Some More of my Challenge Pieces and Another Free Photo-Editing Tool

Went to BABE (Bay Area Bead Extravaganza) in Oakland last Saturday. Mostly to see my good buddy, but it was a nice treat to see all the lampwork beads in person I usually only get to drool over on the internet.

JC Herrel never ceases to amaze me and continues to move forward with innovative and breathtaking work. Have a look. 

I have some vintage JC beads… hope to update my collection soon.

I don’t think I showed you the piece I made for the weekly challenge that had a post-apocalyptic Road Warrior theme. 

Oh and here’s a silver ring I made for the Lord of the Rings challenge (sort of fairy or elfish). 

And I made this Edwardian style necklace for the Downton Abbey challenge. 

MISC STUFF I COLLECT THROUGHOUT THE DAY

Did I already show you this? This Russian photography makes fairy tale scenes. Yes, when I was a kid (and then some), I was obsessed with fairy tales. In retrospect I think to my detriment, but not sure that’s material for a blog post.

Anyway, these photos are breathtakingly beautiful… have a look. 

And for my metal clay friends… how about this for a little inspiration… the PMC Master’s Registry’s Pinterest board. 

 
On the lookout for a free photo-editing program?  Give Pixlr a try (https://pixlr.com/)... nothing to download!

According to this review: “Pixlr is also free to use, with an impressive feature set for an online image editor. It supports many of the most common features that are found in regular software editors. Layers, shapes, airbrushes, scaling, gradients, color adjustments and a number of filters on top of that.”

And wiki: “Pixlr is a cloud-based set of image tools and utilities, including a number of photo editors, a screen grabber browser extension, and a photo sharing service. The suite was intended for non-professionals, however the apps range from simple to advanced photo editing. It can be used on PCs, and onsmartphones or tablets using a mobile app. Time put Pixlr on its list of the top 50 websites of 2013.”

While this didn’t fill me with confidence… 

… we all make mistakes and I’ve read enough to be more than interested in trying it out. I wonder how it compares to GIMP.  And remember, since it’s cloud-based, that means you don’t have to download it… love that.