gundowerks - Designs by Teresa

NO SOPA

2012-01-18T10:25:00.000-06:00

C.A. Therien

2011-09-11T17:26:00.004-05:00

I am so excited! I go to take a glance at the Art Daily Blog, and what do I find? My friend Cat (C.A. Therien) is a featured artist. Go read her interview, it's lovely - then go look at her amazing art.

I met Cat at Polymer Clay Central's discussion forums at Delphi, and then in real life after I moved to Chicago. She's in Peoria, and I used to get down there for Clay Days now and then. It's always so good to get together and make art with other artists. Cat is an amazing person, with an amazing family. I've had the luck to meet her husband and several of her kids, and spend quite a bit of time with her eldest daughter who is just downright fabulous.

Just another example of the light, life and talent in the polymer clay community!

Back in the saddle again!!

2011-09-10T20:02:00.000-05:00

...out where a friend is a friend... and my friends in the art community are certainly that, in spades. I love you all, and I'm constantly challenged and delighted by your creativity and talent. One of my favorite things to do is prowl around Artfire and look things up. In the past, before all the big changes, I enjoyed making collections. All those are gone now, sadly, but I have a chance to do many more. There's certainly enough to choose from. Today my eyes lit on something and inspired me to create a new collection... Gorgeous Goddesses.

I am in the middle of redoing my studio so that I can get back to more regular creating. Look for some very new and different items in my shop! Right now I have one commission to finish and a show to plan for in December, plus some items to create for the Interfilk Auction at the Ohio Valley Filk Festival. Plus I just got my son started at all-day first grade! Quite a change from half day kindergarten, but he's loving it. The fact that standing just outside our back gate I can watch him walk to and from the school door helps a lot.

Look for more Sunday Sensations coming up on (hopefully) a more regular basis, and I have some other ideas to hopefully thrill you with. *grin* I hope it's a lovely weekend where you are!

Gorgeous Goddesses

Curated By: gundowerks

ArtFire.com

Handmade Gifts

Getting ready for some changes

2011-08-15T09:00:00.001-05:00

So far for me 2011 is FIRED - there's been a lot of turmoil and negative stuff going down. I haven't had a chance to be very creative, and one big reason is that my studio is a junk room. I am trying to get into a position where I can start clearing it out and using it again. My positive affirmation today says "I am in the process of making positive changes in all areas of my life", and that's exactly what I'm doing.

I want to give a shout out to my bestie, Darla. She's agreed to be a beta tester, checking out my ideas and new items, and giving prototypes a look over. I've needed a critical eye, someone who has a good artistic sense. Thank you, Darla, I have yet to really put you to work, but you just wait!

I am thinking about a bit of change in direction with my art. My thought is to go more toward the spiritual side. I've been doing things of that nature for a while, although not many of the items are up for sale yet. Keep an eye out, there will be more things on the way in the near (I hope) future.

Any thoughts you have would be appreciated - I love input from my friends & fellow artists.

Sunday Sensations!

2011-08-14T09:00:00.001-05:00

I have to admit I'm a pretty bad housekeeper. I try, but it gets overwhelming. Mopping is hard for my physically, and I get annoyed by even trying. A few months ago I got a Swiffer Wet Jet and I was really excited about it. The only thing I didn't like was that sometimes things were so messy that I'd go through two or three of the disposable pads trying to get the floors cleaned. I hated that. I'm by no means the world's greenest person, but I try to reduce, reuse and recycle when I can. Luckily there was my friend at MicroMops to the rescue!

That store is amazing. There is everything there... many things that I will buy when I can, because they are all designed to help the desire to be green. I bought a set of four reusable Swiffer pads. They pick up -everything-, and I don't care how gross they get, toss 'em in with a load of towels and they're ready for more duty. I love them!

Right now I'm drooling over the wool dryer balls. I use a set of plastic (rubber? something) nubby balls right now. I love the way things turn out, I love that I can use them with towels (since you shouldn't use fabric softener on them) and I LOVE that I don't have to buy fabric softeners or sheets. However, I don't like the sound they make thumping around. The wool balls aren't supposed to be nearly that noisy, so I can't wait to get some of them.

MicroMops has so many things it's not funny... that shop is amazing to browse. Add to it the fact that Amy is wonderful, sweet and amazing and you've got the best combo - good products, good prices, and fantastic customer service. I was very pleased with my experience shopping there, and I will be a repeat customer.

