What a wonderful start to the New Year

I woke up this morning, and is my habit, I checked my emails first thing.  There were sure a lot of them. And they were not all spam for once.  I started reading those from my friends and guildies, and OMG! ... could what they are saying be true??? I hoped over to PCD and there they were. I had made earrings using a tut written by Christi at River Valley Designs and they were featured on Cynthia's post today!  She also gave a shout out to all who participated in weekly challenges this past year. And a link to the 52 earrings in a year Flickr group. If you like earrings, check it out.  So many talented people contributed ... it is chalked full of inspiration.

   I am still in a mild state of disbelief.

   It is rather a coincidence that this should happen today as I fell asleep last night reading about Cynthia in the latest PC book to hit the stands, "Polymer Clay Master Class".   Maybe I am still dreaming .... 

 

  Polymer every week

by CYNTHIA TINAPPLE on JANUARY 2, 2013

You can sense both the relief and the pride in the end-of-year posts from polymer artists who persisted through one of the 52-week challenges. These Rocky Path earrings are from JuLee Wolfe who chronicles her challenge on Pinterest. Here’s more of her work on Flickr.

Hats off to those who completed the difficult task of producing and uploading new artwork each week in 2012. You can see how their skills got better and how concepts were refined and rethought as the work progressed. They are an inspiration to the rest of us as we launch into a new year with high hopes of improving our art.

Here’s the earring group’s page. A new Brooch-A-Day group is forming here. Let me know if you know of other challenges starting up.

Goal Accomplished (kinda)

I had made a resolution at the start of last year to write something in my blog at least once a week.  To facilitate that goal, I joined the Flickr Group "52 Earrings in one Year" started by Anke Humpert of Anart Island Studios.  While did not  accomplish the goal of posting every week ... I sorta did it in clumps.... I feel good that I finished all 52 pairs by December 31st.
   I just realized it has been a whole month since my last post ... whoa, really ... what the heck was I doing all that time"  No new beads to speak of ... my shoulders are the latest part of my body to start to go.  Cranking the pasta machine is right out for now, at least till my physical therapy starts to show better results. I did get a change to dig around in my stash and find some beads I made earlier this year that I worked up in the last few weeks
  So, tonight I posted my last earring pairs to the group.  I had a lot of fun doing it and got a ton of inspiration from the others who posted to this Flickr group.  I discovered new artists  (not just polymer)  and blogs to follow.  Started pinning a lot at Pinterest.  I can (and have) spend hours there just jumping from one board to another - talk about inspiration!.
    Here are the last 4 earrings from the Challenge.
    The first pair of beads I made up were made from the Texture Tut I got from Lydia at Diva Designs.  They are named after Bette Davis ... the bumps remind me of her famous line  "Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy ride".

Bette Dee 

 These beads were made by coloring a base white bead with Pan Pastel Chalks. I made a whole set of these to make into a necklace, but haven't got around to that yet.

JW Patches

 Several of the blogs that I visited off the Flickr earring group do asymmetrical challenges. It is hard for my scientific mind to let go and not strive for absolute symmetry.  This is my attempt at it. It really bothers me that they are not the same length.  This is something that I hope to overcome.  I am currently working on an asymmetrical necklace to help this process along.

1 Pod ... 2 Peas

 My last pair for this challenge were made with a short band of scrap clay left over from another project. It was too colorful to wad up and use as bead guts .. there is no such thing as wasted clay

The Golden Band

Next post will hopefully be my further trials with asymmetry.

Where did the year go??

 As usual, I am running behind posting my projects.  I'll blame it on the holidays this time, and the Artisan show.  After all there is nothing wrong with ME...

It is hard to believe that it is almost December. This year just flew by.  Isn't it strange how time speeds up the older one gets?  I remember as a child, how impatient I was waiting for Christmas.  Seemed like it would never arrive.  Now I just turn around, and it is almost upon us.
   And speaking of remembering my childhood, I found these dragonfly beads at the Blue Iris going out of business sale (heavy sigh).  They remind me swimming in the lake near the home I grew up in. Dragonflies were everywhere.  I would lay on the raft a short distance from the shore and watch them hovering over the water.  I was fascinated even then. The earrings I made from these beads are week 48 of the 52 earrings project.

Lakeside Dream Earrings

   As mentioned several posts ago, I purchased River Valley's wonderful Rocky Path tut.  I have been having a lot of fun trying different color combos.  One important tip I must pass on, if you are considering the tut or already have it ... it really pays to follow the directions.  I thought I would try a different texture than the one recommended.  After all, it looked *almost* the same.  While I don't totally dislike the results, they don't have the depth that can be achieved if the right texture is used, as you can see.

