Shop by trunk show by phone!

Tomorrow and Saturday are the days! Call this special beady hot line (919 210 7271) from a phone that can receive picture text messages and my good friend Julie (also known as Chelsea Girl Designs) will shop for you, texting pictures for your visual approval. Then your order will be passed on to one of the super helpful staff members at Ornamentea who will call you back to get payment and shipping particulars. Go to Ornmentea's web site for shipping information – keep in mind that they offer free shipping on all orders over $50.00!

Bead pictures for this weekend's trunk show are ready here: elaine ray beads spring 2011/ I still need to add pendants. Hope to here from you tomorrow!

Shop by trunk show by phone!

Woot Woot! Exciting news: This spring you can shop my trunk show by phone! Specific details are to follow but the basic plan is that you will call a special beady hot line ( 919 210 7271 ) from a phone that can receive picture text messages, my good friend Julie (also known as Chelsea Girl Designs) will shop for you, texting pictures for your visual approval, then your order will be passed on to one of the super helpful staff members at Ornamentea who will call you back to get payment and shipping particulars. Go to Ornmentea's web site for shipping information – keep in mind that they offer free shipping on all orders over $50.00!

I gotta get cracking at taking and posting pictures!

This is nowhere near a complete "list" of the glazes I'll have with me this weekend at Ornamentea, but it is a good sampling. There will be strands and loose beads. Hope to see or hear from you then!

Getting ready Ornamentea on Friday and Saturday

Success on reproducing this glaze, none yet with the reddish glaze.

There is only this handful of these with the lace imprint. Pretty, I think. Good friend, Julie reminded me to make some.

A new small shape! I'm especially happy with these dainty dangles since they are glazed on both sides and the clay is highlighted!

A glimpse at a shelf as I unloaded the kiln this morning.

I'm gearing up for my trunk show at Ornamentea on Friday and Saturday. I'll be glazing all day today, then the last kiln load will fire tomorrow. Remember that Lorelei Eurto will be there Friday evening teaching a class called: Designing Without Limits I'm looking forward to excessively peeking in on the class to catch a peek at the beauty that is sure to be happening in there!

See you then,
Elaine

When ever I end up with beads that turn out with yucky looking glazes, they go into a box where they eventually get reglazed (and sometime reglazed again) as I try to salvage the beads. Sometimes the beads just end up looking worse and worse, sometime they get so much glaze on them it all just runs to one side, but sometimes I end up with some lovely looking beads..... This picture doesn't really do justice to these glazes, but I'm liking these - even the red ones! Now the real trick is to see if I can recreate this color combination again in time for Friday!

See you at Ornamentea then,
Elaine

Not a new shape, but I'll have more than usual of these at the trunk show. Some day I'm going to make myself a jingly bracelet full of these! See you next week at Ornamentea!

- Elaine

Trunk Show time again at Ornamentea

A couple of new shapes.

This one was well planned out and I am pleased with every aspect of it: small and dainty, easy to form and glaze, shows the bare clay on the sides and I get consistent results. This is a keeper.



This bead is another story. Many of you know how I work - think of a new bead shape, make just a couple and see how it is to glaze and fire them, then make a handful more to get a success / failure rate, and then decide if I want to make them in production. But not for this bead - I was so excited with the first flash vision in my head I didn't bother to think it through and just jumped in and made 100 in each color of clay I use (buff, brown and white). My plan was to glaze the flat side and leave the skinny edges of clay showing, sort of opposite of my washer beads. As soon as I attempt to glaze the first one of those 300 beads it hits me - this won't work! The glaze will run and stick to the wire in the kiln unless I'm super, super, super careful when applying the glaze and use only glazes that don't run. Well, I'm not capable of being that careful and most of my glazes run. Hmmmmm - I can't just toss out 300 beads so I figure I'll just glaze them same at the washer beads and say good bye to the shape forever.

BUT - now I'm loving the shape and edges so will most likely make more and more of them.

Hope you get to meet these new beads at my trunk show on March 25th and 26th at Ornamentea. Lorelei Eutro will be there on Friday teaching Designing Without Limits. Get in the class!