The Traveling Bag O'Crafts

As many of you know, I'm in the process of moving from New Jersey to upstate New York.  My studio is packed at this point and all the beads, tools and craft items are packed away in cardboard boxes.

Boxes full of beads

I can't bear the thought of being without crafts for too long so I decided I needed to pack a traveling bag o'crafts!

I grabbed my trusty 2012 Bead & Button tote and my bead travel case and started selecting some projects to take with me.

Traveling bag o'crafts and bead case

Before packing up the seed beads, I pulled a few for two new projects using a lampwork cabochon by Sue Kennedy and one of my own stoneware starfish cabs.

Bead embroidery projects

I also found these two unfinished turquoise pieces that have been sitting for a loooooooooong time.

Long unfinished cabochons

In addition to bead projects, I have this cool special edition of Flow magazine.  It's filled with all sorts of fun papercrafts including; stickers, envelopes, paper dolls, scrapbooking, etc...

Flow magazine

I just need to toss some scissors and a glue stick in the bag.

Coloring book and markers

I'm also taking a coloring book and some fine tip markers with me because sometimes you need to get all zen after unpacking and this is the perfect way to do that.

Sketch book

While packing up the office, I found this unused sketch book.  Perfect!  I can use this to put down any new bead/pottery/craft ideas I have.  My new ceramics studio won't be ready until early September so I can keep all my ideas in this book.

These few items should hold me over for now.  I honestly just can't wait to get the new office AND studio set up so I can get back to work.  

If this were your traveling bag o'crafts, what would be in it?

Happy Beading!

Crafty Cruising

Earlier this month, I went on a 7-night Caribbean cruise with Colin.  I knew I wanted to create during our "at sea" days and evenings after leaving the ports.  Originally, I intended to pack my chainmaille supplies but then I thought the pliers could be an issue. So I packed two other things; an adult coloring book and a bead embroidery project.

Cabochon glued to backing

I selected a glass cabochon by SueBeads that reminded me of a tide pool and glued it to some dyed Stiff Stuff (from Bead My Love).

Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas.  Norwegian Spirit in the background.

I gathered up an assortment of seed beads that were inspired by the colors of Caribbean waters.

Base row of galvanized seed beads

I fell in love with these galvanized seed beads at the bead retreat last month so I came home with an assortment of them, including these fabulous blue ones.

Even-count peyote bezel

And thanks to Jenny and Meg, they taught me peyote bezel at the retreat.  I loved how those little 15's  matched some of the speckles in the cabochon.

Adding visual interest and playing off the bubble-design

Each night, I sat on our balcony and added a little more to the design.  It was a nice way to wind down in the evening.

Final row consisting of size 8 and 6 seeds.

This is where my design ended on the cruise.  I realized I hadn't packed any glue or leather for backing material.

Travel-size coloring book

Once I could no longer work on the bead embroidery, I pulled out my travel-size coloring book.  I picked this up last minute at Barnes & Noble before we left.

Completed pages

These are just a few of the pages I worked on between the cruise and my flights.  These were so much fun, I can see why adult coloring books are trendy right now!

Costa Maya, Mexico

I had a great time on the cruise and it was so nice to have projects to work on.  I don't think I'll ever travel again without a craft to take with me!

Happy Beading!

Component of the Month November - The Reveal

Lichen Cabochons

I've been waiting excitedly all month for today, the reveal day of my Component of the month challenge. The AJE Team plus special guests were each given the choice of a lichen pendant or cabochon to create with and I'm bursting to see what everyone's made... I hope you'll join us in the hop!

Guests

Nicole Prince  

Kathy Lindemer

  

AJE Team

Diana Ptaszynski  

Lesley Watt  

Niky Sayers

Jenny Davies-Reazor  

Susan Kennedy  

Lindsay Starr  

Jennifer Stout Cameron

Kristen Stevens

Linda Landig

Caroline Dewison  

On My Clay Table

I'm FINALLY back in the studio making beads again.  I've been lacking bead mojo for awhile due to a variety of reasons.  It was nice to be back in the studio but I'm taking things slow.  The focus right now is to catch up on swaps I owe people, fulfillment of pieces for event donations and restocking the shop with some popular pieces.  Hopefully once these things are done, I can spend some time just playing and get some of my mojo back.  Let's have a little peek...

Porcelain

Here's the block of porcelain before I got to work.  I love the weird, earthy and musty smell it has.  

