Giveaway to celebrate an exciting new website

Deadline for participating in the Giveaway extended to Jan.10, 2017

                                           Deadline extended until Jan 10, 2017
Soma Han, the illustrator of the above pictured book has recently launched a website.  She is an accomplished artist who is commited to illustrating chilren's books about different aspects of Korean culture to reach out to children of Korean ancestry and to all children in general.  Today I am excited to be able to promote her work with a giveaway of her book,  Maya and The Turtle. This lovely book is a retelling of a fairy tale handed down to Soma through her grandmother and mother when she was a child growing up in Korea.  The copy you receive will be signed and "chopped" by Soma and can be personally dedicated to the person you choose.  I am  honored to have been asked by her husband and co-author of Maya and The Turtle, John C. Stickler,( my brother) to celebrate Soma Han's new website with this giveaway.   In order to have your name included in the random draw to pick the winner of this giveaway, I am asking you to go to her website and take a look at some of her illustrations in the Books or Gallery category ( see screen shot below  for how it will look) or watch the slide show that will scroll by you

                                             screen shot of Soma Han's new website

 and tell us in the Comment section below which one you liked the best by Jan. 10, 2017.( Please be sure to leave a way for us to contact you .) Soma will be reading all of your comments and will surely be pleased to hear from you.

Soma Han and  her husband and co-author John C. Stickler at a book signing including Maya and the Turtle and  her other titles:  Tigers, Frogs and Rice Cakes, a compilation of Korean Proverbs, and Land Of Morning Calm: Korean Culture Then and Now.

I have great admiration for Soma Han's artistic and cultural accomplishments and so appreciate you joining me in celebrating her new website by participating in this Giveaway and leaving a comment below by Jan 10, 2017 The  winner will be chosen by a random draw on Jan 11, 2017.

Thank you so much for stopping by.

Mary

Ornament Blog Hop

Art Bead Scene is having its 6th Annual Ornament Blog Hop today.  I have been wanting to make some Christmas Tree ornaments for several years now but just didn't get to them.  So this year  I  set aside some time.  I decided to make them from porcelain clay and  use some of my own texture stamps for decoration.   I looked thru my stash of cookie cutters for a Christmas tree shape and found a small one as seen  in the picture above and went to work.  Since porcelain clay requires a slow drying time to prevent warping, I began work on these several weeks ago.  I also wanted to make some bigger trees for ornaments and found a design I liked in a metal cutter and made the next set of Christmas trees seen below.  

These were also an experiment in glazing and I love how the colors came out.

Next I wanted to do a set of  photo transfers onto polymer clay.  I chose some Victorial Floral images for these trees seen below.

These Victorian Floral image ornaments can be hand colored or left black and white.  I like the quality of the black and white so I have not colored them.  

All of these ornaments I made lend themselves to being hung on a tree or a wreath with a simple hook or ribbon.

I hope you will visit the other blogs in this hop.  

Thanks so for stopping by.

Happy Holidays!!!!

Mary

My New Work in Fall Stringing Magazine

Toggle Clasp by MaryHardingJewelry

Sustainable Weeds Series: Purslane by MaryHardingJewelry

Whimsical Ear Wires by MaryHardingJewelry

All of the above pieces are in this Fall Issue of Stringing Magazine.  I am so pleased to be published in this special Annual Shopping Guide edition!

I am working on making new work and restocking some old favorites and filling some orders after not being in my studio for 5 months due to a broken ankle last Spring!!  It sure feels good to be back.

Whimsical earwires in progress by MaryHardingJewelry

Toggle Bars in progress by MaryHardingJewelry

I am planning on updating my Etsy Shop late in September.  I will post the actual date when I know that I will be ready.
Thanks so much for stopping by!!
Mary

Inspired by Pitcher Plants

Photo by Eric Wentling  Pitcher Plants

Every month Eric Wentling choses a picture to inspire his wife Sarajo.  She then shares it with the FB community and asks us to play along with creations we make inspired her husband's photo.

