Spring Color Inspiration

This is a photo of a new raspberry shoot emerging a few weeks ago.  I love this combination of dark greens and reddish brown.  Certainly a color scheme that will work its way into a beaded bracelet or strung necklace.  This is my first time growing raspberries and I was totally blown away when I saw these new shoots.

Beads-of-Clay Pendant Swap Necklace--Revised

Not too long ago I posted a few pictures of my necklace for the Beads-of-Clay pendant swap.  There is nothing like seeing a photo of one's jewelry on a computer screen.  The more I looked at it the more I felt that the orange beaded tube just looked out of place or not really a part of the necklace.  Today, I tried adding a Vintaj chain to the necklace and I think I like it much better this way.  I certainly think it sets of Lisa Boucher's pendant even better than before.  What do you think?

Check Out My Newsletter

I have my newsletter scheduled to publish this afternoon.  If you are not already getting a copy you can sign
up for one right here on my blog.  I have sections in the newsletter called Exciting News which is usually some self promotion, I have a Beady News section where I talk about bead events and other bead artists and jewelry designers, a Book review section,  New Work section with lots of pics, a Classes section and the Specials section.  This month I will be talking about the Beads-of-Clay blog, 2 wonderful instructional jewelry making tutorials and Lisa Boucher.  Hope you will take a look.

New Toggles on My Website

                                                     Naked Raku  fired  No glaze

Regular and raku fired toggle

Regular electric kiln fired toggle

Regular electric kiln fired toggle small  3/4 inch

Regular and raku fired toggle.  The bar is only raku fired with two different glazes.

These are some of the new toggles on my website.  Some of them are raku fired and one of a kind.

Beads Of Clay Pendant Swap -- The jewelry

Recently Lisa Boucher and I became swap partners in the Beads of Clay  pendant swap.

She sent me the lovely pendant above and I made a necklace with it.

Close up of Lisa's pendantt.  I used an orange sherbet Russian Spiral tube which I made and wire wrapped carnelian beads to capture the feel of the pendant.  For me it seemed to need those colors.

I use a Vintaj toggle clasp and Vintaj wire to wrap the beads.

 I also made a bracelet with the four small beads she sent along with quite a few of my own beads.
This bracelet can also be worn as a necklace.  Lorelei Eurto inspired this knotting design.

You can see more of Lisa Boucher's beads and pendants on her website. Thank you Lisa for sending me such lovely ceramic beads and pendant.  It has been fun getting to know you and your work.

Beads 2010

I am so pleased to be included in this year's Beads 2010.  I have 2 pendants and 3 toggle clasps.  I share this honor with many other ceramic clay artists including:

Gaea

Wintchell Clay Works

Lisa Peters Art

Off Center Productions

Marsha Neal Studio

Summer Studio

Diane Hawkey

Chinook Jewelry Designs

Elaine Ray

The Classic Bead

Marti Conrad

Every Heart Crafts

Jangles

Earthenwood Studio

Artisan Clay

Cindy Dolezel Designs

Jubilee

Lumina Inspirations

Golem Design Studio

Amazing Porcelain by Marsha Hedrick

Joan Miller Porcelain

The Classic Bead

Beads Of Clay Pendant Swap

A few weeks ago Beads of Clay Yahoo Group artists exchanged pendants and beads with one other group member and the challenge was to make a necklace, a bracelet or even a wind chime with what we received.  My partner was Lisa Boucher.  And here is what she made with my heart pendant and 4 blueberry colored ceramic beads.  Didn't she create a beauty.  I love the way she used the green and blue colors in the pendant and the super way she attached the pendant to the necklace.  So original. Thank you so much Lisa.

Toggle Jewelry

                                                                        Unchain My Heart by Chatty Cat

Here are a couple of pieces made by jewelry designer Chatty Cat using my toggle clasps and a pendant.  I love the way she combines colors and textures.  I think her work enhances the toggles and sets off  their decorative style.  Thanks so much Cat for sharing these pics with me.

  You can see more of Chatty Cat's work on ArtFire here.  You can read her blog here.  And I just read that she is having a sale on her ArtFire site.

