beware the dragon… muhahaha

some time ago I went to DragonCon… one of the venders had a necklace with a pendant that I just had to have…

it is a little hard to see in this photo, but it is a dragon in a circle… I would love to learn how to make something similar…

lol… I told you all my horrible first attempts at working with polymer clay… who knew that overcooked clay will blacken and grow, looking like large lumps of clay-coal… very frightening… and the smoke/fumes… omg… I am just happy that I thought ahead and started my project in the garage…

so here is my first successful attempt at making my own little dragon…

lol… I love him… but I would have used different colors if I knew that it would work this time… or maybe tried to have him in a different position… frankly, I thought I would end up with another clay-coal-rock… but now I just need to coat him in a clear resin to make him sturdier… but I think I will keep him for myself, not making him into a pendant … 😛 kinda like pinning my first dollar on the wall… woo who… later guys, tracey

Green Glass

here a few more bracelets … a little greenish blue, mostly in very light shades

I love the leaves… for the first bracelet, I used some of my wooden beads, a few of the smaller greenish/blue beads, and those cute little glass leaves…

this piece just screamed for a silver connector… and I have to admit, these circular silver connectors are my favorite… I have lots of different connectors, but my hand seems to stray to silver more often than the gold or brass…

see how the brass goes so much better with the purple beads… even though I love the silver connectors, the color of the beads plays a big part in my choices… so even though I love the silver circles, I would use it with my lighter beads before picking it up for one of my darker beaded pieces… later guys, tracey

grow a little green

alrighty… not the normal artistic post, but I am soooo proud of my little tree… lol

I planted this guy three years ago… and I admit, my thumb is anything but green… maybe even a little black… lol… so I assumed that twelve plums a year was all I would get out of the little guy…. buttttttt….

this year the tree is full of little green balls that will soon be delicious plums… ymmmmmmy …

it is hard to pick them out unless you know where to look, but trust me… there are plums growing all over the tree…. so many, I lost count when I tried to count them up… woo who… I cant wait to share what the tree looks like after the fruit turns color… later guys tracey

Purples are always best

okay I’m biased, but I do love purple… I have to stop myself from making everything in my favorite shade…

I also love using a connector … but not all of my bracelets have been all purple… it is hard to steer away from my favorite color, but no matter the color I always make something that I would like to wear myself… okay… maybe a few of the childish bracelets I might pass on… lol

nope… I would probably wear those too… 😛

I really like the necklaces… and pairing them with some of the bracelets… I will have to make some more of those… necklaces are a lot of fun… plus… I just elastic sting, so even the shorter necklaces can be pulled over your head… (which basically means I haven’t mastered the clasp yet… lol)

later guys… tracey

Double Up

this is another friendship bracelet… but extra long so that you can wrap it around your wrist twice…

I really like the twisty look… best of all… when you are first starting it is easier to go with the twisty look… that means when you are lacing the string, you only have to remember one side of the string to go on top… otherwise (for a flat look) you have to alternate which side goes on top…

also… when making a bracelet long enough to wrap around your wrist twice, I suggest using the embroidery thread… it is more flexible… but I haven’t tried this with the hemp yet… who knows… I may change my mind… lol… that is what is great about art… each time you try something new, you find something else that you will either love or hate…

later guys, tracey

Friendship bracelets

as you can see with some of my pictures, I am not a photographer… shaky hands… grrr… but I wanted to share a new type of bracelet… fun and easy…

beads, and either hemp or regular string… easy peezee…. so far I have learned how to make flat bracelets and ones that twist…

the hemp makes a thicker bracelet… the embroidery thread comes out thinner… the second bracelet in the first picture (the pink one) was made of embroidery thread… cute but barely there….

as for the instructions ??? make sure your starter thread comes with a friendship bracelet guide… personally, I got more out of the pictures than the words… for a flat bracelet, you are lacing up your shoes, but switching off which side (string) is on top when you lace and pull tight… I will try to remember to take some pics of the instructions, but really… lol… my photography is so back you would be better off grapping some string with your own instructions…

adding beads is simple, and the string pulls so tight that it looks like they were made as a part of the string, no bumping around… friendship bracelets are tied onto the wrist… and when they finally fall off, you make a wish… and go out and get another one… lol… later guys, tracey

