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Back with the worst Arnold impression ever. But back, nonetheless.
My last post here was waaaaaaaaaay back in August, and it's been a busy few months. I'm finally getting back into the swing of things after having moved 700 miles across country. Now I have to get back into the swing of keeping this blog updated with cool stuff!!
I can't possibly record everything that went on since August (packing, moving, driving, unpacking, getting our house ready to sell, driving some more, unpacking some more...), so I'm just going to start with some new news. (New news? Is that right?)
I have FINALLY begun listing some of my original peyote cuff patterns on Etsy!!! Yahoooooo!!! It took me months to get my act together, but I have six patterns done so far and a whole bunch more on the list to be done. You can check them out here.
And now that I'm done with all that moving stuff, I'm back to playing with my beads. I still have to take pictures of a bunch of pieces, but here are the newest listings in my Etsy shop:
See? Told you I'd been busy!
By the way, the Coppery Cubes and Curls is my BAO Item of the Week for this week, so if you purchase and pay for it before midnight on November 12, you'll get a free surprise gift!!
I have lots more beadweaving finished, and lots more underway, so my blog is going to be filling up with pictures. :-)
And... I have a whole new line of bracelets I'm going to be introducing next week. Stay tuned.
Well, okay. I'm not going to the Philly Bead Fest (much as I'd love to be able to attend), but the five pieces I created using Kristie Roeder's wonderful beads and cabs are winging their way to her so they can be at Bead Fest.
There was just a bit of a panic this morning after I finished photographing the last of the pieces (just completed yesterday) and then couldn't find the first four! Waaaaaaah! I scurried around the house for a few minutes, looking in places I thought I might have placed them; and they were nowhere to be found. Finally I settled in a chair and gave it some thought... and figured out where they were. Whew. Our mail carrier can appear at the mailbox anytime between noon and 5:00pm, and it was approaching noon when I went into the initial panic. Thankfully, I was able to wrap everything and get it out to the mailbox before the carrier's arrival.
So here's the last of the pieces I created: a funky, earthy, unusual necklace that I named Terra. I used three of Kristie's smoke-fired clay beads in this one - one for the focal (it's about 2" long), a smaller tube-shaped one, and another smaller flattened oval one. They're all so beautiful and earthy. The other larger beads I used for this piece are a mixture of glass (root beer colored), wood, and bone. Everything's connected with little bits of peyote or ndebele rope; and there's a section of ndebele rope almost as long as the section of larger beads.
When I pictured this in my mind, I always thought of it as being worn with the focal inserted through the loop in the ndebele rope and hanging in front almost like a pendant; but after it was finished I realized that it looked pretty cool with the ndebele rope at the back of the neck and the focal hanging on the side.
It's great fun being able to collaborate with bead artists. I've always loved beads anyway, even though my addiction to them just began a few years ago; but over the past couple of years I've gained a whole new appreciation for the art form.
I still have some collaborating to do, too... I have a wonderful lampwork bead that was made by Lori Engle. She gave it to me at the Bead and Button Show, and we talked about my making something to complement it; but I haven't had a chance yet to use it. It's been on my beading board, just sitting there and talking to me about what it wants to become...
I also have some wonderful polymer clay beads from Jeannie Dukic. They're called Goddess Beads, and because each of the beads has a meaning of its own I have to make sure to incorporate that meaning into whatever I create.
As much as I'd like to dig through my own stash of beads and start to work on these collaborative pieces, I need to focus right now on the task at hand... packing boxes. Lots and lots of boxes, so we're ready for our move to North Carolina. I'm glad I'm able to take some time to sort through all the stuff we've collected while we've lived in this house - but I'm also a little alarmed at just how much of it there is! The Cancer Federation and the Habitat for Humanity ReStore are going to get some mighty big donations this week.
I'm finished packing for the day (enough is enough, after all), so I'll get to do a little beadweaving tonight. But first things first... I need a latte!
:-)
When you're getting ready to move, it's easy to let some things slide while you're wrapped up in making sure you're getting everything related to the move finished.
So that's my excuse... er... reason. The reason I haven't posted to this blog in about three weeks! Good grief.
I've posted here before about the Bead Art Originals Items of the Week (although I don't do that as regularly as I should -- did I mention that it's a weekly event?!?!). This week we're altering the schedule of the items of the week, so this is a short week. Rather than ending on Sunday, the Items of the Week will now run from Friday through Thursday. That means that my special for the item of the week for this week ends tonight at midnight!
