Another Good News Day!

First sale of the year! This is one of my favorites, but I'm thrilled it has a new home. I don't have any more of the beads I used in it and since they came from a local indie bead store, Global Beads. I'm not sure they'll have any more of them either, but I'm going to go look...eventually.

I'm busily working away at prepping for the 27th and Potlach SF convention, thinking about new business cards, table display, pricing, labeling. The day job has been quite demanding, recently, so I hope I still have energy at the end of the day to keep going as the 27th gets closer!

Sky Blue and Freeway Daisies

The last two nights I've been rather worn out from some long hours on the day job, so I didn't accomplish much and felt even less like blogging. I had the day off today, however, and completed my state sales tax return, and have all my documentation ready for my federal and state income tax, which I have prepared by a local CPA. As soon as my husband's W-2 comes in, I'll be getting that out of the way early this year.

Made a short trip to Michael's to pick up just a couple things I needed to finish some pieces I had started working on and some large sheets of scrapbooking paper to use as backgrounds for photography.

The first piece I needed to finish off with my purchases is this lanyard necklace, made with spiral faceted light sapphire blue Czech glass beads and light topaz faceted bicone glass beads - I started it with pale yellow bicones I had, but there weren't enough of them to make it long enough for a lanyard, so I replaced them with the light topaz ones I bought (enough of) today. It's 29" long, which is a good length for eyeglasses or badges.

The next one I made today, continuing my blue and yellow mood. I knew I wanted to use these translucent pale blue pinched oval beads and bought the transparent light topaz ones to go with them. This one is 32" long.

In both cases, I was thinking about how we're already getting that clear, crisp blue spring sky and the yellow flowers that are already starting to come up in the plantings in front of the house, even though it's still January. I have no idea what they are, we rent and the owner does all the lawn care both in front and in back of the house. The flowers look like a daisy, but are low to the ground and when they're not in bloom, the plant's leaves make a nice year-round green ground cover - I think it's the same plant I've heard called a 'freeway daisy'.

More on Etsy Photos

Here's a new lanyard and a bit of a different take on the "teaser" picture - approximately shown the same size as on Etsy.

And here are the thumbnails:

I kind of like the "teaser" picture, but is it too busy?

Here's my newest necklace - aquamarine roundelles and polished large chips in sections created with sterling wire, sterling beads, connected with sterling jump rings and finished with a hand made sterling wire hook clasp. It's 26" long. The section shown at the bottom of the first picture features sets of stone and sterling beads with wrapped wire loops at the bottom of the necklace. The end picture features the simple loops and single stones that go around to the back of the neck.

Help Me Choose Photo Display for My Etsy Site

I definitely need help creating attention getting, attractive photographs for my jewelry/lanyards. I've played around with a lot of ideas - some were ok, others were really not good.

So, what to do. Etsy allows 5 pictures. I show 4 views of my lanyards - with a badge, with an ID pouch and with glasses (unless the lanyard is too heavy for them) and a "teaser" shot. These line up as thumbnails to the right of a larger picture over the item text. Here's a set with all the shots in the same size as the thumbnails on Etsy. I find these boring, but what would liven up the images and not detract from the item on display? You can click on them to see the larger image, too.

I like the idea of a simple photo set up, I'm just not sure how simple to go, yet not be boringly plain. The pictures below are some test ideas I had, and they're shown at about the size of the thumbnails.

What works for you? If none, what would you suggest?

Adding Lanyards to New Necklaces

You may recall a post about a necklace, bracelet and earring set I made with "camouflage" stone (still don't know what kind of stone that is - and I would love to get more of it). I made a matching lanyard so I could wear the set to work. The lanyard is quite long at 35" but works beautifully as a proximity reader badge (no need to swipe it, just get it in front of the reader at about 2 - 3" distance and it's recognized) lanyard - not much need to bend to get the badge lined up with the reader. I used the same metal spacers and camo stone, added black Czech glass druk beads and gold plated seed beads.

Then I decided to match the knotted blue necklace (outside) with a lanyard (inside) using the same larger pinched bead and druk beads, but no seed beads. It also includes the silver plated bead caps and seed beads. It's 32" long.

