are not handmade item. I just put them together, add the light and sell.

This year I don't have high hope, people walk around, looking and said they were just looking but didn't have any money to buy.

My son came and went. He had to go dance at the even downtown. The neighbor were laughing because he stayed for 20 min., bought a bar of soap and left. It's Ok, I thought, I didn't think I'll be very busy. But I was wrong.

I think people are still buying, but more of the functional objects, not paintings, not jewelry. My neighbor sold soap she made in her kitchen for $5 and it went crazy. Her soap is 100% Vegan. It's so trendy, I even bought one that has Dandelion as one of the ingredient.

I sold a few ankle bracelets. That was enough to cover the booth fee. Without those lampshades, I would have spent 12 hours in the park, not making any money. May be I should start making soap. We all have to use soap, right?

Recently on Facebook, I am able to contact my nephews in Thailnad and talk to them. Both are the starving Artists who are trying to sell their arts and crafts at the fair. One is selling a stuff Teddy bear and one is selling candle and tea that his Japanese wife made. They both are graphic designer.

Imagine if I could go home now and or have my nephews here, we will share a booth and I won't be abandon in the park, at midnite, all by myself.

Ruffles Potato Chip

I asked my husband to buy me a bag of Potato chip, he came home with Lay's Original Potato Chip. I told him I don't like Lay's, I want Ruffles, the one with wavy. Next he came home with Lay's Wavy. Love you too, honey.
Today I mixed Pardo Professional Art clay -Translucent with a bit of Pardo Jewelly clay - yellow and came up with this Ruffle Potato Chip ring.
I am very please with the Pardo clay and having fun with it. It holds the shape while sculpting and very strong after bake.

CHA Super Craft Show @ Rosemont, IL

Last week, me and my Polymer clay friends volunteer to help Miss Lisa Pavelka during her classes at CHA, so off we went. Thursday nite, I pulled up the chair from my room to the other room, and we talked, and we laughed, just like having a slumber party all over again.

The next day we arrived and was asked to help at Viva-Decor's booth. As you might have known, they are the distributor of Pardo clay. I ended up at Mr. Amando's booth did the demo using Pardo clay with the Jewelry Blanks that they are selling. Back and forth between Armando's booth and Miss Lisa P.'s table while she took a break and talked to others, we feel in love with paints that Viva-decor has. http://www.viva-decor.us/

I've been watching and wanting to buy their product, but it seems like they are hard to find. We talked to the owner who had no idea how desirable their products are to all crafter, not just clayer, I hope pretty soon we can buy the whole product line here, in US, somewhere.
It had been a great experiences helping in class, booth sitting and demo. Viva-Decor and Miss Lisa P. had been so generous with the sample, as well as Mr. Amando, who finally realized that he should give us some samples. So, here's is his web site. They has so many "Blank" we can use, especially rings :) http://www.amatestudios.com/

Viva-Decor had launched a new Pardo Professional Art-Clay and I got to take some home to play with. Here is the glass I covered with translucent clay. The new clay are stiff, not soft like Jewellry clay, which suitable for canning. I am pretty happy with it. May be I will make some canes tomorrow.

Here are some rings I made yesterday. Using jewellry clay - Fossil Wood. Clay is easy to work with but I am still adjusting. I've been using nothing but Fimo for all these years. I also used some paint on there. It is a paste almost like Rub n' Buff.

This ring I used some paints from Viva-Decor. I love all the colors, they are so rich and shimmering. I want them all.

Thanks you Miss Lisa P. and Viva-Decor for the opportunity and a good reason for me to get out of the house. Thanks for my friends who had been there and always there for me. Thanks for wearing my jewelry and showed them off at CHA.

We stopped to have dinner at Polish restaurant. It is a buffet, so yum-yum. I had something that my mom used to make for me when I was young. Thanks Kathy for such a good memory.

Summer time fun

Last summer, a friend of mine posted this picture on her blog. It was a watermelon from her garden. She said I wish I could wear it as bracelet. So I made her a watermelon bracelet.

Here's the picture of her wearing it. She was so excited.

It was the end of summer so I though I'll start making them early next year.

It made with skinner blend sheets. One is with red and white and one with green and white. The out side made with 3 layers of different hue of green, poking with tools then shave off the thin slides here and there to reveal the pattern below. You get it, right?

Since I am still working on the "Ring a day" project. Why not a watermelon ring? This is my ring#151. I think they are cute and fun to make as well.

I am trying to make 2 rings a day and put them on my ETSY store. At bead&Button, many people had asked to buy my rings, but I just want to keep them all till I finish the project. Then may be I can auction off the whole collection. What do you think?

Bead&Button Show 2010

Thelzeda and I had decided that we will try to go to bead&Button together this year. We used to go with another friend, Lona, who passed away in 2008 the same time as Ada was in the hospital and a month late, Thelzeda lost her husband. This should be good for us to get on with our lives and do what we like to do.

