This is Pook's Spring Butterfly - bright, colourful and Happy - all things Spring.  I am hosting an after school workshop on June 1st and I am looking forward to creating this cheery little character with the children who will be attending. This creation was inspired a few years ago when I hosted a workshop for a group of elementary children in grades 1-3.  I took a random poll to find out what creature they really wanted to make and the butterfly was the most popular.  I wasn't sure if the kids in these grades would be able to master the art of putting this character together but long and behold they did quite well.  I would love to have pictures but alas I do not as you have to have the children's guardians sign a waiver with their permission - back then, we didn't have time to arrange for picture taking and signatures.   However, this Butterfly is a popular project for a number of my kids and I am happy to be presenting it again this time for my after school crowd - where I have a following of children who come to pretty much every workshop I offer.  This is such a delight for me and I am so thankful for their patronage and support - blessings through and through. Looking forward to making this Happy| Butterfly Plant Pic, I know it will find a special place in the home and heart of someone special in their lives.  

It's hard to believe the soon June will be here and that means the another school year will be coming to a close.  I love Pook's Apple 'n Worm brooch - the perfect iconic gift for that very favourite teacher.   I have been making these little brooches for a long time now.  Both my children have given one or two to some of their favourite teachers during their elementary school days. Some how the Little Apple 'n Worm has become an icon representing school and education. I think this is because (at least in my mind) that in the days of old ( like the days of "Little House On the Prairie) giving teachers an apple or baskets of apples as gifts was common. I just have memory of a young Laura Wilder bringing apples to her teacher of the one room school house they attended in Walnut Grove. I am guessing this was a common practice among many students of the day. So fast forward 100+ years and the apple and the worm icon has become an integrated theme for most scholastic symbolism.  I happen to just really enjoy the look of the granny smith green against the fire engine red and my little worm has a happy and contented look - a happy place for him to be! If you would be interested in placing an order for that special teacher or teacher friend please let me know via my Facebook Page: www.facebook/pookdesignz.com.  I also have an Etsy page: www.pookdesignz@etsy

This is one of my favourite brooches - full of spring time charm and happiness. Spring is here - almost summer and everything is in bloom.  I am looking forward to going to my local Farmer's Market in the first week of June.  So much fresh produce, handmade soaps and aprons, artisan cookies - I simply can't wait - especially for a bite of one of Sweet Handmade's detailed and delicious cookies.  I always cave and get one of Laura's cookies.(www.sweethandmade.com) and check out Laura's Facebook page too!  So it's with great anticipation that the Farmer's Market season is upon us!  Look for me on the weekend of June 2, 2013 - the Market opens at 8:00 am and runs until 1:00 pm (I believe) as well, look on my website www.pookdesignz.com for upcoming events and shows I will be attending this season and what new products I have to offer.  But for now, enjoy this spring season with all its fresh blooms and fragrant smells - lilacs bursting with sweet scents and freshly mowed grass - and as they say, "bask" in the warmth of the sun's rays and soak them all up (be sure to be covered in sunscreen before you do) and just simply take time to just "be".  Happy Spring everyone and looking forward to seeing you at the Bradford Farmer's Market this seaon!



This Mother's Day has come to us rather quickly - I couldn't resist creating a character that would pull on the heart strings of any Mom.  I created this little bear with the children who regularly attend my workshops in mind.  I have been having so much fun teaching and creating with my core group of Pook followers that I thought the symbol of a Teddy Bear would be the perfect gift for my group to make for their amazing Moms.  Looking forward to making this one with my favourite Pook fans this Wednesday at the Old Community Centre in the heart of our town.  Wishing all Moms a very Happy Mother's Day and especially happy wishes are being sent to the Mom's who send their children to my workshops as often as they can - what a gift you have offered your children - the gift of creativity. May this little "Pook" become one of your favourites!

