Murrini Monday

It's Murrini Monday! Let's look at some murrini!

I've been having a lot of fun making "patchwork" owls. I make them when I just feel like using lots and lots of murrini. I use murrini from my friend Mallory at rosebud101. I have such a fun variety of Mallory's murrini, and I like to pick out about 12 pieces of different sizes and colors for each owl. I usually can't use every piece, but I sure try! I love the effect of them melting into each other to form the owl's colorful patchwork chest.

A while back I bought a pack of snowflake murrini from Lori and Kim. At the time, we weren't getting any snow, so I guess I wasn't inspired to start using it (why jinx our Chicago record for most winter days without snow?). But we did finally get our snowfall, so my elephants were out catching snowflakes with their trunks.

Speaking of Lori and Kim, they are having a President's Day murrini sale! Through February 20, all their COE 104 murrini is 15% OFF! I'm eyeing the 3-Peat Airstream murrini in the above picture - I see lots of owl eyes. 

I think I'll join the President's Day celebration and also offer 15% OFF in my Etsy shop. My sale will end tonight, so act fast! Use coupon code PRESIDENT at checkout to get 15% OFF your entire order.

HAPPY MURRINI MONDAY!

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.

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!

Express Yourself

Lately I've been thinking a lot about facial expressions on my critter beads. I think it came about because I was asked to make a flock of funny birds (similar to the ones in the short film Bird on a Wire). I noticed right away that the birds had very comical expressions - ranging from surprised to angry. I knew more than anything that the expressions I put on my beads would be the biggest challenge when I made them. Also, I had never put eyelids on my beads before (as a result, they all suffer from sever dry eye), so that added to the challenge. The birds posing on the Jenga block are the ones I made for my special order, and I was pretty happy with how they turned out. They got me thinking a lot about expression and how I could improve or expand on the facial features of my beads.

Back when I started making beads, I found a couple tutorials that were instrumental in helping me make critter beads. Super talented Emma Green, from Bead Envy, shares them on her site - one for a penguin and one for a cow head. At the end of the penguin tutorial, she reveals that the most important part of a critter bead is its eyes. "The eyes have it," as she puts it, and I agree completely. By adding eyelids to some of my bird beads, I gave them a more skeptical look. But also, the position of the black eyeball definitely will change the look of a bead from surprised to, say, lonely.

The expression on my penguins is almost always the same - poker faced. They always look as if they don't know what's going on, like, duh, I don't know. I think the position of the wings contributes to this, too, because it looks like he's shrugging his shoulders.

For cow beads, I usually put down a layer of black before I put the white eyeball and then the teal coloring. All these layers take up space on the bead, and as I melt them in they expand, causing the eyes to smush together. For some beads, this is not the effect I want, so I pull off the eyes (don't worry, doesn't hurt a bit) and start over. But for cows, I happen to like how it gives them an almost petrified look. I try to keep the blacks of the eyes closer together and in the middle, and somehow it works.

The sad puppy dog eyes are probably my favorites to make. I start with a layer of black, then white, then a shade of transparent topaz or brown. For these, I try not to let them melt together like on the cows, but I do let them expand a bit. Then I'm careful to put the blacks of the eyes toward the top and also toward the snout. Now he looks like he could use a good scratch behind the ears. Or a cookie.

One look I'm still working on is the sideways glance. I tried it with the kitty on the right, but it seems like only one eyeball got the message. This happens a lot (see the pink bird on the right in the top picture). I need to work on getting those eyeballs in the same spot on each eye. It seems to work when the brown kitty is seated next to the bad fish-eating kitty because he's got something to look at.

I'm going to make it my goal to try to give my beads a little more expression and personality. Let's hope they are cool with that. If not, I guess they'll show me.

Coupon Codes

I'm finally making use of the coupon code options in my Etsy and ArtFire shops. I did a coupon code a while back on Etsy, but only one buyer took advantage. So when I realized my Etsyversary (3 years selling on Etsy!) was last Saturday, I decided to celebrate with 20% off orders in my Etsy shop as well as my ArtFire shop.

