Bead Soup Blog Party - The Big Day

This is the great bead soup I received from Lisa Suver. She makes these great swirly polymer clay beads. These are in shades of deep green/turquoise, coral/red gold, brown and white.

Check out Lisa's blog HERE and her Etsy shop HERE

Can you believe that I have never made a three strand bracelet? I have not until this challenge. Weird, right? Lisa sent these neato clasps with an offset loop and three loops. I am not sure how to use them (see below) and used the extra single loop for a dangle. I should have checked out the bracelet in Lisa's shop to see how she used them. Lisa used the three loops for dangles, this would have been better. Lisa sent some turquoise, pearls and copper beads with her soup. I really like how the light and dark pearls add an almost mixed metals look to this bracelet. I added some seed beads in a copper tone. I love the look of asymmetrical designs, but have a hard time doing it (I like to make symetrical designs). I found that by making this bracelet I could make each row symmetrical, but each row different and tada, asymmetrical bracelet that doesn't give me a headache trying to design.

Lisa sent a really bead beautiful focal bead and I knew I wanted to make a lariat necklace. I used her large bead and made dangles and paired them with this lovely brass chain and clasp. I made the clasp in the front. I cut the chain too short. I wanted a really long necklace, but on me it is a little shorted than I wanted. Oh well another trip to the bead store.

Finally I made some simple earrings with the sparkly polymer clay beads and the turquoise beads she sent. I like how the polymer beads looks like wood or a gemstone in this photo.

I have lots of beads left over to make more jewelry, can't wait to try out more. Many thanks to Lisa for her beads and Lori for her organization of the party.

Check out all the other blogs in the links below.

Hostess, Lori Anderson

1. Adlinah Kamsir (Singapore) and Hajer Waheed (Kingdom of Bahrain)
2. Adrienn Lukacs (Hungary) and Agata Grygiel (Poland)
3. Agi Kiss (Hungary) and Carolien Muller-Genger (the Netherlands)
4. Agnes Asztalos (Hungary) and B.R. Kuhlman
5. Alesha Conklin and Becki Mendivil
6. Alice Peterson and Carol Dillman
7. Alicia Marinache (Canada) and Dita Basu
8. Amanda Dittloff and Brandy Thomason McNair
9. Amanda Tibbetts and Andrea Trank
10. Amy Freeland and Kay Mallery

11. Andra Weber and Christine Murrow
12. Ann Sherwood and Diane Welte
13. Barbara Bechtel and Kerry Bogert
14. Barbara Lewis and Cat Pruitt
15. Bonnie Coursolle (Canada) and Fay Wolfenden (Canada)
16. Carmel McGinley (Australia) and Tracy Stillman (Australia)
17. Cassie Donlen and Deryn Mentock
18. Cathie Carroll and Janel Dudley
19. Cece Cormier and Morwyn Mullins
20. Charlene Jacka and Christina Hickman

21. Cheryl Brown (Canada) and Diana Ptaszynski
22. Christina Stofmeel (the Netherlands) and Eva Kovacs (Hungary)
23. Christine Damm and Deb Brooks
24. Cilla Watkins (Canada) and Elaine Robitaille (Canada)
25. Sabrina Straub (Switzerland) and Kathy Combs
26. Cindy Cima Edwards and Eleanor Burian-Mohr
27. Cory Celaya and Rhea Freitieg
28. Courtney Breul and Dana Hickey
29. Cynthia Abner and Jennifer Boreck
30. Cynthia Tucker and Jean Peter

31. Debbie Goering and Heidi Post
32. Dee Elgie (UK) and Joanne Lockwood (UK)
33. Dian Hierschel (Germany) and Eniko Fabian (Austria)
34. Diane Cook and Lyn Foley
35. Donna Bohler and Lisa Lodge
36. Donna Millard and Kiersten Giles
37. Doris Stumpf (Germany) and Eszter Czibulyas (Hungary)
38. Elisabeth Auld and Eva Sherman
39. Elke Leonhardt-Rath (Germany) and Marjolein Trewavas (UK)
40. Ema Kilroy and Laurie Keefe-Cecere