Following instructions 

Going down the wrong path

I have also been spending time reorganizing my studio (gasp!).  I would be a top contender for the messy studio award. I do love the surprises that come with the periodic cleaning.  I find beads that I made a last year or the year before that, that I totally forgot about.  It is like receiving an early birthday gift.  So I made these beads (only two of each so I MUST have been thinking earrings when I made them) into earrings for the 52 earrings project.

    

Going Green

Week 46 were made with the only pair of green beads I made using the texture tutorial from Lynda at Diva Designs.  I don't remember if I added mica powder to the clay. I kinda looks like I did.  I have started to write stuff in a journal now, so that I can refer back.  Amazing how long it took me to figure out that this was a good idea.

    Week 47 earrings ...  I vaguely remember these. I was experimenting with adding inclusions to clay.  These are spacers attached to the base bead with little balls of clay. I have no idea why I abandoned this line of clay play. I will have to work more with this idea.

  

Round Peg,  Round Hole

   

Back to my roots - Polymer that is

Finally, some polymer earrings to share with you.
I have been busy making earrings for the upcoming Artisan's Show in Edmonds next month, and slowing working on the massive beaded necklace project.  I am over half done with it, adding a few beads a day.  I remember a friend once told me that shovel by shovel full, she could move a mountain. This is the friend who is gluing seed beads to a door ( I blogged about her in August) so she knows about patience.  Me, I am not so patient ....
   Most of the earrings I have been making are not polymer.  I am trying to use up some of my stash in the hope that I can make more space for working with metal clay.  I have the kiln I won just sitting there, waiting for me, calling to me .... and I have no space to work in.  Mean hubbie won't let me expand outside my studio .... he actually gets upset when he wants to come to bed and finds me in it surrounded by my beads and findings, frantically trying to get get in "just one more pair, dear" before lights out.  Imagine the nerve of him!  Womans' gotta create and I NEED space....lots and lots of space ..... must have more rooooommmm

   Opps, back to earth, girl.
  I wanted to show a few of my latest.

Love Apple

This is my newest favorite pair of earrings, made with some of the tinted translucent from my huge necklace project.  Love the color.

  Remember a while back when Artybecca (Rebecca Watkins in real life) posted a tut on flickr and actually caused me to SAND my beads.... well, I finally got around to making them into Earrings.  When I first posted my beads on Flickr, Rebecca actually commented that they reminded her of bongo drums (hence the names I have given the earrings).

Babbaloo

Lucy... I'm home!

And finally, just in time for Halloween....

Pumpkin Spice

What have I got myself into?!?

I saw a necklace in last month's (August 2012) issue of Bead Design Studio that I absolutely fell in love with.  It kinda surprised me, as I am not usually attracted to this type of necklace, but there ya go.  I am not one to argue with inspiration when it strikes ... BUT I am really wondering if I bit off a little more than I can chew.  The original necklace has 90-95 larger glass beads in it.  They are the most yummy colors and I thought to myself, if I don't have glass, I will use Polymer, of course.
  But how to get those colors?  A few experiments later, I found if I mixed small portions of clay  with translucent, I could achieve colors that were similar.  There is still a long way to go, I am working on getting all the beads made.... but here is a peak at what I have been doing.  Will post the finished piece when (if??) I finish.  I esp love the deep sparkly look that is achieved when mixing a pearlized clay into translucent.  Yum!

I LOVE the look of these beads and plan to work more with
Translucent clay when this project is finished.

 Because I am so wrapped up in making these translucent beads, my 52 earring project is suffering.  If only I did not have that darn J.O.B. getting in the way ... but it does pay the bills and allow me to create...
   As I result, I whipped up a month's worth of earings in one afternoon (sorry.... only one using polymer).

Polymer colored with inks and
mica powders, surrounded by
an abalone ring

Kitty Queen.  Earrings made from the
adorable kitty beads I picked up at
the NWBS show last weekend.

The nights are getting chilly...  here
are my "Prelude to Winter" earrings.

I titled these "Disc Believe" in
homage to Terry Prachett's
Disc world Series

Latest earrings and the Clayditarod

Yahoooo!  My wrists haven't hurt in almost a week. Just in time for the Clayditarod Clay Cruise. I am almost entirely packed (even have room left for all the goodies I hope to be bringing back.) The boat sails tomorrow afternoon for a week of clay (both metal and PC) and sightseeing in Alaska.  I just checked the weather reports and it looks like I will be right at home - rain most of the days we are in port.  ***sigh***  But weather not withstanding, I am going to have FUN!!!!  I will be sure to take a lot of pictures to share with all my readers.  Hi to all those new people who just joined up during the Bead Soup.  I hope that you enjoy your visits with me.

