Fixed posting for comments

Hello friends!

It was brought to my attention that some of you weren't able to leave comments. I had to change my settings awhile back because I kept receiving posts from Asian Porn sites. WTF?! So now I have altered the settings so everyone should be able to post now. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Much love,

Genea

BTW February 22nd

Hello friends!

Wow, you all just amaze me with all of the wonderful pictures and posts from today's Bead Table Wednesday!

Here I will show you two photos. I have to be mindful of my posts until I get a Pro account for Flickr.

This is the "clean" part of my table. Left : Atlantis lentil, a ruffle daisy, disc, and wing ding using Atlantis, Possible glass headpin set that needs a few more pins, rekket disc beads like the ones I posted in my necklace on facebook, smurfy wing dings, a "Z" scrabble tile for a project, rubber o's from My Elements.

Right: top corner is enameled off white chain, my soldered charm and some hilltribe lentils(my artbeads.com design in the works), more glass headpins(pastel ones are opal glass), the others are called "moonstone" colors they are somewhat translucent, a few straggler spotty droplet headpins.

Here is a little bit closer photo of the right side of the table. Here you can see the glass headpins a little better.

The little pile of opaly glass headpins are: Messy Kryptonite, Messy Crocus, and Messy Rose Quartz. Directly across from those headpins is a lentil made with NEW Messy Rainforest, Great Bluedini Unique, and silvered ivory.

The transparent ish ones under it are moon stones: Messy Peacock Green, and Messy Halong Bay and then a few spotty droplet headpins. I only got one more set done today, but I will get more in the shop.

Well lots to do!

See you soon.

Much love,

Genea

A Week of Wonder

Hello friends!

Well it's been a an interesting week to say the least. Just a few days ago Ricky started applying in Portland on a whim figuring why wait right?  Well it's a good thing he did! He got 3 call backs in ONE day which was more than he had gotten here in a month and  a half! He set up interviews, we got him a flight and he will be leaving to Portland on the 28th! It's all very surreal. I can't believe it's FINALLY happening! I'm so proud of him and so excited! So I will keep you all posted on what's going on with that.

Genea Beads will be available in a NEW location!

It's been getting SUPER BUSY in the Genea Beads studio! I have a lot going on and feel like I need to make a clone of myself to get everything done. It's super exciting!  On that note, The Bead Shop at WillowBridge center will be carrying Genea Beads! We are very excited to be working together with them. You can go to their healing arts center for some wonderful services and stop on by the bead shop to do some beading. It sounds like heaven to me!  They are located at  807 Main St. North Cambridge, MN 55008.  

Look what came in the mail

 

Here is the AWESOME pod pendant( I'm pretty sure this on in the link is the closest to the one I am wearing) I received from Libby Leuchtman! Isn't is just incredible??!!  I'm such a lucky girl! On a side note,  I guess it's kinda weird to always see pictures of people's jewelry where their head looks lopped off right? 

 Ah there we go. I am indeed, not headless. lol You just can't see the pendant's details as well in this picture ;)

I would have posted the "Week in Review" post, but all the new goodies are GONE. Lucky duckies to who picked up the pieces ;)

Um... what else? It seemed like I had all this stuff to write about since so much has happened, but here I sit and now I can't think. Lol. So I guess that means I covered the most important stuff, right?

Bead Soup Reveal on the 26th!! I can't wait!

See you soon!

Much love,

Genea

 

It's ALL your fault- Totally INSPIRED!

Hello friends!

I just wanted to share with you that it's totally, ALL Heather's fault. For what? Well for INSPIRING me!  So I don't know if you saw it, but on February 9th for Bead Table Wednesday this is what Heather posted on her blog.

 

Here is one of the photos, but you totally need to go to her blog to see the rest! She put together these bead piles from Dream Girl Beads along with some of her beautiful Willow Pendants.  I forgot just how much I loved brown and turquoise together. I had a few more beads to make for the Bead Cruise packages so I decided to use the colors in this palette.

