Polymer Clay Covered Jars from CreativeCritters

My latest adventures in polymer clay involved finding a creative way to recycle glass baby food jars.  And before anybody starts jumping to conclusions, no I do not have a new baby!  I do however, have a cat who needs to take a pill every day.  The vet prescribed L-Lysine tablets to help clear up Calcifer's clouded blind eye.  I crush the pills and mix them with a little baby food and Calcifer thinks he's getting some gourmet treat ;-)  I end up with one or two empty 2.5 ounce baby food jars each week though, and I can't stand the thought of just throwing them away.  So I got creative with polymer clay and started decorating the jars and turning them into fun little stash jars.  I got my fans on Facebook to help me out with ideas.  They suggested things like dragonflies, lizards, and sunflowers.  Here's the result of those suggestions.

 

 

 

The beads were a fun, sparkly addition to the polymer clay!  And I had a lot of fun with Pearl Ex powders as well.  This Fall Leaf jar was dusted with a mix of red, green, and gold Pearl Ex powders.  I just love the effect the powders give!

 

And I just loved creating these Halloween jars!  Of course they've got glow in the dark effects, which are practically mandatory for my Halloween items!  Naturally I just had to create a Jack O Lantern jar, complete with glow in the dark ghost and a black cat.

 

And this is what it looks like in the dark.

 

 Spooky, isn't it? ;-)  Then I made this Halloween jar complete with more ghosts, black cats, and a spider!

 

I included glow in the dark dimensional paint along with the glow in the dark ghosts for this one.

 

 Each of these little stash jars measures about 3 1/2 inches tall and would be perfect for storing beads or other small items.  And not only do they make handy little containers, they're pretty enough to put on display!  I'll continue to create these fun stash jars, since I'm sure I'll have plenty of baby food jars to recycle.  And if you have any ideas for different types of jars just leave me a comment- I'd love to hear from you!            -Michelle of CreativeCritters                  

The Beautiful Work of Kraftouch Treasures on Artfire.com

Marilou, of KraftouchTreasures on Artfire.com, hails from lovely Honolulu, Hawaii.  She opened her shop on ArtFire  12-22-08.  She moved from architechture to jewelry making in order to spend more time time with her 2 children, ages 12 and 10.  Marilou is a self taught jewelry designer and learned design and technique by browsing through books and magazines.  She was also an instructor/ demonstrator on a TV show called Hawaii's Hobbies and Crafts.  This allowed her to explore the world outside her studio.  She teaches jewelry classes as well.  Marilou says, "I have truly found the simple pleasures of life and enjoy making jewelry away from the complicated demands of the construction world which I have given up to attend to the needs of my 2 girls.  From drafting board to bead board, my passion for crafting and jewelry making is such a treasure I hold close to my heart because it allowed me to enjoy the wonderful growing years of my 2 girls."  And that is where her company name, Kraftouch Treasures, comes from.  You can also find her blog at KraftouchTreasures.blogspot.com.  Below are a few of my favorite pieces from her shop.  Click on the pictures to go to her studio.

-Michelle of CreativeCritters

Gorgeous items from BeadAllAboutIt on Artfire.com

Dawn, from Duncannon PA, has been on Artfire.com since 10-24-08.  Her shop, BeadAllAboutIt, is filled with a wonderful selection of top quality, beautiful semi-precious gemstone strands, pendants, and other gorgeous items to create one of a kind necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and more.  Her items offer lots of beauty with unsurpassed quality.  Dawn has been designing for a number of years and in June 2008 she decided to open her own bead store when she was unable to find what she wanted in her local stores.  Dawn says, "It's hard to have a bad day when you're surrounded in beautiful colors and doing what you love to do".  I agree whole heartedly.  Just wandering through her studio filled my head with tons of ideas for new jewelry pieces I could make.  I absolutley love her glass Calla Lily pendant!  Dawn also has a blog at beadallaboutit.blogspot.com.  It's a very interesting blog, and I encourage you to check it out.  Choosing only a few items from Dawn's shop was difficult (they're all so pretty!), but here are just a few of the items available from BeadAllAboutIt.

-Michelle of CreativeCritters