Hearts!

So here are the heart sets I made for the Smooshers challenge.
The first I call "Heart in a Whirl" and I decided to try something rustic so I went more primitive and then distressed the heart before buffing. I actually kinda like this one, even though I'm NOT a heart girl, I keep saying that and then liking the hearts I create.

The second one I went pastel, again quite unusual for me....I guess I need to stretch thesedays. I was thinking about little girls on this one, pinks and purples, all light and airy so I made this one petite, just 1"wide and 1 1/2" long.

Of course after I finished these I thought about making heart canes and layering hearts onto a regular shaped bead. Monday morning bead artist!

Well, maybe I'll do that next.

Keeping It Zipped!

I hate it! But I am keeping my mouth shut about the latest set of beads, my best yet. I made them for someone special based on something they did and need to celebrate so until she gets them I'm keeping them under wraps.....and I am so not good at keeping secrets when I'm excited, lol!

I joined Artfire's polymer clay guild....the Clay Smooshers and I want to put my two pieces in for the February challenge so I have those to create...hearts, and we know how much I love hearts! So it will be interesting to see what comes out of the clay.

I do have to get back to some bead weaving tonight as I need to restring my hexagonal tile bracelet I sent to Beadwork as a project submission....they want to see the actual bracelet. The second one I did I changed how I strung it and liked it a lot better and knew I would redo the first one at some point. I guess the some point is now.

I also want to make some beaded beads to go with a couple of the bead sets, I really think the beaded beads and the polymer clay ones will work together well.

TA DA!!!! Do I Qualify as Bead Artist?

So here are five of the eight sets of beads I made over the past three days.

The first set is aqua and peach over black, a multi-cane technique with a large focal, coordinating small ovals and rondelles.

Next is a fuchsia/purple, silver & black set created with a technique called 'mokume gane' which is very cool. You layer the clays, emboss it and then shave away the raised parts to show the layers.

The red set is a cabochon and two sets of six co-ordinating beads in three designs. Again multi cane techniques in action. It's hard to see the depth of some of these pieces but some are three or four layers deep done with translucent clays.

The grey set are graduated ovals of black white and grey with some of my green/red/grey kaleidoscope cane .

Finally, a set that may become a signature design for me. I call them "Splitting Pods". More of the 'mokume gane' layered over a marbled base and split to show the inside, which is then textured. Rondelles to match.

So....what do you think? Am I on to something? I guess I'll know when I try to sell them....which I will do as soon as I drill the holes a little bigger.

Saturation Learning

I think that may be the best term for what I've been up to. I think I've read every article and tutorial on making polymer clay art beads. I know that absorbing so much knowledge in a short time (three days) is something people would call crazy or overkill but I have an almost photographic mind and all that info actually takes root. The proof will be in the beads though.

I think the most important thing I learned is that I'm a sander/buffer rather than a varnish gal. The first set of beads I made I varnished and at the time I was happy....not any more! The second and third sets I painstakingly sanded and buffed, yeah, that's the look I'm going for, as smooth and glossy as glass. It's lots of work and I realised pretty quickly that I would soon end up with carpal tunnel if I did the sanding and buffing by hand. So, a trip into Dad's tool shed, a little bit of ingenuity and I have an electric buffer. I suppose I could rig it as a sander too but after learning some pre-baking smoothing techniques I decided hand sanding is best. Also, in my travels to see what all the polymer bead artists were doing I learned that the sanded/buffed beads fetch a higher price.....as they should because even with an electric buffer these beads are labor intensive. The good ones are fetching as much as lampwork glass and I could see them becoming more desirable as the level of detail you can achieve is astounding.

It was extremely encouraging when at class I brought out the wires of my first attempts and the first exclamation was "where did you get those gorgeous beads?" Gotta love that.

I woke up this morning with the idea to sign my beads....they are miniature works of art after all... and how easy it is to do....I just have to make a signature cane and add a slice to each bead. I get to play again today so the signature cane is first on the list. Tomorrow it will be back to pattern writing and I can see now that I'll be working on the reward system....as soon as my work is done I get to play with clay. First on my list today is buffing the two bead sets I made yesterday. Amazingly these beads have even got my Mom interested, she actually keeps popping into my studio to see how I make them and what I've made, that may be a sign that I'm onto something :)

So, stay tuned for photos.

Polymer ~ Then and Now

As I mentioned a few posts ago I'm back to playing with Polymer clay.

My mom dug out this brooch I made her over 25 years ago when clay was relatively new and there wasn't much inspiration out there. Since then I've delved into many things that translate into clay well....quilting and marbling come to mind.

After burning my first set of beads in my new oven due to being over eager (they were pretty too) I think I've worked out the temperature issues and was smart enough to build a 'foil tent' to further protect from burns. The new beads I made last night are baking as I post and I keep sneaking peeks to make sure they are fired and not on fire.

I'm quite excited about the sets I made last night and can't wait to create a necklace from the teardrop green/black/red kaleidoscope set. It will definitely give my beadwork a new look and I LOVE the fact that I can make the beads I can't find. I think I am more colorful when I work with polymer, the colors more bold, just the kick in the pants I need! Of course, these are a lot of fun to make and knowing me I'll make a lot more than I'll be able to use, but that's what I have my Artfire store for, right?

My horoscope this morning was typically a day late and described exactly the day I had yesterday, "a new direction of creativity". So far this new year (and we're only 3 weeks in) has actually been positive even though some things seem to be negative.....silver linings are outweighing the clouds right now.

Revisions & Reassessments

That's what I did at the Bead Society meeting last night. In the first 15 minutes things were reviewed, reassessed, reorganized and voted upon.....quite an achievement in 15 minutes! Of course, when you're sitting there by yourself it's not that big a deal. So much for 'build it and they will come'. I was joined by Annabel after that and we got to know each other, swapped stories did our own little show and tell....a bead society of two.

The main subject for the meeting was to elect a committee who would help run the society, so it remains just me. Yes, I'm disappointed, but I'm going to be positive and just change it all up. I voted that the newsletter was going to just be every third month after a quarterly meeting, I don't have time to write a whole interesting and informative newsletter myself every month and I've had no response to my request for submissions. The core group who are usually at the meetings have joined me for a bead-in at Starbucks a couple of times and I think those meetings are much more popular so I'm making that a regular thing, at least once a month. I'm also putting out a monthly date for a joint bead order....basically if you want me to do it I'll have to have your order and payment by a certain date.

Hopefully that will fill the need and create the beading community I was hoping for, if not, I may have to join the Las Vegas bead society and make the two-hour, each way, drive every month.

I've also decided to drop my current classes to one a week plus the monthly open bead. As it's a core group who attend my classes there's no need really to do a repeat which is what the second class is. So, with all this freed up time I should be able to get to some more profitable endeavors....like the book, the second book...lol! Not to mention all the contests and project submissions on my list. Though I do need to get my classes going in two new locations.

January is supposed to be the month for overhauling your life, right?

Earrings

I haven't made earrings in a while, well, except for the pair I made for my niece for Christmas, so I thought it was about time I made some!

These are based on one of my beaded beads....I fell in love with these matte ovals in a cantaloupe color and they go so well with red. I chose tiny burgundy Swarovski pearls and ruby Swarovski crystals, highlighted them with a little champagne gold and "Voila!"

They actually look very elegant and have a nice sparkle to them...alas not easy to capture with a photograph.