LOOK WHO'S COMING TO DINNER!

 

 Welcome to our home, Mr. Flicker.

  

We're so glad you could make it.

  

Come on in and take a seat.

  

Enjoy your meal!


With winter in full swing here in North America and a blanket of snow on the ground, I'd like to remind everyone to do what they can to provide food and water for feathered friends. Ideally they should be offered a variety of foods at any of the “big four” feeding stations: ground, table or window shelf, free-hanging feeders, and feeders fixed on tree trunks or posts. 

Now, how about a recipe for a yummy and easy homemade treat for the birdies? 

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POPCORN BALLS FOR BIRDIES

 

Ingredients:

2 quarts popped corn 

¾ cup chopped nuts, any kind 

½ cup packed brown sugar

½ cup light corn syrup 

¼ cup shortening or butter 

Grease a large shallow pan and spread with the popcorn and nuts. Combine sugar,  syrup and shortening (or butter) in saucepan and heat,  stirring,  until boiling.  Set to med-low and cook without stirring until 250 degrees. (Or test by dribbling a few drops boiling candy into cup of cold water. Pinch the sample with your fingers and if firm then its reached the right stage.) 

Remove from heat and add baking soda; pour at once over the popcorn and nuts. Toss rapidly with wide spatula until pieces are mostly coated. Let cool to touch and form into small (golf ball sized) balls. When balls have cooled completely,  tie and hang from trees with string using strong thread and large needle.

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The photos above show an example of only one of the many species of wild birds that visit my feeders here in the Shenandoah Valley. 

And they obviously provide an enormous amount of inspiration for my paintings and pottery! From creamer pitchers, platters, mugs and bowls to tiny ceramic clay goodies like pendants, needle minders and buttons.

Painted Pottery and Miniature Bird Ornaments

Ceramic Garden Signs

Ceramic Porcelain Clay Bluebird Necklace

Donkey Sculpture with Tiny Bluebird

Blue Bird Needle Minder

Hand Built Pottery Bowl

Tiny Blue Bird Ceramic Clay Buttons

To see more of my porcelain and stoneware ceramic goodies please visit Cynthia Crane's Pottery on Etsy. And for my prints and notecards please visit me here Cynthia Crane's Art on Etsy.

Thank you my friends for stopping in today. I hope you'll remember to feed the birdies, too!

 

More Homespun Goodness: A Follow-up To My Last Post

I started my day today by capturing this shot for an Instagram post.

I have a confession to make, my dear blogging friends. I've been neglecting my blog in favor of a new LOVE, and that love is INSTAGRAM. So between that AND my art biz AND my other big LOVE, gardening, I've had little time for my blog. 

However, as I write, my kiln is cooling with a new load of pottery goodness so while I wait I thought I'd share a little of that Homespun Goodness I promised in my last post. (Yeah, I know it was a MONTH ago!)

So here's a little Mirror Makeover for you. I'm really happy with the ingenious way I transformed this rather plain and inexpensive mirror, so read on and I'll tell you how I did it.

A plain mirror gets some pizzaz!

My ceilings are only 8 ft high. I say "only" because my last 2 homes had 9++ ft ceilings and I loved them. I'm used to the smaller height now, but I knew there were a couple of tricks I could do to visually raise them. One was to find a mirror tall enough to rest on my sideboard and still fit nicely below the crown molding. 

Simple materials were all I needed to transform my plain inexpensive mirror.

I found one all right but it was sorely lacking in the decorative detail that I love. My solution - grab a roll of wallpaper border, trim it a little, slap on some wallpaper paste (which I had on hand for my dollhouse papering) and apply it to the mirror's frame. However, this did not go so well. Read on....

What did we ever do before Mod Podge?!!!

With the dry indoor heat of winter the border started popping right off the mirror frame. Luckily it came off intact. That's when I decided to prime the mirror frame and use Mod Podge to re-apply the border.

Cut those corners neatly!

Here's a little corner trick. To get them to meet up perfectly just overlap the strips then cut with an angle rule and a nice sharp blade.

Tada! Love how my new mirror turned out!

I spent the better part of February on decorating the Dining Room in my new home, although I'm not ready to share all the details just yet. But here's a sneak peak for you! Its a little fussy for me and not enough homespun goodness. I'm still working on it! 

