New Southwestern Sedona Navajo Horse Ornament for Christmas 2016

New ornament for 2016 from MelodyODesigns at Etsy

My new horse ornament for Christmas 2016 is a design based on traditional Navajo horse-painting. As with the other Southwestern Sedona ornaments in my collection these are handmade with artist quality polymer clay and contain a touch of "magical" real powdered Sedona Red Rock. Some of the designs are painted on with tinted Liquid Polymer Clay using a "spent" ballpoint pen that no longer contains ink. The mane and tails are accented with a dusting of Mona Lisa copper metal powder.

 

 

Santa's Arizona Workshop full of Southwestern Sedona Ornaments

Here in sweltering Cottonwood my studio is jam packed with ornaments and has a kind of Southwestern Sedona Christmas in August Santa's Workshop look to it that's colorful and FUN!

A lovely gift shop/gallery called Dragonfly Local Art in Old Town Cottonwood is now carrying my ornaments, both the Southwestern Sedona Ornaments (that have a touch of Sedona Red Rock Dirt) as well as the colorful Cat and Dog Collection. So, I've been very busy creating stock for the 3 shops that carry my ornaments, as well as for my own online shop. 

Earlier in the summer my husband and I began working together with Ann Metlay of Adrift Wood Assemblages to design and create a natural wood display "tree" for the ornaments. Built on a base of a gorgeous handmade walnut Lazy Susan made by Paul's Specialties, it revolves to make for a visually attractive 360 degree display area.

So, if you get to Old Town Cottonwood, Arizona stop by and say hi to Kathleen and Cynde when you're on your way to visit the locals wine tasting rooms or eat at one of the many excellent restaurants. If you can't make it to Cottonwood right now I invite you to visit my online shop MelodyODesigns

Making the Temperature of your polymer clay studio work FOR you and my newly redesigned Sedona Arizona appliqued Red Rock Disc Earrings

I live in the high desert of Arizona where summers are bikini hot and winters can be down jacket cold. There are also wide daily swings of temperature that can sometimes vary by as much as 30-40 degrees. Over the years I have observed that the temperature of my polymer clay studio directly affects the ease and outcome of various techniques I utilize in making my jewelry and ornaments. Some work best in the brutal cold of the early hours of a winter morning before the house heats up and some work best in the sweltering heat of a mid-afternoon July. Once I became aware of this I realized that I could make the temperature WORK for me and I started to plan my work around the expected temperature, both the swings that occur during the day and those that occur seasonally. 

For instance, I find that polymer clay is much easier to condition and blend when it's very warm, so I make and stockpile my custom blended colors in the summer, saving them in fat plugs very well wrapped in Saran Wrap© Brand plastic wrap and stored inside sealed Tupperware containers. BTW, to answer a question a blog reader here asked, after trying other brands of cling wrap I agree with what I've read over the years, all brands of cling wrap/plastic wrap are not created equal and I don't mind paying a bit more for SaranWrap©. I have some canes of both Kato and Premo that I've saved for numerous years this way that still slice up well. However, there are several variants like the vintage of the particular clay formula, the tightness of the wrap and sealing effectiveness of the storage containers that might affect the results.

In our hot summer months when it's warmer the tendency of the clay towards mushiness makes it a great deal easier on my hands to form the round balls that become the cherries in my Faux Bakelite Cherry Collection jewelry pieces.

My Six Piece Faux Bakelite Cherry Collection available for sale at MelodyODesigns at Etsy

I find that when I'm making the mold pulls that I use to applique some of my Red Rock Sedona jewelry and ornaments the pieces can be difficult to make in a hot studio because the mold pulls tend to stick in the molds more easily and tend to distort more when removed, so I try to make these pieces when it's cooler.

My Eleven Piece Sedona Red Rock Jewelry and Ornament Collection is available for sale at MelodyODesigns at Etsy

I've observed that it's easier for me to construct and slice canes when the temperature is cool and dry and try to plan my production schedule accordingly. But, if I have to slice canes when it's warm I chill them in the refrigerator first and then slice them on a self healing mat placed placed over a Blue Ice pack.

I texture the terracotta colored bases of my faux Sedona red rock pieces with coarse sandpaper. They are the perfect choice of a project for the hot summer days because textured pieces are so forgiving of mushiness and fingerprints.

