Back Yard View

Had to share.

We are currently looking for a new house.  Today's trip took us to Ocean Shores, Washington.  While looking at a possible new home, I happened to look out the back window and saw this:

Apparently the deer are very tame and wander freely all over the town.  We saw more as we were leaving.
     If we get a home there, I will have to figure out how to upcycle deer poop.  I once saw paper that was made from recycled Elephant poo .... I wonder .............

Changes in the future?

There are changes afoot at the Penguin Float.  I have never been entirely happy with my house.  I outgrew it quickly, once I started exploring my artistic side.  What started as a tiny hobby in the corner of the garage is threatening to take over the entire house.  To be honest, it probably would have if Lord Opuson did not have such a strong foot.  As it is, I have a "studio" ( once was the second bedroom) full of shelves crammed with my "must have" art paraphernalia. And what does not fit on the shelves, has found a "temporary" home on the floor.
    And I have expanded into the bed room.  My excuse is that there is not enough light in the studio to bead (and there really isn't). I have 3 full shelves of books, 12 shoe boxes of beads (Opuson counted them this morning) and 3 tool cases of findings stacked against the wall at the foot of the bed.

I want to start exploring enameling and PMC, not to mention fused glass.  I have yet to use the kiln I won over a year ago - no real place to set up.

I NEED MORE ROOM.

OK, maybe need is a little too strong a word.  I would like more room. 
I am also looking at retirement in the not to distant future - several years away, but still needs to be planned for.
I do not want to retire in my current house.  So, this morning we visited the bank to start the whole process.  House hunting will begin in earnest. just have to decide WHERE I want to live.  Since I will no longer be tied to a job that limits my living area, the possibilities are wide open.  I am finally getting excited about retirement. 
   Of course, this means that I will probably not be able to pursue any creative outlets once we start the process in earnest.  Not only a new home to fix up, but we have major work to do here to get it ready to sell.  Busy times ahead.

Quinn's opinion of moving. 

What's in a name?

Has anyone read Sage Bray's article in the latest issue of  "The Polymer Arts" Magazine?  The article about naming your work, that is.  Sage is a very prolific writer, so there are many articles she has authored.
    She makes several very valid points about the subject.  I know that as an artist, this is something that I should be doing .... but it is HARD. I tried doing it for some time back, and finally gave up as I ran out of descriptive words.
    Sage supplied some good advice on how to come up with names, so I proceeded to give them a try as I have been struggling to find a suitable word to call my newest obsession.  "Tile" earrings is really not a good name.  Tiles are more flat, these are shaped like little bricks (thank you, word association).
  The light bulb appeared over my head - hence "Bricka" Earrings are born.

It has been a crazy couple of weeks at work and around the domicile, so I have only created a few Bricka's.  Luckily this technique caters itself to working 10 minutes here and there .... there are a lot of steps that need drying time between them

Latest pictures also include a prop - trying to add a bit of interest to my pretty bla photos.  I have noticed that most of the pictures I pin on Pinterest have interesting backgrounds.

4 Hears

Waiting for Spring 

Full Circle

Poppy 

Morning Cuppa

Dots and Hearts

Sealed with xoxox

My Underfeet make me Smile

This is the first time this has happened, or at least it is the first time I have seen it happen.  All 5 Underfeet were lined up at the bottom of the bed, with no hissing or growling, scratching or clawing. It was totally uncanny.
   Amber has been getting a "calming down" med in her food for a while now, and we believe that was a major contributor to the situation. Normally they are busy trying to push each other out of the way to be closer to daddy (they LOVE Lord Opuson) - maybe because he is cuddlier than mommy.

From Left to Right: Amber, Zinger, Quinn, Tofur, and Rue
 (hubbie's foot thrown in free of charge)

More ear tiles

Like I said in my last post, I had more mini domino tiles in process.
This time I glued bigger rhinestones to the side holes. These guys had better silver backings than the ones I previously used.  You can see them reflect the light  in this collage.

Can't seem to stop

I really love polymer, but have not touched it in several months.  I just can't seem to stop inking and stamping every surface I come across.  Well ... maybe I exaggerate ... not EVERY surface, but I am continuously looking for more items to decorate.  So far I have stuck to surfaces I can use to make jewelery, but who knows .... I do have some undecorated picture frames somewhere in my studio stash.

