The Tale of Two Texas Gals

Another Texas gal, Kerry Best with Kerry Best Designs is from Allen Texas about three hours North of me.  She has been making some great wrapped designs with my cuff beads.  Kerry commented on using my Captured Moments Pottery Beads " I'm also in Texas and love making all kinds of jewelry, but beaded wraps are probably my favorite. Your cuff beads really add a unique look, and everyone loves the quotes. The last set was so popular, I sold them before they were finished."   Well you can see why they sold so quickly as they really are cute.  Kerry has other fun wraps in her shop at Etsy.  If you have photos of designs you have made using my pieces send them to me so I can showcase them on the blog.  If you have sent photos in the past and I haven't used them please send them again.  Enjoy!

This one is in Stormy Blue

Malachite Green

Copper Brown

Design in Stringing Magazine

I was flipping through my Jewelry Stringing Magazine Fall 2016 and found one of my focal cuff beads that was featured in the magazine.  I am unsure who submitted the piece to the magazine but congratulations for being published.  I some new designs I hope to photograph and list soon.  It is a challenge to cover all aspects of the business from making, firing, glazing, photographing, listing and blogging.  I appreciate all my customers and love seeing the designs they make with my Captured Moments Pottery Beads.

Where have I been?

Hello, It has been way too long since I have posted.  We started the process of moving late last year and we have successfully done so now, if you don't count the boxes I need to unpack or the art that needs to be hung....OR you get the idea.

I have bowls full of beads that I finally photographed yesterday and I will be posting them as soon as I can. 

Also I have had some lovely designs sent to me by customers, and if you sent me some photos and I have not posted them then please re-send and I will post soon.

Here are some great bracelets made by Susan Dorado with Blue Licorice using some of my cuff pottery beads.  Her shop on Etsy has lots of cute designs.  I appreciate her sharing these photos with me.

Aromatherapy bead used on this design

This image shows the back of the bead where you can add essential oils

I really like the double strand that she has used in this design

This is the Elli bead in copper brown with the whimsy design

Add caption

This one has such an earthy feel to it and it is accented with a cut Karma bead

This design was made by Anna Brasher, it is a unique mix of leather and peals and one of my pendant cross beads.

A sneak peek of some beads I will list soon.  These have a nature theme to them.

Dandelion pendant bead

Great earthy feel of land and water

This one reminds me of the Japanese wave paintings

Grab Bag Sell

It's GRAB BAG TIME, after finally having time to go thru stock I am ready for my GRAB BAG SELL.  Also I have marked down many items 50-60% off.  I only have so much storage space and I am trying to make room for new items.  The kiln just shut off a few minutes ago and it is full of more beads that I will be adding soon.  Please also find new in my shop beads with un-glazed backs for aromatherapy; just add a few drops of essential oils to the back of the beads and your body heat will release the fragrance.

Remember going to a five and dime and buying a grab bag, here is your chance for a mix of pendants and beads. I am clearing out room for new pieces. I just listed the grab bag sell in my shop.  This is the third or fourth time that I have had the sell; many customers who purchase the grab bags return for more. 

I have pendants with bezels, small beads, cuff beads, some steampunk and a few crosses, but all and all a huge mix. Some are older designs, some are trial pieces, some have glazes that are no longer available. This might just spark your creativity or challenge you to create with what's in the box. Should be fun, with a value of $25-30 for each 10 buck bag.
Previous sells sold out quickly. While supplies last. No returns.

I have a handful of crosses, if you want crosses...please mention it at check out. Crosses will not be included in your grab bag unless you ask.

New Designs

This is the last day of Summer in Texas as school officially starts tomorrow.  It is 100 plus degrees outside most days and the ground is parched from the heat.  Road trips to visit family and friends and to explore the great state of Texas are done for this Summer.  With a new school year comes the promise of new discoveries and mixed emotions.  The opportunity for my girls to discover new knowledge and friends, but more rigid schedules and no sleeping in.  Fall will bring cooler weather and a welcome relief from the Texas heat.  School sports will begin and be added to my busy schedule.  All in the great circle of life that I live as a mom and artist.   

