Beads N' Jane

2012-02-08T12:49:00.000-08:00

Last night I added the fringe at the bottom. I was pleased with the method I found. Instead of the fans of fringe most bead embroidery pieces utilize, I had many strands of fringe coming from only 3 dark blue pony beads. By picking shells with browns and golds I could get back to the colors in the main body of the work. I feel this piece is done and I am so pleased with it. So much so that I cannot think of starting another for fear it will be less interesting. This one really grew out of the placement of the three stone beads and I just went on from there.
So today I entered this in the "Small Works" exhibit at Gualala Arts along with the snowman and one of the stained glass panels. While doing deskwork I also signed up for the Coast Highway Artists Collective in Point Arena at 284 Main Street - the old CityArt place. Barbara Fast is off to Santa Rosa buying paint for the walls; am very glad to see that ugly Piedmont mud color on the walls go along with the sign in front. To be in the co-op I had to apply for seller's permit so I had the sweat-producing job of filing out government forms.
The sun is shining and I hope to get a good photo of this work - Destination: Gualala. Then I will have my Etsy challenge for next month on its way.

2012-02-07T11:13:00.000-08:00

I got this far with this last night. I feel the lower left side needs a bit of fringe to balance the whole thing. I see it hangs crooked!
Last night I was unhappy with the upward curve on the right shoulder, but this morning I see it enlarges the concept that this is a wave! so I may leave it. Looking at the work from across the room it does seem to emote "Gualala" so I may use it in the March Etsy challenge for a piece about a destination.

2012-02-03T11:46:00.000-08:00

Just today I found out what other people are calling this stitch. It is the Russian Spiral! Here it is done with silver-lined gold hex cut delicas and 15s in my favorite raspberry metallic. It is very rare that I keep a necklace that I have made but not worn. Usually, if I wear a necklace I hang it on my old weaving and keep it for my use only. I know others often wear a piece and then sell it, but somehow that does not feel right to me. However, this is one necklace I liked so much when I finished it that I put it in my "keep" pile just because I loved it. And now I know its name! The stitch is one of my favorites and the one I go to when I need calming. It works up so well and in the summer I found it also works well with rounded beads.

2012-01-31T09:47:00.000-08:00

Almost forgot the most excellent news! Sus at Gualala Arts called yesterday to ask if they could keep "Cloud Edge" up beyond the closing of the "Living on the Edge" show! He liked the work and liked seeing it high above the foyer and wants to keep it there until someone has a show and asks to have it taken down. Forgive me, but this feels so good especially as the piece got no ribbon and not even a mention in the Beads N' Beyond emails. The others had to take their pieces home and I get to keep my work in the gallery. This is the fifth piece I have shown at Gualala Arts Center that they have kept up beyond the show it was entered into originally. Probably a record. Sorry B.; I just had to brag! It takes some of the dents out of my self esteem.

2012-01-31T09:33:00.000-08:00

Looking for something easy to do as my courage drained away from the big embroidery piece I started edging these cabochons. At Christmas I had gotten several brass stampings with no idea of how to use them. I just liked their look. After seeing how good the butterfly went into yesterday's work, I began laying the newly bezeled stones on them. Voila! instant hanging possibilities and a nice change of texture and materials. To the bottom one I want to add a triangular copper stamping which I have just ordered from Brenda Sue' Boutique on Etsy.

The top one to the left is not placed straight. It needs a quarter turn for reality.

2012-01-30T11:27:00.000-08:00

Why can't I start with simple? Suddenly this is what I wanted to make with the bead embroidery. I have the feeling I am sewing myself into a painted corner. How to make this into a necklace is going to take some serious engineering!
Now I just need to get this under control. I had planned to take the blue beads up and around the butterfly. Now looking at the scan it helps me to re-see the work and what it needs. Maybe a darker blue - almost black. Or maybe just the blue between the antennae?
This is the creative journey that excites me so much. It is more important than the finished product. Not always the best attitude as finishing up the journey and making it appeal l to others is another can of worms and skill set.
This piece scared me so much that I have glued together a couple of fairly simple cabochons in similar patterns so I can work through simpler problems. Ha! I do love the combination of brass work and cabochons. All stones can be monotonous.

2012-01-26T10:58:00.000-08:00

It must have been magic. As I was putting away some stacked up disorganization in the studio (Barbara Fast is coming by today) I "accidentally" found this paua shell donut! Imagine that! Could not stop myself from making this. I love making the 1/2 diamonds (so like in making the stars) and sewing them together. This 'donut' is even bigger so the winged bail is huge. Am wondering if I should embellish it. Hm... Now looking at the photo I see again my feeling that this simple pattern makes the bail 'too big' and yet I do like the lines as the top clings to the 'chain.' Am wishing to release my "embellish to the max" spirit on this one.

2012-01-25T10:54:00.000-08:00

In checking back on my blog I took another look at the bail from Etsy. This time I made a better sketch and was able to copy it accurately. I found that the bigger it is, the more graceful it appears. It is almost 2 inches wide and the hole is very big for a donut.So I made this one with a very simple chain to not detract from the upward soaring line of the bail. I just strung delicas with a square bead every ten beads and then kept going back and forth with strings of 11a and 15s until these holes were filled.

Basically this stone was not a donut but one of Fire Mountain's clasps. I do not think I have any more stones with a hole in them. So this is the end of this idea at the moment.
The Ultrasuede arrived and it is so much thicker than that which Sheree had given me so many years ago. I must devise a new way to use it. Have a star cut out and will try it today. Also glued a stone to a piece to see how using it to back a cabochon works.

2012-01-24T11:58:00.000-08:00

Trying to duplicate my inspiration from the work I found in Etsy yesterday I discoved that if the donut is too big the bail gets really, really BIG. So I made this take off on the idea. I made a modified diamond shape where the two small ends meet in the middle of the donut. It looked rather bare so I embellished it. Then seeing what I had used in the embellishment, I went on to make a spiral chain to match.

I was surprised how together the necklace felt even though there was no planning or fore-thought - I just followed my feelings of what the piece needed. To have it turn out so well was a huge boost to my self-esteem. I especially appreciated that since a member of the bead group talking to me on the phone, expressed an opinion that left me speechless (at the time). She was talking about an upcoming show and said, "but this does involve you as your beadwork is of such inferior quality." Two days later and I still have not formulated an adequate reply - except to make this necklace!

2012-01-22T10:48:00.000-08:00

Yesterday at the bead meeting I taught several how to make this stuffed star you have seen here before. I wrote up instructions and hope all will be able to continue when they get home. I know how hard it is for me to learn something new in a group, but if I am home alone with the project it makes itself. May that be so for them! We did have a lot of good laughs. My take-home quote was from Kathy: "Thou shalt not weigh more than thine refrigerator."

Then today while trolling Etsy I found this interesting bail on this piece. I realized it is made from four half-diamonds that are sewed together in a different way. I really liked this idea and I am eager to try this out today.
Do have a star on my tray that uses up the last bit of my chamois. All I have left is the new piece of Lucy's stiff stuff that is scaring me stiff! I just cannot make friends with that stiff white stuff.
At the meeting Susan told me the star that so inspired me is at the local dress shop and that they are made in China! Anyhow Sus liked the California colors in my star as seen in the photo below and let me give him one for his sweater which also had all the colors in it.

2012-01-20T11:09:00.000-08:00

I survived my birthday which was a real crying fest. I had run out of chocolate and was into plain marzipan. A batch of brownies yesterday wiped away my tears and dark mood just in time for a rain storm. So in the dimmed light I cracked open my latest bead book and dutifully made some samples. I was so bored and bummed that I returned to making the star pins and my happiness was complete. The star is not. There are two small points to be finished today and then what? Another star? Maybe just a brownie. No, nothing soothes my soul like pulling thread through a glass bead. Now I ask you, "Is that so terrible?"

2012-01-17T10:37:00.000-08:00

At least today I got both sides of this piece into the photo. And I got rid of that annoying big crystal at the top of the bird. The work is slowly coming into its own. What "Its own, " is, I am not sure of today.
Think I am into pre-birthday blues with a cranky "what me? be happy?" frown on my face. Maybe I am tired of trying to write book reviews about haiku with caps and punctuation.

While waiting on the Ultrasuede I am discovered some old felt squares and so far felt seems to be working as a basis for the embroidered design. Will sew it to a covered cardboard star. I am enjoying doing the bead embroidery. My stitches are now getting mindlessly accurate and that feels good. Look on the bright side! Nothing but good times ahead.

2012-01-16T11:56:00.000-08:00

Loyal followers of this blog, here you get to see the first photos of "First Out of the Nest." Heck the photo cuts off the left side. However did that happen? Anyhow, I see that big crystal on top has to go. Not an easy thing to do without taking the whole bird - it is a bird isn't it? - apart.

Just got the book on bead embroidery by Serefini and Krummli and so I am wondering if I should redo the bird as an embroidery project. As it it is I sewed a basis of white 6s made into a brooch form.
While researching felt for other embroidery projects, I got a quote for 'cushion air felt' used in display cases. That is the stuff I have gotten by the ton in the dozen cases I bought for my necklaces! So often in my life lately I have noticed that when I feel the need for something, if I look around in my stuff a bit, I will find I already have it in abundance.

