Whimsical Pecking Order

I ran across this fun necklace on Etsy in the Strangely Yours shop last week.  It is a movable part, interactive necklace that shop owner Lorraine and her husband make.  (needless to say, I ordered it and it's in the mail!)  I love movement and the unexpected....this one fills the bill.  But what I also thought, (beadmakers and jewelry designers- what do you think?), is to add a little of my glass beads to make it into a little more.  I was thinking some transparent green glass leaves in soft colors and maybe some dark ivory with silver stringer (or not) beads.  I don't want to take away from the unique focal part of it, but a little something else, perhaps  might be fun too.  Visit Strangely Yours and look to see if they still have their sale going.  I got this at 20% off, which was nice extra benefit.

Rainbow Colored Rubber Tubing- Fun for Funky Jewelry

There is something about this combination of joyful colors in a necklace that just makes me want to smile. The designer, Yvonne Irwin says it reminds her of a carnival and I had a similar reaction of thinking that it looks like a visual party.

Yvonne is the shop owner of MyElements on Etsy who sells these rubber tubes, colorful O rings and quite a variety of other jewelry making pieces.  I found her through some of my friends and have to admit, am a bit addicted to the tubing.

You see, it works perfectly in some instances for a quick ending to a memory wire style necklace that uses my lampwork.  It keeps it lighter weight and for me, a quick string.  Here is an example of one that I just recently made.  (It is available if you message me, but not up on my StudioMarcy etsy site.

I love this light periwinkle blue color of the tubing.  It goes with a lot of my spring colors.  I have used plenty of other colors.

The O rings work well for accents between some large hole beads strung on the memory wire + tubing made up choker style too.  I'll show that necklace another day.

So pop by and visit Yvonne's shop.  One of the other options with this tubing is to feed wire through it and bend it around.  You can make corkscrews, loops or whatever you like.  Lots of fun and funky options.

If you've made something already with it, please post a link.  We'd all love to see it.

See you tomorrow!

BIG SALE....20% Off EVERYTHING in StudioMarcy

So I said to myself, "Self? Why do you need to hang onto to every bead? Why not spring clean when folks can use these fun beads...before Christmas, instead of a post- holiday sale?"

So I responded to myself, "Self, you're right. Glad I listened to you."

(Well, I don't want to mention at least one of the folks in that conversation is a little off kilter, but with all the wassail hanging around the house and the chocolates, we'll let it go this time.)

But bottom line is that I am having a 20% off sale in my Studio Marcy Etsy shop through Saturday. Use the code "joy2010" at checkout to receive the discount automatically. I will be adding at least two new beads daily if not more. So also feel free to message me, if you have any requests. I might just have what you're looking for.

Carolyn Morris Bach Jewelry Artist

About a month ago, I visited the American Craft Council Show in Atlanta and was delighted to meet and enjoy the jewelry of Carolyn Morris Bach.

Have you ever found a piece of art that just speaks to you in volumes? Carolyn's work made me feel that way. I walked into her beautifully appointed booth and was immediately enchanted.

You see, Carolyn combines two of my favorite subject matters- birds and faces. I would go from one piece to the next and love each and every one of them. They have simple lines, yet the details are wonderful. The faces are sweet and the birds interesting. Now if only I can convince my family that I "need" some of this for Mothers Day.

Hooters For Hooters - Breast Cancer Awareness

I am a big supporter of October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month and the Susan B. Komen Foundation.

Unfortunately, too many of my friends, relatives and acquaintances have been hit hard with breast cancer.
I sure wish a cure could be found.

So this year, I decided to do try a different style of donation to this worthy cause. I designed a line of focal beads called, "Hooters for Hooters".

I love birds and the owls just seemed like a natural fit. Each one is sporting a light pink ribbon. You will need to make the hooting sound yourself. Hope you smile over the name, I do when I think about it.

I've started listing them in my lampwork glass Etsy shop and will continue add them over the next week. Each one is different. Now I am playing with the idea of putting a few in corsets as well. If you have a special color combination request, feel free to email me at StudioMarcy(at) gmail.com

Help me support this worthy cause as half of each sale will go to the Susan B. Komen Foundation. Currently I have six of them. If they all sell, I'll be happy to make more. These little owls are hooters for hooters.

Peacock Feathers Everywhere

Well you've gotta love 'em. Peacock feathers have always had a bit of a mystical feeling to them. The gorgeous colors, the eye in the middle and the way they shimmer, just a little bit.

Thought I'd show you two dresses that incorporate them. (although, just wondering- who would wear the first one?)

The second one seems infinitely more wearable and rather sweet, actually.

Enjoy the fashion trend and I bet you've seen some lovely lampwork peacock beads as well. I know I have. As well as door knobs too.

Have any glass url's that you'd like to share that are of the peacock variety? Add them into the comment section so we can all see your work or that of your friends.

