My New Blog

Please visit my new Blog at http://bijoumestudio.blogspot.com/

Since this will be the one I will use in the future.

Let me bijou you with

bijou Me

And the Winner is......

......wooooooo......what a wonderful start I had in this new year 2009. This is incredible and so wonderful.

Louise from fireseed had a Giveaway where people could sign up for and the surprising winner is ME :-).

I won Stanley Starpuck. One of Louise´s famous Space Monkees.

He arrived in a beautiful white box, with a monkey sticker on it. Safely wrapped in sparkling paper. He also came with a Passport and now we both are ready to fly to the stars ;-).

Make sure to read all about it here

Louise is such a creative writer. Very entertaining.







That´s not all......I participated in a competition organized by "Artistry in Glass". This is a second time, I am in it and this time I made the 3rd place in the Beginner category.

The funny thing, Louise, who did not participate this time, won.
Yes. I submitted the bead I dedicated to her, and cute "Louise" won.

All about it here

Check also their Gallery. Here.

So wonderful to see the participants work. Too bad, they don´t keep the pasts participants beads.

I found my dog and pirate skull there as well. Thank you so much :-)

woohooo....Louise...we won ;-)

The only thing I am waiting now is "The Flow" magazine. More about it when it arrives.

Happy New Year 2009

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/vwrpG0G9HsnYQJH6

The Elf Dance ;-)

Bead Press

The very first time, I tried a bead press. The flat round one. There are 3 different sizes. I prefer the smallest and the biggest.

It is tricky to get the right amount of glass. And it came to a surprise to me, that the biggest size worked best for me (that day) ;-)

I truly liked using the press.




Here I used "Petroleum Green - 591218" and "Violet - 591272". The green are dots which I melted down into the bead. I did not use any black. Those two colours do react and I love it.
The violet turned also to a silver shine.

The beads remind me of a turtle back.

I did not pay attention, which green I used here. It could be the "Dark Emerald Green - 591030". I like the reaction I got from the "Light Sky Blue - 591224". It looks like I added 2 dots on top of each other, but I did not. It is only the Light Sky Blue one time applied.

The one in the middle, I probably used to much glass. It came out on one side.

I just love the pattern I get with this green. Again, the Petroleum Green. With white dots "white - 591204". I melted down the bead to the core and let the dots flow. It ended up with a line in the middle.

All About Louise - fireseed

This is all about Louise, haha. Well, not really all but some ;-)

As you can see, the following bead is called "Louise".

I dedicate this one to you, Louise.

Not that my friend Louise looks like this bead but Louise is a person, one can only like. And she has such a funny and humorous side, which reflects in the beads she makes.
And when I look at this bead, her name comes up.

So, there you go Louise. A bead dedicated to you ;-)

The cat to the left side is one of Louise´s first beads. Didn't she do a great job? The cat has such funny eyes it makes me laugh every time I look at it. The little eye looks like as if the cat is beaming at someone and thinking: "Just wait until I get you" or something like that. It is about to do something funny.....tear the paper walls down.....and such things.

Here is one of Louise´s dot beads. Just to let you know, how precise she became when it comes to make dots. Check it out.

And just look at dogs she makes today, here.

Well, I tried to make a cat like Louise´s but it looks rather like a dog (photo above). The ears are too round.

I gave it another try. This one is a cat now. Is it?

That is just some dust on the eyes, from the deco sand.

The photo is similar but the ears are longer on this photo and one can look deeper into it´s eyes, LOL.

Another dog is in the kiln and I can´t wait to see it. Basically, the cats and dogs I make in the same way. I only change the look of the ears ;-)

Non Flying Pirate Skull

Okay, this one is not flying ;-)

Right now, it takes me about a half hour to make one like this. (I made only 2 so far).

The bones take me some time to make, while I am relatively fast to make the mouth and eyes (maybe, because I did several of those grinning creatures).

Those bones I make in a different way than the dog bone. With the dog bone, I use gravity.

Here I use the scissors. I snip the big white bubbly dot into 2 pieces, which I round up with the flame.

Also, while I am adding dots to make the bones, I have to be careful, not to melt away the eyes (the white and the blue) and the lips. Which I make first.

When I am finished with the bead, the last thing I add are the little black dots for the eyes.

That order works best for me. Thinking in layers.

Mr. Importantes´ Grinning Dog Bone ;-)

I love wearing this piece.

