Work Space Redo

Well, the time has come - time to redo my little room.  And these are the official "before" pictures.

The room is small, about 10' by 10' and I have a lot to cram in there.  Basically painting, sewing, polymer clay, jewelry and knitting.  It would also be nice to stuff a computer, a TV and VCR in there (yes a VCR, lol).

The first picture show the east wall. And a bit of the back of "the painting".



The next picture shows the west wall and the closet.  I'm kind of thinking a office in the closet for the computer. 

But I need storage as well.  Some of the tubs could be emptied, if I had shelves.  One actually is, so why is it taking up space in my closet, lol.

And where to put the canvases.  They are so awkward to store. *sigh*


And the last picture shows my polymer clay table and the window. 

It's nice to look out the window and work, but it has problems.  The glare is pretty bad a lot of the time.  Also, I'm concerned about sun damage of anything I don't cover up.

Probably, the first thing we will do is paint the room. We bought a lot of paint at Lowes  last month while they were having a rebate. 

Next we will probably do the closet and see how much storage I end up with.

Right now we are tossing ideas back and forth about storage, tables, closet, etc.  We are going to eat lunch and go out and do some window shopping to get some ideas.

Bead Show Haul

I'm a bit slow getting back into the swing of things.  Been home a week and I've just been lazy.  Here is my haul from the Portland Bead Fest plus a few random things from a bead shop in Hood River.

On the left are some hand died silk ribbons, chain, WireLace, copper beads, pewter beads and 4 Swarovski stars.

In the center are some inexpensive turquoise beads and a fossil (no clue what it is) sliced in half.  These came from Sparkling Creations in Hood River.

On the right are some glass beads, copper heishi like beads, Roman glass beads (just had to have them) seed bead size turquoise, seed bead size lapis and some base metal beads. 

Closeup of the fossil - it looks kind of like a chambered nautilus.  But, I don't really know what it is.




Close up of some of the beads.  The multicolor ones and cobalt blue ones I plan to use as accent beads with the polymer clay.  They have large holes and should work well with leather and other thicker stringing material.


Hopefully I'll get my butt in gear and have some new things to post.  I have a couple of little projects I worked on during the trip that I'm nearly done with.  Since getting home, I've made three, count them three, polymer clay beads.  I'm might even get them in the oven by the end of the year, lol

But,  I've been working on  the painting!  I actually stand a good chance of finishing it. lol

I'm Baaaaaack!

Mt. Rainier was awesome!  We were only there a few days, but we are thinking we need to go back next year for a longer stay.

The Portland Bead Fest was something else.  Oh my.  I've never been to a bead show before and I was overwhelmed.  I walked around in a daze for a bit. 

There were some absolutely beautiful lamp-work beads that I unfortunately couldn't afford.  If I ever generate some income, I will have to purchase some.  And speaking of purchases, I did make some. As soon as I get them photographed, I'll post a picture of them. 

And once I get myself back together, I'll get back at it.  For now, laundry awaits. I have an apple pie to bake for hubby's birthday.  Oh, and we have to go pick up the RV - new tires.  We left a lot of one poor sad tire somewhere along the highway. . .

Packed and ready to go

Well, not quite. Been cooking and getting the motorhome ready the last few days, and haven't accomplished much else.

Woo-Hoo! Going to check out the Portland Bead Fest! And a few other places along the way. I'm pretty excited. Hubby is to - except for the Bead Show part. TeeHee. Well I hope I can find some cool stuff to buy. It would be even better if I find some cool stuff to buy that I can afford. Price of silver, $17.00 or so. YIKES!

Probably won't post anything for a few days. Hopefully I'll have some cool pictures when I return.

Everyone have a great week!

Finished projects

I created this necklace to enter in the Enchanted Adornments Design Competition. I'm hoping it is mixed media enough.

After a lot of fussing over this one, I ended up making it a single strand. I was just trying to add too much to it. The main body of the necklace was strung on silk cord. The cord is attached to a base metal (no idea what kind) chain. The clasp is fabricated from gold colored copper wire.

I have a few other things completed as well. I finished five pairs of earrings, and said what the heck and entered them in the competition as well.

I also finished the entry for the Art Bead Scene monthly challenge.

First, I created a polymer clay texture sheet inspired by Kandinsky's "Improvisation No. 23". Next, I conditioned Sculpy Premo in blue, red, yellow, white and black; and then mixed some of each color together for a marbled effect.

I used the texture sheet to create the textures on the pendants. I hand rolled an assortment of beads Some were texture with the sheet, some were textured with a ball stylus, and some have added hand rolled "snakes" of polymer clay (what extruder?).

After curing I added a patina of burnt umber acrylic paint. And on a few of them I added a cream color patina as well.

The necklace is strung on leather and silk. Each pendant is strung with seed beads and a Swavrski pearl. The clasp is fabricated from copper wire.


The Kandinsky necklace went together much easier than the prior one. There was a lot less fussing on my part. I also was not trying to force it as much. I pretty much laid the beads out on my board and it pretty much just came together.

Two things:
1. Less fussing and worrying.
2. Practice, practice, practice.

In Process

I've been fussing over this necklace for 3 days now. I wonder, do others have this problem? Taking forever to work out a design?

I like the color combination and where it is going, but I'm not sure how to pull it all together.

Currently the polymer clay beads and dangly bits are strung on leather cord, but I think I going to change that to silk. I'm thinking that the back part will be chain.

Of course I may change my mind and string it all on a simple cord and be done. But, I like the accent string with the Czech fire-polished beads and seed beads. And that will involve crimp beads. *Shudders* Maybe I need put it aside for a bit (again) and think on it some more.



Looking through various magazines, blogs and websites, I see a lot of wonderful work. Do other jewelry makers spend this much time designing one piece? I'm sure it's all very personal - adding some of this and some of that and a pinch of this, then have it pull all together and not be an overwhelming hodgepodge.

I need to practice more - make more necklaces, bracelets and earrings. I know it's all about practice, practice, practice.

Sometimes I tend to over-think things, which is what I'm doing with this current necklace. Then I get bogged down and don't accomplish anything. I'm sure I'm not alone out there. . .

Freeform necklace

This necklace has been waiting a couple of months to be finished. All it needed was the clasp. *sigh* I couldn't decide what sort of clasp it needed. I finally ended up with an inexpensive copper clasp that is fairly understated.

The next time I do this sort of necklace, I want to think about the clasp at the beginning. Make it more part of the design.

I am please with how this turned out. I have done other free-form items, and some better than others. I guess it's the nature of "free-form". I enjoy making these, even if they are time consuming.

I am thinking of trying Bead embroidery to make a necklace or bracelet. I have Lacey's Stiff Stuff (I think that's what it is called) and some suede scraps. Now, all I need is the time.

First I have a polymer clay project or two (or 100) I need to be finishing. Perhaps I should spend less time on the Facebook games? Gads, I'm such a game addict (Don't even ask me about Lineage).

Anyway, here is my first free-form project, with a doughnut from my 3rd (I think) batch of polymer clay beads.

Okay, time to walk away from the keyboard, get some sleep and then do something creative in the morning!