Here are the first 2 skull beads I have ever made. It is such a process coming up with a new design. They are not quite what I wanted, but now that I have them cooled down and ready to examine, I have found the design elements that I am going to run with.

Fridas unibrow is a bit "bushy" haha. triangular nostril vs. smooshed up one. The silvered stringer has to be in a deeper ivory color and with more silver foil in it. I prefer the lips raised vs. melted in.These girls take some planning too. I used various sized and styles of stringers to make the various features on their faces and hairstyles. TBecasue they are each individually handmade and take some time to make their price is going to be adjusted accordingly. HOWEVER.....I am going to put the Frida skull up for sale on my website for a bargain price of $23.00 since her design is not quite where I wanted to go with my design. She will be wire wrapped and ready to wear as a pendant. Be on the lookout for more beads in the Dia de los Muertos style coming from me. :) I will be sure to keep you all posted.

Here are a few other beads that I made last night as well in the LATIN style. :)

I just found this Day of the Dead festival in Hollywood. This might be a fun event to try to get into. I can't wait to take my skull beads from the kiln and clean them up. I definitely will post pictures tomorrow. The main idea of my work in this genre is to make it "prettier" or more girly. I want those skulls to scream GLAM.... haha

This is the festivals website:

http://www.ladayofthedead.com/gallery.html

Our ASGB meeting was this last Sunday and it was a great meeting. I decided to participate in a 3D floral exchange this last time and I was pleasantly surprised at the outcome. There were 12 people participating and that meant 12 beads to make. Urgh!! I just can't commit to 12 of the same beads, so I made a few different types of flowers so I wouldn't get bored. I even made 2 of them vessels. I am definitely going to participate in the next exchange. The exchange is "food".

Here is my lovely necklace from the Beads of Courage Inspired event held on April 4th. Isn't it lovely? the fund raiser made quite a bit of money for the program. Our ASGB calendar raised $1000.00 alone on just auctioning off the donated beads from it. Woo hoo!! I can't wait to get working on the next years calendar for 2009.

This is a great program VERY close to my heart.