Golem Studio - studio diaries

Tucson, we are comming!

2012-01-29T21:45:00.000-08:00

Is that time of the year again? 2011 is only a memory now, and the first event for 2012 is nearer and nearer. Right now we are preparing our inventory with full speed so we'll be 100% ready to welcome all the visitors to our booth at The Best Bead Show, Tucson, AZ. If you'll be in Tucson between 1 and 5th of February we invite you to visit us there. We have plenty to show you - both brand new designs and old favorites from previous years. You can also visit our Show Special page and print the discount coupon that you'll find there.

As always we'll exhibit together with our good friend Marsha Hedrick from Amazing Porcelain, don't miss the chance to see in person her really amazing work.

That's all for now...Stay tuned, we have some great news to share with you in the very near future.

Happiness!
Golem Design Studio

BoC Cyber Sale

2011-08-28T23:45:00.000-07:00

Beads of Clay First Ever Cyber Sale! Many BOC Artists Participating! Monday Aug 29th Only! Don't miss it! Check the BoC blog for the list of participating artist.

As BoC members we are proud to be part of this event. In our Etsy Store specially for the event we set 20% off discount code: BOCMONDAY

On left you see preview of some of the items currently in our store.

For those of you unfamiliar what is "Beads of Clay", it's a World Wide group of Ceramic Bead Artists established in 2004. We highly recommend you to visit group's website and blog.

Have fun with this group event, and stay tuned, in very near future there will be more news from Golem Design Studio !

Color Palette - Post #7, colors #014 and #017

2011-04-28T03:36:00.000-07:00

After some holiday break we are back with the next Color Palette post.

Golem Design Studio Glaze #014 - Light Butternut

#014 - Light Butternut

Color matches for color #014

Golem Design Studio glaze #: 014
Matching Delica bead # and name: DB0852 / Matte Transparent Light Topaz AB
Corresponding Miyuki seed bead number, if available: 0132
Matching DMC floss # and name: 3827 / Pale Golden Brown

Golem Design Studio Glaze #017 - Bright Ginger

#017 - Bright Ginger

Color matches for color #017

Golem Design Studio glaze #: 017
Matching Delica bead # and name: DB0272 / Goldenrod Lined Topaz AB
Corresponding Miyuki seed bead number, if available: 2238
Matching DMC floss # and name: 436 / Tan

* All the info regarding the color matches is provided by Carol Dean Sharpe from Sand Fibers

Color Palette - Post #6, colors #004 and #058

2011-04-12T04:31:00.000-07:00

Golem Design Studio Glaze #004 - Old Lace

#004 - Old Lace

Color matches for color #004

Golem Design Studio glaze #: 004
Matching Delica bead # and name: DB1530 / Op Bisque White Ceylon
Corresponding Miyuki seed bead number, if available: n/a
Matching DMC floss # and name: 3866 / Ultra V LT Mocha Brown

The daisies on the pendant and the 2-hole connectors from the necklace on left are glazed with Color #004, the background is the next color that we'll show you today, #058 - Light Nautical.
This necklace is one of the samples that our friend Linda Roberts from BeadsForever made for us to use on different bead shows.
You can find few similar pendants on this link

Golem Design Studio Glaze #058 - Light Nautical

#058 - Light nautical

Color matches for color #058

Golem Design Studio glaze #: 058
Matching Delica bead # and name: DB1784 / White Lined Sapphire AB
Corresponding Miyuki seed bead number, if available: n/a
Matching DMC floss # and name: 809 / Delft Blue

* All the info regarding the color matches is provided by Carol Dean Sharpe from Sand Fibers

Color Palette - Post #5, colors #033 and #047

2011-03-31T05:46:00.000-07:00

Golem Design Studio Glaze #033 - Bright Tangerine

#033 - Bright Tangerine

Color matches for color #033

Golem Design Studio glaze #: 033
Matching Delica bead # and name: DB0068 / Peach Lined Crystal Luster
Corresponding Miyuki seed bead number, if available: n/a
Matching DMC floss # and name: 722 / Lt. Orang Spice

