A Beautiful Jesus Nativity Scene

I've been terrible about blogging lately. But I took photos of my one-of-a-kind and seriously beautiful hand-painted gourds Nativity set and decided to share it here today. This little Nativity set is usually the focal point of our Christmas decor.

Click on the photos to enlarge them.


The stable is slightly large for the set, but it adds a nice backdrop at the same time, I think. My husband was so sweet to find the stable and bring it home right after the set arrived here from the artist.

The close up photos that I took this year aren't the best, but look closely to see the incredible attention to detail and careful work of the artist. She is AMAZING!


I admire every piece when I unwrap them each year, and place them carefully with a smile on my face each time. They are special.

And now the bad news.... the wonderful artist who did my Nativity Scene is so backlogged that she's not taking new orders. Bummer! Her name is Helen Eyers and I just know you'll be chafing at the bit once you check out her blog and her beautiful (there really should be a better word) gourds here:

Litte Round Lady Creations

I'm happy that I was able to get this Nativity set from her before she got overwhelmed with orders. Thank you, Helen, I think of you often, but with special enjoyment of your excellent artistry at this time of year.

And Let the Voting Begin!!

Polymer Clay Artists Guild of Etsy's December Challenge - Faux Mokume Gane

The theme for the PCAGOE December Challenge is Mokume Gane. I hope you will click on the link below and go check out the beautiful entries! And please scroll down and vote for your three favorites while you're there.

Click HERE to vote!

Five voters will win prizes created by various PCAGOE artists.

Mokume gane is an ancient Japanese metalsmithing technique which artists in other mediums, including polymer clay, have adapted. The term Mokume gane literally means woodgrain metal or eye of the wood metal, and refers to the elaborate woodgrain patterns which can be created with the technique.

There are many ways to achieve the look of mokume gane in clay. The traditional method is to stack different colors of clay and/or translucent clay and foils, compress the stack, emboss it with a patterned texture sheet, then shave horizontally the raised areas of the stack to reveal the different colors and patterns. It requires a light, but steady hand. If you shave too deeply, you will ruin the pattern. If the cut is too shallow, you won't reveal all of the color bands.

Some artists stack the colored layers and then use a ripple blade to slice vertically, revealing wavy patterns in the clay.

Voting begins December 1, 2010 and ends at midnight Eastern U.S. time on December 7, 2010. Winners will be announced on December 8, 2010 at www.pcagoe.com.

Winning public voters will be notified as soon as possible after voting closes. If you do not respond within one week, your prize will be returned to the pool as unclaimed.

You may also sign up for our monthly newsletter when you vote.

Our members love to hear your comments about the entries. Please take a moment to complete that section when you vote. We also love to hear where you learned about the challenges.

DECEMBER CHALLENGE ENTRIES:



Many of the entries are available in the member's Etsy shop. Click on the member's name or the title link to check any entry you are interested in purchasing.

Thank you again for your votes, and for supporting the Polymer Clay Artists Guild of Etsy. We hope you will join us again next month. The theme for January is "Three Color Combo." We hope to have many beautiful entries to inspire and delight you.