Should I share the skeletons in my closet?

Or how about just the beads in my drawers? This is embarrassing enough really, the amount of parts and bits and components that are sitting around just waiting to "be" something.

Seaglass inspired beads

There just don't seem to be enough hours in the day to do all the things, make all the things, try all the things, experiment with all the things. Better than to be stuck for ideas I guess, right?

School is almost finished for the year though and  I'm looking forward to lots of studio days this summer  - the one bright side of not traveling.

Bright tube beads

Faux River Rocks

Paper jewelry supplies. 

Taking SHAPE

SHAPE campus at what was originally Sandy Bay Primary school.

SHAPE, Saint Helena Active Participation in Enterprise, was birthed about 11 years ago, by a couple of Saint Helenians and modeled after the Soltane schools. It was a humble beginning with a few students and directors learning on they go. There is great pride taken, as it should be, that now 20 or so disabled adults and receive education, encouragement, job training and a variety of services three days per week.  In that time fifteen people have “graduated” and moved on to independent employment. 

We're helping in a variety of ways, although I've mainly been in the craft room and Kyle is working on two murals. We research craft methods/patterns, discuss design and help source supplies as getting stuff from the outside world on such a remote island is a task unto itself. We chat and encourage and drink tea. Oh yes, always tea.

Samuel has spent almost all of his time outside helping with the farming – pruning banana trees, planting potatoes, harvesting chow chow – all of which is taken home by students or sold to help support the center. (For a kid who wants to be a farmer this is like tropical, muddy heaven.)

The craft room.

Bangle bracelets that I designed using one of SHAPE's materials of choice, cereal boxes.

Banana and potatoes all in the same garden!

The needs of of students, or trainees as they are called, are varied. While some were born severely neurologically and or physically disabled, others suffered a stroke as an adult or were the victim of incorrect misdiagnosis of disease and subsequent lack of proper medical treatment.

Some people may wonder if this sort of environment is depressing – oh for sure it could be. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed when I fully think about the limitations of the students, what their daily lives must be like, what their families lives must be like. And for the tireless employees who are there 5 days per week no doubt there can be great stress and sadness. 

But day to day, SHAPE is mostly a place of relationship, laughter, amazing kindness and opportunity to find meaning. Daily I am challenged to think differently about how I act and speak and think about myself and my own problems. I hope I am giving to them as much as they are giving to me.

SHAPE's recycled paper, illustrations added by Jeannie, beads rolled by me = teamwork! She and I are really proud of these babies. 

Jeannie can only use one arm but she amazes me by making bracelets and even earrings. Here she's laying out a necklace with beads she and I made together. 

I'm board

No, not bored. I mean board. I'm working on bead boards these days which I don't always do. I often just work on a bead mat but I like that I can pick the boards up and move them around when I have a lot going on on my main work table like this time of year. (I never really get bored actually. I get tired, I get cranky, but there doesn't seem to be time to get bored.)

These are some of my latest Instagram photos. I'm really liking the, well, "instantness" of it and post a lot of work in progress there. Its a great way to get feedback from peers and customers before pieces are even completed. You can follow me @gwilliamson.

Don't forget the to use the coupon FREE4YOU for free shipping on any purchases in my Etsy shop through Nov. 8.

I see jewelry

I love limpet shells but have never collected any quite this large. I feel sure a new necklace will come from this afternoon of beach combing.

I love the subtle colors, textures and shapes of these limpet "hollow beads". 

I collect ideas of jewelry inspiration with a bunch of other creative folks on my Pinterest board "I see jewelry" where we post images of things, nature and objects that make us think of jewelry. You can follow us here if you like. 

And today we're off to Edinburgh for Samuel's long awaited first "real" train ride, museums, cafes and shops. Have a great weekend! See you on Monday with a post about our favorite castle…so far. 

Clean up

I'm clearing out and cleaning up before I close the shop and leave for vacation next week. I've posted some components and beads for sale and they'll be more listed today. Everything is one of a kind sorts of things that were made while I was trying out a technique or color combination or something like that.

Earring components or maybe even necklace components

medium and large carved beads

I'll be "across the pond" for 3 weeks but the shop will probably only be closed for two…but more on that later.

