My heads a spinning with ideas

I know you're all like me somewhat and have a million ideas on the go. Here are some of the plans in my head and half on my workbench at the moment.

1) Resin (as in Ice Resin) - many different projects in planning for a super secret project - sssshh.

2) Coming up with some new projects for my metal fusing classes. The price of silver went up considerably with our last shipment. To keep the class even remotely affordable I need to come up with some new projects that use far less silver! ;-)

3) The bronze cork experiment.  This is the one I really want to work on as it poses the most challenge, but it really should be #3 on the list...

4) Still need to reapply the hearts and the resin for the metal clay hearts. Those hearts keep beckoning me to do something with them. I really need more hours in the day. Sigh.

What's on your workbench this weekend?

We have winners!

Sorry for the late post today. I'm actually at the shop oogling all of the new stuff in person ;-) I'm in the actual store so rarely, it's nice to see everything up close and personal...

We had some more great submissions, and our winner, by random drawing (courtesy of random.org) is:
for Dance at Dusk - Monika M.
for Nothing Gold Can Stay - Lori H.

 We're also working our tails to get you two new kits!  Coming soonish :-)

Just Up... Corsage Project PlayDay with Stephanie Dixon!

Who doesn’t remember their prom? What did you wear? Who was your date? Where are they now? Hmmmm?

And, how would you feel today if you had not been able to afford to attend? It is one thing to be a rebellious teenager and refuse to go - know a few of those — but quite another to not go at all because of the financial burden it puts on your family.

Since 2005, beadFX has been a champion of the Corsage project. Once again - we are coordinating with the Corsage Project for donations.

The Corsage Project is a charitable organization that works to ensure that young women who are to graduate, but can not afford to attend their prom — can have the lovely dresses, shoes, and, most importantly, (in our humble opinion) the distinctive jewellery that will highlight the evening and provide a memento that they will have for the rest of their lives. ('Cause you might grow out of the dress - but the jewellery is forever!)

If you would like to donate jewellery, you can drop it off or mail it to us - by closing, April 29th. (It's a Thursday - we close at 8.) Alternately, you can make a cash donation online.

For those super fans of the Dixon Chick, she will be here hosting a Corsage Project Play Day from 6 to 8:30pm on Thursday April 22nd (that is next Thursday!). This is a great opportunity to hang with Stephanie, get a little help finishing off your donations or just pop by and drop off your donations.

This is such an important cause we hope to see many of you there!

More bronze experiments in the works

We had a question posted a few days ago, where someone was having difficulty firing bronze with cork clay.  I hadn't tried it yet, so that will be my experiment for this week. If they are dry in time, I'll post the results on Friday, but most likely I won't have any information to share until Wednesday next week.

I did a bit of research though, and it looks like you have to use an open air firing first to successfully burn out the core, and then fire again using the carbon.


More information about the open air firing schedule can be found on Margaret Schindel's bronze clay Squidoo lens

If you are in the area this weekend, I'll be hosting a rare Saturday metal clay playday from 10am to 5pm!

Kate McKinnon Classes Cancelled

Kate McKinnon's May 2010 classes at Beadfx have been cancelled. She is really busy this spring and our enrollment was a bit low so we have decided, with Kate, to cancel them for this year.

We hope that she will make it up here next spring.

If you have registered for any of Kate's classes already we will be offering you a full refund. If you have not heard from us yet you will in the next day or so.

Hope to see you back here in 2011 Kate!

Squarely In Time for Spring!

It is a beautiful spring day! That of course gets you thinking about springy type things. Rae Huggins class Squarely in Time for Spring is coming up this Thursday evening! The class is open to all levels, focusing on the square stitch and runs from 6 to 9pm.


Rae also has another fabulous class coming up 0n May 4th, the Embellished Peyote Bracelet. This class is also open to all levels and the finished piece is really funky!


There is also a rare weekend Metal Clay Play Day this Saturday from 10 to 5pm. Please call and let us know you are coming.

Amy Waldman-Smith is here as well on April 17th and 18th with her Learn to Make Glass Beads Weekend.


Don't miss Heather Bell-Denison's Introduction to Art Clay Copper course on Sunday April 18th.


Happy Beading!

Question about Artistic Wire

We got the following question - thought it might be of interest to others of you too.

I am going to be working with a liquid polymer clay that is baked in a 275 F degree oven. I want to incorporate artistic wire into the piece. Do you know if the wire/coating could withstand that heat without altering???

Our guess is that it would be fine, but it doesn't hurt to go to the source - so we asked the folks that make it.

Here is their reply:

The coating on Artistic wire should hold up without any discoloration at 275 degrees. It is always good to do testing before actual production. We do not know the chemical make-up of the liquid polymer clay and cannot make a prediction about what chemical changes the clay will make during the heating process and if those changes might cause some discoloration or altering of the finish on the Artistic Wire.

So - it's probably fine - test a piece first before going berserk and making 400 pendants!

