Some New Things to Ponder...

I've been so busy doing the beginning stages of our new "Art Jewelry/Components" website called LoveMyArtJewelry.  If anyone has had the experience of building one, you know how time consuming it can be.  It's worth checking out.  We're making plans for give aways, guest designer pages and more.  Stay tuned....

Just a quick indoor pic of my latest beads.  We just got home from Binghamton.  Bill and I went to MaryAnne's Studio (another MaryAnne) to get free bricks for Bill's Woodfire Kiln.  Came home to a cooled kiln....made a few buttons....Can't do tons of beads when I make buttons.  They often take up the space of two on my bead trees.  Also...not sure about this picture since I took in a cake pan.  Well....I wasn't in the cake pan.  The beads were ;o)  You might want to break out the sunglasses...

SOME NEW WORK...

By a fabulous designer who I've really gotten to love as an artist and a person!  I've only got this one necklace to show today, but she'll be listing more in her jewelry shop soon!.....Also, stay tuned for Sunday's Beads-of-Clay Blog to learn more about Missficklemedia....a.k.a. Shannon LeVart! 

The brown beads are from my shop and the chain is from Shannon's.  Great combos Shannon!

Here's some chain, beads and links that I will be receiving soon coming straight from Shannon's Studio!  I am so excited about this.  I have been wanting to make a necklace for a family member for some time now. I just couldn't seem to find what I wanted to use with the ceramic frame that I made (now I need to learn how to use ice resin!).....I've found these fabulous items in Shannon's other shop Missficklemedia!

*If you are a jewelry designer who uses handmade ceramic beads, please drop me a line*

I may be able to interview you for my Sunday post on Beads-of-Clay sometime in the future!

Thanks!

testing~tap~tap~tap~testing: BEADS-OF-CLAY!!! BEADS-OF-CLAY!!!

Stay tuned tomorrow for some giveaways from the same artists that have made these designs...... A chance to receive 3 packages with items from 3 artists  in about 3 weeks.....

Hey~That has a little ring to it and I didn't even plan it that way!  Here's a sample of what's to come.....RUSH ON OVER to Beads-Of-Clay and start following TODAY!!!!! 

Haven't seen enough?  Check 'em out:  Natalie, Mary and Me :O)

2 of This..2 of That..DID YOU SAY FREE?

FREE!!!  That word certainly is one of my favorites....Since it's Spring Break, I decided to do a little Spring Cleaning of the beady kind.  Then I decided to add in a couple of my newer designs!  If you like these pairs, then leave me a comment telling me so....

One week from today (Saturday, April 24th) I will randomly select a winner from the comments.  Here's an incentive to follow....

~Anyone who is a registered blogger may comment for a chance to win~

~If you are a "follower" your name will be added TWICE~

HERE YE HERE YE.....

or is that Hear Ye? Hear Ye?  Did you know that means...."Listen to HIM, Listen to HIM.."  Well today, April 16th 2010, I'm tweaking that old expression...."Listen to HER, Listen to HER!" 

....Actually, speaking of then and now....BEADS OF CLAY has a then and now a "NOW!"  Keep watching the clay blog....new news, new give aways, new etsy shop.....NEW NEW NEW coming soon!!!  There's a certain ring to that word "NEW," isn't there?  Don't miss your chance to follow now so you don't miss out on the action!  

Who wouldn't want a chance to win a little part of the earth?  Just take a gander at what can happen when you dig deep through this.... 

And end up with something like this........?  Wonderfully amazing!!!

Toggle pendant by Mary Harding

With all that said...go forth and...

FOLLOW YE FOLLOW YE!! 

I'M IN THE DOGHOUSE!....again

With this firing, that is......The white shepard was a custom order.  The only thing that I wasn't happy about was that the white glaze was a little more dominant than I had expected.  That's the kind of thing with clay that you have no control over once the decision to turn that kiln on is made.  I thought I knew that glaze and I guess the glaze really had the last say!!   Crooked ear shepard was for a necklace that I made for my good friend Pam!  Don't forget to head over the Bill's April 3rd Post to win a free mug.  He's drawing a name for that tomorrow!

IDEA SUPPLY THAT NEVER RUNS OUT...

 Depending on the request and the person making it, I'm sometimes a fan of custom orders and sometimes not.  This time was a definite ....  "YES! YES! YES!!"  Not only was this request pretty simple and straight forward, but also gave me an idea for taking a former style and tweaking it.  From, what were once just pendants, these little lovelies have become connectors, links, or whatever else you might have a use for.  I've got some creative talent, but it wouldn't be what it is without other people who share their creativity with me.  So thanks everyone for your ideas that help me to keep current and keeping those ideas cells flowing!!!

THE COOLEST....MOST AWESOMEST BEADS ON THE PLANET!!! for you...for free...

Okay....so it's a slight exaggeration!  Got your attention though, didn't I???  Now that I have it, how would you like to have a set of these? or two?  I made these using my three favorite glazes...It was an experiment and this one ACTUALLY made me smile!!  Not always the case...  I'm going to make a bunch more since I love them!  So....as soon as I have more made to give away (within a week or two),  I'll randomly pick a name from all of the people that leave me a comment on this post!  CONTEST RULES....1)  You must be a bead fanatic  2)  Only nice comments   3)  You must be okay with me posting your name as the winner!!  4)  Be willing to accept two sets instead of one!!

Working Dog in the Works...

Can you guess what this will be?  One is a custom order for Alyce who has purchased some animal pendants for me in the past.  She's made them into frames!...Very cool idea.  I'm looking forward to seeing her pics when she gets the time to send them.  The other is the same kind of dog only this one is for my girlfriend. 
Her loving, sometimes annoying pup...
Has an ear that has never stood up...

