Tooled Leather Jewelry

Here is a scarf necklace made with the same tooled leather technique I showed you the other day which is now available in our Etsy shop.  I am finally finding a bit of time each day that I am setting aside to work on our online stores and add some new listings.

All our earring beads are sold separately from our ear wires.  It is all part of our Interchangeable Earring System.  These earring beads are now available in our online Etsy shop.  The ear wires are sold separately.

We have three ear wires styles we make ourselves in a choice of Argentium Sterling Silver and 14 Karat Gold (fill).  They can all mix and match with any of our earring beads for custom fit and styling.

Some of our beads have a different pattern on each side making them not only interchangeable but 2 earring styles in 1.  

Tiger Print Buttons

We love to see what others have created using our tutorials, beads or buttons.  This is a photo someone sent us of a beautiful neck warmer scarf they made using our round tiger print buttons.  

We have more tiger print as well as other animal print buttons in our Etsy Shop and ArtFire Studio.

Back from our Etsy Artisan Show in Westwold

We had a great time at our Summer Artisan Show in Westwold yesterday.  We were so exhausted after so much talking and visiting.  Here is a photo of our set-up.  We are finally getting things more streamlined so set-up and take-down is smoother and quicker these days.

It was fun meeting a lot of our on-line friends that were there along with other Etsy sellers in our area we hadn't discovered yet.  There was a variety of artists which made the show very diversified.

I managed to get a few photos in between customers and visiting.  This is Ellie from Felt The Fluff.  She organized the show and got all of us together.  She does sculptural needle felting and her polar bear family is so adorable!

This is Deb from Paxton Valley Folk Art.  Her space was across from ours and was really great getting to know her and see her beautiful handmade creations.  She also sells patterns for her original designs as well as fabric flowers like the daffodils shown here.

This is Bryan from Bras Art Gallery who was right next to us.  He does pencil and graphite pencil drawings that are just out of this world.  He was working on a ballerina drawing throughout the day and was so inspiring to see it take form.

Bryan's wife, Siana of Sinderblu Studio, was next to us as well but I missed getting a photo of her.  She makes beautiful hand embroidered cards as well as does gorgeous hand weaving.

This is Linda of Views by Linda Photography.  She is a talented photographer and her photographs are amazingly beautiful.

I picked up this cute messenger bag in denim and vintage paisley fabric from Christine of CW Designs.  Her Etsy shop is called Christines For Tea and she makes all sorts of hand-sewn items.

And this is Sophie from Lili Simone Designs.  I was having fun kidding her about whether she was working hard or hardly working!  lol!  

It was also great to see one of our Okanagan Etsy group leaders, Becka of Gingerurchin, come out to support and visit with everyone.  

All in all, it was a great day and we are looking forward to another event such as this one!

Can't Decide?

Gift certificates are now available in our Etsy shop and Artfire studio.  They are presented in one of our tin gift boxes that have an embossed clay design of your choice.  They can be shipped to the purchaser or sent direct to the gift receiver.

   

 
This makes a perfect gift for someone who will enjoy picking out their own present.  It can be a piece of jewelry, buttons for someone who loves to sew or knit, or even beads for a jewelry designer.  The gift certificate can also be used towards any home decor item like our custom made-to-order switch plate covers.

New Look

Last weekend our followers reached 300!  I wanted to do the happy dance and celebrate!

We hope you have been enjoying our blog so far and we will try to continue to share with you more of our latest work and some fresh and new ideas.

I decided that since our home studio now has a new look that our internet studio (blog) needed one as well.  Other than the new color you will notice the sidebar has changed.  We didn't get rid of our favorite links but just moved them into a better place.  They now have their own page in one of the tabs at the top.  I categorized them in different interest groups so they are easier to find.  There is room to add a whole lot more which we will be doing over the next while.

I have enjoyed working in our new finished studio this past week.  At the moment I'm writing several new tutorials that should be published shortly.  I've been also working on some new color palettes for our beads and jewelry.  We have the small rondelle spacers in our basic color palette available for sale but we will soon have them available in a larger size as well as in more color choices.

This palette is in the Pantone Fall 2010 colors of Purple Orchid, Lagoon (turquoise), Woodbine, Endive, Golden Glow, Living Coral, Lipstick Red, Chocolate Truffle and Rose Dust.  I am in the process of mixing up some of these gorgeous fall color combinations into some of our new bead and jewelry designs.

This is our new jewel-tone color palette of lime green, teal, blue, grape, magenta, orange crush, melon, sunshine yellow and almond.

And here is a sample of some new lentil swirl beads in a combination of the magenta, melon, sunshine yellow and lime green now available for sale in our Etsy shop and ArtFire studio.

Making Beads

   

My first introduction to polymer clay was through a bead making class at a bead show.  I then joined a polymer clay guild in my area and discovered so many other things to create with this medium but I still enjoy making beads the most.  I've since developed my own style and now use a variety of methods and techniques.  I will show you the basics on how a bead is created to give you an idea of the work that goes into them.

   

Most of my beads involve some sort of cane work.  I shared earlier ("Building a Cane") what a cane is and how it is created.  Here I have a tiger cane I made for some tiger print beads.  For some of my beads I will make a decorative clay "sheet" first to cover them.  Cane slices are carefully laid onto some clay that I have rolled out smooth in my pasta machine.

   

Here is my finished clay sheet that has been rolled out and smoothed.  I then proceed to covering my beads from this clay sheet.  Each bead is measured out so are the same consistent size and then shaped by hand.  I need to make sure there are no air bubbles trapped inside and make them as smooth as possible (unless textured) so they will sand much easier after baking.

   

Instead of making a clay sheet, I will also place my cane slices directly onto my clay background.  I pre-measure my clay first so each bead will be the same size and roll each one by hand into a smooth ball.  Using a super sharp blade, I arrange thin slices from my canes onto the clay ball.

   

I roll the clay ball in my hands again, working and blending the cane slices in until it is smooth. I can shape my bead however I want and then pierce a hole.  If I want larger holes, I can use these holes as a guide and then drill each one by hand after baking.

   

Here are some beads ready to go into the convection oven I use to bake.  All my clay pieces are fired at a precise temperature and observed closely with an oven thermometer.  The oven has to be hot enough for them to cure properly but not too hot or they will burn. 

After baking, the beads are cooled and then sanded for a smoother finish.  We sand each bead by hand using multiple grits of sandpaper.  The beads are then buffed by hand for a matte or satin finish as in the tiger print beads above or buffed with a machine to make them shiny like the ones in the photos below.

   

Autumn Leaves

Here are a few beads created from the autumn red and yellow leaf cane I demonstrated last week now in our Etsy Bead Shop.  Next post I will share with you how I make the lentil swirls similar to the one shown above.  They are one of my favorite types of beads I love to make.