However, I did order a yard of Ultrasuede this morning when I was supposed to be doing book reviews for Lynx. I suspect the afternoon will find me poking a needle through that weird cushion air felt stuff to see how it works up.

2012-01-14T12:47:00.000-08:00

I had decided to give up doing these stars because the joint in my thumb is swollen and hot from the pressure of pushing the needle through the leather, but I got the idea of putting in a heart and suddenly I wanted to do more. I love this idea. A Valentine's Day gift one can wear all year! Every one is a STAR!
Today I am investigating some 5 mm thick felt with the hope that it would be easier to push through that, but the price is holding me back - $41.00 for 1/4 a yard and only 36 inches wide. It is 100% wool which I do not really need so I have a message out to another company to see if I can get what I need at a price in my range. Was surprised that Fire Mountain did not sell ultra-suade. I think my thumb is glad for that bit of news.

Hi Lori! She got so many sign-ups for her bead hop she is visiting blogs to see who is serious enough to be allowed in. Hi, Lori. do you see my hand waving at you? There is also a swap of jewely on Etsy and I have also signed up there. That one is for finished pieces containing no more than $10 worth of materials - entirely different concept than Lori's.

2012-01-10T13:04:00.000-08:00

Another set of stars. Here are all I have done. Dorise's original one is in the center (the darker one). When I called to see how to return it, Dorise said she did not know where or from whom she had gotten the star pin. I would really like to give someone credit for all the joy I am getting from the design.
The lower red-brown star I made trying to duplicate the colors in the original. However I used a tan ultra-suade and hers is on a black rayon-like fabric. The black background mutes the transparent beads (as in the center of the star to the middle right) which, though it looks great on Dorise's star, bothers me. so I am back with the bright flashy colors.
In an effort to tone it down I started the star at the top with softer colors on a white background. All of these beads are Delicas which I can see here in the scan make the rows almost too small. It seems 11s are the best for this item. Am listening to the audio tapes of Margaret George's Autobiography of Henry VIII and thoroughly enjoying both.

2012-01-08T09:28:00.000-08:00

Isn't this about the ugliest thing you have ever seen? I started it while waiting on the show at GAC to open and the very interesting thing is that I was working on this, learning how to embroider with beads and then that evening I would meet Dorice at the opening and start me on the star project that is shown before this one. This was done on a scrap of felt from Sheree and the felt is so thick the stitches on the backside barely show. Werner pointed out that the circle is not round. Fancy that!

2012-01-08T09:05:00.000-08:00

At the opening of the show, "Living on the Edge" I met a beaded piece I had seen several years before and tried to copy from memory while not really appreciating how it was made. Dorise Ford was wearing the pin highest above. When I told her of my quest, she immediately unpinned the star and handed it to me. At home I discovered it was made by the embroidery technique and started to make my own. I used two layers of black felt sewed around a cardboard star - which accounts for why mine is slightly bigger. I think I want to order some of that very expensive wool felting Sheree showed me. I am not yet totally sure because I want to avoid having to sew a backing on to the pin and I do not want my stitching to show. I may try some ultra-suade before I spend $60 on good felt. The layers have to be sewed together when the circles of beads get to the edge so they can go slightly around the edge. I was very surprised how differently colors appear when they are next to other colors. It took me awhile to establish my palette. Am eager to do another one.

2012-01-06T11:48:00.000-08:00

Tonight is opening night! From 5 - 7 p.m. the exhibit titled "Living on the Edge," curated by CE Brown will open at Gualala Arts Center. It is a huge show, over 150 items, and from what I could see last night, is very well hung. There is so much excitement about the show that Gualala Arts is furnishing the champagne!

In the photo above you can see my piece titled "Cloud" that is 18 feet long. My special thanks to Bruce Jones for the extra trips up on the scissor-lift to fling the piece out across the ceiling of the foyer. He also placed a pencil drawing of a man on the stairs who seems to be gazing up at my work. Very funny.

Off to dust off my velvets and find the sparklies to wear. Hope to see you at the opening!

2011-12-27T11:17:00.000-08:00

For some reason, working on the star with luster transparent Delicas, was so hard on my eyes that I stopped making stars (besides the little fake tree was getting overloaded) and went back to bead crocheting. The colors totally entertained me while I listened to Christmas carols even after the gift-opening splurge. I love these lime-rose magatama beads because their spring-like colors held me over the dark history of the music.
I tried using some of the dark blue magatama but they feel as if they have been covered with a plastic coating and have no "zat" or depth at all.

I did post my 'treasure list' on Etsy but though one person liked my title "So you didn't get what you wanted for Christmas" only about 25 actually looked at the list. I enjoyed making the list, do not think I am good at that, and wonder at the time spent on it. I feel I have done all I could to guide business to my site except add more items but am seriously considering whether all that work is worth it. Then I look at the shop stats and see that 15 -20 people visited the site and I realize that is more pairs of eyes on my stuff than I would get with a shop in either Gualala or Point Arena - and it is a lot warmer here on my computer by the heater and have to rethink my laziness.
My decision today is: do I take down Christmas decorations and set up my photo corner again or do I sit and bead? And if I bead, is there a life beyond a crocheted rope? I am waiting on two orders of brass stampings and if those are waiting at the post office today, they may propel me into something new.

2011-12-25T10:51:00.000-08:00

I hope you are having a Merry Christmas!

My e-greeting to you!

\o/ Jane

2011-12-23T10:14:00.000-08:00

As you can see, beads have invaded my Holiday Greetings. I have no excuse for my reasons for this except this is the image came to my mind and I could not get rid of it until I took the photo. I kept thinking there had to be a better photo in the idea and kept photographing the set up as the light moved around only to find, are we surprised? that this first shot was the best one.
I have many other things to do, things that need to be done, yet I am happiest making more of these stars! Reminds me of the starfish faze I was in this summer! This must have been a stary night year for me.

2011-12-18T09:49:00.000-08:00

Saturday was our Christmas bead meeting. We had two tables of foods (I did not photograph), one of give aways, one of show and tell. Gorgeous foods. People were torn between filling their plates and finding the best give aways. Marianne had made a basket of goodies and a Fire Mountain gift certificate (that made Vicki gasp) as thanks for all her work placing the orders for us. Marianne also had gifts for each of us - a bottle of Delicas so we could all make stars for our next year Festival of Trees. Fortunately I had given Cindy one for carting me to the meeting so everyone got a look again at it. I was amazed that Suzanne had materials with her, opened the beads, used a paper plate as mat and started beading. That's her in the foreground. Bobbie moved back just as the shutter snapped so I missed her. Marianne and Vicki were discussing how to make the lovely necklace Vicki is working on. Cindy and Sandra are listening. I missed Jan Edwards who was around the corner finding the best beads from the give aways. Both Cindy and Marianne bought some of my clear ball beads and I meant to give Jan one and got side tracked. So much going on and so much laughter. I have been a hermit too long!

2011-12-18T09:03:00.000-08:00

Got the strings on the nest necklace and am pleased with the effect. All that work layering the strings paid off. Sandra and Cindy stopped by after the bead meeting and at first they thought it was made of feathers. As they touched it and lifted the threads they were amazed at the play of colors between white and natural. How fortunate that I had some of the fuzzy yarn floating in among my potholder staple of 'sugar and cream.'
The centerpiece of jewels is just hooked in. I have not yet see how that should be finally. Maybe bigger? I tried hanging the earrings next to it but that looked like too much.
At least I know how this is going to be and have over a month to ponder the finish. It is for the Etsy beadweavers challenge for February.

2011-12-12T09:08:00.000-08:00

A good day with very little computer work left me with enough energy to get started on the cloud for the "Living on the Edge" exhibit in January. Nearly made a terrible mistake of rolling the finished parts. Thank goodness an inner voice said, Remember you decided that rolling this would mess up the layers? So I am just accordion pleating it so the top and the bottom are separated by the layer of fabric. Those many sleepless hours in the night that I spent mentally making this piece is, I hope, paying off.
The fabric being so gauzy it is fairly easy to check that the string of beads is pulled up tight against the button. I hope to figure out some way of checking them all in the end as I was surprised how many ways a thread could get tangled in the beads. I comfort myself by saying that if a couple are messy I can just clip and forget them. Still I am patterning the beads across the expanse so they do not feel completely random.
I hope to get this done in a couple more days so I can clean the room and put up the tree. So far I have only allowed myself the advent candles.

2011-12-11T09:50:00.000-08:00

This entry has no photo and soon you will be thankful.
Last Friday Vicki called to say the Fire Mountain order had been delivered early. The past couple of months they had come too late for distribution at the meetings so Vicki sent in the order early to have the extra time for them to be late. As the world goes - the order came right through as if there was no Christmas mail.
Werner was just ready to go out the door for the trip to town so I held him up while I wrote a check and reminded him where to put it. He came home exhausted but delighted with himself that he had had enough energy to make the stop at Vicki's for me.
After I put away all the groceries I hurried over to the plastic bag by the mail because I was eager to see the angel wings in the order. As I tore into the green plastic bag I thought Vicki usually packages the orders better than this. Then I noticed tiny things spilling out on the counter and thought, Oh dear a bead box has broken open. Tearing the plastic bag open wider I saw what was in it.

