Metalsmith's Delight

So. Much. Fun.

Granted, an entirely different kind of fun than the altered book class. But fun all the same.

Clearly, they didn't have too hard a time getting along without me while I was at the class . . .

hoopla the necklace

Finished my hoopla necklace today. Picture to follow whenever our camera battery gets charged. Now I just have to figure out what to do with the other one.

Going out of town at the end of this week for what will essentially be two weeks of travel. Heaven help us all.

At least I'll have some time to work on my crafty to-do list. Hopefully.

paper beads

In looking up altered book things I came across this nifty bead tutorial from A Storybook Life.

hoopla

My class was So. Much. Fun.

Can't wait

This weekend I get to make this pair of earrings in this class at Panopolie. I'm so excited - I hope it lives up to my expectations. Also that I neither make a fool of myself nor set anything on fire.

shiny little things

I've been hemming and hawing about knitting/crocheting jewelry for some time; this gorgeous piece by Kirsten Skiles pushes me to 'just do it.'

elegant nut necklace

I've been wanting to do this necklace ever since it was posted. In the meantime it takes up space in the ever-growing Someday Pile.

beach bum

We're actually at the beach this week, soaking up some much needed rest and relaxation. So here's some polyclay pictures I've collected in my files to at least help you imagine you're there too . . .

Actually, I'm not sure the below is polyclay (despite its presence in the clay folder); when I was trying to find out who made it I found it here.

From a class listing:

Thursday's jewelry has far to go

Where by 'far to go' I mean 'who came up with an entire craft category devoted to choking hazards?' So I haven't been able to do it much lately, and won't be able to until Mr. E stops putting everything he sees in his mouth. In the meantime, though, I have plenty of pictures to sort through. We'll start with my favorite of all the necklaces I've ever made:




It didn't sell, but I still really love it.

organic

PCAGOE recently did an interview with Kate of OrganicOdysseys. Her work reminds me that there's a few experiments I want to try with plants+clay+miniwax. Especially while my bleeding heart is still in bloom. Plus it just makes my eyes happy to look at her stuff.

So. Pretty.

I'm drooling. Chicki's faux jade ring is unbelievably beautiful. (the photography is stunning, too.) Originally found through CraftGossip.

Cassowary Jewelry

This is fantastic. Not only the transfer, which takes advantage of the characteristic desaturation of polymer clay transfers to add a certain vintage quality to the piece, but the color scheme of the whole is just perfect. Can I be that necklace when I grow up?

way back machine

I love this necklace by Heather of Humble Beads. I have such a hard time putting together things in a creative way that I am in awe of anyone who can.

(In a mostly unrelated note, I found this picture, unlabeled, in my inspiration folder and was able to do some minor internet sleuthing to attach a name to it. Go me.)

Lentils, lentils everywhere

I love lentil beads but I'm always at a loss for what to do with them. And I can never get double strand necklaces to hang right. But Barbara Fajardo solves both problems very neatly with this beautiful necklace.
I had a dentist appointment yesterday and then consoled myself with craft shopping; Joann's and Michael's both have good coupons this week so I was able to get two of the big bricks of clay and a new set of stamps - now if I only had time to play with them!

Lethe

I have a bunch of pictures on my hard drive, saved from the web for one reason or another, before I realized the importance of saving info with the pictures. Oops. Case in point: this beautiful necklace, which I vaguely remember is polymer clay, but I don't know anything else about it. Except that it's beautiful, of course.

More Contests

Contests are fun because they essentially give 'prompts' for creativity. The one I mentioned yesterday, and Two more contests to mention today.

Fire Mountain Gems' annual contest is rolling around again, with the deadline on April 15th this year. The problem with them is you have to use their components, so I'd have to design something around their sale page, rather than just what I have on hand. Possible, if I can find something inspirational on their page, but the deadline is coming up awfully soon.

The other, slightly more doable is the Bead Star 2009 contest - plastics is the polymer clay category, though several others look doable too. The deadline for this one is May 1st.

Time to get started!