Watch Me Make A Bead - Hollows!

It has been way way too long since I made a how-to video for y'all. So, here you go!
Watch me create a pretty blue hollow bead in just about five minutes.

Some things you should know:
1)Yes, I know my glasses sit low on my nose. Sorry, they are too big. Besides, I like looking over the top of them. It lets me see what I am doing.

2)To me, my voice sounds high pitched and nasally. Ugh... but oh well... that is me. LOL.

3) I did this in about ten minutes with so script or practice. I just did it. So if there is something I missed or questions you have, leave a comment and I will do my best to answer it.

Enjoy and thanks for watching.

Did You See?

I told you I wouldn't send you out to buy anymore magazines until Fall but I didn't tell ya I wouldn't send you to buy another book!! Yep, I am in another one. Check out Kalmbach's latest Creative Beading Vol.4.

Creative Beading is a collection of the "Best Of Bead & Button Magazine" and my bracelet that was in the Dec 2007 issue was selected for the book. It is beautiful, hard cover, coffee table style book with tons of projects, photos, and the instructions to make them all.

Also, my post on Making Felt Beads will be on Watch Me Create later today. Pop over and check it out!!

Weekend Sewing

A big thanks to everyone to stopped by this weekend! The trunk show was slow most of the time, but did have a steady drip-drip-drip of people. I ended up taking a total of 42 pieces to the show (I made extra Mod Dots & the Gallery had two bracelets on hand). Of those, 10 pieces sold and the gallery kept another 7. A few people had "dibs" on designs that didn't sell... and that leaves me with 21 pieces to list on the website. Imagine that! A website update!! I haven't posted new designs in ages. I will be working on posting things later this afternoon. Keep an eye out for all the pretties.

I got out of the gallery at 4pm on Saturday with just enough time to run over to the fabric store. I bought a copy of Heather Ross's Weekend Sewing last week and I have been itching to make the "Yard Sale Skirt". The shop closed at 5pm, so I had to speed just a little bit. LOL. But I got there in time. I wanted to find a fabric that was light and soft, and something that would match my new Buttercup top that I am working on knitting. I was looking for a yellow-gray color combo and thought I had seen one the other day when I was getting Andrew's Birthday Quilt fat quarters, but apparently I was wrong. I settled instead on this yellow and green one. And hey, not only will they match Buttercup, but it matches my "Pucker" top too.

I shimmed up into one of the apple trees in our backyard to get a photo like the one on the cover of the book, but this just didn't quite cut it, lol. I think my skirt turned out like camouflage for my backyard. I really love it. It is just the right length. It is soft and swingy. And both Jacob and Ron told me I looked pretty yesterday. That makes me smile. There are a few other patterns I can't wait to try from the book too!

In other news: I have a post today over at Watch Me Create! I had a light bulb moment about how my desk reflects my state of mind. You can read more about it over there.

Something else happened when I had the light bulb go off about the desk thing... I realized that I have tons of "stuff" that I don't use... beads mostly. And more beads... and components too. From my days before glass and wire. We are going to have a big De-Stash Bash!! Mark your calenders!! On July 1st I am loading up my Bead Box with rock bottom prices. I want this stuff outta here. You know if I bought it once, it was because I thought it was awesome and would use it. Things are still awesome, I just have to admit I am not gonna use it. LOL.

KABochons

Magical Mess-Making + Husband Holidays = KABochons!!!

In a recent post on Watch Me Create about the books currently sitting next to my big comfy chair, I swore I would learn to bezel set, even if it killed me. I ordered all the materials more then a week ago and they finally made their way here in my house yesterday.

It was a nutty day yesterday... doctors' appointments, swim classes, hair cut appointment, baseball practice, and a sleep over! I was running like a crazy lady. Thankfully though, Ron, in his infinite wisdom, knowng how rough the week was on me, took the day off work to help me out. In the middle of the day, I squealed with joy at the UPS guy bringing me my bezel setting box of goodies. And Ron was happy to let me stow away in the studio for a couple hours. He even brought me food while I was working away!

I quickly ripped open the box (you can see the packaging all over the floor in the photo above), I went nuts rummaging through storage boxes to find missing supplies I knew I already had somewhere, and set to work.

What.A.Learning.Experience.



Here is what I have learned so far:

1) Solder needs HEAT, so I am returning the crappy little "pencil" torch that I paid $41 for and I am looking for something hotter. Yesterday I ended up using my trusty hot head to solder, but that flame is big and bulky, and hard to control.

2) Bezel wire melts if you get it too hot with your hot head torch, lol. For those of you not familiar with bezel setting, basically you build a "cup" (bezel) for a bead/cabochon from metal. First I built the frame that wrapped all around my bead (from bezel wire), then I soldered that frame to a piece of sterling sheet metal...



3) I need better saw blades and dremels are good for more then just cleaning beads! After I soldered the bezel wire to the sheet metal, I needed to saw away the excess metal and file/shape/smooth/sand the edges around the outside edge of the bezel. I went though 8 jewelry saw blades before pulling out my dremel. HA!

