The Journey of an Owl

Today has flown by! Probably because I have been on the torch most of the day.  It has been the perfect day for it.....it is 71 here with a brisk breeze, so having the toasty kiln on & sitting by a torch feels good for a change!
(Yes in the Bahamas we consider 71 cool!)

I told you in my last post that I had the pleasure of having Cassie, from Glass Beadle, here to help me with my bead making.

When she came I had a list of beads I wanted to learn how to make. An owl was on that list, but the three days went by so quickly that we never got to it.

I wasn't worried, since she had taught me some great skills with sculpting so I figured I could figure it out on my own.

That little owl took several tries.....four to be exact....

Just for fun I thought I would share the photos with you.
The very first one broke - after the annealing, while I was cleaning him!! I was devastated!

It took me a few weeks to try again.....so here are Mr Two & Mr Three....
They were better, but still needed some work to get rid of the wonkiness!

And then success today!!! WOOHOO!!
I am pretty proud of this little guy!

Sorry for the terrible photo, but I couldn't wait to share him with you!
Tomorrow he will become a pendant.
Hope everyone is having a wonderful week!

Busy, Busy Christmas

I am not sure where the first two weeks of December went, in fact, I am trying to figure out where 2011 went! I sure have stayed busy!

Wanted to do a quick post to show you some new things I have been working on.

I also, finally, created a Facebook for Bahama Dawn. If you scroll down this page you will see the button on the right. Click on it & *like* it please. Right after Christmas I am going to be running a discount special specifically through that page.

Back in November the awesome Cassie Donlen, from Glass Beadle came to Abaco and spent three days helping me with my glass bead making. I can't thank her enough! She was awesome and I learned TONS of great tips and tricks. It was my first real class in lampworking! Before that I had fumbled along, taught myself, and made a lot of mistakes.

Thanks again Cassie!!!

So here are some of my new creations......
These are just a few of the beads Cassie and I made together.  Some are hers and some are mine in this photo.

I learned how to make these hearts which have been very popular and I LOVE making them!

I am also having a blast stamping on metal, especially creating little scenes.  Will have lots more pieces with these stamped pieces as I get a chance to put together and finish pieces.

Also having fun making these puppy pendants!! Need to work on a kitty pendant also!  I am selling these for $20, and all the money goes to help the animals of Abaco.

Tree of Life Pendants are another new creation which have been popular also.

My final little show and tell are these sea glassy beads.  I make the bead, then etch it and it looks like sea glass!

Thanks for stopping by to see my new goodies!!
Have a great week!

Coming Soon........

Hello!!

First of all, today I am supposed to be a part of a group of bloggers taking part in a challenge with beautiful oak leaf copper jewelry components from Jo at Daisy Chain Designs.

Unfortunately, I am stilling waiting to receive my package, with the oak leaf, that seems to be delayed in the mail.
These are the beautiful copper pieces I am waiting on.....

In the meantime, please check out the Daisy Chain blog & website, as well as all the bloggers participating in the challenge:

Jo Tinley of Daisy Chain Designs

Melissa Meman of Art, Life, Love

Niki Sayers of SilverNikNaks

Amber Boorman of Larksong Studio

Rebecca Anderson of Songbeads

As soon as my oak leaf arrives I will post my design. I have had a design idea in my head since I saw the oak leaves on Jo's blog, so I cant wait to get started!

Experimenting......

Over the last few months I have been experimenting with some new materials, trying out new ideas, taking some online classes.

I am not doing any Fall shows like I normally do.  Instead I thought I would have an open house in December with lots of new items.

Here are some sneak peeks from classes I have taken and some new products I have tried out.

This heart charm was from an online class I took at Beaducation, in PMC. 

I had worked with PMC (Precious Metal Clay) before but hadn't really pushed myself to make anything like this.  It is 2 hearts joined with copper spacers and brass hex nuts, then riveted.

The class gave me a lot of confidence with the PMC and some great ideas for new pieces.

