Meet Some of My New Friends

We're just back from a weekend at the beach.  It was cloudy almost the entire time and even rained a bit, but looking at the bright side, that's always great for taking photos, the beaches aren't as crowded and we had fun checking out St. Simons as well.

So the first photo is of my two buddies.  I thought the shell was empty until the end of my walk and all of a sudden a bunch of little crab legs came out of the shell.  That one got popped back into a tide pool quickly.  And the Starfish was pretty quiet too at first.  Another one that I thought was already a goner. Then I flipped him over for some photos and all of a sudden, a few of the little legs started to move. Yikes!  Back into the ocean this one went.

This is the last of my buddies.  I called him Louie. Louie had gone over the rainbow already, but I thought you might want to see his lovely blue markings.  Aren't the colors of nature interesting?

I'll have some more of my photos for you soon.  But I'll leave you with a question.  How often do you see starfish pictured in that color?  Not too often, right? I wonder if people would ever want glass ones looking like that?  They're quite striking, but don't read "summer" or "ocean" necessarily.  Yet, they are.  So what do you think?  Should I make some to reflect the real Georgia starfish, or stick with my ivory colored ones?  I'm hoping you have an opinion.

See you tomorrow.

Shell and Starfish Class Wrap Up

Here's a quick snapshot of the some of the shells and starfish from my last  2 hour class at FlameTree Glass.  I was really impressed that my students did so well.

Those starfish can be a bit hard to do the first time around.  And we all were laughing.  Before they get their decorations, they look a bit like an uncooked chicken ready to be popped into the oven.

Sculptural Beach Shells Glass Class

Well folks, there still is room in my 2 hour Saturday class at FlameTree Glass in Roswell, GA from noon until 2 pm.  I'd love for you to come join me in making seashells and starfish.  If there's time, we'll dive into something else oceanic as well...the class members will decide.  

Just give Lance and Maureen a call...1-888-FLAMETREE  or stop by their website...www.FlameTreeGlass.com

Dreaming of the Beach

What is it about this time of year that daydreams of warm sunny days seem to take over?

I've been thinking about the beach. Not just any beach, but kind of a mixture of where I grew up along the Connecticut coast and Florida which is closer to me now.

So if you see lots of ocean related beads coming from me, you'll understand why. I'll be listing more in my Studio Marcy etsy shop this week.

I have lots of shells, coral, sea urchins, mermaids (I'm not always reality based), starfish, sand dollars, fish and who knows what else. Let me know if you're looking for something in particular as well.

Wishing you a warm sunny day and perhaps a drink with a little umbrella in it and I'll see you here tomorrow. http://www.studiomarcy.blogspot.com

Size Does Matter

Yesterday I received a convo, (that's Etsy talk for conversation or private email), from a customer who had seen this bracelet in Bead Dreams Magazine January 2009 issue and wanted to make her own version of it.

Could I make her a mermaid and a seahorse that are .5" tall? That's just under 13mm. I measured the mermaids on this bracelet and they are about .7" or 18mm and remembered how hard it was to make the wee complicated beads.

She explained that she wanted a more delicate bracelet and the smaller charms would better fit into her design.
Needless to say, the seashells, sea glass and other less detailed and rounder beads would be so much easier to reduce and she did choose a starfish and palm tree in the diminutive size too. So today, part of my studio schedule includes attempting a half inch mermaid.

Charm sized beads are a great way to use up stringer and other little bits that are hanging around your bench. I love making sculptural miniatures which make great charms, earrings or dangles. I keep a small section, (ha, ha) in my Etsy shop.

If anyone else wants to join me in trying this, I'd love to see your efforts. The colors of her hair and tail have been left up to me. I'm smiling thinking that yellow could be interesting. That way I could make her wearing an itsy bitsy teensy weensy yellow polka dot bikini, that she wore for the first time today. (Please note, the last line is only amusing if you are about my age and know this song. But if you do, it will probably be stuck in your head for the rest of the day. My apologies.)