A tiny peek at the process

Just because many people don't understand the process of taking mud to beads I thought I would share a quick peek at the process. The mud I use comes from Austin, Texas in 25 pound bags, and it is gray and...smells like mud.  Or I often imagine it smelling like a good pot roast as it pays for the groceries among other things. 

 

Mud new in the bag

Pottery and Mixed Media Beads

I have really had fun lately adding metal accents to my pottery beads using tiny micro screws and nuts.  It has really been a fun addition to my designs. I like cobalt blue and silver so made these cuff beads with a abstract design. 

Pottery and Metal Beads

Look at the tiny nuts on the back of this bead.

 Using one of my cuff beads and a little bit of chain I actually made a cuff bracelet for myself.  It is a simple design but it looks great with my favorite denim skirt. The chain is recycled from a necklace I picked up at Kohl's for 70% off.  It had a lot of mixed matched chains perfect for taking apart and re-purposing into a fun new design. 

 

 I also made some mixed media pottery beads in faux leather finish and fireluster. I found some really cool brass beads to add to these with my micro screw and nuts.