Antiqued, Textured, Gilded Microbead Flora

A bit much for a title huh? Seriously, these will just be called Antiqued, Gilded Flora or Baroque Flora. I'm so much happier creating abstract art. When I have to make things too matchy matchy, like petal size I get uncomfortable. So these are more me...more depth, more complicated. It sounds good anyway! ;o)

Tomorrow is my birthday. Today I'm going to lunch with my Dad and tomorrow I get to have dental work done...how fun is that...getting a crown on your birthday LOL! Have a great week everyone...

Donna Kato big beads

Miss Donna is back to claying again...yay! These may be "back to basics" for her, I think they are almost too delicious for words...! Read about the method Donna used for baking these beads.

Be sure to look around her site. If you have time, you will find some incredible photos from her travels around the world. Cruise around a bit more and see all of the lovely art her hands create. Look for the links on the top left of the page, then wait for the images to load. I promise, it's worth it!

How do you think these compare to the previous post about glass beads? Softer look, but both are alive with color... :o)

I love lampwork...

I admit it. Yes, I work with polymer, but I regularly get inspiration from glass artists. After seeing German artist Melanie Moertel's lovely beads, I'm thinking she may get a bit of inspiration from polymer. Even if she doesn't, she's got me thinking about adding black back into the florals again :o)

More Microbead Flora

Here are my current favorites using the microbeads. I'm not quite ready to share how I'm doing them as I'm considering an article. Thanks for understanding :o)

Micro Bead Flora

No matter how I try, I can't get away from flowers. I like these, except the center is bugging me. I have some different ones ready to go today that I'll show you next week. I have dropped these on the floor many times to see if the microbeads come loose and so far they haven't. I'm going to add a thin coat of kato liquid anyway, I think...

Coloring Mandalas...

I bought this book last summer thinking it would be fun to color these when I was sitting around in front of the TV. I decided to shade each part, thinking how they would look as skinner blends. I really loved it before I added the black center and the black and yellow rings. But I still like it, I think it was a great color exercise. I've got a book full of 'em so watch for more!

Polymer Cafe Magazine...

...has a new editor!

Connie Donaldson's beautiful butterfly wreath graced the cover of the Spring 'o6 issue. Read the news about Connie's new position and some of her plans for the magazine on Kim Cavender's blog.

First class offering ~ Spring '08...

will be on these beads...swirl lentils, capped, antiqued and gilded. More details in the coming weeks!