Rocky and Bullwinkle...well not exactly

Last week Christi Friesen was here at the Great Lakes Beadworkers Guild to teach classes! Wowser what a week we had!! I only had one class, Saturday, with her but it was a total blast! I have played with clay like products in the past, but never polymer clay.  Sometimes I am just a total chicken!  My friends will be shaking their heads at that comment, but it's true when it comes to trying out new crafts.  I guess my biggest fear is that I will become obsessed with yet another craft media!  It is a well founded fear!  I have a new love and have had a few sleepless nights with ideas swirling in my head!

I will explore and play with this new found love and eventually you will see what I come up with of my own.  In the meantime here is a picture of the pieces I made Saturday.

 The squirrel was finished and baked in class (sorry Kate McK - we were in a classroom with 3 toaster ovens going and no extra ventilation per se).  The moose gave me fits, so I only had the head done at the end of class.  I finished and baked him at home that night.

I cannot say enough wonderful things about Christi Friesen.  She is a delightful person and a superb instructor.  You WILL walk away from any one of her classes with the ability to make the project taught!  If you ever have the opportunity to take one of her classes...DO IT!!

To go to Christi Friesen's website click HERE.

Bling Bling Bling!

Ta da!

Here is my latest beAd Infinitum Design Team contribution!!

I purchased these rivolis at B&B last year and they have taunted me, dancing around in a variety of design ideas ever since.

A couple of weeks ago, I had one of those "ah ha!" moments.  Also referred to as an epiphany.

The Infinity Prism pattern loomed before my eyes...remember my ribbon piece back in January?

I realised I had another way to use the prism and incorporate my rivoli stash! Yippee!!

Prismatic Infinity

This piece has three sizes of 8 sided rivolis that have flat tables. You can look into them and see an infinite prism reflected on the internal faces.

The pattern calls for drop beads at the corners, I used 1.8mm cube beads instead.  All of the beads are the same color ~ Silver Rain.  Yummy, but really tough to look at for long periods of time!

Detail of Prismatic Infinity Necklace

I used 4mm Chinese crystal rondelles in between the elements. 

The clasp is another Infinity Prism with an embellished Herringbone loop.

The Infinity Prism technique for bezeling is very satisfying and time efficient.  It is very versatile and easy to adjust to various rivoli sizes.  Although I haven't experimented yet, I believe it would be very adaptable to a variety of cabochon or rivoli shapes.  Hmmmm...I feel another project coming on!!

Please post a comment and let me know what you think!

Cartoon or Commercial?

Nope I'm not posting the project I gave a sneak peek of....

So sorry! Not!

I have to post about something else I just finished!

It is a beAd Infinitum Design Team Project, yes!

Just not the one I mentioned in the last post....

The other day I couldn't find my '"work horse" reading glasses...

the kind with plastic frames, etc. that I wore all the time. 

They were "Vogue" purple tortoise frames and I loved them, had them just over a year.

When I finally found them I was sad .. 

because I had sat on them.

The insurance is on the "other" pair.

The fancy stylish ones that give me a headache when I wear them for long periods.

I have another older pair with transitional bifocal lenses...murder on my eyes AND neck!

With all the shiny beads I was using, I had migraine after migraine....not good.

I needed a cartoon color break!! I needed some joyous color!

Color without multiple reflective surfaces to look at!!

Never mind that Spring in Michigan can be wet and gray! Ack!

(I now understand why designers use opaque and matte beads so much!)

Thankfully, on Saturday I received the pattern Kepler's Star in the mail.

The perfect excuse to switch back to OPAQUE beads for a while!!

Here is what I made...



Jeanee-Rachel Star Bracelet

This bracelet is a little homage to two wonderful beadwork designers,

one of whom I know personally and count as a dear friend.

The other, well, it should be fairly obvious to some, because

the resulting variation/embellishment that I added to the pattern

looks just like some of her "famous" work. 

Some of you know who they are....how about guessing?

I've pretty much given it away already.

I'll let you know in couple of days when I post that "other" project.

The one that is killing my eyes, but it is sooooo worth it! 

You'll see!!

Hugs

TTFN!!

New DNA Discovery!

Hey all you science geeks, math nerds and beadaholics!!

Gwen Fisher, of beAd Infinitum,  a rockin' mathmagician who applies her wonderful brainiac powers to beads, felt, fabric and probabaly pi to the gajillionth other materials, is at it again! 

What's all the flap you ask? 

She has discovered, nay, created beaded DNA! 

Yes, that's right, the double helix of beads!

No it's not an April Fools joke!

She really did it!

Check out her tutorial on You Tube, made with a cool software tool for the iPad called "Doceri".

Here's the link  Beaded DNA

Super cool right?  It will help your nerd look, look cool.

(I know you have tape on your glasses, don't deny it.)

Gwen's double helix earrings were so nifty I had to make a pair for myself!

Here they are....nerd glam!

AgDNA Earrings

Notice the little sparkly bits on the left? 

 Hint: those are some of the bits from my current beAd Infinitum Design Team project! 

Coming to this blog in a few days....

Here's a hot tip for you nerdy beadaholics....

Those sparkly bits are from the Infinity Prism pattern. 

Watch for the finished piece, coming soon....