Beads on my work table (before the painting)

Yes, I went for an owl. Just had to. I like the asymmetry with the wing. The stringing hole is to the side because I thought that this direction would make it easier to incorporate the owl bead in a bigger design. 

An owl head... some wings... For the wings I used a mold I made from a harpy pendant. The mold itself won't work out but parts of it I can use for beads like these. 

And the whole batch... including a lot of my new favorite, rather organic freeform shapes (say this out loud, three times in a row! ^^). 

Some more details: Donut shapes with structured surfaces....

...parts of lace pattern... just the parts rather look organic than like a lace!

...stamped with old text stamps from a microbiology institute and more pattern experiments... I always carve and sand all my beads into the perfect shape after baking. It gives me more control.

And in a different colour (Yes, I know, most of the time you won't see much of the original colour anymore. But trust me, depending on the colours you use, the basic colour of the polymer clay will make all the difference. Except for the swellegant paints I started to use)...

I always like to show all the details of the beads therfore.... more pictures! Made with sea urchins pieces...

...layer after layer of pattern...

...combinations of structures and pattern... (and a knitting needle!)

...new leave structures...

This is one of the new fimo effect jewel colours. They are all made with a mixture of translucent polymer clays and shimmering particles. I tried to wrap operculums found in the mediterranean sea of formentera in polymer clay without losing their beautiful appearance. I will add some colour to the clay to enhance the structures. 

It is the lid of a snail. I searched for the nick names they have in english and found cats eye or shiva's eye. But I love the german name "Venusauge" that translate into Venus' eye.

Now I just have to carve, sand and paint them. Truth is I already started... but there is (again) a lot to do in the lab so I don't have the time and energy to really move forward with my beads. Therefor also this post showing you a little bit of my work process, what is now on my worktable and hopefully makes you a little bit curious about what to come :)

All my new beads: Organic shapes and structures, swellegant and a lot of oxidation!

Okay, here we go with a lot of the polymer clay beads I made over the past weeks. Yes, weeks. Most of them during the last days of Bisu. I don't like the pain inside of me that comes up just writing down his name. But I know that I just made another step into creating beads with polymer clay because of all the stress, fear and pain. Because I had to decide the timepoint to let him go. I don't want to write more because... as I just wrote in the last and the sentence before... it hurts. Also I would rather have my little ones, all my little ones back than to be able to create these beads. 

Creating is what keeps me sane and also express myself. I can't get enough from the new shapes and patterns and structures of these beads. I love the organic feeling, the rough texture ad (at least for me) surprising shapes. Just to let go of the control, fall into the process of woking with the clay and go on. Also to trust the process itself. That things come together in the end (not always but if I work without hesitation, then more often than not!).

The use of metal paints and patinas on top just add to the organic process of creation as well as the organic feel of the beads itself. I used the swellegant paints from Christie Friesen (I just forgot the company that produces the paints, sorry, I will add it later).

Here a little overview of all the beads. Just the leaves in the middle are not made by me and also not polymer clay. They were some cheap aluminum alloy (silver colour) charms I bought some time ago. They look quite cheap but with a nice shape. After adding the paint... I think they look so stunning! All the other beads are made with polymer clay (fimo classic). 

This is the back from the beads above. I just brass and a combination of different patinas.

This time iron paint with different patinas... 

...and the back. I really use a lot of paint and patine because I love these rough edges and flakes that really look like rust grown over time!

Brass again. 

...and the back side... or just the other side because I am still not sure which side I prefer ^^

This is a single bead. As you can see I prefer to make beads in pairs. The reason is simple: I prefer to create earrings! 

A different view...

I changed to copper. I really like copper but if I had to chose brass would be my all time favorite (I am surprised because I am not too fond of gold), second comes bronze... and the iron and copper. Last and this time really least: Silver. Silver is beautiful but without the oxidation process not too special for me. I already have a lot of beautiful silver paints and just because here I have real silver inside... mh... no. I prefer the organic oxidation process!

The other side... also not sure if this is the back side!

Here we have an example for bronze. Surprisingly this darkens even after I stopped the oxidation process with the patinas. Just normal air was enough!

The other side, also so beautiful!

Simple rings/donuts made from polymer clay...

...with different textures on both sides...

Iron again. Oh, just look at the structures! 

...or the pure rust!

I played with some snail / nautilus shape. I tried to keep the shape simple and easy, just add basic textures and shapes. As you cann see: I tried bronze, iron and copper.

...with holes on top...

...but the backside... again I am torn about my favorite side ;)

This is an easy shape: Polymer clay pressed in a normal metal ring. 

It adds dimension.

Here we go into the iron ages! (Not really but the beads have something tribal for me!) 

Rust and more rust!

Little brass pieces. Also very tribal...

The different shades of blue and green and white... 

The aluminium alloy leaves I covered either in bronze (left one) or brass.

What you can see here is that the use of metal paints (several layers) a lot of the small details are lost. But don't be afraid, this rather adds to the organic look after oxidation!

And really dark with bronze...

At first I was afraid to use them. But I already made some earrings over the last days! I am thinking about starting to sell my beads. I love to create new beads. I make way more than I am ever using for myself (oh yes, I have a big stash from beads I made over time ^^). I am also curious what over people would see in my creations and how the beads would evolve in their creations...

...but I have the same doubts as most creative people have? ;) 

Dots and more dots.

This is an older experiment I made some (a long) time ago. I pressed the dots inside the polymer clay, baked it and then started painting on top... just to sand it down to get the white clay I used as basis out again.

I have a lot more made, also for the travel challenge blog hop... but still everything is difficult. I need to take pictures, to edit them, to write... I really made a lot in the last days because creating is something I need to do. But for all the other parts I need more time and energy... and also maybe a new camera. My digi is on strike. I used to take good images with a few trials... no I am lucky to get one out of ten if at all. The digi has problems to focus.

Just like carved bone...

As I already wrote in my last post: I have a lot "stuff" made that I didn't show you. There are several reasons for this, like a lot of work due to a deadline, being still so full of pain (that always makes me very unsocial... I try to hide from myself) and something very mundane like a camera that is working nicely anymore. I am already looking for a new one, again a digital camera, good for macros but not too expensive. Until then taking pictures will cost me a lot of nerves. So as I am not in a mood to make these pictures again (or even already used / gave some beads away), I hope you will be okay with these :)

I used white polymer clay and dark brown (burned sienna) acrylic paint. These beads have such an organic feeling to me, a little bit tribal, I am really into them. The earrings were a gift for a friend. She was seeing (as well as liking) my first attempts with white clay and brown acrylic paint. She also like the earrings I made in the past beads combined with metal bronze rings on top, so this were just meant to be made for her :)

Some little round shaped beads that I sanded roughly down after adding the paint. You can see how many of the lines already are fading creating a worn texture. 

Just some kind of drops, again for a highly organic texture with the dots on the surface. I like to play with them in my hand, to feel the structured surface. Still unsure what to make with them.

And here one of my first experiments with the white and brown combination. I used cheap earring loops I got at a sale (like the one I used for this pair of earrings made with thread) and covered them with polymer clay. I added swirls and dots, cut the surface to create more surface for the colour later to set in.

Like the whole earring is a big large bead ^^

Can you see all the stripes where I cut the clay with a sharp blade? 

I tried with less brown paint in the beginning but I prefer this heavy stained look. 

Maybe not fitting to all the beads above but made in the same work session. Another friend saw the beads I made with the texture of an old stamped spoon (I also used it in my yellow challenge here) and asked for some smaller ones... in plain matt white. I am so curious what she will make out of them!