More clay, much more clay

I had a marathon week with polymer clay because my husband has been out of town 

and I could leave my work space messy and ready for 4 days in a row!! 

Love it when I don't have to put everything away and drag it all out again the next day. 

Then I had to catch the early sunrise at the right moments to photograph it all.  

It seems like the sun rises faster this time of year- 

the angle is different in my backyard giving my a very short window 
before big shadows start appearing.

I may have to switch to the front yard. 

So, 

here are some of the lovely pieces I created:

I experimented with a new technique called the Stroppel cane 

using different base colors, black, white and gold. 

This is a great way to use up old canes and scraps of clay. 

I also made 3 Mokume Gane buttons for my crochet student to choose from for her felted bag.

What I do with scraps- make beads.

 

Mokume Gane layered on scraps from the buttons

The same color combo sliced in the Natashia Bead technique and then twisted.

I love how this one came out, especially after it is all sanded and buffed. 

These were made with a variation of the bargello technique.

If there is enough scrap clay I make a button.

Chatoyant scraps made this bead. 

Note what polymer clay does to my poor hands- so dry. 

And these were made with scraps from some foiled pieces I worked on 

that are not ready to be seen because they need to be painted first.  

I should be able to post them for  BTW. (Bead Table Wednesday)

 

 I try to make at least one mold each clay session- 

Here is a tiny leaf mold for disk beads or buttons.

I used a leaf button from Walmart and then hand sculpted the surrounding texture.  

I have been extremely productive this month as I get ready for 
The Artist's Boutique I was invited to sell at coming up November 19 and 20th.  
This is a local event by invitation only-
 if you are local and interested in coming shoot me an email. 

I have whipped up 7 more crochet scarves and 4 sets of fingerless gloves.

With my sewing machine I have been sewing twirly tucked organza scarves. 

More pictures of those next week! 
Have a great weekend and enjoy your extra hour sponsored by Daylight Savings Time!! 

Heather-Aquariart

Four Days of Non-stop Polymer Clay

Looking for my Bead Soup?
I am home alone and look what trouble I was able to get into. 

I spent 4 solid days into the wee hours playing 

with this new Stroppel Technique, 

chopping up old canes and scraps and this is what you get.  

Love it!  

I tried it with 3 different base colors; black, white 

and lastly gold which I was hoping might come out a little like 

Gustav Klimt's quilt in his painting "The Kiss". 

Here are some of many creations from this polyholic binge:

This is my favorite piece from the session- It can be either a shawl pin or a hair accessory.

Here is a closer look - it is thoroughly buffed and then antiqued with silver paint. 

A pair of earrings made with trimmed edge scraps from the gold Stropple cane.

A black heart on gold with the Chatoyant- (mica shift) technique.

Ths is a bullet bead - can you see the person standing there?

This was created with Stropple scraps using a mirror image trick. 

Still loving my acorn mold- scraps again.

More autumn leaves. 

Green swirl buttons.

Green blend large button.

Green Swirl Large button.

First Green Blend Shawl Pin.

Second Green Swirl Shawl Pin.

Stay tuned- there is so much more- I just need to photograph all the work.  

Have a Spectacularly Spooky Halloween Y'all! 

Heather-Aquariart

Bead Soup for Beth Bricker

Okay, this is the teaser. 

Beth's Bead Soup is in on it's way to her. 

Meet my Bead Soup Partner caught at a Bead Show.
Beth is on the Right- with the great smile.
Do you think Beads make her happy?  I do.I had fun with Adobe Elements and disguised the pictures I took of her ingredients. I don't think you will recognize anything in this but that is the point. Surprise!!  

Bead Soup a la Jurassic Park for Beth
andI love this one, came out really abstract after about 8 filter effects.

Bead Soup el Cognito

I sent her a really nice clasp, handmade by a favorite etsy artist I will divulge later.

I made the focal pendant and all of the polymer clay beads 

and then poured in a lot of spicy beads to warm it up. 

I am anxiously waiting my ingredients for the Party too! 

(Saturday) 

Okay, that was yesterday, the teaser above, 
(Now you know one of my little secrets, I started to prepare this post yesterday for today)
my husband brought in the mail and 
Guess What?!!@%$&*
My Bead Soup arrived from Beth!! 
(Today- Sunday)
I had to wait until this morning to photograph it all.
Beth was so generous!!
and there are beads I have never ever seen before in the mix! 
This is so exciting.
 I need to take you through 
the visual experience of opening this package of goodies

The mysterious package- I think she discovered that I sew too!  

A kind and encouraging note and more fabric related wrapping- love it!!  

Oh my, very organized, all labeled and carefully packaged!
This is a lesson for me.  I am learning from this.

