Creative Sprinkle

Smile Maker

noreply@blogger.com (Marie Young (Young Creative)) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 01:51:00 +0000

Winter can be a tough time, but there are bright spots. I saw this poster in one of the student lounge areas of the university where I work. It made me smile. Apparently I'm not the only one who needs a little pick-me-up when the temps fall. I wonder what words found their way to someone who really needed them.

Home Business Challenges

noreply@blogger.com (Marie Young (Young Creative)) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 17:39:00 +0000

Cats and photo shoots don't mix!

Running a business from your home comes with some great perks, but also some interesting challenges. Those of you with kids and pets (or maybe even some husbands) know what I'm talking about.

This is my 6-month old cat Lucy trying to get in on my photo shoot this morning. I have a dedicated work space, but it doesn't have natural light so I end up working in my kitchen more than in my studio, especially for photo shoots.

Usually I close the cats in another room when I'm working, but they were napping today so I thought I could grab some quick pics without worrying about them. WRONG!

What are your challenges and tips?
What are some of the challenges you face working from home? Do you have any great tips? I'd love to hear from you. Feel free to link to your blog posts etc in the comments.

Oreo Cameo and Insect Curiosities

noreply@blogger.com (Marie Young (Young Creative)) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 11:38:00 +0000

From Scratch series: "Oreo Cameo #3" by Judith G. Klausner

A sampling of weirdly wonderful art

When my friend Stacy, the one who created "Tub Hair" art, sent me a Facebook link to this Oreo Cameo, a light bulb went off in my head. Why not use this find to kick-off a series of posts celebrating the best of the "weird" in the art world? So here is the first post in a this new series of weird to inspire your inner creative.

The work of Judith G. Klausner
This cameo, carved from an Oreo cookie was created by Judith G. Klausner, an artist from Somerville, MA. Judith does a beautiful job rendering traditional themes using unconventional media. The Oreo is from her "From Scratch" series where she uses Victorian handicraft processes to transform modern packaged foods. In addition to many Oreo cameos, the series also features condiment wallpaper and a cereal sampler.

Off with Their Heads series: "Queen of Hearts" by Judith G. Klausner

I loved viewing her work in the "From Scratch" series in her online gallery, but I delighted even more in her work featuring insects. Judith creates the most wonderfully detailed miniature scenes using insects. She collects dead insects on her wanderings to use in these projects. I think my favorite is her "Off With Their Heads" series that playfully references the fact that female mantises are notorious for decapitating their mates mid-coitus. Above is the "Queen of Hearts." She also recreated the tale of "Judith and Holofernes" with mantises.

You can view Judith's work in her online gallery or purchase select prints from her "From Scratch" series at jgklausner.imagekind.com.

Virtual Collecting

noreply@blogger.com (Marie Young (Young Creative)) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 23:59:00 +0000

Pinterest Virtual Collecting:

Margarets, Batgirl, and nympo librarians! oh my!

People collect some pretty cool stuff. And with the introduction of Pinterest Boards we are no longer limited by money, geography, or even the bounds of physical reality. I love "collecting" my precious internet finds on these virtual boards, cataloging them for future reference. I also love looking at what other people "collect." If you have a cool Pinterest collection give me the link in the comments. I'd love to check it out.

My Pinterest Collection

One of my favorite pinners is Margaret Almon, a mosaic artist from Philadelphia. Margaret collects things that speak to her life and her personality, things like other "Margarets." She dedicated a whole board to authors, artists, actresses, really anyone of interest she can find named "Margaret." Neat idea!

She also has a board of really cool librarian stuff. She shows a great sense of humor in curating this collection. Mixed in with her nostalgic library finds are a cover shot of Nympho Librarian and a poster of Batgirl trying to get you to return your library books. Did you know Batgirl was a librarian?

My former Librarian Life

These are just two of her 21 boards. See her collection at: http://pinterest.com/margaretalmon/

If you want to learn more about Pinterest, check out my previous post: Pinterest: 5 reasons you should be pinning. What do you collect?

Roaring 20s Wine Bottle Stopper

noreply@blogger.com (Marie Young (Young Creative)) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 16:52:00 +0000

Elegant wine stopper-Roaring 20s Red Flapper Heart

Beyond Jewelry: Exploring Polymer's Possibilities

Roaring 20s Flapper-Inspired Wine Stopper
Polymer clay is a great jewelry medium, but it can be used to create so much more. I love making wine bottle stoppers with it. Each one is a miniature sculpture.