Weekend Beading Update

Between watching all 17 episodes of the 1960s series The Prisoner online on AMC and listening to Man in the Dark on audiobook, while I beaded, and other non-beading distractions, I again didn't get to posting about my works in progress over the last few days...so here are some pictures.

Friday night and some of Saturday, I worked on some knotted strands with peach beads on white Silkon thread. The rice beads have a soft feel to them, definitely not glass, maybe resin or acrylic? I liked the color and sheen when I saw them at Global beads, so I bought a bunch. On the top strand I used them, two shades of glass and two light peach shades in seed beads size 11/0 and 6/0 from Dyna-Mites. The second strand is just the rice beads and the third strand is just the seed beads.

Then, on Saturday, I worked on this necklace with aventurine beads, gold plated bead caps and disk spacers on black FFF Gudebrod silk.

And today, I strung this extra long strand (about 116 inches total) with all kinds of glass beads, including Swarovski bicones, and copper on white Silkon thread. (click for larger image to see details). Because of its length, it can be worn a number of ways, included twisted with an 'S' clasp to fasten.

My workspace is slowly getting organized, but I still have a long way to go.

Another Pleasant Evening With My Beads and Thread

Sitting down to listen to Emma and work on this necklace was a very relaxing finish to my first day back to work. It was busy enough today that I was very glad to have nothing more complicated to do tonight than pull out some beads and start stringing and tying them into a simple necklace.

Unfinished, it's 22" long, and was created from some milky, translucent, light blue pinched oval Czech glass beads, opaque light blue seed beads and light sapphire blue Czech glass druk beads. Small silver plated pewter bead caps and seamless silver beads for accent. The thread I used is white nylon Silkon.

My Christmas gift card order, a gift from my son, came from Artbeads today. It's always fun to get new things and I used the gift card to spoil myself a bit with a number of gold filled beads, headpins, eye pins and jumprings in various sizes and gauges, that I wouldn't have otherwise indulged myself with. I also bought some lovely sterling chain, three metal stamps and a tube of Magic-glos. I look forward to trying out the Magic-glos to make a small charm or pendant, although I think I'll get a UV light to cure it - the days are pretty overcast and often rainy right now to have to cure it with sunlight, as I've read is one option.

First Necklace (and post) of 2009

Couldn't get to sleep and decided to use some 'camouflage' stone I found on the local Michael's Bead Gallery display that caught my eye months ago along with some spacer beads of indeterminate metal - it's got an antiqued brass looking finish and I thought it went well with the dark greens and mottling of the stones.

It was actually the spacers that inspired the design - as I was wondering what I'd use them for (they were included in a strand of glass beads I bought in Fayetteville and I was after the glass beads, not the spacers) because they're rather rough and inelegant, I remembered that I had the camouflage stones and hadn't figured out what to do with them either.

I can't find a description on line of what camouflage stone is - looks like a type of jasper or agate (click for a larger image). The length of this necklace is 20".

Back in early December I posted about a lapis lazuli piece I was working on. I decided to change the design a bit from what I described and here it is nearly finished - just needs a clasp. It'll be around 27" when finished. I'm really happy with the final design, I was never quite happy with using the spiral coil beads I started it with. I think those will end up in a necklace with garnets sometime soon.

Three New Necklaces Today

It's great to be home! I relaxed today with my beading, making three new pieces today. First I decided to get out some of the new gunmetal colored components I found at the ACMoore store in Fayetteville and my hematite beads. I used some 'black diamond' colored Druk beads to make it less monochrome. I'm not sure I'm finished - my daughter is visiting and she suggested adding more chain to the center, so I may play around with this one some more.

Then I felt like making another Christmas themed necklace and made this eyeglass leash. I used red and green cathedral glass beads, red and green faceted rondells and antique gold filigree beads.

