Merry Men Beads

These Merry Men beads are Toas Red clay covered with a clear zinc free glaze.

Teapot

Ever since I saw Melanie's teapots I have been wanting to make some myself. They are absolutely adorable, and in my late 20's I remember I had a lovely collection of teapots.

I don't anymore because we just don't have the room in this small house of ours -- but with teapots THIS size I could collect as many as would fit into a shoebox. This teapot bead is about an inch tall.

Little Ol' Man

I really like this tiny sculpture of this little ol' man. I made a few more and each one came out different.

What Have I Been Doing?

I have NOT posted in too long. I've been busy filling orders, making new bead designs, as well as fixing up a new kiln that was given to me.

I can't test the elements of this new kiln until I get the stand -- and I won't get the stand 'til next week. Then I will put in a kiln sitter 'cause I hate having to check, check, and recheck. Easier just to let it shut off when it is done!

But I was looking at the elements and everything looks like it is in really GOOD shape. This means in the summer when the kiln takes 2 days to cool down that I can get a second batch going in a hurry. This kiln is also a 34 amp and my Olympia is a 30 amp. So I get to play around with all that means too.

Bisqued Beads

This past week was spent doing not much else besides measuring out and rolling clay. I ended up with hundreds and hundreds of bisqued beads and now am offering bisqued beads to my customers.

There are four sizes: Small(12mm x 15 mm), Medium(15mm x 17 mm) , Large (17mm x 20 mm), and Extra Large (20mm x 22 mm).

Bisqued beads are great to buy even if you don't have a kiln. Acrylic paints and stains look great on a bisqued bead -- and to make them even shiner add a coat of gloss sealer. There are also paints specifically made for bisqued ceramics. Your local ceramics shop can show you around or you can search for the term "ceramics" and order online. I've even glazed bisqued beads with nail polish and even after several years have seen no signs of aging, chipping, or turning "yellow". Art Clay Silver artists cover bisqued beads with Fine Silver with beautiful results.

http://www.nkpdesigns.com/beads/bisquedbeads.html

Blue Nebula

Auctions On Just Beads

On the left hand side of the screen I added a link to visit my Just Beads auctions.
You can also click http://www.justbeads.com/search/ql.cfm?s=820453584 here.

New Items

This is one of the ammonites I brought home from Tuscan. We put it under a black light and they all glowed, some blue, others green, this particular ammonite fluoresed a wonderful pink glow. Who knew?

These came from Canada and I plan to wire wrap them and offer them at shows, and possibly on Just Beads (www.justbeads.com) as well.

Sorting through the various buys at Tuscan has taken me a few days. Plus, I decided to rearange my entire studio (my version of Spring Cleaning). All those little piles of clutter are now gone.


Before I left for Tuscan I went to American Ceramics (see link on side of blog under "Where I get my Raw Materials") and took a class on Fused Glass Jewelry. It was a two day workshop and I learned a ton of stuff about fusing glass, and how to program my jewelry kiln properly in order to come out with a consistant (and beautiful) piece of art. This is a piece I wirewrapped and added three faceted 8 mm florite beads into the wrap.






But before Tuscan, before the Fused Glass Jewelry Class, the Pottery Guild had Merlene Walker do a mini-demonstration on Art Clay Jewelry. It was phenominial. She gives affordable and quality classes. Her website can be found here:
www.thealchemygroup.biz



Also new is a new webpage where I am posted some Limited Edition Beads. It can be found by clicking here:
www.nkpdesigns.com/beads/whilesupplieslast.html

I will be adding to this page, as well as making a few more in the days to come. I'm also toying with putting together some bead kits, with some of my limited edition beads with complimentary gemstones and findings, enough to put together a necklace, bracelet, and two pairs of earrings (post and hook).

Also new are my auctions over at Just Beads (www.justbeads.com). I'm adding one a day. Look in the ceramics area:
http://www.justbeads.com/listings/index.cfm?category=737225558 )

Look for NKP DESIGNS in the subject line. I'm offering some beads at prices lower than on my website. Plus, instead of an order having to total $10, this is a good way to try out some beads at some bargain prices.

Happy Jewelry Making!

Tuscan 2006

Although I am not yet back in Fort Worth, I am finished touring Tuscan's Gem & Mineral shows. This was my second time to visit Tuscan. The first year I was not able to make it to any of the bead shows. That's what happens when you are not the driver. This time I smartened up and made use of the mighty shuttle system that is offered and map in hand, made it to two bead shows: To Bead True Blue and The Best Bead Show.

I met a couple of ladies from the Beads of Clay Yahoo Group (www.beads-of-clay.org) and it was wonderful to hold their beautiful beads in person. I regret by the time I got to the bead show I had spent most of my $$$ already at the Inn Suites on raw materials -- specifically Ammonites.

I don't have my camera with me and for some reason the computer I am borrowing will not allow me to upload pictures I found on Google, so when I get back home I will upload some of my own photos of these breathtaking fossils.

