( of the new year, that is!)
Sunday, 21 December 2014
Polymer clay challenge!
Okay, I've decided to commit and make a polymer clay project every week for the next year. I've been playing with clay for several months and having a great time. I'm hoping that this challenge will help give me more focus and help me decide if this is what I most want to concentrate on. Katie Acres has created this challenge and I've been hesitating but have finally decided to give it a try. This will be an opportunity to try new techniques and tools. See you on the other side!
( of the new year, that is!)
http://katersacres.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/2015PCChallenge-Button.png
( of the new year, that is!)
Friday, 5 December 2014
I almost forgot The Bead Hoarders Blog Hop!!
Thank you Lori Anderson, for sending that reminder on Facebook about the hop. I had planned earlier in the week what I was going to do but then the week got away from me and here it is Friday night and I'm just getting to it now. I had great intentions of making a new piece but had to use past creations instead.
About the hoarding thing........we all do it. There are sooo many beautiful beads and components that it is next to impossible to resist buying at least one of everything we love! However even if I worked 12 hours a day for 6 days a week I would have a hard time using up all my supplies in a year! And then I discovered art beads and just have to support my fellow artists in the jewelry world! Those incredible lamp work , ceramic, polymer clay and metal works of art are utterly irresistible! Since I've been making jewelry for 3 years or so you can probably imagine how much I have hoarded. and now it's really getting out of hand because I've started to make my own beads and components recently out of polymer clay!
I've decided to feature jewelry that I made this past summer when I was in my purple phase and experimenting with Irish waxed linen thread (something else to hoard..... so many gorgeous colours). Of course since this jewelry includes some of my favorite beads I have to keep it for myself rather than sell them. More hoarding!!!
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I love the Unicorne lamp work beads from Stinky Dog Beads and had been saving these fab purple teardrop ones for just the right project. I added some purply-pink cracked agate beads, a chunky purple resin bead, some Czech pony beads and a beautiful frosted floral lamp work bead from Glitteringprize Glass.
I finished it off with a silver plated spiral embossed bead, chain and lobster claw. I'm not thrilled with the proportions since I think the large bead is too big so this may change before I'm fully satisfied with it.
.JPG)
I'm much happier with the second bracelet and have worn it many times. The knotted linen makes bracelets so comfortable and easy to wear. The focal is one of Heather's of Humblebeads fame. Her art appears so simple but is far from that and her use of colour and texture is phenomenal! I had no inkling of her talent until I started working with polymer clay!
.JPG)
I pulled the colours from her bird house and added several of my bead hoard to make this bracelet. There's a little bit of everything here. Starting from the bottom of the house I used amethyst coloured plastic beads, creamy white howlite bead, matte finish dyed green jade bead, plum Czech glass flower bead, green painted wood beads for the loop and a painted bone button for closure. From the top of the focal is a green Czech disc bead left over from my Bead Soup Mix that my partner Michi sent me, two of my precious Judith Billig lamp work matte finish beads and a purple dyed lava bead that's been in my bead collection for many years.
Last but not least are these pretty purple earrings made using lampwork beads from Pinocean. I had heard that her beads are hard to come by so as soon as I saw some on Etsy I ordered them. I can see why her work is in such demand. The artistry, details and colours are perfection . See if you agree.
.JPG)
These sterling earrings feature the flame work of Mika of Pinocean and Val Lewis on Facebook. The multicoloured ones are Pinocean's while the beautiful pink/purple boro glass is from Val. They are both very talented artists and I can't help myself from supporting them!!!! The bows are pieces of sari silk ribbon and are the perfect finishing touch, I think.
That's all I'm willing to confess to at the moment. If you want to see the secret hoards of over 100 other jewelry artists check out all the blogs listed below. Thank you Lori for hosting this hop. It's been a lot of fun and has inspired me to start using more of my precious beads!
About the hoarding thing........we all do it. There are sooo many beautiful beads and components that it is next to impossible to resist buying at least one of everything we love! However even if I worked 12 hours a day for 6 days a week I would have a hard time using up all my supplies in a year! And then I discovered art beads and just have to support my fellow artists in the jewelry world! Those incredible lamp work , ceramic, polymer clay and metal works of art are utterly irresistible! Since I've been making jewelry for 3 years or so you can probably imagine how much I have hoarded. and now it's really getting out of hand because I've started to make my own beads and components recently out of polymer clay!
I've decided to feature jewelry that I made this past summer when I was in my purple phase and experimenting with Irish waxed linen thread (something else to hoard..... so many gorgeous colours). Of course since this jewelry includes some of my favorite beads I have to keep it for myself rather than sell them. More hoarding!!!
I love the Unicorne lamp work beads from Stinky Dog Beads and had been saving these fab purple teardrop ones for just the right project. I added some purply-pink cracked agate beads, a chunky purple resin bead, some Czech pony beads and a beautiful frosted floral lamp work bead from Glitteringprize Glass.
I finished it off with a silver plated spiral embossed bead, chain and lobster claw. I'm not thrilled with the proportions since I think the large bead is too big so this may change before I'm fully satisfied with it.
I'm much happier with the second bracelet and have worn it many times. The knotted linen makes bracelets so comfortable and easy to wear. The focal is one of Heather's of Humblebeads fame. Her art appears so simple but is far from that and her use of colour and texture is phenomenal! I had no inkling of her talent until I started working with polymer clay!
Last but not least are these pretty purple earrings made using lampwork beads from Pinocean. I had heard that her beads are hard to come by so as soon as I saw some on Etsy I ordered them. I can see why her work is in such demand. The artistry, details and colours are perfection . See if you agree.
These sterling earrings feature the flame work of Mika of Pinocean and Val Lewis on Facebook. The multicoloured ones are Pinocean's while the beautiful pink/purple boro glass is from Val. They are both very talented artists and I can't help myself from supporting them!!!! The bows are pieces of sari silk ribbon and are the perfect finishing touch, I think.
That's all I'm willing to confess to at the moment. If you want to see the secret hoards of over 100 other jewelry artists check out all the blogs listed below. Thank you Lori for hosting this hop. It's been a lot of fun and has inspired me to start using more of my precious beads!
Robin Kae Reed http://www.willowdragon.blogspot.com/
Melissa Trudinger https://beadrecipes.wordpress.com/
Melissa Trudinger https://beadrecipes.wordpress.com/
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