and the winner is......

Remember Amaco had a butterfly contest? Look at the digital display on one of the walls in the booth - I just loved this design!!!

I think the booth was 30' long. Huge. The actual butterflies were on the center panel, shown here to the right.

Ambrose won for under 15. His sister made this one and it looked so stunning on the black velvet background.

Here's a better display of the project's wall:

Ambrose made this one as well, I like how they put them in nice wood frames:

And this is the butterfly he won with. He also made the dragonfly. Totally talented kid!

So huge congrats to Ambrose for making butterflies and a huge congrats to Amaco for sponsoring such a wonderful project. Ambrose gets a crystal etched trophy (I got to see it at the show!) and a $100 check! Wonder what next year's challenge will be!

1,500,000 children died

in the Holocaust. And The Holocaust Museum in Houston has a butterfly project.....collecting a handmade butterfly for each child who died.

And Amaco (bless their hearts!) is sponsoring a contest where you can win $100 and a whole lot more!

The deadline is now November 18.

And I've been having the best time ever helping all my friends make butterflies, teaching them what they can do with Friendly Plastic.....and just playing in general. So, my blog has been long forgotten!!!

This weekend, my sis, Colleen, used Fimo polymer clay to make this butterfly wing:




Then, after baking the wing, we used it to make a butterfly mold.



While she is making her own butterfly.....I decided to make one, too. And I think it turned out gorgeous!



Can't you just imagine having a tree covered with gorgeous butterflies like this? What a great idea for home decor!



So, 10 more days - plenty of time for you to make a butterfly.

One child gone. One butterfly in remembrance. It takes so little time. It means so much!

Naming your butterflies

We have had the most fun naming our butterflies this week. While I can't share photos yet of those that are being submitted, I can share mine.

Now this one was made with 100% scraps. Look at it closely! Nothing but scraps and loads of fun. Do you see over on the top left....the openings with the mesh? So we named her: "That one wing made it impossible to fly"

I think names should tell a story. So why not have fun with your project? Who says it has to be just one or 2 words - give it any name you want!

This next one is named: "Too puffed up to fly". Can you tell we were going with a whole theme here especially if you look at the last blog? None of my butterflies can fly. Hidden meaning - none are being entered since I was one of the winners last year. So see, put a play on the words! Have fun with it! We were just giggling up a storm around here!

And Rose, we named yours for you as well!!!

"Too Puffed" was made with ooze in cookie cutters.....but we also made up our own technique by oozing around a tool handle to create the center part. How fun is that? When you lay her flat, she looks flat....but she's really quite puffed up!


The rhinestones were in the net. The bottom layer was oozed through fantasy fibers. The centers were connected by using the hot water method and then shaped backwards.

I think I need to go shopping and find more things to oooze through. That or make some more butterfly girls! So much to do I don't know where to start!

Deadlines!

Are you like me? You know you want to do something....enter a contest, submit to a magazine.....and you just wait and wait and then you think, "No way can I get that done in 2 days!!!"

????

Gotcha, didn't I? I swear, I always thought I was so guilty of this. I've worked in an office for 33 years and I would wait til Friday morning to create a report that was due at 8 am that morning! OK - I often made the report at 8:15 am.....always a bit late! My excuse....they got the latest information that way! LOLOL!!!!

Well guess what? Amaco has extended their deadline for their CHA challenge to November 18!!! Now, absolutely NO excuses! I have Friendly Plastic here in my little store and you can have it on Thursday if you ship it priority mail. And even if you want first class - you'd have it on Monday!

And I still have 3 of Liz's books and 1 of Sarah's DVDs , so if you need instruction, we can even help you with that.

I'm going to host TWO more play days if you live in Colorado! There's going to be another Friendly Plastic party this Saturday, November 7, in Eagle CO. And then I'll do one on Thursday, November 12, here in Lafayette in my studio. Everything is provided - you just come make a butterfly or piece of jewelry that we can submit to the Children's Memorial in Houston!

Email if you want to attend either of these events.....or if you want to place an order for Friendly Plastic!

I have to wonder how far they might extend the definition of a butterfly for the project! Meet "Miss" These Wings Weren't Meant for Flying!"

Now yes, that's a butterfly cookie cutter I used for her wings with Liz's ooooooooze technique. I just think she is absolutely adorable! I'd like to see a whole series of butterfly girls.....anyone want to join me? And remember, I can't compete - so I'm just giving away all my ideas for you to copy! OK - the doll is Liz's, the oooze is Liz's - my idea was to assemble them to create a butterfly girl and I think she is beyond adorable!

Stay tuned as I've got a few more ideas to share!

I never saw another butterfly.....

UPDATED! Click HERE to see my entry

Click HERE to view a video tutorial for this Friendly Plastic technique.

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Join me in submitting a piece of your art to the Butterfly Project. This project is an effort to remember the 1,500,000 innoncent children who perished in the Holocaust.

Any handmade butterfly will do. 8" x 10" maximum size. Any medium. Should be 2D, not 3D. Flat. No glitter or food products.

You know I have written about my life-altering experience at the Children's Holocaust museum in Israel.

I will be submitting my poem to them with a piece of art. I love that you can use any medium. I'm going to be using Friendly Plastic. And if you email me photos of your butterfly, I'll be happy to post them on my blog.

I hope that you will take the time to create a beautiful butterfly to submit to this project - in memory of a child....who never saw another butterfly.