Adventures in Polymer Clay...and Musings Therein

...I'm In Love With the Wonderdul Beads!!!  Sung to the tune of "I'm In Love With A Wonderful Guy" from Sout Pacific.  Guess you'd have to be a musical fanatic like me...!
Anyway, I've been pooh-poohing seed beads and beading for about three years now...not because I don't think the work is beautiful and fascinating, and not because I think it's beneath me.  It's because: a) they're verrrry small beads, b) my eyes are verrrrry bad, c) I was too wrapped up in the polymer clay, and , d) I can NEVER makes heads or tails of those damn diagrams.  Well, I subscribe to Bead and Button magazine simply because I find excellent resources I never know of, and some of the jewelry artwork is magnificent and gets me thinking about how to adapt it to polymer clay.  They always have a little section in the back about basic bead stitching, and last month I decided that, dammit, I'm going to try peyote stitch...simply because the uniformity of the stitching appeals to me.  Well, I tried...and it sucked.  So, I tried again...and it sucked a little less.  I talked to a friend of mine who told me that while peyote stitch is really easy, I needed uniform beads, like Delicas, to get the really neat stitching I desired.  I bought some Delicas, and voila!!...I liked it---I really liked it!!!  So, what do I do?  In my inimitable Julie Style, I buy four books from Amazon on beading and bead stitches, and now I'm going to try and get better.  I can see soooooo many applications of beading and polymer clay (yeah, I know...I'm not the first, but c'mon, it's a first for me to be able to do both!!).  This bracelet is the first I've done deliberately making beads from polymer to use with beading.  I really love the way it turned out (pat, pat, pat on the back!)  Wow, wow, wow...I want to try everything, and I've GOT TO WAIT for the books, and a lot more practice.  I'll get there, though...mmm-mmm-mmm.

I am the apex of the example of why you shouldn't try to focus on more than one thing at a time...when it involves your craft.  I made a pendant to cure and carve in stages...at the same time, I was making teeny, tiny roses to sew on a bracelet I was beading.  Both went in the oven, both came out at the same time.  I put the roses on my tile in front of me to cool off...and while they cooled, I went to work carving the initial stages of my pendant.  Well, while I was finishing the carving, I noticed some of my beads that needing dipping in the Varathane, so I did that, too.  Finished the dipping and set them aside to dry, then finished the carving.  Once the carving was done, I swept all the detritus into the waste can....two hours later, when I came back after my "break" on the patio, I noticed my roses were gone.  Well, at my age, it's getting easier and easier to have massive brain farts, and I just figured I'd put them somewhere to finish later.  After searching the entire studio, I thought, "Surely, I didn't throw them away?!?!?"  Oh, yeah, she really did.  When I swept all the shavings into the waste can, so went the little roses.  So guess who spent the next 30 minutes going through every piece of trash?  Yup...me.  And cussing and feeling stupid the whole time.  I didn't find them all (two hours of eye-straining work!), so I had to go back and make a few more to finish the bracelet...duuuuh, and DUUUUH!  Sooooo, my good friends, don't try to do more than your brain can remember from hour to hour, and if you're going to do more than one thing at a time, KEEP THEM SEPARATED!!  You'd think by now I'd have learned....
The bracelet isn't quite finished, but here's a peek.
Roses are too, too easy to make...and so very versatile in beading!!  

Really, I feel like a bug on a hot griddle.  I walk outside, and the heat and humidity...even at 7am...grabs me, wraps me up and starts smothering me!  Like a wet slap in the face....it's this time of year I wonder (mightily) how any human being ever settled Florida?  However, for the roughly five miserable months here, I get about seven months of beautiful, open-the-doors-and-windows weather...so what the hell am I grousing about?  Ummmm...$400/month electric bills in the summer!!!!

Hope everyone had a thrilling Fourth, whether it was quiet or with loads of friends, fireworks, BBQ and brews!

Cheers!

...Oh where oh where can it be....????