Golem Design Studio Glaze #047 - Dark Wine

#047 - Dark Wine

Color Matches for color #047

Golem Design Studio glaze #: 047
Matching Delica bead # and name: DB0773 / Dyed Semi-Matte Tr Berry
Corresponding Miyuki seed bead number, if available: 1621
Matching DMC floss # and name: 815 / Medium Garnet

* All the info regarding the color matches is provided by Carol Dean Sharpe from Sand Fibers

Color Palette - Post #4, colors #002 and #006

2011-03-28T09:33:00.000-07:00

It's Spring almost everywhere in the north hemisphere (or at least will be soon), "grey" days will be over soon, so we think now is the last chance to show you some of the colors from this area of our color palette.

Golem Design Studio Glaze #002 - Bright Grey

#002 - Bright Grey


Color matches for color #002

Golem Design Studio glaze #: 002 - Bright Grey
Matching Delica bead # and name: DB0761 / Matte Op Gray
Corresponding Miyuki seed bead number, if available: n/a
Matching DMC floss # and name: 647 / MD Beaver Gray

Golem Design Studio Glaze #006 - Ivory Tower

#006 - Ivory Tower

Color matches for color #006

Golem Design Studio glaze #: 006 - Ivory Tower
Matching Delica bead # and name: DB0211 / Op Limestone Luster
Corresponding Miyuki seed bead number, if available: 15-0600
Matching DMC floss # and name: 822 / LT Beige Gray

* All the info regarding the color matches is provided by Carol Dean Sharpe from Sand Fibers

Color Palette - Post #3, colors #044 and #085

2011-03-25T05:59:00.000-07:00

In this post we'll continue the line of our purples with our Color #044, Bright Purple, and we'll ad a pinch of freshness with our Color #085, Neon Green

Golem Design Studio Glaze #044 - Bright Purple

#044 - Bright Purple

Color matches for color #044

Golem Design Studio glaze #: 044
Matching Delica bead # and name: DB0695 / Dyed Semi-Matte S/L Mulberry
Corresponding Miyuki seed bead number, if available: 1655
Matching DMC floss # and name: 3041 / Medium antique violet

Golem Design Studio Glaze #085 - Neon Green

#085 - Neon Green

Color matches for color #085

Golem Design Studio glaze #: 085
Matching Delica bead # and name: DB0133 (op golden olive luster)
Corresponding Miyuki seed bead number, if available: N/A
Matching DMC floss # and name: 3051 (dk green grey)

* All the info regarding the color matches is provided by Carol Dean Sharpe from Sand Fibers

Color Palette - Post #2, colors #041 and #043

2011-03-21T11:42:00.000-07:00

For this post we chose 2 of our purples, Glazes #041 and #043 from our color palette.

Golem Design Studio Glaze #041 - Light Purple

#041 - Light Purple


Color matches for color #041

Golem Design Studio glaze #: 041
Matching Delica bead # and name: DB0072 / Orchid Lined Crystal Luster
Corresponding Miyuki seed bead number, if available: 2201
Matching DMC floss # and name: 316 / Medium dark antique mauve

Golem Design Studio Glaze #043 - Orkid

#043 - Orkid

Color matches for color #043

Golem Design Studio glaze #: 043
Matching Delica bead # and name: DB0678 / Antique Rose Silk Satin; DB0758 / Matte Op Mauve Corresponding Miyuki seed bead number, if available: N/A; N/A
Matching DMC floss # and name: 3042 / Lt antqiue violet

* All the info regarding the color matches is provided by Carol Dean Sharpe from Sand Fibers

Color Palette - Post #1, colors #031 and #036

2011-03-18T04:53:00.000-07:00

For the first post from this exciting project we chose 2 bright colors, Glazes #031 and #036 from our color palette.

