Never Too Busy To Bead

I think beads must be good for my mental health.  (And for those of you who know me personally, stop snickering.)

It's been as busy as can be around here for the past few weeks, but I've still managed to fit in a good amount of beading.  And that's a good thing, because I have so many beads just sitting there in their bins, waiting to be combined into something special.  In between working on the house, going out of town, picking out and ordering all the interior doors for the house, having house guests, going over the cabinet design for the house with the local cabinetmaker, visiting the North Carolina Arboretum, laying out the cultured stone for the fireplace, hanging out with friends in town, mowing the fledgling yard at the new house, working on custom orders for a couple of brides, and working on the house some more (!), I've actually managed to get quite a lot of beadweaving done.  Not many pictures, unfortunately, but that's a whole other matter.

I've been a member of an Etsy team, the Etsy BeadWeavers, almost since it was formed several years ago.  Every month they have a challenge, based on a theme chosen by one of the members.  Most of the time I see the theme and figure I don't have enough time to focus on doing something for it, or I just don't feel particularly inspired.  For some reason, though, the July theme of "Tangerine Tango" immediately made me think of making a freeform peyote cuff.  I haven't made one in awhile (more than a year!), so it was fun to dig through all my orange beads to come up with a collection to make this piece:  Tangerine and Mango Tango 

 

By the way, voting for the July theme is now open on the Etsy BeadWeavers blog.

As is the case more times than I can recount, one beadwoven piece inspires another... and another...  and sometimes another.  Over the course of a week, I managed to create FOUR freeform peyote cuffs.  Only one other has been listed in my Etsy shop:  Mountain Sky.  The other two are awaiting photographs (along with a whole pile of other finished pieces that haven't had their pictures taken yet!).

 

Even with all this stuff going on, and me running around like a nut half the time, I thought it would be fun to sign up for a bead exchange.  Lori Anderson is hosting a Bead Soup Blog Party, so I joined in.  I haven't received my bead soup yet from my partner, but it should be on its way.  And that's a good thing, because my "Reveal Date" is August 11.  That means I have to receive the beads and figure out what to make with them...  and then actually make it!...  and get it photographed before that date.  Whew.  Nothing like a little pressure.  You can start blog hopping early to see some of the mixes sent and received by the other participants (there are 400 of us!).

And now...  it's time to go work on the house!  We're about halfway finished with putting up the cultured stone on the front of the fireplace, and we're hoping to have that project finished by Sunday so we can have the flooring people install the 2400 square feet of hickory flooring.  Fingers crossed.  :-)

It's been awhile since I entered one of the Etsy BeadWeavers challenges, and my entry into this one is a little out of the ordinary. The challenge theme, which was chosen by previous winner Deb (beadsandblooms.etsy.com), is Ancestral Expressions.

My challenge is that I really don't know much about my ancestry. No one in my family ever talked about ancestors arriving here on a boat, and no one ever even mentioned anything about ancestors from another country! I always had a suspicion that there might be some Native American ancestry, but I have no proof of it. That theory stemmed from seeing pictures of my great grandfather's family, all of whom were very dark complected, had those long stereotypical Indian noses, and had black hair. The surnames in my family didn't give me that many clues either -- Wilson, Sparks, Justice, James, Boggs. I only know that some of them are English and Scottish, but I didn't ever try to trace any of them. Maybe if I'd had children I'd have been more concerned with that, but since I've lopped off this branch of the family tree I just didn't ever pursue it.

So what does one create for a theme called Ancestral Expressions when one doesn't really have any idea about ancestry? My mind went to the purest form of ancestry -- DNA.

I'd been playing around with a design that had two ropes or ribbons twisting around each other, and that design was well suited to create the double helix form of DNA. Anyone looking at this might think I'm heavily into science, but that's not the case at all. Although I did well in school, science and biology were probably my least favorite subjects (I was a big fan of math and literature).

