The Dot Diaries - Days 7 - 8

I'm starting to hate this exercise... sigh! Day Seven's returns were most disappointing. This is the worst set yet!

The first set was to be a somewhat Morrocan Tile pattern... an elongated ellipse with smaller dots on top / bottom and both sides.  Something like this:

And... as you can see above, they look more like soft diamonds... ugh!

Carrying on with that theme... I wanted to make "flowers" with four petals and then with five. Each time, I started with a large center dot, melted it and added stringer dots. This was my first use of stringers in this project. And... it sucked! They don't look floral-ish at ALL!  More like "drunk clouds!"


But I will say, I get more ideas each time I do this... Keep pen and paper handy and you will have your next torch session penciled in! This session made me want to try butterflies.... OY!

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Day 8 
Now, I'm doubting my color choice! Great Hol, you're  26 beads into a 40 bead project and NOW you doubt your color choices??? Sigh....  But I seriously wish I hadn't used a reactive ivory. It bubbles and doesn't always go on "clean."

But first, I allowed myself to make a bead that's not in this project... And I love it. I also made another mini focal from a dot bead that got weirdly big on me....

I started out making "rat heads" - I made the vertical ones first... they mostly look like mishapen hearts, But the horizontal ones hit the mark.

Butterflies were attempted next. I had the bright idea that two larger dots placed next to each other with two smaller dots on top might melt into a butterfly... They didn't. I was hoping this might give me a successful idea for a better looking flower... but no.

I'm at a cross roads where I'm questioning my skills and my own laziness. I realize how much I rely on a marver ...but it is FASTER to marver. I also realize just what an impatient bead maker I am... I hate waiting for glass to melt. And forcing myself to do it slowly is torture! Maybe if I hoped to actually sell the beads I make, it would be worth it. But at this point... it's not a career. It's a hobby.

Still, I've learned a lot and as of this writing... I'm only two beads shy of 40!

The Dot Diaries - Days 3 - 6

It took me a while to get back to my project as I've been busy in the stamp shop. This should really only be Days 3 and 4 but... I had some setbacks...

 Day 3 was way too brief and I only got to make four beads. The focus was layered dots. This is really an amazing exercise in that you get such a good lesson in volume control. All those stacked dots make it really easy to understand a square bead. And heating between the dots is as vital to rounding up the bead as heating the dots themselves. I've always heard, "Heat where you want the glass to GO!" and this day showed me that in volumes. Also, heating without marvering... elongates the dots. Mine are ovals...

 Day Four -Got off to a really bad start... My bead got all wonky as I tried to melt the glass for a smiley. I got frustrated and I know myself well enough to know not to play with fire when things start this way.  It's better to do something else. 

Still, I really like the look of the smiles from the top vantage point... These "boomerangs" are a design element I like and have since dreamed of!! What would happen adding opposing dots of the base glass near opposite end of the boomerang... I think it would make a nice S shape. Worth exploring ....

Day Five -  I got to make a few smileys before I had other obligations. After several more failed attempts at these.... I had to break the rules. I KNOW we are not supposed to use tools but I quickly found I could not melt my smile in correctly without marvering that top layer of base-colored glass! So... I used the glass rod as a "tool."  I've decided smileys are advanced bead making! I'm still not totally happy with the ones I'm showing here but they do make me smile and I think that's one of the points!

Day Six  - Oh No... I lost my sizing! Reviewing beads from previous days... I had gotten HUGE and way off scale. Hey, I like big beads and I cannot lie! 

But this is also a size exercise. Remakes were in order. I HAD to rework some of those smileys that I thought were fine! ARGH! So what do I so when I start??? I zone out and look down and ... have HUGE volume of glass on my mandrel! ARGH!  Determined not to have another wonky nuttin on my hands, I made this...DON'T LAUGH:

I actually like this mini focal... I've forgotten how awesome the Bullseye palette is!  Must play with this color MORE... I love the olive reaction from the Nougat... very cool!

Finally, I was able to make more smileys...  Here they are with the wonky boomerang from above:

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Just a reminder... there's a huge album of glass beads I'm GIVING AWAY with purchases!!!

It's a BOGO - FREE BEADS!