Golem Design Studio Glaze #031 - Neon Orange

#031 - Neon Orange


Color matches for color #031

Here are the details about the color matches:
Golem Design Studio glaze #: 031
Matching Delica bead # and name: DB1777 / White lined orange AB
Corresponding Miyuki seed bead number, if available: N/A
Matching DMC floss # and name: 741 / Medium tangerine

Click here to see it in our USA retail shop

The picture on the left shows how the color works on a finished cabochon.

Golem Design Studio Glaze #036 - Neon Red

#036 - Neon Red

Color matches for color #036

Golem Design Studio glaze #: 036
Matching Delica bead # and name: DB0795 (semi-matte op dk cinnabar)
Corresponding Miyuki seed bead number, if available: N/A
Matching DMC floss # and name: 347 (very dark salmon)

Click here to see it in our USA retail shop


Click here to see it in our EU retail shop

The wings of the red dragonflies are glazed with color #036

* All the info regarding the color matches is provided by Carol Dean Sharpe from Sand Fibers

Color Palette Project - Introduction

2011-03-17T14:35:00.000-07:00

Today we want to announce to you our "Color Palette" project. We are very excited about it, the project will continue few months, and at the end we'll have a nice online tool for color references between the glazes used in our work, the colors of the Miyuki and Delica seed beads and the DMC embroidery flosses. Today we'll tell you how this ambitious initiative started.

First batch of the color samples

The Glaze Hunting - over the years, each ceramic artist develops a list of favorite glazes, glazes that work best with the individual style and the favorite decorating techniques. It's an endless process; for example, we are eager to try whatever new glaze we are able to get our hands on, and if it suits our quality requirements we include it in our regular color palette.

With almost 20 years of hunting for glazes behind us, you can imagine that the current pile of glazes in our studio is pretty big. Last November, after a long procrastination period, we decided to organize the current color chaos into some kind of working system.

First, we determined all the glazes that we were sure were still carried by suppliers (a lot of really nice colors have unfortunately been discontinued colors). Second, we fired color sample tiles of all "good" ones. Next, we sorted them and made a list of the colors in numerical order. The last step was to announce the palette to the public on our Facebook page. Or so we thought. It wasn't the last step at all, as our friend Carol Dean Sharpe from Sand Fibers shares with you below:

The Color Palette Project

(aka The Dangers of Social Networking)

It all started out innocently enough, as light banter on Golem Design Studio's Facebook page. In late November, Vlad posted a photo album of his gorgeous glazes. There's nothing quite like color to get a beader's heart racing.

The lovely Linda Roberts of BeadsForever - who introduced me to Golem Design Studio's work - was the first to comment with "This is a great idea. The next step (and I'm sure you can do it with no problem) will be to list all the Delica and Miyuki bead colors that match your colors. lol"
Of course, I couldn't resist and offered my own: Send me some samples for each color and I'll get right on that for you! LOL
Vlad: Carol, I can send you sample rounds and tubes for most of the colors, just let me know if you are interested.
Linda: Carol, I think Vlad is serious! Ha Ha! Now what will you do?
Carol: Vlad, I don't have all the delica colors, by far, but I do have a pretty substantial stash and would be happy to look into color matches for these gorgeous glazes.
. . .

Well, Vlad took me up on it! And here were are: three and half months, many emails, and a package from Bulgaria to New Mexico later. At first we thought that Vlad would send me samples and I'd just provide him with a list of the Delica beads that match the glazes, but then he came up with the wonderful idea to take photos of his glaze samples with the actual Delica beads to then post on this blog for everyone to see.

Because the tiny glass beads that so many of us are addicted to look different in their bags and tubes than they do actually woven up, I'm making small beaded beads (aka peyote tubes) from each of the Delica colors that "go with" the glazes. And, because I have a complete collection, I'm also including a bobbin of matching DMC cotton embroidery floss in each of the photos. Have you ever tried kumihimo with DMC floss? It's easy, inexpensive, and the results are wonderful...and could provide the perfect showcase for your Golem Design Studio pendant or cabochon!

