No matter how hard you try not to catch it, Translucent Fever is in the spring air (in this hemisphere anyway).

Once you come in contact (Marie Segal got it going) then you start encountering glassy pastel examples everywhere. These stacked petal earrings are from Spain’s Manon van Kempen on Instagram. Manon has a feel for flowers and these look just challenging enough.

Though you may not feel you have time to get sidetracked, resisting the urge to play with translucent is futile. Go ahead, get it out of your system. Enjoy!

Last but not least

If you thought you were the only one who worried over their FIMO50 entry, think again. Even Julie Picarello fretted about working in a size and shape she wasn’t used to. “I have never made anything that size before and was honestly a little overwhelmed. I’m just so glad my tile is done,” Julie admits.

What better way to start May and end the project than with Julie’s dreamy colors and ethereal mokume gane? There’s more on Flickr and her website.

If your entry is just getting to the mailbox (the official deadline was extended to May 3), let me know.

Over a hundred tiles from the US have been individually wrapped and I’m looking forward to boxing and shipping what looks suspiciously like a large heap of contraband.

Heartfelt thanks to all of you who worried and worked to help others.

Translucent fever

Last but not least