Here is what Eric wrote about this month's picture of Pitcher Plants:
This month I chose a picture from our recent trip out to Ligonier, PA for the Allegory Gallery's Creative Camp.  Andrew Thornton directed us out to a nearby bog where the carnivorous plants were in full bloom.  An entire field of these pitcher plants and much smaller sundews stretched around us--beauty and savagery all wrapped up in one tiny leafy package.  The strange shape, as well as the striated deep red patterns against green really jumped out at me and I wanted to see what a bunch of jewelry designers could pull off with this inspiration!
I could not resist the challenge of these exotic pitcher plants and the beautiful colors they are sporting in their unique garb.  So I am playing along.  This is my first time.

I was so enamored of these cool plants and the color combo of burgundy and lime green that I went to work right away.
My first piece was a fern leaf in the pitcher plant palette.  I was working in  polymer clay and have been since I broke my ankle several months ago and could not have access to my studio due to the stairs. I expect to begin working again in ceramic clay in Sept.

                                    Fern Leaf by MaryHardingJewelry  polymer clay

I was really excited to try modeling a pitcher plant from polymer clay.  I find that polymer is like magic for me when it comes to make 3 dimentional forms.  Here is the first pitcher plant I came up with:

                                   Pitcher Plant  Front View by MaryHardingJewelry

                                                   Pitcher Plant  Back View by MaryHardingJewelry

                                        Pitcher Plant  Side View by MaryHardingJewelry

So far it does not have a stringing hole that would display it right side up.  I plan to add a stringing loop soon.  This is one of the things I love about polymer:  it can be modified way after it is cured by just curing again.

Then I made a smaller pitcher plant that has a stringing loop.

Smaller Pitcher Plant by MaryHardingJewelry

The two pitcher plants together

I totally enjoyed being inspred by the pitcher plants photo.  Thanks so much Eric and Sarajo.

I  hope you readers will take a look at the other creations in the links below.

Thanks so much for stopping by!!

Mary

Adding Color

Pussy Willow Pendant

All of the pieces in this post had color added to them after the iron oxide was applied.  Most of them were fired first and then fired a second time with the added color.  Most of these pieces have been sold.  But I am having an update to my Etsy shop tomorrow, Friday Feb. 5 at about 2:00 PM EDT,.  I will be adding new toggle clasps,  pendants and some cabs.  Hope you can stop by.

Pussy Willow Pendant

Rustic Flower Pendant

Daisy Cabochon

Daisy Pendant that turned white where ever I added the clear gloss glaze

Toggle Clasp with green and some red added

Toggle Clasp and Earring Charms  color added and then fired, then more color and gloss glaze selectively added and fired yet again

Sublte color blue green added

I painted on the the teal after the initial iron oxide firing and fired again

 green color added after the iron oxide firing

Next post is going to be titled Changing Clay and will feature those clays and some with iron oxide.  Hope to see you at my shop update tomorrow, 2-05-16 in my Etsy Shop

New Work in Browns

Thistle Pendant

The following is a series of pictures of work I have been doing using an iron oxide stain.  

Thistle pendant and beads set

Maple Seed Wings Pendant

Purslane Leaves and beads

Spruce Bough Penant and beads

Fossil Like Snail Pendant

Daisy Blooms

In a French Veggie Garden

Ginkgo Leaves and Beads Set

Daisy Fan Petals Flower

                                                  Spruce Bough Bracelet Bar

Thistle Flower Heart

Diamond Pendant

Another Diamond Pendant

Most of these pieces are sold but I am making more.  You can find a few of them in my Etsy shop right now.

Thanks so  much for stopping by.

Mary

Experiment Results

Here is how they came out after being fired this last time.  Are you surprised?  I know I was even though I know that firings can change a piece a lot.  And best of all, I am happily surprised.  Here is the list again of what I did to the pieces.