This stopper plays off my fascination with flappers. Fringe, fringe, and more fringe- all hand-cut out of polymer and layered onto a black swirl mokume gane background. Glass beads finish off the design.

Make it your own
This conversation starter is available for sale in my YoungCreative Etsy store:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/89436585/elegant-wine-bottle-stopper-roaring-20s

Vote and win prizes
This stopper is also my entry in the Polymer Clay Artist Guild of Etsy Monthly Challenge. The theme is "Not Jewelry, Not Wearable." If you head over to the challenge blog and vote for your favorites you'll be entered to wine a prize.
http://polymerclayartists.blogspot.com/2011/12/january-challenge-not-jewelry-not.html

New prize format for PCAGOE challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Marie Young (Young Creative)) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 14:30:00 +0000

One of 19 possible prizes

If you've visited this blog for any length of time you know that just about every month I enter a challenge as a member of the Polymer Clay Artists Guild of Etsy. The first week of each month we open the challenge up for voting by the public (YOU).

We hold a drawing after the challenge and select 3 winners to get a prize created by one of the PCAGOE artists. In January, we are mixing up this formula a little bit.

New prize format: You choose your prize
We have 19 participating shops offering prizes ranging from custom creations to gift certificates and the 3 winners will get to choose their own prize.

The photo above is the prize that I am sponsoring. A winner who chooses my prize can have this pin made in the color scheme of her choice. See the full list of prizes.

Don't forget to visit PCAGOE.com between Jan. 1-7 to vote.

Season's Eatings

noreply@blogger.com (Marie Young (Young Creative)) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 00:07:00 +0000

Tis the season to eat! It is also the season of too much to do and too little time. So while I am trying to get myself ready for the holidays, I thought I would whet your appetite with some of my favorite easy recipe from posts past and one item from a friend that I haven't been brave enough to try.

First, the item I haven't tried yet:

Lime Cottage Cheese Mold

2 small or 1 lg. pkg. Lime Jello
1 lb. cottage cheese, mashed with fork
2 c. boiling water
½ c. salad dressing (Miracle Whip)
½ c. whipped cream
1 Tbl. Chopped onion
2 Tbl. Grated carrot
2 Tbl. Grated green peppers

Mix all ingredients except whipped cream. Let jell for about 20 minutes in the refrigerator. Remove and gently fold in whipped cream, and refrigerate until jelled. Nice when made in a pretty Jello mold – Tupperware has a good one for this purpose.

This one comes from Jackie of The Pleasant Pheasant who I met through the Polymer Clay Artist Guild of Etsy. She admits that it is a "love it" or "hate it" family tradition. I'm curious! Maybe I'll get brave and take it to my sister's house for Christmas. :)

Now for some memories from Creative Sprinkle posts past:

Insanely Simple Fudge
Only 3 ingredients!
Get this simple fudge recipe.

Sea Glass Candy
Great eye-candy that taste good too!
Make your own sea glass candy.

Gluten Free Glazed Triple Chocolate Cupcakes
Taste wonderful even if you don't have to avoid gluten!
Whip up a batch with this recipe.

DIY Fortune Cookie Gifts

noreply@blogger.com (Marie Young (Young Creative)) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 20:38:00 +0000

Creating Personalized Fortune Cookies for Coworkers
"Easy Fortune Cookie Recipe" -- That's what the Google search result promised me a few years ago. At the time, I was working as part of an in-house creative team at Penn State, and I needed a Christmas gift idea to make for 25 coworkers that was personal enough yet could be created in large quantities.

Yes, the recipe was easy. I used a basic recipe substituting almond flavoring for vanilla. It was the folding process that would have been more aptly labelled "frustrating." It took me three batches to get cookies that looked good.

Yet even with the frustration, they made such adorable gifts that I want to share the idea with you along with my thoughts on avoiding some pitfalls.

Writing the Fortunes
The fun part of the project was coming up with "fortunes" that fit each recipient's personality. These served as both holiday gifts and a thank you for the hard work that our team had put in that year. I researched fortunes online and tweaked them to fit our work situation. Here are a few examples.

For our exuberant production manager adjusting to our new office space:

Trish, You where born with the skill to communicate easily with people.

