maryhardingjewelry bead blog

BEAD!!!

2012-01-20T02:08:00.000-05:00

Porcelain Beads

I have been thinking about a word for 2012 and have come up with BEAD!!! as a daily challenge to myself.

I like that it is very open ended and have been trying it out since late Dec. Seems to work for me most days. I may have missed 1 or 2. So far I have glazed and fired the Porcelain beads above and made most of the beads in the following pictures.

Sunshine Charms

Doublewrap peyote stitch bracelets

Book Beads

Herringbone Beads

Made up the pattern and stitched quite a few of these Herringbone beads. They are quite versatile. I have put them in necklaces, earrings and bracelets.

The best part about a daily challenge is that it keeps the ideas flowing. I don't have a minimum requirement for what BEAD!!! means so if I am short on time just a few minutes will qualify. When I am not beading, I notice that I am thinking up projects or ideas for beads. So far it is stimulating and fun. Hope it lasts.

Icy Wonderland

2012-01-17T07:40:00.000-05:00

We had quite an ice storm here last week. The sun finally came out and I took these spectacular pics of the ice on the trees. It had been 15 degrees below 0 the night before. Went from rain to below zero in a day. Hence the ice stayed around. Today it will be 40 degrees above 0. I can hear the ice falling onto the roof. I am glad I got out with the camera in time to catch these beauties.

My raspberry plants iced and then snow covered

I love close up shots of ice. Quite a build up here

We finally ventured out and this is what the road looked like. Trees bent over and branches touching the ground. Many folks were without power. We were very lucky to have not lost it at all.

Winter blues have to be some of my favorite colors!!

I hope everyone is warm!! Some never have to worry about this kind of weather.

I grew up in a warm climate and am still missing it at times. But this kind of scenery helps make up for being cold!!

What would You Do?

2012-01-11T06:50:00.000-05:00

Melissa of Chinook Jewelry is offering us a blog challenge called What Would You Do? She would like to know what I and you would use for components and stringing for this gorgeous pendant.
I thought I would take the challenge and here is what I would do:

I would use one of my very rustic toggle clasps with a hand stamped pattern that vaguely echoes her pendant

Then I would use some of my porcelain beads to string with it. These are greener than they look in the picture. Toggle clasp and beads are available in my Etsy shop.

And finally I would use this beautiful silk to string the necklace together, perhaps with some chain or leather cord added in---not sure about that yet.

What do you think?

Melissa, this is a fun challenge and good for me to exercise my designing brain!! I look forward to the next one. You can see what the other participants are doing here

First Friday Art Walk. Today and all Weekend

2012-01-06T05:05:00.000-05:00

This is First Friday Art Walk Weekend. I will be offering 10% off everything in my Etsy Shop and free shipping ( via refund) for the weekend. Use BOCFFAW during check out to get the discount. This is a Beads-of-Clay/Etsy venture. You can visit other Beads-of-Clay participants by going to our blog and clicking on any of the pics in the lovely Treasury there. Happy Shopping!!

Enjoyment!! Happy New Year All

2011-12-31T22:48:00.000-05:00

I am enjoying my Holiday time !! Had the wonderful pleasure of seeing the new TinTin movie with my grandsons, their parents and aunt. All seven of us in those plastic 3-D glasses in a MultiPlex theater. My first 3-D. The movie was such a heart warming experience. My sons grew up on TinTin and now my grandsons are having the experience too!!

A fun beading project I mostly finished before we left. A herringbone stitch necklace as a Christmas gift for my daughter-in-law. I amused myself in the car putting on the last touches. She was so pleased with it.

Our first salad with the wonderful seasoned olive oils and vinegars we received for Christmas from them.
We tried the Cranberry Pear White Balsamic vinegar for this salad. Yummy!!

I was so impressed by these buttons my daughter-in-law made here last summer in my studio. And since she isn't a knitter, she bought a sweater and sewed them onto it. They look so perfect there.

One of my grandsons goofing around in the silly optical glasses we got for him. He is into being a rock star at age 10!!

Our Tree of Life. This is a rubber tree that I have had for many years. It grew so large that it was circling our dining area ceiling and was held up by many props. Finally this summer we had to take it down. I was so sad to see it go but it was getting to be too much of a cleaning challenge. Gradually I pruned back the branches and was finally left with a three foot high stump with just one tiny branch that had a couple of leaves on it. I decided to re pot it, put it outside and see what would happen. By the end of September there were tiny buds all over the trunk. They kept getting bigger. When it got too cold for it to be outside anymore, we brought it in and put it back in its old spot. Before long the leaves began to sprout. Once it was cold enough for us to begin heating the house, it grew even more leaves. This is a very recent picture of how wonderfully it is doing. Our Tree of Life Full of New Growth. What a joy!! What an affirmation of the spirit to stay alive!!

A recent photo of me with a hat that is supposed to cover my ears but slips up and bunches out my hair. My husband says it looks cute and reminds him that I am a Lion, so he took this pic.

Happy New Year to all!!

May your days be filled with new growth,

enjoyment and the spirit to be alive and seize life in the present.

Rustic Winter Earrings Tutorial

2011-12-22T06:53:00.000-05:00

Rustic Winter Earrings by Mary Harding

I have been making a lot of earrings lately for the 2 local shops where I sell my jewelry. And I love to make ceramic charms and made quite a few of this little fir trees this month.

Since I enjoy tutorials so much I thought it would be fun to combine my current "obsessions" into a project to share. So here goes.

Rustic Winter Earrings Tutorial
Materials
2 Handmade ceramic fir tree charms by Mary Harding in my Etsy Shop
2 large copper washers ( about 1 inch in diameter) (Harbor Freight carries these, so does Rings and Things)
4 jump rings 9mm antique copper or brass
2 jump rings antique copper or brass 7mm
2 sterling silver earwires or copper if you wish.

Tools and Supplies
Ball Peen Hammer
Metal Bench block
Hand held metal hole punch size 1.25mm (Rio Grande has the heavy duty kind)
Chain nose and bent nose pliers
Renaissance Wax
Steel Wool size 000
Liver of Sulphur
Sunshine Cloth or Soft cloth
Tissue or cotton rounds (cosmetic)

1. Use the ball peen hammer to pound and texture your copper washers

Pound them on a metal bench block. This is what they look like before you texture them.

Head of the ball peen hammer and the copper washer partially textured.

Completely textured copper washers. (they look gold in the photo but they really are copper)

2. Use the hand held hole punch to put a hole in the washer for attaching the earwires
TIP the copper will be thinner after you texture it and makes it easier to punch the holes with the hand punch

This is a heavy duty handheld hole punch. You could also use a drill press with a 1/16 drill bit.

3. Patina your copper washers in a Liver of Sulphur solution made with a small chunk of liver of sulphur and some distilled water. It does not need to be heated to work. Be sure to wear rubber gloves or use a sieve to put them into the solution. Make sure you are working in a well ventilated area.

Rinse in cold water once they turn black. Dry with a paper towel.

This is how black they will get in the liver of sulphur. Not to worry it rubs off.
4. Use the 000 Steel Wool to rub off the patina until the desired effect is achieved.

This is how they will look after you use the Steel Wool. Amazing difference!!

5. Apply a small amount of Renaissance wax with a cosmetic cotton round or tissue paper to each of the copper rings and let them dry about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile you can attach the 9mm jump rings to the Fir Tree charms using your chain nose and bent nose pliers,

and then the 7mm jump rings to the 9mm rings.

6. After the 30 minutes, the Renaissance wax has had a chance to harden, so you polish it with your Sunshine Cloth or a piece of soft fabric. It should keep that level of polish because of the wax.

7. Now attach the last 7 mm ring to your polished textured copper washers.

Using the 7mm jump ring already attached to your tree connect your assembly to the 9mm jump ring on the copper washer. See pic below.

8. Last of all attach the entire assembly to your earwire, close it, and your earrings are ready to wear.

An alternative is to make the same earrings smaller using a 3/4 inch diameter copper washer. You will use all the other supplies and directions to make them.

Happy First Day of Winter!!!

Amazing Book Link

2011-12-05T03:03:00.001-05:00

If you love paper and books you will just love this link about some mysterious paper cuttings from and about books that have been showing up in a library in Scotland.

Maple Seed Wing Necklace

2011-12-04T10:57:00.000-05:00

I am totally blown away by this beautiful necklace that Erin Prais-Hintz, Tesori Trovati Jewelry, made from my Maple Seed Wings Pendant. She made this as part of her Paint the World with Your Palette: 2nd Annual Challenge of Color Blog Hop! This necklace was the Caprese Hues Palette. You can see more of Erin's work and the others who participated here I love the texture of her necklace and the incredible greens she found to compliment the pendant. Thank you Erin!!

First Friday Art Walk TODAY

2011-12-02T06:12:00.001-05:00

                         Beads of Clay
                First Friday Art Walk on Etsy
                             TODAY

I hope you will stop by my Etsy shop today and enjoy the FirstFriday Art Walk discount in my Etsy store Today only--10% off everything in my shop. Please use coupon code BOCFFAW at checkout and a Holiday special of free shipping. I will refund any shipping charges since you can only use one coupon code at a time. ( I just learned this from a customer.) Please check out the Beads-of-Clay blog for more participating Etsy Shops.

Here are some of the new pieces in my Etsy Shop:

Thank you for stopping by.