Cat poop!

Werner had brought home the bag Tom had used to clean out the cat litter box! My order is still at Vicki's so before I get those angel wings and get started on them I am determined to work on the show piece.

2011-12-09T13:42:00.000-08:00

I soon was bored with just pouring beads into a glass ball and began to think of what else I could put in through the tiny hole. Soon I was poking threads in and then threading in copper wires. And then there were beads on the wires - but only the tiniest ones. Once Jan Edwards had given me some very old (judging by the strings they were on) Charlottes in a fuchsia color. The beads were somewhat corroded (metal surely) and not evenly made enough for beading but it felt good to save these old, old beads in the glass balls.
Yesterday I said the holes on the balls were not flat but as I worked with them I realized the decorated headpins I was using were not straight. I found that even when they were straightened beads would leak out so I removed all of them and wrapped the wires at the loop instead of making the simple eyelet. This tightened up the end closures and now no beads are straying.
This is the last challenge of the year for the Etsy Beadweavers' in the December "Arabesque Style" contest. You are invited to vote for your favorite in the public poll at http://www.etsy-beadweavers.blogspot.com/ I have nothing in this contest but hope you will enjoy looking at the contestants and will vote for your favorite.

2011-12-08T09:52:00.000-08:00

Another effort to avoid doing the show piece. While tooling around Etsy I found someone offering pendants made with the clear glass balls from Fire Mountain. I had gotten some just before I stopped making the Scrotum Series (they do not sell!) so I dug the clear glass balls out to see what I could do with them. The holes are very small - size 11 beads will not go in. So I filled this one with 15s. The outsides of the holes are not flattened and often have one side higher than the other so it is hard to get the head pin to sit flat against the ball. The lady on Etsy filled hers with glitter but unless she found a way to stop the hole better than I could, it seems to me the stuff inside would leak. She made hers horizontal (which would help when the necklace was worn; I can image the jewely box becoming a snowy landscape) which I did not like. I must say I get a great deal of pleasure from touching the glass ball, rolling it in my hand and watching the beads swirl in it. (I am easily entertained.) I tried to think of something else I could put in it but the holes are so small. Maybe threads? Maybe I have another project so I can avoid starting the big work. It is 18 feet long and just thinking about it exhausts me.

2011-12-08T09:45:00.000-08:00

I am doing everything I can to avoid having to work on the cloud piece for the January show. The latest issue of Bead Style came the other day and in it I found earrings made like this. Only recently had I discovered a bunch of one-inch head pins Debbe had given me and was thinking that either I should use them up or pass them along in the December Bazaar Bizarre at the bead meeting. The black pair of earrings was so easy (a few months ago I got a new tool that bends the loops perfectly) that I went on to make the white and pink pearl and crystal ones. In a recent order I got the two-strand package of assorted teardrop pearls (for angel bodies) and now am finding so many uses for them - as demonstrated here. These were too easily made and then I nothing more to do. . .

2011-12-01T10:21:00.001-08:00

I see I forgot to show you how the angels ended up. It was amazing how all at once I knew exactly how they should look and what it took to make them be my vision. At first I was putting on silver hearts to 'match' the silver wings but when I figured out that their hearts should be gold, everything fell into place. Accidentally I picked up larger pearls for the heads than I had tried previously and I feel these are much better. They have a presence and a being. I can almost imagine the face of someone who shines.
There is something in me that wants to order many wings and make a bunch of angels for Valentine's day on Etsy and yet there is the Stevenson side of Scotch ancestry that says, "Go slow. All the profits could be swallowed up by over production of something you like. Too often you are not in touch with the likes and dislikes of the rest of the world!"

Stop the presses! So I just ordered thirty pairs of wings. . . and some interesting beads for bodies.

2011-12-01T10:06:00.000-08:00

I am so excited about these new lizards. You can barely see in this scan, but along the sides I am now using copper hex cuts so the lizard has better body definition - i.e., fatter sides! The hex cuts are slightly longer so the thread cross-overs are minimized and the belly and back are farther apart. Plus on this color I used black thread which helps hide it.

Also in a moment of inspiration I used three beads at the end of the nose and now it looks like a dragon. I look down my photography set up in preparation of the Christmas tree in that corner but now I feel I need to get closer with the other camera.

And today I sold another of the lizard bangles so have posted two new ones on Etsy. Hopefully their holiday-like spirit and color will chase someone else into the line of buyers! I think people do not truly appreciate how there is a double thrill for a gift that is bought from the artist. I often feel I get a greater lift of spirits knowing someone has bought something I made than I do from a gift given me. So when you buy a homemade gift you give twice the thrills - one to the maker and another to the recipient of your gift.

2011-11-26T10:24:00.000-08:00

I must have been under an undo influence when I placed my last Fire Mountain order. I was shocked to realize that among the stuff I really needed, and was waiting for, I had ordered the elements to make angels. After putting away the stuff, I tried the angel on the left but something about her kept bothering me. So days later I began to play around with the mate and came up with pearl heads which I find much better than the 'empty' crystals. Fine. But I could not stop. So I added a heart. Then I felt the heart hung down too far, was too big for the body so I added the little glass flower 'waist' but I am unhappy with that. I am still debating whether I like / need / want the heart. I do not want my angels look like the fifteen million other angels made by this technique.
Then while looking at Fire Mountain's Black Friday ad I saw that they also have other angel wings. I paid $2.32 for the pair I got and I did not feel they were very well designed. They look much better here in the photograph than in real life. Then I found some with excellent design that cost $1.62 for 20. Problem now is: do I buy 20 of the better made wings and go on making angels or do I stop myself here and now. The new wings are on my shopping list. We will see if they make the cut next month.
Am still making stars. Werner is unconsciously encouraging them by buying two HUGE boxes of cotton balls. I think I am going to have to go back to making teddy bears to use them all.

2011-11-24T10:23:00.000-08:00

Am on another beading jag. I simply cannot stop making these stars. I am making them faster than I can buy cotton balls to stuff them. Hence the flat one above.
It is certainly true that one cannot expect the color of the work to be the same as the beads in the tube. I love the metallic iris Delicas and in the tube they were gold. I have used them on bracelets and they were gold. Now as a star they go dark on me. Dark star! Just what I needed. Holidays are always nerve-wracking for me, even when I do nothing and go nowhere, so I am doing comfort beading - stars! And I need light, brightness, warmth.
In the summer it was the starfish and the only reason I stopped making them was because I could not find the alabaster color in a rounded opaque 11. However the big box of cylindrical Delicas bought for the starfish have now all been used up in making the stars.

I cleaned up the inside studio and put away the photography corner (which you can see in last Friday's blog). I am very discouraged about Etsy. It was so much work building shots and photographing the items and phtotoshopping all those photos (five per item) but I have only had two sales in this the second best month. People do see my stuff and are putting some of my items in their treasury list (for which I am very thankful) but sales. . . We will see when I will have made enough of these stars that I feel I must do 'something' to get them out there and post them on Etsy.

2011-11-21T08:03:00.000-08:00

Between passing rainstorms we were able to drive to The Dolphin in Gualala in sunshine. I had put the big bird in the back seat with a thought that I should fasten its seatbelt but dreaded mashing my arrangements. Half way there, on Highway One, some idiot made a left hand turn across our lane. Werner was quick enough to hit the brakes and we skidded just past his right taillight. Heart stopping for us but the big bird made a flying leap off the seat. He was the least of our worries as we talked each other out of our panic all the way to town!
I was pleasantly surprised when I unwrapped the bird that only a couple bracelets had been dislodged. All that pinning down of every piece paid off.
The ladies doing take-in were very organized and already were prepared for me. Evidently Harriet had told them of our phone call so they were very careful to check that I had put tags on everything and that the tags had all the info! No letting me get by with the idea that all my things were one price so there was no need for tags. In gratitude one of them filled out the paper work for me.
They had repainted the gallery so the brown walls were gone and the white was glistening. Someone with good taste had chosen and placed swags of Christmas decorations along the wall. There was some debating about where to put the bead bird ("Oh, its so big!") and "No there is no way to stablize it from the ceiling." These conversations were escalating until I wondered if he would be accepted at all when Dee Taylor came sailing into the room. "Are things for sale, yet?" When I said mine were, she zoomed in on the bird while the sweet white-haired lady was still debating IF and where to put it. She pried Dee off of it long enough to let the two of us carry it to a table in a corner at the back (which conveniently hides three sides of the display).
None of this stopped Dee who, by the time I left, had bought 6 bracelets. We chatted and kidded about the sexual orientation of the bead bird and had so much fun that I forgot to take a photo of it in situ for this blog. Dee's joy at finding so many bracelets she wanted to buy made me feel it was a good decision to make the display and put it in the Christmas show. The guardian angel who saved us a near frontal smash-up got many prayers of thanksgiving.

2011-11-18T11:18:00.000-08:00

As you can see I did dust off the big bead bird and started loading him up for the holidays. I tried to keep myself from being depressed about the discouraging task of selling beads, or any other art work, in these times by telling myself I was doing this to decorate the Christmas Shoppe at the The Dolphin and to be part of the community holiday activities. It took a lot of chocolate and a lovely phone call to Harriet to work out a way for me to do the smallest amount of inventory work and yet not mess up her systems.
Solution? I made everything just $15 and I bowed to her need to put a tag on every item. I still have to find some weird things for the bottoms of the bird's feet and then I can count up the number of items and I am ready to roll.

