Plans for the New Year

Today's topic on Flaming Hot! is Out with the Old, In with the New, and we've been asked to share our grand plans for the New Year.

I plan to build an inventory of beads to sell. (Oh, I'm having a major case of Déjà vu!) I'll start by listing them in the shop on my website and then I'll start listing auctions on eBay or I may check out Etsy.

I'd also like to take a class or two for new inspiration and to increase my skill.

After we get our tax return, I plan to sock a bit of it away for a shed to make into a studio. (Again with the Déjà vu.) Then I'd like to buy a hotter torch, and see where it takes me. These are my plans, or are they just dreams? I guess the New Year will tell.

Do You Want to Make Jewelry?

Hey, you can make really pretty jewelry too! I thought I'd list a few resources I have found helpful while learning new techniques for stringing and wire wrapping.

The very first book I read about wire wrapping was All Wired Up: Wire Techniques for the Beadworker and Jewelry Maker by Mark Lareau. Mark and Vicki Lareau own a local bead store called The Bead Factory where they offer awesome classes and workshops. Speaking of bead stores, if you have one close to you, chances are really good that you could take a class there and go home with a beautiful handmade piece of jewelry of your own.

There are several magazines that give step by step instructions on how to make beautiful pieces. You'll find projects on their websites too. Here are a few:

Bead and Button
Step by Step Beads
Lapidary Journal

A great forum for asking questions of other lampworkers and beaders is WetCanvas! in the glass art forum.

When you start creating works of your own you can join metalchasers.com, a new social networking site for jewelry and metal artists. The site has great potential for promoting and selling, but what I like best is checking out the gallery everyday for new inspiration.

So, I given you a handful of places to check out to start. When you start making your own jewelry and you need some lampworked beads to make your jewelry really unique and special, you'll know where to turn! (I'm talking about me, but you'll find lots of talented lampworkers out there - something for everyone.)

Something to Try

Hey, maybe I'll try one of these soon.



Stay tuned. I have a feeling I'll have some material for a new installment of Beads Gone Bad when I do.

Merry Christmas

I hope you had a blessed Christmas filled with peace, hope, and joy!

Now that Christmas day has arrived it's safe to post pictures of a few pieces I made for gifts this year. I wish I would have had the time to make something for everyone on my list.

Featured on The Beading Gem's Journal

The Beading Gem's Journal has become a place where I regularly browse for design inspiration, and now one of my pieces is being featured there. Go check it out!

Christmas Vacation?

Just a quick post to let you know that I have nothing to post.

I hadn't planned to take the month of December off, but it seems that's what I've done. Between family birthdays, a new birth in the family (my niece), and Christmas festivities and preparations I haven't found the time to make new beads. Besides, it's been cold, and it's hard to get excited about freezing my butt off in the garage.

There will be more to come, though.

Bracelet for a Little Princess

Although I haven't officially opened up my shop for business I've been making a few sales. Here's a bracelet for a four year old little girl that goes out in the mail tomorrow.

I hope she loves it!

Thankful for Heat

The electrician has come and gone. I paid $250 to teach the electrician that a melting outlet can indeed smell "fishy". He had never encountered such a thing, but now he has something new for which he can look or sniff when troubleshooting. I think he should have paid me for the education, but I'm just happy the problem is fixed and didn't require tearing up any walls. In fact, I am truly thankful. Now we can be warm again.

Here's today's set of beads...

Happy Thanksgiving to you all tomorrow!

Show and Tell

Between the holiday crunch I'm feeling (already!) and life's little challenges (I have to call an electrician today because I'm pretty sure we have wires melting in our wall. Ack!) I've been getting a few beads and pieces of jewelry made. I've had a few commissions for pieces come in all at once, and that's exciting, but now I really need to get to work.

Here are a couple of sets I've made recently:



And a pair of earrings I made:


I'm working on a necklace to match.

I still need to experiment with photography techniques. I'm looking at a couple of setups on eBay for this. For example, photographing earrings laying down is probably not the best presentation. These earrings are so dainty and sparkly in person, but that just doesn't come across in the photo. Better lighting may help.

Off to work!

My Studio Is,...

Inadequate.

Today's "Blog It!" topic at Flaming Hot! is, "My Studio Is,..." and that's the first thing that popped into my head.

I make do with my little corner of the garage and still have fun, but there are a lot of improvements I'd like to make. I don't really have an adequate ventilation system. I work next to the garage door with the door open and a fan blowing on the other side of me. That gets cold this time of year!

This is what I want in a dream studio. I want a cute little shed in the backyard with a torching workstation on one end where I'll have a ventilation hood, my kiln, and all my glass and tools. On the other side I want a jewelry making workbench with lots of organized storage for all the different jewelry making components I collect.

I want a sound system so I can listen to my music. I want a little couch or comfy chair so friends can visit me and chat while I work. I want some running water and a sink, and oh, yeah, HEAT. Then I want to decorate it in a funky artistic way.

For now, though "inadequate" will just have to be, um, adequate, I guess.

Funky

I wouldn't normally put these colors together in a piece of jewelry; I prefer pinks, purples and blues or basic black and white, but now that I have I like it.