The Culprit

2011-12-01T09:08:00.000-05:00

Have you ever had the experience of your keyboard going haywire and eating up your words, changing your margins, jumping all over the place and typing numbers instead of words? Well I have been dealing with this for quite a while but didn't know that it was that keyboard in the picture that was making my life so difficult.

I was reluctant to take my tower into the computer shop since I could muddle my way through. Finally I talked to one of the guys at our local computer store, the Computer guys and he told me to make sure that I didn't have the number lock on.. That was not the case. Then I unplugged my keyboard and restarted it. It was then that I noticed that the Number Lock light was coming on randomly and without me doing anything to make it come on. So that is when I got the idea of trying another keyboard to see it that was the problem and lo and behold my old one had gone wild. Turns out that is not an unusual event. Well now that I have the new one installed I am typing just fine. I have even blogged two days in a row ( including this post)!!

BTW 11-30-11

2011-11-30T08:45:00.000-05:00

On my Bead Table-- These soon to find their way into my Etsy Shop. Some already there.

Sweet Fir Tree Charms Some for projects and some in my Etsy Shop

You can see what others have on their Bead Table today here

Artists' Studio Tour

2011-11-08T09:52:00.000-05:00

Our local Arts Council sponsors an annual studio tour in the Fall to give the public a chance to visit local artists and to stimulate Holiday sales for artists. Ours was this last weekend. We were very lucky to have wonderful weather and the public came out for us. I was very busy both days and sales were very good.
I teamed up with a neighbor gallery for publicity--Ladies First Gallery of Art. Sally Hartman, the owner, wrote a newspaper article and I included her in my Studio Tour Newsletter. On the days of the event we sent our visitors to each other. I think it was a very successful collaboration.

In addition to our joint advertising, I offered a free make and take project in my studio to give visitors a chance to get into to the act of creating. I used the model piece above in my publicity and for the actual project. Visitors got to make a copper pendant and learned the skills of stamping, applying liver of sulphur patina ( I kept it in a separate well ventilated place (with the lid on), polishing with steel wool and using a hand held hole punch. Most folks made the pendant but some made a charm for a bracelet or a name tag for a pet. I forgot to take any pics of folks working but there were as many as four or five at a time banging away at once. Since the space that we worked in is quite large, it was a not in the jewelry showroom--- Thanks to my dear husband for giving over much of his shop for the event and heroic help in transforming his workspace into a gallery.

We used this heavy oak desk for our pounding and creating with copper

I used the above photo in my newsletter about the event and apparently it was a good idea, since I sold most of my new bracelets and some older ones as well. I just love the idea of an "arm party". Can't get enough of them on my arm at once.

Since I did not do the Studio Tour last year, I was more than average nervous throughout the first day. By Sunday I was getting much more comfortable and had even more fun with the visitors. Below are some shots of the set up from Sunday Morning. As I mentioned, I never thought of taking any photos when my guests were in the studio.

That wooden box is an upside down old coke box.

This is an overview of my set up. Very casual furniture!! The windows are great for light.

Some of my bracelets. Many missing due to being sold. More gone by Sunday evening. Thank you one and all for coming and making this event so much fun and successful.!!! Thank you St. Lawrence County Arts Council for sponsoring and promoting this wonderful annual event.

During both days of the event I wore the necklace I made in last years' Bead Soup Blog Party with gorgeous beads from Genea. It was a great conversation starter and was a good advertisement for my peyote stitch work that I had on display.

New in My Etsy Shop

2011-10-29T06:28:00.001-04:00

Daisies Heart Pendant This is one of the pieces in Heather Powers' new book. I hope you have had a chance to see it. It is a beauty. I am so thrilled to have 5 of my pieces in it and to be part of one of her design projects.

After my Newsletter Subcribers' Appreciation sale my Etsy Shop inventory has gotten very low. I thank all my loyal readers for their support. Now I am trying to build it up again and have been listing a few pieces each day this week. I thought I would share the pics with you.

I think the onset of some very cold weather here in the Northeast has

made me dip into my unconscious Southwestern past when I came up with this color scheme.

This heart is typical of the wetlands and forest fauna here. Love those colors.

An oak leaf pendant with a dill seed in flower image.

A wild leaf pendant in a nice rose

This is a new style toggle for me. It has a fair sized stringing hole for bracelets like the one below.

This bracelet is strung and knotted with cotton cord. The toggle clasp with the hole works well with this style of stringing. ( not in my Etsy shop)

Fun Zipper Pulls

2011-10-23T08:42:00.000-04:00

I made these spooky Zipper pulls yesterday using Jennifer Jangels tutorial seen on ArtBeadScene recently. Good tutorial. Great and very accurate directions. I am putting these in the Halloween goody pack for my grandchildren. They are boys so the zipper pulls were a fun way to use these liitle ceramic charms I made. The skulls are plastic and part of a novelty bracelet I took apart.

Finishing Up the Lorelei and Shannon Lima Bead Challenge

2011-10-20T01:02:00.001-04:00

I have been struggling to get this necklace finished and finally did last night. It doesn't use many of the beads in the kit. Actually just the Turquoise Zebra Jasper Tumbled Nuggets.

I tried many combinations with the kit beads but the necklace had a will that I gave into. I have titled it The Secrets of Milkweed. I have discovered that Milkweed has not just one but several secrets.

Secret # 1
I realized that the first secret of this necklace was the pendant. I tried a number of others but this one worked. It is of a Milkweed plant in bloom.

The truth is that in real life, the milkweed plant is also very strong willed. It is a big plant that takes up lots of room and farmers hate to see it get an inroad in their hay fields. In mid summer it blooms and has a lovely perfume, by late summer it has gone to seed and it is prolific in its production of white feathery seeds that land and replant themselves everywhere easily.

Secret # 2 The milkweed plant is the food source and birth place of the Monarch Butterfly.

Secret # 3 The name of the Milkweed plant in Latin is a family that stands for Medicine and Healing

Secret #4 The prolific feathery seeds are used as a down substitute for clothing and quilts, especially for those allergic to bird down.

Maybe these secrets are just facts but if you think about it, it gives the Milkweed plant an aura of powers and special abilities. Which all goes into me liking this sweet smelling and most beautiful of weeds. And giving into its will.

The Secrets of Milkweed Necklace

I had wanted to use the lovely lavender Czech glass rondelles in my necklace but "the will" just would not have it. So I made a wire wrapped bracelet with them.. I love that color purple and the way it shimmers. I used some colored aluminum wire size 18 gauge to wire wrap them that I bought especially for this project because it has a purple cast to it, I think. And for the perfect finish : the toggle clasp by Miss Ficklemedia.

Eye of Turquoise Bracelet

I especially like these small structured challenges because it gives me a set of parameters to be creative within. And I especially like this one because of the beautiful beads and color palette and the freedom to use as few as or many of them as we chose. Thank you again Lorelei and Shannon

Bracelet that was in the blog hop using the sweet Czech glass

flower buttons and cube seed beads from the kit.

Make Your Own Findings Class

2011-10-18T04:09:00.000-04:00

While the weather was storming this weekend, I was safely inside an historical building of Clarkson University, Snell Hall, teaching a class for our local Arts Council. I called my class Make Your Own Findings. While preparing for the class, I felt like an actor rehearsing. I practiced each skill I would be teaching, wrote out the steps for the students' take home packet, and memorized my lines, so to speak. What I noticed when the day came was that there were skills that built upon each other as we went through making the findings I had chosen for the day. First we made ear wires. We started with a basic loop. And it was that skill that that was carried through and augmented in the toggle bar and later the clasp. Making a simple loop is the beginning skill of making a spiral which was used in the toggle clasp, and further developed in the spiral clasp. The second skill that repeated itself was using a Sharpie marker to make the loop in the ear wires and the S clasp. Students new to these skills have the most difficulty in learning to move their hands in new ways and where to put their fingers on the wire. The jump rings combined the skills of flush cutting wire, which we learned at the very beginning of the class, bending wire around a mandrel ( the sharpie for the ear wire)and how to arrange your fngers to hold the wire against the mandrel.
The students were eager learners and very creative. It was a fun morning: a joyful reward after all the hours of preparation.

Designing with my Beads

2011-10-09T04:56:00.000-04:00

I was so pleased to receive this photo in an email a few days ago. Yes, that is my red flower front and center. I asked Rebecca if I could post it and link to a URL and learned that she has a wonderful Etsy Shop called Songbead .

And then I found that she has this beautiful necklace in her store.

What a thrill to see my work displayed so beautifully with such clear sharp photos. Thank you Rebecca.

I hope you will give her shop a visit and see all of the wonderful pieces of jewelry she makes.

And you can read more about her work and life on her blog here . And if you check out her blog today you will find a nice surprise.

Lorelei and Shannon's Lima Beads Challenge AND Blog Hop

2011-10-08T01:56:00.002-04:00

That is a pic of the wonderful kit that Lorelei and Shannon picked out at Lima Beads. I was very inspired by the green tile beads and the lovely glass flower beads and immediately began to make a seed bead braelet.

As you can see I have added quite a few beads from my own stash. The turquoise disk bead is one of my own ceramic beads. I love the way this color combo make it almost glow. Thanks so much Lorelei and Shannon for doing this for us. You can see the other participants' work here.

I have begun and have almost finished a necklace with some of the other beads in the kit. I will post it later in the week when it if finished.