I have been busy this weekend between all the last minute errands that need running, that it was hard to visit as many BSBP blogs as I wanted to.  Did not make them all - ran out of time.  When I get back,  I will take up where I left off.  I want to say that I am so impressed with all the talented jewelry designers and bead makers out there....I have gotten so much inspiration from looking at their pictures, and reading about their thought processes as they created their pieces.

With my wrists better, I was able to catch up with my earrings for the 52 Earrings Project. Two are similar and maybe both shouldn't count, but I am going to show them anyway. The third is a close up of the one I created for the Bead Soup.

These trumpet bead earrings
will go perfectly with a new
blouse I want to wear to
dinner on the cruise

Can't go wrong with Black and White

Bead Soup

See you all in a week.

Always running behind

I actually had feeling in the fingers on my left hand today!  Time to celebrate.  I spent the morning at Catherine's getting some new clothes for the Clayditarod.  It has been a long while since I last went shopping for anything other than T-shirts and work clothes. I was so happy to see that the popular colors this summer/fall are ones that I like.  I picked up some jeans, khaki pants, and a bunch of new tops that are soooo my colors - teals and limey greens, blacks and creams... so yummy.

Then off to the Goodwill to look for clothes for the Lumberjack theme night we will be having on the cruise. Lord Opuson is really looking forward to that.  Not only does he look a bit like Red Green, he can sound like him too!  Too bad he wants me to be Harold.  No way that I am that geeky (or skinny!).
    Did not have much luck though. Flannel shirts are not readily available this time of year and suspenders, well -  just forget about it.  I did find a lovely leather purse that was only missing a rivet on the bottom (so easy to fix!).  Will check out other thrift stores tomorrow on the way to work.

Home again to work on my BSBP while I still have a usable hand.  Got side tracked a bit by the idea that I was really behind on the 52 earring project.  No new beads,  but did find these in my stash.  They are from the days I was first experimenting with PanPastel Chalks.

Aye Bead Earrings (week 29)

I start with white clay, form into the bead shape.  I used kemper cutters to make the designs, and then painted the areas with the chalks.  After baking, I antiqued with tinted LPC.

   Now to work on my BS necklace before I go numb again!  So wonderful to be able to type again with both hands!!!

   

A Productive Clay Weekend

For once I did not sleep half my weekend away. I have been using my exercise bike for more than a coat rack lately and have found that I have more energy.  More energy = more clay time.  Win/win.
  I finally have my beads done for my Bead Soup Partner Melissa AND I made it down to ye ol' bead store for a cool clasp and some extra beads to go with them. That was hard ... when one mixes colors of clay to make a new color, sometimes it does not exactly match what is available in the stores.
  I also finally got started on making my charms for the Clayditarod Cruise.  I know that a lot of people already had theirs done a loooong time ago, but I could not decide what to do until this weekend.  I got 50 done in a marathon session Sunday.  Only 30 more to go!
  And I have my earrings for the 52 in a year project to share.
  I was too busy to post last weeks pair, so I have another twofer to share with  you.

These beads were made using the "scrapings" from a mokume gane stack.  I dangled some crystals from chains for a change of pace.

Since I was (and still am) so involved in finishing up my Clayditeron charms, I will not have the time this week to make any more clay beads.  I saw this ceramic beads at Michael's and just had to have them (I don't  know why pink is suddenly appealing to me ... I was never really a pink person before).  They went perfectly with the square findings and I found I only had 4 pinkish crystals in my stash.

Where does all the time go?

We are almost to the half year mark on the 52 earring project.  I can't believe that the year is almost half over.  We are fast approaching the solstice, one of my favorite days of the year.  I suffer from SAD (as do a lot of people in the Pacific Northwest), so sunshine is a great boost to my emotional well being.  Seems this year, tho', we are not getting enough of it.  I heard on the news that we have had only 3 sunny days so far this month ....
   Opps, got distracted.  My topic is the 52 earring project, not the weather.
   Anyway, the theme for this week's 52 earrings is "half".

 
  I don't cane much and when I do it is not a complex cane at all. I made a skinner blend using a light yellow and the new Premo Magenta Pearl.  Rolled it into a bullseye cane, and added a thin layer of white clay.  Then the cane was reduced and stacked.  Easy for me to do.  Veneered a scrape clay bead gut, rolled it around in my hands a bit to smooth, cut in half. Then topped with the Magenta.  The hardest part was cutting the Magenta with the exacto-knife to fit on the top of each half.  Thanks to Julia Sober for this technique that she showed us a few years back at a NWPCG demo.

