I’ve been working as hard as my health has allowed me to and have some new things to share with you all 🙂
Tag: Polymer clay
OMG! I Forgot Again!
This is terrible on my part!! Â I feel like a perfect ass on this big screw-up; I try so hard to be a woman of my word and I hate when my disease interferes with me maintaining that goal.
Remember when I got all fired up about trying to get medical support and manufacturer backing for polymer clay physical therapy?
Finally, after having every door shut in my face, I gave up. Â I didn’t have the energy to pursue it after Mark was diagnosed either. Â BUT, I completely forgot to tell you this part!!
I kind of feel like a heel about the results but you all know that my intentions were all good and I was on the up and up about trying to shine the light on how clay has benefitted me, right?!
Well, here’s the thing, I did hear back from one of the manufacturers, Sculpey, and they were extremely supportive of my quest, just not on a long-term basis. Â They told me to pick out what colors I wanted ’cause they were shipping me a one time donation of 50 bars of clay!!
I stated that I hadn’t got anything started yet on the weekly workshops I was hoping for and, therefore, could they make sure the clay was good and fresh since I might have to store it for a while.
Long story short, they said don’t worry about it if I ended up using it myself, they just wanted to contribute back into the community whenever possible, something like that.
Darn it! Â I wish I had posted this story immediately after everything happened so I could remember the details better!!!!
But hey, I’m just glad I could share that with you all 🙂
Sculpey rules!
Some New Pictures to Share
Hi everyone!  My hand is healing slowly and it still is hard to type but I thought I had better jump on here and let you know that I am alive, lol..  I’ve been doing well with my sales at the local hand made  shop, yippee!  I even had a commission for a candle holder to encase the large sized Yankee candle order and she was so thrilled with it that she promised to be back for more.  Lucky me, I have recently had the pleasure of shingles for the second time 😦
Please say a prayer for my eldest brother, Kevin, the one with cancer. Â He has been in the hospital for a week now. Â He went in with pneumonia, original diagnosis, but now they can’t figure out why he is so sick.
I have some new pic’s of the grandkids and the latest masterpieces I’ve created, also a few that are still not quite finished.  I’m most proud of my owls, my new style of dragons and the one for Sara to give her boyfriend for his birthday..  🙂  Much love and many blessings to you all!!  Terri
First for family bragging:
Next for the Artist in me:
Update, New Clay Pic’s and DIY Craft Room Organization
Hi everybody.  I got a call from mom yesterday and she had talked to my brother.  He is going through aggressive chemo’ treatments daily (for 45 days I think she said) and is doing as well as he can with them 😦  Just taking it one day at a time.  She said that they are in no hurry to come back from Florida since it’s in the 80’s down there but thinking around mid-April.
Okay, don’t laugh at my handiwork technically speaking.  I had a kitchen table in here before and it took up way to much of my limited space.  When the grandkids were here, they had to pick their way through and I worried about something getting knocked off.  (Shouldn’t have been so worried about them and more about Mark!  He just knocked off one of the fairies you will be seeing in a minute and broke it in 4-5 places 😦  I glued it back together again, guess that’s a keeper.  Anyway,  I was browsing Pinterest boards one day and came across a tutorial on how to take an old chest-of-drawers and convert it for storing supplies (of course theirs were all nicely decorated, fresh paint…).  I’m not trying to win any contests or anything, lol!
I have a few new things to show you that I’m just finishing up on too. Â Hope you like them.
Peace, love and blessings to one and all!!!!! Â Terri
P.S.  Mark bought me a new desk on the condition that he didn’t have to put it together.  K-Mart had these “Ladder Desks” on sale for $71 clearance.  Sara and I did it all by ourselves!!  Except for the drawer, she and her boyfriend did that for me 🙂  It freed up a huge amount of space and there are not any danger spots now where things will be knocked off.
I’m So Excited to Tell You About Billy Blue
Jeffery, Gerald and Junior awoke to a bright, sunny day. Â After breakfast with Mum, they went out to play
Enjoying the warm gentle breeze, entered into a patch of trees
Junior was whistling a tune, Gerald about the song to croon
But Jeffery’s face turned all pale, Â when hit his ears the loudest wail
Junior only wanted to play, Jeffrey poised to runaway
But Gerald insisted they go see, someone hurt there might be
Off they ran licketty split, yet for only  just a bit
For they ran smack dab into, Â their dear old friend Billy Blue
“What’s all the ruckus about?” Gerald almost had to shout
“Come on, so bad, it just can’t be?” Â Â “Ya? Well my mom’s gonna kill me!”………
Well, what do you think of my Billy and the story teaser? Â I really like this birdhouse a lot and want to live in it myself, lol!
