Whew...finished, mostly.

I needed to work with color for a project coming up and I really was getting into the antiquing and weird shapes at the time. So, it was kind of a struggle to get enough of these to make one or two decent necklaces.


The ones temporarily strung and finished are on the left, the last of them to go in the oven are on the tray. They should be strung up in the next few days and pictures taken. Wish me luck :o)

Necklace after antiquing...

Same beads as earlier post...different leaf beads that I'm still not wild about.

I'm trying to add bits of silver gilding (on the leaves) in with the gold on the flowers. I'm one of those people who like to mix things up, so that way you can wear gold or silver earrings with it.

I do really love the warmth and depth from the antiquing and gilding, so I'm pretty happy with the piece as a whole.

Flora bead set with leaves

This is my first try at making leaf beads to go with the flora beads. They look a bit clunky to me, so today I'll try something else. Also, not sure about antiquing and gilding them...they look nice just as they are.

And here is one of the focals from last post with matching capped lentils.

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!

Multi-tasking used to be easy...

Back when I had "real" jobs...I was an excellent employee. I could answer phones, ship, receive, take special orders, buy, balance the books, train employees, make schedules, meet deadlines, do repairs, etc. I rarely called in sick. I never left a job undone. My desk was very clean. I took notes, I learned.

Now, since I've become a full-time artist...I can only focus on a few things at a time. I'm easily distracted. I'm a bit irresponsible now.

My husband wants me to make more money...and rightly so. He wants me to go out and find a "real" job. The reason that I quit my last job, was that I was bored. I wanted more. I needed to be creative.

So, now here I am, at the beginning of a new year. I've decided that the only way to bring in income and continue doing what I love is to teach others about polymer clay. I hope I'm good at it...

Can I really do this teaching gig? I'm starting small by teaching here at home. Probably only about 5 students or so until I get comfortable.

I suppose it would be a good start to get my "studio" aka dining room cleaned and organized. I'm not sure why I enjoy showing you what a slob I am! But, I have barely been in there in the past two months. What with Rudy's eye problems and surgeries (detached retina and cataract) and the boyz home for Christmas and New Year's, I haven't been able to get much done.

But, I've made a definite resolution to make 2008 my year to dive into all of these things I've been only thinking about for so long...and make this a "real" job! :o)

Happy New Year!!

My flickr favorites of 2007

Here are some gorgeous and colorful photos to inspire you in the coming year...

Happy Holidays

Here is a sweet picture of my little niece, Angela from a few years ago...trying on all of her new edible makeup ;o)

Wishing you all a J0yful, Peaceful and a Beautiful Holiday full of Love and Hope...

St. Nicholas Ornament

Just found this on etsy this morning. I may get it, if none of you beat me to it :o)
Hope you all have a Merry one!

Ullabenulla and the Castle

Do any of you ever visit Ulabenulla's blog? Here she talks about a very cool studio/shop in Berkley, CA. The Castle in the Air is probably the coolest website I have ever seen :o)

Carol Simmons and Cynthia Tinapple

Here is a pic of two good friends that make a yearly trek to Santa Fe. They eat New Mexican food, visit Santa Fe galleries (where they saw work of Ford/Forlano and Cynthia Toops) and clay together. What could be better?

Carol Simmons was featured on Cynthia's blog Polymer Clay Daily showing her beautiful canework and how she morphs one cane into a multitude of designs. Her pieces are just lovely...look at the cool pendant on her neck. But, she needs a website so that we can partake of more of her incredible work...so get with it Carol!

I was so lucky to be able to meet up with these incredible artists and lovely women. You can see the pic of all of us including the oh so talented Dayle Doroshow, on my flickr site.

oooh, this looks like a great book :o)

on Amazon. I think I'll put it on my wish list :o)

One of the reviews that I read:

Not even 25 pages in and I had to stop reading and make notes on ideas I had for art pieces. This book has some kind of voo doo spell that gets your art mojo flowing like crazy. What I love about this book is that there are no "instructions to make your own identical artwork" but plenty of art talk that sets your mind on fire with ideas for your own art. I'm having the best time with it. I should also add that the paper, colors, even fonts are gorgeous and the highest quality. A real pleasure to pick up.

