Recap On New Items For Adding Beads To

 I am currently working on a few new videos.  I found a new lighting fixture from the goodwill store and I am anxious to give it a try.  My other tripod seemed to wobble whenever I moved which was kind of annoying.  Is there anything special you would like me to demonstrate?  I would love to hear any feedback.

So I thought I had better follow up with a recap on the tools I used for the Beaded Items.  For the pens and pencils I used the drill bit size 3/32" (2.3mm) to enlarge the holes of my beads.  For the Pendant Bars, I used the drill bit size 1/8" (3.1mm).

I now have a selection of pens and pencils as well as the pendant bars in my online store.  I am still waiting on an order for a selection of the Stylus Pens I showed in my video (see last blog post here).   Just click on the photos below for the links.

Mechanical Pencils

Twist Pens + Ink Refills

Pendant Bars

And I also add some filler items in my shop:

So in case you missed my newsletter or facebook post:  I am having a huge Summer Sale -- this week only:

Playing With My Handcrafted Polymer Clay Beads

After playing and experimenting with my handcrafted beads for several months, things have finally come together.  It was back in April when I last shared my huge bead collection that I had been making over the years -- some go as far back as 20 years.  I did manage to find some more bins with beads and I picked out a few favorites for finishing off and will get to the rest of them later.

So here are a few things I have been making with them:

Beaded Bar Pendants, Purse Charms or for Key Rings

Beaded Bar Purse Charms . . . or

Wear as a Necklace!

I have discovered these stainless steel bars where the top and bottom screw off and you can add your beads to.  The above photos show a sample of how I used them.  I now have plenty of beaded bars in stock and are available in my online store (click on the photo below for the link).  If you haven't already, don't forget to sign up for our newsletter as I will be sharing a coupon code for a sale on supplies as well as my tutorials very soon!

Beaded Bars in Stainless Steel

I also found these pens to add my beads to:  From top to bottom:  a Stylus/Pen, Twist Pen, and a Mechanical Pencil.  I will have some of these listed in my online store in the next day or so.  I only have a limited amount and will need to order more so if you are interested in any of these and in preferred colors, just send me a message (through my website) or e-mail me directly.

And for something that is not my typical thing for me to do, but it is a start.  I have finally created my first video and have uploaded it to my new YouTube channel (don't forget to subscribe for future videos).  I have to say it was a bit easier to do than I had anticipated and plan on making more.

These beaded items have been a lot of fun to create.  It took me a while to figure out how I wanted the beads to fit and once that was worked out, everything else just clicked.

This is also my tutorial on how to make your own Rondelle Spacer Beads (click on the photo for the link).  I have it on sale (until the end of the week) for 25% off in case this inspires you and you would like to get a jumpstart on things.

Beads, Beads, and more Beads!

While reorganizing my studio the other day, I was easily distracted when I came across my huge handcrafted clay bead collection. I have built up quite a large inventory over the past 10 or more years and just never got around to creating with them.  Some weren't finished (required sanding and polishing) and others just needed a touch up.  I decided to start working on them bit by bit.  It was quite the task and rather than get overwhelmed, I did a small amount each day over the past 6 months and now I have a nice supply ready to play with!  These are just some of the larger-size beads.

I happened to have emptied some bin-type containers so decided to use them for organizing.  I can hardly believe I ended up with 5 almost all filled.  Here are some photos to give you an idea.

I have some cool ideas for using these -- other than for regular jewelry pieces which I will share later.  I also have a huge stash of my rondelle spacer beads.  Each time I share the seasonal Pantone Fashion color clay recipes, I would make some spacer beads in my favorite colors.  I found these cute little plastic boxes for organizing them and now they are all in order and labelled with my clay recipe numbers to coordinate.

I have a tutorial lesson on how to make my rondelle spacer beads which you can find here (or click on the photo below):

The color recipes I used to create my beads are included in my Clay Color System which I also show how to organize all your clay.  It is more than just recipes -- it is a whole system and inspiration on how to create new colors and combinations.

My pantone color recipes are based on Kato clay but my new revised color system has been adapted to using other clay brands.  The colors may not come out exactly but will give plenty of inspiration.  Right now and until then end of April, both of these tutorials are on sale at 30% off.

I will be back later to share what I am creating with my beads.  Have a great weekend!

Creating with the Liane CaBezel Jewelry Mold

The Liane CaBezel jewelry mold is another new design from the CaBezel mold series created by Wendy Orlowski.  It doesn't have a hole like in the Holy CaBezel molds but does come in three sizes.  I loved playing with these molds and trying out various ways they can be used with a snap mounted for interchanging.