When I read the ICO I saw the Senior Citizens are having a Craft Fair also. Got the idea of donating the things that did not fit on the bird to them. They can take all the profits. They could have one of their vendors include my things with theirs or just put out a table with a donation jar and the beaded things. Saves me being a sales clerk (first I typed cluck - which is more correct!). Am waiting on a call back. . .

So today, after cleaning away things you can see in this messy photo I can get back to my cloud. I am amazed how big a job will seem until I actually get down to doing it. It only took nine hours to get to this. What a fool I am!

2011-11-17T11:21:00.000-08:00

This photo fairly represents my mind today. I do not know what to do. I am in gear and the cloud piece is going well. I am excited with it and happy how things look now.
However I peeked into the newest issue of Sketches and see that on Sunday or Monday I could enter things in The Dolphin Christmas Show. Do I risk losing my momentum and stop to spend several days pricing and inventorying pieces to put on the big bird? Is all that work worth the less than $100. I would get? At least there is no up-front booth fee and I do not have to be a sales clerk for 4 - 8 hours. How valueless is my time? The Dolphin is the only place that keeps good records and pays promptly. However, sales are sometimes very low there. Even the back and forth in my writing echoes my mind. In order to do a good job on the "cloud" I need to use my best energy. Anyone have an I-ching coin?

2011-11-16T10:17:00.000-08:00

With Werner's help, the baskets of beads on my desk have all returned to the studio. I still have four of the front-close chunky necklaces to finish off and to photograph but my heart is not really in that job any more. I am thinking, and have begun to work on the piece for the Gualala Arts Center show in January called "Living on the Edge." Mine will be the edge of a cloud. I still have not gotten the title firmly in mind but all the materials have arrived and the deck is cleared!
Have started making the 'raindrops' already. At first I thought of making a pattern and then stringing them all alike. While trying out different designs I got the idea that raindrops are not really all the same and it would be a lot more fun to let myself redesign the strips of rain each time I made one.

I just photographed this one and I see that the beads do not hang straight! Back to the drawing board here. I can take variation but not wobbly raindrops.

Today I can decide if the living room floor is big enough to lay out the fabric or if I must take the car out of the garage, clean the floor and work out there. Sitting on carpeting is so much nicer than cold cement.

2011-11-09T12:22:00.000-08:00

Here you can almost see a comparison of the snowflake with crystals or with just beads. In reality the crystals do a lot to 'organize' the impressions. I reduced the number of protrusions on the snowflake with crystals because I found the original looked too dense and busy. We will see what Vicki says on Friday.
In the meantime I have returned to the stars. It takes a long time for me to make 10 identical diagonal pieces but I love sewing the star together and seeing how the pressure on the sides changes the shape.
Just a quick reminder that you can vote for your favorite entry in the challenge "Totally Twisted" on Etsy by clicking here. Voting is open until November 15 so you have time to go and look over all the entries, to get new bead ideas and inspiration, and test your judging skills. Have fun!

2011-11-08T11:30:00.000-08:00

I just realized I was so eager to show you the snowflakes, I forgot to let you see the several trees I did for a customer on Etsy. This woman in Maryland ordered my Christmas tree earrings and liked them so much she said she wanted five more pair. That is the second time a customer has been more pleased with the actual item than the photo!
So I spent the whole weekend making four new trees and redoing the one red tree from a Valentine's day ornament into Christmas tree. I hope she is happy with them. She wanted a purple tree so I changed the ball-adding scheme so there would be less of them and I really liked the look. The one at the top here is the former pattern.
Luckily the sun was shining yesterday and I was able to get these photos. In just the couple of weeks I have been using the set-up by the window, the angle of the light has changed so much I am going to have to rebuild it. The sun was only in the right position about 15 minutes because it angles in so low.

2011-11-08T11:20:00.000-08:00

I finally got the tree earrings done for Paula, got them photographed and posted. Then I was able to get around to the goodies Vicki had sent with the Fire Mountain order. This was a beaded snowflake she had found at Pay N' Take. It was made on silver wire which had tarnished as had the silver linking of the white beads. I was able to replicate the design in seed beads instead of bugles. I was surprised how much changing the size of the beads changed the shape of the snowflake. When I turned off the light at midnight I was feeling there was something else I wanted to try. This morning, in the crystal light of dawn, I realized! Crystals! on the points. Or should I do one completely in Swarovski crystals? I have a bunch of the seed bead size but I doubt there are enough. I could maybe simplify the design. Hmmm. . .
Anyhow here I am supposed to be getting ready for Christmas and all I want to do is to make new designs.

2011-11-04T13:46:00.000-07:00

Even though I have left and am boycotting Facebook, Facebook is still stuck with showing my stuff. Just found out that the entries in the "Totally Twisted" Challenge are now posted there.

Good news.

Also I showed Vicki my little peyote star and she loved it! Wants to learn how to do it. Last night I started a big one and am eager to see how that comes out. One two-sided leg of the star took all evening to make. Somehow twice as big seems a lot bigger.

I heard from one of my customers at Etsy and she loved the Christmas trees but wanted something less Christmassy and more of just winter so I scanned these earrings I had made for Valentine's day to see if she likes them. She also suggested trees decorated with purple. I am tempted to drop the stars and do whatever she wants or suggests. I am so thankful to have the input of others I will even go to making purple 'Christmas' trees. Maybe blue and white for Hanukkah? I could have yellow dots for lights!

2011-11-03T09:52:00.000-07:00

In the most recent Bead & Button magazine I saw an ad for a kit to make a star. I checked out the web site and when I saw the kit cost $90 my fingers moved more slowly over the keyboard. However, when I saw it was judged to be a very advanced (6 stars) peyote stitch I easily lost interest because the peyote stitch is the most difficult for me to do and to figure out. I was not paying $90. for a kit only Sue Hansen could bead!
When I returned to my bead tray I simply could not get the image of that star out of my mind. Recently I had ordered some Delicas, forgetting that they are so cylindrical, and needing rounded beads for the seastar I loved making so much. All these thoughts brought me back to the Christmas star in the ad. . .
On my first try at reproducing the real thing from the tiny photo, I was able to do it. Here it is. If you saw a photo of it you could see how dimensional it it. I love making this, though it takes over 5 hours, and will probably make many more for Christmas ornaments. The scan does not do it justice! If you want to see the kit, and its more extravegant embellishment you can see it here.

2011-11-02T11:15:00.000-07:00

In an effort to NOT think about scam scum buyer I had on Etsy, I am concentrating on the good news that CE Brown would welcome a work from me for her show "Living on the Edge" scheduled for January, 2012. I wanted to see how strings of crystals would pull and shape a soft cloth. I tried this in the studio aka living room with the cheapest gauze from Werner's supplies for polishing the car. I see it does what I want so I am off to Dharma Trading Company with the hope they still have the harem cloth I used for the big haiku book. It is gauzy but is much better woven and straight.

I see this piece as being the bottom edge of a cloud that demonstrates how rain drops pull and shape the cloud. CE's show gets the GAC Foyer so hopefully I can make it big and hang it high. Am debating how long to make the crystal drops and how many acrylic beads I will need for it.

2011-11-01T11:15:00.000-07:00

Well, the necklace won or at least got its way with me. I tried shortening the chain one, two and three links and it still gave off the same message of "Here I am and I am very proud of it!" I also tried three other ways of photographing it and nothing seemed to make any difference. I definitely got the feeling it knew better than I what it wanted to be.

So today I posted it on Etsy with a wobbly heart full of excitement. It is entered (I think!) in the November Etsy Beadweavers challenge. You can vote for your favorite Totally Twisted work between November 9th and 15th by following this link.

2011-10-31T11:24:00.000-07:00

I got this done in time for the contest with the theme of "Totally Twisted" by the Etsy Bead Weavers for November which closes on Friday. And the sun was shining! So I got this picture. Now that I am able to look at the piece with the detachment of a camera, I am wondering if the dangle is too long or hangs down too far. . .

Since the sun still shines today, I think I will take the time to shorten the chain about three links. Still I love the opulence of the dangle and having it a tad too far from the rest of the necklace seems to add to its oddness and aloofness. I will have to ask the necklace what it wants.

I really pushed the twisted in me on this one. The ropes are all spirals and by running a wire through the copper colored one I got it to twist too. What you cannot see is the twisted copper wires that hold each of those copper leaves on the bottom rope. I am sure there is also a twist in one or more of the chains or will be by the time I give up fussing with this.

I am especially happy with the dangle! I had not planned on doing that but the chain was too long and it came out that way. I made a flat Celini spiral on a flat weaving and it curled up like that all by itself. A pink CZ crystal drop would have been nice, but I only had a purple one. It feels to me as if it calms all that pink noise up in the necklace.