Each of the posts for this project will have a photograph of the beads (both Golem Design Studio glaze samples and peyote tube) and matching floss. It will be followed with the following information:

Golem Design Studio glaze #
matching Delica bead # and name
corresponding Miyuki seed bead number, if available
matching DMC floss # and name

We will also share a bead / pendant / cabochon or two in which the Golem Design Studio glaze is used, "action shots" (for lack of a better phrase).

So, that's the long and short of it. Get ready for some beautiful "color studies" over the next days/weeks/months. Enjoy. Be inspired. We hope this information will help you plan your next project with Golem Design Studio beads, pendants or cabochons.
(And, Linda, see what you started!)

New shopping option on our website

2011-03-16T08:32:00.000-07:00

Some of the beads in the new shop

One of the prime goals for us this year is the improvement of our website functionality, and giving new options to our clients. As the first part of our improvements we have added the Retail Shop - Europe option.


Some more beads and charms

Why did we do this? Since Bulgaria is part of the European Union it's much easier and faster for our clients from all the European countries to receive parcels sent from another EU country. The average time for parcels to arrive in UK and Denmark (our recent experience is with these 2 countries) was 4-5 days. The other option that visitors from Europe will probably like are the retail prices iare n EUR in this shop.

For now the shop has a bit of a limited variety of choices (compared to the number of the in stock items in our USA Retail Shop), but we are planning to actively add stuff to it during the next few months.

Nature inspired pendants

We'd be really thankful for some feedback about how you like the new shop. If there are some more shopping options that you'd like to see available, please feel free to let us know. Or if there is something in the info or in the shop policies that sounds unclear - any feedback will be warmly welcomed! Also although we have tested this shop extensively it is possible that we may have missed some rascally bug. So if you encounter any bugs please let us know so we can exterminate them.

Pendants - "Lace"


Cabochon with red dragonflies

Are you ready for Spring?

2011-03-07T10:46:00.000-08:00

Are you tired of the long winter? Are you eager for the first warm Spring days, for blooming trees and flowers, but feel that you need something special to celebrate Nature's awakening?
Here at Golem Design Studio we'll be happy to help you with the preparations for the Spring!
From now, up to the official Spring's beginning, 22 of March, we are offering 20% off all the items in our shop. You can feel free to visit our retail store and check all the colorful designs celebrating the power of nature that we have for you there.

Please, don't forget that all the beads and pendants that you see in our retail store are available for immediate shipping from our associate in Arizona, USA. Currently we offer free shipping for all USA orders over $10, and free shipping for all international orders over $40!

Best wishes!
Vlad & Kremena
Golem Design Studio

2011-01-09T09:53:00.000-08:00

We will be exhibiting at the Best Bead Show in Tucson again this year. We have many new designs to show you there. We hope you will stop by our booth and have a look. We are in the Small Hall, booth number 21-22. We look forward to seeing you there!
Below is the street address of the show:
Kino Veterans Memorial Community Center

2805 E Ajo Way

Tucson, AZ

For more information on the show and directions visit the show's website

Best wishes!
Vlad & Kami
Golem Design Studio

Stripe madness in our Etsy shop

2010-12-15T14:06:00.000-08:00

I just listed 5 sets in our Etsy shop, all from our new design line "Fun Stripes". We had a lot of fun while we were experimenting with the different combinations of colors applied to different shapes, we hope you'll like the result too. You are welcome to check these, and many other cool designs listed in the shop these last few days.

Have fun!
Vlad & Kremena

Golem Studio's Etsy shop - The grand opening

2010-12-01T03:21:00.000-08:00

Ta-da!
It looks like the last days are a time for a lot of "first ever things" for us - we just finished with setting up our Etsy shop, and now there are a few items already listed there. You can check it out here:
Golem Studio's Etsy Shop
For the first listings we choose some pieces with special meaning for us. We are just in love with the town of Barcelona, each visit there is giving us some unique experiences and inspiration.