Pook's Sea Lion Workshop

We made Sea Lions last week - two of my most eager students made these little sea lions and we all were pretty happy with the results - Wally the Walrus - you can laugh at me - I am not sure if Walrus' and Sea Lions are one in the same but for our purposes we can pretend that they are - check out their handiwork - my students are 10 years old and have become quite accomplished in sculpting with Sculpey's Bakeshop Polymer Clay!

New styles to Pook Designz Jewellery

In recent months I have been fiddling with new techniques for my polymer clay jewellery.  I am not an Arts Major so I am at a loss as to how to describe the design features or characterestics - they look, I would think, almost "Baroque" in nature - neo-classical - I could be all wrong but intuitively they make me think of these time periods. The other styling or design elements would lend themselves to the luxury of Louis XIV - maybe circa 1500's - 1600's - I am not sure, I just think the gold accents suggest that time period - rich, French, elegant in nature and lavish.  Let me know your feedback - any art majors out there please comment and let me know what styling features these pieces bring to mind!

Pook's Little Green Spotted Lizard

October 2012....

     Wow, still can't believe it.  My classes have been received well and Pook has been busier than ever.  Well, busier than I thought it would be.  Tonight I had just 2 children, and this was totally ok with me - this special pair of friends have supported my classes from the get go - both attend the same school and both just love to make my Pooks - thoughtful, attentive and inquisitive, my eager students are a treat to teach and a joy to be around - they genuinely love to create and I am really happy that they've opened up their schedules to allow me to share my craft and passion with them.  I know they are young but I have a hunch these two will do well in life because they have such a desire to learn and haven't any issues with asking questions and wanting to get out of the class as much as they put in - I'd say they're rather steady and very ready to face this life.  Every week they have wanted to come out and "Pook" (a term coined by our town's Mayor) with me and I think its a blast - really, I am so blessed - to have people as young as these two, who really desire to just sit in my presence and learn about what I do is quite the honour - again, as I have mentioned in prior posts, what teacher has it this good?  I know that in time their interest may wane, but I am not worried, because for now, this season they are geared up for learning about how to work with clay - what an inspiration they are to me and a real "feather in my cap" as I try to launch a fledgeling career in teaching my craft to others. It is a gift - someone once said, that having a vocation is a sign of  'God's favour".  For once, I feel like this vocation is burgeouning, opening up and expanding - who knows where these classes will lead and who knows the kind of impact they will have on my life and the lives of  the children I teach, as they develop their sculpting abilities and expand their creative side.   One thing is for sure, there's a whole lot of fun and learning going on!

I really love my first attempts at making a cake topper - these took me a long time to do, but it was a ton of fun to make them - the bride sent me photos of the dress she would have liked to have bought, but it was far too expensive for their budgets - a dream dress, so she asked if I could make a small version of her in it. Her groom is a chef and she requested that he be put in a chef's uniform - pictures were sent along with  pictures of the bouquets and their personal picture as well.  Being that this was completely my first attempt, I could not guarantee any likeness to their images as I am not familiar with doing faces. Its totally foreign to me, but I did try.  I made the bride's hair in the way of the photos provided. I wasn't even sure of how to  position this couple - I wasn't sure of where I would find a base to put them on - fortunately I found cardboard discs in the cake accessory section of my local Bulk Barn - the discs were around .45cents a piece - I bought three and glued them together and then covered them with silver polymer clay.  This topper took me close to 15 hours to make but it was worth taking the time and getting use to the process of putting clay "people" together.  I hope to do more figures, but will obviously have to figure how to make the time to make them more efficient.  It was a real opportunity for me as this young bride was in a bind and needed a topper within 2 weeks.  Her beloved groom hadn't taken the cues to "get on" this task sooner and when he did approach their wedding cake maker, she was too booked up to make a custom topper too.  Good ol' Etsy saved the day for this bride and since she need someone local she typed in cake toppers and a her locale and the Etsy search engine lead her to my site.  So, I am thankful I had the opportunity to participate in this couple's special day and I know they were delighted and ecstatic that I was able to come through for them too!

