Dipping My Toes Into 2014

Well, well, well, here I am again after a long absence.

They say your first experience of the new year can set the tone for the rest of the year.

I woke up on a dry-docked yacht in the desert.

It was actually one of the dwellings for rent at the Shady Dell Trailer Park where we had partied the night before. The grand ideas of hiring a cab fell through although they called and woke me at ten to four AM to let us know they could pick us up finally but we were comfortably ensconced in the yacht by then.

This morsel has been a WIP for a a bit of a while.

I wanted to experiment with the Apoxie Clay that I learned about in Michael deMeng's class.

The bead was a wonky vessel of sorts, meaning that it was hollow bead with only one hole.

I had never quite figured out how I was going to use it (and nobody else had either because I was never able to sell any of this series)

Apoxie clay is great for attaching things to things and is paintable and carve-able and dries within a few hours. It's a two part system as any epoxy.

So this pendant was not soldered at all, just stuffed and it adhered the two pieces just dandy. (dandily?)

Did a little designing with some of Marsha Neal Minutella's Spiky organic ceramic bits and made some sgrafito beads as well. 

I am still struggling with the whole bracelet idea...

sizing and such... finishing and such...

 but I have a pile of bracelet ideas half strung.

I thought I had a buyer for this one when I showed it online but the pesky Australian import rules about seed pods squashed it thoroughly. Be careful people, you don't want your customers to pay hefty fees and experience months of delay or the possibility of your piece being returned because you included some organic matter in your design that they don't allow.

Messing around with the Apoxie Clay and checking out the difference between Apoxie Clay and Apoxie Sculpt when making these headpins. Apoxie Sculpt is more of a Play Doh texture when working it, more supple and the Apoxie Clay is stiffer, more like polymer clay.

It was a little dark in the house when I painted them. I couldn't tell the difference once they dried and were painted.

Inspiration for crubbly cubies.

( actually I spotted this after I made them so it was kind of a reverse inspiration.)

The crubbly cubies inspired me to take this picture.

Went on a crubbly cubie streak. Cornerstones of funky beadwork designing.

and made a few earrings

I ended up having to keep these for myself since I dropped and broke the tip off of one. Now it's glued and they are mine.

I discovered some new frit that takes to my headpins quite well.

The only reason these are still in my shop is that I put a certain LoveRoot on moratorium for buying because she's joining me at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show next month.

I'm excited to have a pal and partner in bead crime.

I hope it doesn't come down to fisticuffs over coveted wares though!

I met the neighbors.

Remember the "clown house" I spoke of way back when.

Well we've got invites there now. Lots of fun.

Things you can see on a typical bike ride in Bisbee, AZ

Mining runoff.

I hope to be back on a bit more of a regular schedule (in the loosest meaning of the word)

and keep more up to date with this blog. Things got busy there for awhile!

thanks for sticking with me.

XOXO,  Kim

Gem Show and Exciting News

I have so much to catch up on here at the blog since I went on my trip and then returned in time for the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show.

I guess I'll need to travel backwards and share my most recent excitements with you first.

I can tell you that I was the most restrained in my buying ever my first day.

Let me tell you, only spending $55 for a day at a gem show tent is quite a feat.

On the second day at a different show which is my favorite (or was) The Gem Mall, I was there fro three hours before buying anything. ...and then the floodgates began to open to a trickle and I was working my way up to a good steam of acquiring some goodies.

My favorite silver findings shop seemed to have moved from it's location and well as one of my other suppliers. I would have to do some research to find them.

I felt as if I were shopping for you all. Certain beads would shout out names to me.

I would be thinking "Oh, Janet would like those and Cynthia wouldn't mind having some of those"

Of course I was also thinking of what I might like as well.

I was wearing a pair of the other Kim from FlotsamTide's "Seal Maiden " earrings that had some of this funky kyanite that I had been lusting after. It must have been good bead karma because I found these strands right off at a booth that wasn't offering many bead items.

I got a half a dozen compliments on those earrings I'll have you know.

These Tibetan yak bone mala beads were a hit last year so I've listed some in my supply shop today

Numinosity on Etsy

I may as well tell you that I had gotten my "BUY"on by the fourth day.

