If you give a beadmaker a medium....

...she'll make beads! I don't know if you know the children's book, If You give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff but if you are, you'll get the joke.

The reason I played with the title of the children's book is because I'm frozen out of my studio. It's unheated as I've complained about for years now but we won't be remodeling it soon. I need to make beads, I need to use my hands and when I'm frozen out, I start to bite my nails as a substitute. When that happens, I troll around my office for what I can do at the coffee table and I found it, my stash of poly clay.





I know normally, we don't refer to a "stash" of any medium but it applies here. I add to it every so often and don't make much with it. But lately, I've been drawing out some ideas for the bronze clay and thought I'd try to work them out in polymer first.

Sometimes, I just want to get my hands into a medium as opposed to working the medium with tools like with glass. I love glass but you can't touch it to work it. There's something very satisfying about manipulating the polymer with your hands.

I played with the ideas I have drawn out and technique as well - things like do I prefer to insert an eyepin or do I prefer to make a beadhole? I cured my experiments and snapped a quick photo to post.



Making these prototypes by getting my hands into the work, satisfied my need to create beads. Guess cold weather isn't all bad, huh?

Heartz n Skullz Namez? Giveaway

Today is the last day to submit a name for the new addition to the Heartz n Skullz series. I'll stop taking names at 6:00 pm EST this afternoon (10 hrs from now). The list of suggestions so far:

Skullz n Crossbowz (Victoria)
Skull Caps (Lynn)
Jackyl Antern (Lorelei)
Skull ooze (Faith)
Dem Bowz (Melissa)
Punk'Inz (Angela)
Dem Bownz (Deb)
Funny Bonz (Faith)
Skele'Bonz (Amanda)

You've still got time today - leave a comment with a suggestion and you'll be entered to win a free skull bead!

In the meantime, I thought I'd take you through the prototype beads trying to come up with a good design.


I wanted to do flowers in the eyes like Day of the Dead skulls and I haven't completely given up on the idea but I've got to make the bead bigger to do it. For two reasons, the 20-25mm (3/4 to 1 inch) size doesn't give me much room to decorate. The other reason is I forgot I have a bigger torch and I'm working too close to the big hot flame - I'm burning my left thumb!!

Duh!

I forgot I'm not on my smaller torch - my work habits are smaller and closer to the flame, I haven't adjusted for the larger, hotter flame.


I perfected the bows with these but I'm still not adjusted to the hotter flame - I heated one or two of the red petals too much so they get lost in the black.

What made me think that cubic zirconia for eyes was a good idea?

Creepy.

Don't forget to post your suggestions. I'll announce a winner tomorrow morning.

Developing New Designs...the process

Yesterday's Twisted Blues for Ornament Thursday included a new design. I thought I'd let you in on my creative process - a few days ago, I posted on The Big Mouth Series and how the look of the bead was inspired by the 1979 playbill art of Sweeney Todd. Still working on the Big Mouth beads they aren't quite there yet. My studio is full of prototypes like the Big Mouth and today I'll show you another series that is going to be added to the website soon.

Flameworked glass headpins is what I've been working on for about three (3) years. No, I haven't struggled with the design nor the actual process of attaching glass to wire, it's the prototypes - I wanted to be sure the glass and wire were compatible so they didn't cause cracking even though the glass was thoroughly annealed. I won't sell anything that won't hold up for the customer. So prototyping is critical to me, it allows me to stand behind my work.

I made these silver and transparent glass headpins three years ago.



Not a crack on them! No cracks mean the glass and wire is compatible and will hold up for a customer. Now that I have the practical elements of the design worked out and tested, I start making the design regularly and make them available for sale. The new designs are made with copper and sterling wire and are on my website under Glass Headpins and Findings.

Prototype Beads.....

This may not seem to be keeping with the seed bead theme but here's a bead-pendant in the Anime/Amigurumi style - I call her "Goth Kid." She's a prototype - I was trying to create the look and feel of a Beaded Art Doll but the glass wanted to be Goth Kid. The beadhole goes from "ear" to "ear." I like her, pretty color reactions in the body and the black is a good background for all of it.

I think I'll put her up on Etsy later on this week, it seems like the right audience for her. What do you think?