Anticipation

Summer Fun bracelet by Mary Harding with handmade ceramic charms by Earthenwood Studio

This month's topic for the ArtBeadScene Carnival Bloggers is Anticipation.  I have been keeping my ears open to hear this word and it isn't one that comes up too often.  Anticipation is more of an idea than a word we use a lot.  For ceramic bead artists, anticipation is a frequent experience: every kiln firing is about anticipation:  the good kind and the bad kind. 

Seasons are about  anticipation:  this time of year is about the ground opening up to let new plants start growing, Just this afternoon, I spent some time filming my chive plants and I am anticipating a great plate of cream cheese and chives to spread on some home made bread. 

And I saw a few spears of green garlic coming through the straw.  Yum.

I think I am going to make my blog post about anticipating my favorite season --and what I enjoy about it--all through the eyes of Art Beads.

I love Summer best.  My bracelet with charms from Earthenwood Studio is about some of the pleasures of Summer: picnics, cook outs, pizza, and cold beverages.  And don't Hot dogs on a bun really taste best when it is sunny and warm?

I look forward to my veggie garden that I plant every summer.  Here are some ceramic veggies from Earthenwood Studio and a charming pea pod from Green Girl Studio.

I look forward to heat and the sound of Summer insects. This charming ceramic pendant by Lisa Boucher and the finely detailed pewter toggle clasp by Green Girl Studios anticipate these for me.

I love the bright light of Summer and how it makes the world so colorful.
Melinda Orr's gorgeous ceramic butterfly pendant whets my appetite for bright Summer colors in flowers and flying critters.

As I think about anticipation, a misquoted line from Percy Bysshe Shelley comes to mind:

Now that Spring is here, Can Summer be far behind? 

 Anticipation is what keeps me looking forward to the good things to come.

 As I write this blog tonight, I am excitedly anticipating that little bit of summer the weather man has predicted for this weekend.  I hope you have some of it too.

My Earrings in Stringing Magazine

These are one of the 2 pairs of earrings that I have in the current (Spring) issue of Stringing Magazine.  These are made from my ceramic leaves.  They are not exactly matched which I like.  The color, shape and the silver plated pewter leaves are all the same, the floral pattern on the leaves is different.  Not so easy to notice when someone is wearing them. Those sweet  leaf charms are from Fusion Beads. 

The other pair of earringsI have in Stringing Magazine  feature lampwork beads handmade by Cindy Gimbrone.  I purchased these from her a while back.  I have quite a few of her glass beads.  They are beautiful and the craftmanship

is top notch.                       

Those cool brass findings are from Michaels.  I combined several kinds of findings to make the earrings.  The beads are wire wrapped with ball end  head pins that I made.  They call those large loops jump rings and they are very easy to open and close.  In fact,they close tightly enough that not much can slip out of them.  Those little cups that cradle Cindy's glass beads could also be used for resin, I am thinking.  The brand of these findings at Michaels is called Forged and they are made by Plaid.

New Leaves on Etsy

These are some of my new leaves that I have put in my Etsy shop.  The one on the center left is part of the new Beads-of-Clay group of prizes for the tetradic color challenge. You have until April 1 to enter this challenge.  You can read about all of the details of this BOC challenge here.  Check out all 3 of my prize donations for that challenge.  These leaves are made from earthenware ceramic clay. They are stained and hand painted.  As you can see from the picture they are slightly curled to give them a three dimensional look.
I hope they give you a nice hopeful Spring feeling.

Class Project

Here is a picture of the bracelet I made in the Russian Spiral class I attended yesterday at Market Beads. It was a lot of fun to learn a new stitch. Stacy Murphy, the owner of Market Beads is such a nice and friendly person, and a great teacher. I also got to try out some new threads, like the one I used for this bracelet: Fire Line Smoke 6 lb. I am such a fan of Nymo D thread that I never try new ones. But this worked out well once I conditioned it with some Beeswax. But I admit it took some getting used to. Stacy thinks it is a good one for this bracelet because it helps the spiral stay round instead of collapsing. Mine is a good sturdy tube.
Those lovely galvanized light raspberry beads are from her shop.(she has a super good variety of colors) The others I had, and are from ShipWreck Beads.
The other new thread that Stacy introduced me to is from Japan and called SoNo.( It is touted to be tenacious, strong - yet pliable, superior in fray resistance and workability.) I didn't try it yesterday but brought home a spool. Have any of you used it?
Got the clay as planned and some colored pencils for bisque as well. Once I try them out I will let you know how they work. Supposed to work well on Earthenware clay.
Sun again today. Hopefully I fit in some snowshoeing in the woods after I do my glazing. I hope you have sunshine today too.

New Class

I am going to this Russian Spiral bracelet class at Market Beads in Syracuse tomorrow. Hopefully I can find a way to incorporate my toggle clasps into this bracelet. And perhaps a bead or two as well. I will also be visiting my clay supply store, Clayscapes and picking up some new clay. And going to Wegman's for great cheese and veggies. And just having a wonderful day in the sun. I hope you have a fun Saturday planned too.