41. Erika Nooteboom (the Netherlands) and Giorgia Rossini (Italy)
42. Erin Grant and Jean Wells
43. Evelyn Duberry (Canada) and Gaea Cannaday
44. Genea Crivello-Knable and Heather Powers
45. Ginger Bishop (military, Okinawa) and Martina Nagele (Germany)
46. Heidi Kingman and Lori Greenberg
47. Helen Kemp and Lisa Wangeman
48. Helene Goldberg (Australia) and Karen Vincent
49. Jamie Hogsett and Jeannie Dukic
50. Jeanette Ryan and Jelveh Jaferian

51. Jennifer Cameron and Tania Spivey
52. Jennifer Justman and Kari Carrigan
53. Jennifer Tough and Lorelei Eurto
54. Joanna Matuszczyk (Poland) and Julianna Kis (Hungary)
55. Joanne Tinley (UK) and Michaela Pabeschitz (Austria)
56. Julie Anne Leggett and Kelley Fogle
57. Karen Hess and Linda Landig
58. Karyn Bonfiglio and Kathleen Lange Klik
59. Kashmira Patel and Kat White
60. Kat Barron Miller and Kelly Morgan

61. Kathy Lindemer and Rose Binoya
62. Krafty Max and Sandra Miller
63. Kristen Latimer and Pam Ferrari
64. Kristie Roeder and Lea Avroch
65. Kristina Johansson (Sweden) and Penny Neville (Canada)
66. Krisztina Erlaki-Toth (Hungary) and Nicole Keller (Germany)
67. Lara Lutrick and Lisa Suver
68. Laura DeMoya and Lisa Hanna
69. Libby Leuchtman and Melanie Brooks
70. Linda Koch and Rosemarie Cowit

71. Lisa Chapman and Menka Gupta
72. Lisa Liddy and Marion Simmons
73. Lori Anderson and Marcie Abney
74. Lori Bowring-Michaud and Mary Govaars
75. Lori Dorrington and Maria Rosa Sharrow
76. Lori Finney (Canada) and Marie-Noel Voyer-Cramp (Canada)
77. Lynn Bennett and Mandi Ainsworth
78. Marta Kaczerowska (Poland) and Milla Starchik (Canada)
79. Mary Harding and Shannon LeVart
80. Mary Jane Dodd and Stacey Curry

81. Melinda Orr and Molly Alexander
82. Melissa Meman and Michelle Escano-Caballaro
83. Michelle Jensen and Sandra Young (Canada)
84. Nan Emmett and Nicole Valentine-Rimmer (Canada)
85. Nancy Boylan and Suzette Bentley
86. Natasha Lutes and Patti Vanderbloemen
87. Pam Hurst and Rebekah Payne
88. Patty Miller and Sara Rhoades
89. Rebecca Anderson (UK) and Lori Anderson
90. Rebecca Sirevaag and Sharon Driscoll

91. Rochelle Brisson and Shannon Chomanczuk
92. Rosa Maria Cuevas (Mexico) and Tejae Floyde
93. Sabine Dittrich (Germany) and Sally Russick
94. Sandi Volpe and Sarah/Saturday Sequins
95. Shanti Johnson and Tracy Mok (Canada)
96. Skylar Brez and Theresa Buchle

97. Sonya Stille and Traci Zeller (Canada)

98. Stefanie Teufel (Germany) and Tania Hagen (New Zealand)

99. Stephanie LaRosa and Vonna Maslanka

100. Terri Wlaschin and Wendy Blum

NWBS Show Day one

Today was the first day of the Northwest Bead Society annual show. My friend Lori Bergmann and I shared an eight foot table. I realised I have way more than 4 feet of beads. Check out that photo below, all those blue beads! I have a lot of blue and purple beads!

Check out these great stands that my dad made for me. I have one horizontal and one vertical and plenty of beads to fill them up. I will say however, people don't touch those beads as much as the beads in the trays.

