Earrings and a new Embellished Retractable Lanyard Badge Holder

Didn't do nearly as much as I wanted to today - but I did make these new earrings - The one unfinished pair (far left first set of pictures) I'm still debating on how I want to finish them. the pair on the far right has rutilated quartz nuggets, amber chips and tiny amber beads dangling from filigree circles and may be my favorite pair of the day. All earrings are on leverback, shell embellished brass ox earring findings from Accessories Susan, which also provided the filigree, chain, headpins, etc. for all of them. The only thing not from there are the beads and stones.

For this set, below, on the earrings at the far left, I'm considering adding something to the bar that holds the dangling smoky quartz bead behind the filigree.

And this is another filigree embellished badge holder - I thought I'd show the side detail, too, as I've put a bit of stamping on the sides as well as the front. The filigree stamping on the front is one of my favorite patterns, by the way. The side view also shows the button on the back used to release the ribbon lanyard from the inside reel to retract and extend it.

I've only got a few of these badge holders left and I'm thinking of holding back a few for later experiments. Whether they become a permanent part of my inventory will depend on the comments I get from folk I meet at the convention or here on my blog. I did get one positive comment on the steampunk style one, over on my Flickr page (Thanks, justalby!) The particular shot of the new prototypes has had 11 views in just one day...I think because I tweeted about it on Twitter.

Yet Another One I'm Going to Hate Parting With

As I mentioned in my previous post, I had this idea gnawing at the back of my creative mind today. So after I posted I grabbed an empty bead design board (yes, I have several and they're usually all filled with either the remnants of the last project or a not quite there yet design I put aside to think about), my amber beads, my rutilated quartz nuggets and some gold-filled and vermeil beads I've been waiting for just the right design to use - it has to look rich enough to justify the cost of those components, which with gold at $823 (although that's down from it's peak at just over $1000 an ounce) will push the price point well above most of my other pieces.

While I was working on this a fun conversation happened over on Twitter - if you look at my sidebar you can see my side of the conversation with folk around the globe (well, most of us are in the US but one of the tweeters is on the other side of the international date line). I finished the stringing part, but I don't want to use my usual gold plated lobster claw fastners on this one - so I'm going to have to put off the hardware until tomorrow when I can go buy some gold filled or vermeil clasps. Finished length will be around 32"

So, here's the necklace lanyard in it's nearly finished state:

Yet another one I'm going to hate parting with.

BayCon - Final Day, Final Hours

I was going to live blog one more time from the convention, but after the previous post my 24 hr subscription to the internet service at the hotel must have expired (and early, I think). I just couldn't see paying another $13. So here's the final chapter of Dawno's BayCon Artist's Alley Adventure.

Most of the traffic was to the Art Show room where people were picking up their items from winning bids or the Art Auction. There was a good sized line for a while but by about 1:00 it was down to a trickle of onsies and twosies.

I had a new neighbor today, a seller of 'nerf-y' swords:

I believe I overheard that he does other things - I think he made the chainmail vest he has on and I think he was doing classes and demos at the con, too.

I swung by the dealer's room one more time and bought a lovely rutilated quartz pendant and a new book.

I made two sales today as well. Haven't tallied up the weekend's earnings, but I do believe I'll be quite happy with the outcome.

When I'm less tired and more coherent, I'll post some additional thoughts about the experience.

Happy Mother's Day!

Since both of my children called me, it's been a perfect Mother's Day. My son is in Iraq and has been out on missions lately, so it's extra special he was able to call today. He also had flowers sent (pictured above) that arrived on my doorstep after he called, so I didn't have the chance to thank him personally, but I'll send him a note telling him how lovely they are and how much I appreciated him thinking about Mother's Day when he's got so much on his mind.

Since I'm an empty nest mom and both children live far from home, I have a lot of time to bead, even on Mother's Day. So today I sat down in my workroom and finally decided what to do with the rutilated quartz beads I mentioned a few posts ago - I strung them between gold spacers and beads. It's one of the more opulent pieces I've ever made and I'm quite pleased with it.

I've got a start on a new one in lavender, now. I'll probably finish tonight. The main bead has a lovely "petal" design in it in a darker lavender and white, so I'm using matching druk beads between them. I've been playing around with a pink bead I like, too - just not finding the right combinations.

I'm going to plug my "Bead Buddy Dual Lap Desk" - it's a lap desk for beaders with a cushion at the bottom, a three strand bead design board with plenty of recessed areas for beads. Under the design board is a space to bead on with the longer bead mat they included, if you prefer that to using the design board - which I do when I'm using a lot of seed beads that are hard to pick up from the design board. With the lap desk, I can sit out and watch TV with the husband and bead at the same time. Since I spend a lot of time, otherwise, in my workroom, it's nice to get out of there, but not lose productive time.

It will also be good for long car trips or to pack in my checked luggage (won't try to carry-on any beading tools, that would definitely get me stopped at security with the wire clippers and other tools) when I go on a long business trip or to a convention. Anyway, I think it was a great purchase.