So, get to work reducing, reusing and recycling. MicroMops is one way to help you get there.

Sunday Sensations!

2011-07-24T09:00:00.002-05:00

Another wonderful vendor I've purchased from is Pegasus Soaps. When I started hanging around Artfire and Plurk, I went looking for friends who make the products I use and love, and I love bath bombs... luckily enough, Pegasus Soaps makes unbelievably fantastic bath bombs. I got hold of two kinds, both of which were fantastic. The Cinnamon Toasted Oatmeal bath bombs were delicious, kind to my skin, delightfully smelly and just yummy in every way. The other bomb I ordered, though, was the best... the Monkey Farts bath bombs are amazing. I love the smell, and the name just makes it. Also like the Oatmeal bombs they were kind to my skin and lovely to bathe in.

I think my favorite part is that each bomb comes in two half domes. I've had other bath bombs that are gigantic and although they are lovely, it seems like a waste. When they come in two halves I get two wonderful baths, or I could use both if I want to.

Michelle has a ton of different wonderful smells, all of which I hope to try as I can. I have to be careful though, she's one of those studios I could spend way too much time and money in! Michelle is also an incredibly sweet person who I feel honored to know and spend time with online. I'm blessed by her presence, and her wonderful products.

Monkey Farts for sale!

Long time no see...

2011-07-20T20:27:00.000-05:00

So far 2011 has done nothing but torture me in every way possible. I've had my store on vacation since I left home Memorial Day weekend to spend six weeks helping my mother recuperate from a week long stint in the hospital. I returned home two weeks ago to some personal tragedy and heartache that I'm still not recovered from. My studio is also a junk room at the moment, but I plan to start excavating soon so I can have some space to start creating again.

My plan is to reopen my studio in a few days and start adding new items to it over the next week or so. I have new ideas that I hope to put into play within the next month and get into my shop as soon as possible. I'm also planning some destashing on eBay as I excavate the studio.

Hopefully these are all things to look forward to! I know I am excited to get back into the swing of things.

Sunday Sensations - ColtPixy!

2011-03-20T19:25:00.002-05:00

My second buying experience from among my Plurk Buds was with ColtPixy. There simply aren't enough good words in the dictionary to sum up this woman - she's a wonderful artist, she's a great business person, she's a delightful friend and she is also the Super Ultra Amazing Guildmaster for my guild, the Polymer Clay Smooshers.

My Mom is the most amazing lady around, and she loves jewelry. She's usually seen wearing one striking piece, sometimes a strand of beads, sometimes a single focal. She loves color, and she always looks gorgeous. I fell in love with ColtPixy's Pixy Stones, and got one for my Mother for Christmas.

Mom was just blown away by how lovely it is, and immediately modeled for me. She loves it, and wears it often!

ColtPixy then started doing something that is so cute and so adorable it's not even funny... the Bunny Butts (as we Plurky folks affectionately call them). Her Lucky Bunny Charms are done with an amazing technique (one of my favorites) called Mica Shift. The bunny looks raised, but the piece is completely smooth to the touch. It's hard work, and ColtPixy pulls it off beautifully. I found an orange one in her shop and it had to be mine.

An example of ColtPixy's wonderful business ethic is that, when mine didn't show up way past the time it should have, she immediately shipped me another one. When the first one arrived almost immediately after, she refused to let me pay her for both. I now have two gorgeous bunny butts and am percolating ideas to create a piece of jewelry I can wear often to showcase them both.
Her items always arrive beautifully packaged. It's a joy to do business with this lady, and I'm incredibly glad (and lucky!) that she's both my friend and my guildmaster. You can find her online at her shop, on Facebook with the Smooshers, and at the Smoosher's blog. I highly recommend checking out all three!

My Artfire Blog

Sunday Sensations!

2011-03-13T21:17:00.002-05:00

One of my favorite things to do is help support my fellow artists. I do this often by passing their links on as often as possible in Plurk, Facebook and Twitter... but every once in a while I splurge a little and buy something from their stores. I'm going to start a regular Sunday feature that will showcase or review my friends' stores and it starts today with a review of a purchase I made last year.