That’s why Outreach seated you between introverts.

For our writer with a love of all things Seinfeld:

The number of items on a to-do list will either grow or

remain constant. If only you could close the Penske file.

Creating Gift Tags
I also created custom gift tags using a fortune cookie stamped in silver embossing powder on card stock. I cut a slit in the stamped cookie to add each person's name on a tag and glued the whole thing to a larger card stock square to hide the back. (See photo above.)

Photo by Madison Faith author of Milk & Honey

Things I wish I knew before I started:

1. Cotton gloves aren't just "nice-to-have."
I didn't follow the advice I read on one site to purchase some lightweight, white cotton gloves, and my scorched fingers regretted it. You have to touch hot cookie rounds, over and over, to fold them into the signature shape.

2. Practice makes perfect.
You can only make a few cookies at a time because there is a perfect temperature to fold them. Too hot and you can't touch them (see tip 1). Too cool and they crack. It took me three batches and a lot of cursing to figure out the "sweet spot" folding temperature.

3. Once the fortune is inside the cookie you can't read it anymore.
If you are creating a specific fortune for a specific person, you have to make sure you know which cookie to give. Once I realized I couldn't see which fortune I had used inside the folded cookie, I created an assembly line process to organize them. I placed each folded cookie on a tray beside the paper tag for that person so when I was ready to wrap the cookies, I knew whose cookie it was.

About the bottom photo: I didn't take any photos of my finished project, but this one by Madison Faith sums up the project pretty well. Madison writes a blog called Milk & Honey which has some of the most gorgeous food photography that I have ever seen.

Do you have good luck baking fortune cookies? What's your secret?

December Challenge: Vote to Win

noreply@blogger.com (Marie Young (Young Creative)) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 17:24:00 +0000

Artist Trading Cards

The Polymer Clay Artist Guild of Etsy December Challenge is open for public voting now until Dec. 7. This month's theme is Artist Trading Cards. In the tradition of ATCs, these babies aren't for sale. They are only traded from one artist to another. But don't despair, you could win a hand-crafted polymer goodie just for voting in our challenge. Head on over to PCAGOE to vote!

By the way, my entry is #2, "Angelic Dreams ATC."

It showcases a few of my favorite techniques. The angel was created using layers of liquid polymer on paper to create a canvas-like texture. I then placed it on a mokume gane background and hand-sculpted polymer wings in an unconventional gold and turquoise combo. The frame is clay that resembles torn paper.

Don't know which PCAGOE member is going to receive this sweetie yet, but after the holidays she will be heading off to her new home.

Art Deco Christmas Ornament Series

noreply@blogger.com (Marie Young (Young Creative)) — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 00:15:00 +0000

Art Deco Snowflake Collection

I adore art deco__such a delicious style! When I read about a wax impression technique that you could use to transfer patterns to polymer clay in the latest issue of The Polymer Arts, I knew it would be the perfect technique to create some deco delights for decking the halls.

Following Sage's instructions I carved a series of deco diamonds into a wax block to form a stamp. Then I cut out the individual diamonds and pieced them together to create the Art Deco snowflake pattern for the backdrop of my latest Christmas Ornament series. They are available now at Young Creative, but hurry they won't last long!

Art Deco Snowflake on Silver Background

Snowman Ball

Art Deco Snowflake

Stay Sane; Shop Online

noreply@blogger.com (Marie Young (Young Creative)) — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 14:11:00 +0000

Flapper Snow Woman Holiday Earrings

My husband and I were watching the local news last night when the camera panned our Walmart parking lot to show it FILLED with cars and people streaming inside to start pre-Black Friday shopping. Insane!

Snuggle up and shop online.
Personally, we like to celebrate an alternative version of Black Friday. My husband and I are curled up today with a warm cup of coffee, Green Mountain Breakfast Blend. Mine is topped off with a dollop of whipped cream. And we are browsing the internet for great gifts.

An Etsy Christmas
Those of you who shop on Etsy (home of all things vintage and homemade) might want to check out the site-wide sales Black Friday through Cyber Monday. Several members of my clay guild, the Polymer Clay Artist Guild of Etsy, (including me!) are have sales in conjunction with the big Etsy event. See some of their wonderful gift ideas.

I'm offering free shipping on all jewelry. Here's a peak at some of the one-of-a-kind gifts and stocking stuffers waiting for you in my shop, Young Creative.

