Happy New Year to everyone! I was quite surprised to discover that almost a year has gone by since I last posted! This has been quite the year with so many ups and downs for myself and my mom (who lives with me and I take care of). She is now considered palliative as her heart continues to fail more each day. We are still thankful for another year together and didn't think she would see her 91st birthday which we just celebrated this past week.
My own health has been slowly deteriorating for quite a few years with this past year being the worst. After being referred to several specialists, a surgery (which led to the discovery of my sleep apnea) and lots of x-rays, scans, ultrasound and finally an MRI that finally led to my diagnosis of Fibromyalgia. I am still going through a lot of emotions trying to process this news. I have learned there is no cure but just finding ways to manage the pain in which I am currently waiting for a consult with a local pain clinic.
All I do know, for me right now, is that I will have to accept the fact that my life has slowed down a fair bit but I refuse to have it come to a grinding halt. I have heard my parents and grandparents use the phrase "Make hay while the sun shines!" but now I understand the meaning. I have good days and bad days that are total write-offs. I have also learned that if something important needs to be done, leave it until a little later in the afternoon or evening when I am feeling a bit more normal. I do have orders to fill that I need to work on so I have learned to take more advantage of the good days or times when I am struggling less.
So during those "good" days, I managed to fill a recent button order for Kelowna Yarn & Needlecrafts store. They have a rich texture in jewel-tone colors. Thank goodness for my Dream Machine (a huge oversize pasta-like machine) with a motor to help with my creating, as my hands would not be able to do this without it.
The colors are created using various mica powders or colored pigments. I share lots of tips in several of my tutorials on how to work with these powders and achieve certain colors. (Click on photo below for link).
I use a lot of black clay for the background, which helps makes the jewel-tone colors pop. As I am using up most of my Kato clay (and in the process of changing to another clay brand), I realized I was running out of black. I had heard about the new "Black-out" clay the Kato brand came out with and so decided to order some to try out. With this Black-out clay, one is suppose to be able to tint any scrap clay into black.
I have to say that this stuff is so amazing and a real game changer!!! I have plenty of scrap but an abundance of "mud" or brown. I generally use this color as bead filler but one can only use so much of it. You can see in the above photo the black clay on the left was created from the same brown clay on the right -- and I only used maybe 1/10 of the blackout for mixing. It not only tints the clay but also makes a wonderful conditioner. The brown was a little on the dry side but really soft and pliable after tinting.
I create a lot of items using this coloring textured technique such as our interchangeable jewelry snaps and buttons for sewing or knitting. The stores we sell to have samples like these that are all numbered. This way they can match the color samples with their fabric, or yarn to make it easier for ordering. It also allows them to be creative as well in selecting the texture with the color to suit their project.
The bags shown above and below, for instance, are examples of the kits created by
Fibre Expressions, a quilt shop in the Sunshine Coast of BC. They put together amazing
quilted bag kits which include one of our coordinating buttons.
And if you are just looking for buttons that I create, you will find a wide assortment in our online store in our
Sew, Knit, Crochet Section. Some of these are stocked or can be made to order.
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