For Etsy, use coupon code 3YEARS at checkout. The Etsy coupon expires tonight - April 27. These three Big Hole Beads are in my Etsy shop, in the Pandora section.

Mini Turtles in my Esty shop.

For ArtFire, use coupon code APRILSHOWERS (it has not stopped raining here in days!). The ArtFire coupon code is good through Friday, April 29. Gino the giraffe (above), is hanging out in my ArtFire shop.

Pinky the owl is also in my ArtFire shop, just waiting for a home. Who who will use the coupon code and snatch her up?

Happy Wednesday, and stay dry!

Dinosaur Roar

Recently made dinosaurs

When my son was little (he's 14 now), he was obsessed with dinosaurs. He could not get enough. We had countless dinosaur books, and his favorites were the ones that were fact-based. He liked me to quiz him on the different kinds of dinosaurs. Pachycephalosaurus and parasaurolophus were common words coming out his toddler mouth. I had never paid a whole lot of attention to dinosaurs, so I was learning along with him. His enthusiasm was contagious and his preschool teachers were quite impressed (and probably a little annoyed by his obsession with the dinosaur bin). He had a huge collection of dinosaurs and he named each and every one (names like Clammy, California Jim Johnson, Salty and Beanie). He kept track of their names and their species - Salty was a Saltasaurus, Clammy was a Euoplocephalus (yes, I had to look up how to spell them).

When I first started making animal beads, I made a few dinosaurs. I still have this one that stands guard under my computer:

I really liked this dino when I made it, and I was disappointed when it didn't sell. But now when I look at where I put the bead hole, well, it's pretty obvious why he's still here.

So now I've been giving dinos another shot, and I'm happy we still have my son's all-time favorite book The Big Book of Dinosaurs. It really helped me get some of the details down.

I know there will be lots more dinos coming out of my kiln, evolving and changing as I go. They're really fun to make.

The Making of an Irish Pug

There are days when I'm at my torch making beads, and I'm on fire. Not literally, of course. But every little critter bead I make turns out how I want - the expression, the shape, the size, the personality - it all goes so smoothly. This isn't every day. Most days I come up with a few keepers and a few practice beads or wonky beads. And some days I shouldn't even light my torch at all. The day I made the little Irish Pug was probably one of those days. But I pushed on, and on, and on. Normally a pug, or even a pug in a shirt, would be an easier bead for me to make. I make pugs all the time and I get a kick out of dressing them up. I'd had this idea for an Irish Pug, featuring a wonderful little clover murrini from Lori and Kim, for a long time. I liked the play on words with Irish Pug and Irish Pub. Plus, pugs look good in green. So, without another thought, I lit my torch and started to make the bead.

I wound the green glass around the mandrel. Then I added ivory. I made the head and added the eyes and mouth. Then I realized I should have added the murrini to the green shirt before I put the head on. No worries, I thought confidently. I can still add it now. I flashed the murrini in the flame to warm it up, then heated the spot on the shirt where it would go. I placed the murrini in the hot spot on my bead and gave it a little push to make it stick. Only it didn't stick. It popped right off and dove into my messy glass piles on my table. Normally I'd have a back-up murrini at the ready, but this was my very last clover murrini. So I started moving around the rods of glass on my table, all the while trying to keep the bead in the flame so it wouldn't cool and crack. With my left hand I twirled the bead, and with my right hand I searched for that tiny piece of murrini. And then I found it. Oh happy day! The future of this bead was looking good again. I put the murrini off to the side and put my attention back on the bead. I had to reheat the pug's shirt in the spot where the murrini would go, so I turned the bead over in the flame and - pop! Half of it cracked right off. Apparently I hadn't kept the bead as warm as I'd thought. Into the water bowl it went.

