August Artisan Clay Design Team Reveal!

Today is the day.... It comes so fast.  Design Team Reveal Day! 
This month, our guest designer is Amy Blevins.  Amy has had an Artisan Clay Trunk show at her Bead Store, Bead and Glass Boutique.  Make sure to check out her necklace and blog... I love what she has done.  Imagine the fun of having an entire bead shop to work from when designing your jewelry!

This month I did the bead selection a little differently.  Staci suggested that I send out some of the half and quarter round Art Deco beads this month.  I was really happy for the suggestion, since I have started to feel like most of my bead types have already been used.  
     I found just enough pieces for all the designers and packed them up in boxes.  I shuffled the boxes and packed them in envelopes blindly.  I have no idea what beads ended up where...  It turns out that I was left with the largest bead, a crescent in my minty green glaze and made with a clay body that shows a manganese fleck when fired. 

I started making this style of pendant a long time ago and have never finished a piece of jewelry with them until now.  I have imagined them used so many ways;
highly stylized and playing on the Art Deco theme,
strung in a tribal theme,
used in a Native American design....
I tried to mix a bit of a natural, southwestern and native look?  Ha! 
The stacking a knotting of the red beads on waxed linen gave me a feeling of the southwest.  I played around with the idea of adding beads in a bead loom, bead weaving style, but decided I really wanted to open up the body of the necklace into multiple strands as I often do.

What do you think?  I don't have any more of these Art deco beads left here in the studio, but I do have quite a few in the dried mud stage waiting to be wet sanded and fired... Depending on how they are glazed, they have such a different feel.

So... are you ready to see what the team has made?


Have you made something with an Artisan Clay bead?-- then add your link below!

02 Seven years - Norah jones

July Artisan Clay Design Team Reveal!

Check out the beads that the design team had to work with this month!

Recycled Glass fused Donuts-- The ones available made to order in standard sizing and colors to be exact.

Everyone picked one piece from this photo.

Except me that is.... for some reason I was dead set on green this month.

Could it get more simple?  Really? 
I had my mind set on furthering my ideas from last month and weaving another collar inspired by the ribbon of seaweed I saw on the beach in Oregon, but--- I couldn't do it.  It was just too much. Too much color, too much action, too hard to wear.   Life for me these days has been so complicated and difficult to figure out and I just long for simplicity.  If only life were more simple.... If only there was a clear yes or no....and people-- the wild card.   So~~ this is what you get, simpler than simple, easy to wear and no competition for the bead. 

When I decided on donuts, one of the design team members mentioned not using donuts in her work before.  They can be kind of tricky to work into a design, but some people seem to be able to find endless ways to do it.  I decided to go through my old photos and show examples of my use of donuts in the past.

I like to chain them up.

This one has a wire loop fired into the clay itself making it easy to string as you would a pendant.

This one also has a wire loop and I made it into a Christmas ornament.

Here I have used one of my cast donut bails in Bronze....

And this piece was chained up like the first few examples.

This last piece was made by Design team member, Carol Dean Sharpe, Sandfibers.  She is dealing with health issues this month and was unable to blog for this month's reveal. 

Carol made this piece for me to show at last year's Bead Fest Philly.  Carol has been so kind to make gorgeous display pieces for every one of my Bead show booths.  Carol has such skilled hands and a magic way with color and I am so lucky to have an Artisan Clay fan in her.  She is an awesome friend too!

So... are you ready to see what the team has made?

Have you made something with an Artisan Clay bead?-- then add your link below!

Artisan Clay Trunk Show and Staci Louise Originals Drilling Demo this weekend! Be there!

Look at us!  Aren't we cute?

We are wearing each other's work :-)  Staci is wearing a necklace that she made as one of the Artisan Clay Design team challenges and I am wearing a necklace that Staci made for me YEARS ago!

Today was the day that I set up my Trunk Show at Bead of a Feather in East Greenville, PA..... That is just a 20 minute drive from my home and just a few miles from Staci's. 

Staci is doing a couple of demonstrations at the shop tomorrow.  I love the subject, drilling your beach finds, sea glass, shells.... for your jewelry making.  So.... be there!  Staci is your girl for tips on making jewelry that will LAST!  BE WEARABLE!  Hang straight!  Not be junk!..... which we happened to discuss while setting up the show ;-)

Thanks for coming by and setting up the show with me today Staci!   You rock!

After this weekend my work will travel to Beads of a Feather's Kutztown location..... SO..... if you are in the area, this is YOUR chance to see a larger selection of my work than is available online.... after this, my work heads to New Jersey before stopping in Virginia :-)

In other news.... I am super famous now  ;-)  .... My bead is featured in a new E-Mag put out by Interweave called Live Wire..... I downloaded my copy last night and I am really impressed!  I hope to work up the project and show it off soon!  So there you go!  I'll say I knew you when ;-)

Don't miss our Artisan Clay Design team reveal next Friday!  This month we are working with my glass fused donuts.... It should be fun. 

