Have a good one!

So all the Christmas stress and beauty is over and I am glad that the year is coming to an end. I am really looking forward to a new year, full of new adventeurs, new ideas and creations and successes! Yes, I'm pretty excited!

Thanks to beadnerd I have come up with a good list of new goals for my beadbusiness for the new year. I feel confident that this year I can be even more successfull, but I have to work at it....of coarse! *smile* And that is exactly what I am going to do, work hard, not forgetting the fun though! I'd really like to make my business flourish and take it a step further.

I wish you all a very happy new year, with lots of new things to discover, new and exciting things to experience and good business and fun with beads, jewelry or whatever you love doing!

The latest. But maybe the last of this year?

It's almost x-mas

Someone asked me how the x-mas sales are going today. I couldn't really give an answer because I am not selling anything for x-mas! *blush* I guess this is the month of the year I could have done some big business with great x-mas beads and big sales BUT I didn't bother. Instead, I froze and hardly sit at my clay table. I know I could have grabbed this chance to really get business going but I just don't have the energy to do it. I can't stand the thought of the pressure I used to make to finish up projects and get the sales out out out there! No thanks, got enough going on right now. I'm just so tired all of the time....

I did create something small for my regular clients though. I just felt like that's something I could do without pressure and just for fun. I like making gifts and give-aways and what perfect time then now? (not good for business, I know!!)

The end, or the beginning?

After finishing and selling my marble beads I only half heartedly tried some other beads (and worked on a custom order). They have been sitting on my table for almost two weeks now and waiting for similar ones to be finished so that I can sell them together. I've been really putting this task off (sanding, buffing) because it takes so much time and energy.

In the meantime I have another enflammed wrist and I should not sand, I should'nt do anything *smile* but that's nearly impossible as I'm unhappy when I have to sit still. I'm not sure how I'll go on with this. I decided to take a break from my clay table not only because of my wrist but also because I felt no inspiration or "need" to clay. That's a bit scary because this is a hobby I don't want to end! I'm known for doing something intensely and then moving on to the next and I really don't wish for that to happen with this one.

Anyhow...today I sat at my table to try something out for christmas (a little something to say thank you to my regular clients). It was a lot of fun and got me back addicted to my beloved clay! *grinning* But I did realize what I need to do is change the way I work. I put way too much pressure on my self to create something "great" and to do it as fast as I can. A combination that just doesn't always work!

Yeah. I'm looking forward to next year. For the rest of this year I'm gonna take it a bit easy and gain new energy and inspiration for the upcoming time (next year).

What a compliment!

I did some tutorials in german a while back for some flowercanes. (I haven't updated that in so very long!) Nothing exdrordinary.

This morning I was looking through the flickr page and guess what I saw? Someone has actually used my tutorial (with exact colours) and used that cane to do different things with.

I think that's pretty cool.

Faux Marble

Rambling about varnishing versus buffing

Last week I read on someones blog that it was absolutely unnecessary to varnish polymer clay beads. Hm! I just sat there scratching my head and looked at some of my beads....I varnish 99% of my beads!!! *grinning* Yes, I varnish almost all of them because I like the "glass-like" look of the beads and I think the colours come out more brightly after varnishing and they just feel so smooth!

Now yesterday I was sanding my newest beads and in the end I decided to try "buffing". I never really tried it because I found that sanding was enough work already, forget the buffing. I never believed either that it was possible to get such a shine with just buffing as you do with varnishing. I was always sceptical with the foto's in books that state it's a buff. *grinning* Yeah, so I tried buffing a bead on my cotton kitchen cloth after sanding. I was a bit in a craze because I really really really wanted to finish these beads. Hey, and it kinda worked. The bead came out pretty shinny and the colour looks bright aswell. So I buffed the rest of that kind of bead and left it at that. (I also added some hand cream unintentionaly because I creamed my hands just before, hey, that even adds to the shine!) I did varnish some other beads because I'm just the varnish type....and am, I guess, afraid to leave my beads so naked. Yes, maybe that's it! I feel like if I don't varnish my beads, they wont be protected.

Hm. So what's your take on varnishing versus buffing?

Slowly but surely

I'm still here, I haven't quit beading! Nononono... I am actually working on something but slowly. It's a project that is taking a lot of sanding and as you know, I can't sand too much in one sitting so I have been sanding much. I'm on one week holiday now though and I hope to finish my project by the end of the week. Maybe...because every time I have something curing in the oven I have a new idea what next to try out!

I'm exited to show off my work soon though!

Reading the rainbow

When I was a kid and lived in Toronto, I used to watch "the reading rainbow" with Levar Burton, on t.v. I loved that show and for some reason these beads remind me of that show. I'm sure it's just the rainbow colours...the words....*smile". It's nice though that beads I've made give me back good childhood memories!

Gone all weaved up

Book News

I finally was able to get my hands on a Book I've wanted to buy but couldn't. My mom gave it to me for my birthday. She bought it in england where she lives, as Switzerland is just so so tiny and it's so hard to get my hands on books like these (If you don't have a credit cards!)

It's the Carol Blackburn book "Making Polymer Clay Beads".