I thought that it would be a  bummer to get all of these amazing boxes of art beads and have to put them all into bags(that and it's an awful lot of work to plan such big events), so I decided Heather needed some fun beads for her creations as well. I figured since these were some of the colors she picked out that it was probably a pretty safe bet that she liked them ;)

So while making these beads I decided to make these discs in the same color palette. I was excited to add Creation is Messy's NEW color "Atlantis" to the set. This color is so NEW it's not yet listed on the page, but you can be sure it will be added to the Blue's section soon! It will also be available at Frantz Art Glass, so keep an eye out ;)

After creating these beads I had an amazing idea for a finished design. Dang, I was totally trying to make these for my shop! 

 Here is the finished necklace. I am SO excited because I knew I wanted the discs to hang in tiers like this, but I wasn't sure how I was going to get it to work out. Well as you can see, I did it! :D I love it when that happens!

Here is another angle shot. Pretty f*ing sweet, if you ask me! I LOVE it :D I called this piece "Running in Circles". 

Wishing you much inspiration and a weekend of awesome!

Much love,

Genea

The EGGsperement- Color studies and styles for bird eggs

Hello friends!

I thought you might like to see my experiments while being inspired by spring and all of the eggs, birds, and things I have been seeing lately.

Here are a few of my favorite things others are creating....

 

Here are Heather's(Humblebeads) eggs. I finally got a chance to really check out all of the amazing things in her shop. I was especially enamored with these style eggs after learning some more about the process. I love all of the layers and earthy feel of her speckly eggs.

I also really love these eggs by Floridity. I saw them through either abs, btw, or Lorelei's site, I forget which one... Anyways, I just LOVE the look of these eggs. I love the way they were created. People are really creating some amazing things in polymer clay since I used it back when I was 14 ;)

So my wonder was, how can I take the egg design and translate it into glass with what I already have at home? Back when I first started making beads I got a collection of reduction frit, which thankfully I didn't spend too much time with, working on a hot head. Hot head torches are pretty much a more reduction flame naturally, but much easier to control and achieve the look you want with an oxygen propane torch.

Anyways... I decided to pull out some silver leaf,  reduction frit,  non-reactive frit from That Frit Girl that I had in my stash to see if I could make some cool eggs.

So first to check out some pictures of eggs on Google. Then I decided to look up birds in my area. I didn't make all of the ones I wrote down, but did some experiments on some common bird eggs.

So first to do some frit testing round beads to see what the colors look like on different bases.

Ok so listed above is the color glass I used. To keep things tidy on the photo I just listed the letters to give a more detailed description in text.

A. Fremen base with That Frit Girl New Light Yellow R-186-1 
Looks a bit too pale for egg speckles.
B. Fremen base with That Frit Girl Sahara R-162-1 This color is a really beautiful pale sandy yellow brown with hints of pink. Not quite the right color for bird eggs.
C. Fremen with Tobacco reduction frit(this was from an old sample pack I had, but check out That Frit Girls version). Spreads too much and a bit metallic for eggs.
D. Fremen with Iris Gold reduction frit reduced(again check out That Frit Girl's version Iris Yellow 218). Much better frit size for speckles, but still too metallic.
E. Dark Ivory base with That Frit Girl New Light Yellow R-186-1
Dark outline reaction with ivory glass. Still not quite the right color.
F. Dark Ivory base with Tobacco reduction frit.
Spreads a lot, and not quite dark enough.
G. Pale Avocado odd- checked out glass to see color. It's streaky on the side(which is not pictured). I think this color might be out of stock due to it being an odd.

Now remember when making these test beads you have to view them quickly and get them into the kiln, so you don't actually get to figure out the best results until your beads are done annealing.

 

Now for some egg trials. Remember you won't always have exactly the things for your inspiration in your studio when you need them, but sometimes you discover amazing new things when you work with what you've got ;)

A. Unique Ginger-3 with Iris Gold frit reduced.

Nice dark brown color, but too metallic. If you etch the bead note that it will be a lighter color.

B. Unique Ginger-3 with Tobacco reduction frit. 

Still spreads too much for that speckly look and not the right color.

C. Fremen with Tobacco reduction frit reduced.

Frit color is still too light, metallic and spreads.