Panda Necklace

Fleur-de-lis Necklace

Ocean Swirl Necklace

In the studio

noreply@blogger.com (Marie Young (Young Creative)) — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 14:02:00 +0000

Works in Progress

It is Art Every Day Month and I haven't been doing a great job of physically creating anything. But that's okay. AEDM isn't about strict perfection. It is about infusing creativity into your day in whatever way you can. So on that front, I feel pretty good. And today, after a week of being pulled in a different direction, I am back in the studio with a few works in progress.

Most of my art creation procrastination this past week is because I attended the American Marketing Association's Higher Ed Marketing conference in Chicago for my day job at Saint Francis University. It was a much needed break from day-to-day tasks. Nothing like a conference to recharge the batteries.

The other thing that has kept me from actively creating is not positive. This week my alma mater became engulfed in scandal. Yes, I am a Penn Stater. My husband, my sister, my brother-in-law, and I all graduated from Penn State. I also worked there for 10 years. I still have many dear friends there.

Like so many Penn Staters, I spent the greater part of this week glued to the TV, hoping someone would say something that made sense.It is hard to find the words that express what I'm feeling. I am ashamed. I am crushed. Yet my bond to my Penn State family has somehow become stronger through tragedy.

It is probably difficult for anyone on the outside to understand. I imagine it is what family members must feel when they find out that someone they love and trust did something horrific. In the pubic eye, your loved one's shame becomes your shame. The family name that brought you pride is now tarnished, yet your family is still filled with great people that played no role in all of this.

I came across this Facebook post that has gone viral. I'm not sure who wrote it, but it says it better than I can.

"We are… sad. We are… grieving with the families and the victims. We are… brokenhearted. We are… trying to make sense of things. We are… confused. We are… over 94,000 students strong. We are… ranked among the top 15 public universities. We are… the largest student-run philanthropy in the world. We are... over 8,500 top-ranked faculty. We are… hard working student athletes in many sporting events with NO connection to former events. We are… more than 2 university officials and 2 athletic department members. We are… more than this scandal. WE ARE PENN STATE. We have always been more than just a football team"

Working with Master Craftswomen

noreply@blogger.com (Marie Young (Young Creative)) — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 14:13:00 +0000

Little Angel, Raw Cane, by Clay Images

I mentioned in my last post how inexperienced I am at caning, but that I felt I needed to enter the Polymer Clay Artists Guild of Etsy's monthly challenge using the caning technique anyway. I had to expand beyond my comfort zone even though I would be competing against some expert caners.

This angel cane by Berit of Clay Images is a great example from one of those caners. Berit creates canes to use on her own work and she also sells raw canes to other artists. This angel isn't her challenge entry, but a new cane she just finished. The photo shows "reduced" canes. Below you can see how the cane looked before she started to reduce it. It is amazing how the separate pieces go together to become one without losing any detail.

Want to see more cane work: the PCAGOE challenge is still open for voting until Nov. 7. If you vote you could win one of these fabulous prizes pictured below.

unreduced cane

sliced and baked cane on a crochet hook

1st row, L-R: Arrowdale Art Studio, NKDesigns, Juliespace,

2nd row, L-R: JKay Jewelry, Clay Images, Polymer Clay Creations,

If you would like some more information on getting started with caning, check out these articles on the PCAGOE website.

Free Flower Cane Tutorial
The Emotional Thrill of Polymer Clay Caning

Challenging Myself

noreply@blogger.com (Marie Young (Young Creative)) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 23:13:00 +0000

One of the best benefits of membership in the Polymer Clay Artists Guild of Etsy is the fact that we can participate in a themed challenge each month. The challenges are a great way to grow creatively, although I must admit not every theme excites me. This month's theme, caning, is one of those themes that I wasn't really looking forward to.

Caning is a cool technique, and I love to see the complex designs that my fellow PCAGOE members create, but personally I haven't been drawn to trying it. I gravitate to textured and sculptural techniques. Given the fact that caning "isn't my thing," it would have been easy for me to opt out of this one. Obviously anything I create for this one is never going to measure up to the experts in the guild. But these challenges are about competing with myself. Whether it is trying something I've never done before or taking something I love to do to a new level, the challenges provide a forum to push myself.