I hope you are having a great summer!  Mine has been a blur of choices and people and hope for the future...... and this weekend.... camping with my girl scout troop.....in 100 degree weather.... but I think we will figure it out.
(and I even get to hang out with my Clay Bead and metal buddy Melinda Orr at THE BEACH on Monday!  OH my gosh!  What fun!)

Week in pictures

July 4th firing, Design team beads

Don't you show everyone your messy desk on Wednesdays?  Today is Friday, that's not so bad....  All kinds of beads are piled up from making earrings for my friend Debra... Pictures follow. 

sunshine

The kids put on a play today at summer camp. 

She's acting

She's a great dog!  She's very good, she has a blast.

She's so fancy.  Had me curl her hair ;-) 

remember the throwing last post... all this still needs to be cleaned and painted

I inherited a new red plastic necklace last thursday....It broke while I was roller skating... I was pretty thankful that I took that picture.

I hope I eat my grapes this year.

Debra's earrings-- I had to wear them around for a day, and get my well wishes on them and make sure that they work, you know~~ test them out.  I'm a nice friend like that.

new to etsy shop soon

and this

and this

and this

I made these earrings too...

They might be for me.

I wear this necklace every week for years.  I love it. 

What's new?

Shades of Blue Cabochon

It has been a really long time since I've done a "what's new" blog post!

I don't know, maybe some of you came for the beads instead of the family pictures..?

Nah!  Anyway, I promise to share with you photos both of my current creative projects as well as beads actually available in my etsy shop!

     My friend Debra, picked up my trunk show at Azillion beads and spent 2! hours packing it up for me and mailed it back.  Seriously!  Where would I be without a friend like her. 

Deep rich green and peach medium donut

Not just for packing my beads.... but I feel so lucky to know such a kind, good person who actually understands the way I think. She listens and agrees or disagrees but she doesn't judge my crazy thoughts and she loves me for me. There is hope! It is possible! Now if only we didn't live across the country from eachother....anyway... things have been tricky around here and I am really thankful for the awesome people in my life :-)

 What's new? I put some work in my potter's group's saggar fire this weekend.  I probably threw 75 beads in the fire.  They won't be done for a while, but I'll post pictures as soon as I get them back.  This photo is my friend Kim's pot after it has been sprayed with a ferric cloride solution. 

Square 13

I'm always reminded of the crazy chemists in all us potters of the group.

This fizzing concoction is called swamp juice and is made from ingredients found at the Farm store and Lowes.  It fizzes when first mixed and everyone dips or spoons their work into it while it is fizzing to get interesting sponging and bubbling designs on the fired pot. 

Circle 4

Copper wire makes reds and linear patterns when fired

Sawdust makes the much needed smoke for colorful chemical reactions....

Seaweed for salt and minerals along with smoke and linear patterning...

And pack it up like a baked potato and pack it in the kiln

Square 12

I think I will be attending more Potter's Echange Events this year since I have decided to do trunk shows verses live shows.  This is a good thing, since our group is always hosting learning and sharing events and it really helps me to expand my work. :-)

And the hosts always seem to be giving from the garden too.  Last event everyone went home with tomato plants.

Turquoise and Green Pendant/connector

Air travel and taking off of my office job once a month for the past two months has taken a toll on my Etsy listing and my blogging frequency.    

Deep rich green and peach large donut

I have a few neglected yet patient shop owners calling me (multiple times) and asking for more work. I get a little cranky with monkey's on my back,

So, after preparing my work for the saggar fire, I got to work throwing new Donuts and pendants.  I had a couple of requests for a donut similar to one that sold quickly earlier this month.  I also have been noticing the jewelry that I love to wear and I notice that quite a few of them are large, dramatic, pendants.  I made some really large and dramatic pieces.  Do what you love, right?

Turquoise Blue Stripes Donut

Sonya always needs to throw too.  She loves it.  I helped her a bit with this mini pitcher.

Teal Turquoise and Greens charm set

I filled all the bats in my studio on Saturday and came back and filled them all again on Sunday.  I even have one shop that sells my pottery.  I do this to keep me grounded though I don't think it could ever be my focus.  Pots aren't my natural love, but it is a really awesome skill that I would like to improve on.

Glowing Turquoise Charm set

Tired

Purple and green Charm set

   On Monday I made molds of a few of the large thrown pieces...and in order to do so, I had to clean the attic.... and in doing so , I found my tile molds..... and so then I was compelled to pour them... and the night before I was up til 3am getting to know a new friend...and since I was up and running at 7am.... I wanted to curl up in a ball a lot of the time.  But I still was compelled to do more. I cleaned the molds, I cleaned the tiles... I just didn't make it to making buttons yet.  

Pineapple Earring Charms

Sunshine art

Royal Blue and teal earring set

Starshine's art-- watch out world

So-- all the beads shown here have been added to my etsy shop this week. 

What do you think?  What would you like me to make while I am in my production blitz?