First Friday Art Walk

2011-10-07T07:21:00.000-04:00

Today BeadsofClay is collaborating with the First Friday ArtWalk on Etsy.com to give you a chance to visit ceramic bead making shops on Etsy along with other shops. As a special incentive for you to visit the shops most are giving a discount on their prices. I am participating for the first time today. Please use the coupon code BOCFFAW10 when you visit my shop and you will receive a 10% discount on all your purchases .
I hope you will check out the BeadsofClay blog and link to the other BeadsofClay Etsy shops that are participating.
Some of the pieces in my shop today.

The unexpected

2011-10-04T07:54:00.000-04:00

Sometimes, and a little more often than comfortable, ceramic clay gives us the unexpected: the good and the bad. This week has been one of those. These amazing beads were not supposed to come out like this. )That coppery gold surface was totally unexpected!!) They were a special order, and I am so happy the buyer loved them.

My kiln over fired for the first time yesterday and I got the TLF message, meaning that it fired too long and too slow so it turned itself off. I was able to salvage some of the pieces which came out great. (see pic above) But others, no pic, are warped and slightly distorted.

Kiln over firings are just one of the chances we take making ceramics. And unexpected glaze results another. Adds to the fun and frustration of this wonderful craft. And to the time it takes to make a saleable piece.

Some new pieces I am trying out came out great and that is unexpected too, but in the nicest of ways.

Made from a steel printing block I found at that great Flea Market in Maine, I have written about before.7

This piece was planned for the Sept Challenge. I love how it turned out. An unexpected result from participating this month is that I won the Cup of Bead Soup from Lori Anderson. I am so excited!!

Love My Art Jewelry Cyber Sale Today Oct 2nd

2011-10-01T22:24:00.000-04:00

I am participating in the Love My Art Jewelry 1 day Cyber Sale today which begins at 6:00AM EST. Please use code LMAJ15 for 15% off everything in my Etsy Shop today. We are celebrating the concept of making handmade jewelry with handmade components: " Creating Handmade with Handmade."
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And check out the links to all the other 38 shop that are participating by clicking HERE

Art Bead Scene Sept Challenge

2011-09-28T07:56:00.001-04:00

Maine Beach Cabin

Pendant handmade from earthenware clay by me. I found this seaweed on the beach when we were in Maine this summer and brought it home in a container of very cold seawater which I refrigerated until I could make the mold from it. This is the pendant I made. The lines of seaweed made me think of the log cabin quilt pattern in this month's ABS Challenge. I used several of the colors in the quilt that I like and made up this necklace. The wire wrapped beads are also made by me from ceramic clay.

Close up of the pendant on this necklace

Bead Table Wednesday I am Running Late

2011-09-16T03:40:00.001-04:00

China buttons from a Flea Market in Maine

I want to thank all of you who commented and wrote to me about my vacation happenings. So nice to hear from all of you and to hear that I was missed.

I have several pics for my BeadTable Wednesday. Some fun things I picked up in Maine at a cool Flea
These are some "china buttons" which I think means porcelain buttons that I found at the Maine flea market. I also found this set of quite small antique Victorian buttons. They all seem to have leaves and flowers. I love to use these on my free form peyote stitch bracelets. The porcelain ones I don't know what I will do with them but since I love to wire wrap I am looking forward to seeing where that will take me with them.

Victorian Metal Buttons

Some of the beads for the Lorelei and Shannon Lima Beads Challenge

the set is totally gorgeous (click the link above to see it all)

peyote stitch bracelet with my handmade copper button--just finished this and wanted show it off

the clasp is also a button I made, just much smaller and sewn on like a button

this button which is in front is slightly domed so it has some slight movement which is fun

I am keeping this one for myself for now. It is fun to wear. I will probably part with it when the Studio Tour comes in November.

Back from a Nice Long Vacation

2011-09-08T07:03:00.000-04:00

I have been on vacation for almost 3 weeks and have had a great time visiting with family, doing some Staycation activities at home and lastly a wonderful trip to the Beach in Maine where the weather was sunny and the water much warmer than usual.

Tree House My husband Jochen began building for the grandchildren--They helped put up the ladder stairs.

I made these fold form earrings

All of us--parents, aunt, kids made these fold form leaves

we had never done it before--it was such fun and the results so exciting

Jochen redid our deck during this time. You can see it under the outdoor fireplace my son and his wife are putting together for me --my birthday present.

We had such fun cooking hot dogs and makings Smores over the fire--even when it rained

Fishing was by far the favorite activity of the kids. They fished in the good weather, in the rain and in the dark. They caught them and then put them back. Never tired of it.

The roof on the new part of my studio was put on during the Staycation part of my vacation

I received my copy of Heather Powers' book and could show off my pieces in it to my family. And later during the stay home part, I had time to write a review of it for Amazon.com and my Newsletter. What a wonderful book. I feel so honored to be a part of it.

Now my Etsy Shop is back open and I am preparing my September Newsletter and adding pieces to my website. I am going to spend this week reading all those blog posts I missed. I have quite a bit more traveling planned for September so I didn't participate in the Bead Soup Blog Hop but look

forward to seeing what all of you have made.

I am glad to be back. It feels good to be blogging again after such a nice long vacation. Thanks for stopping by.

2011-08-08T04:27:00.000-04:00

I just love this picture, an illustration for American Cresent Cycles, 1899, by Frederick Winthrop Ramsdell. , which is the Art Bead Scene Monthly Challenge inspiration for August. I can't stop looking at the colors and how wonderfully they work together. Since I was so captivated by this painting I decided to try out some of the colors on a few pieces. Here is what I came up with. All 4 are in my Etsy Shop.

Art Nouveau Style Daisy Heart Pendant

This is such a wonderful color combo, I think, inspired by the colors of her dress and hair.

I can't resist putting in a mellow orange to the mix. The thought of the lilies brings this color out in me!!

Here I added some red to the mix. The hand made toggle bar reminds me of the bicycle in Ramsdell's illustration.

This toggle clasp has a hint of fern in a yellow gold and green.

Thank you for stopping by.

Copper and Clay

2011-08-03T10:07:00.000-04:00

Hammered copper toggle clasps in progress

I have been doing some copper wire work and punching out disks in copper. Really Fun Stuff.

Ceramic toggle clasp with my own hammered copper bar

in my Etsy Shop

Another ceramic toggle clasp with one of my hammered copper bars also in my Etsy Shop

I fused a copper swirl into the middle of this pendant. Now in my Etsy shop.

This is a bezel type connector bead with a copper swirl in the bezel. In my Etsy shop

A hammered copper button bead. Just practicing with these still. Thanks to Live Wire emag for directions on how to put the wire on a button.

New Etsy Shop SingingGlass

2011-07-31T05:18:00.000-04:00

I have known Janet for a long time now and have been watching her progress with learning the art of lampwork bead making, as well as, enjoying her wonderful blog and fun FaceBook entries. Now she has a new Etsy Shop called SingingGlass . I don't know how she got so good so fast but take a look at these lovelies.

As you can see she has a rich color palette. I think she must be as into color as I am. And truly, when I was once interested in making glass beads, it was the colors that attracted me to that art form. I think that must be true for Janet as well. She puts them together beautifully.

I hope you get a chance to pop over and help Janet celebrate the opening of her new shop.

New in my Etsy Shop Today

2011-07-30T09:28:00.000-04:00

A pair of washed denim colored heart charms/pendants

An soft yellow orange Daisy Pendant

A set of rustic stoneware beads

All of these are new in my Etsy Shop today. Also a few pieces have been put on sale. Hope you can stop by.

Pictures from my Beading and Bracelet Classes

2011-07-24T09:53:00.000-04:00

Now that I have my DSL back I can share some pictures from the two classes I taught last Friday, July 15 at the Thousand Islands Art Center. The morning class was called Beaded Cabochon Pendant. The students were very enthusiastic. None of them knew how to do peyote stitch. I did not expect them to. The class was about learning to do peyote stitch and making a completed project in the 2 1/2 hours that we had.

They all did very well. I think I should have made the class at least 3 hours, as a couple were not quite finished. There were 7 students so I was busy. They were wonderful, helpful to each other and very appreciate of my handmade ceramic cabochons. I had a great time.

Student bead work around my wild grass cabochon

Student bead work around my wild leaves cabochon

Student bead work around my cluster daisy cabochon

Two of my students working away and enjoying each other's company

It was quite a hot day and we were very happy that we were assigned the ceramics studio since there was cross ventilation and excellent light.

Copper Bracelet Class

From about 1:00PM to 5:00PM I taught the copper bracelet class. The above pic is a collage of the bracelets we made and my model.

Student bracelet. Love that detail around the edge of the disk with the "c" riveted to it.

I can't tell you how much the students loved hammering away on the blank pieces that were included in their kits. I cut out all the copper disks myself and drilled holes in all of the washers. I hand punched the holes in the copper disks since they were 22 gauge copper and soft enough for that punch. But the washers were much harder and I had to use my drill press to make the holes.

Disc Cutter for the round pieces

drill press for drilling the had copper washers.

Students working. Tools everywhere. The noise was incredible at times. That is why we were in ceramics studio!!!

Student Bracelet. You can see how individualized they are. Gorgeous original stampings on the round disk with the "e" riveted to it. Everyone did a rivet, dapped, use patina, use a screw rivet, textured, hammered and were very creative.

She domed the toggle clasp. A very nice touch.

She put a flower on the toggle clasp and made lots of wild stampings. And she had on some incredible jewelry she had made.

