Always can use more beads

I  spent a very nice morning the other day with my guildie Patricia.
    We browsed around Hobby Lobby, where I picked up a few findings and some much needed silver colored wire. Wish I could afford the real stuff ...
    After a bit of luncheon and pleasant conversation, we got down to business - a Bead Exchange!
    Patricia was interested in my fire lizard egg beads and I was anxious to see what she had done lately.
    This is one of the things I love about the medium of polymer clay.  You can give several artists the same color blocks of clay and you will get something completely different from each one. That is certainly true of Patricia and me.  Our design aesthetics are totally different. I like bright, in your face colors, while she works in a more subdued color palette.
     For some reason, I was really attracted to her faux amber beads.  Don't know why, don't have anything in my closet to wear with them ... so, of course, I went straight home and made up earrings from them.  Now I will have to go shopping for clothing to match (hee, hee).
      I have seen photo collages on other blogs and Flickr so attempted to make one showcasing the earrings I made using Patricia's beads.  It took longer to try to figure out how to do it than it did to take the pictures.  I am so not a computer geek.

Luckily, my favorite earrings went into the center the first time.

Thank you Patricia, for a lovely morning. See you Saturday at the NWPCG Clay Camp.
   

My Vicarious Claim to Fame

As I touched on in yesterday's blog, sometimes I get to meet in person an artist who's work I have admired on-line. Today at the Whole Bead Show in Lynnwood, I got a chance to do just that.
  I first became aware of Kristi Bowman last year, during the "52 earrings in a year" challenge.  I got a chance to see some of her work in person last November during an artwalk in Edmonds, Washington. This lead to the purchase of a set of earrings that I love and get many compliments on.
   Today when I visited her booth, I noticed familiar earrings on her display.  I couldn't believe these had not sold long ago!  Needless to say, I had to think for less than a minute before I snapped them up.  I am not a huge fan of the current trend to incorporate fabric and ribbons into jewelery, but Kristi does it in a subdued manner that enhances the design rather than overpowering it.

And yes, I did post the picture that Kristi took of them rather than retake one of my own. I wish I could take photos this well.  Mine would not do them justice.

 I also picked up a number of her copper findings.  I can't wait to see what I can design using them.
 AND Kristi has just starting using polymer!  And for a beginner, she rocks it.  Her look is what I would describe as 'primative', which looks deceptively easy - but I know from experience, the primitive look is hard to achieve.
   A link to her blog can be found in "My Favorite Things" listing.
 

Beads and more beads

After almost a month away due to illness and major family issues, I finally made it back into the studio.
Before getting sick, I had started a couple of veneers using the Controlled Marbling tutorial by Lynda Mosely.  Sunday, I had the chance to make them into beads, rather than the gorgeous pendants she is known for.
   This time I used a combination of light blue, yellow and ecru, interspersed with white.  I really like the light green color that appeared where the yellow and blue mixed.  I did not add any details to the veneer.

 Had a small strip at the end of this veneer where the colors blended together too much for actual stripes to appear. I added a few inlays from an old swirl cane for a bit of color.

Only had a tiny bit of this color combo.  I really like it.  Two matching beads for an earring set  And one lone bead for who knows what.  I have a box of "who knows what" beads that is set aside for "something" in the future.  Maybe I will use them in Lori Anderson's Bead Hoarders Challenge in July.  We'll see.

 I have found that in this technique, there are sometimes places at the ends of the veneer sheets, where the colors are no longer distinct.  I discovered that sometimes, these over blended areas have the prettiest colors. Add slices of an old bulleyes cane from my tiny cane stash (I really gotta try caning again - maybe I will be more successful now that I understand clay better than I did in 2006).
 

