Murrini Monday - Big & Little Hooters

A few weeks ago I told you about the awesome little Hoot murrini I got from Lori and Kim. I'm finally posting pictures of the beads I made with it. All of these beads have flown the coop already, but I will make more! This murrini is super fun!

For the owl above and the owl below, I just placed a sweet murrini owl in a contrasting color on their chests. So now they have a mini version of themselves with them wherever they go. 

For the elephant above and below, I placed a murrini owl in their trunks and called them "Horton Hears a Hoot.

How much more fun can I have with this murrini??? I bet lots! But now I also have a new blend called Bikini Bottom and it is filled with bright and cheery flowers and SNAILS! Next murrini Monday I'll show what the snails are doing.

Thanks for visiting my blog and HAPPY MURRINI MONDAY!!!

My Dad as a Bead

My dad's birthday is today! On Halloween! So when I was a kid, we had lots to celebrate on this day. We ate candy AND cake. My dad's birthday cake was usually a Halloween scene, but one year my mom ordered a cake of his head. He has a very recognizable look, one that translated well to a cake. As kids, my sisters and I were also experts at drawing my dad's face.

My dad also is an ophthalmologist. When I was little, I imagined that he had a box of spare eyeballs. You know, like a shoebox filled with them. I figured that if someone hurt their eye so badly that it no longer was useful, my dad could pop out the bad eye and let his patient pick a new one from the shoebox. This turned out not to be true (bummer, right?). But being an eye doctor and having a Halloween birthday works out very well for gift-giving. We love to find him eyeball-themed birthday presents and there are lots of them out there this time of year. One year I got him eyeball soaps, and this year I found some eyeball post-it notes. But I also was delighted to find some gory eyeball murrini (made by Lori and Kim). I used some of the eyeball murrini on various animal beads, but I saved one for a bead for my dad. I thought and thought about what to make with it. I couldn't come up with anything quite right. Then a couple nights ago I thought, "I should make a bead of my dad!" How could I not? I had drawn his face so many times, why not make it in glass? So here is what I made:

This is my dad as a bead. He's wearing his light blue lab coat with yellow index cards in the pocket (he always has those there for taking notes and making lists). He's also holding a gory eyeball (probably freshly removed from someone's face). His face is pretty spot on, if I do say so myself (and if you can't tell, he's smiling under the beard). The only thing that's not quite accurate is his hair color - it's not exactly black anymore. But this is how I picture my dad. :)

Here is my real dad with his bead. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

AND

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Murrini Monday - I can see it in your eyes

It's no secret that I love murrini. I especially love using perfect little slices of murrini for owl eyes. Certain pieces just jump out at me and beg to be turned into owl eyes. 

As soon as I saw the murrini slices I used in teh above bead (from Lori and Kim's Fun Dip blend), I knew they would make perfect owl eyes. But I think I could have shown them off much better than I did. I wish I hadn't used turquoise for the owl's chest feathers - see how it blends in to the blue on the bottom of the murrini? Not good, in my opinion. I should have used green as the chest feathers, or maybe pink. Then the murrini would stand out much better.

This owl has successful murrini eyes. Even thought there's a good deal of blue on the inner part of the murrini, it's bordered by silvered ivory, so the blue of the bead doesn't blend in with the blue on the murrini. The contrast works much better. 

I still have two more slices of that awesome murrini from the Fun Dip blend, so I will give it another go. This time I'll make it work. :)

Happy Murrini Monday!

Sneak Peek Tuesday ~ What a Hoot

With the holidays on the horizon, I want to have more "ready-to-wear" options for my customers. So I'll be making more earrings in the coming weeks. Earring pair beads are some of the hardest beads for me to make - unless they are mismatched earrings. But not everyone is into those, so I'm trying to make several pairs where the beads match. It usually takes a few tries to get a good match, but yesterday it took only three beads.

I think the two middle owls will work well as earrings. The little guy on the right is a good match size-wise, but his eyes are a little crazy. The larger owl on the left is a new design I'm working on - adding a little heart to one side.