Makins Extruder easy on the hands retro fit CRANK handle from clayalley.com and my hamsas

 The Sedona Red Rock Monarch Butterfly and Sunshine Hamsa is available for purchase from MelodyODesigns at Etsy

After the holidays I challenged myself to make store inventory of a Sedona Red Rock Hamsa wall hanging that I love, but is the most labor intensive and difficult to make piece in my portfolio. It turned out that making them was also very challenging to my delicate wrists and elbows, because each hamsa requires one and a  half feet of extruded clay. That adds up to A LOT of extruded clay plus LOTS of wear and tear on the joints. In the middle of the project my Makins extruder also broke. As I was online ordering a replacement from Karen at www.clayalley.com I noticed that she was selling something I'd never seen before, an inexpensive retrofit kit ($7.50) that converts the regular Makins twist handle into to a crank handle. It allows for a much more user friendly motion, similar to what one would use for a hand cranked pasta machine or a Walnut Hollow extruder. It's listed on the "M" page for Makins at her store.

To use it you just have to cut off one end of the 4" bar T-bar in the crank handle and slide it out. You slip in the new handle, tighten the nut and you're ready to go. Alas, I didn't have Dremel or hacksaw to cut it, as suggested in the directions. My creative husband suggested a file. I found that all that keeps the T-bar in the handle are lightly flattened, slightly wider areas each end  of the T-bar. All I had to do was file down the sides of one of the flattened ends of the T-bar and it slid out. I'm a happy camper with my new toy because it causes so much less stress on my wrists and elbows.

Below is a picture of what I made for the new year thanks to my Makins crank handle adaptor!

To read a short blog post on the history of Hamsas and also a bit on why and how I designed this particular hamsa please click here

The Crafter's Studio stash, the Creative Process and Polymer Clay

During the months before the holidays I spend a lot of time in my studio doing repetitive production work making hundreds of Christmas ornaments from Polymer Clay. It gives me a lot of time to ponder and reflect........often on very mundane subjects. While making my favorite ornament, the Sedona Christmas Angel, I realized that the number and variety of items in a crafter's hoarded stash directly affects the creative process and success of bringing a new design to life. Not only that, but the number of crafting genres one has worked with in the past also plays a major role. I though it would be fun to share some of the seemingly unrelated crafting supplies and a bit of the history of some of the genres I've worked with in the past that all came together to create the Angel.

Sedona Angel Ornament available at MelodyODesigns at Etsy

I used to be a rubber stamp designer, working with rubber stamp companies and stamping magazines to create projects, make samples and design stamps. One of my favorite projects was a clear empty plastic beverage bottle with a stamped scene inside that could be sent addressed and sent "as in" in the mail with just the addition of correct postage. The twist was that it contained a little button on the bottom which, when pressed, caused a Christmas carol to play and LED lights to twinkle. Hundreds of these bottles were sent to the military through normal mail channels during Operation Desert Storm and many were given out in person at stateside VA hospitals. The magazine, "Rubberstampmadness", dubbed them "Melody Bottles" after my pen name Melody O'Beau. The LED lights were woven into golden star wire garland that enveloped the stamped scene inside the bottle. I'd purchased the garland in large quantities and the left over garland became the halo on the Sedona Angel, once the star portion was trimmed off.

I previously lived in an area where they were several fabric and trim outlets that sold odds and ends of leftover ribbon for very economical prices. I eventually accumulated  a large stash of ribbon to use in stamping samples. As I was designing the angel I needed something for the wings, something that didn't fray, could be easily trimmed and was both shiny and golden. I found the perfect material in my stash.......metallic ribbon (adhered to a piece of the soft plastic top of a yogurt container to stiffen)

I also used to be an avid beader, mostly making tiny beaded butterfly brooches, and still have a huge stash of tiny seed beads (#11-#14!). When I needed something to use for eyes on the angel I tried and rejected a number of items and then I remembered my seed bead stash and found the perfect bead is the exact size style and finish I needed languishing there to use for my dark eyed angel.

So, though I now work making items primarily from polymer clay, I still maintain that one can never have enough OTHER crafting supplies to stimulate the imagination!....... 
(or is that stimulate the ECONOMY?) 

New Palomino horse necklace unveiled and Sedona Red Rock pendants get a new look

 

For several years I've been having fun making Sedona Southwestern jewelry and ornaments for my shops using a faux red rock polymer clay base that includes a bit of "magical" Sedona Red Rock Dirt in the mix. A customer (now an Internet friend) asked me to design a pendant to pay homage to her beloved Palomino horse, "Sunshine", and I thought it would be a great time to shake things up in the collection and update some of the pieces while I was at it. Out with the old and in with the new for 2014 (just a little bit early)!
 
My raised applique Southwestern Sedona faux Red Rock pendants are now shaped like a disc, measure 1/4" (6.3mm) thick and are a substantial 1 7/8 (4.7cm) in diameter.  They look a lot like real Red Rock. They now have an 8mm jump ring at the top that allows for the cord chain to be removed so one can substitute their own chain if they prefer. The entire Southwestern Sedona Ornament and Jewelry collection can be seen at MelodyODesigns at Etsy.

