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.

Kitties in new home

Two more of my fledgings have left the nest.  They have landed in a very good home, with my guild mate Maria and her family.  She emailed me today to let me know that  they started playing right away, using the kitty litter like good little kitties, and seem to be settling in OK.  She sent a few pictures track their progress.  Lydia made them a little house with a "Welcome Kitties" sign - it is sooooo cute.

All tuckered out in our new home.  We've had a busy day.

That just leaves Tofur and Zinger (yes, I finally named the last one) still with us.  Maybe we will keep them, if I can't find a good home.

Studio Time the 2nd

Maybe today the pictures will behave and go where I want them to.

I recently got Christi Friesen's latest book, Flourish.  It was a long wait, but well worth it.  It is chalked full of ideas and inspiration.  One of the techniques she wrote about was dissolving chalk in a glaze to achieve a faux ceramic look.  I tried it on simple beads, not too bad.  Next time I will add more chalk to the mixture as I had to put on 3 coats to get them this dark.  I want to explore this idea more.

I had a bit of left over transluscent clay I had tinted with ink.  I rolled the clay in glitter before baking.  

 One of the ideas I got from Pinterest (Love, love, love Pinterest)  is a Mokume Gane technique called Hidden Magic.  I gave it a try and, of course, had to incorporate the resulting veneer into beads.  I used yellow and green for my base colors, making several passes through the PM to smooth out the veneer.  I did learn that it is best to start out with a stamp that has a very tight design, since each PM pass thins it out more.  I like the result ... now just to figure out what to do with them.

 And of course, I had to spend time with the kitties. Most of them will be leaving for new homes soon and I will be missing them so much.  I have to love them when they are here. I hope Opuson and I have done a good job domesticating them ... there is not a one of them that does not come running and trying to scoot into the house the second the door is open.  Momma cat is even letting us pet her and seems to have lost a lot of her shyness around us.
 

Please let me in ... I am sooo cute and want to love you.

They are quickly outgrowing their basket, but don't
want to sleep anywhere else. We have set up other
places, but they like it here best.

Oh goodie, the human climbing post is back!

Studio Time

Finally, a weekend when I did not have to go anywhere or do anything .... I could dedicate myself to my clay and the BSBP.

This picture WILL NOT let me place it where I want
it to go.  

    I can't show you the Bead Soup for a while yet ... not till the last reveal, in April.  I am surprised at how quickly the design popped into my head.  Reading all those beading and stringing mags is paying off.

     I liked some of the beads I sent to my Bead Soup Partner Stepha so much, that I made a few more for myself, then tried a few different color combo's from the scraps of clay left over from other projects.

Green is in this Spring

Can't resist the color purple!

I would love to show more of the beads I made this weekend, but am having a problem with adding photos.  They all want to go to the top of the page, and refuse to move where I want them to go.  Rather than get even more frustrated with Blogger, I will just write another post later.

Bead Soup - Gathering the Ingredients

Life has finally slowed down for an hour or so, to give me a chance to write about the latest Bead Soup Party.
   My beads arrived this week from Stephanie Stamper Rainy Days Designs and my mind is percolating with  ideas.  I got oodles of beads, so I am definitely seeing more than one necklace, and several earring designs.

Black Cat says it is time to PART-EEE!!!!

For those who are allergic to cats, here is a more sedate pix (before Black Cat decided to play with the beads)

The focal shows up much better in this one

And now I can reveal what I sent to Stepha.  I had just gotten Christi Friesen's newest masterpiece (well worth the wait, I might add) FLOURISH and was inspired by all the leaf designs within. I made two focals, just in case the large one was a bit too much for my newest Partner. I got so carried away making the companion beads, that I continued making more using other scrap clay from my table.  Will show them at a later date.  I continued the leaf theme by being able to find a leaf shaped clasp.

All polymer except the small brown beads.
They are wooden.

And for those who are wondering, the kittens are doing well.  They are weaned, litter box trained and busy looking for good homes.  Four of them are spoken for, all going to people who will love them, hopefully for a long time.