This snowflake cane is my first cane. It is a VERY simple pattern created from a free tutorial. Am I happy with the result? Well, not entirely, but I am happy that I gave it my best shot.

I encourage you to head over to www.pcagoe.com to see some of the amazing work of true cane artists. Public voting is open in the challenge until Nov. 7. You could win a prize just for voting.

Oh, and today is the start of Art Every Day Month. I can't wait to start exploring what everyone is working on!

Art Every Day Month

noreply@blogger.com (Marie Young (Young Creative)) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 01:02:00 +0000

"Betwixt and Between" by Leah Piken Kolidas

Yesterday I watched the snowfall outside my window. It was a beautiful white fluffy snow; the kind they show in Christmas specials. Beautiful, yes, but for me, the first snow is a harbinger of the long, dark months. I think it was even more sad because it is only October. Far too early.

It is always a struggle for me to create once the days grow shorter and the temperatures fall, yet one thing that helps me prepare for the winter doldrums is Art Every Day Month. The low-pressure challenge, held each November, is the brainchild of artist Leah Piken Kolidas.

Here is how Leah describes Art Every Day Month.

“ I encourage people to make something every day, but my goal is to foster more creativity, so if you make just one piece of art per week or just one for the whole month, that's fine with me. The idea is to bring more creativity into your life, not to make you feel overwhelmed, pressured or guilt-stricken.”

This will be my third year participating. Of course I am under no illusion that I will be producing great stuff every day or that I won't come home from work exhausted and fling myself on the couch. This challenge is more of a reframing effort for me. It is a time to honor nature's rhythms and find a way to ease into winter without surrendering to total hibernation.

Stay tuned and I will share what the month brings. How do you feel about winter's approach?

Witchy Halloween Treat Bag

noreply@blogger.com (Marie Young (Young Creative)) — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 16:16:00 +0000

Creepy Witch's Grocery List

I have an annual tradition of making treat bags for my niece and nephew. Paper bags make a great base. This year I went with a witch theme since I was having so much fun making polymer clay witch fingers. The finger at the top is polymer clay piece that I glued to a mini clothes pin.

The grocery list is created on a free scroll template that I found here. I inserted the blank scroll image into a Word document and then inserted text boxes to add the witch's "grocery" list onto the scroll. I printed it out and used colored pencils to "age" the scroll. I decorated the plain paper bag with Halloween-themed ink stamps. Stop back to read about what is inside!

Witchy Treat Bag and its contents

Read about last year's Sepia photo treat bags:

DIY Fall Camouflage Wedding

noreply@blogger.com (Marie Young (Young Creative)) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 00:39:00 +0000

When it comes to weddings my family is all about DIY. We risk sanity to save a buck, but we also get to put some pretty personal touches on our big days.

The latest one in my family to enter the state of holy matrimony was my baby brother, Michael. He married his girlfriend Ericia last Saturday in a stunning fall ceremony filled with browns, reds, oranges, and mossy oak camouflage.

Camouflage Dreams

To get ready for the big day, each of us took our place at the DIY table. My assignment was chief cake baker. I must admit when Ericia said they were going with a camouflage theme, my eye twitched a little. Camo is about as far from my personal taste as you can get. But when Ericia handed me a satiny camo ribbon with a woodland pattern on it, it felt so sophisticated and amazingly fitting for fall.

The ribbon complemented the gorgeous white wedding dress that my mom created for Ericia. It had a subtle peek-a-boo camouflage fabric stripe up the leg and camo detailing at the bodice. Mom recreated it from a photo that Ericia showed her. Mom also made a camo vest for Michael, rich brown dresses for the two bride's maids, and a precious little flower girl dress for my niece, Jessie. My nephew Ryan carried a camo ring pillow crafted from the same fabric. Mom did all that and still managed to fit in helping with the food and decorations. Talk about stress!

My sister also pitched in with favors and food. She painstakingly created darling paper leaves for on top of the favor boxes using my mom's Cricut machine. Everything turned out beautifully. And thankfully there are no more family weddings in the foreseeable future.

Halloween Treasures

noreply@blogger.com (Marie Young (Young Creative)) — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 01:44:00 +0000

I've been featured in a Halloween Treasures Treasury. I absolutely love this one.

Zombie Felties infect polymer

noreply@blogger.com (Marie Young (Young Creative)) — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 01:32:00 +0000

I absolutely love the projects in the book Zombie Felties. I picked it up even though I don't sew because I could easily see these grotesque cuties infecting my polymer stash.