I find it very inspirational to try out new things, especially things that I thought were too hard! But in the book everything is described so easily that I just "did it".

Yey, for books!

I'm still creating

I haven't blogged in a while! I've been so busy with work, now that I am working more and also with keeping up with my business in my parts of the world. The business is going good but I have to stay on the ball and keep it going. So when I can, I create new things and make new beads. I have set my self new goals to create a certain amount of beads each week and put them up for sale on Sunday nights. Now I am not so sure if this is such a good idea yet but I'm willing to try and see how it goes. My first batch that I put up last night has already sold out though and now I'm not sure if I should create more each week, hehehehe! I love it!

Right now I'm really into butterflies. They are such beautiful creatures! I have never really noticed all the wonderful colours they carry until I started studying some photo's for canes. Wow!

The first Butterfly cane is a Monarch. The colours came out pretty nice but I'm not so happy with the whole of it. On Saturday I tried to copy a blue butterfly I have on a photo but it didn't look anything like it in the end! Still happy with it though!

Ah, I love creating...

The Weekends work

Almost well

Well, I haven't healed completley but I do feel a bit better. Plus, I'm just very impatient and very much in love with creating with pc SO...ya can't keep me away from the table too long! *smile*

I've created different things for different reasons in the past two weeks. I had a couple (and still have some) of custom orders for beads that I have done in the past with the question if I could replicate some. Thank goodness I didn't use up all of my canes from the past! I made some new-old beads which was strange because we all get better with time and looking at old beads is weird...the flaws!!! The beginner mistakes that are so obvious all of a sudden!!! hahaha...what fun!

What I love is when customers ask me to do things with special colour combinations that I have never thought of using before. Orders like these are really nice to work on.

And the ideas that are buzzing about in my head want to become real aswell so I dabbled a bit with them and tried some new things out. Interessting!

I need time out to heal

I've been having a lot of pain latley in my neck and shoulders. Last night at work it got so bad that I got an exploding headache and even took some painkillers (which I normally don't do!). The pain is pretty bad at the moment and it's forcing me to stop claying for a while, so if you don't see any new stuff by me, that's why. I hope this wont take too long to heal so that I can dabble with the clay again and create some more things but I know I just need to be patient.

Where's the time?

Wow, business is soaring and I haven't had a dry spell in weeks now. My "out-box" always has an envelope waiting to go to the post and my "in-box" of my email account keeps buzzing with new "congratulations your item has sold" anouncements! I'm exited...but a bit frazzeled. I am really enjoying making my own beads and having people buy them with joy. It is very fullfilling for me. BUT I also have an out-of-home job and two kids, an apartment and a boyfriend! *smile* I'm not frazzeld of being successfull (anymore) but about finding the time to get everything done. Sometimes I am so scared of finding enough time that I freeze and waste time on the computer looking at sillyness instead of sitting at my work table.

Maybe I need to get some kind of plan when I should do what so that I can get into the rhythm of getting everything done that I want. As of next month I will be working more out side of home and I am a bit scared that I'll have even less time at my clay table.

Any suggestions, tips, experiences that you've made?

In it comes, out it leaves

I wanted to add some new beads on my sales list tomorrow but just a couple of hours after announcing that, with some photo's, I sold them all! I'm still very shocked yet of coarse, very happy about this!

I've got new beads in the oven though as I write this, so there will be plenty of new things to buy! I'm really exited how business is going, it is a lot of fun and very exiting!

Instead of cleaning up...

...I decided to work on some more projects that have been running through my mind! I finally had the courage to try a Face-Cane!

I've been avoiding it big time out of fear of messing it up but ohwow am I happy I tried it today! It took a lot of work and patience and pain! (The heat just isn't very fun to work in and the back of my neck hurts extremly a lot after working on a bigger cane! I don't know what it is but now it's time to relax) I can't wait to use this cane in what ever it wants to turn into: bead, pendant, whatever! Exiting!

What a chaos

I have so many ideas at the moment, I could sit at my work table non-stop and just work and work and do nothing else! Today I wanted to just try something out (I can't find peace until I figured out how to do something) but one thing led to another and I ended up making over 40 new beads! Wow...

When I glance at my Computertable that I am sitting at right now I could run away screaming! I have such a chaos on my table with packed up beads, Cds, Post it notes, orders waiting to go out, business cards, stickers, etc etc. It's clean but chaotic! And on my other table beside my work table I have another chaos with Ikea-boxes with beads and Pendants I haven't sold, glassbeads, wires, scissors etc. Sure I know where everything is but still, what a sight! *grinning* So it's my goal this week to clean both tables up and get some kind of system in the whole mess. And besides all of that: to keep creating and putting my ideas into Fimo....

Detail

These are my very favorite Beads at the moment. They are so pretty *smile* When you first see them you don't really see that they have white flowers on them, at second glance (and in the sun) you see the detail! This is white and transparent Fimo soft. I'm experimenting around a bit with different transparent colours and it's very fun to see what comes out. Again, the possibilities are endless!

as summer ends...

My new Logo!

So what do you think of my new logo? I have finally found something that fits me!

