You Know you Have an Addiction When...

You go to the local Ben Franklin store for the third straight day just because they are having a 75% Going Out of Business sale!!!!

Well, I actually made and drank a cup of coffee, fed the pups, and took pictures of my beads for an etsy shop posting BEFORE I went back to the Key West Ben Franklin store...for the third day straight. 

 And, I ain't going back again.  So, take a letter Maria.  Address it to my therapist.  Send a copy to my extended family. Got start a new life.  Only some of you will get what I mean by this last paragraph.  oldies but goodies! 

 Anyway, here is my haul.  Filled three of my baskets.  

  

Before and After - Relishing Redo's

I don't know about you but I relish remaking things.  Not in the moment as I am making them because that is rework.  No, maybe months, even years after.  I have a bag full of jewelry waiting to be remade.  However, I never touch it.  Well, I touch it but mostly put things back.  The jewelry I want to remake and the jewelry I do remake is often the stuff sitting on display in my studio or in my own personal collection.

I have all the pieces I made in the last several months hanging on busts or jewelry stands and every now and again, I scan them for remake potential.   Sometimes the remake is rather simple.  Sometimes it is very messy.  Sometimes it goes into the bag of stuff  to be remade and is never heard from again.

 The remake that is the subject of this post involved two items I am very fond of individually.  And, actually, they can still be worn separately.   The wirework piece which has primarily cultured pearls, jasper, and swarovski crystals started as a rather busy piece.  But, then I removed part of it and created two separate necklaces.  The poly clay snakeskin piece had a couple lives also as shown in the photos below.  Anyhow, I am starting with the final result first and then what follows are the various "before" versions of both pieces. 

The Final version...for now!!!

Below is what the original wirework piece looked like.  Was way too busy but it took me several months to realize that.

 I eventually removed the piece that was on the right hand side and used part of it to create the necklace below.

The remaining piece I put in my personal collection though I have hardly worn it.  See photo below.  This photo is not a very good one but I was too lazy to take a new one.

Here is how the poly clay snakeskin started its life.  Had a bunch of bead woven beads spilling down the neck.  I liked that but got tired of looking at it.

For Version 2 of the Snakeskin necklace, I replace the chain and pendant  for a softer look.  I liked that too but, for now, I like the pearl snakeskin combo.  Will see what happens in a few months.  ha ha.

And that's all for now.

ABS June Challenge - Retro I Go

Art Bead Scene Blog: June Monthly Challenge

Mini mixed media poly clay portraits

Roberta Marks is a no nonsense artist who creates mixed media artwork that  is "often constructed with curious objects and hints of collected memories."  Having seen her exhibit recently at Key West Customs House, I was inspired to create my own mini mixed media Portrait pendants.  I started with either black, white, or muddy clay backgrounds and cut out various size squares and rectangles to create small abstract like paintings.  Most I textured using fabric or ceramic tiles and things like manual drills, and circle cutters.  In the case of the black and white one with transfer image on side one and white flower on back, I used a marxit tool, which I really liked.  I am thinking of making a blackboard and "chalking" in a saying on it.  

I painted each canvas with Genesis Heat Set paints.  I dressed some of

the canvas' with image transfers or emphera which I mod podged  before applying resin to secure the papers and objects in place. 

Side One - Includes a variety of techniques.  The images with flowers were done by finger painting on Genesis Heat Set paints onto stamps and then stamping on the baked, painted clay.  The bottom pendant has a series of yoga poses I stamped on.

Side Two - same techniques.  For pendant with green cutouts in next to last row, I first painted underneath on baked clay and added a backing which I cut out.

Side One closeup of Top Half

Side one - Closeup of Bottom Half

Side Two - Top Row

Side Two - Middle Row

Side Two - Bottom row

Close up of Letter pendants.  I especially like the pendants on the bottom.  I can see the swirls from the texture pad I used in the one on bottom left and overall it has a really rustic look.  The one on bottom right has 'Floating papers 3D look,"  which I love.

This is one of my more minimalistic "paintings"  I used a combo of finger painting and stamping to get the effect.  I like the idea of painting all around the edges  with messy strokes to give it more the look of a shabby well worn look.

I read somewhere online about using an incense stick to burn edges and holes in paper.  Makes so much sense and was quite fun!  Will try it on fabric too sometime!

Peacock pretty - Before and After

Many years ago when I was just a baby clayer, I took a class with Christie Friesen to make a peacock.  When I finished that class, I was, well, proud as a peacock.

 It's only many years later, when I dusted the piece off again, that I found myself scrunching my nose at it.  If you are a bead or jewelry artist, I think you know exactly the look I mean.  Often accompanied, it is, by a silent "what was I thinking" and then by air involuntarily releasing itself from puffed cheeks.  But I am a real believer that anything can be saved.  And I mean anything (just about).

 And that's where paint comes in, which is my favorite first responder tool.  I used Genesis Heat Set Paints to transform the colors from blah to fab (at least that is what I think today) and threw in some of my painted metal and wirework connectors to redesign the necklace.

Here are the results starting with the AFTER.

The make over results

Below is the BEFORE

15% off in my etsy shop - Storewide SALE!!!!!

LOVE 15.  That 's the coupon code to use at checkout for 15% off on any and all purchases in my Etsy Shop.  That includes all of my beads AND my jewelry.  Valentine's day is coming up so I wanna spread some love around.  Here are a few items that are new in my shop.  But, first here is me and my new hat!!!

Stamped and painted polymer clay hearts  Click here

Hearts and flowers and all sorts of wonders.  Click here

Hearts, fish and stuff.  Click here

A nice funky eclectic mix.  Click here

Cosmos.  Click here

Art Bead Scene January Challenge - Landscape (don't dance) with Stars

I love stars.  There is something wonderfully dreamy and mystical about a star filled sky.   I love watercolor paintings and how seemingly ordinary brushstrokes develop into magnificent works of art.  Henri Edmond-Cross's Landscape with Stars is one of those.  What struck me most about the painting was the use of just two colors (though there are various shades) to create the work.  I decided to experiment with that in the creation of these star shaped beads.

This is what the other side looks like.

And here is Henri's painting