Clayton Hill Studio

Posted on July 25, 2011 by claytonhill

Welcome home and weekend wrap-up

The twins came home from camp … missed us so much they took 10 steps in the door, dropped their laundry and ‘stuff’ in the middle of the entry and plopped down on the couch in front of the TV … Are you kiddin’? Not their best move …

And then off to work I went. If I can’t say anything nice about this weekend, I’m not going to say anything at all:

… [heavy sigh]

… ???

… [cricket cricket]

… Umm – It’s over for another 5 days!

Studio news: I completed another mobile; round 1 of the new batch of (mobile) toppers came out well; I’m making progress with the bottles …

Decided I wanted to float my troubles away today while relaxing in the pool … am now sporting a new sunburn that keeps asking, “When will you learn??”

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Posted on July 21, 2011 by claytonhill

Heat wave … and other news

Got a reprieve from the electric company … maybe they felt bad for me? With the kilns kicking, I’ve got to be a good customer, right? Anyway – power’s back on as of Tuesday night! YAY!! I spent some time realizing I would not have done well in pioneer days …

Up at 5am this morning to send pups off to their new homes … Always worries me – and I track their progress as they fly. We now have new extended family in Texas, Louisiana and North Carolina – and the pups did great!

Due to internet shopping withdrawals, I placed an order for some sublimatables … I had to – it’s not my fault! Smile Decorated/personalized dog collars, aluminum water bottles, night lights, and glow-in-the-dark tiles coming soon …

Had to run my marble mobile toppers 3 times to finally get them to the right tack fuse, but I now have 9 more ready to form into actual toppers … and the kiln is keeping the studio nice and ‘toasty’ with round-86 of my bottle experiment.

Got through my DARN-SANE call for the week – now nothing to do but stay cool during our heat wave … and mentally prepare for the weekend … maybe a beer would help?!?

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Posted on July 19, 2011 by claytonhill

In the dark …

Have been without power since Monday afternoon … This bites – but I’m trying to tell myself to see the adventure in it … Yeah, not so much. We are fortunate enough that we still have some power (enough to keep the refrigerators, water pump, and a few lights) thanks to a really loud generator sitting outside my all but useless studio … Thank goodness the twins are at camp this week, as it’s tough enough keeping our oldest son ‘entertained’ without electricity … The good news? DTE predicts we should have power by Thursday morning … Oy Vay!!

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Posted on July 18, 2011 by claytonhill

Karate Kid–part IV … weekend wrap up

That’s the take home visual for the weekend …

Here’s the scene: 3 nurses trying to catheterize a centurion female (100+ years old!) patient for a urine sample. One might assume, due to her age she would have decreased mobility and flexibility! Wrong!! In the midst of this sterile procedure, Great Grandma yells out – startling everyone – while kicking one of her legs all judo-style, to have it land on the lead nurse’s shoulder (the one with the catheter), and simultaneously grabbing the second nurse’s butt with her hand and squeezing! The third – seasoned/veteran nurse (read: OLD) has complete control of the patient’s other leg, and a great view of the scene as it played out. I do believe the patient executed a near-perfect horizontal Karate Kid ‘crane kick’!! Most impressive … and funny as hell! We won’t talk about how the seasoned nurse found it impossible to stay professional and NOT laugh out loud!! Smile And – important to note: No harm came to the patient. The nurses will be fine in a week or two …

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Posted on July 15, 2011 by claytonhill

They say the 1st is the toughest …

So true … But – it’s finally done! My glass mobile … After working through some production difficulties, and spending time learning the fine-art of beading wire (with my hand cramping up too many times to count!) … it’s hanging outside the studio, catching some summer rays … (disregard the dead grass – the gardener and I need to chat …) Smile

This first wind chime is for my dad … but as you can see, I have lots of other family members lined up. And now that I have the technique down, I’ll make a few generic (i.e. ‘Welcome’), and one for me too!

But not today … now it’s time to get in the pool!

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Posted on July 14, 2011 by claytonhill

Babies’ Birthday

Had some fun with the birthday kids (the twins) the other day. I have my son convinced [and dreading the fact] that he’s getting a sewing machine and my daughter is getting a tow bar (a ‘man-gift’ … I panicked and that’s all I could come up with on the spot) for their birthday … I went into some long tirade on the importance of my children not being stereotyped into certain roles … I knew I had them when their eyes glazed over, tuning me out as only teenagers can do. Smile You’ve got to have your fun somewhere, right?

Instead, they will get what they’ve asked for … video games, another MP3 (broke the last one, grrr!) and DVD’s … The entire 7 seasons of ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ (WTH!?) … It’s what she wanted, and will free up the DVR – so I’m happy too!

We’ll take them to their favorite restaurant for birthday dinner today (since I’m working on their birthday) … a nice family night out – and I don’t have to cook! (Double Bonus!) We’ll wrap it all up with ice cream cake …

BTW – my baby blanket experiment … it WORKED! Hmmhmphf! Smile I rock (- ok, my research rocks, but still!) … I can now customize a whole lot of fabrics (t-shirts, blankets, etc.) that I couldn’t before … Sweet!

And, I took advantage of our cooler temperatures last night to run the kilns for the first time all week. More mobile toppers (since I ruined the last), letters and medallions … Just waiting for the kilns to cool down, before I reload with my next round of bottle experiments … fingers crossed!

