Happy Earth Day and April Giveaway Winner

I've been celebrating earth day by walking around the yard, and taking in and enjoying the sights and sounds of the the earth coming alive after the long New Hampshire winter. Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, apple and peach blossoms and the very first tulips. This is the first happy tulip in my flower garden out front that showed itself last week.

And the winner of my $25.00 Gift Certificate giveaway is...

Erin Prais-Hintz who will receive $25.00 towards anything in my Clayworksnh Etsy shop.  Congratulations Erin, and Thanks Very much to everyone that left comments on my blog and Facebook.  I'll be having another giveaway soon.

To Celebrate Earth Day, I'm offering 25% off everything in my Clayworksnh Etsy shop - until midnight today only.  Just enter code EARTH25 at checkout.

Check out this excellent post by Marsha Neal~ Earth Day Everyday Clay Studio Practices.  Great tips on sustainability and reminders for all of us who work with clay.

April Giveaway Time ~

I'm giving away a $25.00 Gift Certificate to be applied to anything in my Clayworksnh Etsy shop.

Jewelry, Buttons, Beads, Pendants, Shawl Pins and More.  Don't forget Mother's Day is coming up as well!  

To enter, just spread the word, and leave a comment on this post or my Clayworks by Lisa Boucher Facebook Page on the post about this giveaway.

 The winner will be announced here and on my Clayworks Facebook Page on April 22nd!

 April showers brought us a gorgeous double rainbow a few days ago.  

Sea Buttons!

I've been wanting to make some buttons for a while now, so when I was on vacation in Florida earlier this year, I rolled out some stoneware clay and gave it a whirl.  I tried out some of my new glazes on a few seashore buttons...

I think they're a great size for bracelet cuffs, or could be used as accents in jewelry or mixed media pieces.  I listed them in my Clayworksnh Etsy shop. 

Purple Violet and Saturated Iron Reef Wave Button

Sunset Pink, Red Orange, Mint, Crazed Copper and Turquoise Starfish Button

Sunset Pink, Violet, Mint and Crazed Copper Seagull Wave Button

Mint and Crazed Copper Reef Wave Button

Thanks so much for stopping by....  Comments are always appreciated. :)

Some New Spring Glazes!

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend.  Things were a bit quiet around here for us this year, but I did finally have a chance to crack the lid and fire some pieces to test the new batch of Coyote cone six glazes I purchased a month or so ago.

Sunset Pink

 

 Red Orange

 Mint

 Saturated Iron

 Crazed Copper

Violet

I thought these would go nicely with some of my other colors to round out my palette with some similar hues suggested by Pantone for 2012.  I tested them on porcelain and stoneware.  Yesterday was cloudy, so these photos are not stellar, but here's how the glazes turned out.

Sunset Pink - It's very Coral pink.

Red Orange - It's Really Red Orange, Very similar to the Sunset Pink, only Darker.  It will be great for some fall pieces.

Mint - This shade I really like.  A nice light color that looks great on both the porcelain and stoneware. An alternative to my favorite ~ turquoise.

Saturated Iron - A very rich, earthy shade.  I see lots of nice potential with this one. It looks great in the sunflower centers as well.

Crazed Copper - This one is going to be one of my new favorites I can tell.  It's a bit like the Mint, but also reminds me of a lighter Gun Metal green with it's metallic look and the way it moves.

And, last by not least ~ Violet ~ I'm a huge purple fan, and this shade makes the grade.  It looks amazing with all of these new colors, and I know I'll be using this one frequently as well.

I'm starting to list some of these pieces in my Clayworksnh Etsy shop, and the starfish above will be listed in the Beads of Clay Etsy shop.  I hope you'll stop by both shops and see what's new!

Robin's Nest Ring

My daughter Kelsey was home visiting this weekend and yesterday we were looking at some jewelry magazines when she noticed a bird nest necklace.  She said "I've always loved these nests, I want to make one!"  Kelsey who rarely makes jewelry, but is a pretty inventive sort, looked through what I had on hand, chose three oval turquoise stone beads, and proceeded to start wrapping away with some 22 gauge silver wire. I left the room and came back five minutes later and she had magically whipped up this super cute robin's nest ring ~

Sad to say I was not there to witness the process, but she started by grouping the three beads together, and then just continued wrapping the wire around itself, and added a few silver jump rings. She finished it by wrapping a section for the ring.  This was done with very little use of tools as well.

Simple, adorable and perfect for spring!

Inspired by the Circle of Love necklace by Janice Everett (which features a sweet little wire birds nest) in the July 2011 Bead Trends magazine.