Be In Style - Best of the Web Feature

I woke up this morning to an email letting me know that I am featured in the online magazine 'Be In Style' as a 'best of the web' blog.

Has it gone to my head?
Absolutely.

Want to see?
Click here 

The magazine asked me to send a picture of my poppy rings and to write a blurb about my blog:

“Belvedere Beads is a lot of chatter about my time spent at the torch and pictures from my glass studio. I have always adored fire, and from the minute I melted my first rod of glass and wound it into a bead, I was completely in love. My blog is also about making jewelry. As you can imagine, it wasn’t long after I started making beads that I was up to my elbows in them and had to do something with all that glassy goodness. Of course, there are also tales of my life as an artist and foolish matron, happy snapshots of my prize poodles, and long talks about painting and cupcakes and whatever else I want.” — Lucinda

Pinch me.

Puttering

I futzed around too long yesterday and by the time I got to my studio there wasn't time to heat up that big kiln, figure out a plan and productively play with fire.

So, I drew in my bead sketchbooks.

Pondered why I have so many red and orange colored pencils.
Came to no conclusions but did eat some Valentine's chocolate.

Sketched some more -

- then watched the trains come and go from my fourth floor perch.
I like to think of it as the penthouse.

Revisited a great book on bead making called  "Beads of Glass" by Cindy Jenkins.
Wondered if she's a Cynthia or a Lucinda, like me. Nobody calls me Cindy anymore, don't even try it.
Chewed some clove gum and was pleased that I still knew how to construct a gum wrapper chain.

Dipped a mess of mandrels.
They're the stainless steel rods, coated with clay, that the molten glass is wrapped onto when beads are made. Few things are as pretty as a bouquet of freshly dipped mandrels.

Swept the floor and called it a day.

The Bangles, Totally

I made myself some jewelry on Sunday night.

From my bead stash I excavated a box of gem chips, and tiny pearls, and fashioned some bangles with my hammer and some vintaj style brass wire.

These were totally inspired by Kerry Bogert and her book "Totally Twisted."

When I peeked in on Facebook this morning I saw it's celebrating it's first birthday today. Immediately I knew it was the perfect day to share pictures of these bracelets.

Without Kerry there would be no coiled wire in my life...

Also, it didn't hurt that I was watching Beverly Hill Chihuahua on tv while wiring them together. Don't judge me, I just got sucked in. Who can resist fancy, fancy, fabulous talking dogs? I think I need to make some gemstone and wire tiaras for my poodles.

L to R: labradorite, dark pearls, garnets and rose quartz

Twisted Sister

I know it's not really a big deal but, for me, making my own ear wires is pretty damn exciting.

The idea that the whole earring is handmade - there are no commercial parts whatsoever - is really appealing.

The "ancient artifact look" is perfect.

 I want my pieces to look like someone dug them up out of the ground or unearthed them from some tomb.

How ever did I do it?
With the help of Kerry Bogert's book "Totally Twisted."

This book has the best 'how-to' photos you can imagine.
Clear, tools on, beautifully staged pictures that perfectly illustrate her concise, well written instructions.

My homemade ear wires are not perfect, but these are absolutely my very first pairs - and that is a testament to the usefulness of this wonderful how-to book. Not to mention that all of this wire work was learned and I am only on page 9.

Amulets

I found some extraordinary vintage rosaries last week - each one a treasure.

On the left is an old sterling silver one with glass pearls and the one on the right has gorgeous sky blue crystals.

The one  in the center is the fascinating - it is an infants christening rosary.

It's so sweet with the tiny, primary colored glass beads for amusing the baby. The back of the crucifix is stamped Italy.
I am not even a wee bit catholic but, as amulets, they really speak to me.
They're all up on etsy.

Awhile back - Stephanie of Vlad the Bats Attic - recommended this book to me. It is something of an obsession. My copy has become very dog-eared from frequent re-reads and raids for inspiration.

Every paragraph leads your mind off into some thoughtful reverie and a new idea for a necklace. And the artifacts pictured are so gorgeous. So, if you're into this sort of powerful thing - then this book is for you.

Seeds

A sketchbook page of seed inspired earrings.

They came from a wonderful book that I just got called "Seeds."

It's a mind-boggling coffee table book - every seed looks like a potential bead. Well, to me, anyway. But just about anything makes me think of beads.

Here are some of my first attempts. These lentils, above, have a dot of Opalino Nile Green in the center, encased with Cims Cirrus and a ruffle of Cims Dusk around the edge.

This pair have dark transparent purple centers, wrapped in fine silver foil, encased in light transparent brown.

I cannot wait to get back at the torch this week and have at these sketches again.

Pollination

Almost everything I make is inspired by nature.
I never met a seed pod that I did not want to recreate using either paint, pencil or glass.

So, when I saw the cover of this coffee table book called "Pollen" I was sunk. I trolled around ebay for weeks until a reasonably priced copy came up for sale and I scored it. Scored is the perfect word to describe my shopping behavior with this book. I was consumed with want in the days that preceeded it's purchase.

When it finally arrived in the mail I was not disappointed.

Page after big glossy page of spores that look like beads.

After absorbing it for a day or two I started to sketch out some bead ideas.

You know, you really should keep a bead sketchbook.
Keeping track of your ideas, color recipes, triumphs and failures is very useful.

My first pollen beads.

They're a completely new shape for me.

They start with a round bead. By spot heating and raking both sides of the round base bead they are pulled into an elongated 'pollen grain' shape.

