Thank you and An Exciting Achievement a BeadStar Finalist

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

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

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

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

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

                                           

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

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

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

Finished by Friday

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

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....

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

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

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

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

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

                           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

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.

BTW Feb 23, 2011

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

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.