Books and magazines are a great source of inspiration as well as a terrific way to learn new techniques.The challenge is to use the inspiration to create something that is not just a copy of another artist's vision. You see the copycat syndrome over and over again. A new book comes out and suddenly Etsy is filled with exact replicas of the featured projects. One way to move beyond the copycat syndrome is to translate the idea into a new medium.

Here are my first attempts at translating the felt patterns into cute little Halloween polymer pins. Now that I am getting the hang of creating them, I'd like to start experimenting with new designs. Since these pins are prototypes I'm offering them for only $5 each at Young Creative.

October Challenge: Polymer Clay Mask

noreply@blogger.com (Marie Young (Young Creative)) — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 13:17:00 +0000

The October PCAGOE challenge entries

I've always been intrigued by polymer clay masks so I was really excited to find it would be one of the themes in my guild's monthly challenge. Unfortunately this was one of those months when life got in the way and I didn't get an entry finished.

Vote and you could win!
I popped over to the challenge blog this morning to check out the great entries and cast my vote. Public voting is open through Oct. 7. Here's a peek at the prizes you could win just for voting. Vote here!

Wicked Inspiration: Polymer Clay Witch Fingers

noreply@blogger.com (Marie Young (Young Creative)) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 23:16:00 +0000

Witch Finger Pens

I had been in a slump lately. I had lots of ideas, but none of them "called" to me. Fortunately I stumbled upon a project, Witch Finger Stew, on Marlene Brady's blog that offered me some wicked inspiration: decorative polymer clay witch fingers based on a cookie project she had seen. Very clever!

That project got me thinking about how cute polymer-clay-covered witch finger pens would be. I had so much fun making the pens pictured above that I moved on to jewelry.

All of these finished projects are available for sale at www.YoungCreative.etsy.com along with a tutorial if you would like to learn to make your own witch fingers. And remember, my blog readers save 5% on everything in the store through Sept. 30. Enter the code YOUNGCREATIVESEPT at check out to get your discount.

Witch Finger Jewelry Line

Clay kudos and a discount code for you

noreply@blogger.com (Marie Young (Young Creative)) — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 17:18:00 +0000

This has been a good week. My husband and I are enjoying an albeit rainy stay-cation. This has given me lots of time to clay and catch up on my social media interactions. Plus I received two pieces of clay-related good news.

Free Puking Pumpkin Tutorial

On Wednesday I shared my new Pinterest addiction in the post: Pininterest: 5 Reasons You Should be Pinning. I credited Marlene Brady of Its All About Creating with giving me the push to finally try it out. In return she featured my Puking Pumpkin Tutorial on her blog. It is nice to see this guy, who served as the AC Moore Facebook profile last year for the month of October, get a new round of publicity.

Art Nouveau Fan Brooch

My Pink Art Nouveau Fan Brooch took 3rd place in the public voting in the PCAGOE September Challenge. Read about the winners. Thanks to everyone who voted!

Kelly was extremely touched by the challenge in her honor. Here are her comments: "You cannot imagine how honored and humbled I am to see and read all the entries. Yesterday I was very emotional so I was sobbing while reading everyone's kind words. I came back on a stronger day to vote because then I could barely see thru my tears. I cannot thank everyone enough for doing this and giving me the strength to get through this."

A discount for you:
I'm in such a good mood right now that I decided to offer 5% of everything in my YoungCreative store. Enter the code YOUNGCREATIVE5 at check out through September 30 to get your discount. You could use it on the Art Nouveau brooch, a puking pumpkin wine bottle stopper, or ANYTHING you want.

Barfing Pumpkin Wine Stopper

Pinterest: 5 reasons you should be pinning

noreply@blogger.com (Marie Young (Young Creative)) — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 20:55:00 +0000

My Pinterest Halloween Inspiration Board

My new addiction and five reasons why it should be yours

This week I discovered a new blog and a new addiction when I visited It's All About Creating by Marlene Brady. She showcases lots of great projects, some her own and some by other artists. I liked what I saw so I decided to click on this image in her sidebar to more tutorials.

http://pinterest.com/arteveryday/

The link took me to her Pinterest boards. I've been reading about Pinterest, a site where you can create virtual bulletin boards and "pin" items that you like onto them. It sounded cool, but nothing motivated me to invest precious time there. Nothing, that is, until I saw how Marlene used it. She has boards sorted by tutorials, craft type, holidays, and even marketing and display ideas. The closet librarian in me started to take over. I HAD to pin something. Pinterest is invitation only right now, but I saw a place to request an invite. That same evening I received an e-mail inviting me to join and I've been pinning ever since.