Today's the last day for members of Etsy BeadWeavers to list their entries into the Ancestral Expressions challenge, and voting will begin on the EBW blog on November 9. There are some other entries listed already, and I'm amazed at the amount of thought and talent that went into them. Click here to see the entries. And don't forget to visit the blog to vote in a few days! I'll bet you thought all the voting was finished, didn't you?

While you're visiting blogs, don't forget to check out the Bead Art Originals blog to see all the Items of the Week specials offered by our members. There are some incredible pieces included, and all sorts of great deals - just in time for your holiday shopping!

One last thing for today, November 5, 2008. BARACK WON!!! Hooray!!!!!!!!!!

I'm doing the Etsy Front Page Happy Dance. A front page appearance is such an honor. Actually, it's two honors -- one for having something chosen for a Treasury and another one for having the Treasury chosen to grace the front page. Even though I didn't get to see either of these for myself, some of my Etsy buddies grabbed screenshots.

This gorgeous green Treasury was called Yes, it is Chartreuse; and it was curated by fellow Etsy BeadWeaver Ileana (aka enchantedbeads). She was nice enough to include my Midori cuff among the other beautiful pieces she featured. Two other EBW members, Jean (totallytwisted) and Cheryl (littlestonedesign) also had pieces in this collection. What a thrill to see this on the front page!

Ileana's beautiful Emerald Flower Pendant would have fit nicely into the Chartreuse treasury, don't you think?

As if that front page appearance weren't exciting enough, another of my beadwoven bracelets, Two-Tone Teal, was included in this dreamy Treasury (called 'love me do') curated by Lynne (lil922).


As soon as I saw that one, I thought it had front page potential; and I was right! I went off to check out Lynne's shop, and I found these beautiful Indigo Skies earrings. These are wonderful, and I can hardly believe they're only $15!

If you've read any of my recent posts, you know that I'm a big fan of numbers. My friend Carol Dean (SandFibers) recently posted something about the chances of having something selected to be in a treasury when there are so many listings on Etsy. I had to do a little exploration for myself.

The pieces of mine that made it to Etsy's front page were both bracelets, so I'm using that as the basis for this next little bit of information...

- Right now, there are 107,399 items tagged as bracelet (I presume it would have been a similar number when these two treasuries were created).
- Narrowing the search a bit, there are 12,833 items tagged as green bracelet.
- At any given time, there are at least 555 treasuries (between Treasury and Treasury West). With each treasury featuring 16 items, that means that at least 8880 items are included in treasuries. In reality, there are always more active treasuries than that.

I'm sure there's some statistician out there somewhere who would be able to look at those numbers and calculate the odds of my bracelets making it to the front page. Although I took classes in statistics way back when, I don't remember enough about the calculations to figure it out. So I'll just say a big THANK YOU to Ileana and Lynne for choosing my beadweaving for their treasuries and continue to do my Etsy Front Page Happy Dance. :-)

The newest listings in my Etsy shop haven't been shown off here yet, so I thought I'd share them. With all those new delica colors I added to my [already massive] bead stash, it's fun to try out new color combinations and new designs.

The Electric Smurf. Of course you're wondering where that name originated. Well, it's those blue beads used in the band. Their official color name is Electric Blue, and I really love the Smurfs.

See how my mind works?

Frightened yet?

By the way, Grouchy Smurf is my favorite. Underneath all that gruffness, he has a good heart.

:-)








Puzzled.

This WIDE cuff was really fun to make. The design was a little tricky, because it's tough to get the puzzle pieces to look like puzzle pieces.

I've loved doing jigsaw puzzles for as long as I can remember. I've even been insane enough to do some of those "Impossibles," the ones where there's no actual design on the puzzle, but just a bunch of pieces all of the same color.

It was only fitting that I grabbed one of my completed puzzles (this one was all glued together on the back) to use as the background.




Limeade Orange Swirl.

This one's just yummy. Bright opaque orange swirls against a pale lime green matte background.

It's a skinny version of my Just a Scribble cuff. I doubt that I'll do this one again, since I like the wider version better.






Lilac Labyrinth.

Okay, technically it's not a labyrinth. It's not a maze. It's just a bunch of concentric shapes.

