Another Springy Necklace + Voodoo

It's Mardi Gras time in New Orleans. I don't go crazy about it like so many people do, but I do enjoy seeing the creative costumes and beautiful floats. Unfortunately, I didn't get to go to my favorite parade this year, as it was rained out on its normal day & route. It was rescheduled for the next night, but circumstances were such that I wasn't able to attend. Instead, I helped a friend make her Voodoo-themed costume. Naturally, I insisted upon making the jewelry. I wish I'd taken some better photos, but she snapped a couple with her phone.

She brought the black coral sticks and the skulls; the purple ribbon on her necklace was leftover from the hat she made. Then I just did an elastic bracelet with the remaining skulls and some coral sticks. I was happy that there were some unused sticks she let me keep!

Saturday afternoon while it was storming outside, I made this necklace with one of my paper clay pendants some of my loyal readers may remember from this post. (By the way, some of those items are still available if anyone's interested.)

It made me realize that I am seriously lacking in red beads, and I could use more pink beads in lighter cotton candy shades like this. It's not that I'd want to use them constantly, but I need them to be there when I need them, you know? I think there's a bead show coming up next month, so I'll try to remember to stock up on those things instead of getting the same things I always get!

By the way, thanks for stopping by my blog. I don't think I thank my readers & commenters enough. It fascinates me when I check my stats and see how global my readership is. I really appreciate that you take the time to come by and read, or even just look at the pictures. And if you're a frequent reader, but have never commented, please don't be afraid to say hi :)

The Paper Clay Birds are Finished

I've been working on these all week, with all the time required for drying between steps. There are a couple more I haven't finished - but this is quite a good start. If anyone would like one, just let me know in the comments or email me. Since I don't have an etsy shop set up, I figured it would be easy enough to just do it like this. Each item is $7. Shipping is $2 (any additional items are free). I will send you a PayPal invoice. And I guess it's first come first serve. Rebecca gets first dibs, however, as she was the first person to say she wanted a bird or two!

If I am going about this in a totally horrible or tactless way, please let me know. I just wanted to get these out here and see if anyone was even interested. If things go well, I will definitely start listing things on etsy or somewhere similar. The only bird totally not for sale is the pink one, which was a custom order for a necklace for a very good customer & friend.

I hope everyone likes them! I'm having a blast making them. I'm sure Steve is getting sick of me showing him each new bird I paint like it's a newly discovered Picasso or something ;)

 

This is everything, below are various close-ups. 

Click any image to see it Super Size!

In other news: My dog's looking and feeling a whole lot better, even though she still has a week to go before she has her stitches out. AND!!! I finished my Bead Soup Blog Party necklace tonight. I never get things done ahead of time either. Go me!

BTW, Buddha, & a Big Bruised Belly

It's time for:

Today on my table, I have paper clay beads in various stages. Most are little birds, a butterfly, a couple of big owl faces, a couple of monster heads and one random nothing bead that I was using to test a glaze. Hey, and the butterfly was done from a mold I made of this black butterfly that everyone loved so much.

Also included for your viewing pleasure is a necklace I finished last night. I've been working on it in pieces for days, but I buckled down and finished it last night. I'm so A.D.D. about my projects these days! Plus, I've been spending a lot of quality time with my dog after her surgery this past Friday.

It's difficult to capture the magic shimmeriness of Labradorite in photos, but I think I've done it in the photo above! Click for super close-ups!

As for my dog, she didn't actually have to have a mastectomy after all. They were able to remove the tumors individually. Poor baby - she's got 7 stitches, and a bruise on her belly as big as my hand, but we're finally done with all her surgeries. Hooray! As long as I don't poke and prod too much, she's in good spirits. She started sitting up again yesterday, so that definitely means she's feeling better. Sitting up is her favorite thing to do (besides eating). Here she is looking all woe is me.

Woe is her :(

uninspired waiting + new birds

I've got several packages on their way to me right now, and I'm eager to get started on the projects I have planned with them, but it might be Monday before any of them arrive. I've made a few things in the last couple of days, but nothing I'm over the moon about. I tried to make a necklace the other night, but it wound up looking like the most boring, uninspired piece of crap you see by the thousands at every craft show you attend. After several attempts, I gave up and went to sleep.

I did come up with a pretty cute pair of earrings for myself to match a dress I've had for years, but rarely wear. And last night, I made another boring necklace, which I'm actually wearing today because it happened to match what I'd put on. I hate feeling so uninspired! Okay, I just got an opinion on it from a coworker, and she said it's cute. Maybe-ish, but it doesn't feel like me. And I want to LOVE everything I make! Funny though, it's the things you like the least that people go crazy over.

This whole jewelry blog community is wonderful and I'm really grateful I've found so many talented jewelry designers to get to know, and whose work I can enjoy, but I have to say - you all are setting the bar high! Of course that's a good thing. But it makes me way more critical of my work, and much less willing to accept half the stuff I put together. I didn't used to care much for focals, the clasps always went in the back, symmetry was a given. I'm so glad I'm over all that silliness!