I found some more wooden bead shapes at Ben Franklin, so had to try them out.  The little sparkles are from adding a little glitter to the sealer I use to keep the colors vibrant before adding the resin.

Flitter Dreams

Summer Time Dreams

Flitter Dream Earrings on Display

I found these really cute small domino shaped beads at Shipwreck a few weeks ago.  They are the perfect size for earrings.  The only problem I have is that they were designed to make bracelets with (holes on the sides rather than from top to bottom), I have to cover the holes, so I glued little rhinestones on the side. Tedious and I am not 100% sure I like it.  More experimentation to come.

The earrings title "Mary's Day" I made as a wedding gift to my friend Mary,  She lost her husband a few years back, and was fortunate enough to find love a second time.  She just married Nacho, a widower who lost his wife about the same time.  I am so happy that two great people found each other.

Fireworks 

Mary's Day Earrings

Just wanta have ...

Fireworks on display.  

While at Shipwreck Beads, I also found some bone tube beads. I wondered if they would also take inks and sure enough, they did.  Since I can't use resin to finish them like I would a flat surface, I sprayed them with PYM II to seal the inks on.  It's hard to tell, but the yellow beads have streaks of green,

I then wondered if I could put designs on the beads like I did the dominoes. I inked up a texture sheet and rolled the beads on it.  I found I need to have a very steady hand ... was doing alright till I got to the very end, when I started to shake a bit.  Still, they don't look that bad.

I currently have 12 more pairs of tiles curing.  In a few more days they will be ready to have their holes covered and made into earrings. What I am going to do with them, I have no idea.  Maybe I should open an on-line shop. Now that the new computer system is in a work and I am getting used to the changes, work should become less stressful (cross fingers).

Creative detour

The polymer has been taking a back seat lately.  That's what I get for spending time on Pinterest, I guess.  Found a link to a video on making art tiles, and got detoured big time.

The video showed how to create art tiles from scrabble tiles.  I did not have any scrabble tiles, so I used domino's from my stash.  These 3 were made using the technique shown in the vid.  I found them to be a bit too busy for my taste.

I tried again, cutting out one of the steps.  These were the results.  I have since made them into pendants by added bales.This look was cleaner and more appealing, IMHO, so I decided to leave that step out from now on.

Dominoes are great for making pendants, but a bit too heavy for earrings.  I attacked my stash again and found these great smaller dominoes.    Unfortunately, when I went to Michael's to buy more, I discovered they had been discontinued.  Teach me to only buy one package ... 

Only have had time to make one pair of earrings so far.  Having too much fun just making the tiles. These smaller dominoes were designed to make bracelets from, so I had to come up with a way to disguise the holes in the sides.  Glue and crystals to the rescue.

Finally found a scrabble game at the local thrift store, so went crazy creating smaller tiles. Good for earrings or fridge magnets or pins, what have you.

Then, on a recent trip to Shipwreck beads, I found these round wooden beads that I just had to try the technique on.   This time, I also included the backs in my design.  They were stamped in a white ink and  a bit of mica powder added to the final finishing step to add a touch of  sparkle.

Now I am on the hunt for small word stamps.  Seems like they were everywhere a few years ago and nowhere to be found today.  Any my husband wonders why I hoard stockpile items for future use.

You KNOW you are addicted to beads when ...

It's official ... I'm certifiable!

I had a molar extracted this afternoon.  On my way home, I saw signs "Bead Show".  What the heck?!?  I am on the email list for this bead company and did not get a post about a bead show this weekend in my neck of the woods, or would have gone in the morning.

" Bead Show!" I say to my husband.
" Tooth just out" my dear sweet reminds me.
Didn't hesitate a second .... "Still numb.  I'm going before the Novocaine wears off"

So I did, while he went to the pharmacy to get my pain meds.  So far, it has not been too bad, but I popped a pill  prior to the numbness completely wearing off. And in 6 months or so, I can get an implant so that the empty spot in my mouth will no longer drive my tongue crazy.

So, what has been the craziest thing you ever did to get your bead fix?

And now a geek moment  ....

A bit of a change

I don't always work with polymer, even if that seems to be all I ever write  about. That and cats, can't forget the cats.
 
I read on another blog (sorry ... I don't remember who's blog.  I would love to give them credit), about using inks to color washers.  Thought it was worth a try so scrounged around in the garage and "borrowed" a few from my hubbie.  He won't miss them (I hope) and will never recognize them in their new colors.