But doesn't it look like a labyrinth? It almost makes me want to create a maze cuff... almost.

:-)












Lemon Lime Twist.

This design was a challenge! The design itself was tricky, because I had to keep track of which direction the lines were going. The beadweaving was also tricky, because I had to make sure to pick up the right color bead each time.

Whew!

It's a little hard to tell from the photo, but the ribbons are actually made from three different color beads -- bright lined kelly green, lined peridot, and transparent lemon yellow. All against a matte white background, and topped off with the perfect vintage button.


Sunset in Metropolis.

I love love love this color combination! It's one I would never have thought of doing, but then I saw a treasury that featured orange and charcoal gray together, and an idea was born.

The abstract design encompasses the entire length of the band -- no repeated pattern elements.

I'm going to have to try this one out in some different color combinations...

Thank you! First things first. A big thank you to the Etsy sellers who featured my work in their treasuries during the week. One of the treasuries, curated by Cheryl of littlestonedesign, even made it to the front page on Wednesday! Her treasury featured work by fellow Etsy BeadWeavers and fellow Bead Art Originals members, so I was among great company. Here's a screenshot so you can see just how pretty her collection was. (That's my Peaches and Cream peyote cuff in the upper left corner.) I don't know if any of the sales I made after that appearance were a direct result of the exposure, but I do know that I wound up with some extra shop and item hearts. I don't count them, but I checked the majaba Heart-O-Matic. What a great tool that is!


The other Etsy sellers who featured me in their treasuries were:

enchantedbeads - Ileana, a fellow Etsy BeadWeaver, assembles some of the nicest treasuries! She makes incredibly beautiful jewelry that use semi-precious stones, tiny beads, and all sorts of embellishments. I'm amazed at how many different designs she has. Each is a tiny work of art.

SandFibers - What can I say about Carol Dean? She's one of the nicest people on the planet, and she creates drop-dead gorgeous beadwoven jewelry. Carol Dean and I believe we're cosmic sisters. You just wouldn't believe the number of things we have in common. One thing we have in common is the Bead Art Originals Etsy street team. If you haven't checked out Carol Dean's work or the work of the other members of the BAO team, you're really missing out!

MAKUstudio - Mak is another member of Bead Art Originals, and her shop's filled with raku pendants and jewelry that's jaw-droppingly beautiful.

beadsandblooms - Debra is a relatively new member of Etsy BeadWeavers, but she's obviously been beadweaving for awhile if her shop is any indication. I love the stone and fossil pendants she creates!

SmadarsTreasure - If you're looking for unique designs and beautiful beadweaving, check out Smadar's shop! You just won't believe your eyes. The cuff that's featured in the slideshow is one of her newest creations, and it's just gorgeous! Smadar's a fellow member of both Etsy BeadWeavers and Bead Art Originals.

homespunheartprim - I'd never come across this shop, but when I visited it I found all sorts of handcrafted, handsculpted wax figures. They're so neat! The shop also has some fun patterns, and I really liked the one I found for these birds.

AnotherCountry - Morwyn is another member of Bead Art Originals, and I love the artistry in her creations. Sometimes when I'm choosing a favorite piece from a shop to feature here I try to choose something new, but I've been in love with the Ancient Walls bracelet Morwyn has in her shop ever since I first saw it.

DanaSaylorDesigns - It was easy for me to choose a favorite from this shop, as soon as I saw those amethyst colored Swarovski crystal earrings! I love love love purple! The earring listing is for a custom order, so you can choose the ones you like best.

SuzisCornerBoutique - Another shop I'd never encountered, this one is filled with all sorts of fun and colorful vintage things. Aren't those salt and pepper shakers fun?

