It was bound to happen....

......and today it did. After 3 years, a bead cracked in the oven for the first time. Oh, was I devastated! My first crack! I don't know what I did wrong with it. However, the good news is I found out how strong my product really is. See, some people think because my beads are made of "clay" that they will fall apart or something. LOL I have had 100 year old beads in my hands made of clay, that were still in tact. Not to mention the clay I use for the beads is polymer clay, which has a plasticizer in it, making the finished piece feel like a very thick, hard plastic...and fairly heavy, but not uncomfortable. It's only "clay-like" in the RAW form, before firing. Most people think my beads and pendants are glass when they first see them in person.

So anyway, since this bead cracked I decided to get the pendant bail out to use on another piece. It was a pretty good sized crack, so I figured well hell, I'll just break it apart. I tried with my fingernails....nope. So I stuck a small screwdriver in there to break it apart....nope. So I let it sit for a while, went back and tried both those things again, to no avail.

Finally I got so p'oed and frustrated, I took it outside on the patio with a hammer. Would you believe on the first hit it didn't break? Geez. So I slammed it...and finally, I had success. Of course the part with the bail in it flew out into the grass and I had to go locate that. Thank goodness I mowed the yard yesterday or I would have never found it which would have proceeded to frustrate me more.

After all of that, I am thankful this happened. I always knew my material was very strong, but I didn't know to what extent.

Oh, and I think I mentioned some time ago I was working on a Halloween piece. I usually do one piece for each holiday. I did do a Halloween pendant and I can assure you, it will never see the light of day. How I could go from making those beautiful birds to something completely horrible, I don't know! The good news is I started - and am now working on finishing - a Halloween pendant which is turning out GREAT.

I also recently obtained a few parts to mae some lamp finials. So I'll be working on one of those in the near future as well. The type of finial I got is a long one, which will hold one large bead or a combination of beads on the stem. And the neat thing about these, is they can be placed on a lamp as a decorative topper, or they can stand alone as a display item for the home or office. It will be interesting to see if they work out okay!

I also plan on making some flat, colorful, abstract pendants based on some inspiration photos of New Orleans. Such a pretty place, with so much color, destroyed...and I never got to go there in person. Bummer.

Well, it's back to the studio for me!