This week's special offering for me is Cybele, the collaborative necklace I made using one of Lisa Peters' gorgeous raku cabochons and some driftwood I culled from the shores of Lake Michigan. The special deal on it is pretty good: 10% off the regular price of $179, PLUS a 10% coupon good on your next purchase! Check out the BAO Blog to see the rest of the items of the week offered by the participating members - all of them end tonight at midnight, so grab 'em while you can!
Even though I've been quite busy with packing and trying to eliminate a substantial amount of stuff before we move, I have managed to spend some time working on more collaborative pieces using Kristie Roeder's (aka artisanclay) beautiful beads and cabochons (you can see the first two I finished in this post).
I decided to do something relatively simple with one of Kristie's smoke-fired clay beads. I've had a piece of bead crochet done for a long time, but I had never found the right finishing touch for it; and as I was looking for something to do with this beautiful focal bead of Kristie's I realized it was the perfect match! I also had some recently-purchased agate beads (from the Bead and Button Show) that coordinated with the focal bead and with the bead crochet. All those things combined to make Earthenwear, a very earthy-looking bangle. Isn't Kristie's bead gorgeous?!
The other piece I finished is a necklace using one of Kristie's clay and glass cabochons. I've been ogling these cabs for a long time, but this is the first opportunity I had to work with one of them. The lime green in this is so deep and beautiful, and I decided to pair it with the brightest red violet delicas I could find. I'm strangely attracted to green and purple together...
This piece is named Lilavati, which means "playful, amusing, or charming" in Sanskrit. It's definitely playful!
I'm in the middle of working on one more piece which should be finished tonight. I have to get these all packaged and shipped off to Kristie so she can display them at the Philly Bead Fest next week!
I've done some other pieces too, but you'll just have to wait to see them. I have to get some more packing done. Now's a good time... my husband's gone fishing!! Isn't it amazing how you can get more done when your significant other isn't around to provide commentary??? :-)
If you're anything at all like me, you spend a lot of your online time drooling over the wonderful creations of others. I spend an inordinate amount of time browsing Etsy, flickr, 1000 Markets, Facebook, and all sorts of other places and am constantly amazed at the creativity and artisanship I see.
It wasn't too long ago that I was looking at pictures on flickr and came across some new smoke-fired clay pieces posted by Kristie Roeder. They were amazing! I could tell from the pictures that the textures of the pieces were lovely and smooth, and the muted color tones created by the smoke-firing process had such an earthy feel that I immediately fell in love with them. I left a comment on one or two of the pictures and mentioned something about doing a collaboration - I so wanted to do some beadweaving with one or two of Kristie's pieces (the only problem was that they were being purchased just about as fast as she was listing them in her Etsy shop).
Imagine how happy I was when Kristie contacted me and said she'd like to do a collaboration. We worked out the details, and she sent me a package with several of her smoke-fired pieces as well as some of her stoneware and recycled crackled glass pieces. I've had them sitting next to me for awhile, waiting for each of them to talk to me and tell me what it wants to become. A couple of them spoke up (screamed, actually), so they were the first to be turned into jewelry.
The first one is called Suspended Heart. The smoke-fired heart is, just as I imagined, very smooth and soft feeling; and it has wonderful patterns left on it from the firing process. I used a piece of heavy gauge copper wire I had found on the beach at Lake Michigan to suspend it from a very different type of bail I created with matte metallic bronze delicas. The necklace portion is made from two strands of ndebele rope and a single strand of delicas, loosely braided to mimic the lines in the face of the heart.
The second piece is called Atalanta, a Greek name that means "equal in weight." This one features one of Kristie's smoke-fired donuts as the focal. Once again I used salvaged material, this time some pieces of driftwood, to suspend the focal. Rather than try to match the color of the donut or the driftwood, I decided to go in a completely different direction and choose a color that would complement the browns. These dark red matte beads were the perfect color and texture. All the beadweaving is single peyote in varying widths.
I still have more pieces waiting for me, and I have a few ideas brewing. I do have a tendency to work right up to a deadline, and since I have until August 20 to get these in Kristie's hands (she's going to display them at the Philadelphia Bead Fest!!!), I'll have time to do at least one or two more pieces.