Dark Ivory rolled in silver leaf and reduced, couldn't remember if it got that really pretty golden color from this style or not. I missed getting a part of the egg covered with silver leaf(see bottom by bead hole) and it looks like the silver fumed the ivory instead getting that color for which I was looking ;)

Ok well so as you noticed, I didn't quite achieve the effects I had hoped, so I decided to just play around with some solid colors. You know their are just plain colored eggs out there. Sometimes after doing many tests and not getting the results you want, it's nice to make something you pretty much know will be successful. 

I admit it's hard for me just to play and not have things turn out. I want EVERY time at the torch to produce the most amazing beads, not that there is anything wrong with the above beads, but you understand ;) It must be that perfectionist in me. I am still recovering....

So here are some plain glass eggs for color testing. I took these same beads and etched them in the picture below for more of a matte look. From left to right: effetre light turquoise, Messy Smurfy, effetre dark turquoise, nest made in Messy Canyon de Chelly(OMG my new favorite next to Stone Ground) This color has some really gorgeous color variations! eggs in effetre dark ivory, dark ivory egg.

Here you can see all of the glass etched(10 minutes in etch all) giving it more of an earthy feel by taking the shiny finish off of the glass. This look also makes them look more like clay. You wouldn't believe how many people ask if etched lampwork beads are really clay and how shocked they are when they discover it's glass ;)

So what did I learn? Well I just have to keep experimenting. I am thinking maybe a nice fine non-reactive frit or maybe some enamels. ;) Oh, before I forget, Messy has some AMAZING soft pastel colors perfect for egg making. Here are some I would recommend: Dirty Martini, Butter Pecan Unique-4, and Butter Pecan Unique -5.

Be sure to check back at the Creation is Messy site later, I did a really awesome color study of all of the Butter Pecan, Ginger, their uniques, and Ivory's. Kathy is up to her ass in alligators at the moment, so I'm sure when she gets her monstrous to-do list done, you will see the photo ;) Be sure to drop her an e-mail and tell her how amazing she is! She is out there making the glass world amazing for us lampworkers :D

Well that about wraps up my color and egg testing. I hope you learned some cool things about glass and color experimenting.

See you soon!

Much love,

Genea

Beadwork Stringing Spring 2011- Designs by Lorelei Eurto featuring Genea Beads

Hello friends!

HOORAY! I am SO excited for this post! Just a little bit ago Lorelei tagged me in a photo of the GORGEOUS designs she submitted to Stringing Spring 2011! I immediately called Barnes & Noble and Borders to see if the magazine had hit the stands. I think it had just arrived to you all with subscriptions! I can't wait to get my copy!

 

Woo hoo! What awesome designs, huh? Lorelei's bracelet with my beads is on the bottom row in the middle. 

 

Here is Lorelei's shot of her bracelet and earrings.

Discovering that many of you may be scouring your new magazine that meant I needed to get my butt over to my shop to list the beads for ya! Here they are!

 

"Morning Cup"

 

"Earthy Blend"

 

"Spotty Droplets"

 

Here is the necklace design Lorelei created on the right. Isn't is soooo pretty?!

 Here is the image that Lorelei shot of her necklace. You can see it much better in this shot.

 

Gravity bubble "Trillium". 

Just so you all know this teal is tricky to photograph so it looks a bit more blueish in the magazine photo. It is a deep bluegreen and it shifts somewhat depending on how you look through the glass. You will see what I mean when you snag these babies up for your creations ;) 

A huge THANK YOU to Lorelei for collaborating with me on her  incredible and inspiring designs! You are the best!

Stop on by her Etsy shop and her Big Cartel. If she has not already listed the items in the magazine, I know they will be offered soon unless they have been nabbed up already!

Thanks for coming by to celebrate with me!

Much love,

Genea

Wisdom tooth-1, Genea-0

Hello friends!

I had hoped I would be down for the count today after visiting the dentist this afternoon, but alas I am not.  So here is what happened. I worried myself sick until my appointment at 1pm. Upon arriving I did my new patient paper work and waited to be seen. I was a wuss and asked if I could bring my husband in the room with me, to my surprise they agreed. 

I sat in the chair for my x-ray where they used the small film to only capture 3 teeth(one of which was the bothersome one). The dentist came in and introduced himself and told me he was going to tell me what he saw in the x-ray. On a flat panel screen that hung from the ceiling  my back 3 teeth were displayed. My widsom tooth was indeed at a very crookedy angle with a dark spot on the inside corner. 