Bead Soup Party Blog Show and Tell Day

My bead soup came from Deci Worland (Blog and Etsy). I was able to make three items and have beads left over. She sent a super cute beetle focal. It is ceramic or clay. Deci said: "The focal is from Andrew Thornton, I am not sure if he made it or someone else. The smaller handcrafted beads are from Jardanne." I don’t know if that is the glass beads or the cool enameled bead. If anyone knows let me know. Deci choose colors that I love, thanks Deci! I really like the bright green color and purple is my favorite. The base color of the focal bead is a deep purple almost black.

I am a lampwork bead artist and I wanted to incorporate my beads into the piece. There are several colors of glass that come close to the color of the beetle background and they all have a neat finish. I made TONS. The color I liked the best did not match at all. I ended up with a lot of beads that looked similar and they are purple or black with a slight iridescent finish. I had a hard time picking them apart and now when I look at the finished piece I can pick out the ones that don’t match the others. Darn it! I’m not sure if it looks OK all mixed up or not. For those that are interested I used Dark Silver Plum and Gunmetal. The color that did not match was Dark Metallic Black.

Deci sent a cooper clasp and these cool puffy copper triangle beads. I need to get more of these, they are so fun! I choose the lightest and brightest green gem beads. I think they maybe moss agate. I anyone knows, please let me know.

I used some bright green seed beads to attach the focal and clasp to the necklace.



Green and purple are a classic combination and I wanted to use these fun shaped purple beads in earrings. I couldn't decide if they should be on the top or the bottom of the earrings, so why not both!

Finally I used the black gem beads (these have a very faint strip of grey/white which is more evedent in some beads that other, but didn't show up in the photo.) I paired these with some bead caps and sterling findings for these cute earrings. I don't know what these gems are, but would like to know I have several left. I think it might be black agate.

I had a great time with the Bead Soup Party. I hope to participate in the future. Many thanks to Deci for sending my beads and huge thanks to Lori for organizing the party.

There lots of blogs to visit for the Bead Soup Blog Party. There are 362 blog particiapants from five contients and 21 contries.

Check them all out here.

LOTS of Beads

I had the week of Christmas off. Did I travel to visit friends or family, nope but am waiting for nephew and sister to come next week - YAY. What I did do is make LOTS of beads. This pile doesn't look that tall, but it was. Look for new focals and set coming soon. Also on the sales front, I closed my website. I was not getting the sales there to keep paying out so much each month/year. New beads are exclusive to Etsy and ArtFire.

HALLOWEEN SALE

This week is Halloween and as mentioned previously on this blog it is one of my favorite holidays to make beads for. This week I have all my Halloween themed beads on Art Fire and Etsy ON SALE for 20% off.

NEW GLASS COLOR

I had the pleasure of opening up a new box of glass this week from Gaffer Glass USA. This special box arrived decorated with hearts and stars and sweet words from Hallynd, Jessica and Lacey. Thanks gals, you made my day. Inside the box was some Blue Chalcedony (G1095) rods and frit. It is a blue version of their normal Chalcedony, which has a red base.

This color also does the breaking up to form little cell-like decorations on the glass (this is my favorite part). I got some great blues, greens and purples from this glass.
These quick snapshots are my first beads (most of which will be heading back to Gaffer Glass USA). Like the original, the colors sometimes appear brighter when photographed.

MORE DISCS

I blogged before about making disc beads. I have not stopped and just love them and just can't seem to stop. No mater that they aren't selling. I'm still having fun. I have finally (after a decade) figured out how to get them round (well mostly). I just have to tell myself to slow down and work cool (I tend to work really hot).

Tips for making the discs:

- Work slower and cooler, but if it does get wonky, melt into a round and you have some matching rounds to go with your disks (I have a lot of these)

- Heat up more of the rod than just the tip so that as you continue building the disc, you don't have to stop and heat the rod.

- I find that rocking the rod up and down helps me keep a smaller thread of glass and not create a big blob (your results my vary).