Well, right in front of my flippin' face for the last ten days!  And, I've just chosen to (slightly) ignore it.  Seriously, I've been meaning to sit down and write about toooooo many things, but life does tend to "get in the way."  My most recent emergency has been having a new septic system installed.  Not fun.  Not pretty, and definitely unappetizing to say the least.  Add to that the fact that we hired a company that is maybe just a step above the slime they clean out, and you can see we had a recipe for unpleasantness.  Let us see if I can condense this to a less-than-ranting-diatribe scenario:
One of our toilets started acting "hinky" (yeah, it's a scientific term...trust me!) and not flushing as it should.  Soooo, we called in the guys who have always worked on our septic system.  They had installed an entirely new drainfield only six years ago, and pumped everything else out.  Guy came; guy told us drainfield was saturated; guy said we needed a new one.  Guy worked up a price based on square footage and age of house; we paid 1/2 down; company made appointment to do work after county took soil samples and permit was issued; company didn't show up until THREE WEEKS afterwards; on the appointed day, company didn't even call and tell us no one would be out...I had to call three times that day; company came a day late (on a Friday, no less); work wasn't finished by the end of day; we skated by on the skin of our teeth for the weekend; company sent someone out on Monday to at least ensure the holding tank was draining into new drainfield; county came on Tuesday to inspect; company called Wednesday morning to say, "Oh, by the way, you owe us $1200 more for extra work we had to do."; Julie told them, "Absolutely not...let me talk to your owner."  Long story short - they never would let me talk to an owner...everyone I DID talk to tried to BS me with minutiae about septic systems, and no one EVER got around to answering my question:  why did you do the extra work when you did NOT have our permission to do so?  In the end, I agreed to an extra $500...simply because they threatened me about not finishing the job and not guaranteeing the work if I didn't pay them something.  To top it all off, one of the supervisors I spoke to called me a "butthead"....jesus, what grade is he in?  Right now, I'm so absolutely disgusted with any service personnel on this earth, I could spit nails.  They KNOW that 99% of us will cave, and they KNOW that 99% of us will pay extra money to just be done with the problem...bastards!  Yes, I would feel much better after having trounced them in court, but the months of PITA leading up to the victory would be a hard row to hoe.
Anyway, now you know why I've kinda stayed away from the computer...too much to do, to much anger to sit down...but now (believe it or not!) I've calmed down quite a bit.  My toilets flush, and water is going where it's supposed to go...away from my house!!!

Hope your weekend has been grand!  
Julie

Ya gotta know the song to appreciate the title...!

Anyway, I want to tell you how I sand my beads.  Why?  Well...I read a lot of blogs and OBTW's and I have offered my suggestions.  Some have taken my suggestions to heart...and the end result was great.  Some people just want to keep trying to invent the wheel or coming up with "the next great thing"...dunno.  When you find something that works, why the hell do you want to keep trying to find some other way to do it...unless it's EVER so much easier and cheaper????
Anyway, I got this from Desiree long, long ago.  Don't know the lady's last name.  Just know I used to read her blog religiously, and this is one of the "tips" she handed out...was the best I ever read.  Google "Desiree" and reap the benefit of her knowledge.  She's truly talented.

Here it is - for about a moderate handful of beads...it's going to depend on how big your beads are.  You're going to have to decide what moderate is, but that's what experimenting is all about!
I have been using the same little "craft"/"hobby" sander for the last four years.  Yes, it's held up that long...and I use it at least three times a week.  I got it at Jo Ann with a 50% off coupon...so you guys can get one for about $25 - $30???  It's more than paid for itself.  Throw everything it comes with in the trash.  All you want is the motor and the drum.

1.  One sheet of 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper
2.  Cut the sheet in half and put the rough sides against each other
3.  Cut the sheets into 1/4 to 1/2 inch strips
4.  Bundle a few (maybe 10 to 12?) of the strips together, and cut those into about 1/4 to 1/2" squares.  Don't get anal on this...just cut - they don't have to be perfect.  However, if you get them too big, they will curl up during sanding process.
5.  Once you've cut everything up, you should have a pile of "squares".  One sheet will handle a decent handful of beads.
6.  Put the beads, the sandpaper, and enough water to fill the drum to about 3/4 full.  Keep in mind that you have to have enough room for the beads and the paper to roll around...so you can't pack the  drum too much...this also comes with experience and experimenting...you'll get it down pat before too long!
7.  Let this tumble for AT LEAST 24 hours...longer if you just don't want to be bothered!!!
Please, please, please pay attention to step #6...I SAID WATER!!!!   That's why you've got wet/dry sandpaper in there!  That's why I said throw away everything that  came with the tumbler!!
8.  After at least 24 hours of tumbling, take the beads, rinse everything off with water.  Save the sandpaper...you can use the same batch for at least three tumbles before you have to cut up another sheet.  I just dump it all out on a paper towel and let it dry.
 If you like the matte finish...leave it.  Otherwise, you can coat with varathane (I SWEAR by Flecto varathane) or tumble buff...same principle, except you use cloth to buff instead of water and sandpaper to sand..  Sound stupid?  Write and ask, and I'll explain.
Wow...I know I've missed something.  But we've got a major storm brewing with lots of lightning.  I never miss a show like that...and my evening glass of wine is calling my name.  Yes, yes, I hear it plain as day!!!
Cheers!