Night Sparkle

I was going to do a sort of starry night type design with this cuff. When I started to bead, I started playing around and this is what came out. I have to figure out what I want for a clasp. Bead? Button? Shell? Something else? 

The Top for Jim's Pajamas

Eventually, I'll get how to make that V just right. I keep working on it. Anyway, here's the top to the bottoms I made last weekend. 

Support An Artist (or two)

Tomorrow is the annual shopping madness. Get up in the middle of the night, hope to get a parking space within a half mile of the mall, elbow other shoppers out of the way, stand in line forever to pay for your purchases, then carry it all out to the car which is parked a half mile away and on which level???? Don't forget the aspirin because shopping madness is almost guaranteed to induce a major headache.

Not my idea of fun. If it's not your idea of fun, there's a great alternative to Door Buster! sales, crowded malls, and shopping in the middle of the night. Etsy. If you click on the title, through the magic of the internet, you will be whisked to my etsy store. You will find no crowds there. You can shop in your jammies. You can find one of a kind hand made goodies. If what you're looking for isn't in my store, click on the link to see who hearts me and check out the great items in those shops. 

Socks - Who Says They Have To Match?

Socks don't have to match - they just have to fit and keep my feet warm. These are made from leftover cotton, leftover bamboo and leftover alpaca silk blend. 

Finished the Lariat

I finished the lariat and wore it yesterday. I can double it, toss the ends through the loop and it's long enough to make a nice necklace that way. Alas, I'm now running a little low on Swarovski crystals. Guess I'll just have to go bead shopping. 

Bead Dishes

I got tired of chasing seed beads around, so I made bead dishes. They are made from ^6 commercial clay that is the color of black coffee when fired. I did a really long firing so the glaze on the inside of the dishes did some wild things. I've got seven of these for sale in my etsy store. Just click on the title of this post and you'll be standing in the middle of my shop. 

Work in Progress

I love these beads. I'm working on a lariat and I've got about 4 inches left to go. These are matte beads with matte copper over black. They are gorgeous in real life, but don't photograph all that great. I intend to put Swarovsky crystal fringes on the ends. 

Jimmy's New Jammies

I found some great knit fabric on sale at Jo-Ann's. So... I made the pajama bottoms today. Jim is modeling them. He looks so happy and comfy in his new jammies. 

Refired Bowl

Jim Loves His Extruders

Pasta

These are the pasta bowls that got "over cooked." I meant to program a 30 minute hold and programmed a 30 hour hold instead. The low-fire crystal glazes on the bowls came out matte and the matte glaze for the pasta came out glossy. 

Pierced Trivet

Commercial clear glaze over slips. Low fire. 

Even More Little Bead Dishes

No, that's NOT a missed spot in the middle of the bottom photo. This is a pink glaze with white crystals. One crystal landed neatly in the middle. 

Latest Bead Dishes

Both are low fire using commercial crystal glazes. I pressed a design into the center of each dish to see how the design would look with a crystal glaze. Some are better than others. 

Bead Pot

This bead pot was made from ^6 clay and glazed with Waterfall Brown from Mastering ^6 Glazes. Finally! I got the glaze to run and to make a really nice break at the top of the pot. 

Jewelry Pieces and Cabochons

The top and bottom cabs are roughly the size of a quarter. The other cab is slightly larger. The donuts are approximately 1 3/4" - 2".  All are from the ^6 firing. The pieces that look like chocolates are made from a brown clay that fires to the color of black coffee. I used slip trailing to make the squiggles on  top of the "candy" pieces. 

Low Fire Crystals

^04 commercial crystal glazes on the paperweights. And that's a light reflection not an unglazed spot on the top photo. 

Crystal Experiment

^6, commercial crystal glaze and I fired it according to the instructions in a computer controlled electric kiln. I used a lot more glaze than I usually do. Note that I have a hard time getting glazes to run. What I didn't use was a porcelain clay. So..... my next experiment will be on porcelain. I will get these commercial glazes to work! In the mean time, I am getting great colors on the paper weights. 

The Permeable Brain Series

The front and back of two of The Permeable Brain sculpture series. All done in low fire with underglazes and commercial glazes.