Tresijas - Although Kelly's a fellow Etsy BeadWeaver, I just couldn't resist choosing something non-beadwoven from her shop. As soon as I saw the Booga Booga Doll, I just cracked up! Kelly also makes funky, original jewelry from old LPs! (And for those of you who are too young to remember anything pre-MP3, we used to listen to music that was recorded on big round plastic disks. Can you imagine?!)

adorationsoap - I'm constantly amazed at the creativity of the people who make soap! All the colors, scents, shapes, and textures are overwhelming. This shop has some really yummy sounding ones, but I thought the sea salt one looked intriguing. I might have to stop back by for a visit...

juiceglass - The newest member of Bead Art Originals, Carli's shop has some beautiful glass and silver jewelry. I'm becoming such a fan of lampwork and glass that I'll definitely be keeping an eye on her shop for more listings!

Even though I don't post all the treasuries here, I do post them in my flickr photostream. Please check out the slideshow to see the favorite items I chose from each of the shops mentioned above.

We're busy watching the 2008 Olympics on TV, so it's no surprise that I had Gold, Silver, and Bronze on my mind when I snagged a Treasury West on Etsy yesterday. I decided to fill this one with the medal colors and with some red, white, and blue. What better place to find such things of beauty than in the shops of my fellow Bead Art Originals and Etsy BeadWeavers members. It'll be "live" until the wee hours of the morning on Tuesday, so please visit and check out some of these fabulous artists! You can click the picture to be taken to the treasury.



The Etsy BeadWeavers monthly challenge entries are all posted, and everyone is invited to go to the blog to vote for a favorite. This month's theme was Art Deco, and the entries are absolutely gorgeous. There's a mosaic which shows them all, but be sure to check the links underneath the mosaic so you can get a closer look at them. You won't believe your eyes.

Friday again. Boy, do these Fridays come around fast! Were there seven days since last Friday? I think I might have missed one or two.

Oh well. It's a pretty neat day for anyone who's into numbers. While I'm not a complete fanatic, I do pay attention to them. I watch the odometer in the vehicle and have tiny (silent) celebrations when there's a "special" number. Our main vehicle has almost 60,000 miles on it, so there was one of those little celebrations at 55,555 miles. One kind of funny number thing is my online moniker - time2cre8. I like mixing letters and numbers to make words and statements like that, and as I puzzled over what to call my Etsy shop, my blog, etc., I thought time2cre8 would be fitting. I was just getting ready to leave corporate life and figured I'd have... time to create. (Little did I know that, despite having 24 hours a day to do whatever I want, there's still never enough time.) Anyway, it wasn't until later than I realized the numbers in my moniker are significant. 28. My birthday is on the 28th. :-)

So the neatness of today is that it's 08/08/08. I even saw someone else's blog post done at 08:08:08. Neat, huh?

I thought I'd send some thanks out again to the nice Etsy people who featured my work in their Treasuries this past week. I think I got them all, but I might have missed some along the way. It was a busy week. I made another little slideshow to feature one of my favorite pieces from each of the shops. Please stop by their shops, though, because you'll see LOTS more eye candy!
BubbleShare: Share photos - Find great Clip Art Images.


Here are the links to these wonderful shops. A special thanks to my fellow Etsy BeadWeavers, Ileana and Marilyn; and another special thanks to my fellow Bead Art Originals members, Carol Dean and Mak. You guys are great! :-)

THANKS TO:
catrocks
enchantedbeads
GrandmaMarilyns
katncar
MAKUstudio
SandFibers

Before I sign off, I have to show you the three newest listings in my Etsy shop. And I still have pieces that are finished and waiting to be photographed!

Moon River (my husband picked the name)
Mamaw's Patchwork Quilt
(an homage to my grandmother, who never made a dull quilt in her life!)
and
Peyote Crazy - because I'm crazy about making these peyote triangles!

That's it for tonight! GO USA!!! I'm gonna be camped out watching the Olympics for the next few days, whenever I get the chance. The opening ceremonies were INCREDIBLE!!!

Music has been a big part of my life for as long as I can remember. My Mom always sang to me, in her lovely alto voice, even though the songs weren't the traditional lullabies most children hear (you can read about that here). In my younger days I played violin, cello, and piano, and I sang in the church choir and in a concert choir. I gave up playing instruments a long time ago, but I've been known to belt out a tune every now and then while I'm in the shower or driving down the road (windows up, of course).