Want to be inspired? Check out Kristie's Etsy shop. You'll be amazed at all the gorgeous pieces she has in there! Here's just a sampling:
Just so no one thinks I forgot about the giveaway from the previous blog post, I didn't! I have used random.org to choose a number so I know which of the people who left a comment with an organizational tip will receive the package of stationery goodies, and the number is...
drum roll...
4Not one or two or three... but FOUR. (now who said that, and in what movie?!?) :-)
So that makes the winner of the stationery pack Robin, of nothinglikeit. Cool! Robin makes some of the funniest creations in polymer clay you've ever seen. Flattened critters and people of all sorts that are just hilarious... I did some of my Christmas shopping with her last year!
I hate moving. Hate it. Hate packing. Hate hauling all the boxes up and down stairs. Hate all the things that go along with moving... getting our address changed, calling all the utilities companies, all that stuff that takes me away from doing what I like to do.
There's one good thing, though. It's FORCING me to get organized. There are so many things I like to do (beadweaving, drawing, reading, sewing, knitting, crocheting, photography, scuba diving, volleyball, racquetball, softball... the list goes on and on) that I have sooooooo much stuff to be packed! My gnat-like attention span causes me to flit from one project to another, and I'm not particularly disciplined about putting things back where I found them. Hey, I gotta go do that OTHER thing!
So, in the midst of hating that I have to pack up everything to move it, I'm organizing stuff as I go. Boxes are carefully labeled with a "code" and the contents are listed in a spreadsheet. I know that seems like overkill, but some of these boxes won't be unpacked for a long long time (while we build a house); and it's much easier to search in a spreadsheet than to try to read labels on a ton of boxes. As I pack, I'm also looking at everything with a critical eye -- do I really need that? could someone else use it? do I want to move it? how many years before I get around to doing something with it? And I'm packing boxes that will be donated to the Cancer Federation. At least someone will get some use out of my excess stuff!
While all this packing is going on, I'm still doing some beadweaving. Not as much as I'd like, naturally. Do you know how hard it is to pack beads??? I try to put them into a box, and they start talking to me... 
I'm pretty sure there are other beadweavers and jewelry makers out there who know what I mean.Here are pictures of the two newest items listed in my Etsy shop:
While you're looking at pictures, check out the mosaic for this week's Bead Art Originals Items of the Week. There are some great pieces there and some great deals to be had. (I'm still pouting because someone bought those beautiful black and white polymer clay beads created by my friend Dee!)
It's a giveaway!!!
Anyone have any organizational tips they'd like to share? I have done any kind of giveaway in awhile, so leave a comment here to be entered in a drawing to win a stationery sampler valued at $25! I'm not listing stationery in my shop any more (Allison, of papervictory, has taken over the whole line of products); but I still have a few things left... and I don't want to move them!
To be eligible for the drawing:
- You must be at least 18 years of age.
- You must reside in the U.S.
- Leave a comment with an organizational tip (any kind!).
- Make sure to include your email address or Etsy shop name so I can contact you.
- Deadline for being included in the drawing is Friday, July 10 at midnight (CST).
Now that I've decided to focus on my beadweaving (no more stationery!), I took the plunge and opened a shop on 1000Markets. I had signed up for an account there a few months ago, but I never got around to listing anything or getting the shop approved.
So on Friday night I sat down at the computer and decided to finish the steps required for approval. I uploaded seven of my pieces and clicked the 'I'm Ready' button, and then I waited for them to respond to let me know whether I had been approved. About 16 hours afterward, I received the email! Yay!!!
Figuring that I'd just add an item or two a day to my shop on 1000Markets, I was browsing around through the shops and markets (wishing I could find a 'favorite' button or a wishlist or something to keep track of all the goodies I love!); and I received an email from Matt saying that he had featured my "signature" cuff, Bois Peint, on the Community page!!! How exciting is that?!?!?
So here's my link: time2cre8 on 1000Markets
Stop by and say hello. Tell me your shop name so I can stop by and say hello back. :-)
As much as I like Etsy, and as much as I appreciate the visibility it's brought me over the past few years (3 years?!?!), I have to say that I really like the look of 1000Markets. I have no intention to leave Etsy, but it's nice to be able to look through finished pieces and not be overwhelmed with supplies and vintage stuff.
If you're on 1000Markets, I'd love to hear what you think of the site. Have you had sales from your shop on there? What do you think of their forums? Are you a member of any markets?