2011-10-28T10:17:00.000-07:00

The other day I was accepted into the Etsy Bead Weavers Team! That gave me something to cheer about in a week of no sales. The group, about 780 strong, holds challenges each month on a theme and part of the membership requirement is to enter at least one challenge a year and to vote on the others. The theme for November is "twisted" so yesterday I started this. I think my twisted is more of a spiral but I am enjoying the twisted beads. I had made wire beads for one of the scrotum series and never felt it was very good.

So for these I started with an inch of plastic tubing and wired a basis of larger beads to it. On top I left more wire show but did add some 8s to each wrap. I did them on the sticks so I could find the opening and to be able to hold it while I did it. This was such fun that I am thinking of trying more. I want to make some small ones using only 8s.

I do enjoy 'challenges' as they get my mind going in new ways. I am not sure if this necklace will turn out good enough for a contest and if my 'twisted' is twisted enough but I am certainly enjoying the twisted journey. I have to have it done and posted by November 5th. My biggest worry is whether there will be a good day of sun when I do get the necklace done in time to get a good photograph. Amazing how we (I!) set ourselves up with worries and deadlines just so we feel alive!

2011-10-25T08:51:00.000-07:00

With the arrival of the origami necklace back from Fire Mountain (it was a finalist in the Seed Bead Contest) and my posting it on Etsy yesterday I am calling a halt to my posting of items there. I think there are about 31 now. Also I reposted some of the photographs hoping to show more of the item and less of the screwy formatting of photos. Suddenly I feel like I have so much time!

I am so eager for sales I have actually thought of going to E-bay to list some things there. Scary how desperate I am.

2011-10-19T10:34:00.000-07:00

Had a customer on my Etsy shop who, when her order arrived, turned around and ordered two more pairs of my earrings. A repeat customer! The very best kind to have. There are SO many offerings on Etsy it is a miracle if anyone finds my stuff. However, the repeat customer can actually finger the stuff, wiggle it and try it on and then come back again. Beautiful.
In spite of my bitching, I am getting items tagged as favorites by people I do not know so something is working with the searches. Last week two people picked items from my shop to include in their gallery listings. There are some very bright and exciting young women on Etsy.

Here is a photo of the earrings I photographed on Monday when the sun was actually shining. I have a whole tray of new items lined up with the hope that the sun that is shining now will come in my window at 3:15.

2011-10-16T11:00:00.000-07:00

by Rochelle Mort

My granddaughter Caitlin Steiner got married last Saturday and this is my favorite photo. It gives me such happiness I just had to put it here to show it off. She is now Mrs. Brandon Lowry! Congratulations and much happiness for both of you!

Caitlin is a great beader when she is not teaching school, working on her Master's Degree, or remodeling the house she and Brandon bought two years ago. Her, now out of date blog, is "The House on the Corner" but being a new bride she gets forgiven for letting that job slip. Caitlin and her mom Carol did the wedding themselves - doing it all and proving that a home-made wedding really has heart. Rochelle's blog has more photos.

2011-10-16T10:52:00.000-07:00

Cindy stopped by to pick up her Etsy order and we were talking about Etsy and I said I was searching for some way to tie my photos together so a visitor to my shop would get a reinforced image.

Cindy, who always shoots straight to the center, said, "With the name of The Bead Beach, why don't you photograph your bead work on sand, or beach rocks?"

So that very afternoon, with the last of the sun before the next winter storm rolled in, I did. Thanks so much Cindy!

2011-10-11T11:00:00.000-07:00

Have had my first two sales at the Etsy store and have now posted new items to take the place of the deleted ones. Was glad to find out several more automatic functions at Etsy. When an item sells, they automatically remove it from your listing. Wow! But if you have multiples of that item, it is easy to copy it and get it reposted. It was sooooo good to make the two sales and now I am busy finding out how to package and ship my stuff. So much to learn! But I like that.

Also it is possible for members to make lists or galleries of items they admire or ones which fit a certain category (just like making a gallery show!). Today my pumpkin made the treasure list for Halloween. I was so glad that someone could find it (among the many items on Etsy!) and liked it enough to post it AND having photographed it with the professional background it looked professional. I was very proud of it.

2011-10-08T13:45:00.000-07:00

My new new shop on Etsy, The Bead Beach, is now officially open! Please do stop by to take a look. Many of the items are ones you have watched me develop and make with your help on these journal pages.

It would help me a great deal if you would mark your favorites. One of the ways I get started on a new project is the fact that someone likes something I've made. So here is your chance to channel my efforts.

As you will see, the shop is so new I still have not had a sale yet, so if there is a kind hearted beader who would like the 'honor' of being my first customer I would be delighted.

Today my granddaughter Caitlin Steiner is marrying Brandon Lowery in Kingsburg California. I wish we could be there to see their shining faces! but are sending long distance love until they can come over to the coast to see us.

2011-10-04T12:37:00.000-07:00

Another day of rain and/or cloudy weather. We are supposed to have a rain storm and then a few hours of sunshine before the next one blows in. Now when I really need the sunshine for my Etsy photos all I get are clouds - six days worth of clouds. Between two of them I snagged this shot of the piled up new necklaces. When I used the timer option on the camera, often the sun that was shining when I clicked the shutter was already gone by the time the actual shutter opened. All of which was a great excuse to go back to making more of these necklaces that I love. I feel as if I must make one with every color combination. Right now on the trays is a white one and a black one (am tempted to make it a Halloween fright necklace. . .) and I sewing on AB rootbeer with bronze iris delicas. The colors are so yummy I cannot think about them and stay here on the computer.

I consulted with Sandy Smith and she said what I had known was right: I need some smaller, lower priced items for the Etsy store. However for the better photos of these items I need sunshine! And until I get sunshine the boxes of 'smaller items - errings and suncatchers - pile up around the camera set-up.

2011-09-29T09:23:00.000-07:00

Ah what a difference getting out the big camera with a backdrop makes. It was worth the effort hauling stuff in from the garage and even the couple of hours trying to get the necklace photographed on black velvet - which absolutely did not work.
By the time I realized that white on white was best, the afternoon light was already fading. But the sharp angle of the sun gave me that dark background. Thank goodness the sun is shining again today.
I am working on the blue necklaces now. I find it really helpful to leave the beading cord extra long and running it through several stones so it holds well enough for me to hang the necklace, let my hot ideas cool off and if necessary, make adjustments before crimping and cutting it off.
I love all the 'stuff' going on in this! However, when I laid aside the first one with the idea of adding more to it, it suddenly seemed so simple and. . . good for what it was.

2011-09-28T10:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday's necklace is still not finalized. I need to think on it a bit more. I found that by leaving a long tail on the bead wire I can move the necklace around and still be about to open it up and redo any part that does not hang right. I did a second one in similar colors but needs more immediate care before I show it to you. Each day I vow to set up the photo backdrop to get better photos than just these wobbly scans. Really not fair to you!

That is a Debbe Hulle lampwork bead as focal point.

2011-09-27T12:46:00.000-07:00

It does pay to redo things! I often think of 'stringing' as the easy part of a necklace or the less time consuming part of the job but for some reason re-stringing this seemed to take up most of the afternoon. I am often amazed when a necklace "takes over and tells me what to do." I had no idea of having the dangle on the side but somehow in this version the large-link copper colored chain was just that much too long. Rather than cut it to fit I added the stone dangle. I am getting eager to make photos of this series with the proper set-up but hanging the backdrop is such a hard job and I hate the plastic smell of it so it has to be done in the garage.

2011-09-26T11:44:00.000-07:00

Here you can see what happens when I put the shorter section of tubing at the top. If you could see it on the neck of a real person you would notice that the side interests sit far too high. Also the thicker, longer section of tubing does not hang right. It needs the 'drape' of the softer tubing. So the job today will be to cut this one apart and to redo it.
However the work was not wasted as I have a new idea on how to made the second beaded section better and faster. Instead of sewing it in with thread, I will make the section on the beading wire with loops at both ends. Then I can thread it on the main loop and get chain and beads done together. This will encourage me to add MORE to the bottom. . .

In this photo it is hard to see that the brownish lump on the left is a bottle covered with 15s. A lot of work that gets wasted here.

2011-09-25T12:37:00.000-07:00

The joy of this design continues! I am still making the neck loop too large. I think the problem is because my 'tubes' were made too large to begin with. Am eager to try another necklace with a shorter tube to see if I can get myself to correct this 'error' by understanding the piece instead of measuring it. It really helps me to see scans of the works. It is so hard for me to be critical about the actual piece because I am so overwhelmed that it turned out as good as it is.

I am hoping I can get to the new necklace this afternoon. I have promised myself to pack up books for shipping, but I really want to just want to sit in my chair, listen to Margaret George's story of Elizabeth - The Virgin Queen as an audio book and make necklaces.

2011-09-24T11:24:00.000-07:00

I got a second one made in just one day only because I had done all the tubes before. I am very pleased with this one and feel I am making each one better than the last. Found a way to suspend the chains on the wire center so I can avoid jump rings.

I like the shorter ones like this one so the excitement is closer to the throat. I did not redo the one from yesterday after I tried it on and felt that for a tall woman it was just the right length. Last night at midnight I had another necklace in gold tones on the tray.

There is enough the same on them so I can confidently move into the creation part and yet there are so many options that every necklace can be different.

Unfortunately the chains do not hang well in a scan so I am going to have to set up the photo stuff again. Also I need some good photos for Etsy. I could post more items if I had the photos. . .