Just realized that rhymed so it had to be put in poem format ;o)  Anyhow, the end result will be a little more obvious once the glaze is applied.  I started making these pendants when Kristy from beadykeekjewelry requested that I make a circle with ears to represent her beloved cat.  It eventually developed into more life like animals.  I only make these on request since I think that you either love them or you don't....not to mention, it's usually a personal love for a specific animal......woof!

DRESS 'ER UP!!

I decided I try something different in terms of pendants.  I got this idea from one of my favorite jewelry designers Kelli Pope (mcpeanuts).  In almost all of the necklaces that I have seen from her, he uses more than one piece where the pendant hangs.  I thought, "Wouldn't it be kinda cool to have coordinating pendants that are shaped similiar to beach stones....nothing too busy, since it's up to the jewelry artist to complete the design?"  I can't remember when this one popped into my head, but it was probably during either my ride home from work or while exercising.  I seem to get many ideas during those times.  I also thought that it would be kinda silly to come up with a pendant like this, but not have coordinating beads to go along with it.

Give Me an Idea or Two....

Kelli is one of my buyers whose style just meshes with mine.  I like to make rustic beads and she's incredibly talented at using them in her own unique designs.  She has taken many classes in metal smithing as, I'm sure, you can see is evident in her work.  Stop by my website (artisanbeadsplus.com) soon for some more examples of her work.....Did I mention that her work is sold in museums and gift shops in and around her area of Clarksville, IN and that she specializes in custom work?  Her prices are very reasonable.  Drop her a line if you are interested in that unique piece that has been customized just for you (McPeanuts@aol.com).

Happy Heat

Another Happy Firing. I'm pretty tired after a marathon glazing on Saturday. I don't usually do that, but had an urge to get them all done and ready to be fired on Sunday. These will be gradually posted in my Etsy shop. Since I work full time besides making beads, my postings aren't done quickly. If you're interested in anything that you see here, feel free to convo me for more pics and or inquiries. Happy Beading!!! Mary Ann

ETSY CONTEST...

CONTEST
Only 190 sales away from reaching 1000! Be one of those sales that helps to get me there and win all the beads pictured! I will enter names for a random drawing that will take place as soon as I reach my goal :O) Happy Beading!!!! MaryAnn

A New Baby and My latest Firing..

Here's what just came out of the kiln.....One was my little doll kiln and the other straight from her Mommy's kiln ;o) It's so exciting when I come home from work and open the lid......What's even more exciting is our latest addition, Chloe Vaughn......Our new granddaughter weighed 7.0 lbs. even.....Now we have two little ones to spoil and hopefully, encourage to be bead or jewelry makers one day!!!

One of the great things about being a bead artist is that you can make yourself pretty much want you want in terms of jewelry. If there's a certain color or style that you like....well....just mold it out of clay. That's not to say that I still don't need the help of other artists and some commercial u too..... I do :O)

I decided that I needed some simple pearl like beads to wear with some tops that just don't work with lower hanging necklaces. Eventually, I'd like to have a collection of different simple necklaces in many colors. I'm a teacher so I'm up early every morning getting ready to get out the door by 7:00. Typically, I'm rushing at the last minute no matter how early I get up and I'm looking for a necklace at the last minute. I just made this so I hope it ends up working out like I want.

The Results Are In...

Although, the picture really doesn't do these any justice, what I mostly experience are many little lovely's, in many different shapes and sizes. I like to make small sets of a variety of shapes and colors. The beads that are the most time consuming are when I use mulitple glazes. Trying to figure out what might look good together and not clash can sometimes be a challenge. I love challenges so I'm also loving making these little works of art.

The Good, The Bead and The Ugly

Well....what can I say. While starting out 2010 I'm going to refrain from creating anymore beads as shown in the pics. You might ask, "What the @#$%! happened?" The sad truth is: My bead wire sculpture was created during my first experience with stoneware. Prior to that I only worked with low fire clays. I was using my cute, little personal kiln to make beads for my jewelry. Well....inexperienced and dependant on a defective pyrometer, the temperature never did reach 2250 degrees.....so I thought! I finally gave up at midnight, shut the kiln off, woke up to see my new beads and cried! There you have it.....I would say that I definitely learned the hard way. I was determined to overcome this and not give up! I have :O)

My mistakes since then have been minor. I occasionally apply too much glaze around the bead hole which results in the little bead flowers that you see. Bill was given the lovely little vase by Jack Troy during a workshop in Syracuse. The only way to remove these beads is with a hammer which I haven't been able to do just yet. It always seems like to much work to just take a hammer to!

Hot Hot Hot

This is my little electric kiln. The other pic is an inside shot of Bill's woodfire kiln. Those were the turquoise beads that were grabbed shortly after listing them on Etsy. They were very cool. I have pics listed in an earlier post. Hopefully, we'll have another bead woodfiring in about a month or so.

For right now though I'm excited to see what this bead firing brings. I'm passing the time away before I can take them out. I'm usually happy.....

My Life Outside of Teaching and Bead Making

Here's a picture of our beautiful granddaughter Lacey. Last weekend she spotted the 2 mounted fish in the laundry room. This fit right in with her current obsession with Nemo. She was estatic!! Her eyes got wide and she exclaimed with shear excitement, "Nonnie, it's NEMO!" She is absolutely precious.

I thought I'd also throw in my latest version of ceramic coin beads. I like the way these came out so I think I'll make some more :O)

Decisions....Decisions....

I'm trying to decide how to make this quarter note into a necklace that isn't tacky....Here's some of my first ideas.....I think I'm going to try to make it asymmetrical. I have a hard time putting jewelry ideas together. Between teaching and making porcelain beads, blogging, etc., my brain has a hard time adding any more to it.