It’s been a while since anyone has posted here… I know the Evil Cold of Doom has been making the rounds and quite frankly, likes to wear out its welcome, and it has the tendency to kill the creative spirit. That said, I’d like to see us use this blog for what it was intended: inspiring each other.

Recently I chatted with David about making clay trinkets to leave at restaurants when I eat out, alongside my usual tips. I know Alicia is working on her bridal headband. Anyone else have any projects going on? Have ideas? Need ideas? Let’s hear from each other, and from the peanut gallery!

Come on, friends, let’s Make Some Art! Anyone else who wants posting rights to this blog should let me know – if you’ve got some form of art you’d like to share in a realm other than Facebook, give me a holler. I want this blog to grow and become a source of both inspiration and motivation (in the form of accountability among friends) so that we can all stay sharp!

I’ll post pictures of my Trinket-Tips once I get going on those… right now they’re still forming in my mind. Hopefully they form just as nicely in my fingers.

By this point, most of y’all have seen some pics of my Use the Muse necklace. I am working on getting some more pictures of additional pieces that I’ve done, but for now, these will have to do!

The various bead strands that made up the comet tail. This was taken before my 15 minute fight to get them to attach properly to the bottom of the Muse piece. The beads are a mix of 3/0, 6/0, 11/0 and 15/0 seed beads and 4mm/6mm Crystal Golden Shadow and Jet Swarovski bicones, and they were strung on 22 gauge wire to hold their shape.

Hollowed triangle PMC piece + three coiled sterling silver wire components + a couple of faceted tiger eye coin beads and 4mm Jet Swarovski bicones strung on 22 gauge wire to link it all together = I have no idea! But it looks cool!

I turned the wooden links that I received in the kit into little planets, thanks to some hammered 22 gauge gold-filled wire and a 4mm tiger iron bead. (Or technically I should say “link”, because I broke the second link trying to fit two orbits through the link holes. Oops.)

The clasp is far and away my biggest pride about this piece, as I handcrafted it myself. The base of the clasp is hammered 18 gauge sterling silver wire, and I used 26 gauge gold-filled wire to wrap the 4mm tiger iron beads around the clasp and add some mixed metal to the piece. I should just make and sell handmade components instead of completed pieces, seriously.

…..wait a minute. /runs off to do just that

So I figured I should put some of the old paintings I’ve done up here, seeing as how I haven’t really had anything to show for myself for the past few weeks.

These are currently hanging on my wall.  The cow was totally ripped from some random computer wallpaper I have; credit where credit is due and all that.  The bird was me winging it (get it?  wing?  bird?  This is why I don’t do puns.).  I based it off some breed, but I don’t remember which one.

The mountains are completely random and me toying around.  And the Philadelphia skyline was a stencil I did back when I was still living in New Jersey.

And a teaser image for what I’m working on next!  It’s green!  With some yellow!  Even I’m not sure exactly what I want out of it.

Today I assembled the last pieces of my necklace for Use the Muse IV, and because I am clever I was checking the piece on myself, in the mirror, as I assembled it. This led me to sew the leaves on the opposite side from the one I intended. So that was fun.

But — also! I took photos of the near-finished necklace, before I attached the mystery centerpiece for the contest. So here they are.

I am especially proud of the fringe, with the old bronzey-looking rondelles.

The only thing that annoys me about beading is that the seed beads I love so much and that are so versatile take FOREVER to become as impressive as you want the results to be. You’re left with a bunch of things that don’t really look all that important, and only when you finally put all those bits together does it begin to make sense.

Of course, the same might be said about life, so here we go.

I can’t show you the main part of this necklace, because it’s part of a contest called Use the Muse and I cannot reveal the Muse until after the judging has taken place. And of course, that part is the most impressive piece, and the one I’m most proud of. But here are the other components.

In real life it is a little larger than a dime. I was planning on making a second one, but it felt boring. So I started making leaves instead out of those same brown beads — which turned out much more fun, because each leaf comes out a little differently. My initial ideas based on the muse and the wooden wheel you see beneath the beads in the picture above emphasized symmetry — but ultimately, it turns out I am not really that careful or symmetrical a person.

I did two leaves, and thought about doing more, but again, boredom turned out to be helpful. I started playing with the pieces I had built, and lucked into an arrangement that looked absolutely wonderful. And there was a stitch I had been meaning to try, that would work perfectly. And I have all these brown and black beads that are exactly the right size. And so far it looks like this:

Symmetry has gone out the window. What’s happening with this necklace is what hardwood might look like if it grew in the form of a flower. More pics as the thing takes shape — and not even I know where it’s going to go next.

Tonight I pulled out pen & ink and rifled through my 100 Collected Poems of e e cummings for some of my favorite lines. I found that my blue ink bleeds more than the others, despite being the same brand as the green. Weird! Guess I need to focus more when using that one and reduce my pen pressure… practice, practice, practice!

cummings fans, please don’t look too closely/judge me… I messed up at least one line, and some don’t break exactly right due to me being bad at judging space.

Did the finishing touches on a painting I’ve had sitting around for like a year, which amounted to like 20 minutes of work.  But it’s finally done.  Just a quick aerial view of the path from the library to my old house in Florida.

And then there is a squid!  With a tophat!  Originally there was going to be a monocle, and then I decided I just like the look of the jar lids as eyes instead.

Based on Mary’s fast food suggestion, I pulled out my clay and went tiny. It’s been a while!

Apple… or fast food?

Size comparison…

PS – the fries glow in the dark!

It’s time for more ideas! Things you’d like to see us draw/sculpt/paint/CREATE! Be our muses, our inspiration, our motivation, and I promise we’ll start posting results!

So I spent entirely too long on a photoshopped drawing of a whale that originally was meant to be some sort of gangster, but I fell in love with the plaid pattern, so is now more like some sort of detective.