Alcohol inks were applied after a base coat of light colored acyclic paint (used Adirondack Dabber from Ranger).  After they dried, resin was applied to both sides, fully curing between sides.  After that, there was a really ugly zinc color on the inside and outside edges, where the base washer showed through.  This I painted gold with a metal acrylic pen.  And yes, you are seeing pink dots on several of the washers.  Vintaj Patina was applied with a toothpick to get the dots before the resin was added.

These washers were finished before Clay Camp and have been sitting around on top of  the same block of wood since then, Finally got the idea of how to make them up into earrings yesterday. This was the first time I tried making a "sloppy" wire wrap. I really like the look of this type of wrap, esp on earrings done by Kristi Bowman.  I really don't have the technique down well, but hope to improve with practice.  Who knew it was so hard to be messy?

I was reading The Polymer Arts Blog the other day, when Sage Bray was highlighing "mystery"  artists from Pinterest.  She discussed how sometimes the artist's identification gets lost in pinning and repinning.  I have noticed this also ... sometimes I try to follow an intereting piece back to the source only to find the site no longer there.  Because of this, I am going to start "signing" my work. Nothing fancy, since I don't have any special editing software.  I just used Picasa - free and easy.

Can't seem to get beyond simple

 I spend way too much time on Pinterest.  I have three earring boards so far, polymer and non-polymer. You would think that unique designs would rub off on me.  But. ohhh noooooo!  When I sit down to make earrings, all I can do is put some beads on head pins and call it an earring.  I even sweat over which beads to use .... it can take me 15-20 minutes to find a configuration that is pleasing to me and it is just plain simple.   Fancy and creative .... that seems to elude me for the present.
    I want to expand beyond that, so I am going to be taking an earring class from Bea Grob tomorrow at ArtWorks in Edmonds.  Bea is a wonderful artist from Switzerland who is friends with Meredith Arnold (another well know mixed media artist from this neck of the woods).  Bea will be using Pardo Translucent, which I am very excited to finally break down and use.  She had some of her earrings with her at Clay Camp, and they are DIFFERENT than what I usually make.   Maybe something will rub off .... crossing fingers and wishing very hard....

These are some of the earrings that I made recently, mostly using the beads I made at clay camp.

Translucent clay. textured then highlighted with Pan Pastel Chalks. Kinda look a bit like glass.

Wonky beads made into earrings.  You can't tell from the pix, but the pink beads are bigger than the other two bead sets.

Clay was textured by rolling on a texture mat.  Beads on top were highlighted with chalk. The bottom beads were highlighted with Inka Gold Pewter colored paste.

Textured beads are colored with chalks. After baking, I used tinted Kato Liquid Clay to antique and give it a shiny gloss.  The brown bead was  created from a Sutton Slice veneer.  The light green was pearl clay tinted with ink.  Just used scrapes from my table .... no clay is ever wasted!

My favorite beads from clay camp were the green disc beads.  I really like how they turned out. The blue beads were made from the Rustic Bead Tut by Ginger Allman. The pink are simply textured with an old button, then highlighted with chalks.

During my picture taking session, I had help from a different source than usual. She was just fascinated by the dangles.

The Mighty Quinn looking to attack my earring prop.

Clay Camp 2014 Bead Review

Once again, Clay Camp has come and gone.  It is a time I look forward to every year, a time that passes far to quickly.  My work schedule has been preventing me from attending guild meetings so it was the first time this year I had seen many of my clay buddies.  Lots of fresh air, laughter, good food .... a welcome break from the stresses of everyday life.

I had plans for trying out new tuts, but somehow never got around to it.  Found myself playing around with variations of tried and true techniques.  Started out with translucent clay, attempting to recreate some beads I had made several years ago.

The bottom two pictures are my attempts at covering a base bead with translucent clay tinted with ink.  Really did not like how they turned out, so I used the rest of my conditioned translucent to try out something else.  I textured the clay and applied chalks to the surface.  I like how these turned out, esp. the green ones.

I revisited the wonky bead for a while, trying out a longer shape and a different stamp.

I must say I like the longer shape.  I think they will make better earrings.

I did start using Inca Gold Paste.  I had tried it in the past and it had come off the beads later. I discovered from more experienced clayers that I had to bake the beads again after application to prevent this (head slap ... duh!). Tried various textures and shapes.

