Wallpaper eggs

I've been making a few big hole beads each session lately and putting them aside for Fiona at Tutukaka gallery.  They've been sitting in water waiting for me to clean the bead poo out of the holes, I looked at  them the other day and thought how they're much brighter threy are than I often use, (that Special Orange is still a favourite). Funnily enough I just got an email from Fi requesting a top up, and specifically in bright colours:)

I've been a bit lost as to what else I feel like making recently and have had a couple of sessions with nothing coming out particularly inspired or interesting to me.
I think I've overcome the lull though, I love these raked dot eggs beads in reactive colour, they remind me of 60's or 70's wallpaper patterns

I just got a package from Thompson Enamels too so now I can start playing with torch firing enamel on copper! Exciting!!

Wilco will love you baby!

Framed up my new Wilco poster which my darling Sam just happened to find falling off a wall for me!

Looks great in my kitchen along with one from their last tour here and my Kotche drumstick

Still on the hunt for the '08 NZ tour, love my T-shirt from that show though, can't wear it much anymore for fear of it falling apart

although it is much better quality than the one I got in 2010

Can't hardly wait for the Auckland AND Wellington shows in April :)

I heart orange

More hearts, with... Orange:) The middle one in a colour called Celadon, developed an air bubble which popped and made  a hole I decided I liked and so I left it there.

With Pea green, didn't notice the extra little blob of orange on the upper left until I looked at the photo.

This one in Dark sky blue (love the Wilco song Sky blue sky haha) has a yuck grey haze over it, turquoise does the same. I'd read on Lampwork Etc it can be removed with a soak in Coca Cola or Toilet Cleaner!! Also advice to soak in jewellery pickle, not pickle juice which I was just about to do before I read the whole sentence lol. 

Exuberant colour

A long time ago my favourite colour was purple, then for some unknown reason it changed to green. Whenever I have a container full of my beads there is an obvious predominance of blues and greens, especially transparent or translucent blue,s greens, purples.
I've rarely felt like using opaques, (other then ivory or sediment bases) and pretty much steered clear of primary colours altogether.
Lately though I've been lured by the beauty of Special Orange, which has led to further dabbling with opaque red, yellow, green.  I think it's a gateway colour:)

 

These disc flowers I've made a few times recently, great for earrings threaded on to hoops. I made Purple, Twilight Jungle and a few others, but the orange are definitely the happiest!

I love how it offsets Sky Blue on this heart, I have more colourful  hearts in the kiln tonight.

And then I started mixing it up in these 'fiesta' big hole beads which remind me of Mexico and also ended up triangular because they have three spots each.

Creative Trade

So my trade with Megan of Megan Mae Daily is complete, She wore the fish necklace I sent her with a super cute outfit here...
 http://www.meganmaedaily.com/2013/01/with-fishes.html

and I put some of her gorgeous button flowers and obi belt together to brighten my favourite denim

I love them so much, I also put a green one on my brown corduroy hat and still need to accessorise whippet collars with some next:)

Orange crush

Still loving using orange glass at the moment.
I just put together another 28 big hole beads for the gallery in Tutukaka but totally forgot to take pictures before I sent them. Thought of it about ten minutes after I'd posted them!
There was a fair bit of orange in amongst them though.
I plan on using a lot more exuberant colours this year.

Luckily I still have a bunch of Special Orange to keep going with, not sure why I even ordered it in the first place but it's great with purple and turquoise and green etc lol, funny how I overlooked it for so long:)

Koi inspiration and evolution

Wandering around the internet I came across Megan Mae Daily wonderful silk button flowers and obi belts.
 (http://www.meganmaedaily.com/p/obi-belts.html)
 (http://www.meganmaedaily.com/p/buttonflowers.html)

 I just adore them, they are so individual and just what I need... mine are in the mail!

Megan agreed to a partial trade with one of my beads and requested one of my fish beads...

in colours to go with her fantastic koi socks shown here: http://www.meganmaedaily.com/2012/11/koi-socks.html
 
I love when I get outside inspiration from such a creative source. It took me a couple of experiments to come up with a koi fish I was happy with, technically it isn't a bead because I ended up stretching out the body and making the tail closed in off the end of the mandrel.So I had to glue in a bail for him to hang from but I love the shape and how the curve makes it look like it's swimming, so much better than the fat barrel fish I made before!

I fell in love with this bright 'special' effetre orange too,

 I love how the colour intensifies more in some spots

and how it looks more opaque under indoor lights. I think the green is effetre olive, I just had a half rod of the colour I had in mind. It was so much fun to make and I got really excited with ideas and possibilities. I'm definitely going to be making more fish and using more of this orange.