4) Use less solder. You can see in the "back view" of my new bezel pendant that there is way too much solder attaching the bail to the back of the sheet metal. Oh well, I am learning.



I don't think these are ready to sell yet, I need to work on my technique... BUT they do make for a good "Random Act Of Kindness". I gifted a purple one of these to Marcia yesterday afternoon! Enjoy it Marcia!!

Oh, and before I go enjoy this G.O.R.G.E.O.U.S. weather we have in Rochester this weekend, I want to tell you all thank you so much for your comments on Thursday's post. It is a wonderful support to know I am not the only ragging lunatic of a Mom, lol. The kids head back to school on Tuesday... I am looking into summer camps... and I'll be alright. You are all appreciated so much... I hope you know that. Thank you.

Design Ugh But I Am Still Fabulous

Pop into Watch Me Create today for more on the "Design ~ Ugh" behind these pendants.

Cindy thinks I am fabulous though. LOL. THANKS CINDY!!

Sneak Peak At WMC

Later today on Watch Me Create, I will have a post about the inspiration behind these new beads.

There are plenty more where these came from. I am having so much fun with these colors. The yellow is a bright golden, sunny yellow and it is made even warmer with the neutral grays. When you see what else I am cookin' up, I think you are gonna love 'em as much as I do. These are going to look wonderful with oxidized wire. Yum.

And, um, looking at this gigantic photo of these relatively small beads is making them look weird. They really are delightful in my hands. I don't think blowing up a bead 500% is the best thing to do sometimes, lol.

Whatever The Case May Be...

I was an irresponsibile reader last night and stayed up until 4am to finish that last book in the Twilight Series. Yeah, stupid. But... couldn't . put . it . down . Yes, your math is right, I got threw all four books (more then 2300 pages) in just about a week and a half. couldn't . put . it . down . The after 4am bedtime, and the restless sleep that followed has left me wishing I could cuddle back up under the covers. Oh well... maybe later.

In the meantime... I have a new post of on Watch Me Create. There is a certain, basic, lampworking skill that is suddenly eluding me. Go find out what it is.

Size Matters, or does it?

I have a post today over at Watch Me Create! Check it out!!! There are going to be lots of changes happening over at WMC. More frequent posts, new artists, new layout and format. It should be exciting to see how it shapes up. I hope you pop over there and check things out.

I'm Workin' On It

I am workin' on beads in my snuggly newly knitted cowl. It is so warm. *sigh*

I hope you are keeping warm on this fine Saturday. Have fun.

My Big News...

I have never used Blogger's video loading feature... lets see if it works.








My stars, do I really sound like that? I hate the sound of my own voice. This took about 10 takes, LOL.

So there you have it!! I have a contract to write my first book!! YOOO HOOOO!!

Those stressed out days the past few weeks were about waiting to have phone meetings and going through contract negotiations. I was told not to announce anything until I had the contract in my hand. It arrived by FedEx this morning from Interweave Press!! AAAAGGGGHHHH!!!

Okay...so what is it going to be about? Basically, Glass & Wire... all wire projects, all done with glass beads. It'll be tailored to beginner wire workers, but have projects ranging from beginner to intermediate. I'll have lots of tips and tricks... lots of "alternative" (aka self-taught) ways of doing really basic skills... and the best part... there will be a HUGE focus on COLOR. Tons of color info. How to work color into design, inspiring color combos, and coloring dos/don'ts.

Are you gonna make all the beads? Now that wouldn't make much sense now would it? I couldn't make all the beads for all the people who would want to try out these projects (though I'll try). Then who would want to buy a book that you can't get the beads to make the projects for? So what I'll be doing is putting a call out to some of my favorite glass artists to see if I can't get them to contribute beads for me to work into my projects. What fun we'll have picking artists!!

When will the book be out?!? Publishing takes time. My first deadline is in January 09 (just about 3months away), then again in April 09. I'll be doing a photoshoot of how to make pieces step by step out in Loveland CO where Interweave Press has an office. And tenatively, the book should be out in March of 2010. I know, it seems like ages away. But it'll come sooner then you think. And in the meantime... I contributed on two books due out August 09 remember... so you'll have that to tie you over.

What does that mean for the blog? Well, what fun would a book be if you already saw every project in it before it was published? I'll be keeping things under wraps. I want the book to be a BIG surprise when you first open it. I want it to be viusally stimulating and creation inspiring. But, I can't leave you completely hanging, so there will be sneak peaks here and there leading up to the publication.

I hope my big news was worth the wait. I am so so so so excited about this!! It is going to be a fun year and a half.

Talis-WO-man

My train of thought... (while browsing blogs)...

Oh, that is a cool looking book...
those beads are so my kinda beads...
ooooh... she has a blog... click click...
*sigh*, I love bright colors...
huh... I wonder if I could make glass beads that were spiky like that?

yeah, but then what would I do with them? I wouldn't want to string them like that.
polka dots and stripes are so cool...
I wonder how hard it is to make ceramic beads... I should learn and mix 'em with glass beads...
like I have the time to do that...

