O.K....this has abso-LUTE-ly nothing to do with polymer clay.  However, I just read an email from a friend about this, and it had spurred me to say something.  
My friend (from my polymer clay guild) just wrote and said she may not make the meeting because she had a heart attack.  She said it came on suddendly, and had never had a problem before, and...BOOM...there it was.  She's overweight and her cholesterol is elevated.  How many of us ignore that?  I feel great...I fit my clothes...I sleep well...blah-blah-blah.  How many of us really go to the doctor yearly to check this stuff?
I don't want any of you to die unnecessarily...or stupidly.  check yourselves out...stop eating those GD french fries...or anything fried.  I joined Weight Watchers online a year ago and have lost 40 pounds...feel better...will live longer...and I still get to have my glass of wine in the evening!
I love life, and love being able to live it the way I want...hope you can, too.
Julie

Good god...where have I been?  I've been meaning to sit down for the last few days and just pound something out...amazing how bloggers and facers and all those others think EVERYONE wants to hear what they have to say...boy, do I have news for them...
Anyway, I've been busy reading an absolutely fanastic new book...Ronna Sarvas Weltman's "Ancient Modern."  It really is a terrific book...the photograhy is second to none.  Now, Ms. Weltman does not show any great technical procedures for polymer clay in this book (although I know she knows PC like a pro!).  What she does show is her brilliance with design.  She can take a basic polymer clay technique that a blind beginner could do and turn it into something absolutely mouth-watering!  I suggest anyone who has more than a passing interest in polymer clay (and $24 to spend!) buy the book and devour it.  The photo I attached is what I HAD to do after going through the book...I thought some of her organic beads would be stunning in just black and copper.  I think I was right.  I'm very pleased with it...and anyone can make these beads.  That's another good thing about her book.  She shows a piece of jewelry, then tells you how to make each individual bead.  It's really one of the best PC books I've read.
Have a brilliant weekend!  
Julie

Yes, indeedy...and I can't really put my finger on why it was, but it was...!!
I spent my day straightening out my work room ( I reFUSE to call it a studio!) then making jewelry whilst watching old movies...not at the same time, mind you!  One came before the other.  I am a movie fanatic, and love, love, love the old ones.  Not the silent ones...gotta have some dialogue to enjoy them!
Musicals are my absolute favorite.  I think I can sing every song sung in any musical put to film...drives my husband crazy!
Just finished watching some silly commercial for mascara in which Rhianna was the "celeb" pushing the next greatest mascara on earth...she sure looked beautiful.  However, while watching her lovely face with the ridiiculously "real"... "enhanced" eyelashes, I couldn't help thinking, "Yeah, those eyelashes look real great now, but what happens after your boyfriend beats the snot outta you and you're crying, and the mascara is running all over your face and you wind up in a really ugly police photo?  THEN how much good are the beautiful "come hither" eyelashes gonna do you?"  HOW STUPID CAN SOME WOMEN BE?  And she didn't press charges, and he's "reall sorry", and she'll wind up dead one day.
Been there, done that...got out.
Whew...!  Anyway.  My friend who was selling everything is, indeed, doing so because of the economy and how it's affecting her family.  I ended up buying an awful lot of what she had...helped her and stopped my going to FMG again!  That's what I've been sorting and straightening all day.
Now the rain is pouring again, so I think I'll go sit out on the patio and enjoy it...
Have a super lovely weekend!
Julie

So, here I am at the close of yet another day and I don't feel like I've forged  ahead with any new and wonderful applications of polymer clay.  Actually, I've been having a week-long brain fart...just can't seem to get the will or the creativity to do anything with the clay.  Yeah, I've gone through this before...still makes me feel useless for a while.  I know the desire and flashes of "what if"'s will return...but while I just sit here reading or watching TV, I feel time slipping away.  Boo-hoo...I'll get over it eventually...!!!
A  friend of mine suddenly sent an email out saying she was selling all of her clay, tools, and everything else related to her polymer work.  What!?!?!!  No explanation, nothing.  I don't pry, and I did ask gently why, but I shudder to think that the economy has claimed yet another victim.  Perhaps she will explain...I hope it's nothing too, too serious and she simply wanted to go in another direction.
I realize I don't go on so very much about polymer clay here...however, if there is anything...ANYTHING...anyone ever wants to ask/know about what I've learned over the years, they have but to ask.  I will share anything I've learned with them.
The photo is one of the focals I did...I love making lentils, and I love trying to find new ways to do them...Just adore the green and copper combination....

I admit...I'm a technological Neanderthal...I don't blog (except here), I don't "face-space", I don't "tweeter-twit", I don't "my-pagey-page"...so, I'm an absolute neophyte when it comes to communicating in the modern age.  I don't miss it.  I don't know if there's something I'm missing...'cuz I don't do it.  I don't own a cell phone...if I can't (or won't) talk to someone while I'm home, I don't want to talk to them at all.  I am not now, nor will I ever be, a slave to "communicating" with others.  I could, perhaps, understand the need (though ever so slightly) if I were working or had kids I needed to keep in touch with...but I'm not and I don't...so where's the need to have myself on standby 24/7 for any idiot that gets or has my number?  The recent commercials by HULU (sp?) are brilliant!  "You're brain is turning to mush, and we're going to take advantage of it...!!!"
Anyway...total non-segue:
I love, love, love mokume gane.  For those of you who don't know it, or have never done it, please go to glassattic.com and read all you can.  There are so many, many different variations...and most are totally gorgeous.  One of my favorties is this:
--translucent clay
 --enough to get your job done...you decide
 --I absolutely recommend Premo! Frost - it cures the clearest of all I've ever used or seen
-metal leaf - any color you want
-alcohol inks - any color you want

condition your translucent, but not too much.  You'll know, because it will get really mushy.  If you're using Kato or another more firm clay, run it through about ten times to condition;  Run the clay through the pasta machine as thin as you can get it.  I would suggest you stop at about # 7...you'll get thinner after you've done everything else.
So, cut pieces about 7" x 7", and line them up.  Take your alcohol inks and drop about three drops on each individual sheet.  LET THE INK DRY...I can't stress this enough.  It will take about 30 minutes for the ink to completely dry.  If you don't let it dry, it wil get caught up in your rollers, and then you're going to have to spend  time completely cleaning the pasta machine...not worth the time.  Once the ink is completely dry, blend the translucent-tinted clay completely.  Then set it all aside and let it cool for about 20 minutes.
Run each colored sheet through the pasta machine until it's as thin as you can get it.  continue running through the pasta machine to the thinnest setting you can achieve.  If the clay starts crumbling, rippling, or sticking to the rollers, set it aside and let it rest for about twenty minutes on a cool surface, then run through on the next lower setting.  You may have to do this a few times as you ramp down on the settings, but it's worth it.
Once you get to the lowest setting, you'll need to manually stretch the clay a bit.  By this, I mean exactly what I say.  Stretch it a bit horizontally, then stretch it a bit vertically.  All you're doing is thinning it out just a bit more.  I lay the sheet of clay over my leg so my body keeps it a bit warm.
Cut each colored sheet to about  5" x 5".  Lay a sheet of metal leaf on top of each sheet.  Lay the sheets on top of each other...raw clay on metal foil...then cut the stack in half and place bottom on top, then cut again and place bottom on top.  Once you have a "loaf", you can slice off thin, thin pieces of it, or you can punch holes in it, or you can do anything you want.  Please, PLEASE go to glassattic.com to get more instructions...I can't do it  completely here.  
Hope you're thrilled with the results.  If I've been totally murky on the details, plese write me...
Cheers!
Julie