The Cobalt Blues

There is a lot of experimenting going on in the Diva house this weekend.  I am knee deep in Pardo translucent and loving the glass-like results.   And the colors!  Oh, my!

First up, these mouthwatering faux jade Asian Kanji tower focal beads.  Mouthwatering and a mouthful, right?  I call them "tower beads" because they are 4-sided instead of round like my signature "cylinder beads."

My friend Ginger of The Blue Bottle Tree saw the faux jade tower beads on my flickr photostream earlier this week, and she wanted to experiment with a cobalt blue color.  She made a fabulous faux cobalt blue bead, and I was so positively pea green with envy, I had to try it myself.  I kicked a few formulas around, and got various shades of blue and purple, but ended up liking these the best, my first attempts.  What do you think?  They are a deep cobalt blue, and have great transparency.

Here are some faux red jade gingko leaf cylinder beads created from the Pardo, and a sweet little robin's egg blue Asian Waves cylinder bead.   The bead behind it actually has the waves stamped on the inside.  Those of you who have purchased my faux bone and ivory tutorial know how these are constructed, but it's the first time I've put the stamped design on the inside.  I love how the clay is so translucent, you can see the design from the other side.

And wait until you see the marbled earrings I made from some of the cobalt scraps.  More on those next time.  I gotta get back to the laboratory!   

A Faux Goody Weekend

I spent the weekend cleaning out my inspiration box of magazine clippings and texture samples and bad sketches I've made trying to come up with some interesting new topics for tutorials.   I've been experimenting all weekend, too.  Lots of happy accidents to report, and a few which went straight to the bottom of an empty new Butt Uglies jar.

Several months ago, I won a copy of Heather Powers' new book, Jewelry Designs From Nature, and I was looking through it again today and noticed a sticky note I had placed on page 82.

Page 82 shows a Sea Urchin Necklace Heather created with Sea Urchin Spines and one of her own 30mm sea urchin polymer beads.   The note said "find some of these" and pointed to the beautiful olive green spines.   I had never seen the spines in olive, and Heather's are also a lot bigger than the ones I have.  Mine are sort of mauve-ishy-caramel, and really small.  I tried to find some of the olive color, but couldn't, so today, I decided to try and make my own from polymer.  

Ta da!   I think they turned out pretty darn good.  I would show you a photo of Heather's necklace, but that would probably violate copyright laws, so I better not.   If any of you have her new book, though, check out the real thing on page 82 and let me know how you think mine compare.  

I also experimented with some of my "controlled marbling" technique to see what else I could write a tutorial on other than a ho-hum pair of earrings, so I added a herringbone or chevron texture sheet and went to town.   I like these, too.   There are so many colors that come through with marbled pieces.  I am always amazed to see what emerges after sanding and buffing.  

I am still going through the inspiration box, so more new stuff to come.  

And John, I haven't forgotten about your faux amber, either.  I'm just trying to come up with a recipe that looks like the real thing but isn't the same old thing everyone else has already done. 

When Life Hands You Lemons... Make Jewelry

I am not doing very well at keeping that promise to blog every day, am I?  Again, almost another month has gone by since my last post.   Blame it on Facebook.   I'm trying desperately to keep up with all the things that go on there, things I want to comment on and things I want to participate in, and I feel like I'm spinning my wheels and getting nowhere.

Does it ever seem like to you that as soon as you learn how to do something, anything, a new and improved version comes along you have to learn all over again?   One step forward, two steps back... that's how I feel.

This selling on the internet thing is not for sissies.   The pace is relentless.  If you want to be successful, you have to keep up, when all you want to do is create.   That's the easy part, isn't it?  It's the photographing and listing and promoting, the constant promoting to make yourself stand out among the bazillion other talented artists out there trying to do the same thing, that is so exhausting.

Just when you think you have a handle on it, life throws you another whammy.   In my case, my job of 20 years as a real estate and probate paralegal, a field in which I have worked for 32 years, will come to an end at the end of October, 2012.  For a person who has worked constantly since I was a teenager (when other kids were taking vacations and playing, I was working my butt off to help my mother support our family), sometimes holding as many as three jobs in one Summer, it's very disconcerting.  I have never come to the end of a job before.  I've always been the one to leave to go on to something else.

