He DOES listen!

I got the greatest surprise yesterday.  I discovered that my hubbie really is the sweetest guy.  Sure, he puts on the act of being all bluster and macho, but he really does listen.
   I have been having a lot of minor health issues of late.  Carpel tunnel and shoulder/neck pain have really limited my time in the studio.  He noticed that instead of heading straight there after work, as was my usual "gotta destress from work by making something' habit, I was reading, or watching TV or just going to bed.
  He had heard me mention in the past that there were such things as Pasta machines that came with motors.  He researched and ordered me a Mona-sized Altas (180 even) for a birthday surprise.  I was soooo blown away.  I immediately set it up and went to work for the first time in a month.

I got the Controlled Marbling Tut from Lynda at Diva Designs and have been itching to try it out.  I did not have Pardo translucent or the other color she recommends for her base mixed, so I had to improvise.  Just used some scrape clay I had on my table.  This is my first practice piece and I have to admit I am not that happy with it.  I should not have made my two yellow streaks so close together. Live and learn.  I was able to find one brick of the color she uses all the time at Joannes, so maybe able to do the tut as written (except for the Pardo).

 So, I wondered what a bead made from these colors would look like. I cut the veneer in half and made two beads (one of which I promptly lost somewhere in my studio).  This bead I like, so am going to use the remainder of the veneer to make a few more.

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

Color combos that just don't work and one that did

Haven't been doing much this last week. I spent a lot of time last weekend preparing for my guild demo of my Squishy beads. It kinda screwed up my wrist  rolling out that much clay and cutting out all those small circles of clay for the coin stack. But it was worth it. I got some good complements on the demo and people seemed happy to learn the technique.

 As I said, in preparation for the demo, I made up some coin rolls ahead of time.  I just used up bits and pieces of various packages I had laying around, and I admit I was curious as to what the color combos would look like.  Still experimenting, as one never knows till they try what might work.

This time though,  I mostly discovered colors that did not work so well together.  Oh well, they can't all be winners.

                                                                                                                                                                             Red white and blue... very good colors when it comes to patriotic themes but not so well together when blended.  I was hoping that the blue and red would blend to make a pretty purplish color....well, it is purple but the combo not the best.  Will not try it again.

 Another combo used that did not turn out well is cad red, yellow and black. I am almost ashamed at posting these, but the top three where the yellow and red made orange are cool. This is the blended color that I was hoping to achieve when I chose the colors for the coin roll.

 Since I had so much cad red left over, I put it together with white and black, and got these.  I really like the red and white ones at the bottom of the picture.

And finally the beads that I really like.  Silver, black and white.  Will definitely make more of these.