KM&V Countdown - Week 13

Still vacationing and loving it :)

This week I have been grating all the rough edges off a bunch of these metal cubes I use as base for my larger ladies.


When I get them they have sharp edges and pointy corners, and are somewhat unpleasant. Now they are all smooth and nice to touch. It is important to me that all parts are a pleasure, and as a bonus they will not scratch the surface you place them on (unless you make an effort), Yay!

I hope you are enjoying the summer where you are :)
P~

KM&V Countdown - Week 14

I'm afraid I have no beadrelated news this week either, because this week we went away on holiday, Yay :)
We played in the water, we watched the baby swallows leave the nest during the week, we got close to the wildlife at Knuthenborg.







We visited with family and played bordgames. I've made a few sketches of beads I'd like to make, and began drawing a palette of coulours to stick to, but nothing I'd like to show off :)
It is nice to be back home though, and I am looking forward to the rest of the vacation too.

I hope you have a lovely summer!
P~

KM&V Countdown - Week 15

Oh my, what a week. I don't think I have ever worked quite as hard all in one week. Unfortunately this has nothing to do with my show and everything to do with the rain that fell last saturday and the flooding that followed.

I have spent every evening of the week moving boxes of stuff, I even took a day off to try to get ahead. I did start out sorting the stuff, but by the end of the week I just moved the dry boxes to dry spots without looking much at it. The wet boxes had to be sorted of course, to see what was trash and what was treasure. I have to admit, it was mostly trash, though some things have been rescued. It is amazing how we have let it build up without even looking at it.

I am happy to say that the basement is dry now (mostly) and looking better than ever (mostly). I would really like to sort through the dry boxes and only keep the good stuff, and I will, I just need to regain my energy, and also give some attention to my show project. I feel terribly behind after this week.

So - since nothing beadrelated has happened this week, I'll tell you about an experiment I did the week before.

While surfing I came across this post on Watch me Create
I had never heard of fuming with EDP, but it sounds like something I'd like so I had to try it right away. I made a little bead in dark ivory, then fumed it in fine silver first. I wanted to make it crackle, but I guess I burned it all off.
Then I got my EDP and cooked it 'till it boiled. I could see the fuming hapening, but the bead didn't seem to take it. As I cleaned the bead the matted areas could be rubbed right off, so I'm guessing I put it in the wrong place in the flame or perhaps it was too cold. I shall definately try this again to see if I can get the matted surface to stay.

And I want to show you something interesting that happened. Here is the rod I used for fuming. See how at the end it has gone all clear? Fascinating!


Have a great week, try something new :)
P~

PS: I'm very happy to say that my oxygen concentrator is still alive after the flooding. I did manage to get it out of the water in time. Phew! & Hooray!
Unfortunately our laundry maschine was not as lucky :(

KM&V Countdown - Week 16

This week I have lost several beads to cracking bead realease. Some mandrels were freshly dipped and dried, some were dipped weeks ago. I think it might be a humidity problem. Maybe.
I did get a couple finished, these are from my first torchsession:


And my second:


The green flowerpod is a mess, and that lady on the right? She has no boobs because of beadrelease releasing too soon. I decided to make some nipsenåle (cause they aer made without release), even if I don't intend to bring any for the show, and here are 6 happy turtles in a row.


On saturday we had 2 months worth of rain within a couple of hours. Some areas close by got 150mm. I don't think we got that much, but it still ended up in my basement and my workshop.
I managed to burn my arm when reaching behind the kiln to untangle the cord of my oxygen concentrator, the only part of my tools that is on the floor. I hope I got it out in time, that water was raising fast! But I have to say - peppermint tootpaste is your friend. It took the pain away quickly so I could shovel water all night completely painfree. Yay! :)


But oh my poor muscles. I have aches all over from shoveling for hours on end. I need a rest. Goodnight :)

P~