Seed pod polymer clay beads - tutorial for Art Elements

All the time I forget to link to my blog posts over at Art Elements, but not this time! ;)

I wrote a tutorial for these polymer clay beads reminding me of seed pods. The inspiration was this months theme for our theme challenge at Art Elements.... yes... seed pods!

Just have a look here!

Have a Heart – February Component of the Month Reveal at Art Elements

This time I really have to say sorry. To Jenny as well as the rest of you who came here from Art Elements (where the component of the month is hosted) to my blog in the hope to see what gorgeous heart I got and what I created with it. I managed the creation part, but let alone have some time during the daylight hours to take pictures... didn't happen. The last weeks were quite full with work, more work, illness, did I mention work?, some family related things...

Somehow the part to take the pictures, edit and upload them seems to take way longer than anything else. Not that this is true. It is rather that I still need to buy a new cable for my digital camera (or rather finally buy a new one! If you follow my blog you know that I plan this for years now...). Until that I have to use my phone. It is not that I don't like the camera at my phone. I have a Huawei and the camera actually is quite good. But it makes too good pictures in the sense that it already changes the image. I hate that. I want to do my picture editing myself and don't want to first readjust my image before I change it again... arghs! I have to admit I just used the preinstalled app, maybe with a different camera app it wouldn't happen. 

Jenny asked us whether we had any preferences (colour, pendant or cabochon, ...). I just said that I would love to be surprised. So she send me this blue heart with the golden crackle. Now we come to my other dilemma (my blog post sounds rather grumbling, no? ;)). I like the heart and the crackle and the wire stitches to hold and mend the broken heart. I just don't do hearts. I can't explain it. Of course I knew this from the beginning and I chose to go along since I love challenges and I know that the only way to overcome this kind of hesitation with materials, shapes or colours is through using them.

Not that that it worked with yellow so far...

...but with pink!

I was tempted to incorporate the heart to a mixed media piece, I even had several perfect fitting backgrounds. But it felt wrong, it felt like the easy way and not a challenge so I used it as for was it was: A pendant.

I shredded an old chiffon neckerchief. On one side of the necklace I braided the fabric while on the other side I let three strands lose. Maybe I will braid them too in the future, not so sure about the rawness...but I like the look. 

I connected the fabric and the heart to a bronze chain. Bright gold was too golden for me (and I don't have real gold here just brass). To repeat the blue and to bring it all together, I added blueish beads to the bronze chain.

I am quite pleased with the organic look of the combination of fabric and how from the blue heart the blue beads seem to grow up. 

Only not so sure about the side with the open chiffon stripes...

So, thank you again Jenny for this heart. I got more comfortable to work with it while I tried different things and the next heart will hopefull be a little easier for me to work with (and as I said, I am not sure why hearts are so difficult for me even when I like them!).

If you are curious how the other hearts looked like and even more what the other contributors and guest at Art Elements created with theirs, please have a look at their blogs!

Guests: 

Rosantia Petkova

Shai Williams 

Sally Russick

Elaine Thornton

Art Elements team: 

Lindsay Starr

Laney Mead

Claire Fabian (you are here)

Sue Kennedy

Diana Ptaszynski

Caroline Dewison

Lesley Watt

Jennifer Cameron

Cooky Schock

Niky Sayers

Cathy Mendola

Jenny Davies-Reazor

Back from the island.... Impression from Formentera (Spain)

First things first: I want to go back to Formentera right now! ;)

I am still bot really back in my rhythm so I thought I would show you some impressions. Lizards are little living jewels...

Our house is more home to me than any other place and just look at the colours and the light!

Really, really rare for summertime: Heavy rain! Some years it doesn't rain at all and now this!

The cala saona early in the morning after the rain. Red, blue and green... clear and strong colours.

I always pack a lot of stuff. Sometimes I also do a lot, sometimes not. This time.... not... but I made these for Rumpel. Hippie style, a little bit boho... looks good on men!

...and some other bracelets...

...still without clasps...

More later. But just you know, I am back :)

Chain ideas - Playing with material

Okay, one of my own self-inflicted challenges is to create more necklaces. I am getting there, slowly and one step for me is to play a little bit with chains or rather with chain-making. I wanted to show you some of my ideas / experiments.

This one is just a connection between donut/rondelle glass beads (they are lovely and quite irregular in size). This chain moves beautifully, falls nicely and adds a nice weight without being heavy.