2011-09-23T12:16:00.000-07:00

Finally got up the courage to put one of these new necklace designs together. All month I have making tubes, just because they are fun and I love doing them. However I had been putting off the actually completing the design because I felt I needed to be feeling really good in order to give the job my very best. I did this yesterday and then stayed awake for hours in the night planning the revisions. I am hoping to make them this afternoon, but first I wanted to show you the initial attempt.

Much of my time at the computer this week has been given to getting seven items up on Etsy. What a lot of work and there is still so much to do even before anyone does order something. My shop is called BeadsNJane .

Sandy has been marvelous at hand-holding and giving me pages of possible corrections to my postings. She has been simply super.

2011-09-18T10:20:00.000-07:00

Our bead group, Beads N' Beyond, had a very successful meeting yesterday thanks to efforts of Sandy Smith. She talked about her experiences selling her silverwork jewelry on Etsy. Wow, what a power presentation. On her computer we could visit her site, and she compiled a fantastic hand-out with all her points, figures and addresses. You can check out her site but you really missed something if you were not there for her enthusiastic and down to earth talk.
Several members had tried, or at least investigated Etsy, so for some Sandy's comments were encouragement and validation. For others she introduced all the processes and skills need to run a successful store online.
There is a lot to do in the set-up but for someone like me with so many beaded works and less and less ability to do vendor booths, I feel I must make another attempt. Armed with the handout I intend to start up again.
Thanks Sandy!

2011-09-08T11:27:00.000-07:00

Am back to beading and how much better I feel! I have something to lead me forward. The new ideas are like carrots to my days.

Then this morning I got the notice from Fire Mountain that the Circle of Hope Beads are posted on this site . I was thrilled to see that one of my beads (the one in the right hand upper corner )was used in the advertisement! Right next to mine, as if they knew our connection, is one of Debbe Hall's lampwork beads (with the big bright flowers). I think Debbe, ever generous as she is, had contributed more beads than anyone else! At the website you can see all the beads donated which will be for sale in October.

2011-09-06T11:49:00.000-07:00

Flaying. I think that is the word that describes my approach to bead work in recent weeks. I knew I wanted to have my beads take me somewhere but had no idea where that was. Makes picking projects very dicey.

Then yesterday, after picking up the unsold "Ghost Mouse Returns to the Great Pumpkin" from Art in the Redwood - which should have greatly depressed me - I stopped at Carla Fagan's for a Studio Discovery Tour visit. It was such a joy to see her work and scope out where she gets her beads and what she has that I do not. It was interesting. . . I really stopped to see her double strand necklaces because I have had nudges to go in that direction. Amazingly she only had one ($1,735.) because she had sold the other one. All the rest of her over 30 necklaces were single stands. Lovely yes, but I was looking for more. . . excitement? inspiration?

On the way home I realized what I was looking for what I had been doing in these two necklaces! I get to combine my delight in bead weaving with the bands around the neck (and have smooth 'no clasp' parts under the hair and bead stringing in the front that is asymmetrical. So I had to see the work of someone whom I admire only to find my way back to my own work.

One thing I did learn from Carla was how to store and display my 'better' necklaces. She had each one in a glass covered black jewelry tray. Yes! I thought and then wondered how much those would cost. To my delight I found out they are called Riker cases and can be gotten from Fire Mountain for under $10. each. A new part of my admiring my own work is to give it dust-free, professional protection and display. All in all, a very productive day in spite of the big pumpkin still on my shelf.

2011-08-31T12:15:00.000-07:00

When Vicki called to tell me this piece sold she forgot to tell me it also got a first place in Mixed Media! I was so surprised to find this when I went in to Gualala Arts to photograph the "Self Portrait." There it was with the first place ribbon and the tiny red dot (on the pedestal) to show the work sold. After the several (natural) defeats of this season I am totally reveling in this positive feedback.

Am having trouble settling down to new work but that is okay! I need this time to celebrate!

I found out it was Jeanne Jackson who bought this. She is the lady I made the crystal pillar for. So now she has two pieces from me and that has become a "collection,"

2011-08-23T12:29:00.001-07:00

SOLD

Doing catch-up here. I should have posted this on Sunday when I got the good news in a phone call from Vicki. Better late than never. Now what does this do to my plans for new necklaces? The message is the art piece sold and the beaded pumpkin did not? Or was it the low price? I put too many months in the pumpkin to lower it below $500. It is a steal at that price, I think. I just need to find the person who really wants it!

2011-08-23T12:20:00.000-07:00

Last week I brought in my baskets of beads for stringing and put them on my desk hoping that the increased comfort of the indoor studio would get me started on making new necklaces. However, on Friday Rhoda returned this necklace which I had donated to a fundraiser for the Mendocino Music Festival.

I had kept thinking of the necklace and at times wishing I had not given it away because it is a good example of what I want to make. Yet, when it came back with Rhoda's note that it did not get one single bid I was seriously depressed. Even Rhoda's telling me that her necklace also did not get a bid and that art in general was not taken did not soften the blow.

Result? I am back to crocheting bead bracelets again. I refuse to even show them to you as they are all looking alike! Have got to try something new or screw up my courage to go back to stringing beads to make new necklaces that are not quite as big and heavy as this one.

2011-08-18T10:51:00.000-07:00

I had left a note on the "Self Portrait" entry in the Art in the Redwoods entry that they should call if they had trouble hanging it so it was no surprise Monday evening when Sue called to say they had found an excellent place for the piece in the foyer. However they were afraid that the loose beads on the flagstone would skitter around and be a hazard. It was her idea that I bring a bowl and put them in it. By morning I had the idea that the bowl sitting directly on the floor would not look right and got the new idea of placing it on a low pedestal.
Knowning how a show of this size (over 320 entries) absorbs pedestals, I took my own. But while standing around waiting on a ladder, they had hung the piece from one of the gold hooks instead of the silver one, I noticed a pile of pedestals and asked if these were the left-overs? They were. Probably because they were so short (who wants their work shown that close to the floor?) so within seconds we had this arrangement. The work hangs between two huge windows and it is in the very place where my fountain was shown several years ago that sold.
As Sue was attaching the label she caught a glimpse of my price ($250) and hissed her displeasure at my inability to price my work. Thank goodness she was too busy with others asking her advice on the other problems to give me the lecture.

2011-08-14T10:33:00.000-07:00

After I finished the entries for the Art in the Redwoods fine art exhibit - that opens next weekend - I finished up the other projects that were floating in the backwash. The top is one of the rope jobies I love to do when I need comfort and reliability. No experimenting, no finding something that does not work. Safe and easy; almost mindless.

The black circles are the napkin holders I had started to show Sheree. I hate starting crocheted bead tubes and I truly hate closing them into a circle. So this project gave me lots of practice with those parts and the red embellishments covered the places when the joints did not come out perfect.

I had brought all my beads from the studio into the house so I could start on some far-out necklaces Bambi could peddle for me in Aspen. Now it seems she might be moving to Flagstaff instead. I am hoping that I will soon be over this eternal tiredness from the pneumonia and have the energy to try something new.

2011-08-05T09:33:00.000-07:00

I think I have "Self Portrait" ready for Art in the Redwoods. As usual it is difficult to photograph one of these long narrow works - which my larger bead pieces seem to be. So I am showing you the top and the bottom in separate views. I took these to help the persons who would hang the piece to know what I want it to look like. It will also explain the untidy pile of beads they get in a box lid.
I hope to get better photos of the piece wherever they hang it at GAC.
As you can see, I did find a place for all those starfish I could not stop making last month. Now I understand my fascination with them. See (I remind myself) those hunches and unexplained desires do have a final purpose and it is good to follow the muse even if one seems stuck in a tide pool.

2011-08-01T12:08:00.000-07:00

A couple of years ago (when Michelle Obama became First Lady) I was on a kick to make brooches but gave up because my designs were either flowers or flower-centered or so wildly asymmetrical that they look more like a bead spill than a brooch design.

On Saturday, while waiting for Sheree (she was right on time; I was just very eager to see her) I made some samples using the new magatama beads. I was going to cut these short pieces up and recycle the magatamas but the cat had pushed two of them off the table which I could not reach without getting down on my hands and 'still very sore knee.'

On Sunday I was determined to make the bracelet Sheree had liked enough to make it her own. However, I was so jazzed I tried to make the swirl too high, too thick and the piece began to curl. I set it aside and made two more attempts to replicate the other bracelet (without looking; I was too lazy to get on the computer to check how it was made) - both of which failed. As I fingered the original 'error' it began to want to be sewed together, so I complied. About 11 o'clock, well past my time of reason, I began to idly hold the magatama samples against the failed bracelet and whoops - there was this brooch.

2011-07-31T10:36:00.001-07:00

Sheree did come by yesterday and I got so excited seeing her stuff and showing her mine that I forgot to save anything to show here. I loved her napkin rings - they were so right for this area with tiny sea shells on sand-colored rings. She liked the bracelets with the extended ridges so I am hoping I can make more of those soon. It is interesting that both Sheree and my daughter-in-law picked those as favorites. . .