After I listed my Piano Man cuff, one of my fellow Etsy BeadWeavers (Carol, of ambrosianbeads and retrothreads, who plays and teaches violin) mentioned in a comment that she'd been trying to create a treble clef or a violin in peyote but hadn't had any luck. Well, being a music lover myself, I had created this stylized treble clef design awhile back but hadn't gotten around to making the cuff. This seemed like the perfect opportunity. Although I could have created this in any color combination (and I pondered creating one for "the blues"), I chose to really show off the treble clef by weaving it in bright luster red against a white background. Whaddya think? Isn't this perfect for a music lover? :-)

The other cuff I just listed is the Pink and Purple Bouquet. You saw the beginnings of it just a couple of days ago, so now you can check out the finished piece. I really love doing these freeform peyote cuffs. It's fun to see them develop as more and more beads are added.

Oglala bracelets are so much fun to make! I'm not a "ruffly" person by nature, being much more comfortable in t-shirts and sweatpants or jeans than in anything with frills, but I still enjoy making these bracelets. This one is called Lavender Frill, and I just listed it in my Etsy shop (you can see more photos there, too).

I have thousands (probably more like millions) of Czech glass beads, in every color imaginable, and I really enjoy going through my stash and holding different colored beads next to each other to see how they look. When I held these clear lavender beads (which have an aurora borealis finish) next to the glass pearls, I knew I had a winning combination. The perfect finishing touch was the tiny Czech glass 15s I used to create the picot edge, as they have the same pearl finish.

With the holiday weekend, I somehow got behind on showing off the treasuries in which I was featured. I'd love to be able to post them here every day, but they're probably much more exciting to me than they are to readers of this blog. I do want to thank the people who featured me over the past few days, though.

Please check out their shops! I've looked at them all, and I guarantee you'll find some great things in them.
- Kathy (aka KathysKraftyKreation) does beadweaving and makes all sorts of beautiful bracelets, cuffs, lanyards, and other things with thousands and thousands of tiny beads. I think she might love them as much as I do! Kathy's treasury was a walk through her favorites, and I was honored that she included my Ribbon of Beads in it!
- Dee (aka DinkingAround) has TWO Etsy shops (I can't imagine keeping up with two). She featured one of my Surly Cats (Cat Want Food Now) in a treasury that was filled with all sorts of silly felines. Dee's DinkingAround shop is filled with really fun pendants.
- Jill (aka outofthepinksky) is someone whose Etsy shop I ran across when I was dropping Entrecards, and now I check her blog regularly. Her shop is loaded with all kinds of earrings, everything from glam to hilarious! Jill included my Obama cuff in a treasury all about politics. Really! It was fun! :-)
- Staci (aka PinkPoochDesigns) is a fellow member of Etsy BeadWeavers. I'm in awe of the photo ribbon bracelets she creates. She has Audrey Hepburn, James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, and even The Joker designs (along with many more); and they're all wonderful. Staci's treasury featured loads of pink and green in an homage to watermelon (I wanted to race to the store to buy one!), and she included my Check It Out cuff among the yummies.
- Ileana (aka enchantedbeads) is also a fellow Etsy BeadWeaver, well known for her fabulous beaded and beadwoven brooches. Ileana featured some of the goodies that were created for the July challenge, a Midsummer Night's Dream, even though she didn't have enough space for all 31 entries!! She was nice enough to include my entry, Titiana Speaks to Bottom. (Be sure to check out the EBW blog on Wednesday so you can vote for your favorite!)
- Bea (?) (aka Humblebea) put together a treasury of smiles. Actually, her treasury made me laugh out loud! She was nice enough to include my Understated Greeting card, Nice Smile, in the collection. I don't have any little ones around, but if I did I'm sure I'd want them to have something from this shop. There are some of the most adorable little felt Mary Janes in there!!

