Thursday, June 14, 2012

It's almost here!


The 2012 PMC Conference is just a week away....... and I'm not ready!

The last conference I went to (and my first and only one) was in 2008 at Purdue University in Indiana.  This year it's at the Drawbridge Inn in Fort Mitchell, KY and I can't wait.  The conference is a time to reconnect with old friends and meet new ones.  It's a time to energize our creativity and come home with more tools and supplies than we really need.  

There are pre-conference classes (which unfortunately this year I can't take.)  They take money and we all know how that one goes.  But there are plenty of demos and plenty of ideas floating around.

One of the usual treats of the conference is the charm exchange.  In past years there was a designated time for it, but this year it will be ongoing any time someone asks if you have charms.  At first I wasn't going to participate in the charm exchange but changed my mind today.  (Which of course puts the pressure on.)

The last time I made a charm that represented my state of PA.  (I'm too tired to take a photo of the actual charm.... thanks to the garbage man making me spring out of bed at 4:30 AM to run out 2 1/2 weeks worth of garbage.)  But I have included the card that was with my charm.  (Scanning in the card is relatively quick.)

So, today I was trying to think of what I could make.  My first idea was to make small silver quilts with colorful polymer clay borders.  I made one test piece to see if it would work.  Not bad..... but not good either.  

I did want something that would be my own original design.  So after about an hour and a half of racking my brain I decided to use an old photo polymer plate I had made.  I loved the design which I based on an Ojibwa Indian design.   (I've shown it on the blog in an earlier post about enameling and variations on a theme.)  

I never left the studio until 8:00 tonight, but I did get 25 silver charms made (well, at least formed.  Now I have to sand, fire, polish, patina and finish with a jump ring.)  I also want to make some in bronze and copper.  (No sleep for the procrastinator!)

Maybe tomorrow I'll post a picture of the quilt charm.  (It would be really cute if I would enamel the design or color it with resin.)  But time is running out and my first idea took a lot more time to make than I thought it would so the photo polymer plate is much quicker.

I'll share a photo of the Conference charm and the conference when I get back.  



4 comments:

Zoe Nelson said...

Oh boy! Just a few more days until we get to meet in person. Save a charm for me, and I'll do the same.

Alice Walkowski said...

Will do Zoe. I was thinking the same thing. Do you want silver, copper or bronze?

Zoe Nelson said...

I'm not picky. I just want a memento of meeting you.

Alice Walkowski said...

Okay, will probably be silver. I just may not get the others fired in time. Will see.