A Morning with Davis

A while back, as the school days were approaching summer, I had the pleasure of minding our close friend's son.  He's 11 years old and happens to be one of Pook Designz greatest fans.  He happened to be with me this one morning because his "tummy" wasn't feeling right and his loving Mom called to see if my son, was available to watch him for a few hours.  As my oldest had a full time job for the summer, I informed my friend that he wasn't available - but I was home because I had some figurines to make for upcoming markets. 

    Davis arrived and quietly settled on our family room couch and channel surfed until he found something he liked.  He landed on Sesame Street. Content to watch Sesame Street (although he admited to being too old for this show). He, like me, loves the artistic value of it. The puppets reminded him of my clay creatures and I relayed to him that they have often inspired my work. Their colour and their whimsical and wild characteristics, like the big buggey eyes, the feathers and the fur, really encourage my creativity and he readily agreed that they did this for him too.  I marvelled at him because its not often that such a young person has such a sensitive heart to appreciate and take delight in artistry that can be found in the creative genre of a show like Sesame Street. Both of us tuned in to watch the show being aired.  I, realizing my time was limited, got up to finish my chores.

    As Sesame Street ended, I noticed that Davis was up and about.  I asked him if he would like me to read to him - I couldn't pass up the opportunity to share something from  CS Lewis's Narnia series.  He agreed and found comfort  in our living room rocking chair - I flipped through our large collective volume of all Narnia series, one of my daughter's favourite Christmas gifts, and I asked Davis what Narnia movies he had seen or which Narnia book he's read. He had never read any but he had seen the Narnia movie: The Lion, the Witch and Wardrobe.  We settled on the first chapter of  "The Magician's Nephew".  I thought he would be so enthralled by the mystery of the first chapter that I was surprised to see that he was getting restless.  Hmmm, what else could I offer up him to do?  He seemed to be feeling much better, so surely there would be something I could give him to keep him busy.  We don't have all the fancy channel packages so we were lacking in good television programming and I wasn't going to give any chance to play video games. I wanted him to have a memorable experience while with me.  I know I had some more clay projects to do so I asked Davis to come help me with my claying. Sure, you're probably thinking, "taking advantage of free child labour are you"? Can you blame me?  I thought, "Hey, at least he will be doing something with his hands". Well, his eyes lit up instantly and right away he was quickly heading downstairs to my disheveled studio - full of clay bits and full of creative opportunity. Somehow, the tummy aches mysterioulsy disappeared and I didn't feel so bad inviting him to help me out.

  I got him settled with his own chair and a little work table - tv trays are great aren't they? Right away, he started telling me a lot of things.  Eager, and without ceasing, I listened to his wonderful intentions of building a website with his Dad so he and his friend, James could post pictures of all the clay creations they made and were going to make. This really made my day. Davis chatted a lot to me about what he would like to try with the clay, and he wanted to see examples of marbled clay.  I asked him to help me make "mud" clay so that I would have a layer of scrap clay to cover my foil bodies of the Pookeez so that the finishing layer of clay will be more smooth. He loved the way the colours all marbled when the clay passed through the pasta machine.  With consecutive rollings the clay become a solid shade of some kind of brown.  He was gleeful, and content and right "into it" as some would say.  Seeing that he was really having a good time settled my heart.  

    He has taken many of my workshops and has hosted and attended my "Pook Parties" so he was completely familiar with my simple operation and he was more than happy to help out. This was so encouraging - depending on whether Pook Designz grows - Davis will have a job waiting for him, that's for sure!   I may not be a professional art teacher, but for the accolades and admiration of my work that I received from Davis that morning, this would really stoke the fire in a "teacher's heart".  What a blessing it was for me to share that time with Davis, and to know that I had a hand in igniting his creative spirit.   It's what makes teachers want to teach and love what they do.  So, I have to thank Davis' Mom for needing someone that morning to mind Davis, because in many ways this turned out to be more of a blessing for me than a favour for Davis and his Mom. Funny how life offers up these kind little moments that add depth and meaning and stir the inklings in the heart; somehow ecnouraging what may be my purpose and my true calling in this world: Teaching.