Nothing New But At Least I'm Having a Little Fun !

Well, it would seem I've abandoned beading with a loom already.  As much as I enjoy the finished product, I just don't have the time or patience for it right now.  Too many other things on my plate, so to speak, at the moment. 

I guess you could say I've gone back to arts/crafts I've already established myself in and still love to create/play with them.  Some things, I just never tire of nor do I intend to give up ever.  I might walk away for a time but I always come back.  Lately, the bead muse just isn't calling to me so I've backed off a bit.  I did have some torch time recently and enjoyed my time there but it was enough for the time being.  I've come back to Kumihimo too and LOVE what I've been doing with that as well.  In fact, so much so I've made at least 4 regular flat braids in just the past week.  Beaded Kumihimo is a lot of fun however the age old tradition of regular kumihimo, with no beads added, using my wonderful Maurdai, also turns out lovely pieces.  Pictures below are the few I did make this past week.  I LOVE the colorways of these pieces so much so that I've used up the hand dyed satin cording that's in the first photo.  I'm hoping I can get more.  All of them are made with hand dyed satin cording I've had for some time.  The colors in all three braids are stunning !  And really, the pictures do the colors no justice at all !  They are must see in person to truly appreciate !  All three of these braids are in my Etsy shop now.   

 

Ok, wanna see some beads too ?  No problem.  I did do some torching on and off for a couple of weeks and the outcome is several bouquets.  Photo's just below.  I won't be posting much if anything over the next month so better put these up now.  The first bouquet is now in my Etsy Shop.  These were "extra" flowers after making the other two bouquets.  Those were special order bouquets and are now happily with their new owners.  The second photo is missing a white rose that came with it.  I just forgot to add it when I photographed it but it looks like the orange one in the top photo.  Enjoy ! 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed the eye candy !  Thanks so much for coming by !  Please come back again soon ! 

      

Mid October and Ready for Fall

Ok already with the 80 degree temps !  Geesh, it's mid October after all and suppose to be nice and COOL !  I never EVER imagined running the AC in October !  This is crazy - but expected for the south I guess.  Give me 50 degrees and MUCH cooler and I am a very happy camper.  Now, onto the beads....................:)

After waiting to get a glass order and limited torch time, I have finally finished that special project I mentioned in a previous blog post.  This is something that could of been finished in about a weeks time if I had all the right glass in the first place.  Still, once I got that glass, I was extremely disappointed.  It did NOTHING I was hoping it would.  It didn't even match what I needed it for.  sigh.  Obviously I'm doing something wrong not to get the color it shows it's suppose to look like on the website.  I'll keep working on it.  :)  And if and when I get the needed color, I'll post all about it here.  lol ! 

So the project I worked on was a flower bouquet for that newly done bathroom.  I am pretty happy with how it turned out.  The photo is just below.  The bathroom colors are peach, chocolate and pale seafoam green.  The buish/green bell flower smack dab in the front center is the exact color of that seafoam green.  I am thrilled how the roses turned out and always love the bell flowers.  There are two critters in this bouquet, Blueboy worm and a very soft peach butterfly.  The main rose in the center is peach and the two on the sides are a very pretty pink with crimped petals.  I've added a few smaller pics of the side view and top view.  Just click on them to see a larger version.  The vase is a gorgeous sparkly deep brown with gold in it.  This is the 4th bouquet I've put together and I just have a lot of fun doing them.  :)  I can make one for you too.  Just contact me here by posting a comment or click on any picture in my Etsy shop to the right and send me a convo.  :) 

 

 

 

Finally, since I haven't been at the torch much, I've not been able to make too many Beads Of Courage Beads.  Only a few each torch session.  The bowl is filling up VERY slowly.  I'll have to take a day or two to get it filled and get it sent off.  They are STILL very much in need.  Pic below shows the few I've been able to get done.   Gotta get more done ! 

 

 

That's all for now.  Thanks so much for coming by.  I hope you come back again very soon ! 

 

This weeks question:

I make a lot of beads using MANY shades of one primary color.  Name that color and win this weeks giftee !

 

Place your guess in the comments section below.  Only one guess per visitor please.  First person to guess correctly wins however I will not post the winner until Saturday the 19th in the evening.  

New rule:  Recent winners need to opt out for 2 weeks to be fair to all.  :)  Thanks for understanding.   

 

  

 

 

 

Autumn In The Air (not really) & Torch Time

It's kinda hard to believe Autumn and fall like weather is suppose to be here when it's 80 plus degrees outside !  lol !  Even though it gets into the 50's at night sometimes and is so nice and cool in the early mornings.  One good thing about those nice cool mornings is they will be nice cool DAYS very soon and I am anxiously awaiting that !  :)  Ok, onto torch time..........

