Highly irregular...

Or not!

More of KellyK's dichroic dewdrops, this time from the "irregular" pile. I love the organic, yet fantasy look that these dichroic droplets give my pendants.

and another...

This is just too much fun!

Dichro Dewdrop Daisies... more!

I've been making quite a few of these, with Kelly's dichro dewdrops. I love them in all shapes and sizes. Tomorrow I will be baking some pendants with some really odd shaped dewdrops - they get my imagination flowing!

Round beads...

Some of the beads from the previous post, sanded and buffed. I'm not crazy about the process, but I sure do enjoy the results! I'm thinking of making some bracelets, but I need to wait for some new clasps to arrive in the mail.

I've been attempting to make some jewelry out of some of the stash of beads I bought before I got hooked on hand-made beads, for our church bazaar (people are looking for bargains) but I forgot that the less expensive crimp beads (some of them) are not very sturdy, and cheaper stringing wire kinks easily. Oh, and from time to time one of the "lampwork" beads will crack for no reason - except that they were not annealed! This is one thing I have learned from the people on my ebay groups. All beads and supplies are not created equal!!

So, I do what I can. These bracelets will be dirt cheap, and I'll get some practice stringing. And a reminder never to buy "lampwork" beads from a hobby store ever again (I had already decided that long ago)

Small beads and focals....

I don't normally make little round beads, but I decided to go on a little round bead "jag"... I'm thinking about creating some jewelry.

If only I worked faster or longer! I'd like to get together enough inventory to do at least one craft show this summer. I keep saying that I want to do it, and then... well, I think I chicken out.

Four years ago, a short 2 months after my hysterectomy surgery, I participated in a craft show. Unfortunately, I was far more exhausted than I expected to be and did not have much to sell. My set-up was pretty bad, too.

Then, to make matters worse, my mother had gone in for knee replacement surgery a couple of days prior to the show, and I got a call on Sunday morning that she was in trouble - a pulmonary embolism. I packed up and left for Peoria.

I have stuck to online sales since then. I need some courage!!

Butterfly Pendant

I still haven't gotten my light box set up right. I took this one in my hand under the light I would be using with the light box. I think I did better with just a flash...

In any case, I have a whole lot of other pendants I photographed, but those pictures are not worth showing... although the pendants themselves are not bad! I long for the ease of my SLR 35mm camera with its through the lens viewfinder. If only it had instant pictures like my digital!

Charity Bracelet Round Robin

In the ebay group The Mellow Bead, there are two groups of us participating in a round robin charm bracelet to be auctioned off on ebay for charity. One (the one I'm leader of) is going to benefit the Humane Society. Its theme is "animals". I'll post a picture of that bracelet when it finally makes its way back to my house.

The second one is led by Bonnie P (ebay id "artbumps") with a theme of "autumn" and will be auctioned off to benefit the Lupus Foundation of America. I just finished attaching my additions - 4 matching leaf rounds of polymer clay, and one lampwork bead made by my friend Melinda Willis.


It's already so gorgeous I wish I could keep it!!

Emerald Dragonfly

Emerald Dragonfly
Originally uploaded by julie_picarello

I absolutely love the execution of mokume gane in this collection.... Julie Picarello has a flicker album well worth perusing!!

February bead bonanza?

Got 'em baked, and my daughter has already claimed my second dewdrop daisy pendant! (the daisy pendant below, on the bottom, center) I guess I'll just have to make more!!

Here are some more of my fun, colorful beadies, all together on a wire:


I'm trying to decide whether or not to sand this one....

In my oven

I finally got a pan full of pieces ready to bake. I took this picture before I had it full, but now all of them are in my oven, curing.

The need to do something new, something different, is driving me crazy; but I can't think of what that is! Maybe it's winter, and the prediction of more snow tomorrow....? Then there is the prediction of temperatures in the 50s for the weekend - what a roller coaster this winter has been!

Dichroic and Polymer pendants

Here are the photos/scans of the most recent dichroic and polymer combination pendants I put up on Etsy. The first, dewdrop daisies, has already been sold - YAY!

The dewdrops I used in the daisy pendant are made by my friend, KellyK, which are available on etsy in her shop. They are perfect for clay work, crafts and scrapbooking!

The other two contain cabs by Katherine Gingrich and/or "Shoozles" (Michelle). I got the cabs mixed up on my table and now there is a small pile that I can't separate by artist...

I have more waiting to be cured.

A good day to stay inside...

fun with orange

I used an orange-to-yellow-with-gold petal cane to make these bright, fun beads. I think I'm going to try making some yellow-to-green and green-to-blue and purple-to-pink with gold... I like them so much it surprises me.

Recently I also made some pendants with dichroic cabs embedded... simple, yet elegant. It's hard for me to do this, because there's a part of me that wants to keep adding and adding. But I'm pleased at the results when I restrain myself, at least most of the time!!!

In the beginning....

there was polymer clay...

Well, not really. I started out loving fiber (yarn, fabric... I have an extensive collection of both!). Sewing, needlework... In college I fell in love with weaving, and my fiancé (now husband) bought me a table loom as a gift.

We got married after I graduated from Northern Illinois University with a BA in studio art, and then life interrupted my journey in art. Four years later, we had a daughter. Four years after that, a son. I sewed, but the table loom gathered dust and the yarns remained packed in a box.

I became a Girl Scout leader for my daughter's troop, and one of our activities included a trip to the local bead store and the creation of some jewelry. Ohhhh, beads!!! Another collection began! I could actually make and modify my own jewelry!

At this bead store, they began carrying these cool handmade Fimo™ beads by a local artist. The design went all the way through the bead! I thought back to those hard candies we used to get at Christmas that fascinated me the same way... how did they get that design all the way through the candy??? I had to know.

I attended a class at the bead store (I think it was around 1994) by the artist that made those beads, Andrea (wish I remembered her last name!). We were making a Kaleidoscope cane, and as we put the pieces together a lightbulb went on in my head. I was hooked. (the picture to the left is a composite bead made from slices of everyone's completed canes)

My first beads

My first canes were hit or miss, but I loved every one of them. I look back at some of my work from that time, and of course it looks.... well... like a beginner's work, which is what it was. I still love those beads ;)


Fast forward to today... My work has changed dramatically. It continues to reflect my mood: dark and somewhat monochromatic when I'm depressed; colorful and bright when I am feeling joyful or am in need of sunshine.