The VERY SPECIAL treasury I have to mention here, though, is the one assembled by Sarah (thebeadedlily). She wrote about the inspiration in her blog, but just imagine my surprise when I came across this one!!! A treasury named after me!!! And including my all-time favorite color combination!!! WOW!!!!!!!!!!!

Whew! What an exciting weekend!

I've become obsessed with taking one beadweaving design and executing it in different colors just to see what will happen. This newest cuff, aptly named Fruit Cocktail, is a case in point. I took my original design, the one used in The Foxxy Cleopatra Cuff that I entered into the Etsy BeadWeavers 'Anything Goes' challenge (BTW, go vote!) and created a slightly narrower cuff using some delicious fruity colors: tangerine, lemonade, cherry, and aqua. Seriously, those are the names of the bead colors! I can't decide whether I like this one better or the original one in the pinks, brown, and black.

And while I was beadweaving away (well, okay, I do other stuff sometimes too), Ileana (enchantedbeads) featured my Passion for Purple beadwoven necklace/pendant in this treasury filled to the brim with pinks and purples, with just a touch of blue.
Ileana makes wonderful beadwoven brooches, but she also has other fabulous things in her Etsy shop. Check out this necklace!
And Carol Dean (Sandfibers) included my Foxxy Cleopatra Cuff in this treasury she created with some of the entries into this month's Etsy BeadWeavers challenge.

Carol Dean is a beadweaver extraordinaire, with an entire portfolio of original designs (she's regularly published in Step-by-Step Beads). It just seems like she has an endless capacity for design. One of her newest creations is this beautiful Mixed Metals triangle pendant. Don't you just love the subtle blending of colors?!

By the way, Carol Dean is offering up one of her original beadwoven bracelets in a drawing this month... Check out her blog. You can be eligible to win a beautiful purple bracelet just by voting in the Etsy BeadWeavers challenge and then leaving Carol Dean a comment on her blog! (Of course, I've already entered my comment, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the random number generator comes up with lucky number 11.)

Beadweaving is such a versatile medium. I love that I can take all different colors and textures of beads and combine them in different ways to make all sorts of different creations.

I have a great time creating patterns (using either BeadTool or BeadCreatorPro), and I'm constantly amazed at what happens when I switch the colors in a particular pattern. Just check out these four different beadwoven cuffs, all created from the same design!

Four very different looks, and all from a single design.

Etsy Treasuries are such a source of inspiration these days. I just keep seeing the greatest color combinations in them (and not necessarily even those that make it to the front page!) that I just have to go create something in those colors.

That's how my newest bracelet was born. I just posted a picture of the pink and green treasury created by bittercherryemporium, in which she featured my Celtic Knot button ring (scroll down and you can see the picture of it - it's easy to recognize). Well, a quick look at my bead stash proved that I had just the right colors to create this bracelet! I decided to create it in a mod looking checkerboard pattern, with the checks created in random widths. It looks like an optical illusion, doesn't it?

The Etsy BeadWeavers deadline for the 'Anything Goes' challenge was last night at midnight, so I scurried off this morning to take another look at all the entries. I am absolutely blown away by the variety of pieces entered and even more so by the amazing talent within this group! Just check this out! Or click here to see the entries up close in the members' shops.

Today wasn't nearly as productive as I intended it to be. It's not my fault, really. I had good intentions and even had a list of some of the things I wanted to accomplish.

Instead of being productive, though, I had to spend a couple of hours at the dentist's office having a tooth repaired. Yesterday evening, as I was eating dinner, I suddenly realized there was something crunchy in the bite of broccoli I had just taken. Broccoli's not supposed to be crunchy. At least not when it's been steamed. Sadly, the crunchy thing was large enough that I had no trouble locating it so I could spit it out. It was about a quarter of one of my molars. Drat. It was too late in the day to call the dentist, but I called this morning for an appointment and lucked out. Someone had cancelled just this morning, so there was time available for him to see me. Good thing, too. He's going on vacation tomorrow for a week and a half!

So that's how I spent a significant part of my day. Getting a crown. It's very pretty. It should be, for the price. Even with insurance, it's expensive.

