Day 13:: Writing Challenge:: AWESOMENESS:: Beads

This blog is called

"For the Love of Beads,"

and 

I would be remiss if I didn't talk about my favorite subject.

I've been making beads for almost 9 years now.  

Those are the glass beads that I have been making for that long.  

I have only recently started making polymer clay bead.

There have been issues that forced me into polymer clay because I needed the creative act of bead making to help me through some very difficult times that continue.

I have now fallen in love with polymer clay and all it's possibilities.

If you look at this pile of beads, 

you'll see what I mean.

I've sorted out most of the beads.

There are birds of a feather, but of different colors and sizes.

I don't care if it's glass or clay,

I love making discs.

These discs will fare well in the jewelry that I envision with them.

Then there are focals.

Each one is unique.

(I can't seem to make two beads alike no matter how hard I try.

Glass or clay,

It doesn't matter.)

Soon, I'm hoping that I'll be able to get back to glass, but I don't know when that will be.

It doesn't matter,

Glass

or 

Clay.

AWESOME!!

New Tutorial - Making Organic, Rustic Discs out of Polymer Clay

See these discs?

And these discs?

You can learn to make them using my new tutorial on Etsy.

Click 

HERE

to see the tutorial.

I'll teach you how to make these discs.

Even a beginner can make them.

The tutorial is only $10.

This would make a great gift for you or a fabulous Secret Santa gift.

It's instant download, too.

How fun is that!

Soon, you'll be making fabulous discs.

Remember the Polymer Clay Discs I Made Out of Scrap Clay?

Here's something I made with them.

Click 

HERE

to see the post. 

I haven't made anything else, yet, from the rest of the discs, but I do like the way this turned out!

It's fun to wear, too!

Making Discs!

It doesn't seem to matter,

glass or polymer clay,

I. Love. To. Make. Discs!

I find the process, 

and it's different in glass and polymer clay,

to be absolutely relaxing.

So, with my elevated, I made discs in polymer clay.

I seem to be leaning towards the organic look, but, after I made a necklace and earrings with some of these discs,

I plan to send the rest to 

Beads of Courage.

They have jewelry making days there!

So, take a look at these.

When I make my jewelry,

I'll show you what it looks like.

And,

once I get my foot out of this air cast, I'll go back to making some glass beads, too.

This is also called "using up scrap clay!"

I love the results!

See you later!

What is this?

Soon to be fun!!!

That's what this is!!

Next week, I'll show you!!

My goal to develop and send out a newsletter

was thwarted by a broken computer! My laptop, with my lists, is now on its way to Houston, Texas, where it will be repaired. It won't be back until February, so I decided to use this blog as my newsletter for January and, most likely, February.

I am offering two specials for the rest of January in my Etsy Store.

1) For my returning customers!!!
I love you all! I am offering 10% off of your entire order if you are a returning customer.

a) When you go to the checkout, DO NOT PAY until you receive a revised paypal invoice!

b) To insure that I know you are a returning customer, when you check out, write IMBACK in the note to the seller. I will then calculate your discount and send you a new paypal invoice. Then, you may pay!

And that's not all!!!!
2) This special is for EVERYONE!

All my discs will be on special for 10% off.

a)Again, DO NOT pay at checkout! I'm not going to mark them down in my Etsy store. I will calculate your discount on the revised paypal invoice.

b) In the note to the seller write
DISCS. I will then send you a revised paypal invoice. Then, you can pay.

RETURNING CUSTOMERS:
If you order discs from me, and that's all you order, you will end up receiving a 20% discount on your order. Not bad for someone who comes back for a visit.

So. go shopping! Enjoy!

How many Ways can you Make a Disc?

I love to make discs when I torch! Recently, I challenged myself to see if I could come up with new ways to make discs. Here are the results of some of my experiments. These aren't necessarily my best work, they are just experiments in discs.

For example:
Here----------------------------->
you have my traditional discs next to a flower disc. I need to work on those a bit.








