Where does the time go?  This bracelet was something that sort of developed on it's own.  It started when my friend gave me an old wallet ( she knows never to get rid of anything without asking me first.)  I took it apart and cut little shapes and then used eyelets to attach two layers together.  I had bought some Vintaj Metal Patina to play with and used some filigree shapes that I had laying around as an experiment.  I made the clasp from copper sheeting and heavy copper wire.  I riveted my lampwork discs to the filigree sections and then just kept going.  This is not my usual style but I think it helps to just go with the flow sometimes.  I do like the Vintaj Patina and am looking for other things to try it on.  It is easy to use and has a built in sealer.  Quick photo taken with my phone.

Happy Memorial Day

I hope that everyone will take time today to remember what the purpose of this holiday.  We have so much to be thankful for in our country and I am thankful for the sacrifices that so many have made for our freedom.  
I didn't realize how long it had been since my last post.  Pinterest has stolen my attention lately but I will try to share some of that over here as well.  

I have made Kumihimo braids before but not using beads.  This is so much easier than bead crochet and much less painful also.  Here are a few items that I have made lately.  I have ordered some patina supplies and I will post my experimental results when they come in,
 

I am not sure I like the changes that Blogger has made.  I can't even read the new publisher areas.  Oh well, I guess I will have to play around with it to make it more to my liking.  I hope everyone had a happy Valentine's Day.  I made dh something little and the photo is a quick shot with my phone.  I need to get back to making beads again soon.   The weather has been icky but that is really no excuse.  My kids gave me a Kindle for Christmas and I have been engrossed in reading and drinking my new Teavana tea.  More soon.

Gifts

 I seem to be running perpetually behind since Christmas.  Here are a few photos that I took quickly with my phone of some of the gifts that I made before the holidays. I forgot to take photos of all of them and those items are already in the hands of their recipients.  I have been trying to get organized and start posting again but sometimes I feel like I just don't have much to say.  How many blogs are out there?  How many can you keep up with?  How much time do I waste on the computer when I could be doing something productive.   And then there is the Pinterest obsession that is my newest distraction.  It is a great site to post things all in one place but it is a complete time killer.  I strive to be more disciplined.

Happy New Year!

Glass Leaves

Something else new that is not quite finished.  I made some of these leaves a long time ago and then a few more recently for practice.  It is amazing how my skills are not what they used to be after spending time away from the torch for so long.  I don't agree with the people that say it is like riding a bicycle.  For me, I have to get that muscle memory back and it takes a few tries before I feel like my skills are up to par.  I am tenacious so if it doesn't work quite the way I think it should, I will keep trying until I am satisfied with the turnout.  I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  I can relax now that all the dishes are done.

Glass Headpins

These are my new favorite earrings and the photo is taken with my phone as a test. When I made something new that I really like, they are usually my favorite until the next idea comes along.  They have etched brass domed disks that I made and lampwork leaf headpins that I also made.  I need to make more of these as I already have orders for them.  They are so lightweight that you can hardly tell you have earrings on.  I have all sorts of ideas in my head for more so stay tuned.

Glass Floral Bouquet

This piece started out as something completely different and took off on it's own.  That is my favorite way to work anyway because it just sort of happens.  All of the components are my handmade glass attached to hand dyed and sewn silk ribbon.  I plan to explore this concept a bit more and who knows what the next one will look like. 

Show season

Even though I am only doing one small show this Fall, I have a dear friend who uses my lampwork in her jewelry.  She has several shows and I have been busy making things for her.  In the meantime, I have new jewelry as well that I thought I would share.  I am doing a show for Master Gardeners so  I have been making leaves, flowers and birds.  It is fun to go in a different direction and gives me a chance to practice my much to be desired sculpting skills.  More later.

My new favorites!

These beads are all  made exactly the same way with the same ingredients yet they all look a little different.  I don't know what the base glass is and I only have a tiny piece left.  These have been fun to make because I never know what they are going to look like until they come out of the kiln.  The sun was going down when I took the photograph.  Maybe I should take another one in the sun.  Have a great weekend!

Disc Beads

My friend wanted some discs to use in her earrings so I have had lots of practice lately.  I tried to give her a variety of colors and I even found some Filigrana that I forgot that I had.  It may not show up in the photo but there are 6 pair of discs using all the colors of Filigrana that I have.  We have had great weather this week and it has finally started cooling down a little.   I have more photos to show - next time.

"Zentangle" Inspired

Something a little different for a change.  I used to "doodle" at work when someone I was calling had to put me on hold.  One day when I was looking around online, I ran across the term "Zentangle" which was a specific type of "doodle."  I didn't take it literally but used an abstract method of filling up space with multiple patterns.  These take many hours since the details are very small and the paper is 11 x 14.  I would like to try a very large one but that is for another day.  Have a good weekend!

Find the Hidden Object!

Can you find the hidden object!  I used to like to do the hidden picture projects when I was a kid and that is what this reminded me of.  Little Olive's coloring blends so well with the boulder that she can sit there and not be noticed.  She is such a sweet cat with the most beautiful green eyes.  She does not like the camera so I grabbed this shot while she was not looking.

More etched copper lampwork!

No new beads lately because of the heat but I did make another pair of earrings from etched copper.  I have a new sheet of etched copper with a different design and I punched out shapes recently that I will make into something soon.   I checked the temperature in my studio one day this week and it was 106!  We have broken so many heat and drought records that I quit counting.   Pray for rain!

New etched copper lampwork earrings!

I am still here but not very productive.  I made these for a dear friend and she liked them.  The beads are made with a silver glass shard encased so they have a lot of different colors in them.  It has been way too hot here to even consider making beads.  We have had the hottest June on record and are still under extreme drought conditions.  No fireworks this 4th of July!  Have a good weekend!

