What makes you smile?

That's the topic for this week's Smooshers Blog Ring.  Simple things make me smile: my Calcifer kitty snuggling with me, the beautiful flowers blooming in my yard, the smell of a campfire on a warm summer night.  I find great pleasure and countless smiles in animals and nature.  And of course the Polymer Clay Smooshers guild makes me smile!  The wonderful creations I've seen from my fellow guild members always make me smile.  So I'd like to share with you some of those creations.  I can't go into a single Smoosher's shop without finding something that brings a smile to my face!
This beautiful Orchid magnet from Amazing Designs is sure to brighten anyone's day!  And she offers several different varieties of Orchid magnets, so be sure to check them all out.
 
And then there's Clay Cat Shop- I can't enter this studio without falling in love with just about everything! 
This one is called Loving the Bad Wolf and I adore this sculpture!  So much can be said in polymer clay ;-)


The creations from Desert Rubble always make me smile too.  I love all of her Steampunk pieces, as well as items like this beautiful Fairy Door Pendant (fairies make me smile too). 
 
This sculpture from Fesser Arts is called Love Grows, and it made me smile the minute I saw it.  It's very pretty and would look wonderful hanging on the wall where everyone could see it and share a smile :)
 
There are so many things about the Smooshers that make me smile.  I consider many of the members my friends as well, and I love sharing sculpting tips, mistakes, and creations with all of them.  Take the time to browse these shops and find a few smiles of your own ;-)
-Michelle of CreativeCritters

Almond and Honey Butter low fat cookies

 I just wanted to share this delicious low fat cookie recipe with you all.  I make these all the time and they are SO good!  You can't even tell that they're healthy- LOL

ALMOND HONEY BUTTER COOKIES

Servings: about 3 1/2 dozen cookies

Prep: 40 mins

Total: 2 hrs 30 mins

Ingredients

1 cup  whole almonds, toasted (see Tip)

1 1/4 cups  whole-wheat pastry flour, (see Note)

1 cup  all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon  baking powder

1/2 teaspoon  salt

2/3 cup plus 1/4 cup  honey, divided

1/3 cup  canola oil

4 tablespoons  unsalted butter, at room temperature, divided

1   large egg

1 teaspoon  vanilla extract

3 tablespoons  toasted sliced almonds, (see Tip) for garnish

Directions

1. Process whole almonds in a food processor or blender until finely ground (you will have about 1 1/4 cups ground). Transfer to a large bowl and add whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder and salt; stir until just combined. Beat 2/3 cup honey, oil and 3 tablespoons butter in a mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until well combined. Add egg and vanilla and beat until blended. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients; stir to combine. Refrigerate the dough for 1 hour.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F . Coat 2 baking sheets with cooking spray or line with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats.

3. Roll tablespoons of dough into 1-inch balls and place on the prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Press the tip of your index finger in the center of each cookie to make an indentation. Bake the cookies, in batches, until set and barely golden on the bottom, 13 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool for 30 minutes.

4. Combine the remaining 1/4 cup honey and 1 tablespoon butter in a small bowl until creamy. Use about 1/4 teaspoon to fill each cookie and top with 2 sliced almonds, if desired.

Tips:
Tip: To toast whole almonds, spread on a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees F , stirring once, until fragrant, 7 to 9 minutes. To toast sliced almonds, cook in a small dry skillet over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until fragrant and lightly browned, 2 to 4 minutes.

Ingredient note: Look for whole-wheat pastry flour in the natural-foods section of large supermarkets and natural-foods stores.

MAKE AHEAD TIP: Store in a single layer in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

Nutrition Facts

Calories 94, Total Fat 5 g, Saturated Fat 1 g, Monounsaturated Fat 2 g, Cholesterol 8 mg, Sodium 43 mg, Carbohydrate 12 g, Fiber 1 g, Protein 2 g, Potassium 9 mg. Exchanges: Other Carbohydrate 1,Fat 1.
I originally got this recipe out of an Eating Well cookbook .  Their site has lots of great healthy recipes too.
Enjoy!
-Michelle of CreativeCritters

123 Gemstones- Handmade Stone Treasures

123 Gemstones on ArtFire.com creates handmade jewelry pieces including wire wrapped beaded items.  She started making jewelry in December, 2007 for family members as Christmas presents. Since then making jewelry has become her passion.  She loves to create new items and mix gemstones together for a unique look. Coral, Black Onyx, and Jade are some of her favorite stones.  Some of her customers have said "The perfect touch for my new buckles, just the thing I was looking for! Super-fast speedy shipping, very nice quality and packaged nicely as well. Thanks so much for a great buying experience" and  "What a pleasure to buy from you Julie ! We'll keep in touch for sure ! I HIGHLY recommend this seller for outstanding customer services, great quality of items and super fast shipping ! Everyone should stop and take a look at 123gemstones studio !".  You can also find her online at http://www.123gemstones.com/, and on Twitter. Below is only a very small sample of what can be found in her shop.  She's got many pages of wonderful jewelry, so be sure to stop in and find a few handcrafted jewels of your own!
 
 
 
 
There's just so much to choose from in this shop!  And it's all beautiful!
-Michelle of CreativeCritters

Custom Order Dog Sculpture

Recently I was contacted by a man looking for someone to make a custom sculpture of his dog.  Rudy was a Collie/ Irish Wolfhound mix, and apparantly quite a character.  I was more than happy to take on this custom order, which has very special meaning to the customer.  He sent me numerous pictures of Rudy in a variety of poses, along with several close-ups.  When it comes to custom orders like this, plenty of pictures of the subject are very important.  The pose he chose was seated, with the head slightly turned, like in this picture.