Here is what I did, starting at the top--going from left to right
1. Brown daisies stained with iron oxide--2 loop pendant
2.  Daisy cabochon stained with iron oxide and then lightly colored with a red glaze on the petals and a blue glaze on the center and lightly clear glazed
3. Round cabochon stained with  cobalt and covered with clear glaze ( left side of plate) That was a mistake.  No cobalt stain, just hand painted with several colors of glazes.
4. Stick pendant stained and then partially painted with a orange glaze and a light coat of clear
5. Rustic snail pendant glazed in a pink brown.
6. 2  hole pendant stained with iron oxide and lightly colored with several glazes and then a light clear glaze added--garden image
7. Fan of Daisy petals  rustic cabochon stained with iron oxide and then lightly clear glazed just on the petals.
 (small stained tab piece--from a broken pendant I didn't include in this picture-- it came out pretty blah!!) One thing I did notice is that the clear glaze significantly lightens the oxide color and makes it almost pale.
8. Donut with lightly color glazed small leaves and some other areas.  No clear glaze.
Most of the pieces were fired first with just the iron oxide glaze--after they were bisqued so when I fire these pieces it was for the 3rd time.

I have a few more experiments to do.  Like tumbling some beads I stained with iron oxide and trying out some new clays.  Will post them when I do them but it may be awhile.
Thanks for stopping by.
Happy New Year!!
Mary

Experiments

                                          Ceramic pendants by Mary Harding

Now that winter has actually set in--we are in the middle of  a snow storm as I type-- and the holidays are mostly over, I find that I have time in my studio for trying out new things and ideas.  I have been playing around with oxides and have made several experiments to see what will happen.
My photo above is before I fired them.

Here is what I did, starting at the top--going from left to right
1. Brown daisies stained with iron oxide
2. Round cabochon stained with  cobalt and coverd with clear glaze ( left side of plate)
3. Daisy cabochon stained with iron oxide and then lightly colored with a red glaze on the petals and a blue glaze on the center and lightly clear glazed
4. 2  hole pendant stained with iron oxide and lightly colored with several glazes and then a light clear glaze added
5.stick pendant stained and then partialy painted with a red glaze and a light coat of clear
6. snail shaped pendant lightly colored and clear glazed--very rustic and fosil like beforehand
7. small stained tab piece--from a broken pendant
8.  fan of daisy petals stained and then lightly glazed with red and a clear glaze--no color on daisy head
9.Donut with lightly color glazed small leaves and some other areas.  No clear glaze.
Most of the pieces were fired first with just the iron oxide glaze--after they were bisqued so when I fire these pieces it will be for the 3rd time.

I will post the results tomorrow.
Thanks for stopping by!!

Merry Christmas to All

                               

Happy Holiday LED Lights Earrings

My earrings are dong a Happy Dance for you!!  Enjoy your Holidays!!

You can see the free tutorial for making these earrings on the Art Bead Scene Blog

Have a wonderful Holiday!!
Mary

Winter Exhibiton

I am excited that my free form peyote stitch jewelry is being featured as a part of this exhibition.  Weather permitting, I will be at the opening on December 2.  Can't wait!

Details of some of my pieces in the exhibition

If you are in the area, I hope you will stop by at the Thousand Islands Art Center, Clayton, NY

Cyber Monday 40% off sale

Enjoy 40% percent off everything in my Etsy shop today.  Use coupon code CYBER40 at checkout to get your discount..  Sale continues until midnight Monday ET.
Thanks so much for stopping by.
Mary

After the Frost Before the Snow: Plants in Beautiful Decay

I have been wanting to share these pictures here with you since I took them in late October.  They are all  pictures of flowers in partial decay after a killing frost in October.   They are located in the King George Garden at Fort Ticonderoga in upstate New York.  It was my first visit there and it was the last day they were open for the season.  What a treat to happen upon all this beauty.

I don't know the names of any of these flowers.  I was just so taken with the colors that had developed since the heavy frost.  Such gorgeous shades of brown and green, yellow and red.  Coincidentally we were recently given some bulbs to grow these flowers in the  picture above.  I look forward to watching them next summer.

                       Such perfect daisy heads amid the subdued shades of their summer colors.

                       These rosy tan leaves were on plants way over 6 feet tall.

                     Love the red orange flower amid these shades of tan and brown.

                                             Such a cascade of pink.

                                             And then the bright red.

                             And a black green silhouette.

    And a final dance before winter sets in.

I am just in time with this post as we are expecting our first snow of the season tonight.
What a sweet farewell to my favorite seasons.