Poppy Necklace Set Copyright 2008 Margot Potter
It's time once again for the Linky Love to be showered across the blogiverse! Huzzah! I had an overnight show at the Q, so I'm just a little loopier than usual. Woo hoo! On the way home I learned something truly fascinating on NPR. Did you know that yee means right and haw means left, so yee haw actually means right left. Who knew? Cowboys and farmers knew, that's who! Ya learn somethin' new every day at the old Impatient Blogger.
Above is a necklace set I spent most of yesterday creating. I got this fabulous retro poppy dress at Forever 21 for CHA and I felt compelled to make some jewelry to match. I am a poppy fan, I have had a print of one of O'Keefe's poppies on my walls for years and have had faux poppies mixed with faux sunflowers in some vase or another for the past fifteen years. What is it about poppies? They're so striking, bold, simple, enchanting. This isn't quite as dramatic as my friend Candie Cooper's 
fabulous felt poppy necklace on the cover of her last book, but I like the stark simplicity of this one large flower for the dress I'm wearing. My first large poppy was a bit of a polymer clay disaster, the petals were so tall they started to burn. I emailed my friend Heather Powers and she was kind enough to give me some emergency polymer clay advice. If you need to cook a taller piece, make an aluminum foil tent to protect it! It works! My second flower is nowhere near as luscious as the first, but let's face it people, I was running out of steam and polymer clay. I placed Swarovski lime ab rounds in the center of the flower and then I used gold oil based marker around it so the flower would match the gold centered flowers on the dress. In a perfect world, this would be more perfect, but this is Madge's world where perfection is an anomaly. The earrings are more of an interpretation of the shape/feeling of a poppy, the pendant is actual poppy sized and looks more realistic, sorta. I used an HHH Enterprises metal blank pendant as the base and adhered the baked (and cooled) poppy in it using Amazing Goop. I love that glue! This is a necklace for a gal who likes to make a statement. What the statement is, I don't honestly know. Maybe it's something like, "Hey, look at me, I have a giant poppy on my chest! Don't you wish you had one too?!"
Yeah, I think that's it. I'm still trying to decide if I want to make the gold edges smooth instead of choppy, I'll sleep on it and see how I feel when I wake up. Poppies will make them sleep...
So far the response on the new Impatient CrafterTM video has been stellar. I think we're getting in the swing of things and hopefully they'll keep improving with each effort. Don't forget, if you post the video in your blog, I'll Linky Love you!
Here's this week's sampling of TastyLinksTMwith some Linky Love shout outs:
Vickie Howell is looking for a few good crafters to participate in her new book. You don't need to be a pro, just someone who is passionate about being creative. Get the 411 at her blog:
The Impatient Blogger Madge is in full tilt preparation mode for the Craft and Hobby Association (CHA) Show. ACK!
Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery The Scissors are busy with Summer Sweater Projects
Layers Upon Layers Cyndi got to test some new Golden's digital ground products, and a waxed paper transfer collage is the result!
Crafty Princess Diaries Lesson 3 in Tammy's series on getting your craft work published talks about submitting your work to magazines.
Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world Variety abounds with summer centerpieces, retro gas photos, a sneak peek a couple of fun projects from the new book Felt Inlays, a how to make your own Calligraphy pen from the new book Modern Mark Making and a tutorial on how to convert a photo into a knitting pattern with a free graph of Jon Stewart!
Aileen's Musings Aileen's feeling inspired! Enter Aileen's Artist Manikin Contest and get your groove on creating your own art muse! Click the link to find out the nitty gritty...
About.com Cross Stitch Use these tile patterns for bookmarks, borders, and more - let your creativity flow!
About Family Crafts When you have a day when it is way too hot to spend time outside or when there is another reason you are stuck inside, you can keep busy with these Summer-themed coloring pages.
Thank you to the charming Ms. Ashley of MySpace for putting our Oo La La video on her home page! WOW!
Thank you to the delightful Jafabrit for giving me a brilliante weblog award, which I'm supposed to share. Which I'll do later this week because I'm exhausted and I can't think brilliant thoughts.
Thank you to the lovely Lisa Liddy for posting a link to the new video!
Big thank you to the sensational Leslie Todd for posting the Oo La La video in her blog before vacation!
And without further adieu...I must away to bed. If I've not linky loved you and I should have, email me to remind me to do so! I'm still spinning straw, but the pile is almost spun. Not much further now my little Smurflings...
xoxo
Margot