I've been a rut and have decided I NEED to clear the decks and get rid of some of the stuff that's weighing me down and so... I've decided to GIVE some of it away!!

But there is one small caveat... You have to make purchase of glass beads or jewelry in the same value as the free item. Buy One Get... however many it takes to meet the dollar amount of your purchase. There is no limit on freebies. They just have to be less than or equal to the dollar value of your purchase!

The freebies are located on my Facebook page...you don't have to be a fan (but I would love it if you were!) to look through the freebie album.  Browse through... if you see something you like... call "Mine" and go shop in my regular glass bead shop.  You are welcome to shop on Etsy too, but please allow me to end the listing... I'm giving stuff away. I don't want to pay Etsy for the privilege...

Thanks as always for taking a l@@k!

Scenes from Kumihimo Class

I taught a Kumihimo Class this weekend... As usual, I forgot to take pics until there's only a few people left in class!

I always have my students learn the basic stitch on a large 2mm rattail or with curling ribbon. I encourage them to use 8 different colors so they can see just how random the Kumihimo is:

But one of my students wanted to mix the two. The curling ribbon is what created the nice ridges in this piece:

Then we move onto beaded kumihimo. Here's a finished bracelet;

This bracelet was made by a student who called herself "The Bling Queen." We're still working on the wire wrapped clasp here. I love how sparkly the metallic beads are!

The Dot Diary - Days 1 & 2

I haven't been feeling my muse... and no glass bead sales make her run and hide . Needing to get myself out of this rut, I ran across a thread on Lampwork Etc regarding Heather Trimlett's 40 Bead Challenge. I have been aware of Heather's Challenge for some time and always wanted to try it.... kinda. But, it is dots... my least favorite kind of bead.... or so I thought!

When I saw such a large group doing it... I thought, Why not??? It might shake me out of my doldrums.

But after a week of thinking about it, choosing colors, dipping mandrels... there was nothing left to do but get started.

Day 1

Per Heather's instructions I limited myself to six beads a day. I chose to do two of each, reversing the colors each time.  Heather suggested working slow...something I'm sooo not good at. For this reason, I chose to work in Bullseye 90 knowing the stiffer glass would slow me down. And my favorite blue of all time is Bullseye - Steel Blue. For a contrast, I choose Nougat.

My first beads were simple donuts with 4 dots. I concentrated on even spacing and volume control to make the dots similar.

Next, I tried six... harder.  But I was starting to see possibilities...

My final set was what I named the roller coaster... Great! Now, I'm naming dots!  Two dots were placed dead center and one dot in between but on opposite edges. Then I filled in the area in between.

When I was done, I was actually excited. .... Hmmm... can dots be addicting???

Day 2

I found I couldn't wait to torch the next day... I woke up thinking about that roller coaster...  Could 2 look like DNA???

Beads 1 and 2 were DNA or double coasters... getting harder to evenly space and control the placement.

I didn't love the vacant space created when the dots were further apart. So the next two were DNA with eyeballs in the center. I liked those better.

And then I started on stacking dots. Two dots on top of each other.

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I'm still so excited about this project even though work has kept me from the torch for a few days now. I have my next two sessions planned out. 24 out of 40 with a plan!  My next session with focus on stacking and the one after that will be a take on smiley faces.

I'm really happy I tried this. I can't wait to see all of the beads finished! If you are in a lull of creativity, I heartily recommend this exercise!

Wholesale Glass Beads - Easiest Wholesale Policy Ever!!!

I've decided to re-address my wholesale lampwork policy to make it easier than ever for jewelry designers to get the best prices on my artisan glass beads! Jewelry Designers no longer have to purchase in huge volumes to get the best discount! Simply sign up. I contact you for a copy of your business license and give you your anniversary date. Then, shop as per usual. When your anniversary date arrives, you get a gift certificate based on your discount rate that can be used piece meal over the next year (or all at once, your choice!) How easy is that???

 Your discount is still based on your volume but you have a year to hit those numbers!

• $200 or less – 10% discount 
• $201 – $300.99 – 20% discount 
• $301 – $449.99 – 30% discount 
•  $450 – $599.99 -40% discount 
•  $600 and up – 50% And anyone who registers gets 10% off!!! 

This is a great way to get a 10% discount all year long and...if you purchase more...you'll get a nice gift certificate with no obligation to join up again until that certificate is all used up!