See you tomorrow for more glass chat.

Class with Jen

I'm still gathering photos, so I haven't written about my awesome 5 days last week at Bead Camp in Tennessee.

But I did find Jen's website, so I can include this tidbit about two really fun half day classes that I took with Jen, while I was there.

Let me start by saying, that Jennifer Geldard has always been high on my list of wonderful beadmakers. Her unique style and never ending creativity always enchants me. Do you have some favorite beadmakers who just give you a beatific grin every time you look at their work? Well, that's what Jen's beads do for me.

I've taken a 2 day class before from her in Atlanta. But I was lucky to have gotten into her two half days in Tennessee. The first day we did her ornate beads. Here's a link to show you an example. It's a multi sectioned bead with a different design in each section. Jen said it's always popular among students. And the second day, we made birds.

If you've been following my blog, you know that I love birds of all shapes and sizes. I've been making birds for a long time, but not like hers. It was pure delight to learn her style and make a bunch of them while there and trying to add my own "twist", so they weren't carbon copies. The photo shows you one style and we did a second one too. I've already given away a few of the ones I made, but I'll try to get a photo to show you. Here's a link to her very reasonably priced tutorials.

So now comes the second stage of classes. What parts of the newly learned beadmaking do I incorporate into my beadmaking, so it isn't too similar to the teacher, but still enhances what I already do? For me, that's the fun part. Sometimes my "aha" moments are not the bead, but a tool, a technique, or even part of the teacher's philosophy. This is something I'm going to need to mull over a little bit more and get back to you. But meanwhile, I'd love to hear about teachers who you have learned from, where your "aha" moments were not the bead itself, but something else. It could be an online tutorial, a class or even a demo you watched. Tell us about it. I know it will be interesting.

See you tomorrow!

Flew The Nest

Final baby cardinal update: they've flown the nest.

Darn, I'm going to miss watching the two little birds and their very nurturing parents right outside my desk window. 

But the upside is, I won't spend hours each day acting like an over protective nanny when the parents are out gathering food. 

For some reason, I would spend extra time watching over them, when I'd see the parents leave.  Perhaps it was their ever present loud little chirps, or just the "Mom" gene in me.

I had named them Squeaky Wheel and Elroy.  Squeaky was the loudest and more persistent in pushing away the other one to get to the food.

But seeing that I seem to go for the underdog, Elroy was the one I watched the most.  Concerned that he wasn't getting as much food, I'd look to see that the parents were being relatively fair.

Then one day, both hopped up on the side of the nest and out onto nearby branches.  This is Elroy.  He stood there for awhile and made a lot of noise.  Not quite ready to fly, he hopped around until he got down to the ground and just kept awkwardl hopping, into our undergrowth.  I watched as the parents flew overhead protecting  him.  I wish more human parents did as good a job as these cardinals.

So now the two kids are gone and the nest is abandoned.  I miss them.  They were much better than the nature channel on television and observing them up close was a treat. I guess I'd better get back to focusing on making beads.  Tomorrow it will be about glass again, I promise.

Birds And Linguini Are Somewhat Related

Truly, I know that my lampwork glass bird beads have no resemblance to real life. Yet, I am always influenced by the abundant birds in my yard. I love them. One of my neighbors came over to visit one afternoon and she looked out my window and said it reminded her of Cinderella's garden with all the little birds and animals. (Most of you know about my too abundant squirrels) and there are chipmunks and other critters like possums, and racoons at night. I have two types of woodpeckers, some cardinal families, chickadees, bluebirds, mourning doves and lots of other types too.

Here's a shot of an assertive little ruby throated hummingbird who likes to chase away the other hummingbirds that come to my feeder. The feeder is attached directly onto my window, so I get to see them very clearly and at a very close range.

Next to the hummingbird is one of my whimsical birds. This one's name is Linguini and she's related to Stromboli and another Italian bird relative who live in a far away country. (Deb, we're not sure where Stromboli ever landed anyhow, are we?) This particular strain of bird doesn't quite have their directions figured out, but they're working on it.

For you beadmakers who are reading this, Linguini was made with coral #420 on a 1/16th mandrel. You can see stacked dots making up her "faux hawk" Stacked dots in a larger size and cooled and then slighted reheated to be pulled and shaped, are how I made his beak too. I like the unexpected necklace that she's wearing. (It's made out of Italian glass, of course!)
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And on a slightly different note, I'm working out a new format for this blog. I'd like to include a weekly tips and tricks, perhaps a tutorial every so often and more how-to's and info relating to the glass world. I'm not sure that telling you about yesterday's peach cobbler baking, (which was yummy) and my life, is as interesting as learning a little bit more about our glass world. I haven't decided where exactly I'm going to go with it, but maybe bring in a few more glass beadmakers and some of their thoughts and tips might be fun too. If you have ideas of what you'd like to see, please let me know.

Until then... take care and enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Marcy