Then I decided I wanted to finally make something with the handcrafted art-glass bead I bought at the Art and Wine festival back in September from Susie Harper. This features the silver ring spacers and light sapphire blue round glass beads I bought in Fayetteville along with some light sapphire blue Druk beads from Artbeads. In order to keep the larger circle spacers open, I used two headpins on each one to create the loops. I 'threaded' the Druk beads into the smaller circle spacers with eyepins. I'm very happy with how this one turned out. I think the circle theme perfectly compliments the design of the glass bead pendant.

Hello from North Carolina

Hi again - I'm sorry that I haven't posted in a while, and also that I didn't mention what was going on (and I wasn't supposed to, anyway), so I thought it was time to clue everyone in. My son has been on deployment with the Army in Iraq since October of '07 and he's finally home!

I've been in North Carolina, where he's based, first waiting for him to get back, and now hanging out with him until my flight home this weekend. I didn't know until the day before he arrived exactly when he'd be home, so I came early and planned a 10 day stay. I'm glad he got back at the start of the trip so we'd have more time together!

His girlfriend is also here, so I've got a bit of free time when they're out and about. I didn't bring any beading supplies with me (I had to bring a large suitcase full of my son's stuff from home and there just wasn't room for 10 days worth of clothes and beading stuff in my personal suitcase), so last weekend, I visited two local stores, Michael's and A. C. Moore for supplies.

I wish there were A. C. Moore's in California - their supply of Beadalon components was fabulous, plus a number of brands of beads I don't see back home, either, to say nothing of the wide selection. I admit, I went a bit crazy, but mostly I stocked up on things I'd never seen before and wasn't sure I'd find again - like a bunch of 'Quick Link' pieces, Scrimps for memory wire and tons of new eye- and decorated head- pins.

Here's a necklace I've been working on in the evenings and finished last night. The circle links are from the Beadalon Quick Link collection, the pinched silver beads and the small rings framing them are from the Bead Gallery collection, and the blue faceted glass discs are from the Blue Moon Color Collection. The necklace is 24" long and finished with a Beadalon EZ-Lobster clasp.

I'll be here thru Saturday, so I'll probably make another necklace or two, and post about it before I head home.

Lovely Lapis Lazuli

Tonight I worked on a necklace using 21 gauge dead soft gold filled wire (the label says 12/20 so I'm not sure what that means in terms of the karat), 3mm and 6mm 14k gold filled beads, 4mm and 6mm lapis lazuli beads (really nice, rich blue but not many pyrite flecks, unfortunately), and some vermeil beads that look like they're made from tiny gold coils. I think next time I'm going to get the half hard wire, though, I'm a bit worried about the fragility of the loops.

I've been working very carefully in cutting of the wire to make the looped links, eliminating as much wastage as possible. So far I've have been very successful. I have a small (5 ft) coil of the wire and I put the beads on the wire coil, bend the first loop length and make the loop, move the beads up to the loop and bend and measure for the second loop, then I cut it from the coil. I'm very happy with that technique. I'll have to figure out how to do that with my sterling wire which is on a much larger coil. One thing I really want now is a "cup burr" tool to round off and dull the sharp end rather than having to snip it. So I added it to my Amazon wish list and maybe the hubby will see it and get it for me.

I haven't quite figured out how I might sell it at the price point necessary for any kind of reasonable profit for my effort and the cost of materials (for example, those vermeil beads cost $1.25 each and I'm going to end up using at least 8 or 10 of them plus about $10 in gold filled beads - haven't figured out the per bead cost of the lapis or the per inch cost of the wire), so it might end up in my jewelry box.

No picture tonight - I've finished 13" - will post a pic when I finish it.

A Day of Rest - ful Beading

It was a lovely Sunday. I slept in a bit, read a new spy-thriller novel or listened to the radio, and nibbled on comfort foods. Got inspired to do a couple new lanyards, which is one of the more relaxing things, short of taking a nap, I can do.

Today I made three lanyards (one still needs one clasp, but is otherwise done), here are the two I photographed. The one on the left has a foil lined bead with a tiny white flower detail the other has an abundance of beautifully faceted oval beads. This color, while perfect for spring, still has a wintery feel about it - like a crystal blue lake below a clear winter sky.