Beads Gone Bad

A.K.A. FUGLY BEADS

Bad beads bad beads, watcha gonna do.....whatcha gonna do when they come for you... (Theme song by Tam)

Making beads sometimes requires experimentation, and well, sometimes experiments go horribly wrong. I'm going to share some of those bad experiments with you, lest you think every bead that comes out of my kiln is a work of art.

This bead is definitely over baked. The color is gross and the shape; ugh. It looks more like a turd than a bead.

This one was inspired by a beautiful sunset I had seen. Unfortunately, I was unable to achieve the desired effect in glass. That was disappointing. Maybe with a different technique and different glass, or maybe with a little more skill, I'll finally be able to capture that sunset.
I was trying to make an encased floral bead, but I let the core bead get too hot and smooshy when I wrapped the clear glass around it. Clear encasing is something I need to practice a lot more. I don't do it because I'm not very good at it, but the effect is stunning when it's done right.

This bead had potential. There's a lot of interesting things going on with it; little sparkles of gold, and an organic look, but I think it has a little too much going on so it looks chaotic, and I didn't get the encasing quite right on it either.

I learn a little something each time a bead goes bad, so it's not a complete waste of time, gas, and glass, and it gives me the opportunity to learn persistence. It's tempting to give up on a technique when it's difficult at first, but mastering a difficult technique is worth the time and frustration, no matter what it is one is trying to achieve, whether it's a pretty bead, a new dance step, or speaking a second language. See? Beads are good for life, even the bad ones!

Fringe Bracelet by Kewee Bead & Jewelry Co.

I love seeing what jewelry designers do with the beads they buy from me. It is such a pleasure to see something I created become part of a beautiful piece of jewelry. I found a picture of a bracelet on the internet today that was made using beads that were purchased from me over two years ago. Check out the 9/29/07 update at Kewee Bead and Jewelry Company. What a gorgeous bracelet! (Not that I'm biased or anything.)

Another Kind of Treasure, Arrrr!

It's a bit rustic looking, but then isn't that the way you'd expect a wooden treasure box that's been buried to look?



We're having a slumber party here for my (now) nine year old girly girl, who happens to also like pirates, and this cake is my latest artistic endeavor.

(Thanks for the help, Mom!)

The Strange Woman Next Door

Today I was wondering, not for the first time, just what my neighbors think of me out in my garage playing at my torch. When I make beads I take my MP3 player and headphones out to the garage with me. I can't even imagine making beads without my music. In fact, today, I spent ten minutes looking for my MP3 player before I could go out and turn on my torch.

So, there I sit, with my torch, which is a bit loud, and my headphones on my ears. I work with the garage door open, and I sing my lungs out. No one has ever asked me about it, but I wonder just how strange I appear, or worse, just how bad I sound. It doesn't matter really. Singing while I work is a completely involuntary response. Nothing I can do about it. Besides, it wouldn't be fun any other way. Still, I can't help wondering.

More Dots and Stuff

Bead Chores

There is one thing about making beads that I do not enjoy, the chores. There is just no escaping chores no matter what one does in life, is there? I'm practically allergic to chores of all kinds, I don't know why, and bead chores are no exception.

Still, I do them because, like anything else, to get to the good stuff they have to be done.

Here are a few of my bead chores:

Mixing the bead release and dipping the mandrels in it

Occasionally cleaning my work surface, still lots of time before that becomes necessary.

Cleaning the beads after they come out of the kiln

Another Bead Junky?

After posting a picture of the baby bracelet I made for my niece last week, a friend of mine emailed me and said, "I want one," so I invited her over to make her own.

This is my sneaky way of creating another beading addict. I guess that makes me a bead pusher. Changing the world, one bead at a time.

Here's a picture of my friend (Er, well, her hand, that is.) holding her creation. See? I told you it was tiny.

Beads Interrupted

I have no new pictures to share, I spent my torch day in bed. I could post pictures of what happens to a house when Mom is sick, but let's be honest, no one really wants to see that, do they? I know I wish I hadn't.

I was tempted to go make a few beads yesterday because I have a few ideas for more bracelets I want to make floating around in my head, but somehow the combination of sneezing, hacking up a lung, and hot molten glass seemed like a really bad idea.

I think I'm on the mend now. We've had the flu sweep through our house, and I was its last victim. The trick-or-treating will not be canceled tomorrow, and for that my children are grateful. I'm grateful too because I think I can use my weakened state as an excuse to make my husband take them out begging for candy.

Beauty from Chaos

The creative process is different for everyone, I suppose. For me, a little chaos in the beginning often gets the ball rolling when I'm making jewelry. Would you like to see my jewelry creation station?


Actually, I'm not alone. I've seen much worse. Some of the beads on my bead board have been there for years, but when I sit down to create a piece it helps me to have lots of shapes and colors from which to draw. I usually end up running to the bead store downtown to pick up a few beads and spacers that I need to complete my project.

Today I put together a bracelet from the dotty beads I made earlier in the week. This bracelet is for a friend who is fighting a fierce battle right now. I can't be with her to stand by her side in person, but I hope she'll wear this, feel its weight on her wrist and know that she is strong. I hope it will also remind her that God is with her and loves her and so do I.