**Soon I'll share how I managed to get that gorgeous faux wood look on the top of my sideboard WITHOUT stripping the previously painted finish!

Ok, time to check the kiln! 

Have you picked out your Mother's Day Gifts Yet?

Awww, yes! The kiln god was once again very good to me! Listing tomorrow (Sunday, April 19) at 2:00 pm ET in my Etsy Shop and more pottery goodness next Sunday, too!

Thanks so much for visiting! I'll try not to be away for so long next time, but you can always follow me on INSTAGRAM if you want to see more of Cynthia Crane's Art and Gardening Goodness!

www.instagram.com/cynthiacranespottery

Stepping Out of My Comfort Zone and Embracing Homespun Goodness

"Morning Bear" by Cynthia Crane

Just as Mama Bear emerges from her long winter's rest to enjoy her first cup of morning coffee, I  have emerged from my cozy habitat here at The Crane's Nest to embrace the coming of spring. In case you're wondering where I've been, well I gave myself the gift of a long winter vacation from painting, potterying and blogging and immersed myself in 3 months of homespun goodness.

There were many, many fun little projects that had been on my to-do list for a very long time and this was my opportunity to see some of them to completion. Over the next few blog posts I'll be sharing those with you. So pour yourself a cuppa your favorite beverage and cozy up in your chair while I share a few of those fun winter projects!

As many of you know, we finished a large kitchen renovation last year, and today I want to share a couple of small decorating details I added there this winter.

FIRST UP - VINTAGE TOLE TRAY and PAINTED FRENCH GARDEN JUG.

Something new for the wall above my range.

I'll start our little tour with this lovely green tole tray purchased from Etsy shop VintageKeepsake. This tray was just the thing I'd been wanting to hang above my range.

Close up of new green painted background.

But it wasn't quite the "right" shade of green so I re-painted the background (eeek! gasp! you didn't, says the "vintage purist"!)  This wasn't easy to do, but using my somewhat limited decorative painting skills I was able to add a little more detail to the flowers and leaves motif to integrate the newly painted area.

Speaking of my limited decorative painting skills, I also did up a French Garden Jug to place on the island in the kitchen.

Hand painted French Garden Jug.

I fell in love with a brown painted French Jug on Ebay, but it was priced very high so I thought I'd try my hand at painting my own. I found an inexpensive plain metal jug at Hobby Lobby and with my already existing supply of metal craft paint, that was that. I can't wait for my lilacs to come into bloom, they'll be so lovely in this jug!

Little details make for a warm and cozy and kitchen.

NEXT - CROCHETED SLOUCHY HAT

Time to step out of my comfort zone (painting and pottery) ........... and create some homespun goodness!

Now this was a fun and somewhat challenging project for this crochet newbie. Actually, I've made a few blankies - yes, "blankies" - 'cos that's what they were since I made them in the '80s - one each for my 2 babies, and then nothing else til now. But crocheting is sooooo easy, and the yarn community sooooooo generous, it was no problem to pick back up. Well, that may be stretch......

Here is a photo from blogger Hopeful Honey which shows the lovely slouchy hat I was trying to make:

Chunky Slouch Beanie Crochet Hat Pattern available from Hopeful Honey Blog

Instructions for this hat are free on her blog! Thank you Hopeful Honey!

So I got some bulky yarn, dug out my old circa 1984 crochet hooks and made a slouch hat - 2 of them actually -  one for me and one for my daughter. If I was being honest I'd tell you that the first one I made ended up way too large. I kept thinking, "Hmmmmm, this looks like that floppy hat Jared used to wear in his Grateful Dead days when he had dreadlocks." Jared is our son and in his teens he had the most beautiful long sandy blond hair, stick straight and oh so lovely. But what he did to his hair - ugh! Never mind, I don't want to go there!

So I'm thinking this but not saying it, showing the hat off to Papa Crane, and he says, "You know, that hat looks like one of those Jared used to wear." **sigh**

Of course, garden lover that I am, my hat had to have a flower!

But determined to get it right, after a good night's sleep (Papa Crane banished to the sofa so I had the whole bed to meself), I got up the next morning and re-read the directions. I had made too many rows of double crochet! Duh! No wonder, silly!

This is what comes from trying to watch episodes of "Parenthood" and learning to crochet at the same time! (OMG! I had not watched that show before and LOVE it. So hooked now!)