The symbol is an african symbol (yes, I have african roots) and it is called Ananse Ntontan (Spider's Web) and stands for "creativity and wisdom".

Getting Personal

I've been thinking a lot about having my own "business". As I sell more things now, I want to personalize my things better and get a bit more "professional". It all seems a bit silly to me as sometimes I just think of my self as "a girl selling some beads for her hobby", but why not get out there and think a bit broder!? Inspired by one of the photo's in Donna Kato's book (yes! I finally got one!!) I decided to make my own "stamp" for putting my name on my products. I sometimes forget but when I don't this is what it looks like (see photo on the left). They are my initials and I plan on making more stamps as I get better.

Having a bit of an overdose on creating with Fimo I decided to work on the idea with making little present bags to put my things in, especially my pendants. When I sell beads they go into small, clean professional looking zip-lock baggies (they are called mini-grips here) but the pendants are too big for those. I almost bought some see-through ready-made fabric ones last week but they cost chf 1.80 PER BAG (and they aren't very big)!! Nah, I'm not that big of a company yet to be able to afford that, hahahaha! So I wanted to make my own and bought some fabric at the store only to realize that my sewing machine is missing a major bit: the electrical cable!! (is this my ex-husbands humour?) So that was out of the question. For some reason, I started fumbling around with paper this morning. I was so determined to get this idea done that I created some small paper baggy out of scrap wrapping paper. Now, I have never done this before and I feel like I just sat there and watched my hands create these as if they have done so for years by the thousands! It was great!! I got out some more of last years x-mas paper I saved for doing crafts and just made some more. These are some samples and while some have a dent and a crumple here and there, they look pretty good. I also created some labels to close them with. I'm pretty happy about this now and who knows where this will lead! Perhaps to a paper-baggy business? *grinning*

Turquoise

Purple and Gold

some love in the air...

...squared

Simplifying my life

I have a lot of new orders waiting to be sent out. It's very exiting seeing all the Packages waiting for their shipment! I am ever so great full and it gives me motivation to continue.
I like to add little bits of "thank-you's" into each packet before I send it off. I usually add a lose bead but found it hard to decide which one, what size and what am I willing to just "give away". So I decided to make a bunch of "give-aways" so that I know every time what to add and I am pretty pleased with the results. I used some "old" Canes that I haven't used in a long while and cut them into thick slices and added a loop to it. My customers can use it as a Pendant or hang it on their key-chain...or whatever else they want to do with it.

I don't know why this happened!

Remember my first three pendants I made with the Liquid Fimo and the Goldfoil? I was really exited about this technique but never got around to making more....I'm glad!!

Have a look at the Pendants now! The Goldfoil has lost colour under the liquid fimo. I have no idea why. At first I thought it might be the sun that could have had an affect but I never really had them directly in the sun! The third pendant hasn't gotten as bad yet but it's changing as well. I can't sell these now, they look horrible! At least now I know not to use this technique and try out something new. I never thought something could happen like this! Using the goldfoil on Fimo and only using varnish over it hasn't changed colour at all though so I can still use goldfoil in the future.

Fleamarket results

The Fleamarket didn't go as well as I hoped but still better then the first time I did one! Perhaps it just takes time and expirience to become a bit more successful? I'm not giving up and I will be doing a fleamarket sometime soon again!

Business tips

I'm doing a booth at the fleamarket on Saturday. I'm really exited yet nervous. There are so many little things to think about! I found this great website though, have a look if you are interested in tips for your jewelry business.

http://www.home-jewelry-business-success-tips.com/index.html

The gold brothers...New Pendants

My first try using Liquid Fimo

Playing with Gold

Classic: gold beads with bits of gold. Translucent white clay with gold swirls.

I've been dabling with gold. Bought some sheets of gold last weekend to see how I can incorperate this into the clay. It's pretty pricey but hey...artists go a far way to get ideas formed into "reality"...or at least something like that, grinning. I'm challenging my self to work at least one hour a day at something clay or jewelry making. Although I feel a bit stuck in a rut and pretty tired due to working I think it's paying off in the long run. I'd like to get into the habit of really making something (almost) each day and get a flow going.

On July 21st a friend and I have booked some space at the fleamarket here in town. I am not sure yet what I am going to sell but at least it's official now!

Purple translucent clay with gold swirls. Choclate brown with gold stripes

salting instead of sanding

I worked like crazy today making beads with some new ideas in my mind. I tried out the salt-texturing method to get a funky texture. I love these, because they need no sanding and buffing *smile

I also tried some new beads with adding glass beads to them. I really like the white textured and pink bead beads. I'll be adding them to my selling list tomorrow and see how they go. Now I'm exhausted and my wrist hurt again. But: no pain:no gain! :-)

no ugly beads

Yeah I still make beads! :-) Actually I make more then I show at the moment, trying out colours and mixes, using up scraps of clay with scraps of canes...sometimes they turn out pretty cool, would have never thought, others don't and will land in my bead box. Perhaps someone else will like them though and find something to do with it. I'm not saying that they are ugly, no beads are ugly! Beauty is always in the eye of the beholder...