Porcelain slab

The first order of business was to roll out a slab of the porcelain.  I pulled a bunch of leaves outside for the autumn collection.  Because I use real leaves, I have a limited time in which to make this collection.  Once the cool weather rolls in and the leaves fall off the trees, I can't make more of these pieces.  They truly are seasonal work.

Porcelain leaves

I made a series of buttons for a friend who does leatherwork and the rest are pendants and charms destined for the shop and the Ceramic Art Bead Market. 

Leaf cabochons

There was also the business of making lots and lots of little leaf cabochons for Beki Haley's Beaders Dream Retreat.  I'm sponsoring the event, so each attendee will get a porcelain or stoneware leaf cabochon in their bag.  I am working on the stoneware pieces today while the little kiln runs a bisque-firing.

Porcelain beads

I'm also running dangerously low on beads so I rolled some up.  Most of these will be glazed to coordinate with the leaf pieces.  

Speckled stoneware

After I completed the porcelain work, I cracked open my speckled brown stoneware.  Mmmmm there was that nice earthy and musty smell again.

Rustic stoneware coins and beads

I made a bunch of rustic stoneware coins for the shop AND for next months Component of the Month (you won't want to miss that one).  I used the center cut-outs to roll some beads.  I also made a bunch of disc beads for a wedding order I'm trying to complete.  

As of right now, I'm still working in stoneware and I've got a bisque-load running in the garage.  Sea urchin cabochons and more little leaf cabochons are on the table today.  I'm really looking forward to completing this batch because I plan to move away from so much production work and start playing more.  I'd like to spend some time coming up with new designs and also working in art that isn't necessarily bead-related.  Change is good.  

So, what's on your work table?

Happy Beading!

Wood, Salt, Ash: I dream of future beads.

Hooked on wood fire, enchanted with salt
(Warning: a lot of clay, alchemy and fire. Very few beads...)

I just unloaded my first ever group wood fired/ salt glazed kiln yesterday. Its ALL I have been working towards for three weeks; which is a scant amount of time to prepare enough work. I loved the entire process and am already dreaming up pendant designs that could work best with these two unique kinds of firing. Let me take you back to Saturday last:

Glazed work on palettes as we prepare to load the noborigama

Seven students and one instructor. Unload your already glazed pieces, 20-30 per person. Make a million wadding balls and glue them to your pots feet/base. Load kiln, 2 large chambers.

Wadding. There are a few of my pieces bottom right. 

Wood fire chamber on the left.  Salt glaze chamber on the right. 

Brick up kiln. The kiln was started at 7:30 pm on Saturday. The overnight crew of two students stoked the kiln steadily UNTIL 4 am. We worked in shifts, continually maintaining and increasing the fire over a 22 hour period, reaching ^ 10/11. So tired but so exhilarated...

Why do ALL THIS, you ask?

There are as many variations as the day is long, but there is a sense of mystery. The chemistry is well documented as to HOW this all happens, but I felt a bit like an alchemist preparing to transmute lead to gold. The sense of mystery, the possibilities, the wonder...

Wood firing: "Burning wood not only produces heat of up to 1400°C (2,500 °F), it also produces fly ash and volatile salts. Wood ash settles on the pieces during the firing, and the complex interaction between flame, ash, and the minerals of the clay body forms a natural ash glaze. This glaze may show great variation in color, texture, and thickness, ranging from smooth and glossy to rough and sharp. The placement of pieces within the kiln distinctly affects the pottery's appearance, as pieces closer to the firebox may receive heavy coats of ash, or even be immersed in embers, while others deeper in the kiln may only be softly touched by ash effects. Other factors that depend on the location include temperature and oxidation/reduction. Besides location in the kiln, (as with other fuel-fired updraft kilns) the way pieces are placed near each other affects the flame path, and, thus, the appearance of pieces within localized zones of the kiln can vary as well. It is said that loading an anagama kiln is the most difficult part of the firing. The potter must imagine the flame path as it rushes through the kiln, and use this sense to paint the pieces with fire."

Wood fired pots: 1. Cynthia Bringle 2. Ted Ernst 3. Terry Inokuma 4. Jennifer Harnetty 

Salt glaze: "Salt glaze pottery is stoneware with a glaze of glossy, translucent and slightly orange-peel-like texture which was formed by throwing common salt into the kiln during the higher temperature part of the firing process. Sodium from the salt reacts with silica in the clay body to form a glassy coating of sodium silicate. The glaze may be colourless or may be coloured various shades of brown (from iron oxide), blue (from cobalt oxide), or purple (from manganese oxide).