For those of you who might stumble through:  This blog and  its content, whether written words, pictures, designs or discussion there of and all else is copyrighted.  Please do not steal from me.
Here is the full 360:
Dreams
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– Â Okay guys, I’m gonna let you all in on what I’m working on. Â I have a dream! Â Since I started working with the clay last fall I noticed some things: Â it helps my brain communicate better with my hands; it boosts my mood; helps my depth perception; makes my brain work in a straight line to follow directions on tutorials; strengthens my grip; keeps my hands from stiffening up, therefore reducing pain; and more. Â Unfortunately, when I can’t afford to buy any clay, the effects start reversing.
So I began my quest with trying to find a clay supplier who would offer a good discount to artists with disabilities. Â While I was waiting for their replies, the dream began to form. Â I met last Sunday with the lady that lives across the street from mom and dad. Â She has had MS for, I think she said, over 15 years and her’s is not the recurring/remitting kind like mine. Â She just continually gets worse. Â She used to be on the board of the local MS Society and is very knowledgeable about what kind of assistance is out there for us. Â I told her about my problem with keeping myself supplied with clay on a consistent basis. Â She gave me a whole “to do” list of places to call and get applications from.
While I was waiting for the clay companies and the apps, I went to my doctor for a check up and told her about all of this and she gave me a signed statement to use stating that is was a part of my routine for therapeutic reasons. Â After I left there, I started thinking, if I am getting this much benefit from this activity, wouldn’t other MS patients get similar results? Â That started a bonfire of activity in my brain. Â I got back on my Yahoo and sent out a couple more e-mails to the manufacturers. Â One of them contacted me back within the same day asking for a more definitive calculation of my needs. Â I shot one back to them and I’m waiting on their reply. Â Here is what I laid out for them:
My ultimate goal is to get working with clay to be a recognized physical/neurological/emotional therapy and fully support it. Â I need just one manufacturer to commit to being our corporate sponsor and supplying us with X amount of clay per year to use in workshops for MS patients. Â Then I will go to the equipment manufacturers and get one of them to agree in supplying X amount of equipment per year. Â We in return will publicly advertise their support of our program. Â Twice a year we will hold a big wing ding of an auction, televised and all that jazz, to sell the things that are made by said MS patients with the proceeds going back into the MS Foundation/Society for their funding of research for a cure.
Say a prayer that this supplier with come up with an agreement for me!!!  The e-mail from them sounded very promising indeed 🙂  That’s my dream and the reason behind my poem today.
Love to you all!!
Peace and blessings, Terri
Last But Not Least, From The Clay Room
I’ve got a few new creatures for you to look at and then I’ve started working on my caning again.  I love doing it but it’s so hard for me to reduce them once then are done.  With my MS diminished strength and grip, I can’t seem to be able to apply equal pressure on both sides when I doing it and that causes the clay to move differently from one to the other 😦  Don’t know if there is a solution for that.
More Words of Wisdom & Encouraging Days
I have been having a hard time, especially lately with Mark off work, keeping myself supplied with clay. Â I started thinking about who I could ask if the mfg’s offered discounts to the disabled who used clay as part of their therapy. Â One of my doctors has already confirmed for me that it was. Â So i asked one of the polymer clay associations/guilds/groups that I’m linked into. Â It never ceases to amaze me just how many great people I have met on the internet. Â First I start out writing this blog and meet a wonderful group of faithful new friends and now these people. Â Within a short amount of time iIreceived: 4 offers to send me some clay and one lady who designs tools for handicapped artists, called “Sculptools, Â has sent me tools for free. Â Here’s some pics of them :
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-This is her company:Â
~ Blog:Â www.skulptoolstoday.blogspot.com
~ Facebook:Â www.facebook.com/Skulptools
~ Email:Â skj@skulptools.com
~ Twitter:Â @SkulpTools
~Â YouTube Channel: skulpterAZÂ
-All I had to do was pay the postage! Â I pray that God will bless her abundantly for her generosity too!!
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.  🙂  Love and hugs to all and now some more Facebook words of wisdom:
Update On Dad and some New Pics
First, about dad. Â Well, now that we know he is cancer free, he decided to go ahead and have the back surgery done to put “cement” in the fractures of his spine. Â The only thing that I worry about is being put under at his age. Â I don’t know how long it’s been since he’s had any surgery, if ever, and that’s always a touchy area. Â But, I am never without hope. Â As always asking for a quick prayer to be said for him.
Okay, now some new pictures to show you:
Some new little critters:









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This little set is of a dragon that I just finished. Â It is my own design, how do you think she turned out? Â I call her “Queenie” due to space concerns, the
se are thumbnail size but you can click on the