Happy Beads

I may have written about this before, so forgive me if I have. For the longest time I wanted my beads to be happy. Not just on the inside, but to show it physically, you know, with a smile. I had been using a butter knife to make the straight-across open mouths on my turtles ever since I started making them. If I put the mouth too high on the turtle's face, then the poor turtle got a "Jay Leno" chin. If I put it too low, he'd suffer from severe over-bite and tend to look kind of dumbfounded.

So over a year or so ago I set out to find a smile-making tool. After some trial and error, I wound up making one from the handle of a teaspoon I found in my kitchen drawer. Back then I made a couple beads with smiles (a goofy looking smiling dog and a turtle, I believe), but they sat in my shop for a while. Maybe customers aren't looking for happy beads? Maybe they want beads that look like they've been through a lot to get where they are, less carefree and more angst perhaps. Or at least a nice blank look on their googly-eyed faces. So I stopped with the happy beads.

Then about a week ago I decided to try it again. I felt like I had much more control of my handmade tool and I was really happy with the results. So far I've just made smiling turtles, but maybe I'll add some cheer to some other critters - any ideas?

Here's a picture of the teaspoon handle that I manipulated into a smile tool. I took my pliers and pulled the edges up to form the makings of a grin. Or, if used upside down, a frown. :) Frownie beads - now there's an idea . . .

Grinning Beads ~ teeth and all

My poor beads must only eat jello because none of them have teeth. I've given an occasional tooth to a gator, but that's really about it. Teeth are a rare feature on my beads (almost as rare as tongues). My beads are awfully jealous of the toothy grins they're seeing on other lampwork critters (and I'm awfully jealous of their creators' mad skills).

Until I can figure out how to make turtle teeth, my beads will have to keep on gumming it. And I'll keep on grinning every time I see beads like these:

This Patriotic Big Hole Cat Bead Set by PuddyTatGlass just cracks me up. The expressions say it all.

This whimsical brooch by PattyLakinsmith features one of her very own "Meanies" beads - teeth and tongue! Bonus!

Cuteset Porkchop evah! This little piggy is made by Gelly, who must keep extra floss on hand to keep her beads teeth so clean.

Why Are These Beads Smiling?

Because they can! I've always used the side of a knife (on my wedding registry from 15 years ago - who knew?) for my turtle bead mouths. The result is an open mouth, with a somewhat happy and somewhat spaced out look. Think muppets. But I've been trying for a long time to get my beads to smile. I've seen some pretty sweet tools that are curved in just the right way to make a smile, but I haven't been able to get my hands on one. A lampworker friend suggested using the end of a potato peeler, but I couldn't find one that didn't have some kind of rubber near the area that would go into the hot bead. But I loved the idea of the potato peeler, and I started looking through my kitchen drawers for something I could shape into an arch. I finally had luck with a 1/2 teaspoon (who needs the half-size anyway?). I used my pliers and bent the handle into a smile. I was so excited that my turtles (the ones with mouths, anyway) would now be able to express their gratitude to me for creating them ~ with a smile.

Say Cheese!

It's a little harder to see the smile on a lapis blue alien. I'm learning which glass is happy glass.

I can't take all the credit for the smile on the turtle at the top of the page. It's so happy because its shell is covered with rainbow Smudges murrini by rosebud101.