What's Julie Working on this Week?

Well, this is what I'm working on this week!  You guessed it, more beads.  I've been working on some southwestern designs and I decided to experiment with some new colors.  There is a blue metallic color and I almost think it's a bit too dark.  I also used more of a true turquoise color on some of the beads.  You will see that some of the bead bases are smooth and some are the chunky, natural turquoise look.  There has been a lot more consideration with sanding on these because I have the bumpy turquoise and the sculpted areas.  I used a more toothy grit to take down the chunky turquoise, but had to be careful with all the sculpted detail.  I also mixed a couple of colors of paints for staining and layered those which makes it more work to knock down with sand paper.  I used two brands and will buy some more of the higher quality to mix together.  The turquoise looks better with black and more of a burnt umber rubbed into it vs. just a brownish color.  This makes the matrix look more real.  Aside from the initial color mixing, making simple stripe canes, sculpting, baking, I also added 1.5 hours of sanding to this pile last night.  They will need to be sanded through another few grits later and then buffed.  Along with the beads, I've made some smaller sculpted pieces for earrings.  These still need a lot more work!
I always have my favorites and they would be at 1 and 2 o'clock in the top photo.  I sometimes get caught up in making thing too layered and complicated.  The one has sculpted strips of color and I did not press tuxture into this one.  I also have gold clay on the outside layer and this can be seen from the side.  The thinner bead next to that has drawn on wisps that look like blanket fringe.  I wanted the colors to look like Native American textiles or stone inlay.