In my last post I highlighted beads I had been working on using plain, white polymer and Prismacolor pencils, my "pencil box beads". This time I have a simple, easy-peasy bracelet that were made from one shape of my pencil box beads. They are simple forms and simple colors but I punched it up a little with bronze guilders paste to go with the copper spacer beads. I usually pierce the beads before curing so that I have a small channel for my drill bit to follow if I need a larger diameter whole. All these beads (except one) were drilled the same size so I could get my 2mm buna cord through; one bead was drilled large enough so that I could tie an overhand knot, apply superglue and slide it inside the bead with the larger whole. The copper beads hide the larger hole and the glue assured it will stay together. My granddaughter says these beads remind her of an old wooden top; they do have that look of antiquity about them. I will be listing these on etsy in the next few days, look for them there!
Off on another tangent again! I started working on a new set of beads that are really fun to make. And of course as usual I ended up spending two whole days straight on them. No cleaning, cooking or laundry - I need a 'wife'! Thank goodness my son brought home some great food so I didn't starve. No chance of that anyway...
So I made all these cool beads and then tried to come up with a name for them. That is the hardest part (for me) naming and pricing. I had a hundred ideas and then decided to go simple. These beads (and one bracelet, so far) have been colored using pencils; plain old Prismacolor pencils out of a box. So here are my Pencil Box Beads! I love 'wonky' shapes and these certainly are, plus I have more in the oven that are even more organic. Along with the pencils, I used Inka Gold and Guilders Paste. Someone (not sure who) mentioned using mineral spirits; I tried but didn't like the results. Perhaps I was doing it wrong; I did order a blending pencil from Dick Blick's so that might give a different nuance to the the child-like quality of these beads. Thanks for stopping by, more to come! Even though creating jewelry is my favorite creative pursuit, there are times I like to branch out into other areas. My latest endeavor's are the holders that are used for stick incense. Funny how that used to be associated with stoners and hippie drug culture; now I buy mine at Kroger's when I pick up yogurt and string beans! They even sell the holders; although I found them very plain, so I decided to make my own following an Iris Mischly tutorial. She gave me the basics and I turned it into a hippie thing....I do that a lot. So after my son decided he wanted one (and I know my granddaughter will too) I thought I would put them on my etsy shop in case anyone else thought they were cool. The colors are bright but antique finished and sealed. I offer four (4) basic colors but the designs that I stamped on them will vary. Pictures below! |
Archives
March 2019
|