Last night, I made some more paper clay birds like the one this necklace and this one. I also made a little monster face that's pretty cute. I still have to paint them, but I'll take pictures when I do. Would anyone be interested in buying just a bird? I don't have an online shop per se, but I do accept PayPal, and hey - why not cut out the middle man, right?

Meanwhile, my masseuse again inquired about the status of my recreating the famous butterfly necklace:

So that sent me on yet another search for a similar butterfly.  I found one even better, as well as two more that I just had to have, and they're all pretty big around 4.5 - 6 cm wide. I can't even wait until they arrive! I also ordered a few more similar Cloisonné beads like the one pictured above, but with a bright turquoise base.

In other news, tomorrow my dog Crazers has to have a mastectomy. I'm sure she'll be fine, as this will be her third surgery in as many months, but it's also the most serious. Wish her luck everyone!

Birds! Birds! Biiiiiiiiirds!!!

We all have Bird Fever, don't we? I've always loved them. Some day, I will have to post all the pictures of me with the various birds that have for whatever reason decided they wanted me to hold them and pose for pictures. But for now, I'll just show you my latest project.

I've been wanting to experiment with making silicone molds, and I finally got the stuff this past weekend. Here are the results of my first attempt. I think I'll try re-molding the same piece and seeing if I can't get better detail, but even if I can't, I'm happy with what I've got. I want to make a million! But in typical Heidi fashion, I will get totally distracted by another project and forget about molding for months. I used paper clay for these, though I might upgrade to polymer clay some time.

The top is the pill case from which I made the mold, and below are the results. I have other painting ideas, which I will get to, hopefully, this weekend. They measure 4.5 cm in width.

Steve's favorite is the one below the gold one. He wouldn't wear it, but I think I'll make myself a necklace out of it so he can at least see it often enough. By the way, I took this with my phone, so the colors don't look quite like they do in reality. Still, I was so excited and I was eager to show off my new bird pendants!!!

If anyone would like one, or would like a necklace made with one - just message me! One day I'll get around to having an etsy shop, but I just can't keep enough stuff in stock to make it worth my while.

Bead Table Wednesday (BTW)

It's my first Bead Table Wednesday contribution! This week, I've been experimenting with making silicone molds, and then using them with paper clay. So far, it's turned out better than I anticipated - especially because I found this wonderful little silver pill case that had belonged to one of my grandmothers. It's got 5 birds perched on a branch. I have a feeling I'm going to make 100 more because I'm having many ideas about how to paint them. Click on the photo to see everything close up.

Some of the other things here include a few stamped paper clay pendants still not finished being painted, as well as some of my Lorelei style hand made decorative tin bead caps & connectors. They are in various stages of being hole-punched & domed.

Art Bead Scene December Challenge!

I know I'm trying to squeak by at the last second. I hope I'm not too late. It's been a very busy holiday season, and then I was too sick to be creative most of the week. So at the eleventh thirteenth hour, here's my entry for the December Challenge!

First, the painting that I chose to use for inspiration:

I made the robin out of paper clay, painted it with acrylics, and finished with Diamond Glaze. I made the clasp as well. The rest of the necklace includes recycled sari silk ribbon, a fine silver leaf charm, copper leaf charms, freshwater pearls, crystals, agate, a carved bone bead, and various antique brass findings. I wish I'd gotten this done sooner, but I had a lot of fun and I'm pleased with the result!

Paper Clay Birds & Beads

Because I can't stay focused on one new project without getting detoured by another new project, I have temporarily abandoned the bead caps for paper clay. I read about it a few weeks ago on another blog, and decided I'd finally found what I'd been looking for. Or at least a starting point for what I'd been looking for. I wish, oh how I wish I could do actual ceramics, but that's not feasible right now. Then there's polymer clay - which is loads of fun, and I used to work with it in college. But I didn't want to invest in 10 colors just to find out that I wasn't into it or my fingers aren't capable of what they once were. Paper clay works pretty much the same, in terms of sculptability, but the bonus is that it air dries, and can even be filed and carved after it's dry. Since it's white, all the painting is up to me - instead of working with a bunch of various colors of clay. I certainly have a ton of paint and brushes at my disposal. So I decided it was time to give it a shot. I really had fun with it, and it has potential to be even more fun once I work with it more. I'll definitely be more careful and detailed with practice. I also want to (new project alert!) make my own molds - not just from found objects, but from little carvings I want to create! I am really looking forward to my Christmas staycation!!!

So here are some of the results from my initial Paper Clay session!

I made the robin and the clasp.

I only made the owl. The gray beads are seeds.

I love brown and aqua together. I made the brown beads.

And the green ones.

Future jewelry parts.