I do believe the winter is giving up here… I know, I shouldn’t jinx it. And yes, it IS the end of April. To celebrate a little I made the robin cane that has been on my to do list for most of the not-spring. This is the unreduced version of it. You can see them as beads in my shop, too!

There are always beads on my table.

Sometimes there’s LOTS of beads on my table. Especially when it’s a bake-more-than-one-pan day like today…

Mostly all of those beads get holes or a little paint or varnish or sanding but I did actually turn a few of them into a daisy chain bracelet.

When I first started beading I used to make miles of daisy chains. Years later I made the first of these tiny little flower beads (they’re 1/2″ or less across). They’re cute but I don’t use them for much except as dangles on bigger pieces. This is a prototype because I’d love some simple “wrap” style bracelet with these. This one is strung on memory wire with a firm hook loop to help it keep it’s shape. The leaves dangle from part of the clasp.

What’s on YOUR bead table? Have a look at the rest of the BTW group.

She had an example necklace for me to measure from – a long chain necklace with front pendant – and away I went! All orders and requests should be that simple!

I added a few of the accent beads, the pretty handmade clasp and a few of my bits and bobs onto the centre of the necklace and hung Michi’s adorable owl. Voila!

There were these neat faceted lampwork beads in a green that grew on me. There’s a few in the main necklace with the focal and on the back of him there’s a green lampwork heart with the same colour. The earrings are simple copper and green pieces to go along with the necklace.

There was this length of pretty silk ribbon and I’ve never made a wrap bracelet so… my chance was here! I used a few of my brass charms, flower beads and one of the spacers from the soup. All fun!

The soup included a lot of great lampwork beads that I would have called focals in their own right. One of them is my next necklace… other friends are calling for their own versions but we’ll see if I can part with any!

This was an amazing bead soup! If you haven’t visited Michi’s blog yet to see HER reveal (and what she did with all my crazy flowers) you should! And then you need to surf the list below and see what all of the other soup chefs made! As always, thanks to Lori for organizing this crazy trip. The beady world is a much happier place with your time and help! You make huge undertakings look simple and polished even in the face of trouble.

Not that the studio is bare or even slightly empty but my bead table – ie: the project pile – is a little barren right now. I’m still working through the backlog of cleaning, organizing and planning from the bead show. Up there is a snapshot of some of the big wholesale order of metal stuff that was waiting for me when I came home.

This is what I baked up this morning. I’m hoping to run my slightly belated spring sale soon (coincide it with the BSBP reveal on Saturday maybe?) and trying to top up all of the crowd favourites in my shop before it goes on.

These will be thicker flat flower beads. They work great for simpler stringing than the dangle flowers. I often antique and distress them a little when I use them in pieces. Once these guys are done I’ll photo the whole collection I have left from the bead show and list them all.

How’s your bead table look? If you want to share, check out the Bead Table Wednesday group on Flickr.

I got back from a spring-like visit to the west coast to it still being winter. I have to tell you, I am sincerely sick of winter. On the plus side the local house finches found our feeder finally and have entertained me. The sparrows and them have an ongoing feud about it. The waxwings are a little big to fit on the feeder so they’re forced to fight for the parts the birds spread everywhere.

… and for some, it’s cooked and served! The first reveal of the Bead Soup Blog Party was this weekend. If you need to peek at awesome bead goodness you should go take a look at what the first group did. Start with Lori’s blog and follow along.

Michi and I are up for the second reveal on Saturday April 13 and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with!

The picture is completely unrelated to my bead soup stuff – it’s just a happy spring bracelet picture from my photostream!

This isn’t the masses I usually grab because there were no great bargains so I just went with the higher end goodies in a small dose. I did have the great fortune to meet or run into other beady types including a few other polymer clay artists. It was so cool to be able to talk clay to others!

After the show we spent a little more time in the Vancouver area and went to the aquarium. I snapped a picture of the jellyfish right before my camera battery died (and, yes, I brought the wrong replacement battery):

All in all the trip was good and educational but as with all travel things I’m happy to be back home in my little comfy studio doing my thing.

Part of making a lot of polymer clay beads is making a lot of polymer clay scraps. I mean a lot. I tend to get sick of the stack once or twice a year and roll it out or make swirlies. This time, I grabbed a friend and we pulled up a few tutes.

We started with a few Stroppel canes. We did them in cool colours, warm ones, neutrals, earth colours.

Then we moved onto some scrap mokume ganes. I have a lot of scraps!

Here’s the group shot of a few of the stacks. I figure we used a quarter of the pile I brought up which is just a dent in the stack on my work table…

Here’s a couple of the heart pendants (one of my staples) from the scrap craziness:

Before every big show and event I hit this point where I just want it to be done and over with. Mostly, I LOVE making clay beads and clay goodies and the whole thing. Sometimes there’s enough to do it is just a slog.

These were 3 of the 11 racks from this weekend. I am beyond happy they are DONE.

As I make the bigger flowers and the more complex beads, I set aside parts of canes and blends to make what I call the tinies – tiny little flower beads, fruits, leaves and whatever else I think of. These make great glue on embellishments, daisy chains, accent beads… I often add them to fill in my bigger, fancier pieces. As I prep for the bead show there’s an awful lot of these being made in every colour I have. They don’t quite roll but you find them everywhere in my house because they’re small enough you don’t notice if they fall off pans, out of bags or pockets.