Salt glazed pots:  1. Robert Compton 2. Phil Rodgers 3. Oak Hill Pottery  4. Mark Bassett

And yesterday - the unloading! 

First thing we saw as we unblocked the door... The torso was bare clay. Thats the magic of wood firing. 

Pieces from a diverse array of students, and instructors work. 

sampling of my smaller work. More details forthcoming at jdaviesreazor.com/blog

Sadly I only slipped one pendant and one cab into the kiln. (Small pieces like that can be annoying to load in a super large communal kiln, and as it was my first time firing with this group I was cautious.) David, our instructor, gave me three palm stones as well. These pieces were unglazed, bare stoneware clay placed in the salt chamber. I love the earthy speckled texture. On the back you can see the bare spot were the pieces was "wadded" (set up on a piece of wet clay to prevent it from fusing to the shelf.) I think the aura of color around the bare spot is beautiful. 

I am on fire, pun intended with ideas! There will most likely be another wood fire workshop in the fall, run by the Perkins Center for the Arts in Moorestown, NJ. I'll be ready. I envision pendants and cabs, some glazed, others glazed in the carved areas only. Some bare clay - "painted with fire" and I see a series with a secret message/word/symbol on the back there the wadding keeps it clear... a secret message worn on your skin. 

Thanks for reading - I know that was a lengthy post with out much correlation to artist made beads and components. But I was excited to share and I DO have dreams of future beads in my head. 

Resources: 
About wood firing ( in depth)
Anagama firing wiki 

Salt glaze wiki

Romancing the stone....

My name is Francesca, and I am a stone-aholic.

A very small sampling of my cabochon hoard collection inventory

A very small sampling of my cabochon hoard collection inventory

One of the reasons I got into jewelry making in the first place is because I have a thing for stones. There's just something about them I'm helpless to resist - their natural beauty, the enormous variety, and how unique they all are. And when they're well cut and substantial, I'm a goner. 

A gorgeous, thick chunk of Palomino Jasper. Please pardon the horrific condition of my hands.

This is why finding a new supplier who does great work has been both a very, very good thing and a very, very bad thing. So in the interest of sharing my addiction so I don't feel to alone my good fortune, let me introduce you to the work of Mike Hoffman and Mary Olczyk of Twisted Cabochons.

Prudent Man Agate

Mushroom Rhyolite

For starters, their stones are beautiful and unusual. These two are among the several many that I just had to have when I saw them. I don't think I've ever seen a Rhyolite as stunning as this one and I love the way they cut the Prudent Man Agate to emphasize its natural banding and the "bubble" edge along the top.

Dear lord, my hands look horrible - sorry about that! I've been working on class samples non-stop for the last two weeks. 

Like all of Mike and Mary's work, these are substantial - they don't skimp on the material when they're cutting, which I so appreciate. And look at that girdle - that's the flattened section around the side of the stone. It's clean, even and sharp, and just the right size - big enough to facilitate setting the stone, but small enough that the stone isn't overwhelmed by the bezel when it's set. (Mike and Mary also cut stones without a girdle on request - they're easier to work with for people just starting out with bezel setting.)

And the points are crisp, too - no chipping.

I also love that Mike and Mary ship their stones in these little plastic bags, marked with everything you'd want to know when it comes time to use it in your own work: the kind of stone, how much you paid for it, and (if they know) where it came from. (They've included my name on all of these, too, but I'm assuming that's for their benefit as they're shipping orders and not because they think I'm going to forget my own name.... right guys? Guys?) This is enormously helpful - and combined with the detailed PayPal invoices they send, there's almost no record-keeping to do when the stones come in. I know that seems like a small thing, but if I've purchased 10 or 15 stones, that's time saved for me to do things I actually enjoy doing (like, setting the stones).

Mike and Mary have an Etsy shop, but they do most of their selling in an open Facebook group. At the moment, there's not much notice when their new stones go up for sale, so make sure you have your notifications turned on for their group - stones go FAST once they're listed, and I'm not too proud to admit that I've been one of those people obsessively refreshing my Facebook page to see the new stuff as they list it.

So for those of you interested in working with unique, high quality cabochons, Mike and Mary might be a good match for you. There's something special about stones cut by someone you can actually talk to and who are as passionate about them as you are. Just make sure you leave a few for me!

Until next time -