New computer!

Technology is not my strong suit.  I didn't realize that buying a new computer would also entail buying new everything else to go with it.  I still have not purchased new photo editing software because of the confusing reviews that I have read.  So there won't be many photos uploaded until I can make up my mind which one to purchase.  I used the one that came with my computer but it does not give me the options that I am used to.  Let's see how this looks when I attempt to get one on this post.  I made this for my step-daughter and she loved it. 

Air Plant aka Tallandisia

The miracles that surround us never cease to amaze me.  This plant is not planted in soil but thrives on air and water.  I didn't think it was even growing and then these  funny little blooms started appearing!  I looked up "air plant" and there are hundred of varieties.  Now I want more!

Etching Copper Experiment

Collage

I have made collages before but not exactly like this one.  Most of the papers I used are painted by me.  I enjoy the layering and moving paint around to see what colors and textures will show through in the process.  I discovered what Citrasolv does to National Geographic photos and this includes some of those papers as well.  That was a fun experiment except for all of the honey bees that it attracted.  I have lots of other things stashed away to play with including a paper making kit that a friend found at a garage sale.  All I need is a old blender to start making my own papers.  There are not enough hours in the day.

New Chalcedony Beads!

These look much better in person and I can't seem to capture the depth or the color with my camera.  I didn't make these all in on session and I plan on making more.  This is only two colors of glass and one in particular gives all the colors under the clear encasing.  It is a process of lots of oxygen and heating and cooling over and over. My concentrator only puts off so much oxygen and it would be interesting to see what I could get if I used tanked oxy instead of a concentrator.  It is fun to see the difference in each bead and I could not make them exactly the same even if I wanted to.

My last post had a glitch in the photo upload and I can't seem to figure out why there is a white space at the bottom of the photo because that only appeared when I uploaded it to this blog.  Any ideas?

Making stuff.

I don't seem to be able to focus on one medium but at least I am back to making things again.  I made this little mixed media piece and the first person that I showed it to wanted it.  That inspires me to keep going!  It is only 12" x 12" and I think it looks bigger in the photo.  After making tiny art pieces in beads for so long, it is difficult for me to adjust to working bigger.  I actually made beads yesterday but have not photographed them yet.  We have had smoke in this area all day from a "controlled burn" somewhere North of where I live.  It makes it hard to breathe outside and I hope it clears up quickly.  That can't be healthy for those who have to work outside.  It has also made driving hazardous.  More soon!

Happy New Year 2011!

It has been so long since I posted but Thanksgiving and Christmas seem to sneak up on me and take all my spare time.  I managed to make a few disc beads specifically with this project in mind.  It was an experiment that I think actually works quite well.  What do you think?

Fall Knitting

Living in Texas, we have warm (understatement) weather.  Yesterday, the high was 91!  Knitting with wool and actually getting to wear  wool has a very short season.  I now have two new garments to add to my collection and am looking forward to cooler weather so I can actually put them on.
The Cedar Leaf Shawlette was one of those "have to" knit items.  The yarn is absolutely luscious and I wish you could feel how soft it is.  It is Madelinetosh Pashmina and is my all time favorite yarn so far.  I have worked on this off and on for several months when I needed something mindless to knit.  The leaves took concentration but the rest of the shawl was easy.
The other project is my second Ishbel.  It is knit from Madelinetosh Tosh Sock yarn which is also very soft but not quite as soft as the above mentioned yarn.  I ran out of yarn on the last lace section because I was trying to knit the larger of the lace patterns.  Searching online for the same yarn was not getting me anywhere.  I found a sweet person on Ravelry that had one skein to spare and thanks to her,  I was able to finally finish it.  I am still amazed what blocking does to lace and it is fun to see the finished results.

I have actually made a few beads lately and will show those soon so this blog doesn't turn into a total knitting blog. 

Knitting Everywhere!

We spent part of Saturday at the Bayou City Art Festival and when I came across this talented artist,  this is what was standing proudly guarding her booth.  My husband stopped traffic for me long enough to get a quick shot.  Having knitting on the brain,  I related to her immediately.  I would have fallen over if I had spotted a glass bead maker in the mix.   I couldn't even get into the booth because of all the people milling around but I had to have a photo of her to share with other knitters.

Multnomah

Another word that I didn't know what it meant so I looked it up and it is the name of a County in Oregon.  I admire the creativity of people when it comes to naming things.  I for one always had a hard time coming up with names for my glass beads.

The Multnomah shawl is another pattern that I found on Ravelry and the yarn was a gift from a dear friend.  It is Crazy Zauberball made in Germany.  It has all my favorite colors in one ball!  The dark red in the photos is actually more brown in real life. The self striping is very pretty and it doesn't pool unattractively like some other variegated yarns that I have used.  I blocked this fairly aggressively and pulled out the feather and fan patterns into sharp points.  I like it that way.  I promised myself that I would get back to making beads when it cooled off and there is a slight chance that will happen this weekend.  I am ready for cooler weather so I can wear my new shawl!

Ishbel

This has been finished for a while and I thought I would share this wonderful pattern.   I saw this shawl knitted in person and it was absolutely beautiful.  Ysolda Teague is the designer and it is in her first book, Whimsical Little Knits 1.  It is a top down shawl and can be made in different sizes or different yarn weights.  If you look on Ravelry, it has been listed as a project 7,743 times!  This one is the smaller size out of Colinette Jitterbug which is a rather squishy sock weight.  I left off 2 rows on the border because I was afraid I was going to run out of yarn.  I am pleased with this one and will probably make it again.