A New Year, A new Challenge!

2012 Already? With January quickly coming to a close, you may wonder why I mention this now. This has been a month I would at first say I don't want back. Right after the New Year, I found myself in the hospital and afterwards am still dealing with a slow recovery. My hubby managed to cut his hand on a broken glass requiring stitches, which didn't quite heal properly. My brother, who lives with us, developed a diabetic ulcer on his ankle, and needs constant monitoring and daily wound care. Even the dog (a cocker) has to get into the act, with ear infections (this breed is known to be prone to these), so putting antiseptic powder in her ears. Now I know why I became a nurse in my past life!

BUT, with the holidays put away, and so much time (or so it seems) left for other things, what else is there to do but sit and clay play!

So, as the calendar has a tendency to do and February coming up soon, thoughts turn to hearts and flowers. Here is my simple offering to that 14th day of the month. The beads are done in the Natasha style and then shaped into hearts. For the earrings I made one more slice into the heart to create mirror images for the matching pair.

For flowers, have always loved the look of shades of frosted glass. Here is my Polymer Clay recreation of them, in shades of pale gold to pink, with the top petal coated with Mica Powder in brilliant gold.

The tutorials on making both these beads can be found on Cindy Lietz's website: http://www.beadsandbeading.com/.