I have been told by "One who Knows" that all in all I must have still been fairly restrained when I told her the grand total. ( There is another weekend of gem show coming up though tee hee)

I thought of fanci when I saw these...well of course, now I see that she's been using some in her work already. I got two sizes. I'm realizing that I need to buy smaller beads for myself now because combined with lampwork a lot of combinations can get pretty heavy.

I thought of Vladthebat Steph and Pipnmolly Tracy when I saw these

bunches of cheapo glass beads

will dismantle

Roman glass!

Did you ever wonder if I buy other's lampwork?

Well sometimes I do.

I have admired Karen Ovington's style since I was first introduced to lampwork.

I had never picked up one of her beads for my collection.

Isn't it splendid!

and here's another gal whose beads I love from Tennessa at "A Beaded Gift"

I've also added some crubbly headpins over at my NuminosityBeads shop

and well, not so crubbly too.

I almost forgot to tell you my biggest excitement though.

I've been accepted for a techniques article in Belle Armoire as well as a few featured pieces in the gallery!!!!!

I just need to get cracking and write up the article now. We have just three weeks before our trip to South America.

Relics Old and New

I've been eyeing this site for quite awhile on Etsy that has some great relics for repurposing into jewelry or altered art. While I wish that I could say I had dug these up myself I have to be happy that I was able to splurge and acquire them for some new inspiration. This is  an example of the stuff I can't find at the Tucson Gem show that really lights my fire.

Talk about "squeeeeeee!" in the nomenclature of Fancifuldevices

(Used to denote uncontainable excitement)

Aren't these lovely?

Some super old finds...copper

The patina and wear on some of these pieces.... just wow!

Which begs another question, Will I use them or simply covet and sort my preciousssss sssstash?

And speaking of lighting my fire.... this is what I dug up in my own studio yesterday.

Amphoras anyone?

( I  made these, they are under 24 hours old)

You could use them to keep your Numinosity headpins displayed

Crusty Nuggets 

And now for something shiny

I had one more nugget but it's stuck on the mandrel, useful to decorate your potted plants

headpins...hell yeah!

Sunken Treasure ~ Gem Show and Tell

We went on our yearly foray to the Tucson Gem and Mineral show this year, vowing to spend less than previous years which is quite a feat for my husband and myself seeing that we moved to Arizona to be closer to the show. Warmth is another reason after so many winters in Alaska although you wouldn't know that this week with our subfreezing temperatures and frozen pipes galore.

I've got quite a stash of beads and things from previous shows and I actually brought a list with me this time to avoid too many impulse buys but I do allow for some because what would the fun be in that?

I think if there's an unusual enough find I should jump on it.

I found a booth at the Grant Inn (we were informed that the show would be having it's last year there) 

They had an amazing strand of ancient Chinese coins dating from between the 1650's to 1800's.

The man said that they were found in a shipwreck by Indonesia.

When I was a little girl I had found some old Chinese coins in my grandfather's attic. I was so enchanted by them that I had even written a poem about them.

They've since disappeared so I just had to make a deal and buy up a lot of these coins for my work and resale. I hope to be putting them up in my online shop soon. I'll be selling them for $1 a piece. If you have any interest in them now, let me know.

( and I'll include some in my 200th post giveaway which is just around the corner so stay tuned!

Some of my other finds at the gem show were some lampwork supplies. I got a button mandrel to try out  along with some puffy mandrels for hollow beads. I picked up a dapping set at  the Beaducation booth along with a steel bench block.

I wanted to find some briolettes for making earrings and was happy to find some smaller strands so that I could get and assortment.

 Peruvian chalcedony briolettes

 Carnelian

 Smoky quartz

Green onyx

I really was attracted to the pyrite strands I found, both faceted and teardrop shaped.

And I was happy to find these charms and components that were made up of brass copper and pewter which will go with the more shabby silk pieces I've been designing.

These will help on finishing off the ends of my silk ribbon pieces

 I thought these copper bails were attractive and affordable

 I'm wild about patina

 And copper... must be why I picked a copper mining town to live in.

These are end caps too with a flared hole at one end.

More drops, different shape

These beads are ceramic~ made by monks in Thailand ~with gold leaf added

I loved these okra shaped charms, they are hollow and measure almost 3 inches

(7 cm)