Freaky Friday - Take #5

Freaky Friday, everything went my way ;o) <--- That was a slight twist on Aqua's lyrics!! Also it's pretty much how I feel right now.
This week Mallory & my "Freaky Friday" Challenge was Totems & I have got to say that I had THE most fun with this.
I got rather carried away though, inspired by the piece of driftwood I had found & a recently made bead featuring DSP, enamel & silver foil that didn't turn out quite as expected, but had some wonderful effects none the less, I ploughed ahead having decided to work around those two initial components.

As I tried to work in some extra bit's of colour in with the DSP/Enamel/Foil combo I realised that base wanted to swallow the colour, so I decided to make a somewhat plainer base bead & use the desired colors on that.

While making the bead I accidentally got sidetracked & ended up with a bead that looked rather different to what I had in mind. However, I was really happy with that bead & wanted to use that also.

From there the idea's took flight - with only one slight problem, I couldn't decide whether I wanted my totem be representative of the freedom of flight or the weightless grace of swimming.... I have a passion for both air & water. Both represent freedom to me.

My initial attempt at an owl left me somewhat disappointed, so I went on to try making a 'fluke'(I am determined not to say 'whales tail' & leave myself wide open...), inspired by one of Jodi Henry's beads that I saw way back when I first started lampworking.
I kind of overdecorated it & got the base too wide. No matter though, I just put it aside & kept on going.

My second attempt at a bird was trying a Jen Geldard style of bird (ironically the day before she released her tutorial), it resulted in a rather big baby that cracked. Thus, two totems were born!

This whole week has been a great one at the torch - I actually wanted to torch every day & it was with great happiness that I felt the idea's & inspiration flow. As Hannibal from "The A Team" used to say "I love it when a plan comes together"!

I rounded it off with a walk on the beach last night - 'cos guess who needed a second piece of driftwood.

"Neither Fish nor Fowl nor Fine Red Herring"
aka Totem #2 or is that #1?

Slightly Closer Shot.

"One Flew Over the Crackedhead's Nest"
aka Totem #1 or is that #2

Closer Shot

Keep an eye Mallory's Blog to see what she has done with this challenge & to find out what the next Freaky Friday adventure will be.

Meanwhile any one who still wants to sneak in a totem has time - I'd love to see other's ideas & hear of their adventures. This has been an enlightening exercises for me.

Oh & Thank You Ang - you are always a constant source of inspiration for encouraging one to think outside the square - whether it be with your glass sculptures or words!!