I also posted two of my pieces on Etsy - the garnet hex with copper lanyard, and a silver Christmas color lanyard, the latter of the two I also posted on Ebay. Lost the light after taking pictures of 5 or 6 lanyards, these early sunsets don't work for me at all.

For the copper hex lanyard I needed a copper split ring. I found large copper lobster claw clasps but to hook the smaller terminal clasps to it to complete the lanyard findings, I need a split ring. So I got out some 18 gauge copper wire, wrapped it three times on a 4mm mandrel using my Beadalon Jump Ring Maker and snipped the outer two wires at the same place on the triple looped ring to create a split ring. Worked great and looks good, too.

Unwinding from the Day by Beading

Last night I posted about how I didn't bead because of an intense day at work, today I did bead for the same reason - the beading is relaxing for me, and tonight it was the perfect way to wind down for the evening

Back on September 7th I talked about some beads I bought at the local Art & Wine Festival, some of them were lovely tablet cut beads I'd not seen anywhere at the time, but I did finally find a supplier (Mermaid's Cove) and bought more. Tonight's necklace lanyard is from the latter purchases, made from the Seafoam Opal beads.

I haven't measured it yet, but I think it's about 30" long and it's light enough for an eyeglass lanyard, too, if you are ok with something rather distinct that close to your face - this design would definitely stand out.

I also made matching earrings

Now I'm stringing faceted alexandrite colored glass rondelles and spiral cut faceted alexandrite oval beads in a pattern similar to the Chateau Picard and others I've done in a variety of colors. I think I have 6 or 7 in all now.

Mostly Miscellaneous

I've finally put hardware on all the lanyards I'd had hanging around in "nearly finished" status today. Also made a new one using clear faceted crystal rondelles. Puttering around with different bead combos and trying to find one I like to start a new piece.

I was at the store today and saw a bin that was made for putting up in the shower, probably to hold a loofa or a few small containers of shower gel and shampoo - had two suction cups on the back. I thought it would be a great holder for my most used tools - round nose pliers, clippers, etc., and if I put some cup hooks on the little left hand extension to my desk, it could hang there and free up some desktop space.

Of course I forgot the cup hooks, but it holds the tools just great and I'll pick up some hooks next time I'm out. I've been meaning to get a leather mallet, so maybe I'll go to a hardware store and get both those items.

I've been procrastinating on my photography and as a result very few of my new items are up on Etsy. I really need to get my Etsy store updated. Then I have to figure out how to get some traffic in there!

Working now on a pendant necklace with faceted light sapphire blue glass - will post a pic when it's further along.

Vintage Style Turquoise Necklace

I started this last night and finished it this evening. Turquoise was a very popular stone in vintage jewelry and I'm pretty happy with the way this turned out. It's about 20". I will make some earrings to match and maybe a bracelet, too. I am thinking about making the simple drops a bit more ornate or adding more ornate ones in-between the simpler ones.

I decided that the necklace I made last night was too long, so I shortened it to collarbone length and made a bracelet out of the leftover links. It's a very pretty set. Rather delicate because the eyepins are a pretty fine gauge - probably would have been better to use wrapped loops and I will next time.

I'm now pondering what to do next...I may do another rondell pattern lanyard.

Message to an Online Bead Store: If You Make it Hard to Find the Beads, I Won't Shop With You

Two necklace lanyards finished except for hardware, tonight and one "apprentice" type necklace with wire looped beads, jumprings and large circle links nearly done. The reason I'm calling it an apprentice type is that I made it to practice making loops, try out a design idea I had, and used very inexpensive materials. I eventually intend to make more necklaces with wire loops, etc., and for sale, but with much better materials. I just don't want to start using those materials until I'm satisfied I have an excellent product.

I liked the pattern of roundelles (rondels, roundels, whatever - nobody's consistent with the spelling that I've seen) and then a larger bead, like I did in pink and citron colored glass so much, I did one in aqua glass and one in light sapphire glass. They're both about 30 - 31" long (I don't measure until I've added the hardware).