These are several arrangements out of many that can be made with the beads created from the molds.  The interchangeable beads on the necklace in the above photo were created using the medium-size (center) and small size (outside) in the Liane CaBezel mold.  In the arrangement below I used the large size (center) along with the medium size mold (outside beads).

The arrangement below is a combination of the small size Liane CaBezel mold for the 2 outside beads and the center bead made with the Fab Focals # 2.

I also created a large Liane shape with a curve and really like how it came out.  You can see a comparison in the photo below.  

Bead on the left was baked on a curve and bead on the right baked flat

The curved shape works especially well in the longer necklace design with the chain tassel.

 

And the beauty of it on a snap is that it can be easily interchanged and worn as a short necklace.

  

We create the art . . . 

. . . you choose how to wear it!

Bettina Welker Workshop

I had an incredible time last weekend when I attended a polymer clay workshop by Bettina Welker.  When I heard Bettina was going to teach, I had to go and was so glad I did!  The class was on Vancouver Island and so the weekend started by driving out with my friend, Joanne.

The workshop was for two days and I found it quite exciting to create something different than what I would typically make.  We also worked with the Fimo Professional clay so was a good opportunity to see how I liked working with it.  I have found that it does have it's uses and I like the fact that it was softer yet not too sticky even though the room was quite warm.  

Bettina's style is unique and the class consisted of us constructing different beads using various techniques.  These were the beads that I had made.  They are pretty much in the similar colors as I wanted to maintain a theme and of course lime green and teals are my favorite.

Beads I made in Bettina's class

After we made all our beads, Bettina showed us how we can combine them to create a necklace.  I am playing around with them at the moment to see what combination I like best.

Testing out how to arrange the beads I made in Bettina's workshop

These are the beads Bettina demonstrated in the class and then created a necklace with them.

Necklace Bettina made in class

She then had us write our names on a piece of paper and my friend Joanne was the lucky duck to keep it!

Joanne (left) with Bettina (right)

It was a fun time and if you ever have the opportunity to take a class from Bettina, I highly recommend it.  If it isn't possible, Bettina has several classes on CraftArtEdu that you can take.

I am so glad that Bettina and her family chose to come to Canada for a vacation and I hope they enjoyed their travels as much as we enjoyed her class!  We really appreciated that they were willing to share her with us while they were here.

And of course a big thank-you to Barb Alexander and Irene Corman for all the work that they put into planning and preparing such a wonderful time!

Some New Art Deco Designs and Shapes

I have been on an Art Deco kick for a while now and is my favorite technique since discovering it.  We had piles of containers of scrap clay that I was saving and just couldn't bring myself to mix up and planned on using to make Natasha beads one day.  That pile is finally being reduced, freeing up some of the containers, but we still have so much more to play with.

The fun thing with this technique is that the pattern in the cane changes making each piece totally unique.  For instance, it is hard to believe that the snaps shown below are all from the same cane. 

As I sliced the cane, I noticed that at one end the colors were more a combination of purple, green and blue and when I sliced it from the opposite end, the colors were mainly deep pink with little bits of teal green and blue.

Occasionally you can end up with several pieces that are close enough to pass as a matching set which work really well for items such as earrings.

Most of our Art Deco is being made into buttons for the quilt and yarn shops and snaps for our interchangeable jewelry.  I have also been playing with new shapes like these earrings.

And some round beads which will be made into a bracelet.

So I am off to play some more and see what other shapes I can come up with.  Have a great summer long weekend!

Rainbow Jelly Roll Cane and Recreating With the Left-Overs

We had to make up more of our Rainbow Jelly Roll "cane" last week to fill some orders for crochet hooks and stitch markers.  This cane takes quite a bit of work to make as there are six colors needed to create the gradual blend.

We made some "snap art beads" from this cane as well.

To make the snaps using a cane such as one like this, I simply reduce my cane to the same size as my round cutter used to fill the snap bezels.  I like to stretch my cane out so it lasts as long as possible so rather than using thick slices, I slice it a little thinner and back it with a clay circle.  You can then make it into a cabochon to fill the snap bezel following instructions on page 6 of my tutorial (part 1). 

When making canes, we always end up with left-overs (as shown above) so we like to use those "scraps" in other ways.  One of the most popular techniques is creating "Natasha" beads.  The Natasha beads are fun to make.  We call these "inside out beads" as the clay is literally cut and turned inside out to reveal the cool pattern.

One can use so many Natasha beads, however, and while making them one day, I was inspired with an idea to create a new technique that I call Art Deco.  Instead of a square bead, we end up with flat mirror images.  They can then be used to create other shaped beads, buttons, snaps and whatever else you can think of.

These are such happy colors so I named them "Fiesta" and are now available in our online store.