So my list of things I wanted to get done dwindled to just a few things I managed to accomplish. My Etsy orders went out in the mail (that's always a priority), and I managed to list two new creations.

I was going through my Delicas a few days ago, trying out different colors next to each other. When I put these olive and copper colored matte finish beads next to each other, I knew I was going to have to combine them in a bracelet. I couldn't think of a catchy title, but it's still a pretty little bracelet, don't you think?

I finally got around to creating the Equine Expressions notecard set. Having grown up on a farm with horses all around me (my grandfather was a horse trainer), I can't believe it's taken me this long to create cards with horses. I've always loved them.

On the topic of animals, I created this Treasury today to send some love from the Etsy BeadWeavers to one of our members, Wolf (DantesSpirit). Our thoughts are with Wolf and with Dante.

Gimme a hand, will ya? Okay, okay, that's corny and makes absolutely no sense whatsoever UNLESS you know that I just received my order from Nile Corp of my new hands. I used to photograph all my jewelry against a flat surface or using a pretty bottle or drinking glass, but it's sooooooooo much nicer to have those little hands for the photos. Once again, Carol Dean (SandFibers) came to my rescue. I was emailing back and forth with her a few months ago, and she suggested that I use the little hands and then pointed me in the direction of Nile Corp. I started with a small white hand, a very stylized tall arm/hand, and a white leatherette bust (for necklaces).

Well, I dropped the little white hand and broke the little finger. Drat! I glued it back on, and it works okay, but I always have to remember to touch up the photos to remove the fracture line.

I don't have a particular photographic "style" for my jewelry. I'm bored easily (have I mentioned that I have the attention span of a gnat?), and I'm always experimenting. I decided that I wanted some new hands, so off I went to order more; and I really love them! I bought a black one that has a different shape than the white one I've been using, and I also bought a translucent one that is just beautiful! They're like little sculptures.

They also do great things for showcasing my beadweaving.

Here's a simple little bracelet, called Hip to be Square, that I listed in my Etsy shop just a couple of days ago. Doesn't it look wonderful against that translucent hand?

And here's my latest original pattern. This is The Foxxy Cleopatra Cuff, a bold and beautiful piece of beadweaving, even if I do say so myself! I created this design from a pen and ink drawing I did years ago, and although the drawing was just in black and white I think this looks really cool executed in two shades of pink/mauve, brown, and black. I'm trying to decide whether to enter this piece in the Etsy BeadWeavers June Challenge. I still have a couple of days to think about it, as the deadline for entries is June 5. Whether I enter or not, be sure to check the Etsy BeadWeavers blog on June 7 to cast your vote for your favorite entry!

Doesn't this look wonderful photographed on the black hand I bought? (I put that picture at the top of this post because it's one of my favorites.) :-)

Susan (aka ClinkscalesArts) assembled a beautiful Treasury yesterday, and I'm really thrilled that she included my Victorian Ruffle necklace in it. (That's it in the third row down on the left.)

I am constantly amazed at the variety produced by the members of the Etsy BeadWeavers group. We all start with these tiny little beads and some thread, but then we go in thousands of different directions. Anytime one of the members gets in a beading rut, all she has to do is to try to think of something for one of the monthly challenges. They're always fun, and even though I haven't participated in one in awhile, it's fun to see what everyone else creates.

I didn't have a chance to do any beadweaving at all today. :-(

In fact, I don't think I did any yesterday. :-(

We're trying to get ready to move, so I'm focusing on clearing "stuff" out of our house. It's slow going. Wednesday we had a big pile of boxes and bags picked up by the local Vietnam Vets chapter. I've been posting a few things on craigslist and on eBay. And still, it seems like it's barely making a dent. I'm sure it'll be different when I finally get around to listing some of the furniture and larger things we don't want to move.

