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Jane Perala Designs Ltd.Wow, Shelli, you are one multi-talented lady!! Look at your great new avatar - and where does one go to find those incredible dolls of yours, and those beads, and that wonderful new bear - the list just goes on and on!! Not to mention the talent that goes into being able to do the avatar. I love to see what other talents bear makers have.
That's fantastic Shelli.
Jane P.
Wild Thyme OriginalsOOOO... Jane... I just noticed too!!!!! Gorgeous! WOW!
Kim Basta
How nice of you to notice and comment! Thank you very much (she says, blushing)... :redface:
I'm not trying to impress anyone but rather am smack dab in the middle of updating my "branding" since slowly, over time, I've added more creative endeavors to my repertoire. So I figure this umbrella concept (Potbelly Arts) present a fuller picture of what I offer and can do, in a really manageable way, since everything is contained under that one umbrella and all in one place. I even changed my bead business name from The Giddy Kitten to Potbelly Beads (although I'm still learning beadmaking and don't sell yet; most of my time goes to bears and design, and beads are at this point still in last place.) My goal is to have all my domains, including Potbelly Bears, Potbelly Beads, Potbelly Design, Potbelly Dolls, point toward just ONE website -- Potbelly Arts. So no matter which one of those you type in to your browser window, you go to just the ONE site, which makes managing site updates so much easier for me. Hosting is cheaper that way too, since I'll only be paying to host one (bigger) site.
I figured since I'm in the process of redoing my site to reflect this change in branding, I might as well introduce it here with my post-holiday avatar.
I'm glad you noticed and like it. Thank you again for the kind words.
:rose:
Oh, PS... the bear is my one and only contest entry this year. Which, for those of you who are passionate about such things, I made with a new eye technique requiring NO GLUE. The dolls are new for me and will continue to appear over time; I'm in love with making them. Beads TBA, once I stop sucking at making them. They really are still complete fugly turds. It frustrates the living daylights out of me. I just can't get good at this craft!
NO GLUE???? 
Warmest bear hugs, :hug:
Aleta
Nope, not a lick of it. I miss it. 
Swan Valley BearsShelli, where can we see your dolls. The one in your avatar looks amazing. What are they made of? I wanna see.
Thanks, Patty! I just started making dolls. I posted a bit about this one in the TIPS & TECHNIQUES section because I was picking the big, creative brains here for help and guidance on painting and sealing while I made her. Here's the link to that thread if you want to learn more and see some bigger pictures. http://www.teddy-talk.com/viewtopic.php?id=12490
She's the first of hopefully many more!
A wonderful new Avatar Shelli - very impressive you talented "Lady".
Good luck with all your new and very creative endeavours.
Hugs
Carolyn
Swan Valley BearsAmazing, Shelli, I love your doll ! ! ! Make more ! ! !
DoodlebearsVery clever girl is our Shell. I love the new avatar and all which it shows, one multi tallented gal we have here with us.
Well done Shelli!
Hugs Jane. 
Rufnut Teddy'sLovely Avatar. Congrats. :clap:
Past Time BearsSuper great work, Shelli! :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:
bears by beesley TMBeautiful avatar Shelli! It is a known fact that once an artist always an artist and we tend to dab into many mediums! I cannot wait to see more about your dolls and beads! Awesome Girl!
Hugs Louise
TinyBearGreat avater Shelli
(and she have made mine too 
)
I too want to see more of your dolls.
Hi Lisa... where r your dolls? I didn't see anywhere on your site that went to your cloth dolls. I started making some dolls in '04.... and have been busy "sweating it" finishing off a doll for a challenge. When it is over and the voting in...I will show my doll.... still some beading and shoe painting to do yet..... puff...puff I am such a procrastinator! that is my resolution for the year. NOt to do this to myself again. If I dont get on top of it early and get finished more than a day ahead of the deadline... ...I will have to whip myself. lol .....
Shelli....love the new avatar ..... your little doll is great.... uhm.... I was looking for the beads on there too....where r u hiding them? I wanna see them up close.