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Posted on July 13, 2011 by claytonhill

An experiment …

I’ve spent some time (yeah, ok, hours and HOURS) researching and learning about dye-sublimation … what you can do, and what you’re not supposed to be able to do … I love bending the rules – if it works.

You’re not supposed to be able to permanently sublimate articles of clothing/material unless it has received a special (costly!) magic coating … HA! I have found a magic coating (hairspray, no less!) that seems to be working. I’ve made a trial blanket for baby. It’s in the wash now, so we’ll see – but this is what it looked like before going into the laundry. After washing, the ‘press lines’ should disappear. Here’s hoping the image doesn’t too …

Ideally – being a gift, I wouldn’t have to wash it, but … sometimes you’ve just got to bend the rules. If it doesn’t work, that’s okay too, as I had some fun in the baby department, picking up a little of this and some more of that to make a gift basket.

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Posted on July 12, 2011 by claytonhill

The lists … now and later

Up at 5:30 this morning, armed with coffee and bagel … ready to plan for the ‘week’. The twins (my babies) turn 14 this week. And leave for camp this weekend. So shopping and packing top the list. Mattie’s babies are moving on to their new homes, Sienna’s babies will be heading out next week … Sad smile So, visits, vet appointments and flights to arrange …

While scoping the ‘net early this morning, I stumbled upon a hobby I’d never researched before … and have no idea why I hadn’t … it’s a great fit for me, I think. And, I already have some of the necessary stuff to play … Just a few needed supplies – oh, and maybe a few pricey pieces of equipment. What is it, you wonder? POTTERY! Why hadn’t I ever thought to play with clay??? Before you groan like DH – remember, for me it starts with books … so I’ve ordered a few. But – I can already see a little nook carved out in the (new) studio for a potter’s wheel and supplies … with ‘Ghost’ playing in the background or the Righteous Brother’s singing on the stereo. Smile

Studio news – will keep tinkering with letters/mobiles and bottles, while I continue to learn about digital editing for heat-press designs. I’m on the hunt for a large (tall) toaster oven for some of my bigger/non-flat dye-sub pieces (cookie canisters) … once you use an oven for them, you’re not supposed to cook food in that oven. Since I really don’t want to develop testicular cancer down the road – I figure I should have a dedicated oven.

And, I’m trying to motivate DH to start a ‘honey-do’ project or two: We have a pond, and I’d really love a bridge over the ‘creek’ that feeds into it. Or … we have a temporary wall (very unsightly) under our deck. I would love that wall finished, with siding and rock façade … HINT, HINT Honey!!

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Posted on July 11, 2011 by claytonhill

Raindrops on roses … helps the medicine go down (?)

Week-end wrap-up:

Some light moments scattered within are what got me through this weekend … While pretty painful during the process – now that I’ve survived it, we had some comical scenes. Lots of unnecessary drama (WHAT IS IT with 20-somethings, anyway???) … And while I can’t get as deep into detail as I’d love to … let’s just leave it with this burning question: Why would a woman dye her [head] hair a bright, noticeable color and then pencil in non-existent eyebrows with GRAY eyeliner? If you can answer that question (connect those dots) – then the rest of her logic would make sense, I’m sure …

Saturday was busy, standing-room-only kind of busy … lots of ambulances, lots of people, lots of traffic. Not life-saving busy, but chaotic (minor lacerations, car accidents, pink eye(s), cooperative intoxicants, chest pains, belly pains, the FLU etc.). And we had lots of cooks in the kitchen this weekend. It’s painful to develop a working game plan on-the-fly, just in time to have a co-worker crush it. By the time I got to plan ‘G’ – I was getting frustrated … But we survived.

Customer-service super-agent that I am … I even replaced freshly vomited-on cubicle-curtains … You have to really try to picture this to appreciate it: An overweight, arthritic-knee nurse teetering on a ladder trying to hang yards (and yards … and YARDS) of material via ‘fish-hooks’ suspended 10+ feet in the air – as no one else in the hospital would do it – and the smell of vomit was overwhelming (… even my non-existent olfactory sense was affected – and protesting)! All because I was the ‘chosen one’ (charge nurse) for the night. I don’t even do that kind of thing at home!

I have one more weekend to enjoy before my friend/confidant/little-sister goes on maternity leave … And she’s ready now, I can see it. But the real unsung-hero that she is … she plugs away – always there, always helping … never griping. [She teaches me – this old dog – ‘new’ tricks!] Love you, Momma!

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Posted on July 7, 2011 by claytonhill

Ahead of the game … ???

Yes – for the moment:

Our weekly Neo pup photo-shoot is done (that’s a lot of photos!)
email correspondence up to date
studio clean and ready for the next project (no small task since I’m still receiving mail order packages)
had a very good gripe session with my therapist/nail tech (… Thanks Jill!) – can now proceed with the summer without fear of beating anyone
am slowly coming to terms with the fact that my co-worker/side-kick (my ROCK!) is soon leaving for a completely unauthorized maternity leave (the occasional panic attack still hits …)
have completed DARN-SANE call for the week
my kiln is cooling down (run for the first time this week!) with new goodies …

And it’s only Thursday – which means I have all day tomorrow to play and prepare for the weekend! The timing is perfect – my burn has turned, so I’m ready for more! Smile