purpleluggage

you can clean you pasta machine regularly without dismantling it. since the "guards" on my machine are removed, the space between the roller and scraping blade is visible. with an orange stick, i slowly and carefully scrape the clay lodged in between them, then turn the machine's handle counter clockwise and wipe the rollers with wet wipes until you don't see any more traces of clay stuck to the rollers. however, if you feel that your machine needs a thorough cleaning, here's one way to do it i used the following tools and cleaning materials, but you can use the ones you're used to.. pliers, orange stick--used for manicures, screwdriver, wet wipes and wipe out. this is the the pasta machine i use. you may be using a different brand so parts may vary. since i don't have a use for them, i removed the "guards" from the machine the first time i cleaned it leaving the "rods" exposed. before cleaning your machine, make sure you hav...

Donna Kato is one of the polymer clay artists i absolutely Admire. her millefiori cane book was the 2nd clay book i've bought, --i spent 2 days of almost no sleep reading it from cover to cover-- & it's also the one i open when i'm looking for inspiration. but since i can't post every page of her book here, ill post a link instead.. prepare to be amazed ^_^ http://web.mac.com/donna_kato/iWeb/Site/Tutorials.html

while most people hate going to crowded places like divisoria and qiuapo, i relish the thought of going there and spending a cool, lazy saturday afternoon walking around and exploring the shops and stalls, and the occassional corner table displaying puppies of dogs you didn't know could - or should - mate. although, i'm not completely numb to the assorted smells that invade my nostrils, i always find enough things to do to make it bearable. i always feel like i'm on a scavenger hunt, where the one with the most unusual find wins. where else can you find swarovski crystals and fresh squid within 20 feet of each other? and i love that every time i go there, i find something i have never seen before, like a dressed chicken with unfertilized eggs still attached to its insides -- imagine shell-less yolks hanging on for dear life -- ; which btw makes me wonder why dressed chickens are called such when in actuality they're stripped of their "dress". and then there ...

most everyone who knows me knows how much i LoOve caning... so here's a little something to chew on =) don't forget to browse the site for more cool tips and inspiring projects! http://www.polkadotcreations.com/books/article.php?id=pdcmf01

.. and so i find myself blogging again, i can't really say i didn't miss this.. it's good to be back! so what can you expect to find here? of course there will inevitably be clay talk ( frankly, my family, friends and dogs are practically bleeding their brains out listening to me), including, but not limited to, tips, tutes, updates, photos of stuff that inspire me, one or two or a few hundred thousand snapshots of my dogs - of course ^_^ -, links and the whatevers in between. first on the agenda, i want to share how absolutely victorious i feel right now because today i found one of the things i have been hunting around for (and at a comparatively cheap price at that).. a digital weighing scale! if you've done clay armies of little, same-sized critters (and you probabaly have!) you know what i'm talking about. it's not easy to eyeball every .. well, ball of clay just to make sure they're all the same size. i think i have become an expert eye-baller, i would...