After she left I tried to settle down by making these bracelets with the new Magatama beads that came in my last order from Fire Mountain. The butterflies I had gotten in a trade with Debbe at the last bead meeting. Just nice 'enjoying whatever' time after so much talking about what I should be making!

2011-07-27T13:37:00.000-07:00

Since I am determined to see Sheree on the weekend, no matter how lousy I still feel, and knowing she has been making napkin rings, I turned my meager talents in that direction. You can see that I am too lazy to even make color changes - I just keep trying new ideas with the same stash. Am eager to see what she has been doing and to get inspired to find something new and better than I am doing.

2011-07-20T13:39:00.000-07:00

So now I am following the directions - somewhat. I figured out that my color printer would have the necessary memory and got the instruction sheet with web-like diagrams in color. Instead of starting each leg and pulling them together to then fill in the center. I start a center with circular peyote which assures me that my center will be centered with just five beads. Then I add a leg, doing it to the end and go on to the next one. With all the legs in place I close up the center on the back which it is not so vital that this center is perfectly centered.

The difference between the length of these legs and my more extreme starfish of the other day is only two rows of a repeat. On my design I made a reduction (by skipping a stitch) and then worked five rows in that size. In these starfish there are only three rows in the same size. The starfish at the bottom are turned over so you can see the decreases.

Since I am not a great counter-person, these decreases are often made according to 'feeling' of what the individual leg needs. Also I figure not all legs need to be equal and often aren't in real life because a crab has lunched on one that is still growing back. I maintain my starfish legs are equal enough to give the impression of a starfish! I seemed to be hooked on these and am now trying to determine the best color or colors.

2011-07-15T09:43:00.000-07:00

The other day, while waiting for the antibiotic to kick in and kill my bronchitis, I saw a special deal on the tutorials at Interweave. Many years ago I had seen a pin on a visitor to Gualala Arts and had tried to make it from my impressions. That resulted in the many brick-stitched flowers that have become such a part of my work and bringing in prizes and Fire Mountain ads. Still what that woman was wearing was much more starfish-like so, in an effort to fulfill that old dream, I sent off for the tutorial. Paying for it and getting it were easy. My dear old printer, however, did not have enough memory to print out all the instructions so I only got this first page of four. However, it seemed enough to get me started on trying these. Yes mine are much skinnier than the photo, but they do look very much like one species of starfish. I think that today I shall try to print out page two and do the decreases as shown in the directions.

2011-07-08T10:48:00.000-07:00

I went out this morning to photograph our Tanabata branches in our yard and there by the crane was this heron. You can almost see it under the chin of green origami crane in the top picture. Was so thrilled I forgot all my photography skills. I think hunters call this 'buck fever' when they get too excited to shoot the deer in their sights. We rarely see a heron in our yard and to have it appear just as I was looking at the cranes of origami was such a gift!

One of the origami kimono had been ripped down and had tooth marks in it. Probably a raccoon seeing if it was eatable. Hopefully the local animals are enjoying the Tanabata branch as much as we are.

2011-07-03T10:51:00.000-07:00

This probably does not make much sense, but it is the work-in-progress. I've decided to use this crocheted purse to contain the many strings of beads for the piece I am calling it "Self Portrait."I see myself as a lumpy bag with beads spilling, dribbling, cascading out of me. What you cannot see is the string of white beads that will be nailed to the wall showing the length of my arm's reach horizontally and vertically. At the center will be this bag and the fall of beads.

I am almost finished stringing a huge candy jar of bead soup. At 85 inch intervals the strings are pulled into the bag through the holes. There they are looped through a metal ring. Then the hanging bead string is put into a plastic bag to keep it from tangling. Today I hope to be able to start pulling all the strings into the bag. That means sitting on the floor and keeping those many strands of beads in order- not my favorite job. But first I have to go clean the oven. Also not a favorite job. Company coming this week.

2011-07-02T11:32:00.000-07:00

Got a note from Susan Fields, who has attended our bead meetings, that this work of hers is being installed in the show "Outlandish" at the Bedford Gallery in Walnut Creek, California. The show opens on July 7, with a reception from 6 - 8 and stays up until September 4. She calls these "Beaded Rocks" and I love them! I had seen individual rocks in her studio but this is the first time I have gotten photos of several together. You can see other photos and other works of Susan's at her website. Thanks for the loan of the photo!

Susan said she got the idea from watching Sue Hansen's demonstration of covering tin boxes with beads. Though very different in effect my work with covering twigs with beads was directly influenced by Susan's work on this project.

2011-06-26T10:11:00.000-07:00

I am trying to use up the beads I have on hand and thus I end up with this. Actually I made the rope twice trying to find a suitable green for the cubic Z crystals. In real life they are much more olive green as are the hex beads in the rope. Here it looks as if I have missed the train with the color wheels.

Have been reduced to making lizards because it seems I have tons of beads and yet not enough of anything to make any thing! I suspect this season of discontent is the brooding period before the begin of another interesting work. I have several jars of bead soup sitting around me and I am tempted to find a way to use them.

I did sent my entry fee and form to Gualala Arts to put the pumpkin in the August show. I could also send a necklace as a second piece, but nothing really excites me enough to do the paperwork for it. Perhaps because I am saving the option of doing the bead soup idea as my second piece. Keep tuned! to the cosmic giggle.

2011-06-22T09:58:00.001-07:00

The little lights on a plug-in wire came on Friday and on Saturday I was able to redo the pumpkin and ghost mouse. It went back together fairly fast and I feel the whole composition is better, but when I looked at the previous photos, it had really not changed that much. Will now enter it in the Art in the Redwoods.

So with that long project off the trays, I went searching for something new, and found this in Beadwork. The small, narrow example was made following the instructions. It seemed too thin, with Delicas, to support embellishment so I made a much wider one with seed pearls and it has the heft I need from a bracelet. Nice but not my thing.

Yesterday I ordered the 'blog2book' to preserve my blogs of the past year. They had a 15% off sale so I got it, postpaid for $30. One of my reasons for keeping up this blog is to journal what I am making and thinking, but that needs a journal and for me, a journal is a book. They did such a good job last year that I am eager to see this year's book.

2011-06-16T09:48:00.000-07:00

Got what I think is a better photo of the dreamboat car. Sent this off to Gualala Arts to see if they want to use it in any of their publicity. I realized that this has moved from a 'car' to a float. I love how easily the wheels roll and like a kid I laid on the floor and did the "rooom, rooom" bit like I used to do with Hans. Some mothers grow up completely!

2011-06-16T09:31:00.000-07:00

I had a bunch of these square beads that I bought too many of because I loved them so much. Then I could never find the pendragon cuff instructions where I wanted to use them, so I "put them away" and completely misplaced them. I would find them or the cuff instructions, but never both at the same time.

Werner bought the latest issue of Beadwork at the store last week and there was this tutorial for those new two holed beads. I had not bought any and after reading that they are fragile I doubt I will, but the design gave me an idea how to use my single-hole square beads and I made these tries. Am on my third one; still trying to get the count right. I see here that mine look very pointy. Maybe I should soften that as the example does. I am enjoying the challenge!

2011-06-13T09:37:00.000-07:00

While I am catching up on last Thursday, I have another tale. I had arranged to meet Debbe at the bead trunk show at Gualala Arts Center and we were the first ones there. She brought her lampwork teeth (with blood! - thanks Debbe!) and her trade for the man lizard bracelet. When she had seen the ones at the bead meeting there was a green and blue one that was larger and when she ordered some in 'man colors' she asked they be that size. When she looked at all the bracelets, previously made and the new ones, she picked, not one of the specially made ones, but that older one she had previously seen. What a laugh we had!

2011-06-13T09:26:00.000-07:00

Tah-dah! Got this done late last night but because of the late summer sun set, I was still able to photograph it at 8:30! This is not the official photograph. I want to use the other camera and hope to get a better shot, but I wanted to see how the angles work. I have never photographed a car before.

This will be my entry in Pinewood Derby at GAC on July 16th. Naturally it weighs more than 5 oz. so they will have to see it as an 'art car.'

I was pleased how it came it out. I see it ended up between a car and a float! But at least I found a way to use the boat I had made back in the winter. I wish now the roof was a darker brown, but not enough to redo it.

2011-06-13T09:12:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, Alain, a seller of beads who had held a sale in Vicki's garage on a rainy day in December, came back and displayed a huge assortment of 'new to me' beads at the Gualala Arts Center. A beautiful sunny day made the beads really sparkle and I have heard from a couple of beaders who bought more than they had planned to spend that they really had a great time.

That makes me wonder what was wrong with me. I bought nothing and felt his beads were overpriced. I was interested in a strand of turquoise nuggets that he wanted $480. for. On the web I found one can buy directly from the sleeping beauty mine in Globe, AZ. They had a similar strand of nuggets for $160. I am willing to pay a bit more to have someone bring the beads to me so I can finger them, but that seemed out of line to me. Also he had two great crystals from Brazil but again he was asking $780 and $480 when I felt the prices should have been $350 and $150.

The one big bargain Alain did have is in this photo. See the bright yellow-orange strand among the turquoise? Later Barbara, just walking out of the shot at the right, got it for $48 which I judged to be an excellent price. Maybe it was just my day to shop!

