The Victorian Garden Bee Skep Focal Bead

February is when the seed catalogs arrive to remind me spring is not far away. Always a welcome site in my mailbox, I look forward to seeing warm sun and rich red tomatoes even if it's only in a picture from one of my favorite catalogs, Cook's Garden...



I'm reminded of gardens planted in the Victorian Style and brought back to life by expert gardeners. One of my favorites is the Pilgrim's Rest, an award winner at the Chelsea Garden Show last year.

In Colonial and Victorian times, keeping and encouraging bees in your garden for pollination was common and a bee skep like this one from Bee Craft



It's this tradition and a wishing for spring to arrive that inspired by latest polymer clay bead creation, The Victorian Garden Bee Skep.



Even if spring isn't here, I can create beads that remind me that eventually, spring will arrive.

Art Nouveau-Art Deco Style flower charms

These are fresh from the kiln. Lovely patina on them isn't it? A bit of charcoal stuck in the crevices here and there. I'll clean that out and throw them into the tumbler. The bronze clay shrinks by approximately 30% so the charms are much smaller than the mold I made and used. They're under .5 inches.

I've been thinking about where they will fit - Art Nouveau or Art Deco? While the flowers have the "whiplash" stem they're also stylized a bit. But I do think they're more Art Nouveau than Art Deco because they're not as modern in overall style.

What do you think? Which are they more like? Art Nouveau or Art Deco?

Button, button who's addicted to buttons?

I've been developing a new addiction recently - buttons. Particularly French buttons. Since the Art Nouveau Stile Floreal came out so beautifully, I've been trolling ebay for more. Doesn't matter that's not where I bought the Paris button from, it's the easiest. But I'm leaning more towards Etsy these days after losing a button I wanted so badly in an ebay auction. I hate those auction snipers!

I'm working on expanding the Art Nouveau Series but I want a particular look - the "whiplash."

Can I really be held accountable if when looking for French buttons, I find others I love? Like the French lyre buttons above. Saw them and really tried to pass them over. Afterall, they aren't flowers and they're aren't obviously Art Nouveau. But something about them was charming and I had to have them! So, I find myself with several more buttons than planned but I'm sure they'll find their way into my work somehow.

How about you? In pursuing a particular interest, do you find yourself sidetracked because you've been charmed?

Talk Back to Readers, Art Nouveau and Art Moderne

So I'm going to do a little "talk back" to my readers this morning instead of going into the comments and responding there. I've got my cup of coffee and I feel like we're around the kitchen table having a chat!

Thanks to everyone who commented yesterday. Good luck with the first day of school, Erin! That's a crazy day! This year, the first day of school will be bittersweet for me, The Teen is a senior and it will be my last "first day." I'll have to take alot of pictures!

Thanks to Sharon and Lorelei for liking the Through the Looking Glass Nuggets so well they ordered some! I'm always thrilled when someone likes my work and buys it. It's greatly appreciated!

Tish and Katie - it's that time of year when you feel like you've got to re-organize or do something! Sometimes it's because of the day job and sometimes it just because things have just gotten out of hand! A schedule is very helpful and makes us feel like we're in control (even though we may not be! LOL!)

Thanks for the well wishes, Emanda and Summerstudio! :-) I hate the migraines, they're so incapacitating. I'm convinced half the time it's something worse (knock on wood) but it's all that female thing or as The Teen calls it "Puberty 2.0." LOL!

Arlene - thanks for the comment about the long necklaces. If you figure it out, let me know! :-)

Since posting will be every other day, I'll communicate on the off times through my newsletter. Please sign up for my newsletter if you haven't done so already. I'll be putting up more beads on the website too. Speaking of the website, I've put up a new piece this morning.

The style is more Art Deco than Art Nouveau but I loved the look of the single flower spilling over the edges of the medallion. I tried to identify the flower but it's stylized so I've entitled it, "Art Moderne."



The Art Moderne Flower is made of bronze metal clay (because I'm now addicted to it). You can see just the slightest rainbow patina in the center that was made when I fired it in the kiln. I like the look of it - it looks like a stylized poinsettia to me - just the piece to work into a gift for the holidays.

Which flower do you think the Art Moderne Flower looks like?

Art Nouveau: Stile Floreal Sunflower

I so love the Art Nouveau style and have wanted to create beads and pendants in the style - I just haven't quite found the right note until now. Bronze metal clay has been the right medium for this particular song. I've shown you the process of working with bronze metal clay and then the mold making This is the lovely culmination of all of that - new bronze pendants and connectors.



The period between the late 1800's and World War I was a time full of "new art" (Art Nouveau). Characteristic of the style is undulating lines and forms, each named after the objects which inspired them. Here, the organic form which inspired this pendant is an antique French button in the "Stile Floreal" (floral style) of a sunflower. The curves are known as "the whiplash" which describes the sharp turns in the lines.



I'm much more organized with this new series than before because I have them up on my website already! YAY for organization!! Usually, I blog about them and then put them up but I've made up my mind that from now on, every new bead and pendant will be up on my website by the time I blog about them.