New Toggles and a Toggle Clasp bracelet

These are some of my new toggle clasps and a bracelet that are on my website made to order.  The are hand built so that they do not come out just exactly like the picture.  But they will be the same size and almost the same.

All of these Toggle clasps are made from ceramic clay.  This first one has an  image on the bar and the clasp of Dill seeds in flower.

The next one is from a spruce tree.  I like the way the toggle bar completes the bough.  This one is quite large: about 1 1/2 inches square. 

This is a bracelet with a large toggle clasp.  The bright green beads are also handmade from ceramic clay. The darker glass beads are Sea Glass beads from the Beadin' Path.

Russian Spiral My Style

I love the Russian Spriral bracelet I made in the class I took at Market Beads a few weeks ago, but it just wasn't quite my style.  So I played around with the components and added my own ceramic beads and came up with this design.  I really like it.  Do you think it looks more like me?

I have a few more ideas on how to personalize this kind of bead work which I will post later when they are finished.  Hope you had a sunny Happy Easter weekend.

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.

Janet's New Etsy Shop

Look what I see in Janet McDonald's new Etsy Shop. She has debuted her selection with a necklace she made from one of my wild harvest heart pendants!! What a beauty. You can see more of what she has here. I love the way she used the chain and glass beads. Wonderful textures and colors. You are making me look good Janet. Thank you so much. You can see more of the lovely necklaces in her shop here.

Beads of Clay Swap

Here is a short video I made of the pieces I received from the Beads of Clay swap. I apologize for the lack of sound but I had some technical problems. Hope you enjoy this. I want to thank all of you who sent me such lovely pieces. And an especial thanks to Marti Conrad who set this up.
It takes a few minutes for the pictures to come up, please be patient. Thanks.



A list of the swappers in my Group. There were so many there was another group as well.
Marti Conrad
Yolanda
Gerry Lee Cruthird
Vera Romoda
Lynn Barnett
Shaterra Clay Studio
Mossy Hill Studio
Laughing Lion Products
Melinda Orr
Vanessa Gilkes
LadyBrook Beads
Captain's Clay
Gail Barnett
Summers Studio
Susan Rouleau
Mary Harding

Beads of Clay Bead Swap Goodies

At last I have time to share with you some of the goodies from our Beads-of-Clay Bead Swap. Are they ever wonderful!! I am including some pics here. I hope you will check back tomorrow here or on the Beads-of-Clay Blog and see my video of all of the pieces I received.

Valentine's Day Sale NOW

I am having a 40% off sale in my Etsy Shop to celebrate Valentine's Day and the Presidents' Day Weekend. The sale prices are already marked down in my shop. The sale runs from now until Midnight Tuesday February 16. I also have a special on shipping charges for the US: $2.0o for the first item and no charge for others. I hope you will stop by and see all the hearts I have made. They are hand painted in one of a kind color combos. I enjoyed just letting it happen and didn't keep any notes. Every piece in the Etsy shop is ready to ship.

Bead Soup Now Being Served

Today is the DAY. Below are photos of the piece I made with Lisa Oram's beads. She sent me those lovely deep burgundy red hand made glass beads, the fabulous pink, burgundy and black button and all those delicate tiny purple, pink and black disk beads, as well as the purple flowers. I have enjoyed working with these lovelies and making the free form peyote stitch necklace below. It has been a pleasure to work the beads you sent me. Thanks you so much. Be sure to visit Lisa Oram and see what she made with the beads I sent her. And click on this link, Bead Soup Party to see all of the other 83 participants in this fabulous event organized by Lori Anderson. Thank you Lori for all your work and wonderful posts about this event. It has been a great experience.

Here are the beads Lisa Oram sent to me.

Here is the necklace I made with them.

Close up of a ceramic bead I made and the beading around it.

Close up photo of the clasp that I made with one of Lisa's handmade glass beads.

Close up of two of Lisa's handmade glass beads ( the deep rust red and white and the deep burgundy red on the strand above. The deep red rounds are beach glass type beads from the Beadin' Path. I also used some Tourmaline chips, similar to one that I sent Lisa, so that we would have a bead in common.

Another close up of Lisa's handmade glass bead. You can also see the lavender purple disks and some of the pink disks.