Every visitor can feel the unique spirit of the town, but especially for the ceramic artists it's more like a pilgrimage, well lubricated by some paella and sangria.
In the Etsy shop you can now see a few of the pendants which were directly inspired by the work of the greatest of Barcelona's architects Antoni Gaudi. His buildings are maybe the most emblematic part of Barcelona's landscape.

In the pictures here you can see each one placed next to the exact mosaic spots that inspired their creation. These mosaics are part of some giant art and ecology installation - the big terrace in what's now called "Park Guel". The mosaics are part of the decoration of the big mosaic bench, which works as the rim/border of the terrace.

This last picture shows one of the legs of the Salamander - a mosaic sculpture which stands on the entrance of the Park Guel, with our pendant representing the front part of the lizard shown on the foot of the sculpture. Gaudi described the Salamander as "Symbolic guardian of the entrance to the Underworld". This sculpture is something like a non-official symbol of the town of Barcelona.

Wish us luck with this new venue! We are proud to be part of such great art and craft community as Etsy, very soon we'll show more of our work there.

Have a fantastic day!
Vlad & Kremena

Golem Studio's CYBER MONDAY special

2010-11-29T07:49:00.000-08:00

Special CYBER MONDAY deal from Golem Design Studio - during the next 24 hours we'll add a free string of 4 handmade solid color beads, similar to the ones shown to the left to any retail purchase from our web Retail Shop . There are many available colors in stock, so Marsha will be able to pick a string of matching color ones for each purchase.

Don't forget also, that up to 31 of December we are offering 25% off the price of all items in our retail shop,+ free shipping for all orders over $10 (over $40 for the international ones)

Have fun during your online shopping spree today!
Vlad & Kremena

Our first ever TV appearance!

2010-11-28T15:25:00.000-08:00

Hello!
What serendipity! Yesterday, just after we posted our first blog post someone from the Bulgarian National Television (Chanel 1) called us with a question and interview about our life and work as self-employed artists. Right now there is discussion in the parliament here about the need for a new law status for self-employed people, so they want us to be the sample of 100% self-employed family in their Sunday Evening News spot. The TV team was here in our studio today, and the interview was on air 3 hours ago. They just uploaded it on the site of Chanel 1, you can see it in the link below, we appear after the 40th second of it:

http://bnt.bg/bg/news/view/41853/pecheli_li_se_ot_nadomnija_trud

Since the interview is in Bulgarian probably most of you will not understand it. Below I'll try to translate what we said in it:
On the question "Why did you start making beads, instead of something else?"
my answer is: The beads were the only product that was feasible to be able to fire with the limited technical/equipment options that were available to me when I started my first experiments with clay. Especially in those years (beginning of the 90's) it was almost impossible to buy a good kiln for the firing of ceramic items. It can be funny and even ridiculous from the present point of view, but in fact my first "kiln" was "чушкопек"* (see below)

On the question "Exatly how do you make each pendant?"
Kremena answered: We are using molds only for the shaping of the pendants, this is the only way to keep the consistency in the shape and size for them. Once the pendant is shaped I'm carving it completely by hand. It's a bit sad, but not everybody is understanding how hard and time consuming this all is.

We hope you'll have fun with the video, at least for us it was very funny to see our faces on the TV screen and to hear our voices during the interview.

Have a nice Sunday evening!
Vlad & Kremena

* "чушкопек" - it should be pronounced "chushkopek", only possible translation of this local invention that is coming to mind is "pepper furnace". It's one of the very odd inventions of late socialistic epoch here ('80). Bellow is the picture that I found on internet of it, happily I never used such thing after 1993.

Our first ever blog post!

2010-11-27T05:14:00.000-08:00

Good Morning!

This is our first ever blog post. For years we were thinking that it's about time to start a blog. The only thing that was stopping us was that we were afraid that very rarely we would have something really interesting to share with our eventual readers.

We are planning a few new and exciting (at least for us) ventures for the very near future, so we decided that this is the right time to add a blog to our list of online activity.

Have a nice weekend everybody, and prepare for the Cyber Monday!

Vlad & Kremena