I love it that she stamped "River" on her bracelet. Clayton is such a beautiful river town and has such a wonderful vacation feel to it. I love coming here.

This was the model from which I made the kits for the class. I love how the students worked their own individual magic on these components.

Busy, Fun Busy, Busy

2011-07-09T10:22:00.000-04:00

I am now having a lot of fun putting together kits for my Beaded Cabochon Pendant class next week. You can see in the picture above some of the cabochons I made for the class. I have already glued on the backing to save time since the glue requires considerable dry time. I like to use E6000 since it is good with ceramic clay.

I have come up with an additional sample for the class to work from. This one adds a row of beads around the edge. They don't all show here due to the angle of the shot. And I see a small bit of thread I will need to cut off. I have struggled quite a bit with which method of attaching the beads I wanted to use. Originally I used a blanket stitch which gives a lovely look to the back as well. But it takes a very long time and requires some skill. So I went with the bead embroidery back stitch which does a great reliable job and looks good. The sample above uses the back stitch method. The class is only 2 1/2 hours long so I am trying to teach a method that will result in a finished product in the time allowed.

Here is a picture of some of the cabs I made up for the class. I totally enjoyed making these and I love how the colors came out. I imagine I will be making some more before too long.

I made a lot of earrings for the show and they sold well.

I have also been very busy because last week I participated in a Craft Show: Mare's Wares Art Festival to celebrate Canada Day and start off the long 4th of July weekend. It was a wonderful experience and I am so glad that I did it. I felt a bit rusty since I haven't done a show in 2 years. I see how staying practiced helps. But I sold well and best of all I saw many folks that I hadn't seen since my last show. Great blasts from the past and wonderful reconnections. And the organizers of this show Mare and Karen are just the best. Friendly and helpful all the way around. And the setting: so beautiful. My booth was nestled into a lightly wooded area next to an apple tree. How pastoral is that.

More earrings--my hand stamped hoops with Vintaj flowers

And lots of funky Lake Erie beach glass that my Buffalo friends just love and bought for gifts.

And my beaded bracelets which went well.

What didn't sell well, my new wire wrapped bracelets. Necklaces were not a go either.

I guess you can see what I mean about Fun Busy!!!

Thank you for stopping by!!

Sue Beads' Challenge

2011-06-25T06:52:00.001-04:00

I was one of the lucky 5 to be chose to participate in Sue Beads Challenge. She gave each of us a set of these lovely enameled flowers. I got the purple ones in the upper right hand corner. She sent us a very generous amount.

When they first arrived I thought that I would use them in a seed bead creation. But as time went on I did not think this would work out so well as the flowers need bigger beads to show off their great colors. Then I matched them up with some of my own handmade beads and decided that they looked great with these matte turquoise porcelain beads that I had made recently.

And better yet they looked great with these ball head end pins that I made last weekend. The copper turned this wonderful pink red color that also looked great with Sue's flowers.

So I decided to make a rather long pendant that could be added to a variety of stringing materials. I used a Vintaj black flower that I lightened slightly with Gilder's Paste, lots of my turquoise matte porcelain beads, and a butterfly pendant that I had made. It was also touched up with some Gilder's Paste.

And I attached this long pendant to a kind of fancy chain that I had. But it looked a little bare so I wove a piece of turquoise roving that I had into the chain and this is what I got.

Thank you Sue for such a fun Challenge and wonderful enameled flowers to play with. Be sure to visit Sue's blog for the others who participated in this challenge

Bead Table Wednesday 6-22-11

2011-06-23T04:40:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was Bead Table Wednesday, but I couldn't get any photos to load to my blog. Now I am trying again and they are loading just fine.

I am posting a pic of some of the cabs I just got out of the kiln. I am making these for a class I am teaching in July. We will be making a beaded cabochon pendant like the one in the photo below. I am teaching this class at the Thousand Islands Art Center in a nearby town.

Beaded Cabochon pendant

I made 15 cabs for a class of possibly 10. I made several of this pine bough since that is the one pictured in the class catalogue. Now to pick out the seed beads, adhere the backing to the cabs ( I am doing this ahead because of the drying time) and package all the kits up. I actually enjoy putting together kits.

Thank you all who wrote such nice and enthusiastic comments about these cabs!!

You can check out all the other goings on on BTW by clicking my BTW button in the right margin.

Enjoy looking.

Color Inspiration

2011-06-12T03:21:00.000-04:00

Mary Harding Heart pendant Colors inspired by Redon and Hockney

Ophelia by Odilon Redon

David Hockney Pool in 3 Blues

I have long been a fan of David Hockney's paintings. It wasn't until I made the pendant above based, I thought on the colors in the Ophelia painting by Odilon Redon, that I realized in my mind's eye I was seeing the luminous blues and yellows from a Hockney painting, as well.

And now I have even more Hockney's to marvel at since he has been drawing almost daily on his iphone and ipad.

Here is one of his ipad paintings that I just love:

If you think you would like to try this you can use the ipad app brushes, just like David Hockney. It is available for the ipad and the iphone. I don't this it is available yet for the Droid.

Wild Thunderstorm Yesterday

2011-06-09T09:54:00.000-04:00

My studio is in that barn!! No harm done, luckily

My husband is up there cutting it up for firewood right now. Our tractor is under all those branches, safe and sound.

And I can still get inside. We feel very lucky!!

Bead Table Wednesday 06-08-11

2011-06-08T07:51:00.000-04:00

It is Bead Table Wednesday. I missed last week because I was out of town. This week I have some porcelain leaves and round beads and some earthenware hearts (on the left.)

These porcelain leaves are connector beads with a slight arch for bracelets. I have tried out 3 different colors and they all came out well. The center top is a cappuccino and is a matte finish. Kind of nice. The round beads are the same color as a previous BTW but because they are on this pure pure white porcelain clay body the turquoise blue color is more blue. I think it is so interesting that the stoneware clay body has the slightest tint of yellow brown in it and colors this same glaze a slightly green blue turquoise. I just love this turquoise on this very white clay porcelain clay.

I hope you will click on my sidebar BTW button and visit all the other bead tables today. Some, I imagine are at the Bead and Button Show!! Have much fun and success Ladies!!

Belle Armoire Jewelry, Summer 2011 Leafy Links by Shannon LeVart

2011-06-03T12:44:00.000-04:00

Colorful Clover Pendant by Mary Harding

Shannon LeVart, Miss Ficklemedia, has a super wonderful article in Belle Armoire Jewelry, Summer 2011 which just got on the newsstands on June 1. In her article titled Leafy Links, Shannon LeVart has written a poetic interpretation of my ceramic pendants by creating 3 magnificent necklaces. These pendants of mine are beautifully set off by Miss Ficklemedia's patinaed drenched with color chain and pearls-- a unique mix of rustic and cultivated-- and her exquisite sense of style and flow. If you would want to make one of these for yourself, she has detailed, extremely clear instructions on how to do it. You can purchase the pendants from my website at a special sale price for the month of June. I am celebrating later in the month with a Giveaway of one of these pendants.

The Necklaces, made and

photographed by Shannon LeVart

Wild Pasture Flower Pendant by Mary Harding

Willow Leaf Pendant by Mary Harding

2nd Saturday State of Your Studio/3rd Friday Cone 5/6 Glaze Tests

2011-05-30T10:52:00.000-04:00

Some sweet tiny heart beads for a special order

Every 2nd Saturday, and every 3rd Friday Marsha Neal Studio sets up linking blog posts on BeadsofClay for us to post to and catch up on other studios in the bead and handmade world. Anyone can participate who wants to share their studio happenings or glaze tests. You don't have to be a ceramic bead artist to participate. I hope you will join in on the fun. And you have a month to link up your post. I thought I would share some recent glaze tests and a few beads since I am sort of bridging the time between these two linky posts on BOC.

The tiny hearts in a bigger heart!!

Coyote Cone 5/6 Glaze Layered Black with Really Red on top

Coyote 5/6 Glaze Cedar Shino

Coyote 5/6 Glaze layered with Gun Metal Green then with Archie's Base on Top

Coyote 5/6 Glaze Pistachio Shino

Coyote 5/6 Glaze layered with Black, then Shino, then Archie's Base

My friend Cait, the BarefootWeaver's buttons using some of these test strip combos.

I hope you enjoyed this color treat today. These are indeed amazing glazes!!

Art Bead Scene May A Simple Garland

2011-05-24T06:03:00.001-04:00

Here is how I came to make this necklace.

I really love the colors in this month's Art Bead Scene challenge painting Hide and Seek by Berthe Marisot. I made this large donut pendant last month to reflect my favorite color combination of ochre and a red brown. I felt that it also worked for the painting Hide and Seek.

I have been wanting to try Heather Power's Bird Nest Bail tutorial for some time and I decided to try it with this pendant. I found that it worked very well. I used an antiqued copper wire in gauge 22 because that is what I had. But I do love this color and gauge for this pendant. I added three of my light red round ceramic beads to bring out the color of the cherries in the the painting and the similar color in the pendant. The black flower is a vintaj charm.

The two simple leaves are stoneware ceramic pieces that I made recently. They are attached with my copper ball head head pins. The cord is one I felted from Moreno wool and includes all the darker colors in the painting. I love it with the pendant. The copper clasp is one I made based on Cindy Wimmer"s Spiral Clasp tutorial.

