Murrini Monday ~ Suggestion Box

Last week I received my most recent murrini purchase from Lori and Kim. I ordered three packs of murrini, and the Debi's Delight blend (pictured below) was one of them. This one was a no-brainer for me - rainbow borders around smiley faces, peace signs, hearts, checkerboards, skulls . . . SKULLS? That's right, skulls! Aren't they the cutest skulls you've ever seen? Now I need your help - what should I do with the skulls? In other words, what kind of critter would or should wear a skull?

In other very important murrini news, I also received an awesome package of murrini from my friend Mallory of rosebud101. Mallory makes some amazing murrini, and she says she makes it when she's feeling stressed - so making murrini is her way of relieving that stress. By the looks of all the gorgeous murrini she sent me, I'd say she was pretty stressed out (there is a lot!), but now I'm hoping she's doing better. Guess what I'm going to play with today?

There are red roses (love those!) in this mix, plus some really cool pinwheels and starbursts (all technical murrini terms I just made up). I especially love that blue flower towards the top-center of the picture. I'm making special plans for that one. :)

Of course it wouldn't be Murrini Monday without a shot of murrini in action. So here we have three pooches wearing bunny ears, and each one is coveting his own slice of decorated egg-shaped murrini (by Lori and Kim). Hope they can hold onto those until Easter!

Please leave comments about the skull murrini - where should I use that? Also, I'm up for ideas for any of the murrini I post here. Thank! And Happy Murrini Monday!!!!!!!

Murrini Monday - Results

Remember this afternoon, when I challenged myself to use all 18 chips of murrini in my little dish? (If you don't remember, just scroll down to my last post.) Well, I did it! I used all the murrini. I made 9 beads and I had a blast!

I lost a couple pieces of murrini in the flame (due to shocking and cracking). It's always a huge bummer when that happens, so it's good to have back-up murrini of the same kind on your work station. Lucky for me I had some spares nearby and was able to replace the broken pieces.

So here are my results. See if you recognize the murrini from my little dish.

This blue hippo has identical flower murrini on both sides.

Herbie the Love Pug.

Here's that blue and green murrini with the pink center.

This is the backside of a dog bead. I think I could have used the murrini better - it would have stood out more on a darker color.

This is one of my favorite kinds of murrini. It looks so simple and innocent before it hits the flame, but when it does - watch out! It does some cool stuff. I love how it spread out on the wiener dog - now it's a red hot!

Here is the sun murrini I waited for forever to try. Why did I wait so long? I love it! I did break the first sun murrini in the flame, but I quickly got a substitute.

I LOVE how this bead turned out! This is the Kronos murrini by Mallory at rosebud101. I didn't know what it was going to do, so I put it on black and encased it. Isn't it cool?

And last but not least are my two cracked beads. The snail was so cool - but you can see the crack up on top. I used pajama blue, then added the Triton murrini by rosebud101. I left them sticking out a bit, then encased the bead. At this point I decided to turn it into a snail, and I love the effect of the murrini popping up like that. I will definitely try this again.

The pink turtle is my other casualty. I encased veiled rubino, then added this awesome Girlie Girl murrini from loriandkim. I was really excited about this bead and very bummed when I saw the crack. Encased beads are a challenge for me because my set-up can make it tricky for these beads to cool properly. That's just something I have to remember when I'm making this kind of bead. The snail and turtle will likely go into my daughters' wonky bead collection.

This was a really fun bead-making day. I highly recommend it. :)

Murrini Monday

I don't have any finished murrini beads to show off today, so instead I'm showing a small stash of my murrini. I picked out a bunch of murrini that I'd really like to use, and I'm challenging myself to use it all by the end of the day. I know, it will be rough, but I think I'm up for it.

There are 18 pieces of murrini and one dog hair in my dish. I really want some red in my shop, so I picked out a few nice red pieces, including a heart (Valentine's Day is coming up, you know). I also chose a yellow sun, which is a design I have had for a long time and just haven't tried yet. I'm thinking maybe a "day owl" - you know, as opposed to a night owl. Much of the murrini is from lori and kim, and six glorious pieces are from rosebud101. The ones from rosebud101 are called Triton and Kronos, and I know I've used one of them before but can't remember which. I'm thinking turtles for these - can't wait to see what they do! And the dog hair, maybe I'll just make a collage with that. I think I can find some more laying around here somewhere.

Just another view of the murrini. Oooh - look at that blue and green one with the pink in the middle. What should I do with that?

And in case you aren't a stalker of lori and kim, allow me to fill you in on the announcement on their site: January 1st is going to be a biggie! We will not only have four new murrini blends but we will also be launching a brand new product line! Stay tuned! Say what??? New murrini AND a new product line??? What are you trying to do to me, Lori and Kim? Can I support another glass addiction? As Lori and Kim say . . . stay tuned! And stay tuned for the results of my murrini challenge - hopefully I'll have pictures later today or tomorrow.

Happy Murrini Monday!

Murrini Monday

This owl looks like me after I've been playing with murrini. I think the murrini (by loriandkim ) put him in a trance.

This sweet turtle has been around for a while, and he's marked way down in my ArtFire shop. I LOVE how the murrini covers the entire top of his shell. I topped it with clear after I applied the murrini, giving it a magnified look. Murrini by loriandkim.

This turtle is sporting some super fun murrini called Crazy Quilt from rosebud101.

Here's the other side - more Crazy Quilt murrini. Each piece is different, and it really looks like it could be part of a quilt pattern.