Eggs in a Basket

These pieces that I created are inspired by the traditional painted Easter eggs but are actually not painted.

In fact they are also not eggs but oval shaped brooch-pendants.

I made these as a special request from Donna at Donna's Yarn and Craft Centre and they are now for sale at her fantastic store.  She not only has an excellent supply of yarn and carries a large selection of our handcrafted buttons, shawl pins and beads.

Creating a QR code

I have been seeing these new QR codes all over lately and was curious how they worked until I read a great blog post on The Beading Gem's Journal.  I love how she did a lot of research on the various types and explained how to create and utilize one.  If you have a scanner app on your smart phone, it is a quick and convenient way to find a website or even a particular item without having to do all the google search or web browsing.

Here is the QR code I created for our website using the Skanz site. I also downloaded the scanner to my smart phone and it works like a charm.  Since we make our own business cards we just added it to the back and also plan to place it on our sign when we are selling at shows.

Tangerine Flowers

Here is another design I have been playing around with.  I sometimes like a longer length piece with large beads but added a tangerine flower as an accent.  We are glad our niece was able to model again for us and show off our new pieces for our coming spring shows.  The longer type necklaces are difficult to photograph and show off well so it is nice to see how they look on a real live person.

My double tutorial offer will be available for a short while.  I am currently working on some new ones as I have an open window of a few weeks to work on them this month.  Is there anything in particular you would like to see in a tutorial?  Please comment here or on our facebook page.  You could win one for free when it is published.

April Flowers

Here is one of my new floral necklace designs for this spring using my sculpted flower beads I showed the other day.

If you would like to make sculpted flower beads like these I have my e-book tutorial, "Sculpted Flowers"  available.  This 27 page lesson is packed full of instruction and photos and I walk you through everything from making your floral cane to finishing that flower into a piece of jewelry.  In this tutorial, I show how to make several types of flowers and two types of flower centers. 

If you would like to learn how to cover switch plate covers, I have my Switch Plate Cover-Ups tutorial as well and have a special offer right now where you get both the Sculpted Flowers tutorial and the Switch Plate Cover-ups for only $10.  Just click on the photos for the link to our ArtFire shop.

More Quilt Block Inspired Pieces

These pieces are two variations of the same quilt block pattern made into brooch - pendants.  I like to make earrings to coordinate and will be working on other pieces as well once I get my technique and style more established.

I am still experimenting with different textures, colors and block pattern combinations.  I find when I create this type of work I have to totally clear my work space and focus only on quilts blocks and combining my extruded shapes.  I generally find myself spending a day or two at a time working on a particular technique before I clear everything away and switch to something different.

New Beads in Bloom

I've been working on some new floral beads for our new summer designs.  Here is an assortment that are ready to be strung in this years Pantone Spring colors.   The blues are a combination of Sodalite blue and Cockatoo with Solar Power.  The others are in Tangerine Tango, Cabaret and Solar Power.

Quilt Block Inspired Jewelry

For quite some time I had been studying traditional style quilt block patterns and experimenting with various methods for mixing the clay in which to give a more textile look to our pieces.  Here are a few  brooch-pendants and earrings we have created using a combination of several techniques.

This is a little peek into how our pieces are created:

1.  Our clay colors are mixed and then formed into various shapes.

2.  The shapes are then arranged to create a pattern in what is called a "cane".  A special Y peeler (from Dan Cormier) is used to create nice even slices from the cane.

3.  The cane slice is then formed into a jewelry piece such as a pendant, bead or earring pieces.  They are all then hand "stitched" with a needle tool.

4.  The findings are attached by embedding them in clay for added strength.  Our signature logo is stamped for authenticity.

The pieces are then baked at a precise temperature and then go through a process of sanding and buffing.

We are happy to announce that the quilt patterned jewelry pieces shown here with an assortment of other styles are now available and for sale at Katja's Quilt Shoppe in Kamloops.