Gizmos & Gadgets

I've been seduced by the lure of the Face Book Fan Page. Now you can keep up to date on all thats happening on the Art Clay Side of things at the Little Bead Shop by becoming a fan of Art Clay Scotland on Face Book. There is fan box now on the right of this blog, if you would like to become a fan! Now lets see If I can be really clever and and put the fan box in this post...

Art Clay Scotland on Facebook

Faux Bone & Ginga Squid

Now I'm settled back home I'm getting excited about some of the things that are happening in the next couple of weeks. First there is the PMC Symposium, and then on the 15th & 16th of August there is our Faux Bone weekend with the amazing Robert Dancik. I've been thinking about how I can incorporate the Faux Bone into my work, and have been sketching designs into my book to take with me to the course. Imagine my delight when Daily Art Muse featured the work of the amazing Ginga Squid and drew my attention to the fact that Vicky T. Hunt uses Faux Bone in her incredible creations. Just looking at her work has made me smile and has helped me think "outside the box". I'm now full of ideas of how incorporate Faux Bone into my work in a more creative way, and am so excited about the course. Its still not too late to book - and there is now a generous discount for students too!! See here for full details.

Vicky of Ginga Squid is an incredible artist and I thought I'd share some of her work with you here. All of these pieces include Roberts Faux Bone.

You can see the Ginga Squid Blog here. Her web site can be found here.

My work in the Magazines this month....

Just a quick shout to tell you where you can find my tutorials this month. As I've already blogged about you can see my tutorial on how to make my "retro" lentil Beads in Augusts edition of "Beads & Beyond" - you can see my beads on the cover above in the little picture - far right.

I have an precious metal clay tutorial in Issue 17 of "Bead" - a sea shell and freshwater pearl charm bracelet. I never tire of making bracelets like these. There is something so nice and tactile about them! Finally you can find another Lampwork Tutorial in the Lampwork Supplement of Issue 5 - "Making Jewellery". The tutorial gives the recipe for these beads on the cover and introduces you to the special glass by Double Helix. I'm delighted to make the cover of the supplement only a month after gracing the main magazines front page!

And finally I have to tell you that I'm really chuffed to make an appearance in the American Publications "Art Jewelry" & "Bead & Button" - even if it is only because my jewellery features in the latest advertising campaign for Art CLay World USA :)

Refelections on the MCWC Chicago

Well, I'm not sure how to even sum up the Metal Clay World Conference - It was amazing! Myself, Lesley Messam & Lynda Cheney all met up at Heathrow on the Saturday to fly out to Chicago. We arrived at 8pm or so even though we left at about 6pm, the time difference acting in our favour. So on Sunday we had the chance to do some sight seeing.....

Monday saw us start our two day Pre-Conference Class Caged Glass Beads with the lovely Cindy Pankopf. Amusingly though we all decided to go to the conference independently of each other FIVE of us British girls chose this class! I was interested in it naturally as a lampworker and metal clay artist, and I wasn't disappointed. I did how ever find it tricky .... and couldn't get them finished how I'd of liked in the time (I'm not very speedy!) Anyway - here are my two beads followed by a class photo.

On Wednesday several of us had a free day as we hadnt booked into another Pre-Conference Class, so we went off to Chicago to do more sightseeing. We were joined by Cindy Pankopf and Michelle Loon, and we all had a blast up the Sears Tower! Here is me on the Sky Deck...

The VIP event was that evening so we headed back to the Hotel to get ready (this is where I last posted). When we arrived the wine was flowing and people were mingling. I was delighted to finally meet Hattie Sanderson and talk a little about her upcoming trip to Edinburgh. I was also introduced to some other renowned artists who were interested in coming to Edinburgh.... how exciting! This was also the evening of the Charm Swap. I was a little nervous, would anyone want to swap with me? But I shouldn't have worried, there were plenty of charms to go around, and I made mine up into a lovely bracelet the next day.

Thursday, Friday and Saturday were jam packed with Seminars, breakfasts, lunches and shopping breaks. There were raffles, prizes, speeches and competitions (including the mystery brown bag competition which thankfully I didnt get to enter). I attended Hattie's seminar on ring construction techniques found it inspiring (with an added bonus of seeing my very own bead rings used in her slide show!), and I also enjoyed Holly Gage's Seminar really interesting too! And I'd never miss an opportunity to attended one of Gordon Uyehara's classes or seminars - his was informative and amusing! All of the seminars were great but these really stood out for me.

Jackie Truty, Katie Baum and the rest of the team did such a great job organizing this conference! Congratulations! I think everyone had a great time, and made new friends. Thats what makes it so special, the people! I cannot wait to meet them all again next time at the MCWC in 2011.

If we are really lucky you can all meet some of them even sooner, when they come to bonny Scotland!! :)

Conference- off to the VIP night !

We are having such fun, with hardly a minute to blog -the class with Cindy was just incredible (top pic) and sightseeing in Chicago is great too!! We have had an hour after shopping to get ready for the VIP reception and the Chrams Swap. I'm hoping i can find 32 people who like my charm enough to swap with me :)

Caged Glass Beads!

We are up - about to have breakfast, and head off to class..... I'm so excited about this!! I met a few lovely people last night at dinner and so far am having a blast!! Hope Cindy wont mind me taking pics :)

Chicago - We Have Landed!

Well, we have arrived safe and sound in Chicago! It was a long day travelling for me, (up at 4am - body clock thinking it was 5 am by the time we went to bed) but I'm just so excited to finally be here! Today is a free day with our course starting tomorrow, and another free day on Wednesday for exploring! Once I rigg up my camera expect lots of pics! I've even brought my video camera!!

New Metal CLay Magazine!

How exciting! A new Metal Clay Magazine is to be launched late October! A free sample issue will be available at the Metal Clay World Conference - so hopefully I'll get a copy of that! I'll be really interested to see what its like, I'd imagine a magazine dedicated to Metal Clay Will be great! To find out more click here!

Bead Ring Tutorial - your rings!

One of the lovely things about doing tutorials for magazines is getting to see that people actually do them! Here are two great rings that have been made following my tutorial in "Making Jewellery". The top one is by Julie Haveland Beer. This is a sterling ring band - but its riveted in the same way. Isnt it pretty!! The bottom one is by Lucy Spencer and is metal clay. I think they are GREAT :D Anyone had a go at the lampwork tutorial I did...... ?

Beads & Beyond - August Issue

As I was looking on the Beads & Beyond web site for an image of their July Issue to update my blog with (I have a BronzClay Tutorial in there) I came across this lovely and vibrant cover for their August Issue. And if you look closely that picture on the top right is of my beads. A little while back my retro lentil beads as I now call them came second in my category of their fantastic lampwork competition. Here they are -


In this latest issue you'll find my tutorial on how I make these beads - hope they appeal to somebody to have a go at. :D

Countdown to the MCWC is ON!

With only 10 days to go the countdown to my trip to Chicago is ON! I've lots to do, including making charms for the Clay Trade, where artists get together and swap a little charm attached to their business card, figuring out what I'll take with me for the "Taste of Home" event where everyone takes some food or delicacy from a local factory, (I was thinking Scottish Whisky, but maybe Edinburgh Rock is a better idea!) and deciding what clothes to take! (Oh - and how many pairs of shoes. :) - I'm such a GIRL). We have a free day on the Wednesday and plan to take a trip into Chicago - and hope to do a boat trip - though I have no idea which one! I'm really excited!