The dentist explained to me that the tooth had a cavity almost to the nerve and that each part of the root curved inwards making it a PITA to get out. He said that he could still pull the tooth, but that it would take him much longer since he would have to break it into a few pieces to get it out. They took 2 more x-rays and then began giving me the nitrous that finally began to calm my nerves. I was a total wreck the more and more he told me how complicated the tooth would be to remove. I put on my headphones and cranked them to the loudest volume I could get. I didn't want to hear the awful noises that would soon be coming from the inside of my head!

After a few minutes I could feel my feet tingle, and the nitrous in my nostrils felt cool. I began to feel relaxed(what is that feeling? I pretty much NEVER relax). The dentist returned to the room and began talking with Ricky. I could hear what they were saying. It didn't sound positive. I told myself to ignore it at first, and then fished my headphones off of one ear. I ended up getting it caught on my orbital piercing(this is a large hoop that goes from the inside cartilage of the top part of my ear to the middle cartilage of my ear). The assistant helped me take the ear piece out. My motor skills were all jelloy from the nitrous.

The dentist began explaining to me that he didn't feel comfortable doing the extraction after further examining the x-rays. He said he didn't want to send me out of the office traumatized. He said that I would have to go to an oral surgeon. He explained how he would have to do the extraction and how when he was wiggling on the tooth to pull it out it was VERY close to the nerve. His fear is that he would hit the nerve and cause numbness in the lower portion of my face that might not come back for a long time if at all. 

He had also told me that I had an infection pocket right by the root of the tooth and that my pain was coming from the root hitting the pocket when I hit my teeth together. He said that the cavity in the wisdom tooth would cause it to break and that that tooth had also given the molar in front of it a cavity as well. He told me that after I got the wisdom tooth pulled, that I should get the molar filled soon after.

I appreciated his honesty. He filled me a prescription for Percocet for the pain and Amoxicillin for the infection and gave me a few referrals for oral surgeons.  I called around and one office was closed until Monday and the other was booked until Wednesday. I also found out I was short a bit of money and would now have to get some things figured out to make a few more bucks to cover it. Unfortunately they can't give you an exact estimate for the tooth. I guess pulling them ranges from $117-$220(which mine in the condition it is sounds like it may be the higher end), then they want to take a panoramic x-ray that is $92, and then $107 for the office visit and other stuff. I did find out that nitrous was included, and that they are experts and it really only takes them a few moments to get teeth out.

So back to the drawing board for me.... Wish me luck.

Much love,

Genea

Genea Beads- Sponsor for Bead Cruise by Humblebeads!

Hello friends!

I am SOOO EXCITED to be a sponsor for the upcoming Bead Cruise put on by Heather Powers, of Humblebeads!

It must have been "meant to be"! I just happened to be wandering around Heather's blog after seeing her awesome btw posts with her new Czech glass bead purchases from Dream Girl Beads paired with her GORGEOUS clay pieces. I had stopped over to her .com site just after the blog to spy some of her pieces. Just after I received a message from her on Etsy asking me if I would like to be a sponsor for the upcoming Bead Cruise.  While I was writing back to her, she was looking at my btw post on Flickr! Funny how we were both looking at eachothers work at the same time! 

I had told her, the universe MUST have told her I had JUST, re-designed my business cards and hand cut all of them, JUST printed new GB stickers, and JUST started sticking stickers on some promo bags I was making for Etsy! Interesting how amazing things land in your lap unannounced to you :D I love it when stuff like this happens!

So what bead can you expect in your gift bag? WING DINGS! Since everyone LOVES the fun wing ding shape, I decided that this would be the bead I would donate. They are so much fun with which to design!

 

The infamous Wing Ding bowl. Like the lime green glass bowl? I bought it from Bed, Bath and Beyond the year I got married :D It was a gift to me. Artisan made with a sweet snake signature stamp on the bottom :D 

 

So off to work I went labeling, and stuffing beady bags :D Heather must have known I needed something to occupy my time before my hubby returned home at 10:30pm last night!

 

45 DONE, 15 to go!!

Off to work!