I put the piece in Liver of Sulphur to age it, and then was sorry I did since before that the metals were bright and there was a lot more contrast.

I am still happy with it!

I have also been playing around with some enameling.

Those are some of the first beads I made.  I am using Barbara Lewis' kit and book, "Painting with Fire"  and it has been very helpful.

Yesterday I got into a bit of an earring making spell.

Here are two pairs....I cant show you everything....need to save some for the open house!

I love the enamel earrings, below.  They remind me of the ocean.

I'll pop back in soon to show you some more experiments and some new things!

Have a great week!

Bead Soup Blog Party: Soup is Ready

Good Morning! Good Afternoon!!! Hello....FINALLY!!!

Today is the day for the reveal of the Bead Soup Blog Party.

Remember to go here to see all of the participants and their posts.

I am a little late posting today, and I apologize, but our internet is off more than it is on now-a-days! I have been trying to get this post done since yesterday! The internet will literally be on for 10-20 minutes, then it goes off for a few hours....very frustrating! And while it is on it is as slow as molasses!

My partner, Karen, was very generous, and sent me 5 focals and tons of wonderful natural stone beads. With all the natural stones I got on an earring making kick. A few years ago customers would ask me to make earrings and I would say, "no, I dont like making two of the same thing".

Then I came up with earrings that were the same, but different. They are very 80's probably, but hey, that's when I grew up so I am influenced still by that era.
Here are all three pairs that I made.....

Here are some close ups.....this first pair are my favorite :)

These run a close second....

The stones that my partner Karen sent were so cool that I love these just as much!

I then had to choose one of the wonderful focals sent by my partner. It was difficult because they were all so beautiful, but I finally chose the one with the sand dollar.

The focal can slide on the chain because of the hanger I made for it.

Karen makes all of these focals herself and she uses a lot of seed beads, so I thought I would challenge myself and use some even though I had asked her not to send me any. I am sure Karen would have done something more exciting with the seed beads, but I did what I could.

I am calling this piece "Earth and Water". The the black around the sand dollar reminds me of lava or the dark sand at a river's edge, and the leaf toggle represents land. The shell, the color of the raku beads and the seed beads represent the water.

Make sure you check out all the other wonderful Bead Soup Blog Party posts....there are over 300 of them this time around!
Also, be sure to go to Karen's blog to see what she made from the pieces that I sent to her.

Bead Soup Party Coming Up Soon!

It's been like a month since I posted last.....that's embarassing!

Between lack of internet and Hurricane Irene passing over us I got behind on blogging!

I am taking part in the Bead Soup Blog Party again this year. We are assigned a partner, by Lori at Pretty Things, partners swap bead packages and make something with what was sent to them.

My partner is Karen, from Seattle, and you can check out her blog here.

Karen sent quite an amazing package.

Here are the Focals and the toggle. Karen made these focals!!! The one on the bottom right has a sand dollar embedded in it!! They are all so beautiful and my imagination is whirling thinking about all the things I can do with these.

And then there were all the other extras.....

Look at all these beautiful stones!!!! Karen told me the round disks are fossilized coral....very cool!! These pieces are all new to me since I have never worked with stones like these. So it will be an exciting journey.

The turquoise cube beads above are some of my favorites!

Be sure and come back September 17th, do the Bead Soup Party Blog hop and check out what all the amazing jewelry artists have created.

Well, I've got to go get to work, and I promise you I will be back before September 17th!

Bead Table Wednesday ~ sea glass bracelet

Happy Bead Table Wednesday!!!

Been busy, busy, busy with orders and fun stuff going on around the house so I havent been posting a whole lot lately.  Actually the *stuff going on around the house* has taken over my life!

Right now, in between everything else, I am trying to finish up the bracelet that I started a few weeks ago.

I still need to add a clasp, secure the sea glass in the bezels and then do a final polishing.

I love all these sea glass colors so much and can't wait for it to be finished.

Soon!!!

Check out all the other Bead Table Wednesday posts this week and be inspired!