Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve posted! Things are going well here in North Carolina. Winter has been very mild so far, especially for me, someone used to freezing temperatures and several feet of snow. Some days it gets cold, but usually I only need a light jacket if I go outside. Jesse wears shorts frequently.

We’ve settled into our apartment nicely. We have a little table to eat at, but it’s not quite large enough to comfortably craft at (plus I can’t leave things out) so I haven’t been playing with clay as much. I did make pendants for the women in my family and Jesse’s mom for Christmas, though!

They are stamped with textures. Some of them have different colored clay pressed into the impression. They’ve been brushed with mica powder, sanded, and painted with a glossy glaze.

In other apartment news, we will be getting a new loveseat soon. Not brand new, but new to us. Jesse’s parents got it for us and it is currently in their living room. We’ve been visiting them every weekend lately, and whenever we do, I spend most of the afternoon sitting on it, reading. It’s so much more comfortable than the one we have, plus it doesn’t need a cover to look acceptable!

Right before I moved, I tried making some polymer clay canes. A cane is a log or tube of clay that, when cut into slices, reveals a design on the inside. I wanted to make a citrus cane so that I could use the slices to decorate little miniature food items. Plus, a citrus fruit seemed simple enough to do.

My first attempts at making canes ended up turning into giant balls of scrap clay. I would get the first steps done right and have a lovely citrus shape, but when it came time to reduce the piece into a skinny log, the inside parts would twist together and the whole thing would be ruined. I looked online for tutorials and discovered that instead of rolling the piece, you should squeeze, compress, and stretch it. If you start rolling too soon, the pieces that make up the design won’t adhere together and will end up twisting around inside into a big mess.

Last week, I made my first successful lime cane, but when I sliced it, I realized I had chosen colors that were too similar, so you couldn’t really see the design on the inside. (Too much translucent clay = bad!) I tried again the other day, making sure to mix colors that would contrast more. This time, I was successful in both mixing colors and in reducing it to a useful size.

Lime before reduction. It was a couple of inches across.

Two cute little lime canes, properly reduced.

I can’t wait to make some miniature key lime pies so I can put my canes to use!

Saturday was my birthday, so Jesse and I went out to dinner. We went to Cheddar’s, and it was absolutely packed. ECU, the local college, had a football game that day, so there were tons of fans there eating, drinking, and watching the game (which they were losing.) Because of the large crowd, Cheddar’s was sold out of the sandwich I wanted (which was the whole reason for going there.) Oh well! It was fun to eat out anyway, and the food was good.

When we got back to our apartment, Jesse baked my birthday cake. Spice cake with cream cheese frosting, my favorite! It was delicious. ♥

While Jesse was at work, I spent all morning unpacking and organizing things in our new apartment. We’re still missing some key pieces of furniture, but I’m glad to have everything out of boxes and put away.

Living room area

We had to take the cover off the love seat to move it so it wouldn’t blow away as we were driving down the road and couldn’t quite figure out how it fit once we got it back on.

New computer desks. Jesse’s computer will be moving in tonight!

The kitchen has a dishwasher too, and room for a washer and dryer at the end.

Big bathroom counter holds lots and lots of bottles.

Bed with new memory foam mattress top — so much more comfortable! The quilt was made by my mum. :)

The small fraction of my book collection that made it down.

After driving over a thousand miles in three days, Jesse and I finally arrived in Greenville, North Carolina, my new home. We’ve been moving our things over to our apartment over the last couple of days. Tomorrow we will be moving the last of Jesse’s things over, including the most important thing – a bed to sleep in! We have yet to sleep at our apartment since the bed is still at his parents’ house. We’ve been putting off moving it since it’s going to be a challenge getting it up the stairs to the second floor, but we’re going to tackle it tomorrow.

The apartment is in a quiet neighborhood, and is much nicer than I was expecting after years of seeing run down college apartments and dorm rooms. We have a large living room and bedroom, a small kitchen area with space for a washer and dryer, plus a balcony that is large enough to hold a few chairs or even a picnic table. I’m anxious to get settled in so I can get back to my usual routine. It’s been nice having time off from work, but I’ve missed my daily crafting & computer time.