My Plurk Buddy MzzThang is awesome. She's Fo-Shizzle Designs where you can see all sorts of fabulous things like book thongs, recycled eyeglass necklaces, hair accessories and some really cool chainmail. She is also Earth Wind and Artfire destash shop, which is where I made my purchase. Actually a bunch of really fabulous purchases, including some amazing wild magnetic pink beads that I'm making a necklace for myself from, curved flat connectors that I've made some awesome earrings from and another couple lovely bits that you'll probably see in my shop soon. Everything was gorgeous, just as advertised, shipped fast and packaged beautifully. I love it when I find excellent people to do business with.

Giveaways

2011-03-04T18:34:00.000-06:00

One thing I'm going to try to do from time to time is highlight cool events elsewhere on the net. I hope to start blogging about giveaways my friends do, as well as stuff I run across in craft blogs. Feel free to email me if you have something coming up you want me to mention!

You all might not know that I'm a closet greeting card maker. After I get my studio re-fabbed I plan to start bringing some of my cards to my shop. I love everything that has to do with paper crafts, including (of course) rubber stamps. Over at FaveCrafts I found a contest you can enter by blogging (like me!) or tweeting. It's for a really nifty gadget that lets you put your rubber stamps into a scene and stamp them altogether. It's called the Stamp Factory by Fiskars. I know I want one!

SALE! SALE! SALE!

2011-03-02T17:34:00.000-06:00

There's March Madness in the air at my shop. Everything in the shop is 25% off. My workspace is crowded with items, all ready to be finished and listed so I thought it would be nice to clear out a little cyber-space before I start. ;-) So, through April Fool's Day, everything is on sale!

And remember, if you buy more than one item, everything ships together for the same price!

So much to learn!

2011-02-02T22:21:00.000-06:00

After an impromptu lesson on Artfire listing & SEO from my friend Haffina, I've discovered the need to redo (tweak the titles and add some stuff, plus redo a lot of photos) my listings. It is kind of daunting on some levels, on other levels it seems like fun, so I'm looking forward to it.

I am adding some interesting things to my gundowerks shop soon - some Reiki inspired pendants. I also plan to redo all my shop sections, so keep an eye out for changes!

Round and about the 'net

2011-01-24T10:01:00.000-06:00

I've been trying my hardest to showcase the incredible talent of my friends on my Facebook page and on Twitter, so please tune into one or both of those to see running commentary on new listings and collections that feature my friends, and some from me, of course.

I've listed three new hearts for Valentines Day and soon I'll be listing my first entry to the Polymer Clay Smooshers "fairy tale" challenge, so keep tuned for that. I will also be listing a lot of hair barrettes and pony tail barrettes at Sassy Chic, so keep an eye out there as well.

Weekend Linky Bits!

2011-01-14T21:36:00.003-06:00

Each day I come across beautiful things that my friends post. Some I get a chance to tweet, or FB, but not all. I'm going to try to do a weekend link post with tidbits of pretty that I've run across during the week.

Deb of Chrysallis Creations listed this gorgeous pair of earrings - wow! Aren't they beautiful? I love the way the wire moves. Not that I'm a huge fan of Deb's work or anything (*grin* okay, yes I am!!), but she won my heart with these jadeite earrings. Honestly, I -want- these!

I cannot say enough about ColtPixy's work. She's moved into a really cool groove lately, covering bottles, and I'm just in love with them. This Green Fern wish bottle is so delicate and lovely, and this Jester wish bottle looks like candy! Yum.

Serenity Grove does some of the prettiest chainmaille I've seen in a long time. This Faerie Halo Choker is just gorgeous! Her shop is full of wonderful things like this Spotted Butterfly Magnet. She also has yummy looking body care products. Mmmm.

My latest creation

2011-01-14T08:00:00.001-06:00

My wonderful Polymer Clay Guild, the Smooshers of Artfire, has a tremendously cool thing going on. Every month (January through September) our Guild Master lets people who read the blog pick a challenge theme. Smooshers then make items that fit that theme, and we're all featured on the blog. Our first challenge of 2011 was "mythology", and a beaded & polymer clay Greenman was my contribution.

You can see the incredible talent of my guild in this blog entry about the theme. I love my Smooshers, and I can't wait to see what other challenges will yield this year.

A new shop!

2011-01-06T21:23:00.000-06:00

I've opened Sassy Chic at Artfire. You'll be seeing a lot of interesting things here, starting with hair accessories! Right now I'm listing barrettes, pony tail barrettes and hair pins - some sassy for the kid in you (some of them glow in the dark!) and some more chic items for the grownup crowd.

