The first contribution to the Shoebox today came from Stella Henyler of Henderson, Nev., via Ann Mitchell, who was our guest a few moments earlier. The picture that Ann gave me was actually sent to her sister Karen following a segment that Karen had done, during which she covered a box with tiles she made from polymer clay. The idea so inspired Stella that she tried the same technique, but instead of small tiles on a small box, Stella made larger tiles and tiled around her fireplace. She also sent before and after pictures. Judging from the photographs, she did an absolutely sensational job. The fireplace looks great (
figure A).
Speaking of being creative with polymer clay, Chris Glasscock of Indianapolis, Ind., certainly came up with a creative idea when she made an entire picture with the popular material. Chris wrote that she kept seeing these segments on the show when guests made beautiful items from the clay but her response was always, "I could never do anything like that"...but one day she got tired of hearing herself complain that she COULDN’T do something and she DID. She took a piece of glass, rolled out some clay, and got to work. She "painted" with the clay to make a farmyard picture of a barn (figure B); then put the entire piece including the glass into the oven and baked according to manufacturer’s directions. The result apparently pleased and surprised her, because she made another one. This one was a snow scene at night that Chris made on canvas, applying the clay as much as 1/8 inch thick (figure C). Amazing!
Also in the Shoebox today was a very sweet letter from Denise Siragusa of Riverside, Calif., who wrote that her passion is pin cushions, and she sent along several as examples. One was a miniature overstuffed chair (figure D), complete with a seat that lifted up to reveal a place for holding pins and needles along with thread. Denise wrote that while she tries many different shapes and items, she most enjoys making pincushions shaped like different kinds of shoes (figure E) or chairs. But the one that impressed us the most was a tiny piano (figure F) made from plastic canvas. And yes...it held pins.
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