So watch for the little blue and raku owls to be hanging out on sterling silver ear wires in my Etsy shop. The larger owl will likely be listed as a focal bead.

Saturday is Catterday!

Today I'm introducing a new feature - Saturday is Caturday! But I probably should spell it Catterday, or it could be read as "cat turd day" and that's just not what this will be about. I hope. What it will be about is cats! We have two cats - Ernie and Bert. We still call them "the kittens" and they are almost 3 years old. But we got them when we had an older cat, so they were and still are the kittens. They still act like kittens anyway. So on Catterdays I'll post an adorable picture of one or both of our cats or I'll post some cat bead pictures. This being the very first Catterday, I've got both! Bonus! 

Here we have Ernie (the ginger) and Bert sitting on the kitchen table watching a little bird on the back patio. I'm no cat mind-reader, but I can guess that they're thinking mmmmmmm. 

 Here is Bert, again on the table, demonstrating that he can sit in the weirdest positions and still act like he's comfortable. He looks like he has elbows. 

And looky here! Cat beads! I put a group of my cat beads together (they all behaved for the picture, but you don't want to know what went down afterward. Lots of hissing). I've been experimenting a lot with cat bead design and I'm still trying to figure out my cat style. The two kitties on the left in the picture are standing, and notice they both have those classic cat "cheeks." The two on the right are a little more artsy(?) - just the cat face and body and tail - no cheeks or even feet. They can't go anywhere or even mew. They've even been mistaken for owls (with tails). Poor things. The kitty in the middle is sitting and seems to have it all - the cat cheeks and all four legs. 

What style of cat do you like best? Cheeks or no cheeks? Do you like the little spots on the orange cat's cheeks? 

Thanks for your input! 

Happy Catterday!

Sneak Peek Tuesday

Now that I'm back to blogging (ok, two days in a row now), I've decided to make Tuesdays Sneak Peek Tuesdays. I'll post a picture or two of beads I've made but haven't yet listed. This week I have some mini beads (my favorites to make!) that I plan on turning into earrings. There are three Halloween beads, so those will be a pair-and-a-spare listing; and two little matching turtles.

Be sure to come back every Tuesday for your sneak peek of things to come in my Etsy shop. 

Thanks!

Murrini Monday!!!

That's right, Murrini Mondays are back! And for that matter, I'm back, too. I can't believe the last time I blogged was in July. So now that the school year is underway and I'm kid-free much of the time, I plan to be more regular - about blogging! So let's dive right in and I'll show you some of the awesome murrini I've been using.

This turtle features four slices of Lori and Kim murrini, all encased in clear. I'm not much into symmetry or making everything match, so I used four different slices of murrini, a twistie and some frit to decorate the shell before encasing it. I love the random color surprises.

Here's a newer style of owl bead I like to call patchwork. Before adding the eyes and other features, I cover the owl's chest will all sorts of random murrini - my collection of rosebud101 murrini works great!  Doesn't it have a patchwork look to it?

I've been making miniature dinosaur beads to benefit the JDRF (Dinobeadies for Diabetes), and they are perfect for showing off one slice of murrini (on each side!). These two brightly colored dinos are wearing murrini from FlamingEck - love them!

Thanks for coming back to visit on Murrini Mondays! I'll have new murrini to show off next week, and new posts in between. Have a great week!

Hooter GIVEAWAY!

I'm giving away this petite blue fritty owl. 

Here are the rules:

1. Share this post on Facebook. I'll post it first on my Maybeads page, then all you have to do is share it.

2. Come back here and leave a comment saying you shared it. Also - be sure to leave your contact information so I can find you if you win. 

Easy as pie. 

Thanks for entering! I'll draw a name on Thursday night.