In the future I'll be featuring fun badges, spinners, cute jewelry and all kinds of things. Keep your eye out for some Sassy stuff!

2010-10-12T21:48:00.000-05:00

I have been included in even more collections and I'm so honored and excited! I was so surprised to see all the different ones, since I had been away from my email with company in town. I cannot believe I got so far behind on these - but I am awed and honored to be included in each one.

Beads Beads Beads is curated by Dana's Jewelry Etc. - and it is full of amazing beads, including my earthy set of black, gold, red and copper polymer clay beads. I love being in mixed-media collections, and this one includes other polymer clay beads as well as lampwork.

Colors of Autumn inspired by the Polymer Clay Smooshers Guild opened on the 11th and is curated by BewitchingDreams. This is one I'm very honored to be a part of, because my beloved Smooshers are so awesomely talented!! Gorgeous stuff, friends!

Polymer Clay Smooshers opened on the 7th and was curated by CDowdleDesigns. Again, my beloved Smooshers awe and delight me, and honor me by being included in their work.

DanasJewelryEtc curated Polymer Clay Pins/Brooches which opened on the 5th. I love brooches, so being included in this was very exciting for me.

Tribal Inspirations in Polymer Clay opened on 10/4, and was curated by EmilyClaireCreations. I'm really excited by this, I love that someone sees a tribal theme in my fiery red polymer clay bead set.

One Medium, Many Avatars opened on 10/2 and is curated by artbysusmitha. This is an absolutely DELIGHTFUL mix of polymer clay art - truly a great way to show the amazing variety and depth of this incredible medium.

Feeling a Little Off Kilter? opened on 9/29 and is curated by StephanieRonnyeknit1bead2. It included my sweet copper spiral earrings with pink glass cubes. I loved making these and I'm so glad they caught someone's eye!

Masquerade Masks opened on the 9th and is curated by ldphotography, and it features my gold & silver mask! I love, love, love masks, and this collection is just gorgeous. What is a face, really?
(curated by JessicaMLopez, and opened on 9/29) also featured my mask.Masks make me happy!

Artfire Collections!

2010-09-29T08:00:00.001-05:00

I'm so honored to have my mask featured in three different collections.

Masquerade opened today and it is curated by MidnightEternal. It features some of the most beautiful masks I've seen in ages, and I'm blown away by my inclusion in it.

Two others were created recently but I hadn't caught up blogging on them.

Among the Leaves of Gold opened on September 25th and is curated by Jeliza. Wow is the only word that can express the talent of the others included in this collection, and again, it amazes and thrills me to be a part of it.

BOOOO! also opened on September 25th and is curated by CatsWire. Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays, and this collection has some cute, beautiful, spooky inclusions. I'm so proud of being a part of it!

Ladies, you've all inspired me by your choices, and I really am itching to make some collections myself. Such a wonderful, wonderful Artfire tool!!

Get in on Artfire's big Group Deal event!

2010-09-16T07:58:00.000-05:00

I've mentioned before how much I love Artfire. Although I'm still trying to get back into making my stuff and building up my reputation, I've been very pleased with how Artfire manages their business and all the wonderful perks in my Pro Studio. Now they have a new incentive to stick with them.

The jist of it is, if they get 20,000 people to opt in for a Pro studio, they'll offer those studios for $5.95 a month (half of their normal price) for life. They have a 50,000 studio cap on it, so I've already signed up both my studios (gundowerks, and a new shop I'm going to try out, sassy chic). All you have to do is sign up with your credit card info at their group deal page. They won't charge anything until/unless they reach their goal, at which point you'll be charged $5.95 a month. You can sign up with as many individual shops as you'd like. It's such a fantastic deal, because that's all Artfire charges, no per-listing fees at all.

Besides this, for the next 24 hours if you mentioned the Group Deal and link to the page (as I have), you'll be entered for a chance to win a Table Top Photography Studio.

On top of that, if you retweet the deal in the next 24 hours you'll be entered for a chance to win $100
paid to your paypal account.

Needless to say I rt'ed from both my accounts (tdkgunderson, which is my personal twitter, and gundowerks) and this is my blog entry. I've also touted it a bit on Facebook.

I love Artfire, and this is just one more good reason!