NEXT UP - FABRIC CUFF BRACELETS

More homespun goodness and stitching 'til my fingers hurt!

For the longest time I've been wanting to try my hand at making fabric cuff bracelets. So after a little shout out to my lovely friend Jill from Etsy shop Fiberluscious I had everything my little heart desired to make that happen. Darling Jill gifted me with this wonderful box of bits and bobs to help me on my way to homespun goodness heaven!

A box of pretties from Jill at Fiberluscious

Jill makes the sweetest handmade pincushions and various other charming homespun creations, and her lovely blog is chock full of photos of these as well as quite a few fantastic tutorials!

Click for Pincushion Tutorial by Jill of Fiberluscious!

There will be future posts on the various things I'll be making with Jill's lovely gifts, including her charming needle felt flowers and leaves, but today I want to show the 2 cuff bracelets I made using some of her fabric scraps, ribbon and lace along with a few of my handmade porcelain buttons.

New cuff bracelets from Cynthia Crane's Pottery!

It has been a very long time since I've done any hand stitching at all and I enjoyed making these oh! so much! The lovely blue pincushion in the upper left of this photo is one of Jill's creations!

New completely handstitched fabric cuff bracelets embellished with my porcelain buttons.

I REALLY want to keep these fabric cuff bracelets, but they're headed to my Etsy shop tomorrow.

So that's only a few of the fun homespun goodies I completed this winter! I'll be sharing much more as time goes on.

But for now I've returned to my comfort zone - my pottery studio - in order to bring forth a few new designs that have been whirling in my mind with the onset of spring.

New spring designs for my Etsy shop! Listing March 21 around 1pm ET.

Of course bunnies are the order of the day, so too scenes of flowers in bloom with bees buzzing all around. These new designs will be listed tomorrow mid-day Eastern Time in my Etsy shop.

New monthly plaques, made to hang or display on a plate stand.

What better time than the coming of spring to introduce my new line of monthly wall plaques. I've only made this one, but special orders are welcome. There will be a new design created for each month of the year.

I hope you enjoyed this little window into how I spent my winter vacation! There will be much more to come as this was only just a tiny bit of what I actually accomplished.

Happy Spring everyone!

Snow Globe Tutorial with Ceramic Miniatures and Micro Glitter

Homemade Snow Globes have been an easy and popular winter project for quite some time now, but I only learned about them recently when a customer ordered 4 custom made ceramic miniature houses from my Etsy shop. She and 3 of her friends have recently purchased their first homes so she made Snow Globes for them as Christmas gifts. Isn't that a wonderful idea! So, since we've been seeing record breaking lows and lots of ice and snow lately which has kept me cooped up in my house, I decided to try one myself and share what I learned.

SNOW GLOBE TUTORIAL

MATERIALS:

1. Distilled water

2. Glitter (I used iridescent white Micro Glitter since I had some on hand.)

3. Assorted jars (I used a Cherchies Champagne Mustard jar.)

4. Decorative miniatures or sculptures. (Be sure that any paint on whatever miniature you use won't fade or dissolve in water.)

5. Foam circles to give a little height to the bottom of the jar, especially if you want the lid to be on the bottom like my Snow Globe. But you can have the jar upright if you prefer. I used some packing foam I had on hand, but some people use Styrofoam, and I think craft foam would work just as well, too.

6. Household adhesive sealant or epoxy glue. I used the sealant since I already had some and its made for aquarium use.

7. A measuring cup or some other clean container for mixing your solution.

8. Glycerin, available at most any drug store. (My grocery store did not have this.)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Cut your foam circles to fit inside the lid, as you may wish to raise up the bottom of your Snow Globe so that it matches the thickness of the lid. Make sure you cut the circles small enough so the lid will still fit on the jar. 

2. Glue one foam circle to the inside of the lid making sure it is centered, then continuing to stack and glue the other circles until you have the desired height. (I only needed 2 circles for my project.)

3. Next, put a generous dollop of glue on the bottom of each of your miniatures and press them down onto the foam disk. Clean up any excess with paper towel and let dry and cure for 48 hrs.

4. Pour some distilled water into your jar leaving a 1/4 inch or so to allow for the displacement of water when you're ready to assemble your snow globe. Then pour this water into your measuring cup.