RIP, Little Pug

But I was determined to make this bead at this torch session, so I grabbed another mandrel and started again. I put on the green, then the ivory. I even got the murrini centered nicely on the pug's shirt, so I was feeling good. Now on to the face. I grabbed a rod of black glass for the eyes and put down two big dots. Funny, it didn't look black on the bead. That's because it was dark transparent purple. In my frenzy to find the murrini, I'd moved all my glass around and mistook a rod of dark transparent purple for black. The murrini was already on the bead and it was my last clover, so I had to make the most of it. I heated up the face and pulled it off (don't worry, this is not painful to the pug). I re-did the head with more ivory, found my black glass and started adding the facial features once again. I did the eyes - black, then white, then dark topaz. When I was ready to put the eyeballs on, I picked up my black glass and heated it up. Just as my hand was moving the hot black glass to the tiny surface of the eye, my dog comes up behind me and makes this gross hacking sound, scaring the you-know-what out me. I made the eyeball . . . and then some. Ahhhhh! Pulling off one eye is nearly impossible to do without affecting the rest of the face. Somehow I pulled the extra black glass off (you can still see a tiny bit above the pug's right eye) and re-did the eye. I can't even remember how - I must have blocked it out. I added the the legs and tail and added ears and voila! An Irish Pug was born. Easy as pie.

SNOW DAY!

We're having a major snow day here in the Midwest, so I've decided to try out my Etsy coupon code again. Use SNOWDAY when you check out of my Etsy shop and you'll get 15% off your entire order through tonight. How's the weather by you?

This is the view out our back door. My husband shoveled a path so the dog could go outside and do his business.

Here's our dog Chunky in the path he created running around looking for his tennis balls. When the snow melts, we expect our backyard to be covered in tennis balls.

Look at the snow drift coming off the roof - isn't that cool?

Look! There's the driveway!

Inside, the kitties are getting a little crazy. Bert jumped on top of the bookcase - something he's never done before.

Hope you're staying safe and warm. :)

A Half Marathon? What Am I - Half-Crazy?

I've always enjoyed running for exercise and as a way to relieve stress. I'm not very fast, but I have decent stamina. After my son was born (about 14 years ago) I did my first 10K. I ran terribly, but I finished. Since then I've run a few more 10Ks, sometimes improving on my time, sometimes not. Just a few years ago my alma mater, Indiana University, announced it would host its first half-marathon. At the time I was in somewhat decent shape, but I had been having knee issues and was only running occasionally. The race was also scheduled for an early Fall weekend, which didn't exactly work for me having three school-aged kids. Each year I think about running in that half-marathon, and then either my knee keeps me from it or just my laziness and overall nervousness of trying something like that. But now some things have shifted in my favor. Just last week I received a Cortizone shot in my knee and it feels so much better I can't believe it. What was I waiting for? So the IU half-marathon crept back into my thoughts. The next one is scheduled for April, 2011, which just happens to be when my kids are on Spring Break. The timing would work. My knee is feeling good. We replaced our old broken treadmill . . .

I'm not a competitive person - this isn't something I'm thinking about doing because I want to win. In fact, a runner friend of mine asked me to run the Chicago Marathon with her a few years back, and I said no way. I trained with her and did some long runs, but the thought of running 26 miles just seemed (and still seems) crazy. I don't need to say I ran a marathon. I don't even need to say I ran a half-marathon. I just think it would be pretty flippin' cool to run through my old beloved campus - just about 20 years after I left. I imagine my iPod would be filled with John Mellencamp (Cherry Bomb) as I'd puff past McNutt, my old dorm. I'd remember my crazy roomie and her big hair and wild partying that kept me up most nights. I'd jog on by Ernie Pyle Hall, where I found my niche in Journalism and wrote for and edited the Indiana Daily Student. It would be like a step (well, lots of steps) back in time.

My son is 14 and he is a runner. A pretty fast runner. I mentioned the half-marathon to him and he didn't hesitate - he said he's in. What a neat way to introduce him to my old campus. The last time he was there he was 2, and he spent most of the time napping. He's now at an age when he could appreciate the beauty and charm of IU and Bloomington. It would be a very cool mother-son bonding experience for us to run the half-marathon together - except that he'd leave me in his dust. So we'd have to do our bonding during the 5-hour drive there and when I show him around my old haunts.

