Monday, April 27, 2009

Stripes, Dots, Mangoes


This is the part I love...getting something new on the design board, pulling out drawers and drawers of stones and beads, trying to decide how to put everything together. I made these giant drum beads and their mates yesterday...and they have yet to be sanded and polished, but I couldn't resist playing. I got an interesting effect on the upper set by brushing alcohol over the base bead, then applying Precious Pearl Powder. The powder clumped and dotted...which gave the beads an aged look. When they dried, I brushed them with alcohol ink to bump the color up.

The accompanying stones are (pale green) Serpentine, Onyx and at the top, I'm considering using Turquoise and Carnelian with the blue-green set. Maybe throw a little Bali Silver in there too.

5 comments:

beadbabe49 said...

awesome beads linda...you've clearly been working hard at them!

LJ said...

Thanks so much, BB. You know, I have a huge number of failures lately...days that produce little but scrap clay. I'm having trouble with the clay I use...the colors mix oddly and that puts me off. HOWever,
I'll keep chugging until I get. I was pretty happy with these beads, especially the blue-green ones, so I'm glad you like them.

Unknown said...

Very cool summer accessory right there Lady.
Oh, and scraps are all part of the game, we tend to forget: You have to break a few eggs to make an omelet... ;)

Cindy Lietz, Polymer Clay Tutor said...

I think these turned out wonderfully LJ! Too bad your colors are coming out funny. That's partly why I like to work with Premo. It's based on a painter's palette and mixes how you would expect it to if you're used to mixing paint colors.

LJ said...

Hi Jewels, Cindy...
As far as scrap goes...you can always use it, so no waste in the end. And you're right, lots of broken eggs required to get to the omelette!
And Cindy, thank you...I have a lot of Kato to use up and it does have it's strong points. You almost never see a fingerprint! Can you believe that? But Premo is next for me when I can afford it. I've just bought one of each color of the Sculpey Studio Clay to try it out. I'll let you know how I find working with it. And then it's on to Premo!