Speaking of recycling...and the Holidays.

I've been recycling Christmas cards for about 5 years now.

Save all of the cards that you receive this year and cut off the fronts of them...you can use those neat scissors to get a deckeled edge if you want. Now, get your handy-dandy whole punch and some thin ribbon. I think you can figure out the rest.

Today, I hung one, and only one lone Christmas decoration.

I do this every year before Thanksgiving...then on Black Friday when every one else is shopping, I'm usually at home seeing what other decorations can come out and play. But I will have lots and lots of Floral Ribbon Chokers up on my site for Cyber Monday.

Hope you are thankful for all that you have. I know I am. Have a great Turkey day :o)

I'm sorry, I just had to laugh...

at these "Hate Mail Holiday Cards"

But, I think I would rather send these beautiful Mandala Cards instead.

Dogs make me smile...

If you'd like to see "Pugs in Hats" look here... :o))

New photo box...not so new pieces...

I'm trying out my new photo box and lights in hopes that the pictures will be good enough for Maggie and Lindly's color book. I think they're pretty good. There are a few more on my flickr site.

Amy Butler fabric and rubarb on etsy...

Well, I've gone and done it...I've joined etsy. It's going to take some time to get some things listed in my shop, but I'm there at least...and I can see I'll be spending alot of time there. While surfing on etsy, I found a beautiful bags and purses in a fabric that I am totally in love with...Amy Butler.

Master's Workshop in Seattle

My friend Bobbi has been buying beads from me for a long time also, like ShaLayne (who I'm a bit worried about because she lives in Poway, CA and I've not heard from her since the fires).

Bobbi sells beautiful jewelry, and this morning I saw a number of my pieces in her ebay store if you're interested in gifts or pieces for your collection. She even has a necklace starting at just 99 cents!

Donna beads...split pods

More pod designs from Donna Kato

ShaLayne's bracelet

This is the first bracelet that I've seen with my beads used. ShaLayne has been buying from me since the beginning...she does beautiful work! She also has an etsy shop. Jael blogged about the bracelet here...thanks Jael :o)

Albaquirquie

Albaquirquie,
originally uploaded by MikeJonesPhoto.

Here is what it looked like this morning over the city...hopefully the weather will be this nice when Jana is here next week...

Balloon Fiesta pics on Flickr

Floral Pendants

Here are a few that I made for the festival last weekend. Hope you like :o)

GoFest weekend...

had lots of entertainment (mariachis, flamenco dancers, music), many colorful people and all in all, was a great time. I'm sure I'll do the show next year, this has the potential to become a mainstay festival for downtown Albuquerque. Notice the booth in the background behind one of the mariachis.

I have more pictures on my flickr site, although not the best I have ever taken *g*

Ready to start...

stringing...yuk :o(

I'm not good at it...I'm very indecisive, taking apart...putting back together. Thank goodness I got a good night's sleep.

Same old...

I'm just doing way too many of these, but since they sold well at the last show...I don't have much choice.

I must have ADD. I just get tired of making the same kind of thing much quicker than I ever used to. I find myself getting bored much easier. And...believe it or not, now I feel I must do some beads that need sanding. I guess I'm just wanting to feel the silkiness of hand sanded, hand buffed beads.

Have a great weekend all of you...

Didn't take me long...

to get tired of the pearly look...I'm back to more of the graphic/bold designs. I think the name Southwestern Orchids has stuck. I loved looking at Donna Kato's new work, so maybe that's what called me back to some black and white with intense color.

Loving the color...

I posted the autumn floral set already at PCC, but since I love how they turned out, thought I should get them here on my blog too. The new multi-colored set I finished last night in between watching the US open. We may go to the NM Wine Festival today, so not sure if I will be at the clay table...