Here are 5 reasons you should be pinning:

1. Visual Brainstorming
How many times have you seen a link or a photo on the web that inspired you? I find myself downloading photos and bookmarking endless links, but frankly those great finds get buried on my laptop. Most never see the light of day again. Pinterest is a visual way of organizing things. It works great for projects because you can set up individual boards for each project. One of my first boards was a collection of fire pit ideas that I can share with a landscaper once I am ready to redo our backyard.

2. Order your world
My dream would be to take a label maker and label everything in the universe. Sick right? I am an order freak, not that my life lets me take it to the level that I would like. I've tries so many systems to organize things. I have folders on my computer that are divided into sub-folders and I still can't find anything. Pinning is a simple way to file things on the fly.

3. Explore Google-free
I love the ease of a Google search. Frankly, I don't know what I did before Google. Yet Google groups things using algorithms. It thinks mechanically. When you explore Pinterest, you see things grouped organically by a complex and individual human mind. That leads to some pretty interesting finds. If you want to make sure Google doesn't feel left out, you can google "Pinterest 101" to find lots of great articles on how to get started.

4. Accumulate stuff, no closet space needed
Pinterest is great if you are a minimalist neat freak with hoarder tendencies. The boards let you amass tons of cool stuff without filling your house to the rafters. It is the ultimate couch potato window shopping experience. It can also serve as a virtual shopping cart for when you are ready to buy the real thing. I have a board filled with dining room table selections. Soon, when I make up my mind, one of them will find its way to my home.

5. Promote your work
While your role on Pinterest is to curate the great stuff that you find out on the World Wide Web, Pinterest does allow you to pin things of your own as well. Many artist have a "My Work" board along with their other items. I think the key, like in any social forum, is to be subtle and keep the good karma flowing outward.

Pink for Kelly

noreply@blogger.com (Marie Young (Young Creative)) — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 21:49:00 +0000

The PCAGOE September Challenge: Pink
Every month the Polymer Clay Artists Guild of Etsy puts on a challenge for our members. Only members can enter a creation, but voting is open to the public and all of the voters are entered to win a prize. I knew there was a lot of work that went in behind the scenes to put on the challenge, but I never really realized how much.

A couple of months ago, our challenge coordinator Kelly, asked for some help. She had been recently diagnosed with breast cancer and needed someone to take over these duties while she started treatment.

We decided to divide the tasks so it would be easier for everyone to fit them in with work and family obligations. We should have done that a long time ago, but no one really realized how time-intensive the challenge tasks were.

When we learned of Kelly's illness we decided to change the theme for September to "Pink." As you can see this theme is particularly dear to us so if you have a few minutes, please stop by the challenge site and vote by Sept. 7.

Vote here: www.pcagoe.com

More Exploration of Mokume Gane

noreply@blogger.com (Marie Young (Young Creative)) — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 15:58:00 +0000

Mokume Gane Fan Collection

Sometimes all you need to kick start creativity is a new tool. In my case it was a stamp sheet that my Mom and sister found at a yard sale. It is a deep stamp with squares of random patterns including a fan-shape.

The technique
When I shared my first exploration of the mokume gane technique, it was the random approach where you stack thin sheets of different colors of clay together and poke holes that are filled with another color to create random patterns when the stack is sliced.

This time I stacked the thin sheets and then pressed the stamp into the stack. I then sliced away the top layer to reveal the fan pattern below. I loved the effect and the fact that each one came out a little different. It became a study of shape and color for me. The color palettes gave each piece a different stylistic feel: Victorian, art nouveau, Miami deco, Asian.

Aquamarine Art Deco Fan Brooch available at Young Creative

Victorian Scallop Pendant available at Young Creative

Art Nouveau Fan Brooch in Pink available at Young Creative

Vote for a chance to win
The pink one is my entry in the PCAGOE September Challenge: Pink. To vote in the challenge, visit www.pcagoe.com by Sept. 7. You could win an original polymer clay creation just for voting.