Owls with shards

I was gifted some beautiful looking shards and finally made some owls using them. Shards are made by winding molten glass around the end of a tube in a rough bowl shape then blowing through the tube so that it forms a thinned bulb shape. When solidified you smash the bulb, producing 'shards' of glass. These shards have some silvered ivory in the mix which provides a lovely organic effect. Here's a photo with the shards before they're applied, they are very thin, fragile and razor sharp!

Here are the owls finished. I used a white base. Verdict? I like. The last owl has some frit of silver glass Terranova on his back, which has turned the shard a deeper golden-brown hue.

Uber Bots!!

Here are four robots in the newest style. They are made with Triton, a glass from Double Helix that pops out the wonderful lustre in a 'reduction' flame.
I'm so pleased that I am able to replicate the robotic style that was achieved in the first of this new line.

Just before I go to sleep I think about beads, as much as I love the process of creation, wouldn't it be great if the things visualized in your mind could be made real in an instant? Even if it was an image transfer so that you could remember the colours and pattern and design. I have a visual diary etc but often the memory from that twilight mind state evaporates in the real light. Also, lugging around 100 coloured pencils just so you can get the right colour is a little unwieldy.
One idea I had was to get a specialized tablet (laptop) that can deal with graphics programmes and is in a good portable size. They are a bit slow in coming out with it. I know they're out there but so far they're fairly primitive. Unless YOU know of one?

Super Sexy Robot!

It's sleek, smooth, curvy and super shiny with a mirrored finish. Reminds me of chrome and glass (funny thing, it IS glass).
I made this robot with a relatively new glass from Double Helix, called Triton. Triton is a transparent cobalt blue glass in rod form, but when reduced... "BLING!!!" out comes the mother of all lustres. Featured on his front is a cog from a watch, the kind of clean, simple detail that marries so beautifully with all the smooth shininess (imagine mag wheels, why do people love them so much...) His head has various bumps perfect clear on the sides and light golden 'antennae' on his head of another new fabulous glass called Aurae (also from Double Helix). I'm also planning on making a robot out of that. The eyes came out with some intense colours and add life to his character.

I've made a couple of koalas for the victorian bushfire appeal fund and added an owl to make up two auctions on ebay. The first one is about to finish (today) and the second auction ends on the 28th Feb.
I know many of us wanted to get out there and help in some way besides just giving money, it's not very empowering to sit back and watch the events unfold on tv. I'm grateful to have been able to use some of my skills to create and sell something for a good cause and grateful for the support these auctions have received, thanks for your generous bids and encouragement. Here's to a community that pulls together, cheers!

Gracie, just about perfect!

Sometimes I become infatuated with my own beads, I'm emabarrassed to admit it- but it's the truth. This diminuitive little owl came along and impressed me greatly with her pattern and colour and detail. The more I look at her the more I want to look at her and take great satisfaction in discovering the many special qualities she possesses. It's funny, but I could probably show her to someone else and they'll shrug over it and reach for something else.... but, but, but.... look at HER. Gracie is her name, appropriate because I have a cute niece with the same name.

Self Indulgence - Microcosmic

I got together some of the richest products in beadmaking to make an indulgent jewellery set for myself: pure silver, gold aventurine and psyche glass. There are also swirls of faux boro, plunged bubble dots and lashings of clear to magnify everything.
I should probably have added a czech crystal, goldleaf and palladium leaf to truly go over the top, however I really enjoyed the effects created.
These are brilliant in the bright sunlight (my photos don't capture the wonder), the aventurine shimmers brightly and there is so much depth and detail, like a micro-cosmos, so that is what they are, Microcosmic beads.
The top image shows my trollbeads bracelet which already has a few of these added along with a bunch of other beads I made for it.
There are three big spheres which I think I will make another 4 to create a necklace, and a small pair for earrings. I made about 8 bracelet beads so I have four or so leftover. One has already gone to a sister and I haven't decided what to do with the rest. One day I will have to perform some kind of marketing giveaway ploy to get more customers or fans or something LOL this sounds very blase. The bead making is the easy part of my bead empire :-D theres not a lot of other time left over. (not really an empire then is it? lol)

The cog army evolution!

My watch parts finally arrived and my plan for building robots is coming to fruition! I love how the watch bits lie on a surface, it always looks like a work of art.
Here are the first two robots with the new parts. I learned so much in the process! and there is still so much more to learn. Although I can acknowledge many challenges in the making of them, I don't have all the answers yet, just some ideas of how I will tackle them.
Captain Cog is the one on the left, he was my first, and more successful than Grease Monkey on the right, who lost a bit of his cog in a somewhat frightening display of sparks and spats.