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Vermont is finally in spring mode and it's my favorite season for taking walks. Our 34 acres are a mix of field and woodland, with gurgling brooks running along two sides. We are lucky to have our very own view which no developer can ever destroy! Although I make and use polymer clay beads in my finished jewelry, the stories that found objects lend to pieces have compelled me to use more and more of these lately as a complement to my own beads. Even in early spring I come across much during my rambles to influence choices of color and texture in my clay work—the palette is subtle but potent. I wanted to craft a necklace that would honor the spirit of the wild which inspired it. I ended up with an eclectic mix of old and new, of metal and stone and polymer clay-- colors of leaf, colors of fern, of bark, of wildflowers, of granite, of moss, of water, of sun. Lots of memories here too-- the ferny green glass beads were from bags and bags of recycled goodies my sister gave me one birthday, the brown Tibetan silver bead came from a large tin of beads my husband gave me last Christmas, I bought the black Oxacan bird beads and the opaque amber chips in Berkeley when I lived there in the 80s, the teardrop bronze bead is part of an old brooch, and I made the stag element from an antique button and a stone donut, after making a good impression of the button with silicon rubber mold putty so I can duplicate it at some future time with BronzClay. Tomorrow I hope to have some recent adventures in faux ivory and bone to show you. I also had a nice piece of faux jade but it's gone missing and I've been searching for it for days now without success! Well, maybe it will turn up during my spring cleaning.

Posted by Stories They Tell at 5:34 PM
