Mid Week Delights

 The body of these beads is a beautiful green.  The dots  are a cream glass. It has an amazing reaction in the flame that creates a neat grey lining around the dots.  This pendant has a earthy and fun look. 

These earrings are buttons, lamp work and stone all on an over-sized kidney earring loop...unique and playful. 

 Few early Sunday morning earrings with basic jump rings, circles and my petite lamp work disc beads.  

Get Your Motor Runnin'......

After the beads come out of the kiln, they get a bit of prep before they find their home in a piece of jewely.  A quick dremel on the inside of this black disc bead below removes the dusty release.  I always perform this in a well ventalated area with a face mask and pertective eyewear. This is my second dremel. This one was an upgrade and I love it! It has a wide variety of other attachments that I have yet to explore but hope to soon. 

The beads are bubbled and washed next to remove any dust or dirt.  They dry and then are ready to go. 

A thunder storm is rolling in as I write this.  The weather has been amazing and to hear the thunder now is almost magestic.  I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

Favorite beads from the weekend....

 I made this duo as a bit of an experiment over the weekend and they turned out to be among my favorites from that firing.  I made a white bodied bead and rolled it in a reduction frit.  I reintroduced the bead to the flame and decrease the amount of oxygen in the flame.  The frit reacts and develops a design and pattern all its own. I have made this type of bead before but this time I went on to encase it in clear glass.  The over all technique is very straight forward but I loved it.  It's not very challenging but offers a funky look and a unique quality to each bead. 

The spring thaw was gorgeous this weekend and has continued on into a beautiful week. I hope everyone is having a great week as well. 

Beautiful Sunday Morning!

 The morning sun is gorgeous and that blue sky makes me feel amazing about this day. It also helps that the forcast calls for 50s! I went out for a quick run this morning to get things started right.  There were other early risers out there walking their dogs, people sneaking to the end of their driveways to get the paper in their jammies, and birds singing loud and clear.  I love spring!!!

 So this was a small little craft I did on the dining room floor this morning. I am sure like many that it is hard to not do crafts of plenty and with variety.  Someone bought me this wooden frame years ago.  It measures 8.5 inches by 8.5 inches with a 1 tall sides to hold the corks in.  This could be make with some simple wood handy work.  I save the corks, hot glue them it and there ya have it! It could be a cork board, trivet, or hanging decoration in the kitchen.  Great gift as well!  The corks are sometimes little fun works of art...sayings, artwork and maybe a special bottle shared with a friend that carries a nice memory with it. 

I have to admit I made the project a fam affair as well.  My four year old was in charge of handing me the next cork and taking pictures while my two year old handed me the next glue stick and was there for general encouragement.  The glue gun portion makes it a little tricky with little excited hands flying around but all were safe:)  They were so proud of our little creation.  We created a pattern as we went along- but if you don't have little excited ones helping- planning it out might be better:) 

"Whatever you do, pour yourself into it" 

So today I will dip my rods, fire up the kiln and get things moving for the week.  I hope everyone has a wonderful and beautiful Sunday!!

Simple greens....

I love greens and browns together...throw in some blues and I think it just flows so well.   The first piece is simply discs beads stacked while the second has a mix of greens and transparent light blue.  The colors of the glass and the various forms take on a lives of their own in each piece.  They are earthy and casual. 

Sweet Purples

 So a bit of spring is supposed to roll in today. Have to say I look forward to it.  Sunshine and a little something different not that this has been a harsh winter by any means.   Soft colors and spring tones come to mind.  These two pieces each have a bit of unique purple. The sweet buttons and disc lamp work hand on the first piece while the second has a block-like lamp work bead stack with layers of cream and clear glasses.  They have an earthy feel and are hung on leather cord. 

 I love lamp work and all the wonders of glass but stones, wood, leathers and metals all jive so well together in such creative ways.  These necklaces have an earthy feel and bring in some rich colors and textures.  Each material has so much to offer and it's fun to see them all hang out together on these fun and casual necklaces.    The first piece has three, mini, lamp work beads that were rolled in frit.  The frit was then only slightly melted into the body of the bead to leave the surface a bit bumpy and textured.  The second piece also has a trio of lamp work but is a simple cream stack dangle. 

Earrings

Thank you to everyone that came out yesterday. It was a wonderful day of great company and art.  I have listed the earrings on etsy and will be adding items as the week goes on if you didn't get a chance to find just what you wanted yesterday:)

Thank you again! I love to create art, jewelry and make, make, make...but truly the passion is with the people. 

Hope to see you tomorrow!

For all the locals...check out the Gotta Have Art event. This should be a fun day and I think we are all ready to break out of hibernation and get out about, shop around and take in some great art!  Hope to see you there!