Camera – Ornamento

Home Organizing Tips and My Old Camera

By: ornamento.blog August 29, 2019August 30, 2019

Art, Camera, Memory, Personal History, PhotographyArt, Home Organizing Tips, Photography2 Comments

I spent today cleaning out old paperwork and files that were taking up precious space in my small home. I work fast. I am not one to get sentimental about old tax returns or even the copy of my marriage license that I found buried in a file. And I didn’t find any pictures to take me back to my (not so) wild youth. No cat pictures either (except a blurry Polaroid of my Bridge Kitty Pooky sitting by our old rowing machine. I don’t know why I kept it.)

I have learned some things about home organization in the past few weeks. Tools, boxes and bags that are supposed to help you stay organized are no good if they have nooks and crannies where things can hide. That’s why I spent three years wondering where my miter vise and the wedge to my ring clamp were hiding. They were under my nose the whole time, secreted in one of these. And some things are so big (I tossed this behemoth after I had emptied it) that it’s easer to store the things they contain in a drawer and have done with it. Enough of that.

My cleaning out trip down memory lane didn’t stall due to sentimentality until I stumbled on my first digital camera hidden on a shelf behind some books. (Fortunately for me, I was almost finished purging, so the discovery didn’t derail my good intentions.)

My first digital camera was a Fuji Fine Pix 2800 It only had 2 megapixels but it also had 6X optical zoom which was unheard of for a budget camera in those days (2002). And it took beautiful pictures although the files were small and not really suitable for print media.

Here are some of the pictures I found on the huge Smart Media cards used with the camera:

AfrBeads1

GlassBeads

Afrbeads3

ClaspMaking BeadSwap Barcelona Cat

I took some new pictures of a project I am working out to see if the camera still functioned:

ClothBangle1

I would keep the camera for web-based photography, but I like the flexibility that larger files give. So, I will erase all the media cards, find a spare card reader (the big media cards won’t fit into a standard computer slot) and donate the camera to a thrift shop.

Bye old friend!

Arlene Groch: Polyaddict

Let Arlene Groch’s story be a warning to all of you. “My totally out of control addiction to polymer clay had such an innocent birth in September, 2004”, she recalled. “I bought some clay and a couple of books to share an activity with my 8 year old grandson. He was mildly interested; I was hooked. Within a month I had decided to give up my 30 year career as a trial attorney so I could devote most of my time to playing with clay and attending workshops and classes. I set myself a one year goal of learning enough to be able to begin to develop my own style.” To see more of Arlene’s one of a kind Mezuzah cases and jewelry, go to her site,PolyGemDesigns.

I’m at Polydelphia!

I’m at Polydelphia this weekend!!! To check out my newly designed web site, press HERE. See ya later!

Polydelphia 2008 May 3 & 4

Can it be that this will be the Philadelphia Area Polymer Clay Guild’s 6th retreat? It seems like only yesterday that my guild co-chair Ellen Marshall suggested to me, “Let’s put on a show,” and I said, “OK” without thinking. Now the reins of Polydelphia are in the capable hands of others. including (but by no means limited to) Sue Springer and Sarah Fisher. The good news is that you can can still go. But you’d better hurry. For information, go the Philadelphia Area Polymer Clay Guild’s Website

In the meantime, enjoy this slide show of pictures from retreats gone by.

Mann Beside Himself at Synergy

Ok, so that’s a bad joke. But there were a lot of new and interesting products at the Synergy Vendor Fair. Jeweler Thomas Mann was there with his Studio Flux products. Eberhard Faber brought Efaplast, a microwavable modeling clay that looks very intriguing. I got to examine some of the cured stuff. It seems buoyant, almost cork-like and they say you can carve it and paint it. They recommend you use a dedicated microwave for this product.

Polymer Clay Express was there with their new Bracelet Angle Jig Kits. Wilma demonstrated making bracelets for six hours! Ann and Karen Mitchell were there displaying products for Amaco and had a new pendant roller that I’m definately going to get.

Dan Cormier was there with Cutting Edge Peelers and new tools he developed to expand your Skinner Blend repertoire. Kato PolyClay was there with new liquid clay colors I don’t see on the website yet. Robert Dancik sold Faux Bone and a neat beveling tool to cut it with. I bought one and am going to try it on cured polymer clay.

Here are a few pictures from the fair.

More Pictures from Synergy

The only problem with claiming that you took more than 300 pictures is that not all of them turn out. But never mind. There are some more pictures of old friends and new acquaintances all having a good time at Synergy. And I still have more to come. But someone is going to have to tell me who that is sitting with Melanie West. It’s a great picture of Melanie and I forgot who the other gal is!

Synergy I Banquet.

The highlight of the Banquet on the last night of the conference was Cynthia Tinapple’s keynote speech, Watch Where You’re Going Effects Ripple Out. You can see the slide show from the speech on her blog, Polymer Clay Daily.

The conference organizers asked us to bring items to decorate the banquet tables. Aside from the occasional snapshot of someone wearing something interesting (“Please, would you mind if I took your picture?”) these are the only pictures of polymer clay I took at the conference. I will post more pictures soon, but you can feast on these for a while. And yes, the dessert was as good as it looks.

Synergy I: Looking Back

The National Guild asked Synergy attendees to bring memorabilia to pin on a giant bulletin board in the back of The Big Room. The idea was to commemorate milestones in polymer clay. If I’d been more attentive, I would have noted things like Marie Segal adapting the pasta machine and Judith Skinner’s invention that ranks up there with antibiotics and air conditioning. But I didn’t. I was having too much fun. This is what I got. I hope these pictures bring back some memories for you.

Synergy I: The History of Polymer Clay in Bead Making

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Polymer clay came into use before the Internet and before pasta machines, tissue blades and the other tools we now take for granted. Kathleen Dustin was there from the beginning, so she was well qualified to deliver a talk at Synergy on the history of polymer clay in bead making. (Most of us know that it was originally developed as a doll making material). If you want to see some of the pictures from the slide show, they will be posted soon on the Polymer Art Archive

In the coming days, I plan to put up slide shows from the pictures I took at the Synergy conference. Keep checking for updates. The most convenient way is to add this blog’s feed to your news reader. You can also subscribe by email using the tools in the bar on the right hand side.