Much love,

Genea

SNEAK PEEK- Bead Soup design piles

Hello friends!

I thought you might like to see my bead soup design piles.

Safety first! So designing some beads to go with some of the awesome stuff Mary sent me made me work with materials I usually don't, like enamels.

 

Here was the paper that inspired me. This was actually the second design in my head, but you know inspiration. It can come from anywhere even if you had started being inspired by something else.

 

Here is the pile of beads I had going for this piece. Don't worry, I didn't spoil the surprise, it ended up WAY different! lol.

 Here is what's on my table today! I busted out the silver leaf, reduction frit and even fumed a few beads(didn't really work like I thought). After wasting 2 full sheets of silver leaf, I packed up the fuming for another time. On the far right you can see a mandrel with my test bead spacers trying to decide which colors would suit the pendant best. 

Mary sent me 2 toggle bars so I decided to be a snot and make both work :D I decided to take the "art" bar off of the first project I made and use the really pretty custom bar that Miss Fickle Media specially makes for Mary. Her pieces really are quite amazing in person. I was impressed with the ultra thick coating of enamel on the toggle bar! Very awesome! 

 

Here is what Mary has on her bead table. Mary is a fabulous bead stitcher , so I can't wait to see what she makes with my discs! :D

I hope everyone else is having as amazing of a time designing as I am!

Happy Creating!

Much love,

Genea

Life of an uninsured artist

Hello friends...

Wa, wa wa... if you havn't already heard about it on facebook. I have had the misfortune of a pain worse than my barometric pressure sinus headaches. What is this terrible pain of which I speak, TOOTH PAIN. Ugh... so what's the story? Well very unluckily I happen to be one of those that suffer from my wisdom teeth(why the hell do they call them that anyways, they are ANYTHING, but full of wisdom!).

On the right side of my mouth on the bottom my wisdom tooth decided it was a good idea to grow in at an angle. In the midst of it's growing it pushed so hard on my molar a corner of it popped off :( Over the last little while another piece broke off giving me pain for a few days before getting stuck to my gum and coming out. After a few days it healed up and life went on until recently......

About 6 days ago my tooth cracked again. I felt it wiggle in it's socket when I went to swish some liquid in my mouth. SHIT! So I did my normal regiment of:gently brushing the area, rinsing with mouth wash, doing a salt water swish, and eating ibuprofen. The first two days were just awful. It throbbed. I couldn't, and still can's shut my mouth because if I try to let the left side of my jaw rest the bottom widsom tooth barb jabs me in the gum on the top shelf and then shoots pain to the nerve on the bottom shelf. It doesn't help that the weather is getting all crazy again and instead of the pressure effecting my head it's all hanging out around my tooth.

So over the last few days I have not been able to eat, get a restful sleep, and am in pain while I am awake. It's just down right awful! I can think of nothing else, but this damn tooth unless it's one of those times before bed where I have just taken meds. Sometimes I get inspired as I try to sleep, weird.  I am just exhausted :( Ricky found a football mouth guard he had that he had worn a few times(gross, I know, but when you are desperate, you don't really care :( ). He cleaned it and boiled it in water to try to re-press my teeth shape into it and cut it so it only fit the first 4 teeth. It didn't really fit, but it did prop up my jaw so my teeth didn't touch. I have been getting a wicked cramp in my jaw from trying to hold it open.

I am also one of those people that clench their teeth when the concentrate and when they sleep. I guess I must have been doing it the other night because I woke up in excruciating pain. I grabbed the mouth guard, hot wash cloth and meds and returned to my bed to try to get some rest.  Luckily the mouth guard gave my teeth some support so it could kind of let the area heal.

So that is the crap I have been going through the last few days. Why am I typing it here. I dunno, I guess I hope in some weird way getting it out in text will make it magically disappear(one could only be so lucky!). I called around to try to get an estimate and it's sounding like it will be around $400-$500. We don't get paid until Friday(Ugh that seems like forever!).

Ricky has been really sweet. He found a "free" clinic online and put many calls in to them, but it's one of those deals where you have to call at 8am and keep trying to make an appointment. He called several times and got the message recording and left 3 messages. We have not heard back, so I hope they do work and then spend the end of the day calling people to set up their appointments. I guess they don't take walk-ins. *sigh*

I am a pretty tough cookie generally emotionally and physically. It takes a lot to make me crumple up, but damn this tooth. It really is just awful!