Off to Camp

Yesterday we dropped our daughter off at summer camp. She'll be there for just under a week. She was excited and nervous, much like she was last year when she went to overnight camp for the first time. But this year she's at a new camp - a camp for kids with diabetes. And it's right across the lake from the camp she went to last year. It's completely possible for kids with diabetes to attend regular summer camps, but it's a very big challenge. Annie needs to test her blood sugar several times a day and needs to inject herself with the right amount of insulin before every meal. At a camp that isn't geared toward diabetics, it would definitely take time away from the activities, plus it would be tricky to get the dosing accurate. With Annie's diagnosis being so recent, we were not up for those challenges and we didn't want to put that responsibility on the camp. So we signed her up for diabetes camp, which is really just like regular camp - campfires, swimming, sports - only all the kids there have diabetes. Many of the counselors are diabetics, too (including Annie's cousin, who has attended this camp since she was small). This would be Annie's first time hanging out with other kids her age who are diabetics. Instead of being the only kid taking insulin before her meal, she'd be like everyone else. 

We got Annie to her cabin and unpacked a few things, then she gave us each a fist bump (I know, a fist bump!), told us to be on our way and quickly joined the other girls playing cards. I think she'll be ok. :)

But just in case I packed a little surprise - the OctoSqueedle I bought at Raven's Craft Creations. It's the cutest little octopus, and it has a little red spot on one leg as a reminder to test your blood sugar. Annie will love it. :)

Yesterday also happened to be the day former Cubs third basemen Ron Santo was (finally!) inducted into Baseball's Hall of Fame. Ron Santo, aside from being an outstanding player and the Cubs' hilarious color commentator in recent years, also had Type 1 diabetes. He played pro ball with diabetes, but it wasn't really known at the time. He has since done so much for the cause and was so determined to help raise funds to find a cure. Santo died before he knew he'd be in the Hall of Fame, but not before doing so much good for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. I read that he has raised over $64 million dollars for the JDRF. Awesome. Pretty cool that Annie's first time at diabetes camp coincides with this historic day for Ron Santo.

While Annie's at camp, I plan to make lots of mini Dinobeadies for Diabetes, with proceeds going to the JDRF. I'm hoping to raise over $100 by the time she gets back, so I'd better get torching!

Happy Monday!

Art Imitates Art Imitates Art

I've said it before, I'm inspired by stuffed animals. I've often used my daughters' favorite plush toys as inspiration for my beads. Now I've used a recent Etsy purchase (for my daughter's upcoming birthday) as the model for my first lemur bead. When I first laid eyes on the huge eyes of Leonardo the Lemur on Raven's Craft Creations Facebook page, I knew I had to get it for my daughter. She is an Etsy fanatic and always asks for "Etsy money" for her birthday so she can pick something out. She has a thing for koalas and chickens (she adds them to my favorites a lot), but I just know this lemur will find a prominent place in her stuffed animal pile. 

The lemur arrived recently and it is sooooo cute! Raven, of Raven's Craft Creations on Etsy is so talented with amigurumi animals! Once I saw it, I knew I wanted to turn it into a bead. The eyes may be what caught my attention, but the long ring tail is my favorite part. It bends! 

Here is my glassy version of Leonardo the Lemur. He was very fun to make! You can get your own Leonardo the amigurumi Lemur here. But that's not all Raven makes - baby beanies, dinosaur hats and totes are also available. But the amigurumi animals are my favorites. :)

Here are Raven's latest little critter creations ~ octo-squeedles. They come in just about any color combination you can think up, and they are so flippin' cute! Raven actually modeled these little octopus toys after another glass artist's creations:

At Everything Squeedle, proceeds from every purchase of these adorable Squeedle beads go toward funding research for Type 1 diabetes, a cause I am personally behind. See the little red spot on the far left leg? That's to show he's tested his blood sugar (something diabetics have to do about 10 times a day) to make sure he's in the safe range - good Squeedle! These are charming and unique little creatures that I'm sure bring comfort to kids with Type 1. 

Once again, it all comes full circle. :)

Turtle Bead GIVEAWAY!

Time for a giveaway!!!

Here are the rules:
1. Leave a comment after this post - it can be about anything. Also, make sure there's a way for me to contact you.
2. For an extra entry - like Maybeads on Facebook and share my giveaway post there. Then leave a separate second comment on my blog saying you shared it.
Easy Peasy right?

I'll draw a name tonight, May 6, around 9pm Chicago time.

