Intro to Flora Beads on-line class prep

I'm gearing up for my first on-line class which will take place on March 21st at thatcreativeplace.com called Introduction to Textured Flora Beads. I know a lot of you have seen my workspace before and how unbelievably chaotic it usually looks, but I couldn't resist taking a picture or two...

Double Strand Lentil Necklace

One of the reasons I mostly stopped making swirl lentils was that I could never find a way to string them up that I really liked. I love how this piece turned out and it was so easy to take apart and put back together in different ways. It's kind of exciting to be working with this bead shape again, I've missed them!

Valentine Hearts

I love hearts...I just don't make many of them. Here are a few from past years for the occasion. Happy Valentines Day and lots of love to you and yours!

Sampling of International Blogs

I've been starting to collect links to International Polymer Clay and Jewelry blogs. There are many, many more to list (someday!), but I had to stop for today, otherwise I wouldn't be doing anything else. There is wonderful eye candy and inspiration, so be sure to look around!

http://mariesel.canalblog.com/
http://trukabul.canalblog.com/
http://maniguette.canalblog.com/
http://www.grisbleu.canalblog.com/
http://cristalline.blogspot.com/
http://polymerionline.blogspot.com/
http://guzelia.blogspot.com/
http://www.beadworx.de/
http://naamazamir.blogspot.com/
http://phoenix-magdesign.blogspot.com/
http://tresors.canalblog.com/
http://lamisstouchatou.canalblog.com/
http://polscreation.blogspot.com/
http://atelieramandine.canalblog.com/
http://www.polyclaykunst.de/index.html
http://bounette.over-blog.fr/
http://heurebleue.canalblog.com/
http://fimosaique.canalblog.com/
http://fimolypop.over-blog.com/
http://ilotfimelo.canalblog.com/
http://fimobyic.canalblog.com/
http://stefimoandco.canalblog.com/
http://creasof.canalblog.com/
http://betadinfimotte.blogspot.com/
http://domicreative.canalblog.com/
http://paroledepate.canalblog.com/
http://perlchen.canalblog.com/
http://www.sigaliotdesigns.blogspot.com/
http://krokdo.canalblog.com/

Blue Green Flora beads are the most fun to make...

not sure why...whenever I made caned flora beads, I almost always avoided blue for some reason (me too Susan :o). But these well, the blue makes me think Lapis and I love how gold (that has always been a favorite of mine) looks with blue and green. I did like the purple too like Marla did so I'm sure more of those will be coming. Something else that Mel noticed is that the outie textures are cooler than the innies (are we talking about belly buttons or what?) I'm right there with you Melly. You should be able to see what we mean if you look at the largest image either here or on flickr.

I'm using findings from Vintaj with these beads so I'm calling them Vintage Flora...tricky huh? Loving how the red coraly orangy brown looks too, so I made a first simple necklace so you can see the style that I'm going for. I've never been great at making jewelry so linking and unlinking and making loops is about all I can bring myself to do. Oh, btw this is all to get ready for the wholesale show, ACRE coming up in Las Vegas in June. I think I've finally found a theme :o) If you are interested, there are a few up for sale here.

A few more new ones...

I'm definitely enjoying myself and learning what I like and don't like with each new batch. If you'd like to comment on your favorites and your *not* so much favorites, it's fun to do it on my flickr site where you can make a little box around different areas and leave your note with it.

Idea that hit me last night

As I was about ready to jump into bed last night, I was thinking about my flower beads (as I do for practically every waking moment ;o)

An idea popped into my brain and I ran out to my beads and arranged them like this, lest I forget the idea. Do you think a mirror like this would look nice?

My American Prayer

My Rainbow, pretty accurate...

Your rainbow is intensely shaded brown, indigo, and violet.

What is says about you: You are a proud person. You appreciate beauty and craftsmanship. You are patient and will keep trying to understand something until you've mastered it. You feel closer to people when you understand their imperfections.

Find the colors of your rainbow at spacefem.com.

Barb the Clay Coach ;o)

Hettie and I had an intense 3 hour private lesson where I showed her some tessellation techniques. The idea that I wanted to convey to her was that she didn't need to make alot of complicated blends or build a big cane to see the potential of the technique. All we used for these samples were two blends and black and white...four colors. The size of cane we made would really only be enough for a few pieces...which works for me. I don't like to have too much of the same cane...but that's just me. Hettie was so excited when she saw how easy these were, I got a huge hug and an "Oh Barbara!" or two. It was neat...

I really think that more people could benefit from private polymer lessons. I sort of thought of myself as a "Clay Coach." There isn't the time or the cost involved in attending a large workshop. You have undivided attention and you can interrupt the teacher with questions whenever you like. I love the one on one personally, so I hope that I have the opportunity to do more of these...and I provided everything she needed...all she had to do was show up. We are planning another lesson for February.

If you plan to be in Albuquerque or NM at any point and you're interested in setting up a lesson or two...just shoot me an email at desertdesignsbybarbara (at) gmail.com or rubarb04 (at) gmail.com

Still exploring...