More unbearably cute food

How do people making this cute food have a) the time, and b) don't weigh 1,000 lbs?

Bakeralla.com - Unbelievably cute food, and wonderful bokeh photos. (bokeh - strategic use of depth of field to create out of focus areas for artistic value.)

Sneek Peek at Next Week

Hey Copper! Feeling Brassy? - We are - more copper and brass findings and beads!

Voting - Try again

OK - I think it is working now.

Please go try it and let me know if it isn't.

http://www.beadfx.com/creativefx/creativefxvote2009.php

Voting is NOT working

sorry folks - I'm working on this. (expletives deleted)

It's the week of the flu

We've got a few people down for the count this week, including myself earlier this week, and now my kids. I don't have anything to show this week, experimental or otherwise. however, the big news of the day (in case you missed it) is that voting is now open on our CreativeFX challenge.

CreativeFX - Voting now!

Voting is now open for the 2009 projects - yes - it took us a while, but we had some technical difficulties.
This is the People's Choice portion of our creativeFX design challenge - which is a series of bead assortments that we offer as a stimulus to your creative juices. And - the prospect of a gift certificate doesn't hurt either.
Anyhow - you can go and see the entries and vote here. Voting is open til May 12. One vote per person.


By the way - we have had only one submission for our first round of CreativeFX for 2010 - just one entry - albeit an incredibly lovely dual entry by Karin S. However, as we choose these as a random draw, one for each kit - Karin - and she may hate me for pointing this out, is currently guaranteed to win. ;-P Now, I know we sold more than one kit - so the rest of you, need to get off your (butts) and get your entries finished and into us by email by midnight Sunday (April 11).


Go check out the awesome creations!

Guest Instructors at BeadFX

As manyof you are aware, from time to time we invite guest instructors up to BeadFX. Most recently we have added Kate McKinnon and Beau Anderson to our calender! It is very important that anyone interested register in advance for these classes. This is why we have put deadlines on some of these classes, this is to ensure that we have a good commitment to the class before the instructors get up here.

That being said, let me just remind you what we have coming up this spring.

May 16th to 18th Kate McKinnon will be here. She is teaching 3 classes:

Metal Clay for Lampworkers

Fine Silver Clasps and Findings

An Exploration of Mixed Stitches.

Kate requires a background in Square Stitch and Right Angle Weave for this class. For those who need a lesson in square stitch Rae Huggins is offering a class in square stitch on Thursday April 15th from 6 to 9pm, Squarely in Time for Spring.


May 27th to the 31st Beau Anderson is will be here. He is offering a two part intensive series of classes--Freedom Through Flamework Part 1 and Freedom Through Flamework Part 2. We have already had a number of students register for his classes, but if you were thinking of taking both I highly recommend that you register as soon as possible before one part fills up. All details can be found here.



There is also lots going on this week as far as classes go. Nadine Foskin and Stephanie Dixon are both at BeadFX this weekend, check out all the details on the website.


Happy Beading!

Hammers and Punches and Seedbeads, Oh My!

The UPS guy was moaning and groaning today when he delivered 6 very heavy cartons of stuff today. We've been restocking our much depleted hooks after last month's March Madness sale.

First off was a 50lb box of Toho beads, the second of two to arrive this week. The Miyuki delicas, cubes and fringe drops arrived just before the holidays and are waiting their turn to be packaged.

The rest of the big cartons today were from our tool supplier. So now we have lots of 2-hole punches, chasing hammers, rubber bench blocks and nylon jaw pliers. If you've been waiting for these, better visit us soon because these just fly out of the store when they arrive.

As far as new stuff is concerned, I received some smaller steel bench blocks, casting wax for our new silversmithing course, wax files, hand drills, small letter stamps and hand torches. Also, as a result of what I learned at the Swarovski Education Conference, we will be introducing two new lines of glues which are even better than the Hypo and E6000 we currently carry. Look for these in our store and on our website soon!

More stuff on Swarovski

Not sure I'm thinking too clearly this a.m. - 3 days of sun and lovely weather - can you believe the weather? How awesome was that weekend. Beats the heck out of Easter Weekend last year, which I spent in the Veterinary Emergency Clinic.

Anyhoo - more ramblings on new stuff from Swarovski.

This stuff on the left is called "Crystal Rocks." Kewel, eh?

It is faceted stones on a silicone (clear, flexible) backing, with a hot fix glue on the back. It is intended for fabric decoration, in things like shoes, purses, items that will not be washed on a regular basis. This is not because of the hot fix glue - which Swarovski warrants will permanently stick down the hot fix stones to any water permeable surface and keep them there through washing, dry-cleaning, earthquakes, tornadoes and other not-heat related disasters - but rather because in some limited cases in testing, there was some minor loss of the stones off the front. If it ain't 100%, Swarovski recommends against it - which doesn't mean you can't stick it on a jacket and live with the odd one coming loose over the years.

