Spring is in the air

It has been in the 80's here in Texas, and the flowers are blooming everywhere.  We had a great show of Bluebonnets and Indian Paint Brushes, they are always the first to welcome Spring in Texas.  

I have a farmers tan already (tan from mid arm down) from working outside.  I have been busy making beads and I just finished a field of flower cuff beads with pendant beads to match.  I hope to have these listed in a few days but if you see something you like just message me and I will list your choice first.  These should be fun to wear with all your Spring and Summer outfits.  They would also make a great gift for mothers day.  The birds are singing outside my window now and I am enjoying the quite of the morning.  I hope you enjoy this new batch of beads.

New designer spotlight

Laura Rendall states that creating art with her hands has always been her passion. She is new to Etsy and has recently opened Korále Art because she wanted to create unique jewelry pieces that incorporated different forms of art. The beads she uses come from places such as Austria and the Czech Republic and have a historic past.  The pendants and focal pieces she uses are created by artists here in the USA who use everything from wood to porcelain to clay. See below designs using Captured Moments pottery beads .  Also check out and follow my Pinterest Board with lots of designs using Captured Moments pottery beads.

Antique white with leaf design

In Blueberry

Rosemary bead in Seagreen

Washer bead in the color Worldly Mix

Sharing Cute Leather Cuffs

Anyone who has read my blog before knows that I refer to my beads as "the kids" well some of my kids have headed West.  These cute cuffs were made with my pottery focal beads by Emily Laurita, her shop is Rocking 27 Boutique.  Emily is a small town girl born and raised in Colorado, her fiancé and her work on a ranch based in New Mexico. She love to create jewelry and home decor when she has any free time.  I hope you enjoy seeing these cute cuffs.  I have lots of beads in my shop if your inspired to make a cuff yourself, or head over to Emily's shop for one ready to wear.

Meet the Almendra, an Almond shaped bracelet focal bead made of pottery

 Meet the newest shape Almendra, why Almendra? It is a beautiful almond shaped bead and being from Texas we speak some Spanish.  Almendra means almond in Spanish. These are a large focal bracelet bead, that is approx. 33X62mm (approx. 1 1/4 inch by 2 and 1/2 inches).  Curved to fit your wrist. It has holes on the sides, add a chain, leather or even macrame to finish into a bracelet. These are hand made of pottery by me a few at a time, the clay is textured, cut, dried, sanded, fired, glazed and ready for your creation. It is a 4-6 week process to turn mud into these beautiful beads.  I have a few listed in the shop and they are ready to ship.  I have more drying and will bisque fire soon, I have made them in different textures and colors also.   

Here is a peek inside the kiln, I finally thought to photograph it before unloading.  No matter how many times I fire a load it is always exciting to open the door after it has cooled and unload the beads. The upper right photo is a bowl of beads waiting to be photographed and listed.

I made just one for myself, I like the color combination and the different matte and shiny portions of the glaze.  I had a strand of 16mm round fire agate beads that I have been wanting to use and I love how this turned out.

 I also made some little tear drop shaped beads, they are drying and I will have some in the shop soon.  They will be fun to make earrings to go with the new Almendra cuff beads.

Introducing Belle

Belle is a new shape in my line of pottery cuff beads.  Why Belle? Much like a Southern Belle, this shape of pottery cuff bead is beautiful, with a flirtatious curve to hug your wrist.  She is also flamboyant in size much like the Southern Belles' hooped skirts and wide brimmed hats.  The bead is approx. 1 inch by 2 and 1/2 inches.  Available in many colors and textures. 

Aqua Fresca

Purple

Blueberry

TuTu Tango

Tamale Red

This design is by MagpieARTicles on Etsy, she used a 3 piece set for the pendant designs below. and added accent beads and antique brass chain.  Send me photos of what you create using my beads and I will post them on an upcoming blog. 

Ready for Fall

The weather finally dropped to the 70's here in Texas, wow Fall is on the way. In the spirit of Fall I have new designs that bring on the feel of the crisp air and the changes of seasons.  I have been having fun enjoying combining glazes to create Fall inspired combinations. Here are some of the new combinations.  I will have all posted in the shop soon.

Caribbean and Copper

Copper Brown and Autumn

Aqua and Tutu Tango

 This Boho inspired set includes a pottery cuff bead and a coordinating pendant bead.  The acorn cuff was made by making a mold of an real acorn from the oak trees in my yard.

A wonderful acorn in this fall design

         And more sets with a pottery cuff focal bead and a pendant bead.

Stormy Blue and Tidal Pool Green

Mocha Mint and Espresso

Black Ice and Bright Tamale Red

 

Mirror Blue and Autumn

 A feel of earth and sky above and just the earth below.

Espresso and Rare Earth Brown

A set of 4 pottery beads in a mix of matte and gloss black and a touch of red

The black and red set is a combination of matte and gloss black and red.  It is almost like a volcanic eruption, and the colors mix is gorgeous and earthy.  This would make a great set with metal or thread woven amongst the holes.  See most blog post below for a sample of this design in a combination of blues and greens.  I have more that I will be adding soon, I hope you enjoy seeing the new designs.  

I also want to share some photos of finished pieces that were sent to me by customers.  I love seeing the kids (my beads) all grown up. LOL ...I hope you enjoy seeing these lovely designs below.

Stunning new set of four pottery beads, hot out of the kiln

 

I will admit that my favorite color is turquoise, so I may be biased about my love of these new beads.  The worldly mix of blues, greens and browns.  This is a combination of an experiment of glazes gone right.  I made one set for myself and loved them so much I have made a handful of sets and just posted them to my ETSY shop.  They are slightly different as I did not add the side holes on the earring beads.  The finished pieces were made by adding some copper wire to the beads by stitching it to the beads thru the set of two holes and I dangled some small glass seed beads from the set of three holes on the side.The cuff bead is 30X60 and has a  hole at each end, I attached it to a leather cuff using copper screws and nuts and a few daisy beads as washers.

 

 The earrings were made by adding small glass beads to the bottom using jump rings and I attaching to fish hook wires.  I also stitched some copper wire thru the bead. Please note the ones in my shop  do not have the additional side holes, I found they were not surviving productions due to their small size, so the ones in the shop are missing the additional holes.

 The pendant was made in a similar manner, I fashioned a simple bail by winding the wire around a small mandrel.  (don't have a mandrel just use a screwdriver as it is round piece of metal and will work fine)

 Here are the beads that are in the shop, BEAUTIFUL.  They cost a little more, being a supply item I really try to keep the cost as economical as possible, but these are much more labor intensive and I had to charge a tiny bit more.

Available at www.CapturedMoments.ETSY.com