Chair upgrade

One down with 5 to go.  These chairs are from my Grandparent's house - I have had them for close to 8 years and finally decided how to restore them.  I always thought they'd have to be stripped and refinished to show the wood.  This was way out of my price range to pay to have it done and way out of my time range to do it myself.  The joints have been cracking one chair at a time and we were down to only one chair that could be sat on safely so it was time to do something.... Pinterest to the rescue!  I saw some painted chairs there and thought why not - it the best of worlds the wood would be preserved, but at least now the chairs get to see the light of day.  My daughter helped me choose the fabric and paint color.  When the chairs are all done, I'm thinking about doing the table in a really dark blue.  I'm sure the paint will get chipped, so then I'll claim to be going for a "distressed" look.

I seem to be happiest when I have some sort of projects happening.  What house projects are you working on?

Thanks for stopping by,
Elaine

Barcelona Necklace

Have you seen the Barcelona Necklace from Ornamentea?   Cynthia made it for our booth at Beadfest Philly in August.  During the show she designed another necklace with a different configuration of the circles, and it was just as great.  

http://www.ornamentea.com/TheShop/TutorialPages/BarcelonaNecklace.html

This called for more circle sets in more colors.  On a whim I stacked them up after unloading the kiln. 

These circle sets make a lovely sculptural picture, but what I'd really like is to see what you'd do with them.  Make a Barcelona Necklace, design a necklace all on your own, or separate the pieces and use them in multiple finished products?    

Remember - I love pictures and links to your online shops.  

Thanks for stopping by, 

Elaine

My Useful Beads

A couple of more new shapes for my trunk show at Ornamentea on October 5th and 6th. The ones on the right don't show much of the clay, so initially I was not sure how I felt about them. Cynthia, the owner of Ornamentea, commented that she liked the small ones and thought that they'd be "useful".  I know some bead artists may be a bit put off to hear their beads referred to as "useful", but I actually love the idea!  To think that my beads help others to create beautiful things is spot on for me, it is my very intention.  

If you have any comments / thoughts about what is useful or helpful for you in your creative process, please let me a note.  Thanks for stopping by!

- Elaine

Cascade glazes are back!

New shapes in cascade glazes for trunk show October 5th and 6th.

Years ago I made bunches of pendants using cascade glazes.  Below is a picture from April, 2007.  As you can see, there are puddles and puddles of glaze all over the shelf.  The support posts were even glazed into place.  Those pendants were all between 11/4 to 3 inches big - so they needed lots of glaze which lead to all that dripping.  I still have some of these left, they were with me at Beadfest Philly and will be with me at my trunk show on October 5th and 6th.  I really love the look of the cascade glazes.

At the beginning of this year I gave the cascade glazes another try - not a complete fail, but not a complete success either.  http://elaineray.blogspot.com/2012/01/cascade-glazes-fired-some-success-some.html

Well, I gave the cascade glazes another try this past couple of weeks on a limited basis and am happy with the results!  You can see the samples in the top picture.  I like the look and feel of the pieces, they didn't drip onto the shelves, and it worked with all three of the clays I use.  I'm going to do the shapes pictured and a few more.  The picture in the lower right hand of the collage is a shot of the process of dipping the pieces (twice) and letting them hang to dry.  Cue the happy music.......

PS, notice how the sets in the first picture are held together with jump rings, rather than tied?  I totally stole that idea from Diana Ptaszynski.  Diana is an incredible ceramic bead artist and all around great person.  Check out her shop and blog:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/suburbangirlbeads
http://vintagebluestudio.typepad.com/

Thanks for stopping by,
Elaine

Capital Area Beading Organization

I had the privilege of attending my first Capital Area Beading Organization meeting this evening.  Wow - that room was packed full of talent!  There were demonstrations, project ideas, finished samples and a make-it-and-take it table.  It was fun to see old friends and meet new ones.  And - here is the kicker - I won a door prize!  These lovely earrings were made by the talented Melissa Eller.  I have so many outfits that they will go with and I have no other earrings like this so I'm super excited.  You can find more information about the Capital Area Beading Organization here: http://caboraleigh.org/ .Go take a look - they are a great bunch of people.  Hope to see you October 5th / 6th for my trunk show at Ornamentea.  

Pinterest - baked eggs

From my Pinterest board:  This I will try and let you know how it turns out.  The original blog post from Amy's Kitchen can be found here: http://www.amyskitchencreations.blogspot.com/2012/05/eggs-for-breakfast-sandwiches.html

It worked fine.  The eggs were tasty and kept in the fridge well.  One important thing I can add is to prick the egg yolk when reheating in a microwave.  The first reheat went as planned but the next egg exploded, so beware.  Amy was correct, they make a tasty, quick sandwich.  Go ahead and give it a try, you won't be disappointed.  

Holi Posi Flower

New bead shape for Ornamentea.com - the Holi Posi Flower

Cynthia designed a lovely tutorial using this bead that can be found here:  http://www.ornamentea.com/TheShop/TutorialPages/BrushstrokesMacrameBracelet.html

In all honesty, I let my friends at Ornamentea name the bead and I really have no idea what the background for the name is.  I even Googled it and  still came up blank.  So, in my mind Holi Posi can be translated into "lovely bead with 6 crazy holes to glaze around".  

If you pictures to share - let me know, I love pictures!

Thanks for stopping by,

Elaine