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.

Special Coupon Code Savings at ThePleasantPheasant until Nov. 30

Okay, am I crazy or what? Noooo but I do want all of you who read my blog and my posts at my various forums to know that I have a special coupon offer running in my Etsy shop until November 30th! It's for an additonal 7% off the listed prices (and no I did not increase them first!). I am using Etsy's new Coupon Codes program for this special sale.

To get your additional 7% discount, you just enter this code when checking out - "UntilNov30th", and the discount will be applied to your order. Easy!

Please also check my previous blog post about the PCAGOE Holiday Promotion (below) to see the wonderful promotion that every buyer (if you are not a member of PCAGOE) will be entered into when ordering from my Etsy shop between Nov. 8 and Nov. 30. It's all too good to pass up, so check it out. I hope you'll enjoy shopping at ThePleasantPheasant!

SHOP AND WIN IN THE PCAGOE HOLIDAY PROMOTION!

YES IT’S ON AGAIN, SHOPPERS…………………………
THE POLYMER CLAY ARTISTS GUILD OF ETSY HOLIDAY PROMOTION 2010.
WIN… WIN… WIN… WIN……..REALLY BIG!!!
How can I win?
Shop in one of the participating stores listed below from November 8th until November 30th, 2010 and your name will go in the drawing to win one of our fantastic prizes. OR send us a postcard - details will be in the Etsy shops' announcements. Purchase 1 item, get 1 chance - purchase 10 items, get 10 chances. Send one postcard, get one chance - send 10 postcards, get 10 chances. This is definitely one competition you will want to be in!
What do I win?
You will win a beautiful Christmas package stuffed to the brim with polymer clay goodies handmade by our members.
There are 3 prizes to win and with each prize pack comes a gift certificate.
First Prize - $75 gift certificate plus prize pack.
Second Prize - $50 gift certificate plus prize pack.
Third Prize - $25 gift certificate plus prize pack.
WOW!
Who wouldn’t want to be in this drawing?!!! Find out all the details by visiting any of the participating shops listed below:

http://www.ashpaints.etsy.com/
http://www.allisonekurek.etsy.com/
http://www.arrowdaleartstudio.etsy.com/
http://www.11boldstreet.etsy.com/
http://www.claycenter.etsy.com/
http://www.createmyworld.etsy.com/
http://www.debbiecrothers.etsy.com/
http://www.elysianfields.etsy.com/
http://www.jkollmann.etsy.com/
http://www.kellyplaysclay.etsy.com/
http://www.laurelsteven.etsy.com/
http://www.mandarinmoon.etsy.com/
http://www.miramecreations.etsy.com/
http://www.nkdesigns.etsy.com/
http://www.peggers.etsy.com/
http://www.polymerclaycreations.etsy.com/
http://www.rengalsa.etsy.com/
http://www.rmkdesign.etsy.com/
http://www.rozpetalzstudio.etsy.com/
http://www.thepleasantpheasant.etsy.com/

NO PURCHASE REQUIRED FOR ENTRY. Please see my Shop Announcement for the rules of the promotion.

A Blue Ribbon Win - Thank You!

^That.. is a blue ribbon! The first blue ribbon I've ever won in my life... and I want to thank all of you who voted for my Winter White Vase in the Polymer Clay Artists Guild of Etsy's November Challenge for that blue ribbon. Picture me last night when I learned about the win, giggling like a little child. It was really fun, so thank you for that.

I want to take a moment to thank some others - my family and good friends. Not just for their votes, but for their endless support of me and of my polymer clay passion for all these years. They are the reason that I've been able to move past uncertainty and see the things I create as beautiful.

Now let me mention PCAGOE... you all ROCK and I love being part of a cohesive group of artists who push me to move along in the right direction, who encourage me to enter my art in challenges, and who help me keep listing things in my Etsy shop.

So I'm off to list some new things... and to giggle some more because in this stage of life, I'm the proud winner of a blue ribbon! Woo hoo!

PCAGOE November Challenge - Seasonal

PCAGOE November Challenge Entries - please cast your vote!!

The photo below is a mosaic of the entries for the Polymer Clay Artist's Guild of Etsy November Challenge. The challenge theme of "Seasonal" for this month was a fun theme to undertake. There were many possibilities, and in my case I chose to represent "Winter White".




Here is my "Winter White" entry for this month:


(click on the photo to enlarge)

Please vote for your three favorites here: PCAGOE Blog from November 1st through November 7th and you could win a beautiful polymer clay prize created by one of our talented member artists.

Please click on the photos to enlarge. You can view the entries at the PCAGOE blog link above and click on each entry to view larger.

Thank you for voting.

Southwestern Theme for October Challenge - PCAGOE

The Polymer Clay Artist's Guild of Etsy has opened voting for the October Southwestern Challenge. The entries are fantastic!! Please take a few minutes to look at each entry and vote for your 3 favorites.

Five lucky voters will receive a prize from this month's PCAGOE prize pool. Good luck!

Below is a mosaic photo of the all entries, but you can go to the PCAGOE Challenge blog to vote.

Click on the photo for a larger view:


It is a wonderful challenge, hope you enjoy all the interesting and beautiful art work here.