So if anyone out there has any remedies that work, prayers, positive thoughts and support it would be greatly welcomed. Thanks for listening.

Much love,

Genea

My HAUL from my bead soup patner, Mary Harding!

Hello friends!

I am just now getting to tell you all about the amazing things I got in the mail from Mary just a few days ago! I even took photos while I opened the box so even though you weren't here with me you could feel like you were opening the box :)

 

Here was what the box looked like after opening up the envelope :) Sweet! Bonus charm on the outside ribbon!!

 

The box with the lid open. Oh a teaser! A card with her pretties on it. I am not sure if the paper in here is some sort of eco paper towel or what, but I was excited my box came in an eco envelope I could recycle :D

 

 The first layer! WOW! Look at all these goodies!! But, wait there is MORE...

 

Oh sweet! Some MORE bead sets!! :D

 

Oooo What a pretty pendant and ANOTHER  bead set!...

 

HOLY CRAP! Look at all of the AWESOME stuff on the bottom!! A Raku bead, ANOTHER bead set, one of Mary's AWESOME clay flower patterned toggles, and PERSONALIZED stamped copper bead caps with my NAME  :D:D:D

 

 Here is a shot of the loot all out on a bamboo mat! Wow! What a collection huh?! Where does one start with all of this amazing stuff???!

  

Here is another shot so you can see things at a different angle.

 

Here is a close up of that flower clasp! Sweet huh?! I love the hand stamped "Art" bar and the green coated one! So cool! You can also see one of Mary's lovely glass pendants and MY bead caps!!

Here is a close up of my bead caps! They are stamped with: lotus flowers?, swirly hearts, doves, "art", "GB" and "Genea" :D Isn't that SO sweet? Growing up with an unusual name it's so awesome to have something with your name on it :D

So what are my plans for my awesome new stash from Mary?  Well here is the "creative mess" on my bead table. You may have seen it over on the Bead Table Wednesday Flickr pool :)

 

I noticed my super sweet yellow clay beads from Mary would match the pendant that Tracee Dock, of The Classic Bead made for me awhile back! I jumped out of bed and started laying beads out on my table. I even was dreaming about the designs I was going to make to match them!

Here is some other stuff I have laid out on my table. Not sure what I am going to design yet. I am leaving the beads out so they can "talk" to me :)

See you soon!

Much love,

Genea

RE-LOADED- Stocked up the Etsy shop!

Hello friends!

I had SO much stuff to list I just decided since it was too cold to work in the studio I would list on Etsy.

I have a nice little sampling of a few more Valentine's Day items and some more Vortex Flowers, glass headpins and some soldered scrabble tiles!

Wanna see what's new?

 

"Dragon Tears" set of 7 glass droplet headpins on 24ga copper wire.

Here is the way I suggest wrapping these super FUN glassy headpins!

 

Vortex Flower "Tidal Wave" Large focal.

The sun totally wasn't cooperating with me to shoot outside, but isn't this inside photo KILLER?! :D

Vortex Flower "Whirling Wave" medium focal.

Now for the HEARTY stuff....
 

 

Lovey Dovey girl. Sweet little dove with pink cheeks and pink heart wings.

 

Lovey Dovey Boy. A sweet little boy dove with white heart wings.

Here is a design I made last year using my "Lovey Dovey's" hearts and more.

This item is SOLD, but I thought you might like to see if for inspiration :)

 

"Queen of Hearts". A super TWISTED lipstick red heart with bands of raked and whirled glittery goldstone.

 

"Be Mine" - a teensy set of 6 round spacers a mini spotty heart.

 

"X" and "O" soldered scrabble tile charms. Where the hell are the rings? Well I figured it totally sucks when you see something you like, but wish the holes or rings were on the opposite sides. This listing offers the rings to be soldered on the top and bottom or the sides! SUH-WEET! Design away!

 Demonstration of rings soldered top and bottom or on the sides. Ring size will be the size of the rings in the "X" photo.

Feeling inspired?

Stay warm!

Much love,

Genea