This is the pendant that took an entire 6-day workshop to create! And here is the other side:

But I also have a large supply of slices from the cane we learned to build – lots more kaleidoscope items will be coming. And not all of them will be pendants.

The workshop itself was very intensive – 7 AM to 8 or 9 PM with a short break for lunch and a longer one for supper. It was held in Shake Rag Alley – an historical preservation site and art colony in Mineral Point, Wisconsin. A pretty area with very nice people.

I got home last Sunday, but it’s taken me this long to organize the pictures I took and to catch up on the email and snail mail that had accumulated during the week I was gone!

Now it’s snowing and I’ve got the fireplace doing its thing – very warm and cozy.

Etsy has come out with a new search engine for the shops. Just this week I decided to learn more to try to increase the traffic to marcympc – my shop. Now I’ve learned why all the titles of items read like a key word list – that’s pretty much what they are. This clock, for example:

was originally titled: A Unique Desk Clock – Black and White and Red All Over.

Now it’s:
Clock, black, red, white, desk, wall, by marcympc on Etsy.

Not my favorite title, but it’s what Google picks up.

So, two or three at a time, I’m updating all 60 items in my shop, and also considering something called shopads or something like that. You buy space on searches so your items appear near the top of the search. Guess I’ll wait until after I get back from the Carol Simmons Kaliedoscope Cane Workshop to decide whether to invest in this kind of advertising.

Since I’ve posted anything here. Don’t even remember the last time.

My first craft show of the season was Sunday – in a greenhouse, no less. Combining art and gardening, I guess. Fortunately, I was busy watching my table, not buying plants. I’ve been finding it difficult to “finish” my polymer clay items – working with the clay, then curing it is fine, but sanding, varnishing, adding embellishments are all things I procrastinate about. With the fall selling season upon us, best I get busy with those things. After all, a clock without clock works isn’t really a clock – it’s just a pretty tile.

Next week I’m going to Mineral Point, WI, (Shake Rag Alley) for a week long class with Carol Simmons on making kaleidoscope canes. Her work is amazing – I’m hoping to get at least ideas from the class (and also a cane of my very own).