As usual, we got to Milwaukee around 4 o'clock. I made a tour, look around first, mark the booth for revisit, said hello to friends and vendors that I know, dropped of my jewelry for display then shop. Not long before I used up all my money trading for a handful of beads.

I took some pictures of the "Bead Dream" contest. Lynn Ann wone first place in Polymer clay category. You can see more HERE

The next morning, I volunteer to demo at International Polymer Clay Association (IPCA) booth. Perfect location at the top of the stair, I laid out my things and did a quick demo. Many had stopped by, it was fun. After walking around a little more, I bought some wire and settled down at Julie Picarello's booth to make some rings for the Ring a day project. After checking in with Christie Friesen with her new Steampunkery book and ate some of her Chocolate, I proceeded to check out Beadroom booth to see if someone had bought my beads. A lady bough all of my Black&White beads and she wanted more. She is an artist from new York and that's a good new, I need to contact her right away.

Back at the hotel, Thelzeda and I did show and tell and tell each other what kind of ideas we have to use what we just bought. Thelazeda will shop from the minute they open till minute they close. The next day we will round up to get thing we want (but not necessary all we need) before we head home.

Saturday morning, I decided that I had enough of the show so I walked to The Art Museum. I met beautiful, Miss Lisa P. who asked me to consider joining her on the cruise. With tears in my eyes, I felt very honor and gave her a hug. May be, in a couple of years. Leaving Ada for 3 days is hard enough.

I walked pass Thomas Mann's booth, he was not busy. I asked him if he can show me how to use jewelry saw. He can't believe I've never use it before, but it is best to learn from the pro, right? I manage to cut a small circle out of a wooden piece. He was delighted. He shows me his video, kits and asked, "What can I sell you?" I said "Nothing, I only have enough money for gas to go home, but will order on-line later", then say thank you and good bye. I don't think he was happy with me.

At the Museum, I found a room full of Gloria O'keeffe' painting. What a find for me. Woo-Hoo, you know how I love her works. So inspiring I just want to come home and start painting. It was nice to see the city and be by myself.

You can see the picture of the Museum and city tour HERE.

We left Wisconsin with the hope to come back next year. Saturday's crowd was so thin, it felt like Sunday. All the vendors looked worry. I hope they made good enough sale to keep the show going. I notice that people didn't just buy beads but also interested in making their own materials and beads.

It was nice to see friends, to make new friends and learn something new. Hope we can all go next year. If you could, please bring a supply of good chocolate to share, we had to share the last piece of Christie's Truffle at the end of the day when we were tried and hungry. The trip was good, not much traffic jam in Chicago area, we didn't get lost or took a wrong turn as always.

See you all next year.

Claying or Drawing ?

I tried to keep busy, running back and forth, in and out of Ada's room, I have 5 to 10 min. to clay. It is hard to come up with a big project, or get the whole thought together and come up with something in a scale and quality that I would like to do.
I made some beads, send them out with my friend who is a vendor and sell through big bead shows around the Midwest. I used to do that a few years back, successfully. But She did not sell any strand in Atlanta last week. Very discouraged. I am making a few more trays so she can sell them at Bead&Button in Milwaukee. Not excited about it but it will help pay for the trip. Oh, I will be there for a few days, my vacation.

Since I am still make rings for "Ring-A-Day" project, I wrote some tutorials and post them on the other blog.
May be I should move my work table away from Ada's room, get away, lock myself up till I can make something. I am not strong enough to do that, I want to be with her.

We took Ada to the Museum a lot and the flowers in the garden were in full bloom, so I took a lot of pictures. Scott's also sending pictures of his Wisteria, Tulips, Iris among others flowers. I pick up some paper and pencil and start sketching. From the note card size to 9"x12" size and suddenly, I felt very happy.
here's a sample of one of my drawing. It is a fantasy garden with lots of flowers. I could never have a garden like Scott's, so I draw mine.
A few drawings later, I had this in my head; "Claying or Drawing?"
I feel like I am at the dead end of claying. Really, when some thing you do for fun turn out to be a job (because I need to make some money), it took a fun out of it.
I also feel like I am so far behind my creativity with clay. Looking at other people works, it is hard to catch up.
May be I will draw and paint for a while, forget about the clay. may be I will get my groove back, who knows, who cares?
P.S. I posted last nite and the next morning heard the news about Kathereen Dustin's struggle with her art. Shouldn't I feel better by now?

Black and White

Month of May means Indy 500 racing spectacular here in Indianapolis. We live not too far from the track and can hear the sound of the engine from home. I had been asked to make checker beads. Just simple Black&White, right. It is an annoying process to touch black clay and have to clean your fingers real good before touching white clay. But the result is pretty good. I might do more with this 2-3 color combo.

Also Ada and I visit the Indianapolis Museum a lot. Just walking outside in the garden give us enough to see. I like to take photo of the flowers and plants. Then, occasionally, I will pick up pen and paper and make a sketch from the Photo. If I can sit still long enough, I would like to make a larger drawing. It is a small note card, for now.