Scroll down a bit and here's what you see:
--------------------------------->
Ruffles.

I like both efforts.

There are two slightly different techniques, but the results are fun!



















This------------------------------>
disc has a more primitive look to it, which goes to show you that you can change the shape of the disc and still have a disc.

















You can also make

Freeform discs!

-------------------------------->










They don't have to be perfect, and even in the chaos, there is control.








Last, but not least, you can change the shape of a disc and add appendages. This disc clearly needs more work, but I think it has a lot of potential.








So, tell me, what types of discs do you like. What should I work on next?

Look What Someone Did with My Discs!

Isn't this an amazing work of wearable art? You can find it in Lynspired Jewelry's shop on Etsy, and, guess what! Lynn bought those discs from me! I am so impressed with what she's done to turn them into such a wonderful piece of jewelry!

Lynn titled this amazing piece of jewelry "Funky Exuberance." I love the color combinations she used!

You need to check out her show, now. She's having a HUGE sale! She's got necklaces, bracelets, earrings, holiday items, scarves, kids' stuff, and unisex items. She's got something for everyone on your shopping list!

Be sure to visit her store. You won't be disappointed if you do!

Like Discs? I have Discs!

Lately, I've been making discs. I love discs! There are so many uses for them. You can add discs to necklaces or bracelets. You can even make rings. Since this is going to be a shameless self promotion day, you'll get to see some of my offerings.










I made this bracelet for last month's Art Bead Scene Blog's monthly challenge. I listed this in my Etsy Store.
















These discs are called Albuquerque Sunrise. I was always an early bird, and these colors remind me of the colors of an Albuquerque Sunrise. They are in my etsy store.
















This set of discs called Toxic Blue is in my Artfire Store.
















This set is called "On the Edge," and it's also in my Artfire store.


















This necklace is called Ripening Olives, and it's in my 1000Markets store. Note the ruffled disc in the center of the necklace.

That's it for today. No more shameless self promotion for a while!

My Summer Line: I'm the Queen of Discs!

I love making discs!
I'm the Queen of Discs!
Huh?
Well, maybe not the queen,
but
I honestly love making
lampwork glass discs.
Discs and spacers will be the focus of my summer line!
Orange discs!
Multicolored discs!
Blue discs!
Transparent discs!
Apricot Discs!
Seashell Colored Discs!
Softened Discs!

Need to see more discs?
Be sure to visit my
Etsy Store,
my
Artfire Store.
For finished products,
be sure to visit my
1000Markets Store.

12

Would you like to win 12 of my polymer discs? I'll send them to you for free. All you have to do is help me complete my necklace. Here is another picture of the discs. I actually went through them to find some very nice ones for the winner.












In order to win these discs, you will need to answer some questions that will help me to complete a necklace I started that uses these discs.


Please look at this necklace. It's a wire crochet necklace. As you can see, it's not finished yet. The necklace has 3 strands, and it's a choker sized necklace. You can see that I used the discs in each strand.













Now, Angelina Beadalina suggested that I use a lampwork focal in the necklace, and I found the perfect one! (Ang, thank you for the suggestion, too, and you can still play this game.) Take a look at this bead.
The colors are absolutely perfect for this necklace! This bead is the result of a challenge I participated in.















Now, here's the necklace with the bead placed on it . It's not wire wrapped yet, it's just placed at the bottom of the necklace.

















Here are the questions I need for you to answer:
1) What do you think, does the necklace look better with or without the bead?
2) What do you think would be a good name for the necklace?

On Saturday, sometime during the day, I will put any and all names in a hat and draw the name of the winner of the discs. I'm just stuck at this point. I'm not concerned about finishing up the necklace ends, I just don't know if adding the bead will be too much for this necklace. What do you think?

If you win, I will need some way to contact you. A good way to contact me would be to leave me a message with your contact information on ETSY. Just send me a convo from there. I check ETSY several times a day. If you aren't a member of ETSY, it's free to become a member, and it only takes a few minutes to sign up. So, start thinking, and let me know what you think.