This is unbelievable!! So many truly unique beads!
I am so wowed by how many I have never seen before.
You need to see some of these close up:

We have mountain sheep here in Nevada but I have never seen
Horn, Antler or Deer Bone beads
in any of all the bead stores here in town
and I have been in them all.
 I love them!  
I think that deliciously nubby big bead is the antler bead,
it is really amazing- wish you could see it from all angles! Can't make a truly tasty broth for the soup without some Bone can we.
Also I have never seen undyed howlite or seeds quite like these. 

There are some really different czech beads too.  I love all the earthy tones.
They are making me yearn for a vacation in the Montana Mountains,
where I could wear a plaid flannel shirt with my jeans like this cloth
and not sweat to death like I do here in the Desert. 

I think she may have figured out some of my favorite colors
with the Mardi Gras beads and the Turquoise.
The Black Tourmaline is so unusual- love the chunky randomness of the facets,
I couldn't quite capture it's true beauty because
I over slept this morning and the sun was already too bright. I love copper and will probably be adding even more to the mix

The Earthy Howlite Focal and a gorgeous Copper Clasp. 
(sorry about the tint, the sun was not cooperating outside
so I moved indoors for the rest of the photos)

Last and most precious,
an alternate Focal; a Rusty Key.  
I found all these ingredients really inspiring and can't wait to get to work. 
Thank you so much Beth for your amazing package of goodies!!
I am going to get started with some wire wrapping,
right now,  with Copper of course!! 
Be sure to come back on September 17th for the Blog Hop Reveal. 

BIG HUGE GIVEAWAY!!!

One of my very favorite Art Bead Artists :

Heather Powers is cleaning out her bead inventory.  

The Humble Bead Big Huge Giveaway Set !!!

These beads are to die for 

and to have a chance to get a batch for free 

of her truly unique and amazing beads is crazy wonderful!!
Hurry tonite at midnite is the deadline!!! 

Click HERE 

to see what you have to do to have a chance to win.  

If you would rather go to her etsy store and pick your own beauties, 

click the same spot and look for her code so you can get 20% off.

You can go to her etsy store right from her blog. 

This is exciting, 

I think the heat is getting to all of us but shurely Heather Powers has gone mad!! 

( Just Kidding Heather) 

I had one of the most productive weeks of my life this week.
Here are pictures of everything I made after Bead Table Wednesday and the Art Bead Scene July Challenge deadline I managed to make:

The mythical characters called Nymphs, Sirens or Mermaids 
have always intrigued me.
I love the ocean and  this focal from 
Green Girl Studios has a quote by Crouseau. 
I watched all his documentaries about the sea. 
He says:
"the sea, once it casts its spell holds one in its net of wonder forever". 

I used these wonderful twisted blue glass beads to represent waves and added the mermaids ride: a sea horse charm.


Next:
My Waves Bracelet
I used blue and turqoise in this one. 
I made the polymer clay turquoise swirl beads and flat spacers.
The rest are glass beads.

This one features a naked lady. 

 I like to think she is skinny dipping in all that blue green water!

For this bracelet I used memory wire covered with coiled pink artist's wire and beads.  
I made the polymer clay flower beads 
textured on both sides so they look great 
no matter where they turn. 
The pink stone is dyed howlite, 
the green, crackled glass. 
The necklace below is extra long.  
I love this length for summer- 
looks great with a cool cotton shirt.
Fortunately we had very cloudy weather yesterday morning- perfect for photographing shiny beads.

This one was a quickie with glass and shell beads on memory wire.  

I love the flower dangles, I picked up the pink curled glass beads at Road 2 California last year.  

Sorry I can't remember who the vendor was. 

They remind me of one of my favorite flowers, fuchsias, 

combined with the bright green glass and crystals.

A few orphan beads found their place in these earrings.

I am finally parting with some of my favorite finds.

This butterfly bead is an amazing little ceramic focal for this bracelet.

And the Star with a bead wired in really shines in this bracelet. 

The reds, oranges and browns remind me of hikes in the Valley of Fire. 

Here was a super quickie made with painted bone beads 

and the speckled beads are some kind of nut. 

(like me).  

This one has an extra long length too. 

And one more orphaned lampwork bead found a home, 

Queen of some necklace to be. 

Last but not least a Macro shot of the dragon side of this lovely etched deep navy blue bead. 

Click HERE to see more Macro Photos

Well I made all that in one day, so I took a rest yesterday and floated in the pool

with one nicely iced stien of Rogue Chocolate Beer!! 

Come on back on Wednesday for Bead Table Wednesday. 

Happy Weekend to you all!