I also had visited the Arrow Springs tent beforehand and had stocked up on a more than a few bargains of glass rods. Alas, I had no money left to buy what I really wanted and had to settle for a wonderful keepsake from Marsha's table (Marsha Neal Studio -- www.marshanealstudio.com ) and while I fell in absolute love with Joan Miller's vegatable beads (Joan Miller Porcelain -- www.joanmiller.com ), I will have to settle for the privilege of handling them in person (at least for now!).

I also met Deb (Clay River Designs -- www.clayriverdesigns). Wonderful detail work! Also, I met another woman who made beautiful leaf pendants and I regret I have misplaced her card and forgotten her name. I am certain I will find it when I unpack. Her work was gorgess, too.

Too soon the parties I was with decided to head back to New Mexico. Next year I hope to visit the Holodrome as well. I hear there are lots of fun things there.

BOC January Challenge

The Beads of Clay (www.beads-of-clay.org) group I'm a member of has monthly challenges designed to take us out of our comfort zone and experiment with techniques we might have otherwise not tried on our own.

January's challenge was to carve flowers from our beads and this is what I came up with. I love daisies, thus I carved four daisies. My fingers were numb and cramped by the time I finished carving. This took about an hour. I glazed it with Series glaze 2200 and glazed the petals with a matte coral that I particulary enjoy. Then I took a bumpy doodle black and dotted the middle. I had hoped it would stand up a bit more than it does, but the effect of the black with the blackish speckles in the body of the glaze worked even better than I envisioned.

Website Work

In the mornings, I've been re-working the website, trying to add individual beads and catalog everything. I'm trying not to get swamped with the details. I had no idea I had so many beads.

I did get the Series 500 page up. Go Here to view it..

Also new is the side bar. I have added another artist who is using some of my beads in her work. She produces one of a kind original designs with vintage and handmade charms. View her lovely jewelry at: Floradora Charm Bracelets

Also new in my studio: a dehydrator. This will help to dry those beads out faster so that I can get more done at a time. Also in the thrift store where I bought the dehydrator was a very cool pasta machine for a mere $20. So I brought it home and decided to play around with some paper clay I had made up a few weeks back. It took forever to figure out just the right amount of baby powder and olive oil -- but it worked. Makin' Macaronii! Fun times.

Just Beads

This is a set of beads, 10mm (10 in all) that I'm currently offering over at justbeads.com.

To view the item description and to bid, take the following link:

CLICK HERE

While you are at justbeads.com, take a look at some of the other ceramic beads offered. Many of the ones offered are in the Beads of Clay (BOC) organization I'm also a member of. These are quality artists with quality beads.

For more information on other ceramic bead artists please visit www.beads-of-clay.org.

New Style

This is the new batch that came out of the kiln. As promised, if I liked how they came out, I would post pictures. So here are the pictures.













This is one of my favorites out of the entire batch. Throughout 2006 I will be making this style.

Merry Christmas

This year I bought the equivalent of an adult size Playdo Fun Factory. Boy is it ever fun! The official name for this new piece of equipment is a clay extruder. It hangs on the wall, vertically. A large hunk of clay is put inside the chamber and a lever is pressed down, bringing weight down and forcing the clay to come out in large or small coils. Like I said. It is very VERY fun.

After what seems like weeks of waiting (oh, wait ... it was!) my kiln sitter part finally came in the DAY before Christmas eve. Christmas eve it was installed and late that evening I was able to finally fire! Tomorrow I will open the kiln. If I like how this new batch came out, I will post the pictures.

In January, I will be bringing beads to auction over at www.justbeads.com. Look for me: NKP DESIGNS Many ceramic bead artists from the yahoo group BEADS OF Clay (BOC) will also be putting up their beads for auction. These bead artists are phenomenal and their beads even more so! Drop by and click on the CERAMIC BEADS link and see all the different and wonderful things artists are doing with ceramic beads these days.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and may the Lord bless all off you with His peace and joy all this year.

Busy with the Beads

Last week my kiln sitter on my big kiln sat down on me and refused to work anymore. Therefore the entire load of bowls and mugs and platters had to be unloaded and a new plan made while replacement parts were ordered. I decided to just get busy with glazing and firing beads in the jewelry kiln until the kiln sitter parts arrive. These are just some of the beads I have been glazing.





The pinkish white beads with leaf imprints are some of my favorites. Ironstone clay fires a pinkish color and glazing over this natural tint with a bit of white gives off a luscious appearance.






This ceramic green bead with the orange bumps is my take on glass beads. My husband asked me afterwards how I glued on those bumps. I told him they were fused onto the round and weren't coming off anytime soon. The green is a matt finish and the bumps are glossy. I found this to be a fun contrast. This is a look a glass bead can't easily duplicate.







Next is a lovely china sea green ladybug...









...followed by a nugget in a color I like to call 'blue jean'.







This round took a long time to glaze. All those long lines. Worse than standing in the grocery store the day before Thanksgiving.





This purple round was designed to imiate the texture of Turkish Silver . I like the precise definition of the small dots.






While those were in the kiln I started playing with some polymer clay and came up with this. The next day I went to the auto supply store and bought high grit sandpaper in various grades and hours later finally finished this batch. I won't be doing more of these unless I invest in a tumbler. They sure were fun though.





This necklace I designed with disk shaped 9mm freshwater pearls and oval rhodonites. It will retail for $45. See my main page to order.