A Beginning

PCAGOE is beginning something new !
This month our regular challenge will be also be a Charity Auction!
We are donating all proceeds to Polymer Clay for A Cause
http://www.etsy.com/shop/PolymerClayforaCause

The Theme is "Think Outside the Box"
All the entries started with the same small metal tin .
Then each participant covered their tin in any way they liked
You will not believe the wonderful variety !
voting begins June 1
ends June 7
http://www.pcagoechallenge.blogspot.com/
Your vote will qualify you for a great prize drawing !
and
You will be able to bid on these Gorgeous little Treasure Boxes !
Please stop by to vote and bid on your favorites !
You can keep raising your bid as many times as you like to win !

These make wonderful gifts and you will be making a much needed contribution to a very worthy cause.

PCAGOE members hope this idea will grow
From time to time ,we will be combining our regular monthly challenges with Charity Auctions
Who knows where this idea will take us
after all, from little acorns come Great Oaks !

below is my entry
"Bloom Where You Are Planted " box and matching magnet
A bit of daily inspiration for special treasures and notes!

Bead Happy , m.e. :)

How Big is the Ocean ?

If you go to the beach this summer and gaze out at the ocean it will probably seem very BIG!
70% of our earth's surface is covered by it!
There are depths of the ocean yet unexplored.
Life forms exist deep in the ocean undiscovered and unimaginable!

My family and I love to scuba dive .The beauty of the vast ocean is beyond description . Two years ago we dove over the edge of the "Tongue of the Ocean",a trench over 6000 feet deep!
Hovering in the water looking down,down into the endless depths was awe inspiring .
I have always thought of the ocean as being very large.
Turns out I'm wrong !

In many important ways the ocean is very small.
Our trash has spread over it.Much of the garbage we discard endangers our sea dwelling brothers. My family visited the Turtle hospital in the Florida Keys and saw first hand the devastation caused by ordinary plastic bags.
http://www.turtlehospital.org/blog/

Our pollution spreads it's toxin throughout the seas. The recent oil spill is seeping into ocean currents . These will spread it even further. The currents will spread oil over precious coral reefs and throughout delicate and important ecosystems .
When my family visits Looe Key reef this summer, will the oil be there before us?
Will my grandchildren be able to share with their children the magic of living coral reef?

When you stand on the beach the ocean does look very ,very BIG
But, we must remember it is, in many ways, very very small.

Be sure to recycle those plastic bags your beads come in
and
Bead Happy , m.e :)

Juggling Time

Were does the time go ?
Most days I don't seem to have enough of it .
I'm forever trying to Juggle time !
When the May ABS inspiration painting turned out to be
"The Juggler" by Chagall
The clock face in the picture immediately caught my eye and the title caught my fancy !
http://artbeadscene.blogspot.com/search/label/monthly%20challenge
Why is it so hard for me to keep my time in balance ?
Technically time is divided into equal segments .
An hour should be a hour ...right ?
But, in reality my hours don't all seem to be the same length.
The hours I spend filling orders and making beads are very short !
The time I want to work with my clay passes much too quickly !

But, the hours I'm counting until I leave for the Florida Keys are very long.The time that needs to pass until I start my vacation just drags by .

There seem to be short hours and fast hours !
And there are moments when time doesn't really matter at all.
There are moments of great joy or great sorrow, when time losses all meaning .

On my new necklace I tried to represent all the measurements of the time I'm Juggling .

Time Flies ...Time stands still ...Time doesn't matter

I just want remember to savor every moment of my Time .
I hope this week you take the time to
Bead Happy ! m.e. :)

Cookies and Clay

No matter what ingredients we add to our creations,
they all contain at least a pinch of inspiration.
Where do we stock up on inspiration?
We get it here, there... everywhere !
We get it from people we meet and places go .
The internet itself is a vast inspiration store .
We may actively seek to be inspired or it might happen when we least expect it.
Usually we are aware of how and when an idea formed .
But, sometimes things just seem to come from nowhere !

Have you ever had one of those "how the heck did I come up with that" moments?
Something must have inspired your creation... but, what?
Usually I don't ponder the question too long .
I'm always so glad when I get an idea ...I don't really worry where it came from!

This week I've been obsessed with making pendants with "thumb prints"
I'm enjoying "floating " very delicate little creatures in the "dent"
While busying myself with these designs I suddenly had an "ah ha" moment !
I realized where the idea came from !
From my diet ! LOL! Really ...it did !!!
I've been trying to loose some weight . Trying to eat healthy . Difficult to do any time for me ! Almost impossible at my workplace . The place is a magnet for every sugary carb laden treat imaginable ! I work for a Veterinarian and our clients seem to think they need to feed the staff.
Much of what they bring us is homemade and soooooooo yummy .
Several weeks ago it was those buttery little thumb print cookies with dabs of jelly .
I resisted . But, I kept thinking how GOOD those cookies looked.
I was dreaming of those cookies for days. Finally they seemed to be out of my thoughts .....

This week while playing around with a particularly pretty clay blend ,I made a little thumb print on the ball of clay .Then I thought ..hum... I could add a little something in that bowl shape! Before I realized it ,I was unknowingly working on a Cookies to Clay design !!!
Many people wouldn't understand this inspiration process .
But, I think you probably do .
Remember a cookie shape ....make a clay pendant .
That makes perfect sense...right ?
My only question is ...
If I was inspired to make this little design by not eating a cookie ,
would I be inspired to make truly fabulous design if I ate some of those cookies ?
If I ate a whole plate full, could I create a masterpiece ? (dieting is hard)

Hope your inspiration this week is Sweet !
Bead Happy , m.e . :)