I loved putting all these handmade components together into my Simple Garland Necklace. I am so pleased to have been able to make a submission for the May ArtBeadScene Challenge. Thank you for stopping by and looking.

Bead Table Wednesday 5-18-11

2011-05-18T09:13:00.019-04:00

It's Bead Table Wednesday. I am showing my recent firing of stoneware and porcelain beads with some new glaze colors. I am very excited about how black the black beads turned out. And that I only had to fire them one time at cone5 to get this fabulous color. I can't wait to make them into a necklace along with some other black beads I made from a different clay body and stain.

To follow up on last week's BTW, I have put in the above photo. I want to thank all of you for your encouraging comments about my beads which in the end I really liked so much that I finished the necklace I had started. I find this BTW so inspiring and motivating. I hope you will click on my BTW button on the sidebar and get over and look at all the other inspiring bead tables. Its always a great experience.

Celebrating Beads 2011

2011-05-17T09:01:00.001-04:00

Today is a Celebration of Beads 2011:
Now that all of my beads that are in Beads 2011 are back home with me I thought I would share a group shot of the ones that were published in the magazine.

In case you don't know there is a fabulous Giveaway going on over at the Art Bead Scene in celebration of Beads 2011. You won't want to miss this one. Here is the link.

And my personal note to Stringing Mag:

I want to thank Danielle Fox and Stringing Magazine for such kind and gentle treatment of my "lovelies". You photographed them so well and placed them in such fun groupings. And you packaged them up so carefully so that they would came home safely to me. I love it that I can always trust Stringing to take such good care of my work. And most of all I thank you for publishing them in Beads 2011. I love the whole issue. It is so great to have this magazine with all the creative energies in the bead world packaged together in one readable place!!

Satellite Beach Express... Miss Ficklemedia to Mary Harding

2011-05-14T13:53:00.000-04:00

Just this week I received a wonderful necklace that Shannon LeVart, aka Miss Ficklemedia, made to celebrate the upcoming publication of her work using one of my pendants in the Summer issue of Belle Armoire Jewelry. Shannon wanted me to actually see and touch how well my ceramic pieces go with her textured chain.

Now I want to share at least these photos of the stunning piece she created. And I can tell you that her chain, color drenched in the exact color of teal as in the background of this pendant, is such a treat to see and wear. It is light weight, flexible and holds its shape beautifully. It is the perfect amount of rustic for my ceramic art. I have worn it out already and loved the way it made me look and feel, and of course I was heady from the compliments I received.

If you are a ceramic bead artist or a jewelry designer, I encourage you to try out her chain. It comes in so many colors and in two textures. I already purchased ( and the package is on its way) some of her teal, paprika orange, and saffron yellow chain for some projects I have in mind.
You can find a pendant similar to this one in my Etsy Shop and the chain in Miss Ficklemedia's Etsy Shop.

Bead Table Wednesday 5-11-11

2011-05-11T08:39:00.000-04:00

I was so disappointed when I opened up the kiln last night and took out these beads. Especially with the brown ones. I was trying out some new glazes and had high hopes for these two colors, the red brown and the blue brown. I was ok with the blue brown, but not the red brown.

When I got up this morning I was feeling a little better about them. They looked a little better in the sunny light of early morning. I was getting ready to rush out to my studio and make more beads so I could try some other combinations to improve the color. And then I thought what if.....? I went to my wire box and got out some new to me antiqued copper wire from Kabela Design that I had picked up at a bead show last month. And I started wire wrapping the beads and putting them together and all of a sudden I was feeling really happy, excited and delighted with my new beads and new colors.

The moral of this story for me is never judge a bead out of context. I should know this by now but I am forever forgetting this wonderful quality of beads--the way they change color depending on what they are next to.

Enjoy everyone's Bead Table Wednesday by clicking on the BTW button on the side bar.

Thank you for stopping and have a great day. We have SUN today in the Northeast. Yeah!!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

2011-05-08T05:15:00.001-04:00

Happy Mother's Day to all!! The picture above is the bracelet I made for my daughter-in-law for Mother's Day. I wanted to honor her because she is such a great mother to our grandchildren. I have stamped the initials of my two grandsons on the bead caps, one for each boy. I have also stamped Mom on one of the bead caps and on the dapped charm. And those green beads (green is her favorite color) are those beads from my BTW post last week.

Happy Mother's Day to all of you!! I believe all women are mothers. Mothers to children, or another person, or a pet or a creative spirit. Whomever we mother gives us joy and reminds us that it is never easy to be a mother but always worth the unconditional love we put forth.

Bead Table Wednesday

2011-05-04T08:19:00.002-04:00

This picture most acurately shows the green color of the beads interrupted.

This pic is interesting to me because the butterfly is fired at low fire cone 06 with a high fire glaze cone6. The gold color is from some Gilder's Paste that I got at a bead show recently. It is able to be polished when it dries. The gray color is a glaze that would have fired a nice blue if fired high enough. But the gray is sort of cool.

Green stoneware beads firing interrupted by power outage a few days ago. So the green may just be this color one time!! I am using them to make a bracelet for my daughter-in law-for Mother's Day. She is the best Mom ever!! Some clasps some ear wires and bead caps I made also in the photo. Two of them say MOM.

Posted from My Droid phone. Not very true to color. But such technology is always fun to use.

Thank you and An Exciting Achievement a BeadStar Finalist

2011-04-29T09:11:00.000-04:00

My Desert Dusk necklace Finalist for BeadStar in Seed Beads

I want to thank all of you for your wonderful comments on the bracelet I made for the 7000 Bracelets for Hope blog hop. You were all so encouraging and generous with you time and words. Thank you SO much.
I also am very excited to see that I was included as a Finalist in the BeadStar Competition in Seed Beads. That means that my necklace along with 19 other lovely pieces was chosen to be voted on for the final winners in that category. I am especially pleased to be a finalist in the seed bead category because of my free style and intuitive, rather than patterned approach to bead weaving. I feel so honored, If you want to vote on all or any of the 8 categories for BeadStar please click here. The link will take you to the page where you can view all of the finalists. They are spectacular.

7000 Bracelets Blog Hop

2011-04-16T03:03:00.000-04:00

Today is our blog hop in support of the 7000 Bracelets For Hope campaign. Lori Anderson has been the coordinator of our participation in the Global Genes Project. Each person who signed on to this event has agreed to make a bracelet , blue in color,( the color of their denim blue jeans theme) and donate it to the Global Genes Project.They in turn will give the bracelet to a parent of a child with a Rare Disease.

The Global Genes Project is a non-profit advocacy organization that aims to raise awareness about the prevalence of rare diseases worldwide. They developed the 7,000 Bracelets for Hope™ campaign to draw attention to an estimated 7,000 different chronic, life-threatening and fatal rare diseases and disorders affecting approximately 30 million Americans and millions more globally. I am so pleased to be a part of this campaign.

The bracelet I made is composed of all handmade components made by me except for the copper chain and jump rings. The beads are stoneware in a glaze color that I made from two colors that I had. It came out very denim blue I think. The leaf link is made by me from porcelain clay. The bead caps are handmade from copper and hand stamped with the word love and hearts. The spiral wrapped clasp is a sized down version of the one featured in a tutorial by Sweet Bead Studio. The blue bird and heart are also made from Porcelain clay

I like to think that this blue bird, the New York state bird, symbolizes hope and happiness

A heart to symbolize compassion and love

Thank you for stopping and supporting this important awareness campaign. I had a very happy time making this bracelet and hope it gives some joy to whomever receives it. You can visit the others in this blog hop by going to Lori Anderson's blog and clicking on the participants names.

2nd Saturday State of My Studio Beads of Clay

2011-04-12T08:41:00.000-04:00

It is 2nd Saturday at Beads of Clay and I am linking up to the post with these pics from my studio on Saturday, April 9. This pic above is of the Gauguin inspired flowers I am making. Here they are all glazed in my special mix of layers to create that intense tropical red I am hoping for. Actually now they are fired and some are in my Etsy shop and a pic of them together will be on my BTW post tomorrow.

On Saturday I also glazed these beads so that they would come out close to a denim blue. I am using some of these to make a bracelet for the 7000 Bracelets project and blog hop coordinated by Lori Anderson.

The blog hop is on Saturday April 16. I have finished my bracelet and the cool part is that everything part of it is handmade except for a bit of chain. Thank you to Sweet Bead Studio for the spiral clasp tut.

BTW April 6, 2011

2011-04-06T03:00:00.003-04:00

I was excited to get the red color on the top left flower. These red flowers are the glazed version of the white bisque ones I had on my bead table last week. It took some fancy mixing to get that rich of a red. The red flower below is not quite the color I was hoping for. The round blue colored pendant in the right hand corner is made with porcelain frost clay. This is the first porcelain pendant I have glazed with my cone 06 glazes. The colors are fine. Mayco states on their bottles that their colors are not changed by the higher temp of cone 6. Seems to be true in this case. I do notice though that the details of the image are significantly softened by the higher firing temperature.

Here is a close up of the flower

You can visit all of the other Bead Table Wednesday pics and see what others are up to by clicking on the BTW button in the right hand column.

Thank you for stopping by.

Glazing Day

2011-04-03T03:46:00.000-04:00

I spent a lot of time yesterday hand painting pendants, toggle clasps and charms. The picture above in terra cotta and teal was serendipitous. I didn't intend the teal to be quite that color and quickly added some more green to change it to my usual color. But when I see it on the terra cotta clay, I see how great it looks. Actually even better. I may do more this way. Of course colors change once I put on the clear glaze and fire them.

