Polymer Clay Beads » Studio

Trellis

Elaine — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 18:57:17 +0000

The Art Bead Scene’s monthly challenge was an interesting bit of wallpaper by William Morris. The design elements are something along the lines of what I do so I whipped up a little focal bead with a trellis and orange-y flowers and made a necklace:

It gave me the chance to use one of the cute little bird beads I’d bought sometime ago as well as some of my collection of pretty stone beads.

Life is Bumpy

Elaine — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 01:42:30 +0000

Well, at least the beads are bumpy:

I would say that life, last week at least, was CHILLY. There was a biggish milestone in it:

I guess that means there’s now a teenager in the house. So far teenage kiddo seems much the same as twelve year old kiddo!

Bead Table Wednesday

Elaine — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 20:48:41 +0000

January has been off to a good start. One of the first things I did with my holidays and new year was to clean off the bead table, right down to the top. That means I’ve actually been making and photographing items at a steady clip since. Here’s a few from this week:

This bracelet was fun – using a tab bead in a way I hadn’t really thought of until I saw others doing it on the ‘net.

This is another necklace – I need to take these while they`re hanging, I know – with a pendant in an oval shape with little (downright tiny) blue flowers. There are a few coordinating blue, green and brass beads on this piece.

And these are the dainty little coordinating earrings for the above pendant.

Want to share what`s on YOUR bead table? Show us at: Bead Table Wednesday on Flickr

The Do List

Elaine — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 23:35:50 +0000

Next on my to-do list is the drilling of holes in the occupiers of my bead table:

There’s a similarly sized stack already done but I’ve learned to space out drilling tasks so the rest will be done today and the next few days. My hands thank me.

The Beads are Bumpy… Again

Elaine — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

One of my clay related resolutions for 2012 is to get way way more into textured clay. I used to make a few of these little bumpy beads which are basically texture / sculpted versions of my regular beads. I finally got the urge to create a few more including doing a few on flat back pendants or bracelet beads. The reverse side is lightly textured and the whole deal is antiqued.

Here’s a few that haven’t gotten used yet. I have plans though!

This little pendant and nugget bead set got turned into a necklace and earrings. I added lampwork by Cheryl Harris, some tiny amethyst, a few pearls and lots of antiqued metal bits and chain.

Bead Sneak Peek

Elaine — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 16:04:04 +0000

Working on the last few Christmas holiday items but I snuck in a little prep for the new year, as well. I made a set of Valentine’s Day canes and then some cute little polymer clay beads from them:

The style of cane is totally different than my usual but part of my plan for 2012 is to force myself out of my nice, translucent background, cane zone. And away we go!

On the Clay Table

Elaine — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 23:58:46 +0000

My peeps – that would be my kiddo and my guy – made me a nice stack of blends to use a few weeks ago. I’ve been using them for canes here and there but got the chance to crank out a little stack the other day:

For my ambitious upcoming plans there’s a heck of a lot of canes needed so the next few months will be canes and caned beads. Lots and lots of that.

Beady Ornament Goodness

Elaine — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 02:08:25 +0000

The Art Bead Scene posted a call out to beady folk everywhere to join the 2011 Ornament Blog Hop and I tossed my name in the hat! There are some amazing pieces being featured in this hop! First up we have my group shot:

Then the rings by themselves – these were older beads I’d had for a bit. They finally got used! Yay! Happy beads. One is just a big gold bow at the top of the ring. The other has sparkly ribbon woven around and around. The last has little wire squiggles and red glass beads tied on.

The final one is my little poinsettia wreath. I made a few small loops of brass wire and then wrapped the last of my poinsettias on (there’s a few in my shop yet but last in my box of play with beads, sigh). I added a few leaves and a ribbon at the top. If I do this one again, I’ll use a much thinner gauge of wire to bind the beads on and add pearls!

Don’t forget to have a look at the other blog hoppers:

The Batch Wrap Up

Elaine — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 14:50:46 +0000

Last week-ish I posted how my batch of canes was going from blends to construction. In between then and now I took the weekend off (and long!) and visited family out of town. I nabbed a pile of clay. I got home and finished up those canes. Here’s a shot of a reduced cane in each pattern:

I think the next batch will be mostly purples, blues, pinks and will roll out towards the end of the month. I’m aiming for a twice a month sort of process on this, the same as I do with beads.

Batches Are My Friend

Elaine — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 02:10:20 +0000

I volunteer at the local public art gallery. On Sunday afternoons with a ton of the first snow of the season out there… it was dead. I usually try to work on arts and crafts while there to promote my classes and general art love and this Sunday was no exception. I prepped and made 3 pounds of skinner blends in all sorts of colours.

I have all of these ambitious goals for production and sales but really the only way it will work is if I am efficient. This means, where possible, working in batches. Next up is making those blends into what the schedule says they need to be. Yes, I have a production schedule. Sometimes I even stick to it. So these are some of the “big” canes that will get backgrounds.

The backgroundless canes that turn into big and small slice beads are on another table waiting to get chopped up into beads. After I get that plate of canes finished you can be some of those canes are going on these vases in one of my studio windows.