Sometime I have a million ideas, but not enough hours to explore them.  Yet, I am thankful for the moments I spend in my roles and I am thankful when an idea becomes tangible.  I am always excited to open the kiln, to see what was earth is now art.  I love the art of pottery for its inconsistencies and variety.  That a glaze is never the same, and that it has a free nature about it.  It amazes me that mud can be manipulated and made so beautiful.  Each bead I make is made entirely by hand, from forming and cutting the mud or clay.  To texturing and shaping it, with molds that were once mud and now they become press molds to recreate a design that has been etched into them.  The kiln is the only item that requires electricity, it takes me weeks to be able to produce enough to fire the kiln and it takes approx. 9 hours to fire and more that 24 additional hours to cool before I can lift the door and see the fruit of my labor. From the day I pull the mud out and start a bead until the day it comes from the last fire of the kiln is a 6-8 week process.  So in the spirit of new discoveries, here are some of my latest designs that began at the start of summer and are just now ready to share at the end.

 These beautiful beads have a large dimensional; flower in vibrant orange and yellow.  I made this set for myself using some agate beads and cord for the pendant and one of my distressed leather cuffs and cord to assemble the cuff.  It is a beautiful set to wear.  I have these beads available in my shop.

 This Elli bead features a horse head with a leather texture background.  It is curved and would be a great start to a western bracelet.  A different type of horse below, a seahorse.  This one is flat for a pendant but I made some curved for cuffs, this is a larger version of my ELLI bead.

 

 

 

This is a set I made for a friend using the last of a glaze that I had (This color is no longer available) 

I mixed my beads with Azurite stones and it is a great combo of blues and greens.  I made 2 pair of earring to give her some variety. 

The above great design was made with my art washes bead by Christina Hosford.  She made the bracelet as a gift for her favorite artist friend Brandi Dayton She made her a double strand bracelet with Labradorite, Phantom Quartz, Garnets, Kiwi Jasper, Mookaite and Turquoise.   She states that "It was a really fun piece to make, and I really enjoyed working with your pottery piece."

I hope you enjoy the new designs, I will have them in my shop soon.  If you don't see them in the shop send me a message and I will send you the link.  Thanks, Cindy

It's summer...pull out the canning jars.

I was raised in the country and we canned everything we couldn't eat fast enough.  There is even a family story of a near feud between two of my great aunts due to canning jars not being returned.  When I was a kid the jars often contained SWEET jam or SWEET pickles.  If the jars were empty we drank SWEET tea or SWEET lemonade out of the jars. In the spirit of summer time canning I have made these SWEET pottery cuff beads and I have included a quick tutorial on how to make a cuff bracelet faster than you can peel a bowl of peaches. 

In a mix of blues, browns and greens

In Indian Summer

 Super simple, just take a leather cuff and punch one hole to match up with each of the holes on the bead and then punch an additional hole approx. 1/4 inch from the outside of the first two holes.  I just hold the bead in the center of the leather and I use an ice pick to make a small prick in the leather where the hole will need to go.

 Then I begin sewing the bead to the leather, I use waxed linen thread from the box chain craft stores (look where they sell leather).  After stitching thru the bead and leather a few times I tie it off in the back.

 Here are a few good shots of the knot in the back.  I find that the wax string stays tight and does not come undone.

 

Repeat with the other side and cut off the ends when you are done.  And faster than you can peel a bowl of peaches you have a SWEET cuff bracelet.  Enjoy!

 

I also wanted to share two beautiful designs using my cross beads.  The first is a Elli cuff bead made into a great bracelet by Southern Grace Jewelry and a beautiful necklace with one of my worldly mix cross pendants by Topa Topa Designs.  Enjoy!

Boho and Colorful

I just finished a batch of Boho and Colorful pottery beads that I have made into sets of four.  The large cuff bead is gently curved to hug your wrist and is approximately 48 mm or nearly two inches.  The pendant bead is 39 mm and the two smaller earring beads are 21mm.  They are in a mix of fun bright green, cobalt blue, tango orange aqua, and some yellow.  I just finished a fun set for myself and after wearing a few times I have received lots of compliments. I just added some colorful beads I had in my stash to complete.  I have these in the shop, I hope you enjoy creating with them.