A couple of months ago, I made a couple of sprig molds of a sand dollar and a little wee starfish. I had found these in Maine and I have them sitting in a little bowl in my bathroom. It’s sort of a nice reminder of the few years that we spent living in Portland, ME. Don’t worry everyone, they weren’t alive when I picked them up on the beach.
When I started looking around for some small things from which to make a sprig mold, I remembered my sea shore findings. Sprigs are basically clay additions that can be added to any type of clay form, ie., tiles, thrown forms and handbuilt constructions. Yesterday, I remembered my molds and thought they might make some nice jewelry, so I cast a couple of sand dollars and star fish. Unfortunately, I broke 2 during the photo shoot, when I dropped the camera lens on them. But, the good news, is, I know how to make them.
A lot of people use plaster of paris for their molds. I simply used porcelain clay and then bisque fired it to cone 04. I push the clay into the mold, let it set up for a few minutes, and then remove the piece from the mold and clean up the edges. Once these are bone dry, I’ll bisque fire these in an electric kiln and glaze.
I attended my every 6 weeks garden club last night and was showered with free plants. The hostess has an amazing garden and since I’m pretty much starting from scratch as of last summer, she had pity on me and shared some of her abundance with me. These are the best kind of plant additions to my yard. I may not remember the botanical name if I were to take you on a tour of my garden, but I’ll remember who the plant came from and say, “oh, this one’s from Deb, this lovely bloomer came from Rachel’s yard and these iris - oh they came from a kindly soul who brought her iris babies to the library, ‘free for the taking’.” My garden is sort of a hodge podge of plants, but a very special place when I think of all the friends who’ve contributed to it. I came home with a poppy, soapwort, sun rose, salvia, vinca, cosmos, and some type of ground cover.
Angela tagged me the other day, and instead of 7 bits about me (because I’m pretty sure that I’ve already said it all), I’m going to give you 7 DVDs that I’ve either seen or am about ready to watch this weekend. I really have to plug the Denver Public Library System here. We don’t have cable TV, nor do we rent any movies. We borrow them all from the library for FREE! It’s a great resource.
- Borat - fell asleep.
- The Devil Wears Prada - had a few good laughs, but reminded me of one of the story lines in the movies my daughter likes to watch. I’m not quite sure why it was nominated for a couple Academy Awards, though Meryl Streep was entertaining and believable as Miranda Priestly.
- Babel - I’m still on the fence on this one. It was painful to watch, yet I find myself still thinking about it days later.
- China’s Lost Girls - Very interesting discussion of what happens when a government tries to enforce birth control.
- The Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan - LOL funny, especially for people who live with unruly dogs.
- Last King of Scotland - a pretty incredible story if you ask me and Forest Whitaker was amazing as Idi Amin.
- Blood Diamond - on tap for this weekend
No tags for anyone, since this one’s gone around a few times….
Have a good weekend everyone,
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