Doodle Designs

I have been playing around with doodle designs and drawing them onto ceramic clay.  I use a dull pencil to do this.  This becomes my mold or texture for making my pendant.

Here is my original doodle:

Here it is drawn into the clay and fired:

I rolled the ceramic clay into a 1/4" thick piece and pressed it onto the mold and cut it into a rectangle pendant.  I added holes at the top corners.  After it dried, I cleaned all the rough edges and fired it into bisque.  Then I glazed it in shiny ice blue and fired it in my kiln on special racks for the second time.

Ready to use pendant:

I wanted to keep this necklace simple, so I used 22g silver wire to make connectors to the chain.  I accented the pendant with 5mm silver spacer beads and Czech glass.  The chain is 18" and is finsihed with a small silver toggle clasp.

I have a bunch of ideas brewing for more designs.  This is really a lot of fun, and if you need some ideas, Pinterest has endless doodles you can try.  You could also do this technique with polymer clay and other mold making materials.

Michelle McCarthy
Firefly Design Studio

Inspiration Part I

 Yesterday right before a long drawn out snow, sleet and freezing rain storm locked us in, a delightful package of sea shells from Florida arrived.  They were sent by a dear friend who had recently returned from a vacation in the sun and was sharing this beachy goodness with me.  I was so pleased to have them and so grateful for her generosity in packing them up, carrying them home and then posting them out to me, that I wanted to do something very special with them.

She knew I love textures and looked for them especially.  I began by sorting some of them into texture piles.  These I think of as poetic textures.

This assortment seems to me to be strong texrures with a clear statement of purpose.

And these are fun and almost silly. 

  In the process of sorting, I came up with the idea that I will turn this serendipitious gift of inspiration  into art beads and share what I make with you in my next Inside the Studio post on Art Bead Scene scheduled for March 25.  That is just a little over a  month away and should be time enough for me to show you what I made and how I did it.  I hope you like the  process of creating as much as I do and will look forward to seeing what I come up with.  I have not made a thing with these shells yet  so it will be a real adventure.

When I ventured outside this morning after the storm was over I found so many images that pleased me that I began taking pictures.  The ice was different than usual, it was dripping and making patterns.

And more patterns.

And watery.  When I got up close to the trunk of this tree I could see water moving along the tree's bark under the ice.  It was exciting.

And the sun cast its shadow on the snow.

This tree which we planted some time ago looked so sprightly in that field of snowed over ice, that  I have decided to add it and these other photo images into the inspirational mix and see how they come out as well.

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  See you in about a month with some art beads inspired by sea and ice.  

Mary

Making Hand Made Stamps with Michelle McCarthy

I had a great time last week taking a class at the Open Studio in Englewood, Florida.  They have a pottery studio there and offered a class on making handmade stamps.  I have made flat texture plates, and a few press stamps on my own, but I wanted to learn to make rollers and better stamp handles.

Becca Brown was our instructor and she is a master potter full of wonderful tips and techniques. She made a few bases for us that were leather hard.  That takes a few hours so the ceramic clay isn't so wet.  That makes carving much cleaner and easier.  She gave us a clump of clay to work on making our own, and this is what it looked like before the carving (fun) part!

I had some carving tools already, but also got to try a few other ones.  I immediately ordered another carving set when I got home!  There are different shaped wire toppers to push, turn and pull into and through the clay.

Here they are in a rough state.  After they completely dried, I cleaned up all the rough edges and fired them into bisque, which makes them ready to use.

I rolled out a piece of clay into 1/4" thick and had fun sampling out my new designs!

I am really excited to make many more stamps and rollers.  I have been looking at doodle designs on Pinterest and have some ideas that are going to be really fun to try.  If you work in clay, you can also do similar techniques with polymer clay, too!

Art Bead Palette :: JimenasTreasures

Handmade Copper-Fiber Bead

I am absolutely smitten with the fabric wrapped metal beads from Jana of JimenasTreasures. The soft textures remind me of a cozy sweater, and the bright colors feels so festive for the holiday season. Out of all of the lovely listings Jana offers, this one is my favorite. How about you?

To see more, click on over to JimenasTreasures!

Art Bead Palette :: Carolyn Saxby Textiles

Alternate Mauve Halloween

Green Sunflower Leaves

Peeling Boat Paint

Pretty in Pink

Purple Plum

When Heather first approached me a year ago to create color palettes from art beads, I was super excited to have an excuse to window shop. There are so many fabulous bead artists that I'm never at a loss of source material, which makes these monthly posts incredibly fun to do.

So imagine my delight when I came across Carolyn Saxby Textiles. Carolyn's a mixed-media textile artist, and tucked away in her shop are beautifully textured, sculptural beads that she shapes from Tyvek. Talk about true little pieces of art! They look like little bits of fabric and lace, and remind me of an elaborate gown or costume.

Carolyn sticks to monochromatic or analogous palettes for her beads, which I like; it allows the lovely textures to stand out more, don't you think? Which colorway is your favorite?

To see more from Carolyn, visit her shop, or stop by her blog and Facebook page.

From the Beadmaker's Table: Miss Fickle Media

From One Little Piece of Coral

This is a piece of coral my son found on the beach in Florida in 2007. It is an extraordinary piece of coral in that it reminds me of that precious time and floods me with wonderful memories each time I look at it. I remember the feeling of contentment and peace of mind seeing my family enjoy the sand, sun and ocean.

I first used it to create a mold. Something I do with almost every 3D trinket I own cause you never know what is going to make a really cool clay thing-a-ma-bober. 

From that mold I created this simple but unique pendant;

But I also found that by just using the top section of the coral I could create this very interesting crackle effect in beads;

The sides of the coral added a nice texture to the edge of these clay discs;

And the back of the coral creates this texture;

I am thrilled to get so many uses out of one item! It has opened my eyes to looking at every little object with potential for so much more. A change of position and color of paint and I have a seemingly endless way to decorate polymer clay art beads!

Much Love & Respect,
Shannon
missficklemedia.com