If I only had a Heart

Wait a minute ..... I DO have a heart.
I saw these hearts at Michael's (or Joanne's - sorry can't remember for sure where) and thought they just cried out to be altered.

Out came the Vintaj Patina and a while later they were transformed into earrings I have aptly named "Tin Woodman's Desire".

I hear a beat ..... how sweet!

Caught up, for now

Here I thought I was all caught up on my earrings and could take a breather.  But then I got "smart" and started to write down my weeks and what I posted - and I found out I was a week short.  That's what organization will get me!
   I had experimented several months ago with foil, inks, glitter and a touch of resin to top it off.  I am not sure I these are really my color, but they might look nice in the fall.  The picture on the earring display simply would not focus well, so I was forced to use my windowsill as a background so you can see the details.  Of course, Eyesis had to see what I was doing, so I snapped a pix of her too.

Week 23

She doesn't focus well, either.

Frida Kahlo

This week's Challenge for the 52 earrings in a year project on Yahoo was Frida Kahlo.  If I had enough energy, I would make a photo transfer of one of my favorite Kahlo works," Self Portrait with 4 monkeys".

Instead, I looked around at my stash.  I found some beads I had made a while back that reminded me of the Tropical background she had used in this painting. Mine are a bit more colorful, but I do get a definite "Bird of Paradise" feeling when I look at them.  The end beads are metal spacers that I painted with the Vintaj Patinas. I did find that the color will chip away if you are twisting metal using round nose pliers next to them.

Frida Earring #I

Frida Earring #2

Catch up V2.0

Still have two more pair of earrings to blog about.  Just got too tired last night to continue.

Both these were made from metal beads that I picked up from Ben Franklin.  I colored them with the Ranger/Vintaj Patina paints that have come out recently.  I am really liking these paints. They are bright and cheerful and you don't have to bake them (a big plus).  Only time will tell as to how durable they are.

Week 20 earrings were made by painting base silver beads with a mixture of amethyst with the Patina Glaze to lighten it a bit. Then I went back in and with a toothpick carefully laid the straight amethyst into the indents in the beads.

Original metal beads

Earrings after painting with Amethyst Patina.  "Seeing Spots - Week 20

The next pair use the Jade color of Patina.  This time I also painted the end cap beads with the straight Jade.  The pair I am picturing are made from applying the undiluted Jade  to the bead.  I had also mixed the Jade with a larger amount of the Glaze to get more of a color wash.  I like the straight Jade better.

Green Twist Week 21

Original bead on left, Jade colorwashed bead on right.

Playing Catch Up

With all the other happenings in my life lately, I have really fallen behind in my goal to make and post a pair of earrings every week.  Have almost caught up. Only one week to go.

So here are a few of my catch up pieces - not all earrings are PC as I have not had the time to make too many new beads lately (only time I have had for that was Clay Camp).

I found these ceramic beads when I was cleaning in my studio, trying to get organize and pack up for Clay Camp.  They were a gift from a friend who was cleaning out her bead stash before moving to Denver. Her loss ... my gain.

Old Stone Mill - week 18

I did get some beads made at Clay Camp, in between the gossip (say What??? Us serious clayers gossip!  Heaven forbid ... merely exchanging life story's ...  ) and looking at what everyone else was doing.  The base color in these beads was made by mixing my favorite color of alcohol ink with pearl.  I made the subtle stripes in the bead using the mica shift.  I cut thin layers of the mica sheet, turned them on their sides and laid them on the original sheet.  Viola - stripes.

Mica Ice - Week 19

With all the sadness of this last week, there was a ray of sunshine.  My MIL was diagnosed with Lymphoma just before Christmas.  After  long and arduous chemotherapy treatments, it looks like it has gone into remission.

We just knew she could beat it:  she is such a feisty old lady, she scared it out of her body.

Oh, Maria ... what have you done!

At Clay Camp, my guildie, Maria Brown (aka the Blonde Crow), introduced me to Pinterest.  Sure, I had heard of it, but had not ventured there yet.  All I needed was Pinterest addiction on top of Blogitis.  AND to top it off, in order to sign up for Pinterest, I had to join Facebook.   Argggggh...  I am being forced to "get with it".  Pretty hard for an old dog like me, but I guess I am learning a few new tricks.  I already have 3 friends, and  the first person to ask to friend me was Marie Segal!  I had a very happy thrill run through me when I saw that. I know this is "old hat" to most of you, heck even my brother is on Facebook, but it is an exciting new realm of exploration for me.
   Anyway,  I was just on Flickr pinning some of my favorite earring designs from the 52 earrings in a year project (I know... I am way behind posting my earrings .... life intrudes and all that).  I discovered that a lot of my favorite artist have disabled the ability to pin their pictures.  I can understand why,  but am still a bit disappointed. At this time, that is a step I am not going to take. I hope to someday sell my work on line and from my perspective, having my work available to pin just means that more people would see it and possibly want to know where to buy it.

