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

Week 7/52 Earrings

What do ya know ... two blogs in the same day.


Last month I shared some beads I made using ArtyBecca's tutorial she had so generously posted on Flickr.  I put several together with some chain to make a necklace, but am not happy with its look, so will not inflict it on anyone till  it is reworked a bit.  I used the remaining beads for matching earrings.

  These particular beads have been duped Pumshell  ( a diminutive of Pumpkin and shell)

Also, since earrings are going to be a part of my posts every week, I thought I would work on ways to display them nicely. It was hard to decide which color, but in the end white won as I think most of my works will show up best against it.

The Zen of Sanding??

I have read and talked with some clayers that really like to sand.  They say they find a "zone" and it actually is kinda therapeutic.  I would LOVE to feel that way. Instead  I find it wet, tedious and boring.  But I have to admit that I really like the end results. The beads are so smooth and almost sensual to the touch.

  Artybecca had posted on flickr a mini  mokume gane tut on using the threads on a large screw.  I did not have a large screw so improvised with a tracking wheel.  The first time I only went in one direction so ended up with stripes.  When I did the finish with LPC, I really didn't like the feel of the beads.  The veneer bubbled in places. That was when sanding, as much as I hate it, became something I had to consider. I really like the ones on the left but only had enough clay for two beads




The next time, I went both directions with the wheel and ended with squares.  These squares got larger when I ran them through the pasta machine to make the veneer,  I tried a new shape too.

These were the first that I sanded. The long barrels are almost 2 inches long.

Not sure I like the shape

These took almost two hours to sand, That amount of time is not good if I decide to start selling them. I hear that time is money.

My next beads are a combination of yellow and crimson. A very Holloweeny color.

Used my scrap pile for the next set, just to experiment with diagonal threading.  The resulting color was not something I would normally aim for, but I like it and am going to try to recreate it.While sanding is not something I think I will ever enjoy, I am very pleased with the results.  I just wish it were easier. 

Showed the oldest, now the newest

I really admire the work of Artebecca.  In the concept of imitation being the sincerest form of flattery, I have attempted to make my own version of her wonderful art beads.  But I, unlike that talented lady, can not seem to draw anything but leafs.  However, through shear  repetition,  I am getting good at doing leafs.  Could be because I was using clay left over from my dragon making session last month and the colors lend themselves to one thinking about autumn and falling leafs.

I started out making beads.  I tried darkening the lines with acrylic paint, but was not totally satisfied with the look. I then used liquid clay mixed with pitch black alcohol ink to highlight the lines.  When wiping the excess liquid away, a tiny residue is left on the rest of the bead. When zapped with my heat gun, it gives just the right amount of sheen to the beads.

Then I realized that I had a lot of beads but no focal.  So I made up several more, larger heart shaped.  But after looking at them, with the other beads, I have decided they are not exactly the right shape. So back to the drawing board, but will have to wait till I get back from Tucson. 

Less than 24 hours and I will be there!