One thing I've been doing is trying to eliminate some of my collection of arts and craft supplies. It's really hard to part with them because I know I could still use everything I have (well, okay, I'd have to live to be about 125 years old), but some of it just needs to be gone. I've done my own framing for a long time, and I have quite a stash of matboard. That's not something that's particularly easy to move, as the sheets are 32" x 40", so I've been cutting up all my matboard into ACEO size blanks and listing them on Etsy. That's keeping me pretty busy. Apparently there are lots of ACEO artists out there who just don't want to cut their own cards! It's great because the stack of matboard is dwindling, and I'm almost out of the stack of chipboard I had; but it's a LOT of cutting!!

When I'm not trying to eliminate "stuff," I'm packing it into boxes so it'll be ready when we finally move. I have to admit to being somewhat obsessed about the way I pack things. Every box is coded, and the contents of every box are recorded in a spreadsheet.

Is it wrong that I use spreadsheets for just about everything!??!? I think not. I've used the spreadsheet method before, and it worked wonderfully. (By the way, we don't move very often.) It makes a great household inventory, which will come in handy if we ever need to file an insurance claim for a fire or flood (fingers and toes crossed here that that never happens). It also makes it VERY easy to find things. No more trying to read the labels scribbled on the boxes. I can figure out ahead of time where every box will go in the house, and when I'm looking for something I just have to search in the spreadsheet and then go to the correct box.

See?

There's method in my madness.

:-)

Etsy Treasuries are hard to get, but Triz managed to snag one and featured some beadweaving in it. It's a beautifully-assembled grouping of creations in blacks and browns, and I'm honored that she included my Industrial Paint cuff (it's in the middle of the third row)!!!

Carol Dean (aka SandFibers) is always on the lookout for treasuries, and she let me know about this one. That's her Beaded Larvikite Pendant in the second row. I'm borrowing Carol Dean's screenshot of the Treasury. :-)

You can check out the pure style treasury on Etsy until Sunday morning.

Kim (aka RegalBeads) also grabbed a treasury and filled it with accompaniments for the ubiquitous little black dress. It's exciting to have TWO of my beadwoven creations in treasuries at the same time! You can check out Little Black Dress until tomorrow morning.

The Etsy BeadWeavers Monthly Challenges are always fun, and although I had an idea for the May challenge, the Food Chain, I didn't get a chance to execute it. Several other of the members finished their pieces, though, so go check out the EBW blog and VOTE!!!

All I can say is that my idea involved these little green eyeballs, which I purchased from ValerieBeads. I wasn't really thinking of them for the challenge back when I bought them, but I just thought they were a hoot and had to have 'em!

I haven't given up on using my idea for these little beady eyes... the June EBW challenge is Anything Goes, so maybe you'll see these in another month or so.

Yesterday I posted one of my newest creations in my Etsy shop, a necklace/pendant I created using some beautiful iridescent beads and a gorgeous stone I found on the beach in Long Island. I have LOTS of stones left, and I can hardly wait to embellish more of them with beads and wire.

Now it's time to create (time2cre8, ha!) some more!

:-)

Voting is underway at the Etsy BeadWeavers blog for the April challenge, Fire and Flowers. I didn't create an entry this month, but lots of the other members of the team did. Just check out this mosaic:

It's really hard to tell just how gorgeous those are when you're only seeing them in that mosaic, so go visit the EBW blog so you can get a better look.

And while you're visiting blogs, check out Carol Dean's blog (after you've voted in the challenge, of course). She's doing another drawing! :-)

And the winner is...

The winner of the Etsy BeadWeavers Stormy Weather Challenge can be found on the EBW Blog. There were an AMAZING number of votes this month! Thanks to Sarah (thebeadedlily) and Carol Dean (SandFibers), who both posted an equally amazing number of comments in the Etsy forums to keep the voters coming to the blog.

I didn't keep track of the number of visitors here, but I wound up with 24 comments! So I used a random number generator I found online, and the winner of the Chocolate Covered Cherries netted cuff is........... Jean! (totallytwisted). Jean's a member of the Etsy BeadWeavers team also, so I hope my little bracelet bears up under scrutiny. :-)

What's funniest to me is that I was reading all the comments as they were posted, and Jean's said that she never wins anything. I guess she can't say that any more.