View from dining room at Clay Camp.  So beautiful....

Two for one

I missed blogging last week.  I had the crud that has been making its way around our work place. Here I had congratulated myself on NOT getting it.  Shoulda kept my mouth shut. Oh well, at least I got it after I visited my mother.

And I had to spend most of today getting ready for my first real teaching gig next weekend. I am going to be teaching a class on domino art at Letter's of Joy, a yearly conference sponsored by Write On Calligraphers held at Edmonds Community College.  This will be my first time attending and I am really nervously looking forward to it. I am not a Calligrapher, but the person who approached me about teaching there tells me that they are always looking for new art mediums to apply calligraphy to. I can completely understand that. i know PC artist that put it on everything that doesn't move.  I have seen pictures of PC on furniture, splash guards, fireplaces and even cars.  But I do worry, as I am not a teacher.  I think I will try to Channel some of Christi Friesen's teaching technique ... can't go wrong if I try to emulate her.

I am also two weeks behind in my posting in the 52 Earrings Project.  I haven't had the engery to make any new beads so picked through my stash for some to make up.

These are a pair of beads that I made by just elongating a round bead covered with a small bullseye cane.  The background color was obtained by mixing left overs for bead guts. I kinda liked the color and used it as background.

These beads were made using an extruder and bead roller technique.  I am thinking about posting a tut on my blog on how to make them.  I have not tried doing that before but getting ready for my up coming glass has me wondering if I shouldn't  be expanding my horizons more. What do you think?

Twigs Revisited

I really like the Square Twig earrings I made a few weeks ago for the 52 earring project.  So when my latest shipment of round metal blanks arrived from Bello Modo, I just had to repeat the design.  This time I made a few changes.

Again I used Pebeo Vitrea to simulate an enameled look.  This time, in order to get a more pronounced color on the painted portion, I used my sanding block and lighted the brass.  That got me thinking about the back of the disc.  What would happen if I used the sander on it?

As you can see, it produced a really nice effect.  I almost like this side better than the front.  They look good coming and going.  In order to preserved the highlighted color, I glazed them using the Vintaj metal glaze. It is supposed to protect the metal from oxidizing.

Front and back 

Twig Earrings

I belong to several online Yahoo Polymer groups.  They are fonts of information.  I have learned so much from the discussions that take place there. Recently, there was a thread about a paint that simulates enamel on metal.  Pebeo vitrea is the name and when I discovered it was available at Michael's, I hurried out and bought a few colors.  After applying the paint to the metal (I found it takes several thin coats rather than one thick one for best results) ... you bake at 325 F for 40 minutes. I have only had the time to experiment with a couple of washers, end caps and these earrings.

The theme for week 13 of the 52 earrings in a year is Twigs.  I tried several designs in Polymer, but they just didn't satisfy. So out came the embosser and another chance to try the vitrea.  I found the green to be a bit translucent on the brass blank.
   I have an order into Bello Modo for the new Vintaj Patina metal inks. The video on the Vintaj website shows some beautiful pieces that were made using these inks. They should arrive later today or tomorrow. I can't wait to try them out.

Crystals too

 My polymer earrings for this week are made from a pair of Squish Beads.  I only had a few of this color combo and at the time, I did not like them as much as the other colors I had used.  I put them aside in the "not bad, but not what I was looking for" bin (totally different than the "what the heck was I thinking!" bin).  I had not even shined they up with LPC.  

After I made these, I found I was out of headpins. So, I  had to visit my local bead store for more head pins.  Ya, I could make them myself but was too lazy. Of course, as most of you know, visiting a bead store is dangerous.  Got distracted by shiny stuff.  I found these  hammered circles and had to get them.  Paired them with a red crystal.  I tried to find a PC bead that would work in my stash, but all of them were too big.

I also found these lovely crystals that work perfectly with the bails.  These are a lot smaller than I normally wear but the color was so wonderful, that I could not resist them.  I also made a pair of pink ones, along with a larger crystal for a necklace, as a gift.

A few days ago, I happened across a blog that had  a tut about a  free on line photo modification site (http://pixlr.com/editor/). So I used it to add the surrounding halo and remove the scratches from the window sill I shot the picture on.  Good effect.  Now I just have to figure out how to get rid of the white "frame" that automatically appears when I save my writing.