Over the years, I've been a babysitter, a convenience store clerk, a clothing store clerk, a library helper, a video store cashier, a grocery store cashier, a bank teller, the advertising manager for a local paper, a florist, a restaurateur (for about six months) and owned by own gift shop (for about six months.)  I also did craft shows several times a year.  Since 1980, I've been a real estate and probate paralegal with two firms, a genealogist for hire, a jewelry designer and now a polymer artist.  Hmm, come to think of it, I have never held only one job at a time.

Two years ago my hours were cut back.  I should have seen the writing on the wall then and gotten out and looked for something else, but I didn't.  I kept hoping things would get better, because I had invested so much of myself in it and I really didn't believe what is happening now would happen.  Now, in less than two months, it will be over.   I am 53 years old, not in good physical health, and even though I have a keen analytical mind and a reputation as being one of the best in this state at what I do, I am finding that it means virtually nothing in this economy.  All the networking I did, a lot of which helped other people find jobs over the years, apparently means nothing either.   People are encouraging me to relocate to a big city, but personal and family obligations make that impossible.

So, even though my dream of being a full-time artist was only a pipe dream 5 years ago, now it is a reality.   I am REALLY on my own.   Come November 1st, 2012, I will be totally dependent on my own  ingenuity, creativity and talent.  It is both exciting and terrifying.   Up to this point, I never had to pay attention to how much I spent on clay or the cost of supplies or tools I wanted.  I am contemplating yearly budgets instead of weekly budgets now.  I am trying to figure out how far one bottle of shampoo will go, and I have a feeling I am going to become very familiar with each and every flavor of Hamburger Helper,  It's a good thing I love Ramen noodles, eh Laurel?  

I am trying to focus on this new phase as being an opportunity to live out a dream, but part of me can't help wonder if my creativity will suffer as a result of having to sell consistently to eat, or if the extra time I now have will make me more creative and improve my work.   It is a good thing I know how to type and sew, too.  My mother always said, if you can type and sew, you won't starve.  We'll certainly see.

So here's to the first day of my new independence as an artist.  Wait, let me cut that glass of champagne with some water first, okay?  Got to make it last... 

Stringing Magazine Fall Cover!

My friend Wenche Brennbakk, a superstar in the world of jewelry design who lives in Mo I Rana, Norway, emailed me yesterday to tell me we are sharing the cover of the Fall issue of Jewelry Stringing Magazine!   

I am sure you have seen Wenche's beautiful work in the pages of Bead Trends magazine, too, where she is a regular contributor.  She also has a shop at Etsy called Wenche Design.  I hope you'll check it out, because Wenche creates the most exquisite jewelry you have ever seen.  She is also one of the nicest, sweetest people I've never actually met!  

I first came to know Wenche from the customer gallery at Lima Bead, where we both have photos of our work posted.  She has a wonderful sense of color and composition that makes my mouth water.  The "bird bead" featured in the necklace was a custom order I created for her.  I cannot tell you how thrilled I am to have had a part in the creation of this gorgeous necklace.   I am still doing the happy dance over the news of the cover.   

I have had other customers' work featured in magazines with one or more of my focal components in cluded, and my own work has been featured in magazines and on several blogs, but this is the first time I've ever been on the cover of a magazine, and it is an amazing feeling. 

Stringing's Fall issue goes on sale here in the U.S. at newsstands on August 21st.  I can always find it at my local Hobby Lobby store, too, but if you see me in line ahead of you, you probably want to go somewhere else for your copy.  I intend to buy them out!

Wenche, thanks again for giving me the opportunity.   I really needed this pick-me-up this week and cannot tell you how much it means to me!   You are the best!