The following studio photos show some of the equipment and supplies I use to make the raised appliqued pieces. The photos show the older style of pendant. 

The joy of seeing one's own handmade ornaments for sale in a retail shop

My Sedona/Southwestern ornaments (made from polymer clay with a touch of "magical" Sedona red rock dirt) have been selling at two local Christmas shops for almost a year, but I'd never actually SEEN them displayed in a shop. Last Saturday we visited them for the first time. What an incredible high to see the decorations hanging amidst the many gorgeous holiday displays. Seeing them displayed there was like the fulfillment of a Christmas dream, right up there with sugarplums and fairies. If anyone is headed to Sedona, Arizona, check out "Feliz Navidad Sedona" located in the Tlaquepaque Arts and Crafts Village and their sister shop, "Merry Christmas Sedona" located in uptown.

................and if you're NOT headed to Arizona but want to add some Sedona or Southwestern ornaments to your holiday decoration collection, you can always purchase them at my online shop! MelodyODesigns at Etsy.

Thanks go to my talented husband husband, Sy, who not only took the photos, but patiently stood by and waited while I shmoozed with the buyer.

Production work, Zen and our 2013 Family's Sedona Southwestern Christmas tree with polymer clay ornaments

All the decorations on the tree are available in my shop MelodyODesigns at Etsy 

Though it's not yet Halloween, Christmas is on my mind. It's the time of year that I like to decorate and photograph our family's small Christmas tree so that I have time to share all our 2013 MelodyODesigns ornaments before most people are even thinking of Christmas decorations. I supply two Christmas shops in nearby Sedona with ornaments (that contain a bit of "magical" Sedona Red Rock Dirt), so for me, making Christmas ornaments is a year 'round way of life now.



Since I started to sell wholesale and do production work (potentially mindless repetition reproducing a gazillion copies of the same pieces) my time in the studio has undergone some radical changes, some that have been a bit difficult to get used to. It's different re-creating piles and piles of identical ornaments instead of creating something brand new each time and I've been exploring ways to stay in the moment and make my time in the studio just as interesting and joyful as when I create something brand new.

Many years ago I took a seminar with Tim Gallwey, whose books include "The Inner Game of Tennis" and "The Inner Game of Music"and around the same I time read  Robert M. Pirsig's "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" and "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" by Betty Edwards. I credit all three with giving me the desire and some of the tools I needed to let myself create (and re-create) IN THE MOMENT. 

Rather than letting my mind wander (which tends to lead to angels with no wings and fingers cut with tissue blades) I do my best to let myself become absorbed in the details of making the piece, gently directing my attention and senses to the playful joy of creating each tiny detail, the color, the texture, each individual dot of paint........

……. the magic of childlike creation.

Of course I don't always succeed in staying "in the moment", but when I do it's really FUN!

Sedona Angel Christmas Ornament from Polymer Clay with Sedona Red Rock Dirt Inclusions

Sedona, Southwestern, or Mexican Angel Ornament available at and MelodyODesigns at Etsy

I had so much fun designing this new Southwestern angel ornament which has joined my 2013 MelodyODesigns Southwestern Christmas Ornament Collection.  She's made from terracotta colored polymer clay with real "magical" Sedona red  rock dirt in the matrix and is targeted to the Sedona tourist trade, so I call her my Sedona Angel. 

Below is a photo of some of the materials and tools that were used to make her.

She has embedded black seed bead eyes. I make the initial "eye socket" holes for the bead with a studio-made tool that I made by gluing a seed bead onto one end of a round toothpick. Then the black seed beads are applied with another little studio-made tool, a seed bead applicator tool I made by dipping one end of a round toothpick into a tiny drop of "The Ultimate" (glue) by Crafter's Pick and letting it dry (a one shot glue application good for the life of the tool). This tool makes is much easier to securely pick up a seed bead without dropping it and then the bead is applied into the "eye socket". Once the ornament has been cured I remove the seed bead eyes with the sharp end of a dress pin and then permanently glue them in with Zap-A-Gap glue. 

Her mouth is made by gently pressing round Kemper cutter halfway into the clay. Getting her mouth into her face in symmetrical way proved challenging and I found that I actually like her expression best when her smile is charmingly off kilter. 

 Her hair is actually hand braided using three thin "strings" extruded from a Makins Clay Extruder. I weigh the three "strings" down one end with some heavy metal washers  while I braid them. 

