Are you a beadmaker? Have you ever thought about your title? I do, every time I write it or almost call myself one. Glass Beadmaker (that’s me). Polymer Clay Beadmaker. Ceramic Beadmaker. PMC Beadmaker. Etc. I’m not sure it applies as much to all media, so maybe this is focused mainly at glass beadmakers because that is what a lot of us call ourselves. Our guild/society is even called that. The International Society of Glass Beadmakers. ISGB.
You might be thinking that I’m going to go off on telling you what you should call yourself. An artist, a craftsperson, etc. But I’m not. Today I’m just musing around with a silly thought that goes through my head when I explain what I do.
I just can’t get away from it. Think about it. Glass Beadmaker. While the title is supposed to be one that describes what I/we do, I can’t help but reading it as just what it says. To me it says:
I am a beadmaker made of glass. Glass Beadmaker.
Then I go on to wonder, what would a better suited title?
I am a lampworker. But then, not everyone knows what that is so You have to go on to explain what that is. It would have been easier to say, ‘I am a glass beadmaker’ and hope that the listener doesn’t have the same ear as I do.
I make glass beads. That is what I usually say and it works for me but sounds a little lackluster.
The real trouble comes in when I have to write a short bio or blurb for say, the end of a blog for which I’m guest writing or a magazine article. Example:
Lori Greenberg is a glass beadmaker, working from her studio in Cave Creek, Arizona.
There it is again. Glass Beadmaker.
Lori Greenberg is a maker of glass beads. Ew.
It isn’t even proper to call oneself a Glass Bead Artist, for the same reasons, but it does appear better. Glass Bead Maker. Glass Bead-Maker. Such a quandry.
The image shown here is truly a Glass Beadmaker–Although Lewis Wilson is much more than that when it comes to glass–it’s a beadmaker, made of glass.
So, what do you think? Have you ever thought about this?
First, you might be asking, ‘What does polymer clay have to do with a glass bead blog?’ The simple answer is, this isn’t a glass bead blog anymore. It’s a bead blog for all kinds of beads…glass, polymer, felt, metal, paper, clay, you name it…the business of art beads. Making them, selling them, wearing them. Tell your bead making friends!
So, polymer clay. A subject near and dear to my heart. I started out making polymer clay beads and objects and I am still inspired by polymer clay artists out there and their colorful designs. You might see that influence in my glass work.
Polymer necklace by Lynn SchwarzenbergÂ
I remember someone asking me what my pieces were made of and I told them, “Polymer Clay” to which they informed me that that polymer is not clay. Well no, it is not from the earth and it is not traditional in any way. However, it moves like clay and it hardens at specific temperatures.
Polymer clay is made up of polyvinyl chloride and plasticizer. Isn’t ‘clay’ much easier? While polymer clay started as a modeling compound sold in craft stores, it has survived the debate of ‘is it a kids toy or is it an artistic medium?’ This is evidenced by the many artists creating pieces for galleries and museums around the world.
Polymer clay comes in clay or liquid form and can be hardened in a conventional oven at low temperatures (around 275 degrees farenheit) to a solid or in some instances a flexible form. Polymer clay can incorporate any inclusion (glitter, metals, powders, wire, etc) that does not burn or melt at that temperature without compromising the stability of the structure.
Polymer pendants by Sarah Shriver
One of the many properties of polymer clay is that, with specific techniques, it can imitate almost any other media out there. Other benefits are that it is lightweight, which is beneficial in bead and jewelry design, is malleable and can be re-worked over and over without drying out. The color palette speaks for itself as well as the unlimited possibilities of color mixing available. It is also easily accessible online or at any craft store and can be cured in a toaster oven. (Be sure to check your temperature for accuracy before using an oven).
Some of the brands of polymer clay on the market today are: Fimo, Sculpey, Premo! and Kato Polyclay. Cernit is a polymer clay commonly used in sculpting.
To find more information regarding the art of polymer clay and what is going on around the world you can follow these resources:
National Polymer Clay Guild
Polymer Clay Central
Glass Attic – the polymer clay encyclopedia
Polymer Cafe – Polymer Clay Magazine
Did you like this article? Be sure to pass the Bead Nerd Blog link (http://beadnerd.com) on to your beadmaking friends. Help them create their own successful bead business!
If you are a blogging artist you need to know about RSS. If you are a blog reader you need to know about RSS. If you are a blogging anything you need to know about RSS. RSS is ‘Really Simple Syndication‘ and it is important because it is what keeps bloggers and their readers connected.
So, in english, what does that mean? It means that if a blog is set up with an RSS feed (which most are) you will know when there is new content. This happens one of two ways:
- Posts emailed directly to your email address. If you read only a few blogs, or if you have a few favorites this is a great solution. Whenever there is new post, just as it sounds, it will be sent to you via email.
- You will see new activity through a feed reader.
One example of a feed reader is Bloglines.com. It is the reader that I use but there are others out there as well. To use Bloglines to read your blogs you first need to open account with them. The account is free but they need your information so they can begin to track the blogs you subscribe to. Once you have an account, anytime you see the orange icon shown here, on any blog or other site, you simply click it and it will redirect you to your Bloglines account and you will be walked through the steps to subscribe to the site. If the icon doesn’t redirect you directly to Bloglines, the option to choose Bloglines will be there.
If you do not see the orange icon on a site, login to Bloglines and cut and paste the web site address in to the ‘subscribe to’ field. If there is a feed available for that site Bloglines will find it and give you the option to subscribe.
Once subscribed to a blog, you just sign into Bloglines and sites with new content will automatically show up. Gone are the days of visiting blogs just to find that they haven’t updated in weeks.
How does a blogger get an RSS feed on their site? Without going into all of the details, the simplest way is to use a blog platform that has it built in, and most of them do. Blogger, WordPress.com, Typepad.com to name a few.
If you would like to track your feeds and you are a little more technical you can check out feedburner.com. That is a site that helps you to optimize your feed and track how many subscribers you have plus sign you up for other programs that help you get more traffic.
So, say you wanted to subscribe to this blog. You would simply click the universal orange icon up there in the right-hand corner and it will take you directly to a place where you can choose your favorite reader or sign up for a new one of your choice. You will also be given the ‘subscribe by email’ option.
Go on, try it. Experience a whole new world and save yourself a LOT of time in the future!