The Joke Is On Me

Yep, finally bowed to the pressures of marketing a virtual business and registered at Facebook.   All of you who heard me insist you would never in a million years find me there, feel free to laugh your heads off.  I still don't like it, in fact that is not nearly strong enough to convey how I feel about FB, but even I'm not stupid enough not to realize that if you want to market your work, you have to have a presence there.  So, here I am, kicking and screaming while being dragged into this bold, new world.  I blog, I tweet, I flickr and now I facebook.   Now I have to figure out how to get the little "Like Me" thingy here on the blog.   Anyone know?  I couldn't find the app or whatever anywhere on FB.  

I have uploaded my Etsy shop to Facebook, so check it out and let me know how it looks.   I admit, it is taking some getting used to for me.   I don't like change!  I don't like change!  LOL

So, I would love for you to stop by and visit my page, look at my profile, and make me a friend or like my page.   Please.  Otherwise, I'll feel even more of a hypocrite.   

Now, off to check out Google AdWords.... Hee Hee.  

Lynda Moseley at FB

Thanks so much, friends!

Lynda

Back In Gear

It felt so good to get my hands on a bunch of polymer clay again.  I spent the weekend trying to get the cobwebs out of my brain and back into creative mode.  

I don't know about you, but when I get back into the studio after being away from it for awhile, I try to keep my expectations low for the first couple of pieces.  I call them the throwaways.  They usually don't even make it into the Butt Uglies jar.  They go straight to the trash can.      

I started with two basic color batches:   One with tomato red, olive green, white, black, and a touch of lavender.   The other batch was slate blue, tan, brick red, black and white.   

The first color batch was intended for more pieces to add to my Southwestern Landscapes series.  


I love the tertiary colors found in the Southwestern U.S., including mustard yellow, tomato red, sage green, turquoise, aubergine, burnt orange, etc.  


The series is very popular with my local customers and my Etsy shop customers, and I can always use more inventory, so I started with some simple marbled earrings.  favorite.  Making earrings has become my new favorite thing to do with polymer.  


I used to resist them, because my OCD tendencies would kick in and I would get very frustrated if both pieces in a pair weren't exactly the same.  


Earrings are also popular with my customers, and I can't make too many to have on hand, so I decided this past weekend the Studio would be Earring Central.  


I changed the color palette a little and deleted the olive green and added some slate blue and a good bit of translucent clay.  

This "bargello" pattern is a favorite I've used several times.  It's a rounded bargello, not a zig zag pattern, but I still think it qualifies.  

These little heart earrings are really sweet, unfortunately, the photos don't do them justice.  


Next weekend, I hope to get started on some new tutorials.  I'm still taking suggestions, if anyone has any ideas for topics.  

   

Gone Fishin'

I cannot believe I haven't blogged since the middle of May.   Where the heck have I been?  
Well, I was trying to get a book outline done, and after four months, I have decided a book will have to wait.  Working on it caused me to ignore several areas of my creative life that I just can't ignore any longer.  My studio is under a layer of dust at this point!   Google instigated a new interface while I was gone, which caused me to have to download Google Chrome, which messed with many of my settings so that some of my programs wouldn't work, and it has been a major hassle trying to get everything back the way it should be.

I have not been completely happy with the book so far, so I have decided to shelve (no pun intended) it for now.  I want to do some experimenting with some translucent clay, but being on a deadline, even a self-imposed one, just takes too much fun out of the creative process for me at this point.   

I have also been spending a lot of time lately with my mother, who has ensnared me in her genealogy projects.  I have been a genealogist for 35 years, but until recently, my efforts have been concentrated mainly on my father's side of the family.  

Momma and I have had a great time discovering, confirming and even debunking some oral family history from her side of the family.   She is not really comfortable zipping around the internet, and had amassed a ton of paper, so I have spent a lot of time lately setting up a good genealogy software program on her computer which incorporates information from ancestry.com, a huge improvement over the way she had been previously gathering information... which has lead to a housecleaning of sorts.   Last week while I was officially on vacation, we managed to sort and discard much of that ton of paper, to bring her into the 21st century!

I also want to write some new tutorials.  I had a lovely compliment given to me by a customer this week about the faux bone and ivory tutorial, which is inspiring me to come up with some new topics.   I am also open to suggestions for polymer clay tutorial topics, so if anyone cares to offer up some, just post them here or email me.