I want to do one in peridot glass, but I couldn't find any roundelles, so I decided to check some bead supply sites. Shipwreck Beads has them in a color they're calling peridot, so I'm ordering there. The one thing that has kept me from doing a lot of ordering from them is their search feature. It's so frustrating. I'll put in very specific terms and end up with 20,000+ items 'matching' the search. Often the results go page after page of stuff that isn't even close. Finding the right faceted roundelles at Shipwreck took me probably 5 - 10 minutes of searching.

For example, I decided I'd like some more aqua beads. I type in 'Aqua' with a few other terms to try and narrow the search, and reds and pinks and topaz and black beads show up on the page. Frankly, if I don't know exactly what I want and enter it exactly the way they name it, I spend way too much time just clicking from page to page. I'd rather search somewhere else where they've got a decent search tool, and as a result I end up buying from Fire Mountain, Artbeads or DI Beads (and I've shopped at others, too - just not as much, and usually because I've seen something on a beading site or blog that led me directly to the item I wanted). I've noticed that in some cases the prices seem better at Shipwreck, but it's too hard to find anything and my time is more than worth the few cents I'd save.

I'd just about finished my linked necklace when I noticed that I'd connected several beads directly instead of using jumprings, as I had on the rest of the necklace. That's what I get for trying to do it while watching "House" on tv. That Dr. Wilson is kind of cute, so I get distracted *grin*.

Here's the work in progress - I'll add the missing jump rings, tighten up everything and it'll be done. I guess it's obvious I was into blue today. Tomorrow, though, I'm a bit beaded out for now.

Lovely Robin's Egg Blue Beads

I've been playing with my new vintage look stampings and beads and bits - I'm not ready to share here yet - still in the experimental stages, working out techniques and kinks (sometimes literal kinks in the wire bending stuff that I need to keep practicing).

I did take a breather and make a necklace lanyard, though, with these lovely robin's egg blue mottled oval ceramic beads I found at Global Beads last weekend.

30" (although it's still unfinished, and the clasps add about an inch to the total end-to-end length), ceramic beads with a bit of an iridescence in the glaze. I thought the combination of large silver tone (no idea if they're plate or what) filigree beads, small oxidized silver filigree beads, and these tiny Czech druk square iridescent beads with very tiny oxidized silver bead caps is delightful.

Here's a picture of it draped - I got replacement bulbs for my photo lights, but it's still not as good as photography in natural light. I don't know why this one came out so dark and orange-y when the one above came out pretty well - perhaps because the one above is a tighter shot? The color above is very much (at least on my computer) truer to the color of the beads.

Well, the Labor Day weekend is begun - I may not post tomorrow, have family coming to town and probably won't get any beading done. Hope to see you Sunday, then!

Sometimes I Think I Should Just Stick to What I Know

I have this urge to make a necklace using wrapped wire loops. I am practicing. I am wasting a lot of wire. I think I need to take a class.

I have also been visiting various lampwork glass artisan sites. Somebody hide my credit card - I could do it a lot of damage, the ones I've visited have such lovely beads. One in particular, Air and Earth Designs, by the artist, Kandice Seeber, has me especially ga-ga. The flowers she adds on top of the beads are fabulous - to say nothing of the colors.

Made a necklace lanyard tonight, though, so I did finish something - the wire wrapped loop necklace will probably take several years at the pace I'm going.

I used faceted glass cubes in clear and light blue with an iridescent finish, tiny silver seamless round beads, faceted blue glass bicones and teensy tiny dark blue iridescent seed beads. I think I will name it "Resistance is Futile".

Still haven't heard from the LosCon folk. I hope that doesn't mean anything except they're very busy with Real Life stuff and haven't had time to get back to me.

Picture the Blues

Here are some shots of the second blue lace agate necklace lanyard

...and the dark blue sodalite necklace lanyard.

Both are listed at Etsy.

Anyone try to take beading with them on their travels? How does that work out, what do you take and how do you pack it? I'm going to answer that for myself tonight as I see if I can figure out what to take along. Then when I get home, whether or not I managed to do any beading.

The one thing I meant to order and forgot was a flexible silicone bead design 'board'. This just rolls up for travel and would have been nifty.