Freely Sharing Ideas

A list of recent free tutorials from the blogs I read. Lot’s of great ideas here. 🙂

Carolyn shows us how to turn a large tube bead into a Fan Pull And her tips on texture for those tube beads. Carolyn also has a good idea for making your own texture plates.

Marie Segal did a series of cane tutorials on how to make African Trade Beads out of polymer clay.

Here are the following parts 🙂
http://mariesegal.blogspot.com/2011/03/african-trade-beads-part-2.html
http://mariesegal.blogspot.com/2011/03/african-trade-beads-part-3.html
http://mariesegal.blogspot.com/2011/03/african-trade-beads-part-4.html
http://mariesegal.blogspot.com/2011/03/african-trade-beads-part-5.html
There may be more parts, so keep your eye on Marie’s Blog. She actually has a lot of great free tutorials on her blog, so read all the back posts 🙂

Zuda Gay has a couple nice floral tutorials on her blog.
sculpting a little leaf
how to make a hibiscus flower

I used Google translator on this French blog, but you know how accurate that is LOL It a tutorial on how to a hollow bead make hollow beads using what I believe is a cotton ball bead covered with clay, baked, then drilled and de-cottoned. *G* Here is a picture of her finished bead used in a necklace.

Cristalline always has wonderful tutorials 🙂 This watermelon cane is no exception.

Here is a whole list of tutorial on her blog.

Another French blogger that always seems to have something fun to learn on her blog is Parole de Pate. This month it’s Extruded Whirlwinds, Imitation Mother of Pearl, and a Caged Bead

And yet another French blog with a fun Faux Knit design.

If you need to translate any of these links use Google Translator. Paste the web address into the box, choose the languages and click translate.

Having trouble getting that prefect wire wrapped loop? Tina can help 🙂 Try this free tutorial.

I am the 1st Featured Blogger On Craft Map !!

They got so many hits after I linked to their site that I was invited to be their first featured blogger. 🙂 Check it out by clicking on the picture below.

The Craft Map is a pretty cool thing. You get your mark on the map and people near by can find you and make a connection.

I’m on The Craft Map, Are You ?

Put yourself on the Map 🙂

“The Craft Map was created to help people and crafts connect. Whether you are looking for a blog that matches by craft, category, or location, there is a blog out there for your particular interest.”

Sounded interesting so I added my blog to the map. Seems like a great way to get your blog and what you want to share out there for people to find.

Honored With The Sunshine Award – Twice

I just found out I have been honored with the Sunshine Award by my friend BJ at Knightwork: Playing with Clay and by Col at Col’s Creations

I want to say thank you very much to BJ and Col. It feels very good to know I inspire the world. 🙂 Or at the very least both of you. 😉 After the week I’ve had dealing with a worm infected computer this was a real treat.

The Sunshine Award is awarded to bloggers whose positivity & creativity inspires others in the blog world.

The rules for accepting these award:-

Put the logo on your blog or within your post.-

Pass the award onto 12 bloggers.-

Link the nominees within your post.-

Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.

– Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award.

Here are 12 of the blogs I look most often to for clay inspiration. 🙂
http://alidilibellula.blogspot.com
http://aufildespates.canalblog.com
http://www.beadworx.de
http://cristalline.blogspot.com
http://dailyartmuse.com
http://amusedcreations.blogspot.com
http://grisbleu.canalblog.com/
http://julieeakes.blogspot.com
http://laurabeestudios.blogspot.com/
http://booniesfimoterie.canalblog.com/
http://maggiemaggio.com/color/
http://paroledepate.canalblog.com
http://polymerclaydaily.com
http://mabcrea.space-blogs.com
http://missficklemediacom.blogspot.com/
http://silastones.blogspot.com/

I think that’s more than 12 LOL But hey, I did get the award twice. So technically I could have listed 24 links 😉

You Can Win Ronna’s New Book Ancient Modern Polymer Clay

I am having my first giveaway. 🙂 I have a copy of Ancient Modern: Polymer Clay and Wire Jewelry by Ronna Sarvas Weltman as the prize. Add it to your library by doing one of the following:

1) Leave a comment on this post and earn 1 entry. Be sure to include your email address.
2) Add a link in your comment showing you posted about this give away in your blog, FaceBook, or any networking outlet and get 2 more entries.
3) Every dollar you spend in my Etsy Store or in my Blog Store gets you an entry. (IE: spend $10 and get 10 entries) You need to mention the give away in the comment area of your PayPal payment to get entry credits.

I just listed some great clay slicing blades and some pens to cover with clay in my Etsy shop. Take a look at the great nail art canes available. Also, there are still a few books left on working with Silver Metal Clay.

I will draw the winners name on Aug 21st. Good luck everyone !!!

And The Award Goes To…….

I was recently honored with the One Lovely Blog Award.

Now it is my turn to pass it on. 🙂

First are these 4 beautiful Spanish blogs (Use Bable Fish to translate)
cynthiagordillo.blogspot.com
chamanavarro.blogspot.com/
silvanabarba.blogspot.com/
suenosdefimo.blogspot.com/

3 Italian Blogs
hollerdesign.blogspot.com/
labohemien.blogspot.com/
polymerclayitalia.blogspot.com/

A German Blog
ccc-carinasclaycreations.blogspot.com/

A French Blog
petitpoucet.canalblog.com/

shim-shoni.livejournal.com
gariesim.blogspot.com/
allaboutjoojoo.blogspot.com/
millwoodchronicles.blogspot.com/
cherylamie.blogspot.com/
mariapsaltis.blogspot.com/

Here are the rules:
*Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link.
*Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered.
*Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

Subscribing To Your Favorite Blogs

I was asked by a forum friend at PCC how she can subscribe to my blog so she doesn’t miss anything. To be honest, I am so new to blogging that I had no idea what to tell her. So I asked for help from other bloggers and found a few options.
1) Google Reader – A web based reader. You just need to sign up for a free Google account.
2) Feedreader – Installs on your computer & looks like an email program. I read several good reviews on this free download. Company says you can even run it from a flash drive.
3) Mozilla Thunderbird – A good friend told me I could use it for RSS feeds and I already use for email, which makes it twice as good. 🙂 If you don’t use Thunderbird for your email already, I highly recommend it. My Outlook used to crash all the time and I’d lose everything in my inbox. Thunderbird has never crashed on me.

I’m sure there are many other options for subscribing to blogs, so do your research and find one that suits you. To help out my readers I have added the Share/Save link which appears at the end of each post.