Posts: 8,574and share more ...
dilu
You all are so sweet. Many thanks, again, for your kind words and attention.
Veronica... I'm still practicing beadmaking and am not ready to show them closeup for tight inspection, or sell them. Also, this is my first doll. And I'm in the process of updating my website to include the doll in closer view, but not yet the beads; they're more a "coming soon" thing. Thanks for your interest!
Chowlea BearsShelli - What attracted you to making beads?
The BEADS! They're amazing! The good ones, anyway. Actually, when I was at the Nevada City Teddy Bear Convention last year, my table neighbor Bev Haring (hi Bev!) had on this GORGEOUS beaded necklace she had made with peyote stitch, etc. Not lampwork, but beadwork. It really caught my eye, it was so intricate. Later, she wore a silver gingko leaf pendant, which also caught my eye. She told me she made it herself out of silver metal clay. Silver WHAT?, I thought. So I went home and researched it. And it was during that process that a lot of jewelry pieces, made with silver clay, popped up on my monitor that also featured lampworked beads. It was a short step from there to eBay, where I found some absolutely gorgeous beads. I took a class here in Chico, and set up a studio. It's very hot in summer here, tho, and very cold in winter, and the studio must be set up outside. That, or I must have a super-industrial vent hood installed in one of the bedrooms in my house. Expensive, and not quite the look I'm after. Anyway, it's hard to find a good time, weather-wise, to get out there and torch!
Here are a few photos of some work by the artists I admire most; I like the funky, organic style beads. You just cannot believe how hard it is to get glass to do this kind of thing. And once you figure THAT part out, good luck figuring out how to kiln fire your pieces so they don't crack or break -- sometimes, days or weeks or even months later! Honestly, it's so complex; it drives me nuts! Plus, it's an exercise in chemical reactions. Some glasses look like mud when layered; others will combine in ways that produce fine outlines which are gorgeous! Some melt very slowly and are really stiff in the flame; others are "shocky" and no matter how slowly you heat them, bits of glass fly off the end of your rod, sending hot glass everywhere! Since there are, like, a bajillion colors, each one of them with different characteristics, it really IS a research project just to get familiar. And of course, you've got your different types of glass; transparent glass and opaque glass, which behave entirely differently. Add all that to the fact that you can free-form your beads in the flame, or press them, emboss them, wrap them with metal foils (also an entire skillset to learn, since it's easy to burn the metals off or turn them ugly gray), or sprinkle them with enamel powders, and you end up with just a MOUNTAIN of skills needing learning before you can make even one really gorgeous bead to be proud of.
I'll get there, someday. I hope.
Melanie Moertel (Germany)
Sarah Hornik (Israel)
Graciebeads (US)
Anastasia (Germany) -- This ONE turtle bead, a "focal", sold on eBay for $204.00!
OMG!! wonderful stuff. Love them all....
Hahahha... if it is tricky..you are hooked Shelli. You won't rest til you have it in the bag from what I see of you and your posts!! I feel as though I know you well already!
Yup, you've got me pegged. :)
This craft is taking, and will continue to take, longer than most for me to pick up even reasonably well, because the physical discomfort level (inclement weather, sweaty hot working conditions by the torch, eye strain, etc.) keeps me away from the torch more than would be ideal for a quicker learning curve. Someday! I figure after I've been doing it for a few years I might be ready to sell. I was hoping for more like six months... but NO CAN DO! The bears have got to keep helping with the bills and so they come first. And besides, they really are my first love; I'll never stop making them. Once bitten, we bearmakers are doomed!
Here's one silly bead I made myself, that survived the kiln, that I'm really proud of. He's one of three little monsters I made for my kids to wear as primitive pendants, strung on black cording, for Halloween. The holes are a bit rough, but other than that, he turned out as I envisioned which, to me, is always what I'm striving for when I try to figure out "how I'm doing" with something. If it's not how I envisioned it, I still suck!
Past Time BearsWhat a gorgeous bead, Shelli! Beautiful!
He is perfect! Reminds me of the little eyeball guy on Monsters! very cute......
