She's so cute when she sleeps











Sooo those polymer beads...



...that I posted about awhile ago. Here they are. I finally got the camera out today and took the SD card out and plugged it into this laptop and TA DAH! Something happens that was far too easy to take so long! DUR!
I'm rather surprised that I actually got them to a decent round shape just by rolling them in my hands. I mixed up some of the colors and some colors were thrown in just because they were next to me. Not as exciting as pizza but I'm pretty happy with my first bead try.
Now the dumb part:
I coated them with a high gloss acrylic sealer from my art supplies stash. Duh, I should have just left my house to buy what I've read on tutorials when it comes to coats of varnish. Now this varnish is slightly gummy and I don't think it's going to harden. I don't know if they are worth sanding again and varnishing them correctly. Times are tough, I tell ya!

Oh you know what time it is!

ETSY FINDS!

Recently, it seems as if birds are ruling the world of jewelry design but this regal faced rabbit has inspired me. Maybe I have also been inspired by the all the pre-Easter bunnies I’ve been seeing.


Pulling from the color palette, I see a warm Indian Yellow blended into a beautiful mix of tangerine, antique rose and gorgeous indigo blue. The rabbit with these colors remind me of a bright spring season. I’m getting a little too impatient waiting for the tulips in the back yard to bloom. They are so full of yummy candy colors of vermilion, orange, or yellow filled with big centers of maroon or the deepest purple.


Now I have to find the beads and parts to bring all this to fruition. Pulling it all together is the hardest part. Finding the perfect bunny charm or just the right stone or glass or shell or wood or ceramic... ah ah agh so many choices!

Rabbit Art - Precious Pumpkin Pie Dollface by Amber Alexander
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=42048666

Etsy Find




Another photograph by an artist selling on Etsy! It is an intriguing find in a forest that appears to be reclaiming its territory back from humankind. Lush little trucks. I love this!

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=43405187

Two Trucks by Chad Bratt

Super Exciting News

I'm going to eat pizza for dinner! Yay!

Am I Alone?

Don't know if anybody is out there. This blogging experiment is very hard for my personality type. I'm often too harsh on myself in general and the unsporting little voice in my head tells me this blogging is an internet version of me talking to myself. Yeah, I talk to myself too often. Whatever 'too often' would be. Who knows?!
I've had some polymer clays sitting around in my craft stash for a year or two. Never did much with it because of the baking time. Couldn't bring myself to buy a dedicated oven or heating an entire oven for a few pieces of clay. Well, last night I got over that. I made some beads. Let me say these are very basic beads. Decided I would go with some brick reds, translucent, and caramel browns.
The work involved in making such simple beginner round beads amazes me. My respectometer has clicked up some notches for all those polymer clay artists out there. Getting those pesky bead holes to lay straight is a little frustrating. Then again, I could be trying too hard on my first real go at making polymer beads.
I sanded one bead so far. Amazingly enough, I had extra time to kill this morning! I sanded it up to 600 grit paper and buffed it. But it still lacks the high gloss look I'm aiming for. I read that floor wax (what? really? weeeiiirdd....) is the way to get that glass like shine.
I don't have pictures at the moment but I will post some tomorrow to see if I can get any critiques from this space-like and quiet world of the Internet.

So, my real point here is to ask about tutorials and books. What's your favorite beginner or bead polymer clay book? Do you have any favorite internet sites with neat little tricks for this kind of media?

I'd love to know. It's pretty fun stuff to mush your hands into. I get the feeling one of the tougher aspects of polymer to learn will be the color mixing and coordinating.
Okay, back to 'work' here during this Spring Break lull.

I took the day off...

because it is a Monday and it's Spring Break at the school I work at full time. I actually woke up this morning at a reasonable time for an adult but I've been sitting around this laptop and cruising Etsy. I'm thinking if Etsy was a walk-in mall, my boyfriend would send out a missing persons report. It's bad. I need help!
Then come the blogs. Lorelei's Blog introduced me to Gardanne Beads, a lampwork glass bead artist on Etsy. Another bead crush! Check out her 'Amber and Ivory' set.




They're so earthy and rich like jaspers mixed with warm agates. Still, they shimmer like glass bead candy. I want to eat them up!
Showed these to the boyfriend and he gave the quiet guy nod of approval. That means quite a lot coming from him. Maybe this is license to buy them. I'm going to say it's a 'yes'.

DyaniAdorn Jewelry

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