A few toggle clasps hand painted and drying before I put on the clear glaze. I seem to never tire of taking photos of work in progress. These should arrive in my Etsy store later this week.

And about the red flowers. I have the glaze test strips cooling in the kiln right now. I will get a chance to look at them about Noon today. Can't wait. And since waiting is hard, I glazed one flower before seeing the test strips. Hope it comes out well. I will share on BTW this week.

Hope you have a great Sunday. I will be outside raking and hopefully planting some Spinach and beets.

Bead Table Wednesday 3-30-11

2011-03-30T06:53:00.000-04:00

It is Bead Table Wednesday today. I am showing two photos of some beads I am making out of two different clay bodies. The photo above is a tray of stoneware beads that have been bisque fired. The flowers were inspired by the ArtBeadScene monthly challenge painting by Paul Gauguin. I just love his work and that painting. I especially like the blues and greens and his wonderful intense reds. I am going to try to make these flowers a red color that is deep and rich. If it were my usual earthenware clay body and glazes I would probably not have any difficulty doing that. But I am going to try to make the red with the cone5 glazes that I have. In any case, I won't be ready to enter the challenge. But the inspiration is has been great. I am happy is I finish the work by next month. I just love the opportunity to try out new colors and beads.

This picture is of a tray of bisque fired Frost Porcelain beads. I found this clay great for stamping and cutting out with a cutter. But to cut with a knife as I tried to do with the leaves, I found it to be sticky and very difficult to work with. The stoneware in the first tray is so much easier to work with. The small white buttons on the top left are made by my friend Cait.

I hope you will visit all of the offerings on today's Bead Table. You can get there easily by clicking on the BTW button on my sidebar.

Thank you for look and feasting on beads today.

Bead Table Wedesday 3-23-2011

2011-03-23T06:18:00.001-04:00

This week I have been making some peyote bracelets with some of my new stoneware beads. The table is full of seed beads and a tangle of bracelets. I love all these colors entwined and mixed together. I have been so inspired I ordered some more seed beads. My favorite online shop is Whimbeads. When I arrived at their site I found out that About.com readers think so too!! This shop won the 2011 Reader's Choice Award for best online source of seed beads. To me they have the best choice of colors, especially in the matte and metallic category. So I am looking forward to a very special package in the mail this week. I'll share a photo when they come.
If you click on the BTW Button on the right you will be taken to all the other Bead Tables participating. Hope you will check them out.

Works of Art

2011-03-22T07:55:00.001-04:00

These beautiful onions were grown last summer by my friend Isis. They are a treat to the eye and palette.

Finished by Friday

2011-03-18T06:15:00.000-04:00

Shortly after the New Year I began writing a weekly blog post titled Finished By Friday. I managed to continue this through February 4th. Not too good for a New Year's Resolution. I was quite distracted by a number of wonderful and fun blog hops. But now I am back and I am going to continue with the original plan which was to finish up all my unfinished pieces. (MIAS)

This week I am starting off with two favorites that I had not quite finished before I took them up again to let them participate in my FBF posts. I especially like this peyote bracelet because of the colors and the simplicity. I am totally unwilling to part with it, despite our local Arts Council wanting it for their shop. So I am going to try to make another simple peyote bracelet and see if that makes it easier to part with one of them.

Simple flat peyote stitch with 3 of my stoneware stained and tumbled beads

This poppy seed head button is also one of my stoneware stained and tumbled beads.

This bracelet is done in Right Angle Weave stitch. A simple pattern I developed after taking a basic course. The clasp is from Fusion Beads.

All of the ceramic beads are my stained and tumbled stoneware

2nd Saturday State of Your Studio--Cait and Mary are back in the Studio EXPLORING

2011-03-12T11:49:00.000-05:00

Yes, Cait and Mary are back in the studio exploring different clays. This time we are trying out some Frost Porcelain clay. My first impression is that it is so sticky compared to stoneware. But as we move along during our session, Cait discovers that she can make very thin buttons with it, that it takes a super good impression and that it is fun to bend and mold.

Some of Cait's buttons. You can see the fabulous impression from her mold on the ones in the foreground. And look how thin the little squares are and how nicely they bend.

I am finding too that it bends and molds well. We have just gotten to the first step in learning about this highly regarded porcelain. I am going to try a few more ways of working with it before I make a final judgement.

These are leaves, hearts, birds and butterflies If you get in close on the photo you can see how the clay crumbles around the cuts. It seems sticky. When these dry I will see how they sponge up. And then bisque firing and the exciting part THE GLAZE.

And to get back to our button and glaze adventure, I just have to share another photo of another one of Cait's scarves with buttons. These beauties are glazed in Coyote Pam's Blue. What a lovely old fashioned blue that is. Kind of a pewter blue, I guess. It sure looks great on this scarf. You can see a pic of it in Cait's Etsy shop here.

And the Winner of the 2nd Giveaway is....

2011-03-06T15:47:00.000-05:00

And the winner of my 2nd Giveaway is....Lisa Godfrey.
Hi Lisa, Pleas send me your address and I will put your Butterfly Pendant in the mail.

Thank you all for your great comments today. I so appreciate you visiting me. This has been a great way to think about the newness of Spring and the wonderful days of summer that follow closely behind. And to think about gardens and summer vegetables:

Hope you will check out my Etsy store for my special sale today. And be sure to visit all of the other blogs that are having sales. You can see them here.

You all are so positive and make doing this so worthwhile. Thank you, Thank you Thank you.

2nd Giveaway

2011-03-06T14:59:00.001-05:00

Ceramic butterfly pendant by Mary Harding

Now it is time for you to take a chance on my 2nd Giveaway for the afternoon. Here is it. Please leave a comment below and the winner will be announced at 3:30 PM

Although this event has the wonderful title of Signs of Spring, I have not seen any yet here in the Northeast except for slightly longer days. As I mentioned earlier and you may have seen the pic I took early this morning, we are in the middle of a snow storm. But I have some lovely signs of Spring pics from last year that I will share with you.

The first shoots of the raspberry plant

Chives breaking through the newly thawed soil

See you at 3:30 for the announcement of this Giveaway!! Thanks so much for stopping by.

And the Winner is........2:15

2011-03-06T14:21:00.000-05:00

And ther Winner of my stoneware ceramic Butterfly Toggle Clasp is Penny by random number generator. Thank you all who stopped and visited and left me such wonderful comments about my work. I so appreciate it.

I am glad you are back!! Here are a few pictures of my studio which is part of an old barn built around 1850. We are fixing it up. Here is a picture of the beginnings of fixing the outside:

New siding from pine trees in our woods. We are grateful for the help from our Amish neighbors.

Inside my studio. Close up is the area where I hand paint and glaze my pieces. In the back is the area where I roll out the clay and dry my pieces. My husband recently put in all new long fluourescent lights. Now I can really see well and hardly any shadows. Such a help for all that hand painting I do.

Click here to get back to the Beads-of-Clay blog to see others work

Beads of Clay Spring Open Studio Blog Event

2011-03-06T13:45:00.000-05:00

GIVEAWAY TIME

Here is the photo of my first Giveaway for this afternoon's Beads of Clay Spring Open Studio Event.
This is a stonoeware ceramic clay butterfly toggle clasp in a honey brown and denin color glaze. I just love these colors together and can see that it will be a versatile toggle for many color palettes. You can win this toggle clasp by entering a comment below. What colors would you use with this toggle clasp?

Welcome to My Blog and the Beads-of-Clay Open Studio Blog Event

2011-03-06T12:54:00.001-05:00

Shadow of trees on a Sunny Winter Day

Welcome to my Blog and to the Beads of Clay Spring Open Studio Blog Event!! I am so happy that you are here. We have called this event Signs of Spring but actually right this moment we are in the middle of a Nor'Easter Snow Storm.

I am a ceramic bead maker and jewelry artist. I am inspired by nature and color. I also love to explore and experiment with clay and metal. Below is an example of some of my recent ceramic bead work.

Recent ceramic toggle clasps, charms, pendants

My peyote stitch bead work

A free form peyote stitch bracelet

Freeform peyote stitch necklace with my handmade raku fired ceramic beads

Some of my metal toggle bars and bead caps

At 1:45 pm I will post a picture of my first Giveaway today. Meanwhile you can visit my Etsy Shop where pieces are on sale 25% off ( a few at 20%).

Welcome to the Beads of Clay Spring Open Studio Blog Event

2011-03-06T06:38:00.008-05:00

Welcome to the Beads-of-Clay Spring Open Studio Blog Event
We go Live at 1:00 PM EST today!!. Please come back for my 2 Giveaways and a Sale in my Etsy Store.
Heres a preview of one Here is a preview of one of my giveaways this afternoon.

Stoneware Butterfly toggle clasp

Today's Schedule of Events

1pm: Welcome to the Artists Studios - an Introduction to each artist.

1:45pm: 1st Giveaway Post (30 minutes to comment for your chance to win).

2:15pm: Winner for 1st Giveway Picked & Intro to the artist studio space.

3pm: 2nd Giveaway Post (30 minutes to comment for your chance to win).

3:30pm: Winner for 2nd Giveaway Picked & Thoughts about Spring from the Artist.