Her fringed blue-turquoise colored sarape shawl is decorated with a hearts and flowers pattern made by lightly dusting the turquoise shawl with corn starch, cutting the fringe with a craft knife and then GENTLY pressing the heart or flower Kemper cutter into the shawl leaving a delicate impression beind. 

Her body is made from PREMO artist-quality polymer clay to which a small amount of "magical" Sedona red rock dirt has been added. Once the ornament is cut out the surface is textured with 36 grit (very coarse) sandpaper to make it appear to be real terracotta. I prefer the 3M brand I formerly used, but have been unable to find it locally, so I use "Gator Grit" brand. One key I've found to effectively using sandpaper to texture polymer clay is to make sure all loose bits of sanding material have been removed near the edges of the sandpaper (especially any cut edges) before a new piece of sandpaper is used on clay. I also keep a pair of tiny tweezers close by in case I need  to retrieve a loose bit of sanding material from the clay surface. 

Her dress is decorated with thin slices from geometric clay canes. For those who might not be familiar with that term, caning is a labor-intensive construction technique where colored rods of clay are laid horizontally forming a complex pattern  from which a thin slice is cut from the end allowing the pattern to be seen. It is borrowed from the glass making technique used to create millefiore beads. 


 More Christmas ornaments and a wide variety of other ornaments, magnets and jewelry pieces lovingly made from polymer clay are available at MelodyODesigns at Etsy

Click to see an additional blog post on the Crafter's Studio stash and the Creative Process involved the making of Sedona Angel Ornament.

Arizona Saguaro Cactus, decorated Saguaro Christmas Ornaments and behind the scenes Studio Photos and Tips

 The Christmas Saguaro ornament is available at MelodyODesigns at Etsy 

As a tribute to my adopted home state of Arizona I've designed a new decorated Saguaro Cactus Christmas Ornament made from polymer clay to add to my Southwestern Christmas Ornaments Collection. Saguaros are iconic images that immediately come to mind when one thinks of Arizona. They are native to the warm Sonoran desert and can reach a height of 40-60 inches (12-18 meters). After the rainy season when water is plentiful an adult saguaro can weigh 6 tons or more. 

When the saguaro reaches 35 years of age it begins to produce white flowers with yellow centers that attract bees and butterflies and the fruits provide much needed food for birds, jack rabbits, mule dear and many other native animals. The indigenous people of the area used the saguaro for both food and building materials and members of the Tohono O'odham people still gather the fruit today to use in making ceremonial wine, jellies, candy and use the seeds to feed their chickens. Branches normally begin to appear when the saguaro is around 50-70 years old. Their life expectancy is 150-200 years. 

Saguaro at Catalina State Park near Tucson, Arizona. Photographs courtesy of Sy Brandon

Saguaro at Usery Mountain Regional Park, Phoenix, Arizona

Saguaros primarily grow in the southern part of the state and are not native to the Sedona/VerdeValley where we live, though there are some that flourish in the courtyards of private homes. However, the hoards of both international and US tourists who visit the Sedona area still seem to want to take home "all things saguaro" as souvenirs and gifts. Tourism is a huge industry here. In fact, the Sedona/Verde Valley made the list of Lonely Planet's Top 10 US travel destinations for 2013  So, it made sense to add a saguaro to my ornament collection that sells at two wonderful sister Christmas Shops in Sedona, "Feliz Navidad" in Tlaquepaque and "Merry Christmas Sedona" in Uptown, as well as at my online shops.

While behind the scenes in Santa's Workshop..........some of the tools and raw materials that were used in making the Christmas Saguaro Ornament:

 After the ornament is cut out with a craft knife it is textured with a piercing pin tool to mimic the spines of the cactus. 

The white and yellow flowers were painted onto the raw clay with a mixture of TLS (Translucent Liquid Sculpey) and Genesis heat set oil paint. They were painted using the tip of an "out of ink" Extra Fine-tipped Sharpie pen.  

The cactus is decorated with little round red Christmas balls. The balls were decorated with tiny dots of Liquitex Iridescent Bright Gold Heavy Bodied Acrylic and applied with the tip of a "spent and out of ink" Pigma Micron 01 pen. A #11 gold seed bead was pushed into the top of the ornament to give it a "hanger". 

The star was made from gold PREMO polymer clay that was rolled out in a thin sheet, lightly powdered with corn starch and punched out with a Fiskers star punch. Once cured, the star was lightly covered with a layer of Art Glitter Clear Fabric Adhesive and diped into Art Glitter Vintage Fine Glass Glitter.

The Christmas Saguaro, other Southwestern/Arizona Christmas Ornaments and many other pieces are available at MelodyODesigns at Etsy

Article and images © October 28, 2013