Beads, Glorious Beads!

Whoops, I think I lost May! But it's a new month and a very sunny day and I just got a nice package from the post office - my latest glass bead order. It may seem very sad to the non-beady but I always get excited when I have parcels of new beads to open. All those shiny pretties to look at. So here's a peak ...



My son will perform the essential secondary quality assurance check when he gets home from school. Every new bead I make or buy must be examined and given the seal of approval. I wonder what his favourite of this lot will be?

Then I just have to think of what to make with them.

Grey Skies

Well, the gloomy grey skies have conspired to keep me indoors this week. Although, true to the saying "Every cloud has a silver lining", this has meant that I finally sanded all my polymer clay lentil beads and can now start putting them into some actual jewellery. I managed to reward myself for all that work by making a couple of pieces and one is pictured below.


And there are other benefits. The on and off again sunshine and rain has made my garden go wild and, as long as none of us get swallowed by the knee high lawn and I continue to ignore the weeds elbowing their way in between the "proper" plants, I can smile every time I look out the window. The "Dig In" seeds (www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/digin) I managed to plant last month are growing well on my windowsill and I hope to get them out into the garden later this month. I'll certainly need to move the french beans before they get much more triffid-like. A little bit of clear weather will likely prompt a gardening frenzy and then I can leave it all to itself again for another wee while.

Speaking of time, there's not that much of it left until the summer holidays when, for six weeks, work takes a back seat to being a mum. Which means that I really should be filling every moment until then with getting as much done as possible. Ahhh, but all work and no play makes Jo a dull girl - so there might just have to be a little bit of fun in there somewhere, cue more experiments in polymer clay!

I'll Admit It, I'm Addicted

Here we go with more polymer clay (no rolling of the eyes, please). I just can't seem to move on, but at least I've dragged myself away from the lentils to try a new technique.


This week I discovered stacker beads thanks to Carol on the 'Handmade in Scotland' Flickr group. This really cool technique came from Amy of Ovenfried Beads and after following her tutorial (link below) I made the beads pictured above. But never fear, the most exciting part was yet to come. I have been wanting to make ammonite halves ever since I realised the possibilities of polymer clay but hadn't had time to try and work out how to get the patterns. As soon as I saw this technique it all just fell into place and the results of my first attempt are pictured below.


I haven't entirely neglected my lentils this week though, as the following picture will show. Plus I managed to make my first Goddess pendants and a sneak peak of these can be seen on my Dragonflight Designs fan page. Polymer clay just seems to have gotten under my skin and I'm addicted - could it be that I have I found my ultimate craft?



Carol's shop is at http://www.folksy.com/shops/carolscrafts
Find the Stacker tutorial at http://www.ovenfriedbeads.com/stackertutorial.htm
Find my fan page at http://www.facebook.com/DragonflightDesigns

Something to Talk About

There I go again with another almost blogless week. But I haven't been doing nothing, I promise! Lots has been happening, I just haven't got around to writing about it.

It has been a rather bitty week - a bit here and a bit there - but important all the same. The biggest news of the week is finding a lovely new local shop to stock my jewellery, focusing on the polymer clay items (a feature will follow). It's so nerve wracking approaching a complete stranger to ask if they will display your creations but so encouraging when they say yes. I also delivered new items to Thirteen Moons (http://www.thirteenmoons.org.uk/) and put some new listings in my Etsy shop. Last, but not least, I almost wore out my hands making more polymer clay beads (after discovering some of my new clay is rather hard to condition) but now my struggle is to decide if they are better left matt or sealed to give a shiny finish. I like both, hence my dilemma. A small selection is pictured below.


So, here's hoping that I can build on this week's small successes and make the next week something to really talk about.

Eye of the Storm

Well there's another week gone while I wasn't looking. I'm sure it shouldn't be allowed to do that.

Doesn't it sometimes seem like you are caught up in a whirlwind of activity that just seems to be taking you round in circles? This week seems to have left me still dizzy and without that much to show for it. At least I have made a number of new pieces of jewellery with my polymer clay beads, that I just need to find time to photograph properly (but here's a sneak peek at three of them).