Days later... (while not browsing blogs)...

if I made those spiky beads, I could make them so some stuck up and some stuck down and some were dangles...
where the heck is my sketchbook?
oh yeah, I think I packed it...
where is the kids' scrap paper...

A few more days later... (Friday to be exact)...

oh crap... I am outta O2... crap crap crap (okay so maybe I was thinking a different word)...
alright, I will make a couple beads and see how long it lasts...

3 Beads later...

I can't work like this...
I will let these soak and see how they turn out...
I don't think I like these anyway...

The next morning...

ooooohhh... I do like these...
I should etch that copper green...
Okay, here is the plan...
I will get Jacob's hair cut...
get Lauren her prize at Target (she finished her antibiotics so she gets a prize from the pharmacy)...
then I can get a refill on the O2...
met Ron at the new house, finish painting...
I can make beads later...
I should make sure the welding store is open today...
(looking at their website) good, 8am-Noon...

Around 11am that same day...

NO NO NO NO NO....
SUMMER HOURS...
why don't they put that on their website?!?!

On Sunday... (while sitting at my desk)...

ugh, I wanna be making beads...
stupid summer hours...
hey... where are those icicle silver thingys?
oh now those would be cool next to these... I should bend them...
I think I need a dozen beads...
plus fillers...
I could make discs for fillers...
no...
they would be to wide, I need flat things...
ugh, I wanna be making beads...
heck with it...
I will hook the tank back up and see if I have any more gas... (fyi- my O2 tank regulator reads empty when I don't have enough gas to maintain at least 200lbs of pressure, but I can still torch for about another 2 hours on that before it is empty empty)

Later when the tank was reattached and I was torching...

I shouldn't just make these spiky...
what if I squeeze these dots...
oh I like that...
okay, I need to make 12 beads, that will be 11 in the front and one for a toggle...
has to be 11 in the front, odd number means that there is a focal bead in the front...
if I am gonna make rounded circle ones than there has to be 3 to balance the pattern...
but how many spaces are there between those?
I hate spacing...
I will just make a bunch of tiny rounds...
oh and fillers... I need fillers...
I could make headpin beads...
yeah, weird ones...
wow this O2 is lasting longer then I thought (it lasted for an hour and a half!)...

Later that afternoon while grilling on the deck...

hey, the rose bush bloomed!! I didn't notice it...
where is my Talisman Bracelet?
when I mix the silver icicles in with the beads it looks like a funky talisman...
why talisMAN?
it should be a Talis-WO-man...

About 8 hours after torching...

oh these are so COOL!!
(dropped one)
SH-T!
dang it... there goes the toggle...
I need to make sure I make these thicker around the bead hole...
then again, it did just hit concrete...
okay... clean these... etch some... eat dinner... then string them...

After dinner and an hour of stringing...

gawd I LOVE THIS NECKLACE!!

Watch Me Create

Forgot to tell you... I had a post on WMC about "Finding The Possibilities With What Is Right In Front Of You". I hope you'll check it out!!

Cable Line Catastrophe

Man what a quiet couple of days it has been. Literally... cause nothing in our house has worked!! Early yesterday the cable guy was working on the box near our house. At some point he sliced the cable line in two without realizing it. So we have had no digital phone and no internet access. It just goes to show me how cyber dependant I am... I felt so deprived and like I was being punished!! But thankfully after a little more then 24 hours, it is all back up and running. I'll I am waiting on now is my replacement video cable for my digital camera. Once I have that, it'll be back to posting as usual with lots of pics.

I have used my down time (down in itallics cause it is just like the system going down in an office, lol) well. I have been making beads... YOO HOO!! I am working on some special orders and some test beads too. This will be my last week for experimentation before I start to really bunker down and prepare for my first art show of the summer. I have already reworked a bracelet and started another one. Lots to make!!

I have a post on Watch Me Create today. It is all about my number one asked question/comment. Go check it out!! And while you are over on wordpress.com... pop into the blog of my good friend Lindsey (hope you don't mind me sharing the link Lindsey). She is one of the most enviromentally conscience people I know. Living "green" is really important to her. She has some interesting views on consumerism that can really get you thinking. She loves getting comments too, so don't be shy about letting her know what you think.

Ron is out golfing so I am cooking pizza!! I am hoping to have that camera cable really soon, so look for more pics in the next few days!! In the meantime, I am gonna bead my brains out.

Watch Me Create

New project update time!!

I am very excited to be involved in a great new project called Watch Me Create. Some of you might have noticed a few weeks ago when I added the link to the right hand menu. Well, it's finally up and running.

This project is the brain child of Lori Greenberg. Lori had the idea to start a coopperative blog that follows the creative process of several bead artists. This is a team effort, we are all "contributors", so that means there will be posts/articles by all of us. To start off, each artist wrote their own introductions. Mine is up TODAY! If you are interested in finding out more about me, head over there for a read.

In the coming weeks, there will be lots of posts about all sorts of bead related stuff. What goes into someone's creative process.... where we find inspiration.... how someone does what they do... and one of the goals is to push yourself out of your comfort zone and come up with NEW designs more frequently. And everything doesn't have to be a huge sucess, we'll be blogging about failures too.

Go check it out!