There is some fine print: 

• Discounts taken off retail pricing. 
• Free Beads Gift Certs and Year End Bonus Certs may not be used in conjunction with volume pricing. 
• Year End Bonus Certs do not count toward the next year’s purchases. 

I hope this makes it easier for Jewelry designers to use my beads in their work!!! 

Beads Of Courage Bead Challenge

I will be participating in the Bead Challenge this weekend sponsored by the So Cal Flame Surfers in Gardena.

To get ready for the event, I've cleaned out my Beads of Courage drawer... not too many in there as I made a donation this summer.

But I hope to make a lot while I'm at the event!


You can find a way to participate at a city near you on the Beads of Courage Website. They also have a way to participate from home with their Torch from a Distance program.

Fresh Glass | Roadblocks to Creativity

This was my fan page post for yesterday:

Your Beadmaker has a case of the BLAHS! I don't want to make beads because I'm feeling uninspired. I don't want to clean beads I've made b/c my dremel is midway on another project. I don't want to photograph cleaned beads b/c it's hot. I don't want to list b/c no one seems to be shopping... sigh #FallDoldrums

So what do you do when you need inspiration???  No, really, I want to know!!  This is the hardest thing for me. I see people make cute little sets... over and over and over... and pass the bullets please! I was never cut out to be a "factory." I knew this with the rubber stamp biz.

Back when rubber stamping was really huge and there were actual rubber stamp stores, several of the more successful manufacturers offered a "card of the month" program. While this was a nice way to guarantee wholesale order every month....it also involved creating a handmade card for every store that subscribed to the program!  And the most had 200 -250 stores subscribed to this plan!  I knew  two of the artists who made these cards every month, Jane Beard, (who drew the Museum of Modern Rubber line that I press) and the late, great Georgia Cerone. Both loved the repetition of the work and having to come up with new designs for next month. I would just die if I had to do that!

And so it goes with beads. I have to have something new going on to keep my brain happy and with the doldrums... how do you just light the torch of inspiration???

I decided to explore some color sites.  I wrote down the color combos that appealed to me and before I knew it... the bead ideas were flowing. I only got a couple of beads made...but that's a start. And sometimes, that's all it takes!

So... what do YOU do when you need inspiration????

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FOUR Halloween Pendant specials on the fan page today!

Beads of Courage Torch from a Distance

Sorry for the last minute notification but Beads of Courage is hosting events all across the country on two different dates this month!

 

Find out more about these specific events by visiting the Beads of Courage site

But that's not all... If you don't live near one of these venues, you can still participate! If you fill out the donation / participation form TODAY, you will get a free logo bead for your Beads of Courage necklace and a decal for your car!! So GO SIGN UP!!!

Trunk Show Wrap Up

I'm still shipping stuff from the trunk show... but all items have been paid for and are going out today along with one of the Gift Cert prizes.

 

Available on Facebook now! 

And the food safe rubber stamp shop orders are going freaking nuts! We got a WHOLE PAGE SPREAD in InStyle Magazine's September issue and have been flooded with inquiries as to custom food safe stamps. Just inquiries... but those take time to respond to and walk people through... because no one wants to READ.... sigh.

Still on Facebook as I haven't had time to move him to my site!


And we've also gotten a flurry of actual real paying orders from people who saw the magazine and realized someone owned the old Museum of Modern Rubber line! While this is exciting - hey, paying customers = great! - the idea of being in the hot studio indexing wood thrills me no more than striking up the torch during this heatwave... Not gonna happen!

So I find myself working splits... Up around 4 a.m. to get stuff done while it is kinda cool. 10 - 2 is shipping. 2 - 5 is nap time, 5 - 6 supper and chores, 6 - 8 hike the pup, blog for Glass Beads Daily, feed the pup. 8 - 12 - back to the shop to pack any orders, swim and bed.

Hopefully headed to Ebay today if I get my act together. Feel free to email me if you like...

It's a weird schedule but it's the only way I can work in this heat!

And since I'm so busy... Items from the trunk show have been filtering through the fan page daily specials, many at less than opening bid prices! But, I hope to be caught up and have some cleaned glass beads to list tomorrow!

Still needs a home....