Showing posts with label bead. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bead. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Whimsical Work

I'm about to start packing up my studio and office to get ready for my move to New York (Colin got a new job) but before I do that, I wanted to make one more batch of work for my shop.  Apparently I needed to make fun & silly pieces right now.

Forming the shell
I decided to start with some stoneware snails.  The first step in making these is to form their shell.  I roll a ball of clay and then flatten the back by gently tapping it with a wood block.

Carving the shell
I set the shell aside for a few minutes so it can dry just a tad.  I then go back and carve my spiral design into each side.

Forming a wire antenna
While the shell continues to dry, I cut and form some little antennae from high-fire wire. 

Almost a snail
The body is then formed from another piece of clay, rolled into a log and then shaped further.  The antennae are then inserted on top of the head.

Oh My!
My favorite part is giving each snail their eyes and silly expression!

Scoring the shell
Once the body is finished, it is time to attach the shell.  I score the bottom of the shell and the top of the snail, add a bit of water and gently press them together.

Greenware Snail
And here he is prior to any clean-up with a sponge.  After he gets sponged, he'll be bisque-fired, glazed and then final-fired.  I can't wait to see how he turns out.  


Little Buggy Face
I also made a little buggy face guy.  Wish I had time to make more of these before the move!

And then there were these ridiculous things...

Funny Face Wearing Underpants
I decided it was about time I gave my funny face beads some bodies.  This guy is wearing some underpants and slippers!  I'll fill in their joints with beads so that they aren't stumpy when they come to life.

Funny Face With T-Shirt
And this guy is wearing a t-shirt!  I think they'll make fun ornaments but if I can make them a bit smaller, they might even work as pendants for people that want to let their silly show!

I'll finish these pieces up during the week, list what I can in my Etsy and then pack up the studio and get ready to move!

Happy Beading!

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Bead Studio Redo

Since we moved in to this house a few years ago, I've been using the smallest bedroom as my office.  Unfortunately, I'm a messy person and over time the mess had gotten so out of control that I was working on a small space on the floor.

Old messy office
At one point, I had the room somewhat cleaned up enough to sit at the desk again.  That didn't last long.

So Colin and I sat down one day and discussed swapping my office with the guest room.  The guest room only gets used a few times each year so it seemed a waste of space.  We pulled all the furniture out and repainted the guest room a soothing blue (it was an ugly yellow).

We then made a few trips to IKEA for some new furniture, including this great desk!
IKEA desk
I'm hoping to be able to keep this one relatively clean (hahahahahahahaha).
Scenes from the desk area
On the right side of my desk, I have my vintage dress form and some jewelry hangers.  I'm still loading lots of jewelry on them but they are a fun way to keep everything visible.  I also like to keep special trinkets and gifts on my desk.  They make me happy and keep me inspired!

New bead storage
Also to the right of my desk is one of my new bead storage units.  These are two Alex units from IKEA stacked and they hold three bead tray inserts in each of them.

A peek inside the ALEX units 
I spent several hours emptying all my bead boxes and filling tray inserts.  I also have my leather, ultra suede and photo cubes stored in this section.

More bead and craft storage
On the other side of the room are even more bead and craft supply storage units.  If you're wondering about the giant pig, it's a vintage chalkware piggy bank.   One of my favorite weird finds.
  
Scenes from the cabinets
This is the area where I keep all my art beads, cabochons, resin, paper crafts, rubber stamps, fabrics, ribbons, millinery and more.

Commercial and handmade rubber stamps

Ooooooo beads!

Organizers and printing area
I'm still working on getting all my organizers and artwork hung on the walls.  There are still shelves waiting to go up and decorative tiles and framed prints.  There's also a pile of boxes on the floor waited to be sorted.  Once all of that is taken care of, I'll be ordering a small recliner and footstool.  That will be my place to do bead embroidery or read my craft books.

I can't wait for the room to be finished.  I now have the type of office that inspires me instead of making me want to turn and run!

Have you recently redone your studio?

Monday, July 20, 2015

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!