- If you get it off center, make a heart by creasing the top and pulling out the bottom to a point.

I have discs on my Website, Etsy and ArtFire. Click on the photos above to see them for sale. Click on my links to the right to find more disc sets for sale.

Farmer's Market

I don't do a lot of show, but this year a friend of mine, Lori Bergmann, and I are sharing a table for four Saturday's this 1st season of the Maple Valley Farmer's Market. I have been busily making jewelry (necklaces, earrings, bracelets, rings) as well as functional items (cell phone charms, key chains and ceiling fan pulls). I've got around 170 items ready to go. Whew, it was a lot of hard work, but I'm ready to go on Saturday.

A new item for me is rings. In the latest issue of Step by Step Wire Jewelry has a great tutorial on how to make quick cocktail ring by Kerry Bogert. I have been a huge fan for her work for a long time and really thank her for this easy to follow tutorial. Here are the rings I have made so far.

Friday Fire Diva Find

As I have mentioned before I'm a member of a group of fellow glass lampworking artists that have banded together to help promote each other on selling sites such as Etsy, Artfire and 1000 Markets.

I was looking around ArtFire and found this lovely bead from enVision (sisters Helen and Hayley Tsang) . I suspect this is Hayley's bead, but I'm not 100% sure. Hayley uses a lot of silvered glass and twisties just like I do. I have adored her work for a long time.

Click on the photo to be directed to it's page on ArtFire. This bead's name is Meander, which is an awesome name.

Check out more of their lovely beads at http://www.artfire.com/users/envision

NEWLY LISTED BRACELET

I made this bracelet this week out of beads from my bead bowl. This is where I keep the beads that didn't have a size match for a set or that I was experimenting with colors or shape. I am super happy with the way this turned out. It is so pretty.

This was listed at 1000Markets, feel free to check it out. Bracelet

Any comments or constrictive criticism are welcome.

BUNNIES

I rarely can pinpoint where I get my ideas for beads, but my bunny bead is an exception. I started making these beads last year around this time to get ready for Easter. I think they are super cute.

My mom has a Terra Cotta pot with a large Lop Rabbit on the front. Neither of us can remember the artist, but she got the pot at an art's fair in the Seattle area. This bunny is so sweet, look at that face. One day I was thinking about what to make next and I was looking at the pot and decided to try. Here you can see the pot with the circles drawn on where I was looking for the basics of the design.

First a drew a pattern on paper to get the shapes down, then did some dots on the bead and pushed and pulled the dots into ears, a face, and legs.

Tada..... bunny bead. Both of these bunnies are available on Etsy. I also have a bunny bead on Artfire. Check under the user name: Lutrick

Chalcedony Again

I'm still having lot of fun with this glass. I just wanted to show a set I made with Gaffer Black, Chalcedony and Clear.

Chalcedony - New Glass WOO HOO

I wanted to post a picture of the bead made of the glass mentioned below. This is Chalcedony, G109. It is very similar to Raku (R108), which I can not get to do anything for me. (I also can't get color with TerraNova, Khaos, or Luna2). I get tan and blah. Not with this one. I get reds, purples, pinks, oranges, blues and greens. This was the one with the best colors. Chalcedony on Black.

GAFFER GOODNESS

Today I went to Gaffer Glass in Kent for Fire and Rain event (my local ISGB chapter). This glass is 96 COE and has great colors. It is made in New Zealand and is mostly used for glass blowing (vessels, ornaments, etc). I can not say enough wonderful things about the staff in Kent. They are very nice and so helpful each time I'm there.

I really like their glass, it is helpful that it is the closest glass store to my home.

(These earrings are made of Gaffer and are available at my 1000Markets site)

I like the transparent colors a lot, but mostly the lighter colors. Because their colors are used to do glassblowing and are very dense (so that when you blow them thin, the colors stays). Some of the colors you have to pull into a stringer to use as they are so dense. They are making more and more colors for the lampworker and coming out with new colors all the time. I got a new color today that they just got in. It is Chalcedony, it is supposed to be like Raku. Hope I can get it to work, I'm not so good with Raku.