The base glasses were Opalino Carnelian, Light Gray and Cim's Plum. Before starting to shape each bead I added a band of Double Helix Aurae around their middles. They were reduced after shaping.

I am so pleased with these beads. The plan is to make several dozen more and then string them into a strand - sort of like pearls - but pollen.

bookish

oh valentine.
yes dear husband - i love the book. thankyou!

this book - "making connections" by susan lenart kazmer is amazing
and so is her website.

i haven't stayed up so late reading a book since harry potter.
certainly you can see that this woman and i are on the same excessive wavelength. the book is absolutely full of interesting technical bits for making cold connections and wiring things together. but it's the spooky bits of stuff, her charms and talismans, that had me just pouring over the book well past my bedtime.

mum is not the word.

thanks for all the fun at the bead bazaar last night!

what a great color combination. hmm, it could be cim's gelly's sty and pale nile green dots on black. anyway, enough beady thoughts, it's cold here and i am going to make some hot cider and have a good read - michael pollan, "the botany of desire."

p/s i am still recovering from the vice presidential debate. we had a rather large dinner party the night of the event. at some point we decided to have a shot of good kentucky bourbon each time sarah palin said maverick. it got way out of hand. i generally keep silent about my unrepentantly liberal political views in my blog, but i have to say that woman makes me so mad that smoke comes out my ears.

painting charms

my first tiny charms accomplished.

is was a fun & frustrating afternoon,
but future charms should be less traumatic.

they'll be easier because i figured out soldering irons and learned about something very important called tinning. all you master solderers out there can snort if you want.

my soldering iron came from a household sale. i love used stuff, but soldering iron may be one of those things (like mattresses) that are just better new.

i put a black patina on this last one, and am not sure about it...
at first i hated it, but now i think i love it.

any way, here is the book that i used, simple soldered jewelry & accessories by lisa bluhm.

excellent instructions, with lots of pictures, just what you need if you want to make some these little treasures.

one last thought

one last thought for the year before i set out on this evening's quest for pink champagne.

"living apart and at peace with myself, i came to realize more vividly the meaning of the doctrine of acceptance. to refrain from giving advice, to refrain from meddling in the affairs of others, to refrain, even though the motives be the highest, from tampering with another's way of life - so simple, yet so difficult for an active spirit. hands off!"
-henry miller

rain + books = perfect sunday

rain, long drawn out all night and all day rain.
everything hot that was dying from the drought is coming back cool.
my vegetables are wearing the moisture like jewelry.

if it is sunday then big poppa is at the city flea market, buying and selling. when it rains on a sunday it means an unexpected day off for him, kinda like a snow day for a kid.

the two of us rounded up our friend the doc and headed to 'durf's of fairport' (the world's most unassuming restaurant) for brunch.
go ahead, ask me how good the pumpkin and walnut pancakes were.

then off to barnes and noble for a book binge. his two hardcovers on micro economic trends and lobbyists.
and my four, mostly paperbacks, on jewelry.

this book on resin casting because i want to figure out how to cast tiny pencil drawings in resin.

this one because heather powers recommended it. when i looked inside i nearly peed my pants - it's full of gorgeous beads and step by step instructions. i don't know heather powers of humblebeads, but her blog is super great and full of generous information. so, i just emailed her and asked her to recommend some polymer clay books - she wrote me back generously and immediately. when you want to know - ask an expert... politely.

this one on found object jewelry because, i don't know, because it's awesome inside. the jewelry inside is ecentric, mostly lovely and wildly made out of this and that. the artist's inside have taken stuff like old pencils, toothpicks & pearls (cover art), rusty bits, beach rocks and all kinds of the beautiful flotsam and jetsam and turned it all into treasure.

this one on bracelets because it was 50% off and 100% inspirationally mindboggling.

so now i am watching the bill's game, blogging, cooking fresh tomato sauce, digesting 3 cups of coffee and oggling my books - big poppa is napping.

miss mango just called from college - she got the barrista job she wanted off campus and a coveted slot on the campus radio station today. so she is walking on air.

yes, it's a perfect sunday.

annie modesitt is hot

i am, like, so done with winter.

in florida i had 4 days without a single coughing fit. my fingertips and toes didn't perpetually ache and i wasn't partially immobilized by layers and layers of heavy clothes. why do i continue to live in this stupid freezer?

i was in such a rush to get outta this tundra that i never blogged about annie modesitt.

ever since i discovered flameworking my knitting has definately slipped in status to craft number two. annie modesitt, a mistress knitter (she prefers it to master knitter) sometimes knits with wire and beads. how perfect is that? one look at this woman's book and i was thinking outwards in giant spirals of fine silver wire and my flameworked beads.

her 'lecture' to the assembled ladies of the rochester knitting guild was fabulous. she has tremendous presence and charm and on top of that she is one of the world's fastest knitters. yes - i saw her knit and it was mindboggling. i drank the koolaid, bought her book on knitting with beads and wire (Twist and Loop) had it signed and even got a few words with her. i ordered some sterling silver wire today...

i also need to get her book called confessions of a knitting heretic.

and lastly, to finish today's blogging a couple of gratuitous pictures of kiki p. oodle. it was a good day to be the dog.

oh, and i have knit something of annie modesitt's already - she devised that clever pattern for the 'backyard leaves scarf' from 'scarf style.' i never made the connection til just now, duh. where is that scarf?