I haven't registered for the race - yet. I'm going to do some preliminary training and see how I feel. I want to do it right. I will follow a plan for a beginner's first (and possibly last) half-marathon. I will rest on the days it says to rest (always a tough one for me to follow) and log the miles on the days I need to do them. I'll try to share my training here (oooh, now that's exciting!) - probably on Tuesdays. But I'd love to hear from anyone who has done a half-marathon - any advice?

Evolution of a Bead

The title makes it sound so scientific, doesn't it? Don't worry, it's not. I recently had a customer ask me to make an elephant for her Pandora bracelet. But up until then, I had only made elephants that looked pretty much like this:

Notice the giant ears and short, stumpy trunk that sticks out. These features wouldn't work well on a Pandora bracelet. Plus, my customer specifically wanted a nice, long trunk on her elephant. I knew I had to do some reconfiguring, because that long trunk would have to be attached to the bead. So here is a design I came up with:

I was so happy with how the Pandora-style elephant turned out that I started making my regular elephant beads in the same style:

And then I realized that this taller style of bead would accommodate other animals as well. So I made a cat:

And I'm sure there are other critters I can make in the same way. I'm looking forward to it. :)

I've Gone Pro

This spaniel pup is wearing his best sweater, and looking for a home.

That's right, I'm a pro. Along with thousands of other artists and suppliers, I've upgraded my ArtFire account to the Pro level. I originally opened my ArtFire shop with the basic free account, and basically I ignored my shop. Now that I've gone Pro, my items will appear higher up in searches and I'll have more freedom on the ArtFire site - I can make Collections (which are similar to Etsy treasuries), have featured items in my shop and even import listings directly from Etsy to my ArtFire shop. It's pretty darn cool. I still have a lot to figure out (like how to get my banner to not look smushed), but I've made good use of the importer tool and brought a lot of my critter beads over to ArtFire. The critters are loving it, because they think they're wizards in Harry Potter books, apparating from shop to shop. And I'm hoping my customers will find my critters over at ArtFire because I've lowered the prices on lots of beads that I've moved there. Most beads in my ArtFire shop are $10 and under! Custom orders will stay the same, but for now there are lots of little glass animals available at very low prices.

This pretty patriotic cow doesn't want to wait until the 4th of July to find a home, so I've mooooved her to ArtFire and marked her price down.

Hoo Who doesn't love an owl bead with murrini eyes? This one is perched happily in my ArtFire shop, showing off not only her flower murrini eyes and silvered ivory belly feathers, but her new and improved price.

This pea green and purple murrini turtle is available only in my ArtFire shop, so don't go looking elsewhere for it.

Another really neat thing about ArtFire is that you don't have to be a member to make purchases there. Isn't that nice? I've put my ArtFire "Rapid Cart" back up on my blog, so my listings will not only randomly appear here, but they can be purchased by clicking on them in the Rapid Cart.

Thanks for reading, and I hope to see you over at ArtFire!

Earring Pairs

Making two of the exact same bead is a daunting task for me. Sometimes I get the design right, but not the size. Other times they are close in size, but the designs are totally off.

Another lampworker once told me that for earrings, at least there's a head in between the earrings, so slight differences aren't that noticeable. That's a good way to look at it.

I've recently been making my "pair" beads on the same mandrel, and that is a huge help in getting them to match up better. It's trial and error, and what I've learned is to make the top bead first. That way if you need to flatten the feet or anything like that, you won't have to avoid another bead below it. Also, keep flashing the finished bead in the flame so it doesn't crack while you work on the second one. That is a very important tip. :)

Here are a couple little pairs I made recently. I think they came out pretty well.

Cartoon Inspiration

When I'm asked in blog interviews what inspires me, I know the artsy thing to say would be "nature, textures, the wind, poetry . . . etc." But aside from stuffed animals, I'm most inspired by cartoons. That's right. And I'm not alone.

