Small washer beads

A gift for a friend that brings me the best homemade Christmas breads on this earth every year. Thanks Kathy!

Made by local Raleigh jewelry artist Alicia Coats, with Elaine Ray beads and pendant. This would make a great gift for anyone who enjoys handmade beauty! Visit Alicia's web site, do some shopping and get some beauty on........

Look at my new ring!

Made by the very talented Susan - I'm in love! Susan, you made my spiral cabochon feel and look so lovely. Since my hands are in clay so much, they are showing a bit of wear and tear - this will liven them up a bit!

For all the rest of you out there - get shopping and visit her etsy shop here: bijousavvy .

Thank you Susan!!!!!!!!

Kiln shelf

A sample of what a shelf looks like as I unload the kiln.


There are not always two layers on each shelf like this, but I try for two whenever possible as it really saves on energy to fire the kiln. The tricky part is to judge the weight of the beads so the wires don't sag. I don't always get this right and here is a couple of samples from sagging wires:



If you picked up any of the accidentally glazed together beads at my last trunk show and have made them into a finished product - let me know. I'm anxious to see how they turned out. These two pieces are the beginnings of my next pile......

Thanks for checking in on me,
Elaine

Another new shape......

See you Friday and Saturday at Ornamentea!

Friday is the day...........

Here is a sneak peek at some new colors and shapes I'll have at Ornmentea on Friday and Saturday:







Hope to see you there!

Seasons change and so do I, you need not wonder why........

When Ornamentea's current stock runs out, many Elaine Ray creations will no longer be available on line. Take a look here: http://www.ornamentea.com/ElaineRayRetiring.htm Get those items while you can and be ready for exciting ideas in the works. Some are cooking in the kiln right now -so opening my kiln tomorrow morning is what I'm looking forward to.

For you lucky people living in or near Raleigh, stop by Ornamentea. The selection in the store is way more diverse than what is possible on line, and...... it there will be even more to chose from at my trunk show September 24 and 25.

Hope to see you there!

PS - Take a look at this from Cynthia:

Time to say Good bye to a lovely friend ... last spring I started to use a new glaze that soon became one of my favorites: Leaf

Glazes and their components change over time and the magic seems to have slipped away from this one - so it I can no longer create beads of this beautiful color. If you want to snatch up any that are left, check here at Ornamentea.com to see what they have left in stock, because when it is gone, it is gone!

On a brighter note, keep tuned .... I have the kiln loaded with a new greenish color that also loves the buff clay. My plan is to fire the kiln tomorrow, so I may have pictures on Saturday.

Opps!

What happens when you put a tray of beads out in the sun to dry and forget about them until after the rain storm?

Bummer!

And now for something completely different...........




A couple of years ago I took a class with Chris Campbell, a local potter who is nationally know for her work with colored porcelain clay. The murrinis I made in class were intended to become plates, bowls and vases, though those items never quite materialized and the clay sat idle with all its lovely potential wrapped in damp cloths and plastic. I realized that if I was ever going to set that clay free for the world to see, it would have to be in bead form. Each bead is hand rolled with attention given to balance the colors of clay, which leads them to be nonuniform is size, but uniform in pretty. Visit Chris's web site for more information and a beautiful tour of color at ccpottery.com.

The beads are available for purchase at Ornamentea (the shop) and will soon be available on Ornamentea.com .

Thanks for helping me set this lovely clay free to go out and beautify the world!

Look at what Cynthia made - I am going to beg to wear this at my trunk show this fall! Many of these beads are available on Ornamentea's web site and there is even more variety at their store.

elaine ray's garden - featured the summer issue of Stringing

That is quite the bit of beads ..... I'd like a pair of earrings to match. I think a butterfly would come and sit on my shoulder. Thanks Cynthia - it is just beautiful!!!!

Look what I'll be getting in the mail soon!!!

Lorelei made this beauty just for me and I'm ready to swoon! Read all about it on her blog - Inside the Studio . If you'd like to see more, take a look here in Lorelei's etsy shop: Handmade Jewelry by Lorelei.

Lucky, lucky me........

Here is a new shape I have been playing with:



By the way, that is the same glaze on all the beads. It just looks very different on the dark vs. white clay.

I'll see you next week at Ornamentea!

Thanks for stopping by.

Time for another Trunk Show!!!!!!

I will be at Ornamentea on April 30 and May 1st and would love to see you there!

This spring I will be focusing on items that are not available on Ornamentea's web site. This will include new shapes such as the tubes pictured below, as well as many familiar shapes that are in color combination not listed on their web site.




Stay tuned - I'll be posting new pictures as I get ready for the big day - Thanks!

Another shop to add to the list of designers featuring Elaine Ray beads and pendants:



See her here on Etsy: Hot House Posey

As always - a big Thank you to everyone for making me look so good!

A Beautiful Frayed Ribbon Necklace

Ornamentea has posted a new Tutorial using a variety of my beads. The multiple colors in this necklace would make it wearable with most everything I own, not to mention the many pairs of earrings I have with coordinating beads! - Lucky me!

Want to get some of the beads and make your own necklace? Click here: Elaine Ray Beads and Pendants

Looking to purchase lovely, handmade jewelry? Check the list along the right hand side of this blog for a list of designers who often feature my beads in their beautiful creations.

Thanks!

Cash for you silver scrapes

Take a look at the Art Bead Scene blog post today: Silver Scraps For Cash. Jennifer Heynen of Jangels gives some great advice for saving all your silver scraps and sending them to Rio Grande for reuse. What a win, win, win situation! You get cash, Rio Grande gets a silver supply and Mother Nature gets a hug. Even though the land fill savings may be quite small from silver recycling, recycling of any kind helps save on the environmental mining and processing the original product. - Thanks Jennifer!

For a friend:

Look what I made!!!

These are fashioned after samples posted on Ornamentea's web Tutorials and Project Ideas site. I made just one pair of ear wires so the 3 sets of ellipse beads can be interchanged easily. Pretty fancy for me since I'm really not much of a jewelry maker, but I try. Each set of beads uses jump rings in a slightly different way. Get your own ellipse beads here: Ornamentea.com. Scroll down to find the ellipse beads.

One goal I have this year is to do more to promote the wonderful designers who use my beads and pendants. If you have some pictures you'd like to show off, leave me a comment and we will get this organized. Thanks!

Happy New Year!!!
- Elaine