I also think I'm ready to start sewing Roman clothing for my family's roles in the Ninth Legion (http://www.ninthlegion.co.uk/) and I have compiled a list of accoutrements I'd either like to buy or make myself (some more new skills to add to my To Do List). At some future date, photos of the ensembles are sure to appear here.

Well, I think the eye of the storm is passing so it's back to the twister for me.

Double Duty

I'm in a quandary. I can't decide which of two things I want to talk about today. But as this is my blog, for once I don't have to struggle with my eternal indecisiveness because I can do both.

Probably most importantly, I made my first piece of jewellery with my own beads. Technically, this is actually the second piece (as I already made a gift for a friend) but it is certainly the first commercial piece. Now that I've opened the can of worms further pieces should be forthcoming. This also has an added advantage - it's the only way I'm going to be able to let go of the beads. I've included a sneaky peek picture below (the bracelet will now go in my photography box for official shots later in the month).

More excitingly, my second mention is that I made my own lip balm. Not rocket science, I know, but I'm pleased. My son likes it too - in fact, he wants to take it to school for show and tell next week, although I have my doubts about how exciting this will be for his classmates. Maybe this will encourage me to start making more of my own body products - I've always wanted to try bath bombs, I'm fussy about face cream and I've had soap making ingredients in my craft cupboard for at least a year. I knew that list of jobs as long as my arm was getting way to short!

On a final note, my fan page giveaway gets drawn today (as soon as I can accost some passerby and get them to stick their hand in a hat!).

Press [Bead] to Start

After all that journal inspiration on Sunday I have spent the rest of the week without any. I just haven't had anything to say. And worse than actually saying nothing is using lots of words to say nothing.

Today I did what I should have done at the beginning - get cooking! I use cook in the sense of concocting or inventing rather than preparing food, although it did involve the use of an oven. Yes, I've been making beads again, but it is amazing how one creative process seems to spark everything else off. Somehow in making that handful of beads I feel refreshed and awakened. I feel like I have something to contribute and, although that contribution might be slightly dodgy looking lentil beads, it's a start.


And we all have to start somewhere. Today some beads, tomorrow the world?

Imperfect Obsession

I have become a little obsessed and, while this is not unusual, it is not normally so much fun. At least in making beads I have retained a measure of self-control to prolong the pleasure and limited myself to one batch a day.



I admit that these beads are rather organic in nature but that appeals to me. The process is evident in the result, from faint fingerprints to nail impressions, off-center holes to imperfect shapes. I could sand them to remove some of these imperfections but in making them more uniform I think they would lose something. A measure of their value, at least to me, is in their individuality. I formed them with my own hands and although someone else could use exactly the same products in the same combination they will not produce an identical item.



The pinnacle of this process for me is my son's reaction to the beads I make. He has said he would like to keep some just to look at and has been offering me names for them. Some suggestions, such as Ocean Beads and Chocolate Beads, I may use but I think the ill-fated Meat Beads (as he says they look like the steaks Alex the lion eats in Madagascar) will be quietly shelved.

Climbing the Learning Curve

I am now definitely asking myself why I didn't start making my own beads months ago. I'm having an absolute ball experimenting with the different types of polymer clay and making patterns.

As I only have a small supply of PC I've been limiting myself to one batch of beads a day or I'd run out of clay too soon. So far I've tried Pardo, Sculpey III and Fimo Soft which all handle differently and have a different finish when baked. Next I want to try mixing the brands to see what effects this will produce. And then it's on to doing some sculptural pieces and adding some Steampunk accessories. And then reproduction Roman beads. And then ... this could go on forever!

I'm getting so inspired I may also have to break out the air drying clay my husband bought me a while back. And I do need to remember to actually use the beads in some jewellery rather than just stock piling them.

New Skill No. 1

I'm rather pleased. After several months of having an array of polymer clay types and colours sitting on a shelf below my laptop, I finally made my first beads today.



Unusually, instead of distracting me from work, my husband actually managed to inspire me to "just do it". So the kitchen table became a temporary training ground and I managed to draw some of the ideas that have been swirling around in my head into the physical realm. For a first attempt I think they look pretty good and I'm sure will soon find their way into a new piece of jewellery.

The moral of this story must certainly be to think less, act more. I have high hopes that this year will be one full of new discoveries.