After these beads were made and baking in the oven, I still had urges and fiddly fingers.  An open package of translucent clay was sitting on my table, so I got out the inks and went to town.  Laid down some gold foil on a small sheet of translucent clay, rolled it through successively smaller settings on the PM, turning it 90 degrees each time to crackle the foil.  When it was thin enough, I got out my inks and colored it (used Butterscotch and Plum this time).  After the inks dried (boy, I so had to be patient here - used the drying time to finish my previously made beads with LPC, zap with heat gun and rebaked to a shiny luster), I I used the sheet to veneer white bead cores. The gold foil adds a real sparkle to the beads, and I am very happy with the depth of color.  The pictures just can't show that.

I call these my Fire Lizard eggs (homage to Pern)

This weekend promises to be a nice one here in the Pacific Northwest. Good weekend for visiting the Whole Bead Show in Lynnwood.  I will be able to visit the booths of several artists that I have "meet" on line and see their work in person.  I love how this medium has connected so many people with common interests.  Some live in my area and I may be lucky enough to connect in person with them over the course of time. Some live in other countries, and I will probably never meet face to face, but can get to know a bit through the Internet.  I guess I am feeling my age, as I still marvel at this. The beads I just made would not be possible with the Internet.  Lynda lives in South Carolina ... me, outside Seattle.  We would never have "meet" without the computer.  Maybe younger people, who grew up always having computers, can't relate to how marvelous this really is. ( OMG! ... I have become my parents .... when I was your age  .... walked to school, in the snow, uphill - both ways!!!  he,he)

TODAY IS THE DAY! BSBP REVEAL #3

The long awaited day is finally here!  Time to reveal my Bead Soup to the world.
  For those who do not know, the Bead Soup Blog Party is the brainchild of Lori Anderson of Pretty Things.  What started out as a small bead exchange/challenge has turned into a worldwide event. This year there are over 500 of us - so many that it necessary to divide the reveal into 3 separate days.
   The rules are simple:  Lori pairs those that sign  up with a bead partner (it is a great way to meet people).  We exchange beads (no white elephants -send what you would like to get yourself). The exchange must include a focal and a nice clasp (no lobster claw please).  These two items must be incorporated into your pieces, but other than that, the sky is the limit.
   My lovely bead partner this year was Stepha Stamper of Rainy Day Designs.  Here is a reminder of what she sent.

Got my Party hat and ready to go!

  Hop over to her site, and check out what she made from my soup.

I was feeling very green when I made these for Stepha.

  The complete listing of all the participates and their links can be found at http://www.prettythingsblog.com/

 My first design went together so fast, it really surprised me.  I normally take forever to think and try all sorts of different designs.  This just sprang full bore from my brain.  You probably can't see it, but I painted the center dots of metal beads green with Vintaj Patina  to tie them into the green of the beads.

Here is the back, using the clasp that Stepha sent.

After that design came so easily, the Beading Goddess decided that my Muse needed to take a vacation. The focal really threw me for a loop. Nothing I tried was working. I really was glad that I'd had the extra time, as it wasn't till the last minute that I finally came up with an idea that wasn't totally hideous.  Back in November, my Polymer Guild had a gift show. Someone brought a Kumihimo loom to work on a piece during down time. The next day, a bunch of us (including yours truly) brought their own looms and we had a Kumihimo party going.  Just by a happy coincidence, the colors of that braid matched the colors of the focal, almost like I had ESP or something.

The focal close up

This is the focal with the braid.

My goal was to use every bead that Stepha sent me.  After making the main necklace, I had some assorted beads left. So I did what I love to do, make Earrings.  A gal can't have too many, don't ya know.

Closeup of the simple earring I made to go with my
main Bead Soup Necklace.   Green color courtesy of
Vintaj Patina.

Don't know WHERE the idea
for this design came from. I have
never made anything like this before
Notice that the bead is birdie shaped!
Homage to the Penguin!

The blue adds just the right pop of
color to these ceramic beads

Stepha sent the little reddish stone beads.
I had these hoops for a long time,
 just waiting to be used .

Vintage Trumpet flowers just yell out
for a stamen to be added.

