Bones

I just received the go ahead from FMG to blog about my entry to the Swarovski contest. I was uncertain re the rules. After leaving you, dear reader, somewhat curious (I dare to hope…), I now post my entry and my process.
 
Those who have paid attention, ahem, know I have a passing interest in skeletons. Morbid? Maybe. A few years ago I had the fortune to meet a gentleman who had access to plenty of carcasses. All I had to do was clean the bones. (Now I must tell you this is not morbid in the least. Just immensely disgusting. He fished those bones out of a decomposing pit courtesy of a taxidermist.)

All this took place in camp. Not in my Brooklyn apartment…unimaginable.
What can be done with those cleaned remains, just dream!

With this one I took various colors of orange polymer clays, a bit of red. Mixed in embossing powders, mica powders and those sheets of gold. Applied to said skull. Then went to town with Swarovski flatbacks. The poor thing was missing some teeth and the ones she had were gray and cracked. Swarovski double cone implants took care of the missing teeth.

A veneer of acrylics (parchment, warm white and gel medium) and ground glass give brightness and sparkle to the rest.

I had plenty of color left to prepare a presentation stand. Texture is a favorite area of exploration, here and on the skull I used the idea of lichen and moss growth as a design element. What supports it all? A couple of cd discs and a paper tube armature.

Something was still lacking. I started casting about my studio for the right shape, form. Ahh… BlownPolymer baubles!
And the assemblage is complete.

Valerie

forgot to mention...asked my son to name the piece. Tri, Triumphant, Triple...all referring to the two series of three. Then Trifecta hit us both and stuck.

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Big Companies

 

 

 

 

 

In my little corner of the world I do business with a couple of ‘big companies’. All seem to have adopted contests as a way to highlight their products and give back to the community. I am fortunate to belong to Artbeads.com bloggers group. The talent I’ve seen is wonderful.
Rio Grand sponsors a yearly competition. The categories  fall outside my areas.
Interweave has many in different fields throughout the year, big and small. Always something for everyone!
Fire Mountain Gems sent out notice today of the winners of their latest competition.

  

 

 

Olga Dillow created this bibstyle neck piece. And took the GOLD!!
73 ( more or less, I lost count) people walked off with prizes. With another 170+ as finalists! This is impressive…better than the Emmys. And this is just one of many contests FMG hosts throughout the year.

The deadline for the Swarovski Crystallized Elements just passed. I sent in a piece….

The tiny 2 & 3mm Swarovski rounds fascinate me. I have some in beautiful jonquil I received from Artbeads.com waiting patiently on my work table. The design is ready to execute. (I design in my head…go back and forth…noodle it out…and when it is ready just start!)

First I need to finish some dish cloths. Can’t find the stash I had. Must have lost them in my move. This is as close to critical as my creativity gets! I have no dish cloths!!

Valerie

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Seed Bead Compulsion

Several years ago I journeyed into the realm of seed beads. Thought they would nicely complement my polymer clay work.
Many days they (those little bits of glass with minuscule holes) overshadow the blocks of clay.
(Don’t even get me started with my current fascination with knitting lace…argh.)
Rachel Nelson Smith has some wonderful designs I have long admired. She has graciously authored a book to share those designs with all of us!

“Seed Bead Fusion
18 Projects to Stitch, Wire, & String
By Rachel Nelson-Smith

This fresh design approach to seed bead jewelry teaches readers how to fuse, merge, and mix materials, techniques, colors, inspiration, and design ideas for seed bead jewelry with a contemporary edge. “
This is the beginning of the press release, Contemporary AND timeless! I find these designs absolutely stunning. The best part? I can play and experiment to me heart’s content now that I have the secrets…Thank You Rachel.

And on the same note…I went this week to IKEA and bought  two of these lovelies to slip under my studio desk. Yes, on wheels and accommodates maybe 20% of my beads. (she who dies with the most beads WINS!)


Valerie

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trios

What do you do when presented with someone else’s color choices?

That is a question I had in the back of my mind all summer. Just before leaving for camp in June I ordered two of the Trios color ways created by the Soft Flex Company. I cannot remember where I ordered them…I do remember the selection was few. I chose Tranquility (blues) and Harmony (yellows). I do not know why.

 

 

 

Both were a color challenge.
What I did…originally I had the thought to use the colors in links as I had done with a previous design. These colors did not quite fit in with my plans.
As I rummaged thru my beads I found my stash of netsuke. A frog on a bit of bamboo! The Harmony Trios held together, ahh. And there were those 1.5mm rubber rings from FMG. The combination mimics bamboo…no?

A few Swarovski buttons and a wonderful lampwork artbead from glass bead maker JoAnne Zekowski finished this fun, simple, with a bit of quirk piece.

Now on to the pesky blues…


The Tranquility Trios begged for polymer clay. I mixed colors to match the trios colors. Let it sit overnight and decided the colors were off…mixed again. Much better.
And then just played…
I called this Tranquility Kicked. Despite the size, it is very light. I used Sculpey Ultra Light for the pendant. Pendant is 2&1/2 x 1&1/2in. 26” necklace.  There are more Swarovski crystals on the back of the pendant. (I got carried away.)
As I was working with these colors the song lyrics “If you knew Susie like I knew Susie, etc” kept running through my head. I present for Susie:
 I adore this one. Wore on my first day back to work. Susie is still getting talked about!
19-21” necklace.

Tiny Swarovksi  flatbacks and 3mm topaz bicones make these last two pieces sparkle.

I see on the Soft Flex site new Trios colors are planned for release. This is a fun way to expand color flexibility. Both colorways were not what I would choose and forced me to think outside my comfort zone.

Valerie

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