Why I Started Beading

I thought today I would take a moment to credit the person who inspired me to start beading! She may not even know just how instrumental she was! :-) One of my husband's group of friends includes a bunch of guys from high school, the neighborhood, and their friends... well, one of these friends married a girl (This goes back more than a decade--I believe she was the second girl in the group, we really had our work cut out for us, taming these beasts! ha ha!!) and she made beautiful jewelry. She now has an etsy shop called Farfrumplainjane. Well, at get-togethers she would sometimes bring some of her finished work to see the reaction--to know if people liked it, they would do well at craft fairs, etc etc. Well--in all of her beautiful work which I admired there was one bracelet that especially caught my eye. It was called "tennis bracelet" and weaved with gorgeous AB Swarovski crystals. The depth of the black crystal spoke to me. It was more than I was used to spending for a bracelet, but I couldn't get it out of my mind. I went to her next craft fair, deciding that I would fork over the money--but it was not there!!! All of this I kept to myself.

So I decided to learn to make it. After a year or so of learning to bead the various stitches and learning about the various beads, I finally found the pattern and did learn to make it... but here is the funny thing! I have not yet made one for ME! :-) That is how it goes with beading--many gifts get made. (Don't feel sad for me, ha ha! My jewelry box is overflowing!). But she has always been very generous, willing to share and teach, and I appreciate that. Even though I never owned that bracelet, it went one better. Because I couldn't purchase it, I found a passion that I have never found for an art or craft before. It gave me something far better, it gave me my Love of Beads... and for that, Jane, I thank you!

Check out some of Jane's gorgeous work, and be sure to visit her etsy shop!

A Little Bit of Summer

On Monday my husband had off of work, and it is free day at our local indoor gardens if you are a county resident. So that is where we went. In a winter where our December snowfall was second highest EVER, it is so nice to get to a place and remember what GREEN STUFF looks like (I have made no secret my feelings about winter!!). There are three glass domes, one is tropical, one is arrid, and one is a special area that always changes. Currently it is Christmas themed, and the huge tree is pictured below. The sun was shining through the glass ceiling and walls, the plants were giving us plentiful oxygen, and seeing the greenery was a feast for our eyes which have become accustomed to the nothingness of white white white. It was a good time to visit these gardens because despite the crowds (we are not the only ones that love getting in free!!), it reminded us of the life that awaits underneath the frozen ice, the beauty that will come in a few months, and the warmth and rebirth that will follow winter. The gardeners in this indoor park always do an amazing job.

An extra treat was that we ran into my cousin and her family! They popped into our picture behind us, unknown to me; isn't that hilarious?! I hope she doesn't mind me including the picture--it turned out so cute (tho' her youngest must be behind us, and we can't see her in this shot!), and I got such a kick out of it! A special thanks for her for taking the time to check out my etsy shop and read my blog!


Tonight, being New Year's Eve, we have a date with Kung Fu Panda, and will have a party supper of little pieces of pizza, eggrolls and other snacky items! I do plan to be in bed before the new year arrives... it is just one of those years where some quiet is appealing, and I will enjoy my rest! :-)


Thanks for reading, and a VERY Happy New Year to you all!! I hope your 2009 is filled with health, happiness, and dreams accomplished.

I'll see you next year (har har dee har!)!!!

Christmas is Over

I hope everyone who celebrates it had a wonderful Christmas! Ours was busy and festive, filled with family and good food! With that said: PHEW!!!!!!! Although it was a great time, I am a bit relieved that the preparations are over, and we can get back to some normal-life around here.

One of my post-Christmas goals was to get back to my first jewelry-making love of off-loom bead weaving. It a way it is meditative with its repetition, and the colors of the beads are a feast for the eyes.

I got back to a free-form peyote project that I started long ago. Peyote is a basic beadweaving stitch, and to do it free-form means that you decide where it goes: you may have an idea in mind, but there is no pattern, the beads lead you. I find it very fun, and easier than following a pattern. That is interesting because my friend, and beadweaving mentor FarFrumPlainJane finds free-form challenging, while I find the incredibly gorgeous, detailed work she is most comfortable with most challenging! It is interesting how different minds work differently!





The project I am working on features lampworked beads I purchased several months ago from Alice Hunter-Kelly. I just love the colors--her beads are so gorgeous. Originally I planned this for myself, but I am not sure if I will list it on etsy or not. The lampworked bead set came with matching small round beads that I will make into coordinating earrings. It is a work in progress, but getting close. I have tiny clear-gold AB beads to add as well. Additionally I will weave a clasp of some sort, I haven't decided on that yet--or perhaps it is more correct to say the beads haven't told me, yet!

Craft Fair Hangover

Well, it is the morning after--the morning after the craft fair, that is!! My friend and I had a nice set-up, I think. Our work really complimented each other's. If you want a closer look at her items, check out http://www.tronsgirl.etsy.com/. That's her in the picture.

Unfortunately--she had a slip on the ice during the week, so I felt so sorry for her. She would sit, she would stand, but was having severe back pain. Not nice to have to sit all day at a craft fair with that kind of pain!

...Especially such a SLOW craft fair. There were MANY tables selling jewelry, and it was a slow fair in all. Perhaps the economy, perhaps people finished with their Christmas shopping already? (wish that was me!!) It was slow all over, so we decided not to take it personally! :-) My mom and sister came by to support us, which we both fully appreciated--they were our best sales, we sheepishly admit. But we will admit it so they realize how much their visit meant! I saw my aunt and my cousin's wonderful girlfriend, and that was really great, too.

We saw some good points--there were two instances where we helped parents trick their kids--they bought items on the sly while their kids were looking away, so that was really fun! A little boy that reminded me of my son kept coming by and petting the lizard pin I had out. I told him to just take it, but he turned up his sweet little boy face and said, "Oh no, I'll pay for it!" So the lizard went to a happy home where he will be treasured. Plus, my friend gave me a pin that looks SO perfect on my winter coat at the end of the fair when it didn't sell!!! YAY!!

Best of all, I got an uninterrupted (we joke that being MORE interrupted at a craft fair would have been beneficial!! ha ha!) day with a dear friend whom I don't get to spend a whole lot of time with on a regular basis.

Though we feel discouraged (quite! at least me!), we'll try again. I heard another crafter mentioning a fair in March that we will check out. But for now, with the fair over, I get to spend some time focusing on Christmas and my family. My etsy shop is full, my ArtFire shop has enough items, I'm going to scale back on "pimping" my shop on Twitter--it is time to enjoy this season of family, friendship and love! The sales, well, they'll wait.