This past week it's been all about revisiting sculpting and of course more beads for the Beads of Courage kids.  I didn't get as many of those done as I would of liked at each torch session so I made up for that a bit yesterday at the torch.  That said, I didn't torch as much as I would of liked either.  Only 3 mornings for a couple hours.  Busy week.  Anyway, the BOC beads are waiting to be cleaned so no photo yet. 

The revisiting part - Sculpted flowers.  I am working on a project for myself again.  This time for our newly remodeled half bath.  Finding colors to coordinate has been a challenge but finally getting resolved.  Some of that glass won't arrive until next week.  In the meantime I've been getting my hands warm again by practicing sculpting roses and other sorts of flowers.  I've revisited the basic rose I was doing before but adding new "twists" literally - to some.  lol !  See photo below.  I actually really like that twist/crimps but it's not exactly what I was trying to accomplish so will keep working on that and reveal that in another post.  Maybe this isn't even a rose type flower with the twisted/crimped petals !  lol !  Whatever it is, they are kinda pretty I think.  Those orange flowers - are suppose to be dark yellow.  sigh.  Anyway the rose in the middle and the flower with transparent petals are close to the colors I need.  In the meantime, I'll keep playing.  :)) 

The bottom picture is of a set of beads I might still add to yet.  It takes a couple of torch sessions to get all the beads in the photo.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE how they turned out !  The color combinations of the base color and the frit are really wonderful !  It's so hard to tell in a photo.  Be sure to click on the pic to see the close up.       

 

 

I'm going to start something new here on my blog.  Every post I'm going to ask a single question about something in the post.  If you can answer correctly in the comments section below, I'll send you a little surprise gift !  It might be something about a technique I use, a tool I use, a color, etc.  All in fun !  The first person to respond and answer correctly gets the gift.  Easy peasy !  :)  The question will always be posted down here at the bottom.  This weeks question is: 

 

What tool did I use to twist/crimp the petals in the flowers ?

HINT - Everyone has one in their home/toolbox. 

 

Winner is Therese of Therese's Treasures Blog.  Thanks for playing along !  :) 

 

Thanks for coming by !  I hope you come back again soon ! 

 

 

 

 

Leaves and Flowers - More Fallish fun

The few days I was able to torch this past week were pretty fun.  Only one day it was a bit frustrating.  More on that later.  I really didn't "learn" anything new.  Just kept playing with colors.  Some new to me but most colors I've known from the past.  I did play a bit more with some heavily laden silver color which is not the norm for me but I was enjoying it so much I just kept at it.  :)  It gave me no trouble at all either which is a good thing because when this particular color first came out, it gave LOTS of people fits, including me.  That glass/color being Double Helix Terra.  Not the original Terra but new batches that match the original. 

Now alot of people much prefer the multiple colors that you can get from Terra but hate the metallic sheen of it when that pops up.  I, on the other hand, like both the lovely colors AND the metallic sheen.  Both have their own place/use in a bead. I guess it just depends on what you are going for in that particular bead.  This past week, I have been going for whatever color shows up and I really like what's been showing up.  :)  In fact, I'm REALLY likin' what's showing up !  :)    

Check it out.  More leaves..............and both sides to show the variations of color and metallic sheen.  Granted, the colors probably have never been seen in "real" leaves but remember, this is glass and as with any art/craft, it is only limited to one's imagination.  :) 

 

I also made more leaves in other colors and more flowers.  My favorite leaves so far are these

 

 

In revisiting colors, I remembered about Opal Yellow and how much it reacts to MANY colors.  Or maybe it's how many colors react to it ?  Either way, the outcome is always wonderful !  I had forgotten just how much I LOVE THIS COLOR !~  And the older the rod, the better the colors that come out of it.  I happen to have just a few little rods of some old opal yellow and you can see it in the leaf to the far left.  There is some hints of pinkish tones in it and THAT'S the beauty of the older rods.  The rods were rich in this buttery yellow and those  wonderful pinkish undertones.  Yummy.  The new rods are lovely as well but nothing compares to the old stuff.  sigh......Still, all the leaves turned out lovely I think with the opal yellow base, encased in silver foil then dipped in a wonderful reactive frit I have.  I WILL be making more of these for sure.  :) 

 

And last but not least - the flowers.  To date, the ones below are what I've done so far. 

