Robert Simmons' Wearable Butterfly Bead Tutorial

At our last meeting of Southern Flames in Atlanta, GA, Robert Simmons, cool guy and the National Director of Bead Donations for Beads of Courage, demonstrated one of his versions of a butterfly bead.

These beads are given to Beads of Courage parents, who have lost their child from illness.

And, because Robert is so kind and generous, he has written up a tutorial for making them. You can find it HERE. If you start making them, would you please donate a few to Beads of Courage? You know how near and dear that group is to my heart.

And to see photos of Robert making the bead during our fabulous meeting, check out this page from our Southern Flames scrapbook. (You can also see our two new co-presidents at the same time- two for one!

Enjoy the tutorial. And pay attention to some of the little hints he gives. For example, I love that he says to start with a clear base and to put the opaque over it. The clear makes the soft glass a little stiffer and less floppy. Good thinking Robert. (well, he is a Ph.D too.) Have fun.

Bead Makeovers- Taking Your Art In A Different Direction

I love cupcakes. Pink frosting with sprinkles sounds pretty yummy to me. And obviously a lot of other people like them too. This style and others tend to sell well in my etsy shop, http://www.StudioMarcy.etsy.com.

But other people make similar cupcakes and in an earlier blog, I mentioned that it's a good thing to reconsider beads that you make, that perhaps could be restyled, or taken in another direction. This can be good for you as an artist, and maybe add a little zing for your sales too.














Between watching Ace of Cakes, and wanting to incorporate a little of my surface decoration and sculptural approach, I decided to give one of my cupcakes a new twist. This one has a small branch made of aventurine with multi shades of green leaves. A sculptural butterfly in transparent aqua and a touch of lapis give it more dimension. To add a dollop of whimsy, bright pink transparent glass dots the surface too.

There are so many directions to try. I'll be adding more cupcakes over the weeks to show you more makeovers on them, and other beads.

In the meantime, if you are on Facebook or Twitter, please add me as a friend. I'm either under Marcy Lamberson or StudioMarcy. See you tomorrow....