Sugar Skull Necklaces....

Some new necklaces added to etsy...

A few reminders...

Have you seen it yet? I have to wait until Sunday!?@#$ I'm hearing some great things though! Play along and win a prize...
Make some jewelry with a Harry Potter theme!

The Prize:





A magical "Lady Bug Queen Heart" or a "Lotus" pendant in hand painted colors!

Send photos of your designs or view other designs here flickr group by Monday, July 20th 2009 and two winners will be chosen at random!

Join in the fun!


And just a reminder to take advantage....



Free shipping from www.gaea.cc from now until Saturday, July 18th! Free gift for returning customers too! Even wholesale orders!!!

New friend....

Meet Wubbie! Actually her name is A.C. but her name has gone through a few changes since she came into our lives. There have been a few more names since we found her.... K.C. (trying to keep a similar sound as not to confuse.) Voodoo, Licorice, and Calder thought Toby was good. Fluffy, Spot (yes, she has one white spot on her chest) and Chloe were offered up and other names. Robert found this sweet girl roaming the parking lot of our local coffee shop. People were actually honking at her to move! Hello, she's a dog?! I'll never understand that. Robert called to her and she jumped into the car! So off to work they went. She would go crazy if he left the office, barking and pacing and trying to get to him. I figured she had to have a family, clean coat, soft pads on her feet, well fed. I called our humane society and left her info and quickly got a call from the owners sister saying that "A.C.'s" family was out of town and she had escaped! Yikes! Poor thing! Apparently the sister had other dogs that didn't get along, but our little family was have a great play date with A.C. We offered to vacation with her until her family got back in a few days. When A.C.'s family returned it became clear that this was not the first escape she'd made. Yes, we thought of naming her Escape (pronounced esss-kah-pay like in Finding Nemo!) A.C.'s owner was afraid she would escape again (by opening the front door by the way). Robert was so in love with this black lab, that he offered for her to say permanently! So, here she is, the sweetest girl.... Juju!

Free Shipping! Happy Summer!

Free shipping from www.gaea.cc from now until Saturday, July 18th! Free gift for returning customers too! Even wholesale orders!!!

CHEATER!

I know! It seems like a bit of a cheat! I got an email requesting the diablo bead for a photo and I'll be darned, I couldn't find it! There aren't any made besides that one, which I can't find (I think I sent it out as a gift!?!?) and I can't justify running my giant kiln for one bead. So, I dug into my supplies and came out with some very dusty polymer clay. How different polymer is from porcelain! I'd forgotten! I pressed and molded and sculpted and pulled! I baked it in the oven and I'm rather liking how he turned out! I broke out the acrylic paints and here he is....



Not too bad! I was expecting worse! It's at least passable!

This is the original ceramic bead...



Little devil!

I Heart Jewelry Designers! Fantastic Metals and Gems!

There are quite a few jewelry designers that I admire! Everything else goes out the window when I find jewelry made with metal and semi-precious stones!

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Jes MaHarry! She actually lives about a stones throw from where I sit now and her work is inspirational! She's been in the Sundance Catalog for ages as Aunt Cookie will attest! Can you imagine that ring?!?!



If you've not noticed Beth Hemmila of Hint Jewelry then you must stop what you are doing and go and look!



I've mentioned Caitriona Meek and her amazing work but here are a few more to drool over! Check out her new website!



Enjoy the metal!

Homage...

I will start the ball rolling with this design! I would have loved this owl to be white and I may make a white owl polymer bead and switch it out as I've already dropped this one and broke the poor owl! Doh! Please feel free to upload your photos at the http://www.flickr.com/groups/1120138@N25/ flickr group!

A challenge to all jewelry making Harry Potter fans!!!

Don't get "Stupefied"! Break out your magic wand er, pliers and create something in honor of the newest Harry Potter movie! If you get jumbled up just use the "deletrius" spell and all will be put right!

Create any jewelry (earrings, bracelet, necklace, pin, etc....) that has a Harry Potter theme!

The Prize:





A magical "Lady Bug Queen Heart" or a "Lotus" pendant in hand painted colors!

Send photos of your designs to this flickr group by Monday, July 20th 2009 and two winners will be chosen at random!

Let your pliers be your magic wand!

Finished Mermaid Necklace

I hope Linda will love her new necklace!

Mermaid Necklace....

Here is the mermaid necklace in progress. I'm loving the creams and blues! I think brass wire would have been awesome but I didn't have any in the right gauge. Sterling would have been beautiful but was out of the budget. I think when the copper ages and gets a natural patina it will be really beachy looking!

Cracklin' good time!

My friend Linda requested a mermaid necklace as a gift for her daughter a while back and has asked for one to be made as a gift for herself. She requested blues and creams and whites and I'm taking the opportunity to add in a few crackled beads that have a tint to them. I'm hoping the finished necklace will look like the ocean surf. Linda is a minister and will be wearing her necklace to perform the marriage ceremony at a hawaiian theme wedding! Here are some of the beads with the crackle that have been tinted with ink....



How cute are the little squirrels on the ink bottle?!



Here are some crackle beads tinted and not.

Can't Hardly WAIT!!!!

I am so geeking out over the next Harry Potter film!!! I CAN NOT WAIT!!! I've been checking for new trailers for the movie and even been playing the newest video game! Oh.... and re-reading the book! IT IS GOING TO BE AWESOME!!! Deep breath! The movie poster gallery at Fandango just gave me chills! There are some really great updates at the the-leaky-cauldron.org Yes. I'm a bit obsessed. But in a good way! Oh! My count down widget says we only have 9 days, 9 hours, 49 minutes and 32 seconds!!!

Don't put your heart in a box...

Well.. maybe a frame. Here is an example of offering an item on the website that isn't actually available. I have a round heart frame shown but no 1 1/2" square heart frame. It was ordered in this sunny yellow color. I think it came out great and I hope the person who ordered it is pleased as well! I could picture it with some light blue turquoise beads or even some hot pink glass beads! OH! Or some grey beads!!! What would you do?

Golden!

These are one of the new color combos I was trying. The clay fires a golden yellow color and looks great except that the yellow glaze tends to disappear. I guess I just need to use less yellow glaze! I should photo all the different clays and glazes together on one photo just to see them side by side. How was your weekend? A good 4th? Great!

Newness!

There is something about these that are begging me to keep re-doing them. Maybe it's just that the idea is making more ideas in my head, not so much a dissatisfaction with the way these turned out. I think a "I will be" banner heart, something that was inspired by my friend CarolAnn and her sister Linda, would be nice. A few more sayings come to mind. Should they all be a totally different design? Should they all be the same with different words? Not a bad problem to have, I guess...