It bears a passing resemblance to druzy, does it not?

Here's another pic of it, so you can see the flexibility.

How about cutting shapes of it, sticking it to Lacy's stiff stuff or ultrasuede, and beading around it like a cabochon? Would that not be cool?

The folks at Swarovski spent a lot of time impressing on us just how incredibly durable the hot fix glue on the hot fix stones is, when correctly applied. They actually brought out a technical guy and let us talk to him - not just the sales reps. The only thing that will get them off is heat - as it softens the glue - but it leaves a residue on the item - they are intended to be permanent.

That's when someone else at the conference piped up that she had customers that used less permanent attachment methods on purpose - so they could take the stones off. Primarily customers making costumes - skating, dance, etc - for kids - that keep growing out of the costumes. They WANT to be able to remove the stones and re-use them after a season.

It occurs to me that you could apply the stones to something light and airy like a tulle and stitch that onto the costume too - but what the heck do I know?

The long and the short of it is - Swarovski has worked really, really hard to make the hot fix glue truly superiour. It has a lower bonding temperature than other rhinestones - so you can put them on more delicate fabrics. And we had some the beadFX logo made up some years ago and applied to t-shirts - and they are still all going strong!


The Black Diamond polygon is the new "Wing" shape, and the round one is the Chessboard cut. Again - think "apply to ultrasuede and bead around them." For a start. I'm sure you'll think of other great things to do with them too.

BTW - if you don't see some of this cool new stuff on our pages, but really want it - just email us and ask - we will probably be able to do a special order if we aren't planning on stocking it on a regular basis. In any case - we don't want you to miss out on having really cool sparkly stuff. Cuz we don't want to miss out on it either.

So much stuff, so little time!


Crystal banding - think bra straps. Victoria's Secret. What is Victoria's Secret? The secret is that none of the models are over 20 and don't really need support.




















Onward - this is the new crystal rondelle. 3 mm. Smaaaaall!























And the heart pendant is being re-cut to the Xilion style of faceting - like the bicones. The Xilion style (I have a hard time with that word - one L or two - it's one - but the spell checker hates it either way - the i's on either side make it hard to see.) - anyhow - the Xilion style alternates narrow and wide facets and makes the bead sparklier.

It is also patented, and Swarovski is fiercely defending the patent - so it is your guarantee that you are getting the genuine article, and not "Knockoffski."

We will be phasing them in as the old stock runs out.


Cheers! Happy Monday - and yes, the store is open today.

Time Sponge: All the Best Blogs,or the worst?

Oh jeez - do NOT go to this site if you ever want to have free time again. This collection of blogs, called 2leep.com (not sure how that is pronounced, to-leep or sleep). Anyway - this is a time-sponge and a half, with the same sort of fascination that is elicited by trashy tabloids and car accidents and other-peoples-misfortunes. Resist, if you can, Divorce Cakes, The Biggest Holes in the Earth, When Worms Attack Your Car. Ignore the links at the bottom of each page if you can - to other fascinating items, such as Worst Photoshop Mistakes. or Most Creative Wallpapers.

Argh - I think it took me two hours to write that paragraph. Don't blame me if you never get any work done again.

Sneek Peek at Next Week

I continue to be behind the curve in terms of the next update - you take a week off, and wind up two weeks behind. It's almost not worth going. Almost, but not really. ;-)

Anyhoo - new stone of the month for sure - Indian Blood Stone - an unsavory name if you think about it too much - but a rich dark green, flecked with red spots and splashes of other colour - some quite surprising.

What all else? - I'm scared to say and jinx it. Besides, aren't you still busy shopping last week's massive Swarovski update?

Nice day to do a whole lot of nothing

I hope wherever you are you're having as nice weather as we are here.  I've slept in, and I'm enjoying my first coffee. The big debate today will be whether to take the kids to the park, or down to the beach to collect rocks.  I doubt I'll get much beading or jewelry done today, but hopefully some time to clean out the garden a bit.

If you do have some time for your art, and can get a head start on your Mothers Day projects - Check out the latest Swarovski Inspirations on Create Your Style. 

  

http://www.create-your-style.com/Content.Node/inspiration/designs/MOTHER-S-DAY-GIFT-BOX.en.php

 

http://www.create-your-style.com/Content.Node/inspiration/designs/MOTHER-S-DAY-FLOWER-SCARF.en.php

  

www.create-your-style.com

  

www.create-your-style.com

Martha Bloopers

Vintage Martha at her finest - Thank you Donna - from Blackberrybeads for posting a link to this one.

Ohhhhh....

Did you see the crystal update?!

 

http://www.beadfx.com/catalogue/swarovskiother.php#27756211010283

I am so in love with this colour. I think I need to do a little shopping, and my bank account won't be too happy - but I will :-)

And since it's April 1st -

http://www.google.co.uk/intl/en/landing/translateforanimals/tour.html