4pm: Thank You for visiting! Remember to leave your comments about the Open Studio on this BOC Open Studio Blog post for your chance at winning the beads above

I hope you will go to the Beads-of-Clay Blog and enter a comment to win a wonderful collection of artist made ceramic beads. See picture below.

I look forward to seeing you back at 1:00 PM tody.

Bead Table Wednesday March 2, 2011

2011-03-03T10:02:00.000-05:00

New stoneware butterfly toggles getting ready for my Etsy Shop 20% off Sale on Sunday as part of the Beads of Clay blog Spring Open Studio Event. Hope you will stop by and join all the fun and excitement of sales, giveaways and inside studio looks. See you then.

Bead Soup Blog Party The Reveal

2011-02-26T01:00:00.003-05:00

Today is the DAY for the Lori Anderson Bead Soup Blog Party Reveal. I have been waiting since those gorgeous beads above arrived from Genea Beads. This is the day over two hundred beaders have been waiting for. It all began in early January when Lori Anderson announced her 3rd Bead Soup Party. I joined in and shortly learned that my Bead Soup Partner would be Genea Crivello-Knable. What fun it has been getting to know her. She is so friendly, exuberant, talented and creative. Once we connected we were to send each other a focal bead, a clasp and a few other beads. You can see by the photo above that she is also very generous. Once these beauties arrived, I began to think about how I would make them into a piece of jewelry. I decided to use free form peyote stitch since the glass just seemed to lend it self to an intuitive kind of beadwork.

Close up photo of the necklace showcasing a disk bead and some rounds (made by Genea) as well as my peyote stitch spikes. This photo also is a good example of the incredible coincidence that the teal glass size 6 seed beads I used are the exact same color as the teal glass that Genea used to make some of her beads. And I already had these teal colored beads in my stash!! Just shows we were meant to be Bead Soup Partners. Lori, you have such a feel for matching folks up!! We both have thought this all along.

This photo is very special since it is a closeup of the bead that Genea invented just for me for this Bead Soup Blog Party. She calls this bead a Tri Flower Cone. I have jazzed it up even more by stringing it on 3 of her glass tipped head pins. Isn't it just a fabulous bead?!!

A full photo of the necklace. I have decided to name it JOY!! Since that is how I feel each time I look at Genea's beads and feel their vibrant colors.

Another photo of the whole necklace in a pseudo Spring setting.

And a final photo of the necklace being worn. It hangs so well. Almost all of the beads, other than the seed beads have been made by Genea. I used only 3 of my own ceramic beads. I wanted this necklace to be about Genea and the wondrous beauty and energy of her creations.

This has been such fun. Thank you Genea and Lori!! I hope you will visit all the others who are revealing their creations today. I can't wait to start blog hopping. You can use this list below. I have noted Where You Are on the list.