 

 

I've had so much fun making all of them that I will continue to make them in more colors.  Except for the red poinsettia looking one.  I'll be making more of those for a particular project.  The roses will all be made using various techniques and lots of colors and sizes.  :)  Eventually, I'll "delve" into making other types of flowers. 

 

Thanks so much for coming by !  I hope you come back again very soon.  :)  I love to read your comments so please feel free to get your 2 cents in.  :) 

 

 

 

Fall Is In The Air...........

.......even though it's still over 80 degrees today.  Still, it's been fairly cool in the mornings which allows me to spend a little bit of time making beads.  Yay !  It's suppose to start getting a high of only in the 70's this coming week so more time to play.  :)  The cooler it gets, the better my days will be.  I am a cold weather person anyway. 

I've had a great week at the torch.  Finally feeling like I never stopped for the summer.  Still working on things I have made before but using some new to me colors and experimenting a little bit.  Made lots of leaves, some roses and a couple other flowers.  All pictured below.

First are the leaves - and lots of them and more coming.  What will I do with all of them ?  I have no idea.  lol !  Maybe a necklace is in order ?   

 

This second set is all the flowers as of today.  There are more but they are still in the kiln.  I had alot of fun making these.  They are done three different ways.  The dark red rose and dark yellow rose on the left, closest to the dime, are done with the mandrel coming up thru the middle of the flower.  The Yellow rose all the way to the right is done with a base underneath it with the mandrel hole running east to west.  The top yellow flower with points on the tips, also done with a base underneath with mandrel holes running east to west.  And the last yellow flower, at the bottom, was made on the end of the mandrel and has no hole that runs all the way through.  There is one more way I can think of that these can be done and that is off mandrel which I want to try as well.  :)  Oh and did ya guess, yellow is one of my most favorite colors. !  lol !     

 

 

I also made some other beads but just not worthy of posting them.  lol !  Always a learning experience every time I sit down to melt glass. 

 

This next bead I made following a tut in the Tonbo Dama book.  I made this bead long ago once and remembered how much I loved it so wanted to revisit it.  In the tutorial, it says to encase it and I didn't.  It would of looked better had I encased it.  Oh well, live and learn ! 

 

 

Time to get busy and get some work done.  Thanks so much for coming by and visiting.  I hope you come back again very soon.  :)  Please leave a comment and let me know what you think. 

 

 

 

Flowers, Flowers and More Flowers

With all that practice/working with encasing, flowers in particular, I got the "urge" to follow another tutorial on roses.  Sculpted roses this time.  It's been a long time I really sculpted anything and hoped I wouldn't revert back to bad habits.  There weren't many but there were a few that kept me from accomplishing things back then when it came to sculpting.  Plus, I really wasn't sure I wanted to go that route again.  That's what I use to LOVE to do - sculpt with melted glass.  So when I sat down to follow along with the tut, alot of my GOOD insticts kicked in and I started feeling better about it again.  Not totally though.  As I was working on the first rose, I was rather shaky.  Just something I do when I'm trying new things.  The longer I worked on the first rose, the better I felt.  Plus, I had done most of this type of sculpting before.  I had made flowers long ago just not roses.  The whole purpose of buying this tut really was to see how the middle was finished and if there were any other good tips and techniques to learn. 

The only thing that really was no surprise to me is that first rose it HUGE !  I don't know what it is but making small beads just escapes me so often.  lol !  I try but 90% of the time it just doesn't work out for me.  

So far, I've made 2 roses, a lovely blue color one and a cream color one.  Both pictured below with another flower I made that's not a rose and on their own.  Notice the sizes !  lol !  The white  rose is smaller than the blue one though !  lol !  At least I tried.  :)  That blue one measures in at a full 2 inches across at the widest point !  Like I said - B-I-G ! 

Make sure you click on the photo's to see the full size. 

I've also included a photo of some sculpted flowers I made long ago.  Geesh, I think it was back in 2006 or 07.  Can't remember.  Not any particular kind of flowers.  Just plain ole' flowers.  I do remember the whole idea then was the petals and working with a new tool at the time.  I still have that tool and that's what was used in the multicolored flower pictured with the roses.  Making the petals is key to any of these sculpted flowers of course.  With these types of flowers, the petals are made in advance and kept warm on a warming plate of some kind.  Makes assembling the flower so much easier.  The picture is pretty bad because I was using a very old digital camera.  I still have all those flowers so maybe I'll redo the photo.  :)    

So I am continuing on my flowers quest with yet another project I'm working on.  More on that to come later.  I will make more roses over time.  Hopefully, I can get to small !  lol !  

Thanks for coming by !  :)  I hope you will come back again soon.  Please leave a comment.  I love reading them.  :)