I hear that orange is the new black.  Supposedly it is one of the summer colors
this year.  It looks good combined with pewter.

Also used chalks to highlight.  My favorite is the purple and rust crosshatched disc bead below.

Squat beads highlighted with Inca Gold, and a couple highlighted with chalk.  The teal beads have already been made into earrings.

The last afternoon, I got involved in making disc beads.  These I highlighted using chalks and finishing up with shoe polish.  The finished that parade gloss gives is just the right amount of shine.

I also had the opportunity to take a marvelous class with Marie Segal on Saturday. I have not done the final finish on those beads, so probably will have to wait till this coming weekend to complete them to the stage they are ready to present to the world.

   Every time I meet Marie, I am more impressed by her.  When she left her home in California for Clay Camp, she had no idea that within a short time that home would be in danger of being burnt down.  She conducted her class not knowing if she would have a home to return to ....  a lot of stress, but she handled herself professionally and as calmly as possible under the situation.

   Luckily, the fire was stopped before it reached their house. I have seen pix on her FB page of just how close it got ... and of some unfortunate neighbors who were not so lucky.

  It just goes to show that we never know what life is going to throw our way, so enjoy every little bit that you can when you can.

And now for your moment of cat zen

Tofur trying to help Mommy select beads to photograph.

Wonky abundant

I had an uninterrupted day in the studio this past weekend (ie ... no housework).  All I wanted to do was make more of the wonky bead shape I had discovered how to make the week before.  I experimented with different colors, even added mica powder to some of them for a little extra shine.

 

I was asked  lately whether I colored the beads before or after baking. That is a good question.  The answer is that it depends how the beads are colored.  The ones above were colored using PanPastel chalks.  Because chalk does not adhere well to a baked bead, you want to apply it to the raw clay.  After baking, shoe polish was applied  to protect the finish and antique the textured areas.

    Below is a close up were the fine texture can be seen better.

The beads I featured last week were baked first, then painted.  There is a difference in the finish, depending upon which route you take.  Both ways work, it just depends which look you are going for.

I did have time to try one other shapes (still not tired of wonky, just looking for more ways to finished them)

Rolled beads, colored with chalks.

Early morning ponderings

Here it is, almost 5 o'clock in the morning.  I was sound asleep until about an hour ago when one of my little darlings decided to jump into the window, through the blinds mind you ... he might like the sound it makes, but it is certainly NOT a sound I like waking up to.

What to do when you can't fall back to sleep immediately ... I choose stupidly this time and decided to just take a "quick" peak at Flickr and Pinterest.  That was over an hour ago ... what a time suck! Don't get me wrong, it is a marvelous time suck ... so many wonderful artists out there stretching the creativity of polymer to higher levels every day.  I love finding new (to me) artists that others have pinned, following the pin back to their blog or Etsy site, seeing their works and wondering "how did they do that" or "that is an interesting twist on that technique".  I am sure that many of you have found yourself in the same boat.

Of course, that means that I am not in the studio creating.  Being a night owl, I could be ... but since Lord Opuson is asleep, I don't want to wake him up ... funny, me typing on the computer key board does not disturb him in the least, but if I try to get out of bed ... instant awake. Probably has something to do with the Underfoots following me and howling outside the studio door ... they are soooo needy.

It has been a while since I have written anything, but spring is finally here to banish the winter blahs. I have been very remiss and hope to do better.

This last week, I did revisit  one of my favorite techniques - Rustic Beads ( The Blue Bottle Tree )  This time I was experimenting with new shapes and color choices.  I am calling the smaller beads my "wonky" shapes - kinda lopsided, but I like the design.

These are my faves.  Light purple with rose color choice

Orange with teal overlay.  A color choice I probably won't repeat

Orange again, this time with a light purple overlay.  I like.

Lilac with a darker purple overlay.  

I had recently purchased some new texture (embossing) plates for my Criket and thought I would try them out on polymer.

Lilac and light purple comb again

Orange and teal. 

See the rough texture in the upper left hand corner?  I don't know where it came from. I like it and will probably never be able to duplicate it again.  Arghhh.

 And finally, a group shot .  Took me almost a week to make these few beads, working a short stretch at a time. Just what I need to keep the creative juices flowing.