Upcycling and buttons

2010-09-02T13:04:00.000-05:00

As I slowly work my way through yet another studio revamp I'm uncovering things I used to do that I miss. One is "upcycling", where I take objects I buy at thrift stores, or people find for me in various places, and redo them. Right now I have three of the cutest handbags that are just dying for some painting and fixing up. I also have some girls clothing that needs a little fixing up and so on. I think I'll primarily work (as usual) in the "wearable art" area, doing clothing, handbags, belts, scarves and such. More on that later, I will probably be using eBay for some of those items.

A few years ago my sweet husband granted a lifetime wish for me and bought me a Badge-a-Minit. I just used my birthday cash to buy some more supplies and a new and improved piece of software that has tons of really cute clip art. I'm working on buttons that will capture the interest of the science fiction/fantasy crowd, the filkers, and general all-purpose geek and nerd types. Those will probably go up at a new Artfire store I'm plotting, one that will also serve for upcycled stuff and paper goods (note cards, gift cards, greeting cards and similar).

Photo Find Collaboration

2010-08-27T14:14:00.000-05:00

A few years ago I wanted to start an art collaboration. I had a few people who were interested, and I started up - but, true to life in a busy house with a five year old (and my health issues) I dropped the ball. I'm thinking of picking it back up again at some point, and I wanted to get some eyes on the blog and thoughts - and maybe get a few new co-conspirators.

You can see the blog here, where you'll also see more information about the project and how you can get involved. Essentially it is a collaborative art project that pairs photos & photo art with text, and distributes them randomly. Finders are encouraged to return to the blog and comment on the entry for their found photo, then redistribute the piece. People are also encouraged to make and distribute their own art, and send a digital copy to the blog owner for publication as well. I think it could be a lot of fun, especially if we have people from all over the world participating. When I start it up again I'll be sending photos to other people to distribute wherever they choose.

Imagine buying a book at the bookstore, or checking out a book at the library and finding a photo or piece of art. It might be a nice surprise for people, or something that intrigues them. With luck everyone that gets a piece will come and comment, and leave the card somewhere for someone else to find.

Thoughts? I'd love to get a discussion started on how best to do this, and how successful people think it might be.

Something new coming...

2010-08-26T10:48:00.000-05:00

I'm getting ready to try something I've been thinking about for a while - upcycling. I can get so many great clothes & handbags cheap at my wonderful local thrift store, and I'm going to start working on them and creating some cute and funky upcycled stuff. I will probably start out on eBay with them, and I might eventually open up an Artfire shop.

I've also started another Artfire shop for my paper creations, but more on that later. I'm going to be featuring notecards, greeting cards and some other cool stuff.

Stay tuned!

A bit more crochet for the day.

2010-08-16T23:48:00.000-05:00

A few years ago, before the shoulder problems really hit hard, I made a scarf for my mother. I didn't like the way it looked, so it got stuck in a bag and languished unfinished. I found it before I left, showed it to Mom and she loved it. So, I sewed in all the loose ends and it's not too bad.

Tomorrow I start another spud. So far my arm isn't bothering me - I'm being careful, and using lots of pain rub and such. Hopefully I can get back into more crocheting, because I've really missed it.

The Spud

2010-08-16T18:04:00.002-05:00

In my quest to learn to read a crochet pattern, my friend Leah gave me a pattern she found online for a stuffed alien. I was able to read the whole thing (thanks Leah!), but of course I had to modify.

So, here is the Spud. I finished him and my mother promptly claimed him, so here is photographic proof.

His eyes are askew so I need to fix them, but otherwise pretty cute! It was fun, I think I will make another.

Location : 501-519 E Main St, West Plains, MO 65775,
Posted via Blogaway - tdkg

This week's featured Smoosher!

2010-07-01T14:15:00.000-05:00

Let's face it. Into the Dawn is just a neat, neat person. She is a joy to know on Plurk, and she does lovely work in polymer clay. I also discovered while reading her blog that she has several tutorials in it on how to do some neat stuff. This one is all about Tarot journaling, There are others, listed in the sidebar of her blog. I hope she does more!

Dawn is very versatile - her work ranges from tiles to focal beads to Artist Trading Cards in polymer clay. I've seen items for The Day of the Dead in her Artfire shop, as well as Mardi Gras items and beautiful flowers. Please, go check it out her shop and see all the gorgeous stuff she has to offer.

Mica shift

Tiled mosaic clay box