I still haven't seen Despicable Me, but I've seen the funny little minion characters in the movie trailers. Those are definitely some bead-worthy dudes. Deirdre from anklebiterbeads thought so, too, and she made this little Minion bead, and several more.

Anyone who lives in a pineapple under the sea is definitely an inspiration to sculptural lampworkers. And this bead is by far a perfect tribute to Spongebob himself. Marcy of StudioMarcy made him as a special request for a child in a program called Bead Dreams, which is run through Beads of Courage. Children in the program are suffering serious illnesses, and can request special beads of exactly what they'd like. I'm betting this Spongebob bead (did I mention he glows in the dark?) made a little kid very happy. It makes me happy just looking at it.

I made this little guy after my kids got hooked on the Doodle Jump app. I've only played a few times (I stink), but once I saw the little Doodler I wanted to try to make him out of glass. I gave him an advantage by putting on his jet pack. Now he'll be able to zoom past those funny little monsters . . . hmm . . . those funny little monsters sure would make fun beads . . .

Random Pictures in My House

This is a Grow-A-Pirate. Just soak it in water and it grows! Arrrr. It was about an inch tall when we got it (a gift for my 14-year-old son - what every teenager wants these days, I know, we spoil him), and now it's filling out the glass. The bowl of water on top is for one of our kittens who kept drinking the pirate water (Ew!), so we put his water dish on top.

This is our 16-year-old cat, Buzz. He has found the warm, sunny spot on the carpet.

As you might know, I'm participating in an Art Charm swap. This is my little work area where I'm assembling my charms. The beads are face down to keep their identities a secret from other swap participants. As usual, there is an audience.

This is Ernie, keeping the bubble-wrap warm.

A Glass Realization

When I'm interviewed for blog features, there is usually a question about my art background. Up until I started lampworking, I didn't have a background in art, so that is basically how I answer. But I recently realized that I do have a background in glass. It's a bit of a stretch, but it's there.

This blue neon cat was a gift from my dad to my mom. We're obviously a cat family. But my dad has always had a thing for neon lights. He has quite a collection. When a local business would close up shop, he'd often ask to buy their sign. Once as kids, I remember hiding from my sister under a bed and I heard a crack. Turns out there was a neon sign under the bed and I'd just snapped part of it off. We grew up around neon. So back when I was in junior high and a friend and I decided to enter our school's science fair, we naturally chose neon as our topic. It wound up being more of a science display rather than an experiment, but it sure drew attention. We called our project: Neon. It's a Gas! I think that was my dad's idea. For research, my dad took me and my friend to a glass shop, where we got to watch the process of neon-sign making. From the bending of the glass to the installation of the gas, we saw it all. Then, and this is the important part, we were allowed to bend some of the glass tubes in the torch. I really had forgotten about this until recently. That would be my first experience with a torch and glass. I think I've suppressed it until now, maybe because I did something somewhat unthinkable (more like stupid) that day. I remember being cold in the neon sign warehouse. So at one point I held the hot tube of glass up near my nose to warm it. Whoops. I accidentally touched it to my nose. The blister and scab that formed were there for a good week to remind me of my dumb move. On the bright side, I've never held a hot bead that close to my face, so I guess I've matured.

So there you have it. I've dug deep into my past (without the help of a therapist) and realized that my love of glass has always been there.

This blue kitty bead, that my husband bought for me from Dorset Hill Beads and that I adore, reminds me of the blue kitty neon sign. So now I've come full circle.

Murrini Monday

A Happy Murrini Monday to One and All!

A new rainbow turtle, using my latest blend (that I won!) called Spectrum, from loriandkim. This bead isn't listed yet - it still needs to be annealed.

Murrini turtle for your big-hole bracelet. He'll be listed later today.

Selma the spring pug is showing off some murrini on her side ~ she's in my shop, waiting patiently to be adopted.

Oddly enough, Salvador's favorite song is "You Don't Bring Me Flowers." You can find him in my shop, trying to impress the ladies with his pretty blooming murrini.

Muriel is super happy with her burst of sunny flower murrini ~ the other side is different. She's in my shop, too.