Needle Felting: the beginning

HI! All,
I have allowed FaceBook to become my preferred way of communicating what I am doing. Sorry, to all 9 of you! But I think you are all my friends at FB, so you haven't missed anything!

I got interested in making needle felted doll parts: feet and hands. I bought Kay Petal's FeltAlive DVD Workshop. OH! MY!! That was so helpful and fun! And now I find she is moving about 40 miles away!! I will meet her Saturday at a special art event.
I have not been successful at hands or feet yet but here is my first head.

She is a little bug-eyed and buck-toothed. But I think I will make a body for her. When I remove her hat she looks like a Monk! I am going to try to "feminize" her a little bit with some jewelery.

Pasta Machine motor

HI! Everyone,
Today I am using the Monster Pasta Machine. I found this old post from 2011 when we put it together. I am blending colors from Julie Picarello's book: Patterns in Polymer Clay. I just love her colors! I use Kato clay so I am also making blends of the basics: Cadmium Red for Kato is: equal parts Kato Orange and Kato Red.
Someone posted they were conditioning 20 pounds of clay, you needed this machine!

clay and beads,
Cindy


HI! Everyone,
When I sent my friend Leslie a picture of the new pasta machine motor all hooked up, she texted back asking: "Did you watch an episode of 'Pimp My Pasta Machine?'" Here is my "pimped out" pasta machine.

A $69.00 Craftsman drill and some clever woodwork from my husband and I have a machine that can handle conditioning or making skinner blends, hands free to catch or hold the clay. This machine is for adult use only. It has to be handled with care. It likes to snap at your fingers!
I only use this one for the heavy work. It will over-condition clay if I am not careful. It will spit out conditioned clay with speed that is very entertaining! I have the trigger set for one speed but it has an adjustable hose clamp to loosen or tighten (slow down or speed up) the drill. Worth the effort and $$.
Beads and clay,
Cindy

One More!

The Spring Leaf Pod. This Leaf Pod is done in the colors the fashion industry says are the spring colors for 2011. I don't usually pay any attention to these trends because that's what they are: trends. I would rather put colors colors together that look good, make me feel good, are timeless, go with anything and sometimes push the boundaries a little bit. So, here it is....

More Leaf Pods

HI! Everyone,
Here are a few more Leaf Pod necklaces. I still have not decided about the kit idea. I might just sell the leaves. Hmmmmmm. Ideas are always appreciated!

For those who have tried to go to my website lately......It has been lost in techno-limbo. I tried to change the hosting of my site and was unseccessful. It is still not up and running again but should be (crossing my fingers and toes) soon.

Beadiness,

Cindy

Revised cover

Howdy!

I have revised the cover for the Copper Bugle and Seed Bead bag. I think it looks better. Also, I made another leaf amulet. First I made a polymer clay leaf cane, sliced, poked holes and baked 50 beads. Strung them onto Perle 8 cotton and knitted it into the leaf pod pattern. I have to modify the tops of the leaves before I poke the holes. I need to pinch the top of the leaf to create a place for the hole. They will lie down better after being knitted. I am very pleased with it. I can see kit possibilities if I get some requests for them.
All things beady,
Cindy

New pattern

HI! Everyone,
It seems Facebook has become the place where I let everyone know what I am doing. I will still try to keep this going though. Not sure why, but for now I will.
I have a few new patterns coming out. One is a Copper Bugle and Seed bead bag, bead knitted of course. It is already up at bead-patterns.com and at my website.
The other is a Leaf Pod Amulet inspired by KLEW's (Karen Lewis's) leaf pod polymer clay beads. I have another idea for a leafy bag but will keep that a secret for now.
Until next time......
All things beady.
Cindy