Chinese Zodiac Gourd
I finished the Chinese Zodiac Gourd! It's up for sale at the Boutique.
I made my first bead too! The bottom piece was made from black polymer clay. I rolled it out, cut it into a circle, and placed a toothpick through the middle. I won't mention how many times I had to repeat this step! I then imprinted a Chinese stamp onto the surface, cut away the excess and baked it. I received some great information from the Polymer Clay Madness group on IndieRepblic (thanks Beverly!) on smoothing out fingerprints. I have had an irritating relationship with fingerprints ever since I've dabbled with polymer clay. I had a sneaky suspicion the answer was simple. You keep your touch very light when smoothing it out and patience, gobs and gobs of patience!
The bird I'm creating gave me its name yesterday. It's the Bird of Hooey-dise. Have you ever wondered why I use the word "hooey" so much? Do you want to know? It's not a very hooey-ish story so you’re safe. I loved to read Berkely Breathed's Bloom County. He has such a warped and kooky sense of humor, which is right up my alley! That was my first introduction to the word and I've used it ever since. My friend Sharon and I had compiled a list of "Hooey Products". I wonder where I put that? Most likely in a safe place and it's still very, very safe.
I'm sure the neighbors have been scratching their heads seeing the eerie glow from the grow lights. Rex said you can see them at night a good distance down the road. And I must admit there have been howls of excitement and the occasional "They're ALIVE, THEY'RE ALIVE!" to be heard echoing over the farm fields followed by a hearty Mwhahahahahaha. I have 19 gourd plants! I am going to have gourds coming out my ears and other orifices in the fall. This is the official GREAT GOURD EXPERIMENT NUMERO 2 (or GGE2). It's become an experiment because I knocked over my carefully labeled seedling cells and mixed up the two variety of gourds. Now I don't know what's what or who's who. And we are going to trellis them instead of allowing them to take over the garden. I can see the protest signs already. Stop the Gourdess! Free Range for Gourds! You Can't Tie A Good Gourd Down! Gourds Have Feelings Too! On top of that, after finding two itty-bitty dried gourds in the garden last week, I decided to let them dry on the vine this year. They were much cleaner than the ones that dried inside the building.
And finally I have started writing a new book. I have a feeling this one will become a series of stories. The main characters are three chickens with supporting roles played by Ella the dog, the rabbits, and anyone else who happens to be within my yard. It's been nice to let the story flow without feeling I have to write it all in one setting (get it?) and I'm very eggcited about the whole thing (stop me now, please). Gosh I do crack myself up!
Have a Wonder-Filled day and don't put too many eggs in one basket! Hee hee hee hee hoo hooo!