I also connceted thwin beeds with jump rings. Because the holes in the twin beads are relatively small and I aso had to use tiny jump rings, I could just fit one bead on one jump ring. Hence there is always a connection jump ring in between. 

It looks lovely and normally I am more bold in style but this fragile looking delicate chain I just adore :)

Quite easy one but also effective: Connecting big jump rings with small ones. For me I need to balance this by adding more of the smaller jump rings between the big ones.

This is how the chains started ;)

Or how about connecting vintage mother-of-pearl buttons with bronze rings? I never can decide which side of the button I prefer: The shiny one or the organic, rough one with the rest of the shells visible :)

An example of just wire wrapping beads and connect them. This are some of my precious (although originally cheap ones!) pressed glass beads. They have a feeling / looks that always brings past times into my mind. If you know where I could get more, please tell me!

Okay, I couldn't edit this image! I already have more chain versions on my table but need some more time to take pictures. :)

Blue flowers and a tiny wee beading tutorial...

Yes, a really tiny tutorial but hey, I already sketched it so why not show it? ;) 

Heather Powers from Humblebeads gave out a Super Bead Sunday challenge yesterday. It was inspired by the super bowl in the US and while I am neither in the US nor a fan of this game... I loved her inspirational colour palettes and had to play along! 

I made with duo (twin) beads and seed beads (15/00) small beaded flowers (or also just circles / mandalas... you name it). They are really simple but I love their look. I added a lot of czech glas beads with picasso finish (I got them all including the duo beads from The curious bead shop), some chain and metall drops. 

There are quite long, without the hook 8,5 cm (3,5 in) and with the hook and the beads on it 10,5 cm (4,1 in). The slightly touch my shoulders if I move my head. But there are really light and due to this play nicely while moving.

Oh, and here my tiny wee tutorial!

String 8 duo (twin) beads. Go through the first bead again. Make sure you got through all beads 2 times in total (always the same hole) and make a knot to secure. Then  go with the thread through the outer hole of a twin bead, take 2 seed beads (15/00) and go through the next twin beads. Make sure the thread is hold tight. Again go through all beads in the outer ring 2 times and make a knot afterwards.

Yes, it is tiny... but this is how I write / sketch down things like this :)

 This was the first made-at-night picture... still not a perfect picture at top on this blog post but getting better... maybe with sunlight and a new camera the quality will increase again. *sighs*

On my work table - fusion of silk and colours, wire and beads...

They are still not finished so just for you a short impression what I am working on for... weeks... no... months now. Not all the time, but you know, here a stolen moment and there another to keep going even if it is slow. I got beautiful silk stripes from urchinflower. We both took part in an event at crafts (the Package Pals!). It took me some time to know what I wanted to do with it. Not due to the lack of ideas but rather the tendency to keep them. You know the kind of keeping where you are afraid to waste them ;)

But then I had a bunch of small metal bangles or bracelets that I bought at a sale. Some of them I already showed you wrapped in embroidery thread. I thought of covering them with polymer clay just to see the silk next to the clay box.

What takes me so long are all the layers and discovering what works for me or not while going on. The first layer are always the stripes of coloured silk. Then I used silk or cotton thread to tighten them and especially to add more colour. I love the rough and open texture, still it is really durable! Maybe you can also see the thin coloured wire I wrapped on top of the thread. My sister Lachafa made such a great christmas box for me including a lot of crafting and jewelery material (all found somewhere in Barcelona :)). A set of bright coloured wire was included. Süße, it is nearly empty now! All used up for the bracelets!

Now I am at the last stage... stages... I add stringer wire as accents and as foundation to hold glas beads and metal findings. Old and recycled glass beads, sparkling czech glas, bird charms and flower caps. And at the end I somehow have to dull down the bright brass and copper wire. Still thinking of how to do this without damaging the silk. 

So probably it will take some more weeks... but at least I could show you a little snap shot of what is on my work table at the moment :)

All the beauty of aged flowers...

This little ones are one of my favorite earrings now. The little metal flowers are covered with swellegant brass and then used with a lot of the patina (from Christi Friesen). Oh, I changed their form before I added anything. Normally the upper flower petals were even, I just curled them back. I wanted to use them as a central bead in earrings so the flat version was not really fitting. 