5. Now its time to add a few drops of the glycerin to your water. About 4 drops for every 8 oz of water will do. Too much glycerin will make the water cloudy and could cause your glitter to clump and stick to the bottom of the jar.

6. Next add your glitter, and here is where artistic license comes into play. A few sprinkles was plenty for my small jar, which only held about 7 oz. of the distilled water.

7. When the mixture looks like you want it, give it a little stir then pour it into your jar.

8. Then just carefully tip your lid with the attached ornaments and screw it onto your jar, being sure it is as tight as you can get it. Now turn the jar over and watch your lovely handmade wonderland come to life! (If desired, you can run a bead of glue around the lid next to glass to prevent any leakage or evaporation.)

If you don't like the color of your lid you can either paint it with model paint (or another other paint for metal) or glue a decorative ribbon or piece of trim around the edge. If painting, I would suggest doing this prior to assembling your jar.

A note about storage:

I recommend storing your Snow Globe in a temperature controlled room or closet.

These are the custom ceramic miniature houses I made for my customer.

 

And here is one of the lovely Snow Globes she made for her friends. How lucky they are to have received such a wonderful handmade gift! 

Please feel free to share your Snow Globe tips, projects and links by commenting to this post, or share this post using any of the links below.

And be sure to follow my blog (see links on the right) to be notified of more upcoming tutorials and giveaways of my prints and ceramic art. My next giveaway will be announced very soon and will be held in collaboration with my wonderfully talented friend Jill of Fiberluscious.

And here is a sampling of some of Jill's wonderful handiwork, available in her Etsy shop.

Sneak Peak – Porcelain In Progress

I've been having such a great time working on my new line of English Staffordshire-inspired porcelain pieces today! This photo shows my work table with a few small ornaments I've just finished glazing which will go into my kiln tonight for a test firing. I have numerous small dishes, plates, platters, teacups and birds, etc. that remain to be glazed, so I expect I will be very busy in my little nest for the coming weeks.

UPDATE: Many of these porcelain ceramic items, as well as my new ceramic jewelry, are now available in my Etsy shop: cynthiacranespottery.etsy.com.

Be sure to sign up with your email using the box over to the right, so you'll be the first to know when new porcelain will be available.

I wanted to share some examples of English Staffordshire china that is available from a few different shops at Etsy.com. Just click each item below to be taken directly to the seller's store where you'll find many more examples of this lovely china.

Boy with Basket
Spaniels
Tea Cup
Posy Pin

Ceramic Jewelry Press Mold Tutorial

This tutorial describes a fun and easy way to create a Press Mold from Super Sculpey Polymer Clay to make ceramic clay pendants, etc. The first step in the process is to sculpt a bas-relief mold from Super Sculpey which is soft and pliable to form but bakes in an oven to make a nice firm mold. The baking directions are on the box. The other materials/tools shown are: pencil, clay carving tools and graphite paper, as shown in the image below. You will also need a mold release agent like a liquid hand soap.


The next step in this tutorial describes how to sculpt a bas-relief mold.


Begin with a sketched design and transfer it to a piece of Super Sculpey rolled out to approximately 1/4 in thick. The design is transferred using the pencil and graphite paper (dark side down). Next roll out and manipulate little pieces of the Sculpey, carving and sculpting as you go to create your mold. Then bake your mold per the directions on the Super Sculpey box. If you bake it a little too long it will being to darken, as you can see in the photo further down this page. But that is not a problem. You now have a bas-relief sculpture/mold which you can press into clay, but for our purposes we need to go a step further to create the Press Mold for our pendant.

The final step in making the Press Mold is to roll out another 1/4 inch piece of the Super Sculpey. Then brush over the baked bas-relief sculpture mold you have already created with the mold release agent (liquid soap) and press this into your newly rolled out Sculpey. Now all that is left to do is bake your Press Mold and there you have it!

To make your ceramic jewelry designs simply brush the mold with the mold release agent and press your clay into the mold. It is best to use a fine-grog or no-grog clay for this technique. I generally use porcelain clay. It may take some experimenting with your clay to get just the right thickness, etc., but it really is a very easy way to create a multitude of molds. And of course you don't have to sculpt your own design - you can use many things around your house to press into the Sculpey to create a Press Mold. I've use buttons, picture frame molding, fabric, etc. Visit my Flickr pages to see some more examples of my ceramic jewelry made using this technique. Happy mold making!