In the end, I could not quite use them all.
This just sets a goal for the next bead soup.

A huge HUG and THANKS to Lori Anderson, who persevered through much pain and personal troubles, make this Bead Soup happen for us all.  She is a marvel.

Bead Soup Reveal #1

Yesterday was the first reveal for Lori Anderson's Bead Soup Blog Hop, and where was I but stuck in bed. I managed to visit a few sites here and there, in between doses of cough meds.  I was so happy to have escaped the crud going around at work this winter, till my dear hubby brought it home with him and decided to share it with me.  For the first day or so, I was so hopeful that it was just an allergy. But no such luck. It has settled in and seems loathe to leave.
   This was the weekend I had put aside to indulge in blog hops and finish up my own bead soup.  My first piece went together so quickly that it really surprised, but I am stumped with how to handle the focal I received from my bead partner Stepha.  I had a few ideas but so far they have not looked as good when I worked them up as they did in my head.  Luckily I still have two weeks to go ...
   I haven't been able to visit a lot of the blogs yet, but I have seen some absolutely gorgeous work done by this year's bead soupers.  Check them out at Lori Anderson's Pretty Things.

Studio TIme Revisited

I had an uninterrupted day in the Studio, exploring the Controlled Marbling Technique a bit more. Still making beads rather than pendants, or other shapes.  I think the main reason I am not making pendants like Lynda does is that I HATE to sand.  Lynda gets her marvelous finish from sanding and sanding and sanding .... I am not that patient.

The tiny yellow beads are from the mixing of the litte bit
that was left over. No wasted clay!

 Lynda does say in her tut that a little clay goes a long way. I made one veneer sheet and got all these beads out of it. This time I ran the stripes vertically rather than horizontally.  Next time I am going to aim for narrower stripes.

I also finished up some beads I started a few weeks ago.  I had a bit of pad left over from the Hidden Magic beads I made. This time I took slices from the side, layed them close together to make stipes.

Clay Day

  Our guild has a quarterly Clay Day and I finally got to attend one.  Usually I have to work till midnight the night before and just can't get up early enough to make the 30 or so mile drive  worthwhile.  I actually had a 3 day weekend made the most of it.  Saw the new Wizard of Oz movie (midnight showing opening night - stories of Oz were always my favorite books as a child and that love still continues).  Saturday was spent making beads and talking with friends at Third Place Books. Afterwards, I got to visit with my kitties (pardon ...not "mine" anymore... now part of the  Maria et al family) in their new home. They certainly did not take long to move it and make it their own.  Running around like they owned the place.

    Clay Day was very inspiring.  Maria was working with translucent clay, so I got out the inks and colored a some clay too.  I had a new "skinny" border texture sheet that I used to get the crosshatched look.

Not Antiqued

Antiqued

 I decided to play a bit with controlled marbling (a la Lynda Mosely).  When I got done and looked at the veneer, I was not all that pleased with it. To tell the truth, I was trying to do it from memory and think I missed a step or two. Rather than wad up the clay for bead guts, I sliced it into strips and made beads.  I found a rolled cane in my tool box (heavens ... I don't even REMEMBER making it ... wonder how old it is?)  I reduced and added slices to the striped veneer just for fun.  I really like the final look of these beads.

Colors used: Wasabi, Fuchsia, Ecru and white/

When I got home, there was more experimenting to do.  I had some tinted translucent clay left over ... humm, wonder what will happen if I marble it and use it as a veneer.  As you can see, it is really hard to see any variation in color between the different tinted clays.

Found a different bulls eye cane to use for detail

The tints show up a bit better in these longer beads

I am not giving up on this idea. I have a weekend coming up and more experimentation to do.  

If I am not playing with the kittens that is!  Only two left but they are sooo adorable, and such a distraction.

I hope that Tofur keeps his blue eyes.

Zinger waiting patiently for the door to open.