The light blue glass beads are at least over 25 years old if not way older and from czech. I got them from Rumpels mom (I already used the beads I got from her several times so you may remember them if you read my blog already :)). Just some bronze glass beads (very irregular shape but I so love them!) and these gorgous green czech beads I got from the curious bead shop. 

Advent calendar - 20th

I had to include one of my fabric flowers. The last ones I made were all done with old jeans scraps. I really like to make these little flower hairpins. They are a great use for fabric leftovers (creating new things and use up the stash... to throw away fabric is... hard... even if there are just scraps leftover... so a win / win!) and so relaxing to create. Also a good project while traveling!

Strange plant stuff makes the best earrings!

At first (better late than never, nai?!): A happy new year!

My friend Rumpel and I moved together in a new flat. Of course we had do to this between (and during) christmas and new year (and the first days in january). I took two weeks off of work but there was no real free time ^^ We just have internet access again since today! 

Rumpel came with me to my family at the 24th (I am never able to remember how this is called in english. In germany we are celebrating at the 24th at the evening). I love my family but we are not easy. None of us. Not for ourselves and especially not for people coming into... but he hold himself great :) 

My three black cats (Bisu, Dean and Grusel) also moved in. Together with my last two surviving Geckos (Pinky and Squeasel). Brain died some weeks ago... and also last snake Nagalinchen... They were old so it was not surprising. I had them for about 10 to 12 years and when I got them they were already grown up. 

But after this recapitulation of the last weeks a completly change of topic: Earrings. 

I put some of these earrings in the advent calendar for my sister Lachafa. So you may already have seen them. The little immature acorn earrings, this long strange tubes (which are the most stunning worn on person! She put them on at christmas and the dangled beautiful and the form and movement was perfectly fitting for her! I was really surprised how much the look of earrings change just by seeing them on person!) and the geometric shapes...

I attached the glas beads on head pins in a way that they would dangle and move free and easy. The movement and the organic structure made them strangely living. 

I just found very few of the immature acorns. Or at least I found very few at the groud... the trees were to big to get the ones still hanging. For all the plant stuff I used my dremel to drill tiny holes in them. As long as you can drill a hole in something it is a possible bead for me!

Even if the glas beads are small they add sparkle!

...and no, I don't know from which kind of plant this came...

...and yes, I studied biology... ^^

...oh... last but not least: I will be in south corea for february and march! We have a cooperation there so this is an exchange of methods, tips and tricks and whatever else we can stuff in only two months. 

Advent calendar - 3th

A little bit of nature. I'll show you more of these! I drilled a little hole in immature acorns. There are always little ones who fall down without being fully grown. Perfect to use as natural beads for earrings!

Beading beads - earrings

Yes, this is new to me. Not completly true, then I was a kid we beaded little flower bracelets. The ones were you bead five small glas beads in a circle around a middle one. 

So beading in different directions and even three dimensional, that was really new to me! A friend showed me how to make these earrings (adapted from a pattern from beads and buttons).  I made already three different pairs for myself and this goes to my family (the earhooks are gold plated). 

I am still struggeling how to catch the real colours, shine and beauty of the beaded earrings. My photo skills have to be improved in the next time... 

Here on in the direct sunlight so you get an impression of the shine and shimmer of the glas beads!

The only negative things about the beaded earrings: The faceted glas beads with the high quality needed... are  expensive! So this earrings I will propably just create for family and friends (and myself! ^^)...

And I didn't wrote down the winner of my tiny giveaway for my tiny eyeball earring studs from last week. 

The winner is Mickymunchkin!

Even not anouncing you here in my blog: You alreday should got an email from me asking for your adress!

And because it is a short time before christmas and I am already preparing a lot of packages...

How about a little surprise for the others? :)

@Mich L in LA: I know, I know... I should habe your adress already but could you send it to me again?

@Crystelle: Could you send me your post adress as well?

Flowers - how to use your jeans fabric scraps!

I had a lot of jeans scraps lying around. I made a big pillow out of old jeans (still not finished or rather stuffed ^^) and had a lot of fabric leftovers. 

Perfect to sew glas beads on top and stitch some knots around it with coloured thread! (this is crochet thread, the same I use for my crochet earrings, I just love the bright colours!)

The come in all colours and sizes...

...and even some other fabric leftovers sneaked in ^^ Really fast and easy to make!