1. Lori Anderson, Pretty Things

2. Kitty Durmaj, Perles and Life

3. Michelle Heim, Life In the Bead Lane

4. Lisa Petrillo, Lucid Moon Studio

5. Anitra Gordy, Leelu Creations

6. Paige Maxim, Paige Maxim Designs

7. Marianna Boylan, Pretty Shiny Things

8. Cheryl Roe, BeadRoe

9. Heidi Post, Ex Post Facto

10. Cindy Wimmer, Sweet Bead Studio

11. Terri Gauthier, Blooming Ideas

12. Rachel Walsh, Balanced Crafts

13. Marian Hertzog, M's Place

14. Mary McGraw, MK's Musings

15. Sarabeth Burke, Chronicles of Sarita

16. Deci Worland, Gem Trails

17. Erin Prais-Hintz, Treasures Found

18. Laura Zeiner, Stick Lizard Designs

19. Kristin Latimer, MJM Jewelry Designs

20. Cathryn Brooks-Williams, Chile Cats

21. Holly Westfall, Silver Rose Designs

22. Janna Harttgen, Palima-Lim

23. Libby Leuchtman, Libby Leu

24. Rebecca Anderson, Songbeads

25. Deb Hunter, Living On Air

26. Diana Ptaszynski, Suburban Girl Studio

27. Jennifer VanBenschoten, VanBeads

28. Margot Potter, The Impatient Crafter

29. Cyndi Lavin, Beading Arts

30. Courtney Breul, Beads by Breul

31. Stefanie Teufel, Stefanie's Sammelsurium

32. Patricia Gasparino, My Life Under the Bus

33. Tari Khars, Pearl and Pebble

34. Kristi Bowman-Gruel, Kristi Bowman Design

35. Jayne Capps, Mama's Got to Doodle

36. Becky Fairclough, Chameleons Designs

37. Evie and Beth McCord, EB Bead & Metal Works

38. Lynne Bowland, Islandgirl's Insights

39. Barbara Lewis, Painting With Fire

40. Lorelei Eurto, Inside the Studio

41. Stacy Hartis, Sissy & Jack's

42. Jennifer Cameron, Glass Addictions

43. Marcie Abney, La Bella Joya

44. Johanna Rhodes, Fire Phoenix Creations

45. Nan Emmett, Spirit Rattles

46. Melissa Mesara, One Eared Pig

47. Amanda Davie, Articulations

48. Cherin Poovey, Lanyard Lady

49. Virginia Joste, ViviBijoux

50. Andrew Thornton, The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
51. Lori Dorrington, Lori's Glassworks

52. Melanie Brooks, Earthenwood Studio Chronicles

53. Kate Gardenghi, Tropical Blonde

54. Serena Trent, PinkIce Jewel's Blog

55. Malin de Koning, Beading by Malin de Koning

56. Shai Williams, Shaiha's Ramblings

57. Francy Inman, 8 Second Studio

58. Amy Freeland, Copper Diem

59. Lisa Liddy, Joolz By Lisa

60. Sandi Lee James, Do Be Do Bead Do

61. Mary Harding, Mary Harding Bead Blog you are here

62. Stacey Curry, Star Hitched Wagon

63. Leslie Gidden, Mad Maggie Designs

64. Elisabeth Auld, Beads For Busy Gals

65. Niky Sayers, Silver Nik Nats

66. Linda Djokic, Lutka and Co.

67. Tracy Bell, Copper, Glass, and Recycled Trash

68. Laurel Steven, Rue's Daftique

69. Ingrid McCue, Wrapped In Silver

70. Birgitta Lejonklou, Create With Spirit

71. Diana Hawkey, Diana Hawkey

72. Norma Turvey, Moonlit Fantaseas

73. Jeanette Ryan, Jeanette Blix

74. Jackie Ryan, Silver Lodge Gems

75. Jean Yates, Snap Out of it Jean, There's Beading to Be Done!

76. Debbie Goering, Prairie Emporium

77. Valerie Norton, Hot Art

78. Jana Trupovniece, Stories of the Secret Garden

79. Amy Severino, Amy Beads

80. Emma Thomas, Fred Beans Nook

81. Karen Zanco, Everyday Gypsy

82. Suzann Sladcik Wilson, Beadphoria

83. Janet McDonald, Singing Woods

84. Dana James, Dana's Jewelry Designs

85. Kristina Johansson, Wild Roses and Blackberries

86. CJ Bauschka, CJ Bauschka

87. Angela Barribea, Re: Angela Rae

88. Marcy Lamberson, Studio Marcy

89. Tanya Floyd, Glass Migrations

90. Lisa Kavanaugh, Beading Bliss

91. Sue Hodgkinson, Hello Gorgeous

92. Jenni Connolly, Jenni's Bead

93. Nally Parfyonova, Nally's Creations

94. Karyn White, Releases By Rufydoof

95. Emanda Johnson, Artemisia Studio

96. Sandy Richardson, Sandy's Coloring Box

97. Cindy Dolezal, Cindy Dolezal Designs

98. Stacie Stamper, Park Avenue

99. Mallory Hoffman, For the Love of Beads

100. Linda Landig, Linda's Bead Blog and Meanderings

101. Nicole Valentine-Rimmer, N. Valentine Studio

102. Jacinta Meyers, Jamberrysong's Creations

103. Charlene Gary, Gray Girl Studios

104. Rubiee Hayes, Glitter and Keys Galore

105. Marge Beebe, Rock Creek Creations

106. Elizabeth Freeman, Turquoise Sky

107. Shelby Foxwell, Sundown Bead Designs Rhetoric

108. Lynda Moseley, Diva Designs

109. Grace Danel, Grace Beading

110. Lois Moon, Que Onda Quitman

111. Agnes Shapiro, Beader Bubbe

112. Terry Carter, Tapping Flamingo

113. Judy Glende, Judith B. Designs

114. Mary Ellen Parker, Bee Tree By Me

115. Barbara Bechtel, Second Surf

116. Charlene Sevier, The Bead Dreamer

117. Alice Craddick, Alice's Beads and Baubles

118. Cory Celaya, Art With Moxie

119. Ronda Adams, The Ravished Heart

120. Sandi Volpe, Sandi Volpe Designs

121. Anna Lear, The Laughing Raven

122. Susie Hibdon, Vintagesusie & Wings

123. Amanda Austin, Sea Shore Glass

124. Jennifer Velasquez, Jen Judd Rocks

125. Hazel Ward, All Those Things

126. Brenda Salzano, Salzanos

127. Dee Gordon, Runako Designs by Dee

128. Anna Denisova, Anita-M

129. Margaret Saari, Mags-Jewelry

130. Genea Crivello-Knable, Genea Beads

131. Penny Neville, Copper Penny

132. Angela Blasingame, Hopemore

133. Helena Fritz, Beadwork by H's Blog

134. Stephanie LaRose, Confessions of a Bead Hoarder

135. Stephanie Haussler, PixyBug Designs

136. Diane Cook, Rosa & Josies

137. Maryse Thillens, Glass Bead Art

138. Jennifer Pride, Jewelry by J.P.

139. Shannon Chomanczuk, For My Sweet Daughter

140. Lisa Godfrey, Bead Happy

141. Heather Pyle, Welcome to My Muse

142. Regina Santerre, Regina's Writings

143. Liz DeLuca, Creative Arty Facts

144. Sig Wynne-Evans, Beaded Bear's Nonsense

145. Loretta Carstensen, Loretta's Boutique

146. Raida Disbrow, Havana Beads

147. Amber Dawn, Inventive Soul

148. Shelly Graves, Stars Dance With Me

149. Jess Italia Lincoln, Vintaj Blog

150. JJ Jacobs, Coming Abstractions

151. Carrie Tahquechi, Carrie T

152. Staci Smith, Staci Louise Originals

153. Katarzyna Kwiatkowska, Quiet Area

154. Ema Kilroy, Ema K Designs

155. Magdalena Sikora, Poranna Gazeta

156. Nicole Keller, Nicki's Reef

157. Ann Rishell, My Critical Eye

158. Noemi Baena, Fire, Metal, and Color

159. Christa Murphy, Adventures of One Beady Woman

160. Barbara Blaszczyk, Labotorium Flory

161. Collette Collins, Firefly Myst

162. Carola Greiser, Polymer Clay Shed

163. Joanna Kopijczuk, Bizuteria z Filcu

164. LeAnn Weih, Summers Studio

165. Cassandra Watsham, Design by Cassandra

166. Anna Motz, Stunning

167. Shea Zukowski, Gr8findings

168. Susan Kennedy, Sue Beads

169. Lisa Boucher, Lisa's Clay Happenings

170. Hope Smitherman, Crafty Hope

171. Alison Crenshaw, Beads by Earth Tones

172. Dorcas Midkiff, Wondrous Strange Designs

173. Melissa Rediger, Sea of Glass

174. Marina Dobrynina, Savon Feutre

175. Julie Nordine, Julie Nordine | Credit River Art Glass

176. Menka Gupta, Menka's Blog

177. Patsy Evins, Patsy Evins Studio

178. Cherrie Fick, En La Lumie're

179. Suzette Bentley, Ellie's Bijoux

180. Molly Alexander, Beautifully Broken Me

181. Lyn Foley, Lyn Foley Wearable Art

182. Tara Plote, The Newbie Beader's Blog

183. Natalie Schuetz, Natalie S Perlen

184. Kim Hutchinson, Running on Ink

185. Haley Frank, Wide Eyed Smilin

186. Grace Caputo, Suddenly Last Summer

187. Marie-Noel Voyer-Cramp, Skye Jewels

188. Erin Siegel, Erin Siegel Jewelry

189. Janea McDonald, Organized Chaos

190. Kristi Evenson, Colie Bug & Co.

191. Linda Inhelder, Must Haves Jewelry

192. Hilary Frye, FryeStyle

193. Whitney Lassini, Whitney Lassini

194. Nancy Schindler, The Rabbit Muse

195. Pam Brisse, The Blue Between

196. Beth Bricker, Vintage Sweets

197. Ruthie Stickney, Rose Works Jewelry and Gifts

198. Rose Noble, Lady Noble Designs

199. Karen Williams, Baublicious

200. Claire Maunsell, The Next Bend

201. Christine Damm, Stories They Tell

202. Kerry Bogert, Kab's Creative Concepts

203. Wendy Blum, Sand & Sea Designs

204. Juli Cannon, Julsbeads

205. Jenny Robledo, La Dona Boutique

206. Krista French, French Elegant Jewelry

207. Pam Krinski, Ewa Beads

208. Melissa Meman, Melissa Meman, Art, Life, Love

209. Dana Jones, Dana's Jewelry

210. Shirley Moore, Homeschooling Life

The next party's sign ups begin August 1-3, 2011. Don't miss it!

BTW Feb 23, 2011

2011-02-23T01:02:00.002-05:00

It's Bead Table Wednesday Today. I have been busy making signs of spring for the upcoming Beads-of-Clay Open studio event March 6. There is still time to sign up to participate if you are a ceramic bead maker. Here are some of the pieces I have been working with. And I have been continuing to experiment with Coyote Glazes--the disk beads and leaves.
I love the Shino and mottled blue combo on these. The others are gun metal green and blue.

But most of my bead table is still involved in the big Bead Soup Blog Party coming up Saturday!! I have been having a great time working with Genea's beads. No sneak peaks yet.

ABS Feb Challenge

2011-02-22T07:50:00.000-05:00

This month's Art Bead Scene Challenge is to be inspired by John Singer Sargent's painting Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose. I just love the colors and warmth of this painting and built a necklace around similar colors. Luckily I had just completed a pendant and toggle clasp that evoked the same color feeling. I build the necklace around them. I used Lapis Lazuli sticks and silver lantern beads to make the chain. I warmed up the palette cooled off by the silver by adding a copper bee, and a piece of copper chain to attach the toggle clasp. Oh, and the bar on the toggle clasp is also a copper hue.

Thank you for looking in on me today.

Glaze Testing Cone 6 Coyote Sample Pack Best Selling Colors

2011-02-19T18:07:00.002-05:00

Ever since Marsha Minutella of MarshaNeal Studio began writing her 3rd Friday Cone 6 Glazing blog for Beads-of-Clay, I have been feeling like I would like to try some myself.

The occasion presented itself when my friend Cait Throop wanted to make some buttons. She thought she would like to glaze them in colors. Since they were made with a white stoneware clay, what other choice was there than to get some of those cool Coyote Glazes. I chose the Best Selling Sample Set #3, Coyote’s 12 best selling glazes in 4 oz jars

Shino, Gun Metal Green, Really Red, Desert Sage, Archie’s Base, Red Gold, Mottled Blue, Oasis Blue, Black, Eggplant, Pam’s Blue and Pam’s Green ( which were on sale at the time).

About 2 weeks ago I glazed up some test pieces. I dutifully wrote on the back in underglaze pencil the name of each glaze I painted onto the clay pieces. ( per Marsha's instructions) I am not usually a good record keeper but glaze testing has to be the exception. I fired the test strips at Cone 5 Speed Fast Hold 16 minutes in my Caldera Kiln.

I made my test pieces with a deeply stamped pattern so that I would be sure to see how the glaze "breaks." The two pics above are of my samples. Now that I have seen how they came out, I may have coated them too thickly.

But the day of the first glazing of the buttons we took that into account. This is the Shino with 2 coats. It turned a wonderful rich and golden brown. A real keeper. That beautiful fibre is Cait's handwoven scarf that the buttons are being made for.In her Etsy Shop now.

Here is the Mottled Blue on 3 of Cait's buttons. I love this one also. Not sure if it has 1 or 2 coats of the Mottled Blue.

The green beads in this picture have 1 coat of Gun Metal Green. I wet the beads first since the glaze got so powdery. I think some may actually have more than 1 coat but certainly not a full 2nd coat.

This picture shows the test piece for both Oasis Blue--3 coats and Shino 2 coats. The three coats looks too heavy to me. I know that I am a heavy glazer so I am cutting back to 2 coats in the future.

Some of Cait's buttons being glazed. This is our 2nd session and they have not been fired yet. These are not as heavily coated as the first try. We will see if it makes a good difference.

Gun Metal Green and Desert Sage

Our first try using the glazes on buttons. They came out quite true to the test strips. We learned the hard way that the holes fill up easily even if you clean them. We were able to salvage almost all of the beads from the rods. I redrilled some of the holes with a diamond drill and water.

Hope you could find some useful info in this first run of Cone6 glaze testing.

Bead Table Wednesday New Stoneware Beads

2011-02-17T04:40:00.000-05:00

This Wednesday I added this picture of my new stoneware beads to the Bead Table Wednesday Flickr! Group. I have been having a great time exploring stoneware ceramic clay finishes. On my table are beads glazed with a Cone6 Coyote Glaze ( those are the slightly shiny ones) and the teal stained and tumbled finished disk beads. I had to mix two stain colors to get this color since I am out of my favorite teal stain and can't seem to find it anywhere. I just love how these colors go with that Ornamentea brass chain in the background. I am hoping to try out some more Coyote glazes on beads tomorrow with my button and glazing buddy Cait Throop ( BarefootWeaver). We are having such fun discovering the range of colors possible with these incredible glazes.

Bead Table Wednesday Genea Beads

2011-02-09T04:24:00.001-05:00

It's Bead Table Wednesday!! Here is what I am doing. I hope you will stop over to the Flickr Group and see what everyone else is up to.

I am trying out seed bead colors with some of the beauties sent to me by my BeadSoupParty partner Genea Beads. Aren't they gorgeous!!! I want to use dark color beads for the background beading so that her beads show up really well. Here I have her gorgeous disks coupled with an Iris Green size 6 seed bead. I really like this combination. You can see hints in the back of the photo of some tiny delicas that perfectly match some of her bead colors. Yum!! Yum!!

This combo works but I don't like it as well. Seems like to many colors competing for attention..

In any case I am diving in despite some trepidations. Let the journey begin!!!