Personalize your trinkets

Mom and I found these cute letters that you can stick on your bling (or any art project really)

this piece is great because I found these clear shiny disks to connect the beads (no metal needed) mom mostly likes her bracelets without the connector, but I like to add a little extra to my work… with this disk, I had a piece that was beautiful and had a flat surface that was perfect for the stick on initials… I don’t know if I should make more of these with random initials or if I should use the letters for something that will remind the wearer of the book event they were at when they purchase the bracelet, or … really there are a lot of possibilities…

if I adhere the letters before the event instead of allowing the readers to pick their own letters… I have a resin that provide a protective coating, making sure the letters last longer…see… decisions, decisions… 😛

bling baby

these are some of my favorites… I designed these for mom for Christmas…

she was going through a gray and silver phase in her outfits… me?? I wear a lot of purple… but mom has color modes… I wanted her to feel fancy with her winter wear… an allergy that both mom and I share is to most metals… that means that most of the cute/inexpensive jewelry out there is a no go for us…

I started making necklaces and bracelets with little to no metal so that mom and I could decorate our outfits when and how we wanted… if metal is needed, we have found that if you coat the back (the part touching your skin) with clear nail polish, you can enjoy your trinkets… sometimes we even have to coat parts of our glasses… especially when the thin protective coating on our eyewear starts to flake off… you cant see if your glasses are breaking out your face… ewww….

with some nail polish, we can see without red whelps and we can wear just about anything… mom even coats the back of her watch so that she can tell the time without pain… 😛 later guys…

momma’s got game… :P

turns out that may is gonna be extremely busy, but I want to add a few art projects for everyone this month… may need to schedule them but they will get added… muhahahaha…

to start off, I want to share some of the bracelets mom made… she is hilarious… she decided she wanted to help me build the number of bracelets I had to sell at book signings but she loves colors as much as I do… we have been wearing our favorite outfits as we head out to Hobby Lobby, JoAnn’s, and Michael’s to check out their glass beads… that way we can match bead choice to outfit… the end result??? momma’s got bling…

I like to mix things up, while mom loves similar beads but simplicity and beauty… but the dang things can get expensive… always look for sales when you go bead hunting… even with a good sale, there are so many beads out there that if your not careful it is easy to spend more than you had planned… if you are like me, and always have that evil piece of plastic in your purse/wallet, you can get in real trouble… lol… if you can make yourself head out with just a twenty in your pocket (in theory) that would be less expensive… lol

this is one of my favorite pieces that mom put together, but if you look close, there is a bead that appears to be wrapped in thin sting… it is a beautiful effect buttttttt…. the string on one of the beads has already started to unwrap…. not sure how to make sure this doesn’t happen…. but be careful, peeps… I hope to be able to use a clear sealant to fix the bead… fingers crossed…

finally… this is a piece I made for mom for Christmas so that she could feel decked out while wearing her cream colored outfit… if you hit the sales and play around with bead choice, anyone can put together something beautiful for their loved ones… this is a hobby that can be overwhelmingly expensive, but it doesn’t have to be… a handmade gift can be affordable, and the thought behind the creation will have ten times the meaning of something bought off the rack… have fun with it peeps… tracey

Author Tracey Clark

Hey guys… Tracey Clark here…

I am the author of the Finder’s Keepers series… I have one book out and a second in the final edits stage… woowho… Southern Discoveries (Finder’s Keepers: book 2) has an awesome cover that I am waiting to reveal until next month… Finder’s Keepers is a paranormal/fantasy romance series… I also have a contemporary romance that will come out later this year, Skymann series… book one is tentatively titled Artistic Beauty …

My arts and crafts do more than just relieve my downtime… I like to create my own swag… instead of ordering bookmarks and such, I like to try to make them… I’m sure there will be somethings that will be beyond me (like those huge banners… lol… I wouldn’t even know where to start…)… but bracelets and pendants, booklets and bookmarks… those I can do…

necklace

Drop in from time to time, to see what I come up with…. not all of my art is for swag bags and selling at the author table… some will be just for me… and frankly hard to transport!!!

I got bored and decided that I needed a tree on my wall… I swear I will finish it someday soon… I have a number of art projects to beef up my swag scheduled for next month… hopefully I will have the time to share some of the projects with you, starting with the various bracelets mom and I have been working on…

I also hope to make key chains, necklaces, and maybe a few bookmarks and booklets… what crafts do you guys have planned???

happy wordage 😛 Tracey Clark