Thanks for playing!

Light Box = Glow Beads

During the summer months, you may have noticed, my Etsy shop pictures were not the best. That's because we took down our light box (and actually used the dining room table for entertaining) and I took bead pictures outside with my little camera. On good days I had decent pictures. But if there wasn't enough light they would be blurry. So we finally got the light box set back up a couple months ago and my pictures have greatly improved. Of course, now you can see every fleck of dust and each cat hair on the beads (our cats love to sit in the light box when the bright lights are on it - it's must be like a cat sauna), but the quality is much better.

Having the light box in use also allows me to take good pictures of glow-in-the-dark beads. I didn't make any over the summer because I knew I couldn't get any good glowing pictures of them. But now I can! So scroll down slowly and see if you can guess what each animal is . . .

This glow owl is in my Etsy shop. The other beads will be listed soon.

I was able to make the eyes glow on all the critters by using glow-in-the-dark frit. Frit is crushed glass, and Glow Joe Imler of GlowJoe is my dealer, er, supplier. After I put on the whites of the eyes, I apply the glow frit (pictured below). Then I top that with a transparent glass, and then the black of the eye and voila! Glowing eyeballs!

Periwinkle Makes Me Happy

I've been hooked on the glass color periwinkle. It's a blue-purple color that just plain makes me happy. It's also the color of my kitchen walls. But from the looks of my Etsy shop, you would think I'd just won the periwinkle glass lottery. Periwinkle is the perfect color for hippo beads and other fun critters, and when you dot it with transparent purple, well, it becomes even more fun! I'm not the only lampworker who enjoys the results of periwinkle. I've found a bunch of gorgeous beads made from this purple-blue glass.

If only owls really did come in periwinkle.

The periwinkle shell on this turtle is the perfect canvas for some pretty murrini. Plus, this turtle has a periwinkle pedicure.

Check out this gorgeous set from fellow Fire Diva AHouston that features periwinkle along with aqua and black - now that's a striking color combination!

SomethingNew4U, another Fire Diva, has turned this periwinkle tab bead into a lush garden.

I think I've found a lampworker who likes periwinkle as much as me! Aside from the center of this gorgeous star bead, periwinkle plays a big role in many of the stunning focals at studiorickrack.

I spy lots of periwinkle at beadygirlbeads. It pops out of her colorful creations, like this Zuma Big Holed Spinner Slider.

Wonky Beads

When I first started making beads, I learned a new word. Wonky. I had never heard that word before, but a new online lampwork friend had used it to describe her imperfect beads. Wonky. It's a funny word. I had been calling my beads "lopsided," because at the time that's what most of them were. But I soon started to use the word "wonky" as well. Needless to say, I've made lots of wonky beads. Sometimes the eyes are melted in too much, or I've messed with the bead so much that it doesn't resemble what I was trying to make. What do you think happens to those beads? Well, I can tell you, throwing them out is not an option. First of all, the majority of my beads have faces. Could you look a turtle in the eyes as you're tossing him in the trash? I didn't think so. Second of all, there are four little hands waiting for those wonky beads to come out of the kiln. My daughters will happily give those deformed little critters a home. And if they've split in half? They just sticky-tac them back together.

My younger daughter's collection is hanging out on my son's fingerboard ramp.

These lucky beads are going for a whirlybird ride (thanks to a lot of sticky tac)

And here's my little collection of wonky beads that sit on this ledge in my kitchen. Most of them are cracked, and the poor owl lost his foot in a tragic sink accident.

This SALE is for the Birds

The birds haven't exactly been flying out of my shop. So to help push them out of the nest, I've put them all on sale. Every bird, including chickens, is now $10 - now that's something to tweet about! I think I'll go tweet about it right now! To see more of my "cheap" birdies, visit HERE.

Fire Divas November Challenge

The Fire Divas are at it again, challenging each other in a bead contest. To celebrate the season of giving, the November challenge revolves around Thanksgiving. So take a look at these creative entries, then pop over to the Fire Divas blog to cast your vote for the entry you are most thankful for.