As a reminder, I made this kind of necklace once before, with one of Louise´s beads. She made me a huge gift and gave me one of her glass beads......a wonderful man, who I named: "Mr. Importante".
It is here.

And you might also like to check out Louise´s website, here.

She is so very skilled and I am very happy to say, she is my friend :-)





As an accent, I have some few blue sparkling seed beads amongst the black ones.

Key Chains

Some examples of what I have made with some of my beads. Key chains.

Though I would not put keys on them. I would not like to have the keys hitting the glass all the time.

It is a decorative item and I am wearing them on purses. They can also go on zippers or anything else one likes to attach them.

A little puppy....woof-woof....dragging his little bone ;-)

This one could be also an earring

Round Flat Beads - Necklace

It should be over in my other Blog for my finished jewelry. Here.
But since I have not shown those round flat beads yet, here they are.

Some of the few round flat ones I made (not with a mold). Maybe back in August. That was, before I managed to make sets. Surprisingly, this is a set.

The two middle ones are the same size and the outside two go together in size.
I wonder, if I can repeat that? ;-)

The 2 in the middle, they are about 2 cm and the two outside, 1,8 cm.

The colour of the glass is a deep dark transparent purple. Just looks black in the photo. And the outside is a turquoise colour.

The Czech seed beads are matt aqua. They have a certain shine on them. Almost pearl alike.
In between the glass beads and seed beads, I added sterling silver beads.

I found, sterling silver findings do add a finished look. Just here and there as an accent, it makes a whole difference.

P.S.: Dollarama has decorative sand in several different colours and two sizes.
It works better for my photography than fabric.

Spotted Oval Beads

When making single beads, I like to choose some and make several of the same kind, so I can use them in a piece of jewelry.

I truly like this deep red. I made 11 of those.

Looking at those green ones, I can´t help but think of Australia. Was never there though. But one day, I will.

Beads like a Painting

This one was supposed to become a huge sun but obviously, It did not turn out as such ;-)

So I melted it town, added some spots and got this huge square bead.

I got comments on it, that it looks like a Native painting.

about 2,2 cm x 1,9 cm
(about 0.891 x 0.760 inches)

The dots and lines I add however I please. There is no particular order. That´s what makes them so unique and alive, and such a surprise to look at them when they come out of the kiln.

The white one was supposed to become a bone. That was my first try. But as it did not work out, again, just melted it again and made a square. Now I wonder, how to repeat it? ;-)

Grinning Beads

And here is the rest of the horde ;-)

Some pictures I have turned darker, in hope, the teeth would stand out more.
I guess, I have to get special lights sometimes soon.

This one has some kind of camouflage. He is one of my favorites. I like especially his eyes....so hypnotising ;-)

Another of my favorites. The shape of her eyes are special.

Family Photo

Talking Bone

Here another combo. That was actually my first idea of what to make with a Dog Bone. And then I made the "Pirate Bone" (earlier post).

The Talking Bone is approx. 38 mm long (approx. 1.5 inches).

It likes to take a coffee break with me ;-)

When the Beads Laugh at You

Oh yes......I love Pirates :-)

I had a mayor break through last week.

It is happening, the beads laugh at me !!

They are so much fun to create. They develop right in front of my eyes.
When you get this sensation, you know, you are on the right track.

Here it is, two ideas in one. The huge mouth I had to make and the bones.

It was supposed to look like the pirate flag (well, not exactly...just inspired).
But the bones went to the back, instead to the side.
But hey, it is my first one.

I learned what to apply first in order not to melt down, what I made before. Then those bones at the end, are tricky too. But I managed to get the tip separated and bone looking.

The eyes also don´t look frog looking anymore.

More on the eyes on the next postings.

Little note: Every single tooth is vivid. They just disappears on the photo and look smeared. But they are not. Just could not figure out yet, how to take the photos of teeth. With a flash, I end up with a field of white.

Rotary tool with flex shaft - clean your beads

If you don´t have a cordless Dremel or any kind of cordless rotary tool for cleaning beads, a flex shaft does it too.

There is no electricity in the flexible shaft (the long cable), so you can insert the tip with the diamond reamer into the water and clean your beads. Just make sure, the rotary tool itself (the big body) is away from the water.
Think of a Dentist, he also does not get his hair fried when working on your teeth.

I am also fine by cleaning my beads by hand. But switched to the rotary tool (and love it), since I have smoothed down my hand bead cleaner.

Don´t know, why it took me so long. I love my "Worksmith" and "Jobmate" and use also one for cutting jump rings.