As I try to recreate the look of the previous flora beads, I realize that the grit of the sandpaper I use makes a big difference (sarcasm).

At first I liked these beads. I strung them up, took pictures and put them up on flickr and my fan page on Facebook. Then I didn't like them. I know...I'm wishy washy.

I added more color to the sanded off areas, and black to kind of shadow and outline the petals. I also used some black soot embossing powder to define the centers of the flowers. Not too crazy about that part.

Anyhow, here is the before and after. Which do you like best?

Here is the look I'm after...

These are the first petals I made which I referenced in a post a few days ago. As a matter of fact, I think I said that these ended up in the trash. Well, instead what was left of the bead sat there on my work table and before you know it I was sanding some of the color off and loving the effect. The color of the clay to begin with was an off-white. Since then I've played with different colors of base petals including some skinner blends. I see a lot of potential here, so it's pretty exciting. Here are some close ups of the petals after sanding and how some of the layers of color show up. But since these petals were inked quite heavily before curing, the inks leached into the clay and dried them out...so a couple of them split at the center where I apply them to the base. I also think that they sat around a day so it helps to get the color really soaked in before curing, otherwise the inks tend to fade. Click on these images for a super duper close-up. I uploaded a few of the other prototype beads to Flickr. So, back to the drawing board.

Israel Kamakawiwo'ole & Dan Fogelberg

Materials list for today's solo playday...

1) Old beads that were supposed to be antiqued with acrylic someday
2) Various alcohol inks
3) Various embossing powders
4) Liquid Clay
5) Paper Towel
6) Water
7) Alcohol (for cleanup, not for drinking)
8) Small paintbrush, makeup sponge applicators
9) Heatgun
10) Various grits of sandpaper

So, I played like crazy. Came out with some pretty okay stuff I'm glad to say. I'll have a few to show on New Year's Day so that I can claim they are 2009 beads ;o)

Notice the widget on the left side of my blog that will take you to President-Elect Barack Obama's change.org site to vote on a very important cause! It is all about requiring National Parks to sell only American made crafts and souveniers. Have a Safe and Prosperous 2009!

Emmie says Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to All!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Mad Scientist...me?

Sometimes I feel like one. Lately, I end up with all kinds of surface treatments spread out around me, and most times I can't even remember what my original focus was going to be. Sometimes I get lucky and some great stuff happens...other times it's junk. Most of us only show our most beautiful stuff, but Elise Winters has started a page on Facebook to show some of her struggles as an artist. I think it's extremely generous for her to do this and an absolutely awesome idea. Keep checking back...she only just put up this page.

For now I'm going to show you some lovely petals I made yesterday...too bad they ended up in trash :o(

ArtFire.com

Every New Year I tell myself to get out there more...teach, write more articles, do more shows, enter more juried competitions and maybe to sell at on-line sites like Etsy rather than just from my own website. Etsy seems so glutted already...I mean sheesh, I would have to really be on top of my game to get seen there!

I'm thinking of trying out a new selling site for handcrafted items called ArtFire.com. If 10 of you sign up through me, I will get the $7/month premium account free for life! You can do the same thing too, so if you decide to sign up make sure that you invite 10 others to join so that you can get your free premium account too! As far as I can tell, there are no other fees associated with selling there. I'm fairly sure this offer ends at the end of December, so if you you'd like to try a new on-line selling venue, sign up with ArtFire and maybe we'll all get rich and famous ;o)

Register on ArtFire.com

Victorian/Antique Inspirations

I've always love rusted, crackled, antiqued, soft looking things. Then the shapes, a ruffle, a flower, the flow of a piece. I really love these felted neckwarmers created by Irena Rudman from Israel (although I think she's Russian). Aren't they just beautiful? Not to mention how warm and comfy they look. Be sure to look around her website too. The blend of metals is just so pretty in these delicate earrings from AmberSky. The mixture of different colors of metal in a piece is incredibly appealing. I'm looking at brass and copper in a different way.

And now that I've done most of my work where Progress and Possibilities is concerned, posted lots of things on my clearance page, I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm cleaning up messes and starting to feel it again...yay....!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm very thankful this Thanksgiving Day. Of course for family, friends, good health, good food...all of those. I'm also so very thankful that we will have President Obama in the White House next year.

Another thing I'm thankful for is that we are having a 5:oo dinner at my sister-in-law Gloria's house which is right next door. No driving anywhere and I'm not crazily cleaning house getting ready for company. I did fix my guys a Thanksgiving Breakfast though of Green Chile Sausage Quiche and Cinnamon Rolls. Later I'll be fixing mashies and salad to take to Glo's. So this morning, the aroma in my house is of cinnamon and chile...not the usual turkey. You can see a couple other pics of my messy house, since I don't have to clean (yay!) on flickr.

Say a prayer for the people's safety in Mumbai today and enjoy your family, friends, turkey and dressing...