Wednesday, October 13, 2010

I'm back!

(Note: this message was originally posted on April 21, 2010.  The date got changed when I moved it over to this blog.)

Sing my song below to Gene Autry's tune........


I'm back in the workshop again
Back where my clay is my friend
Where I make a swirly bead
And the time goes fast indeed
Back in the workshop again

Crankin' the Atlas once more
Couple of bead holes to bore
Where I stay up late at night
Under the old Ott light
Back in the workshop again.

Whoopi-ty-aye-oh
Kato's firm you know.
Back in the workshop again.
Whoopi-ty-aye-yay
Premo's soft today
Back in the workshop again.

Yep, after being away for most of the last four months, I'm finally home for awhile. My latest absence was because my dad's wife died. She was a lovely lady and I will miss her. Because of her Alzheimer's, they had been in a locked floor of an assisted living facility, and my dad was desperate to get out of there. I flew to Arizona, packed up all his stuff in a truck and then drove us 2200 miles to Florida where my brother lives. He's set up in my brother's house, so assuming they get along, things should be OK for awhile.

Today, I actually spent time in my studio making some custom clay cutters. I'm thinking seriously about trying to make a business of this clay stuff, and being an MBA, I think about production costs. I want to be able to churn out some moderately priced earrings and pins, and cutters will help me do that in an efficient manner. They aren't too hard to make. I bought a Cookie Cutter Crafting Kit which contains some light-weight aluminum strips, adhesive tape, and a tools for bending the metal. (Polymer Clay Express carries another kit which I haven't seen) The smaller shapes are harder to get right, but I got a little better with each one. And the nice thing about these is there is no "top". You can cut with either side so you can make mirror-image pieces like the red ones below.



1 comment:

  1. I know several people who bought the same kit and had thought about it and after seeing this post I finally decided to cave in and order it. Already made some and absolutely love it! Thanks for sharing!

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