Trip to the BEACH- Baking Soda beads

Hello friends!

Ok well it's sort of a trip to the beach... from my studio table, that is! If you can't get to the beach, why not bring it to you? If you remember awhile back I made that super sweet "Tide Pool" focal for Barbara Bechtel for our swap. 

 

Here is Barbara's focal if you don't remember. 

So why the heck didn't you see any in the shop? Well just as inspiration comes it generally comes to me when I don't have all of the supplies to do it(FIGURES!). I got my glass order and got back on a roll making these "Tide Pool" focals. I gave one to Barbara, and one to Mom only leaving me with one.  So I just got back in the beachy groove again after seeing a treasure in which I was featured.  If you remember my last  blog post talking about inspiration you can see where the idea started.

So after making a few of these I had this idea for a bead on my walk back to the house. LUCKY ME, it actually worked out just as amazing as it looked in my head! So what happens when ideas work out? More ideas keep coming and you have to keep creating until no ideas remain or you make so many that you have fizzled out.

 

If you were on my facebook you might have seen some mobile uploads of my beads as they came out of the kiln. I was out snapping some photos for my listings tomorrow in the sun so I thought I would take some detailed shots. 

Here you can see the entire collection of beads I created. I will have a few up in the shop tomorrow for the listings, but I won't get all of them in the shop in one day.  

 

Here is a close-up of the focals. I just love that coral like texture the beads have. They are like little treasures found while combing the beach :)

 

Here are some glass headpins I made. I was super pleased with the results, but unfortunately it seems like there are many variables to getting the desired texture results I like best. See all of the more brown sandy bottomed pins? It took me that many just to try to get 2 the same texture :/ 

I think many things change how the baking soda works like: over heating, moisture in the air(ie humidity), fresh baking soda for every try, heating and cooling inbetween applications etc. 

 

Here are the spacers I tried. I really love the results of them. They are like beach glass and sand all mixed into one. I really would love to go back and make more of these, but would you believe I am OUT OF GLASS again?! Well of some of the colors I just used like Teal and Dark Ivory. I guess next time I order, I will just have to order pounds!

Well I just wanted to do a quick post about my latest fixation. I need to get some photos edited and work on my BSBP blog ;)

See you soon!

xo Genea

Marsha Neal Studio Silk Color Palette Challenge

Hello friends!

If you don't already know Marsha Neal, she is a pretty fantastic clay artist and such a wonderfully sweet woman. Maybe you will better recognize her by her fabulous clay work.

 

Ceramic Pendant Bead Set Gnarly Spiral Texture In Etched Opal Blue Creme Glaze

 

Handmade Beads Twirl Design Pendants in Chocolate Clay with Brown and Tan Glaze

 

Urban Grid Ceramic Pendant OOAK Large Round Size Etched Dark Green Golden Brown Glaze

 I got to know Marsha better through our Bead Babes group on Facebook.  Marsha decided to start a new challenge featuring some of her silk cording. We were asked to choose a color palette and name it for Marsha's shop. How fun to get to play in someone else's supplies and even name them!  

Here is one of my entries for the challenge called "Bright Delights". You can purchase this bundle of silks on Marsha's site by visiting HERE(This is the link to all of the silks. You can click on the individual bundle using your mouse). These will be available for sale MARCH 1ST 2012.

 

Details about the "Silk Knot Bundles":

(10) 2mm silk ribbon cords are in each silk knot bundle.

These silks are over a yard in length (40-42" long each).

They are color fast and hand washable in a mild detergent.

The 2mm silks are hand stitched and can be cut at any length without them unraveling.

 

So what else will you receive besides this wonderful bundle of silk when you purchase? Well You will also be put in a drawing to win a $50 gift certificate to Marsha's shop!

Want to join in the challenge and get more details? Visit Marsha's Blog Silk Colore Palette Challenge for more details.

Marsha will also be doing some design challenges with these silks. You can sign up for her newsletter to receive more details on those events!

Thanks for stopping by! 

xo Genea