PS The deer-in-the-headlights-looking guy in the sunglasses is Walt Rush, who makes fine gold and silver jewelry. I wonder if I will recognize any of these stones in his work at Art in the Redwoods.

2011-06-06T09:13:00.000-07:00

Debbe, Here are my three attempts to make the "manly" lizard bracelet! I am continuing to make more as I find string and beads to match. It is in moments (weeks!) like this that I really miss a bead store on the corner. Instead of making the bracelets in my mind, I am making what I can with what I have.

After finding a good dark string in Gualala at The Loft, I ran out of black 6s. I have pounds of 8s in black that are both glossy and matt, but the black thread is too large for them.

After all of this complaining, I am totally hooked on crocheting and love my new manly colors. Thanks Debbe for setting me on this journey.

2011-05-28T11:21:00.000-07:00

The trades with Debbe brought me the charms I was needing to do the embellished fish so here are some of them. Been squeezing my eyes all week with 15s so I got an idea for 6s for Art in the Redwoods. Yesterday I was at the Arts Center to pick up the Dolly (I wish I had taken a photo of her sitting in the foyer waiting on me!) and I got the entry blanks for the pinewood derby and am thinking of what I can do there. I need to figure out if the block of wood needs to be cut down. Will have to take it to someone . . .

2011-05-23T09:06:00.000-07:00

I wanted to send one of my sun-catchers to Mariko as a house-warming gift and found that all had sold at Christmas time. So I could not make just one but had to try out several colors. I still think the one on the right is the best for her colors. Somehow I visualize her in a patterned beige kimono with touches of green.

2011-05-22T08:45:00.000-07:00

Rhoda took me and the bracelets and necklaces to the bead meeting. Debbe was there, after selling beads at the local Farmers' Market. She had many silver beads and findings. She bought one of the bracelets with a lizard (with cash) but when I saw her beads I started shopping. Two more bracelets later we were both happy and I have new encouragement to go on with the lizard bracelets and a lot of interesting silver beads.

2011-05-21T08:37:00.000-07:00

As you see, I solved the problems in turning this design on its side. We have a bead meeting today and I plan to go. Maybe someone can tell me what this needs. I am open to suggestions but feel this project is coming to its end.

2011-05-18T10:20:00.000-07:00

Oops, I see I forgot to show you the red one! Aren't you glad I caught that error? This one is smaller. I got tired of the squareness of the other focal points and cut the wires down for this. Thinking it might be good for a shorter person, I also made the 'chains' shorter. Maybe I should experiment with a longer, more narrow shape?

2011-05-18T10:15:00.000-07:00

Now the blue one. Since I have the process well in mind, it takes only about nine hours to make one of these. The green one is on the tray and I am wondering what I will do next.

2011-05-15T11:55:00.000-07:00

So today! turquoise! - just about the color of the ocean after a night of rain. Started on the crocheted rope for the red one last night.

Have to get an order off to Fire Mountain for some crystal whites in order to do the blue and the black one. Tried to find some silver-lined crystal 8s but they had already begun to tarnish and had black rims. Why can't the manufacturers put a layer of clear glass over the silver to seal it against tarnishing? I love silver lined beads but am boycotting all of them at Fire Mountain. Sigh.

2011-05-14T10:24:00.000-07:00

I was thinking that finally I have something to show you that is not a crocheted piece and then realized that the 'chain' for this new necklace IS crocheted. However, I am still excited about this. A week ago Vicki came by to show me the demonstration on wire-wrapping that I missed at the last meeting and she left me a couple of books. One was beads buttons and bijoux by Nathalie Delhaye. You can see above her necklace and what I made of it below. I tried to follow her instructions but felt the whole thing was too flimsy so I cranked it up to this. Thanks Vicki for the loan of the book! Will bring my necklace to the bead meeting so you can see it in the real, along with a couple of cousins in red, turquoise, blue and black with white.

2011-05-02T11:51:00.000-07:00

Though my entries were scarce in April I have been beading. Mostly doing the same thing over and over as I have steadied myself through my usual April nerves.

I feel my nervous system must look like this mess in a jewelry tray! Lizards of panic and stripes and bands of disquiet. I am hoping that May, with its longer days and warmer sun, will stabilize me while beading also. Having two bead contests reject all my work, not even allowing me finalist status anywhere was not helpful.

2011-04-20T13:35:00.000-07:00

I am letting the joy of this new project -putting together two projects I love to do - of making these crocheted rope bracelets with lizards overshadow the small blip of discomfort caused by Bead&Button rejecting both my works: "DragonFLY in Amber" and "Visiting Snowman." April is the cruelest month. . . for beaders, too.

No matter how hard I try, I cannot get a perfect closure of the crocheted ends. Good the lizard belly covers up my gaps. I have about 20 rope bracelets to practice on. Now to make the lizards for them. That should keep me busy and that is happiness.

2011-04-11T14:17:00.000-07:00

As a result of my vast reading (!) I found this method for making spiral crocheted beads. I think that for beginners it would be even easier to use this method than the usual one of bands of several colors. If your rope-bracelet is five beads around, you string on five different beads and then repeat the same order of five different beads until you have a 3 - 4 foot string. This method is so much more helpful, especially when beginning, because you always add a new bead to the same one in the previous row. Goofs are immediately visible and the 'cluster of grapes' in the beginning makes sense so you can add on at the proper place.

I really enjoy crocheting these ropes, but like most people, I do not enjoy sewing them together. Even the 'job' of putting the beads and colors together is fun and stringing them is possible even when I am very tired. Of course I do make errors then. If the beads are doubled up I can break the extra bead and save my reputation. However is missed bead is noticed forever.

2011-04-07T08:20:00.000-07:00

I decided to use these as attempts to either practice making better joints for the crocheted tubes or trying out other ways of making them. I even tried to try the idea of putting a bead on a headpin and enclosing it inside the tube. This did not work well as the bead tended to slip out of the tubing no matter how tight I gathered up the last row. I did try running a head pin through a couple of the last beads and was very glad to have a wire making the connection with the clasp. Because the headpin comes through the regular beads it does not exit exactly in the middle and even bending it did not keep it centered very well.

With my last tube, I tried sewing bead caps over the ends and butting those together. That seems to work the best for me. However, now I want to try putting a large stone bead where the bead caps meet, with maybe a tiny metal bead on each side of the stone. I want to try this today. Made a couple of new tubes to try it out and felt I had made the tubes too long. Adding the stone bead makes the bracelet way too long. So today I want to try making a shorter tube and am eager to look through my stone collections to see what I have. What a marvelous way to use up those leftover stones!

2011-04-04T10:09:00.000-07:00

Was so surprised that my beading fingers turned to doing the bead crochet again. I had tried to pick it up a couple of times in other months and it seemed I had forgotten how to do it. Then all at once there I was finishing up old pieces and starting new ones with even thinner crochet yarn. I vacillate between wanting very contrasty designs and then more subtle ones. I loved the one with purple and greens and golds.

On Wednesday, while in Santa Rosa to have a biopsy on the spot on my leg, I carved out an hour at Legendary Beads and really got stocked up on seed beads. One of my very few complaints about Fire Mountain is the fact that they carry so few 8s. They seem to work the best for me for bead crocheting. As you can see from the photo I will have several sessions now sewing the tubes into bracelets.

2011-03-26T09:27:00.000-07:00

After getting the final rejection from "Beaded Earth" I decided to enter the BeadDreams contest which closes on April 5. Here there was an entry fee of $30 for two entries so I added the "Dragonfly in Amber" necklace to get my money's worth. After just having the snowman rejected it was not easy to toss in money into the gamble in addition to the two month's work and several bead orders, but I still feel it is a good work and just needs someone to recognize it.

I must say the web submission form by BeadDreams was very well made, and very easy to use. They ask for a lot of information, including techniques and materials, but at least I did not have to type in all those Fire Mountain item numbers. The reason I did not enter the necklace in the Fire Mountain contest was because the amber was from Germany, the bead was made by someone not selling through FM and the lampwork beads were made by Debbe and also not a FM product. That is over 50% of the necklace. At least I have found a place to enter it in a contest. I love the idea of a dragonFLY in amber! Wish me luck! This feels so much like gambling! I wish I enjoyed it more.

2011-03-25T10:47:00.000-07:00

In an attempt to find a new project I dipped into the April / May issue of Beadwork to find this. I simply could not get it to work by following the instructions, so I struck out on my own and figured out two ways to get something similar. All in all I found it very fiddly with at least ten attempts and samples to find bead sizes that worked together. The end result is very delicate and lacy - far too fussy the kind of women I normally hope to adorn. Looking at the necklaces I want to be a rebel and make something huge and gunky!

Got the official notice from the folks at the Beaded Earth Contest that I did not make the finalist list. Hmmmm. Again I am unable to work with the Interweave Inc. I guess we are not on the same wave-length.

2011-03-23T12:15:00.000-07:00

I do not know if this photo is better, but I did find the chunk of crystal I was looking for; it was in the cupboard where it belonged. Even though the sun was gone I did get this shot. The Internet is working again, I am less grumpy and am thinking of how I want to redo the vines under the roof.

Ah, after posting this I could see the previous photo was much better! I should have quit when I was ahead. Amazing how the sun perks up the colors!