Work in progress

I'm frustrated by the pace I am able to work at sometimes. But progress is progress, right?

They just need ear wires! 

Earring components

Buoy necklace, maybe a short one this time. 

Stepping away

After I get some things done online today I'll be stepping away for a one week internet fast. The Etsy and Big Cartel shops will stay open but otherwise I'll be focused on some things that really need my full attention right now. 

Have a super week - see you soon! 

This necklace will eventually have a clasp so it can be worn short or long. 

Tiny Textures

A customer, who's now become a good online friend and gracious sounding board for ideas, sent me one of her pieces - such a delightful surprise!

One of the things I love about polymer clay is its ability to take texture. Marcia capitalizes on that fact brilliantly here, with each and every small bead. She lives close to the sea and told me that most of the textures were made with seashells which makes me like the bracelet all the more.

Marcia Simpson sells her work in galleries and you can find more examples on her blog and her Facebook page.

Thank you Marcia!

Working...

New work, work in progress, work being prepared for a gallery show at the end of the month - my work table is full!
I ought to be careful throwing the word "work" around. As my youngest son once asked "Mom are you working? Cause it looks like your playing."

Still considering the order for this necklace

These are interchangeable earrings - more complicated versions of the project in the book 

Good stuff and allure of polymer

We've mostly tried to follow the lead at SHAPE, preferring to find ways to support them rather than reinventing the wheel or turning things upside down.

But on the last full day at the Sandy Bay location, after a phenomenal send off luncheon, the opportunity presented itself to make some beads with polymer clay. The super thing is that you can actually give a very basic intro. class in about 15 mins., can't you?!

--- Soften the clay, follow the baking instructions, wash your hands thoroughly...have fun! ---

Our instructions were a little more detailed than that but not much and there was an immediate interest, comfort and affinity with the mush-ability of clay. (Thats a word, right?)

Woody, who is in charge of the paper recycling, is a true artist and immediately seemed to understand the potential. He asked "what can it do?" and I could see his creative wheels turning. Good stuff. Amazingly he had already ordered some FIMO so he'll have more to play with than the couple of packs that I brought along. Providence.

Then Lolly, the grant writer/teacher, who said she had never done anything creative, really got into it. Within 15 mins. of me teaching her, she was working with Wendy, who is blind , making seed beads!  Good stuff! Others joined in. Within a day they had used all the clay I'd brought.

Wendy went blind 8 years ago from glaucoma  - that could have easily been treated had she had proper eye care. (Saint Helena only has a eye doctor for 6 weeks a year.)  Her situation does not seem to have dampened her spirits or her enthusiasm to try new things. 

 And now we are off - we board the ship at 1400 hrs. But we are so hoping we'll be back soon! 

Rough Patch

We've hit a bit of a rough patch - figuratively and literally, emotionally, culturally...

For about two hours we watched water spouts form out to sea. None went all the way to the surface.  

So we're having a bit of a slow down and I'm working on beads. I'm considering listing some of the paper bead pieces when my shop re-opens on July 30 (with everything shipping from the U.S. on August 15). 

Terra cotta fully recycled paper beads. 

Recycling ideas

I continue my search for ways to recycle my shavings of baked/cured clay. (TerraCycle does not currently accept polymer as part of one of their programs although they encouraged me to check back as they are adding to their accepted materials list all the time.)

Here is one simple re-use of already baked clay thats working well for me so far.  I just treat the pre-baked bits as inclusions. No doubt some of you are already doing this but this is my method. 

Recycle

Chop the pre-baked clay by hand into pea size bits if its large and then pulverize it to varying degrees of grain in a coffee grinder. I worked with a mixture of sizes for these beads. I wear a mask to do this because some of the clay is so small that its dust.

I incorporate the grit into an unbaked piece of clay. Here I mixed up a "cardboard" sort of brown to play with the recycled theme.

 Incorporating the grits deeply into the clay or just into the outside surface will achieve different looks.

 Next I shaped and texturize the beads with sanding pads. I make my basic shape, they I pierced the bead and go back and shape further with the needle through the bead. 

I've tried differing amounts of the re-used inclusions and several colors of soft clay, keeping to neutrals so far. 

Do you have good ways to recycle/re-use pre-baked clay? I'd love to hear what you are doing!