 

You can see how cute he was, and I just love that look on his face.  I'm going to try very hard to capture that happy, fun loving personality.  Creating someone's pet in polymer clay (or any other medium, for that matter), is truly an honor.  I know how important my pets are to me, and I know that many other people feel the same way.  They're an important part of our family.  All of my own pets, past and present, have been immortalized in polymer clay, and those sculptures never fail to bring a smile to my face and warm memories to my heart.

This sculpture is going to be about 7" tall, and I drew out a rough diagram with measurements to refer to as I'm sculpting.  I also spent several days researching both Irish Wolfhounds and Collies.  The customer gave me a very detailed description of Rudy, and which physical characteristics he had from each breed.  Good communication with a customer is very important, and the more information I can get, the better the sculpture will be.
  I started with a firmly packed foil core for both the head and the body.  This cuts down on the amount of clay needed and makes for a stronger finished sculpture.  I coated the foil with Tacky glue so the first layer of clay would adhere better.  At this point the color of the clay isn't that important.  Quite a bit of clay will be added over the core, and I'll paint the details after the piece is baked.  Right now Rudy doesn't look like much, but this is only the beginning.

 

I keep my laptop on my desk and frequently refer back to the pictures of Rudy to be sure I'm keeping the proportions and general shapes right.  This is where all those pictures from different angles really help.

 

Here you can see I've added more detail and bulk to the head.  I plan to sculpt him with his mouth open and his tongue out a bit, like in the picture above.  I want to capture that adorable doggy smile. :)

 

And this picture shows a different angle of his head.  Obviously there's still quite a bit more sculpting to be done before this starts to look like Rudy.  Much of the head will be sculpted before I attach it to the body.  I find it much easier to work with that way.  I've had to take my time with this project, not only because I want to get it just right, but because the weather has been warmer, making the clay more sticky.  When I feel the clay starting to get too soft to work with I set it aside and let it rest for a while.  It does blend nicely when it's warm though, so adding the shaped clay appliques has been easier. 

I'll continue to post my progress on this very special sculpture, and you can watch as someone's beloved pet is formed from polymer clay.  Thanks for sharing another creative journey with me! :-)

-Michelle of CreativeCritters

Noveena- Beadwoven Jewelry, Accessories, and Decor

Check out some of the beautiful beadwoven jewelry, accessories, and decor from Noveena on ArtFire.com! 

Talk about gorgeous!  And her shop is just full of unique and elegant jewelry!  Noveenna can also be found on http://noveenna.blogspot.com/, Facebook, and Twitter. Stop by her shop and check out everything she has to offer!
-Michelle of CreativeCritters

Smooshers theme- Orange

The theme for the Polymer Clay Smooshers Blog ring this week is orange.  So let's see what pretty orange creations I can find!  All of these were sculpted from polymer clay and created by the members of the Polymer Clay Smooshers guild on ArtFire.
This orange and black flower pendant from Fesser Arts is just beautiful!
 
And I really like this Orange Polymer Clay Cat's Eye cane from ArtMakersWorlds.  I make a lot of cats, and these canes would make some great kitty eyes! 
And I just love this orange and white swirled polymer clay pendant from DreamWeaversDesigns.

And finally, I found these bright and colorful orange post earrings from Life Art Designs.
 
I hope all these lovely bright orange goodies made your day a little cheerier!
-Michelle of CreativeCritters

Custom Catnip Toys from CreativeCritters

I've been making catnip toys for years, and started selling them at CreativeCritters a few years ago. You can find a fun assortment of knit and felt catnip toys, along with bags of the dried catnip, in my Organic Catnip and Catnip Toys category.   I grow my own catnip in my garden and use no chemicals or pesticides.  My organic catnip is very strong and I've yet to find a cat that doesn't love it.  For Christmas I made a huge catnip pillow/ kick toy for my own cats, Calcifer and Cedric.  Cedric is a very big cat (about 20 pounds), so he needs a big toy!

 

Sometimes if Calcifer asks nicely Cedric will let him play with the toy ;-)

I shared a picture of my boys with their big toy on Facebook, and one of my friends asked me to make one for her cat.  Of course I was more than happy to make Marley his own toy!  I made Marley's toy a little different (and better) than the original.  It's a little smaller (about 9" long), and was knit using two strands of red acrylic yarn.

You can see Marley's toy has a much tighter weave, and I closed the ends with white string.  I sewed the toy securely shut and sewed the white ties to the toy.  Angelique  said Marley likes to destroy strings, so I wanted to be sure he couldn't pull these out.  In the center of the toy is a sock stuffed with fabric scraps, and both ends have been absolutely packed with handfuls of dried catnip leaves and flowers.  Calcifer was climbing my leg to get at this one!  My catnip has a very strong scent that cats just can't resist!  I store all the catnip toys I have for sale in tightly sealed Ziploc bags to keep the scent as fresh as possible.  When I ship my catnip toys to their new owners I put them in a plastic bag so the scent remains fresh and strong.  The cats can smell it even before the box is opened. 

Now I'm knitting another toy for my friend Andrea and her handsome Maine Coone, Bertie.  If anyone wants a toy like this for their own cat, you can contact me from my Facebook Fan Page or through CreativeCritters.  I really enjoy making catnip toys in all shapes and sizes.  Every cat is different , and they all have their own style of play.  These large toys are perfect for cats that like to grab and kick their "prey".  My own cats have tested all the designs before I made the toys for sale, so I know what cats like!

-Michelle of CreativeCritters