As beautiful as the transparents are, I mostly like to use their opaques. I especially like Taxi Cab Yellow (not the right name, it is orange), Chartreuse, and Robin's Egg Blue (see the photo above).

Their veiled colors are great as well.

ART FIRE

I have decided to set up an Art Fire account. This is a selling site similar to Etsy. One of my posts below talked about my New Year's Resolution to make bright beads. I have made some bright ones and listed them at Art Fire. Check my new shop out at: http://www.lutrick.artfire.com/.

Class on the Coast

This weekend I took my first class in two years. It was with Michele Goldstein (pictured above) at M and D Designs in Chinook Washington. I had a blast. First off, I love her work. Such fun bright colors and shapes. Below are some pictures of the beads I made. These are tiny, 1/2 in or less. This is just a snapshot; I'll try to get better pictures soon.

Secondly, I love the ocean. I love the smells, the sights and the sound. I have not been to the Washington cost in probably about 7-8 years, if not more. One thing that is self evident, the beach in January is REALLY COLD. Also, the beach in January in Washington State is GREY. The sky, the water and the sand were all the same color. How I wish that the sky were blue and sunny for good picture taking opportunities.

This picture shows the mouth the Columbia River where it meets the Pacific Ocean. It is incredible. The mountains in the distance are in Oregon and the beach at the bottom of the picture is Washington. This is one of the most dangerous places for ships.

This is a picture taken about 7.30-8 am. The sun had just come up, but the light was really bad. Here you can see the grey water, clouds and sand. This is on Long Beach, one of the longest sand beaches in the world (28 miles). What is weird about this beach, there was no driftwood, no shells, and no seaweed. It was just bare. Could be because they allow people to drive on the beach in off peak seasons. Note the itty-bitty lighthouse on the left of the picture above.

This is the North Head Lighthouse. Don't know why this picture turned out looking blue, but the sky was still grey. It is a pretty old lighthouse, but it has seen better days. If you go to Illwaco this lighthouse was a really each hike (.25 miles) of gentle downhill path. The more impressive lighthouse is the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse (mainly because of the view). I did not get to that one this trip, but have been in the past. That hike is about .75 miles up a very steep hill. The view of the mouth of the Columbia is breathtaking and wonderful. If you were able to hike up this hill, I would highly encourage it!


This last picture is of the Columbia River and the Astoria-Megler Bridge. It is very hard to picture the width of this river from any of the shots I took. It is enormous. The bridge is 21,474 ft long (about 4 miles). That long thing on the L. hand side of the shot is a full sized tree trunk (at least that is my guess). For a better shot, I found this link on Wikipedia; it gives you a better idea of the immense size of the river at this point. Roll on Columbia Roll on. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:USACE_Astoria-Megler_Bridge.jpg

NEW CAMERA

Wow, what a difference a wonderful camera can make. I used some of my Christmas gift money to get a new Nikon D80 camera. It a so nice. I wanted an SLR camera for a while and finally took the plunge. I'm very happy with my new pictures. Just think after I take a class how cool the photos will be.

NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS

It is that time of year again, time to come up with a plan for the next year. Last year's resolution and this year's for my beadmaking are the same; to use bright colors. I really like making organic beads, but I'm drawn to the bright beads. At my studio I tend to gravitate to the greens and browns, but if I'm shopping I want the bright reds, blues, greens and purples. I'm not sure what this means, but I'm going to try to make brighter beads this year.

Seen here are a few attempts at bright beads from this year.

What do I do with this bead?

So a question that beadmakers are asked a lot is "What do I do with this?" Most people don't make their own jewelry and do not know what to do with an art bead.

I found this article on the Art Bead Scene Blog by Jennifer Jangles that talks about making a beaded placed card holder. What a cute idea. They have other ideas in their 12 days of Christmas series. Check it out.

Art Bead Scene Blog: On the 1st Day of Christmas: Art Bead Place Card Holders

I may have to try this out myself.