Dozens of chains, 80+ earrings, oversized charms, quirky 70s & 80s motifs... I've uncovered all of these after storage in my family's closets for over 30 years. Definitely weird that there's so much of it, and I knew it was my grandmother's—but none had been worn!
I got my mother on the phone to tell me how I ended up with all this vintage costume jewelry, and she told me a story about my grandmother and pastries.
It’s been a while, but I’m going to work on reviving my neglected Etsy shop & online presence. It's time I got back into the swing of things, so am going to start off this week with a thanks to a member seller for featuring me in one of his Treasuries.
Mark Kaplan is a super-talented jeweler and as soon as I saw this ring (and read his description), I had to pick it as my current favorite piece:
Mark Kaplan has featured one of my wall-art pieces & a recycled wool handbag - it’s always an honor to be included in a Treasury! This collection is full of items from the EtsyChai group:
Lately, I’ve thought a lot about giving up my Etsy shop & quitting the teams that I’m on, but I know if I do, I’ll regret it. The year 2012 hasn’t been very productive for me and I’ve had some health set-backs that I’m determined to rise above. So, I’m back. Thinking positive thoughts, and as long as I want to keep making things I’ll stick around. Do you ever want to give up? What do you do to overcome doubts & frustrations?
Good intentions, but not enough time at home or energy in the evenings to blog more than I have been at the moment. But creativity is not suffering! Here’s something new – a necklace:
I found a strand of pink stones in my bead stash & was inspired to add similar clear and white stone chips to coordinate. (that’s the “Lots of Little Things” in the post title- a bazillion beads!) The color seemed very summery and light, so I knew I wanted them to look delicate when worn – even though they were stone. Nylon thread strung with various stone/glass beads & then I crocheted 3 strands, slipping beads on at varying lengths. I knotted the 3 strands together and connected them through cone findings – never used those before! I added some glue for good measure inside, hoping that it remains sturdy – that thread was pretty fine. I picked up 22 gauge wire to create my own eye pin at the top (“Necessity is the mother of invention"!”) – some clasps to finish & I made a new necklace! Gifted & well received already, so I think I did a good job.
I’ve also been working on some new Scrabble tile necklaces – found a new resin & loving it!… will update on those next week. Finished one of my toe-up knit socks, hoping to stave off “second-sock syndrome” to make a complete pair. (“Lots” of projects in progress, too.) Seems like I’ve also seen a lot of movies this summer – my favorite so far is Marvel’s The Avengers – have you seen it? Loved it & even want to see it again. Reading a whole bunch & appreciate so much that I can borrow library books on my Kindle! I’m a big fan of paper books, but carrying around 900+ pages isn’t my favorite – just downloaded 1Q84 & will start that shortly.
When I remember, I turn on a podcast to listen to when I’m working – having the computer next to me makes it easy & sometimes they are very inspiring:
Do you have a favorite or new podcast? Share! (Leave a comment here). You don’t need an ipod to listen, just an internet connection.
I’ve always wanted one of these crazy bracelets that have tons of beads and texture all over them.
I’m not a big fan of beading… but there’s a story to this. Sort of. When I used to make dolls, I would embellish dragon wings, mermaid tails, bodies, etc. with beads. I tried making some wire/jewelry long ago, without much success… so I just stick to beading on fabric projects & that’s worked out well. Fabric love + shiny beads = unique projects!
A friend of mine lives a few hours away and she’s taken up beading. Lately, when we plan to meet, we look for a central location & we’ve been on the search for a bead shop where we can sit and create something while we catch up on our visit. Last week, this is what we did, and when I saw a store sample similar to the bracelet that I’ve always wanted, I knew I had to finally make one.
There it is. I had the flower beads already with me, so I just had to buy the extra supplies and directions. A few hours later I had this beauty! I am so happy! There will be more beading for me in the future!
Tori at Castleander Beads was so patient, it will be fun to go there again.
I tried making a ring after this bracelet success and it was a disaster… Do you ever have a “one hit [crafting] wonder”? Something that came out great but you’ve never been able to duplicate?
Frustrating sometimes, trying something new. Finished this bracelet – what I thought would be one of many recycled fabric cuffs – and I’m not 100% happy with it. I have some ideas how to improve it so that it will be something I’d be proud to wear and put in my online shop. I’ll have to work on this some more.
Sometimes I can take apart things I’ve created and salvage materials for a new project – sometimes they sit on a shelf (or floor), sometimes my kids want them - mostly, I don’t know what to do with them. Crafters, what do you do with products when things don’t go right?
A little project for Thursday.
I pack a lot of crafting when I travel – more when I don’t have a specific project in mind. I’m never sure what I’ll be in the mood for and I really dislike to be idle. For a spur-of-the-moment weekend trip, I packed a big tote with tons of embroidery floss and a tiny box filled with beads. One of the projects I finished was while sitting in my car for an hour, a very tiny bracelet:
It was for a very petite girl – I do not have unusually large knees.
This is what it looked like while I was working in the [parked] car. While it rained. Waiting for a ball game to begin. Good thing I had that hat along or there would have been beads everywhere.
I’m glad embroidery floss is so compact, I was able to take lots of colors with me. Those metal mint containers are also fantastic to store beads in because they close very tightly.
I never saw a blue tractor before, so I stopped on the side of the road to take the picture below. Unfortunately, I just realized that there must be something wrong with the card in my camera – all the pictures I’d taken the day before at the seacoast are gone. The camera is new, but I guess after 5 years, the card needs to be replaced, so I will have to upgrade it tomorrow.
Did you have a productive weekend? See anything new or unusual?
Don’t forget to see last week’s post to enter my giveaway before this Wednesday!
Just this week I was looking at storage for beads and wondering if I should reorganize all my stuff into something that I can see better (& then use them when they’re not out-of-sight!) Wouldn’t you know it, Stuart comes along with a post about storage…. I’m loving the 44 Drawer Cabinet- Red & Grey! That would definitely perk up my workspace. The “watchmaker’s cases” he links to are adorable and look great for taking projects on-the-go, too. Yeah, I definitely am drawn to the aesthetics of these things as much to their practicality.
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I’ve fallen in love with crochet. While working on a free-form project, I remembered some beads I had set aside to work into a ring and was able to whip this up in less than 30 minutes. Here’s how:
First, I strung the beads onto my crochet thread with a fine needle:
Next, I made a chain of 23 stitches because that’s how many I needed to fit around my first finger (the one I plan on wearing the ring on.) That’s a size 8 on my ring-sizer.
I slip-stitched the ring into a circle and did 2 rows of single crochet. (For the entire piece, I stitched into the top loops only. At the end of each row, I did a chain 1 to bring it up.) On the third row, I worked 12 stitches, then turned the work to the wrong side because when I put on beads, they always end up on the opposite side from where I’m working. Then I began haphazardly chaining one or two, sliding stones forward, single crocheting them around and making a little mess in the center of the ring with the beads.
Once they were all on the ring, I turned it back around to work on the right side, finished the rest of the third row, and did one final row of single crochet, catching the backs of the beads as I went along.
I didn’t take it to seriously and I think it came out pretty cute – I believe there will be many more of these in my crochet future!
As for more details, this was a ball of string that I had in my stash & I used a size US 7 steel hook/1.5 MM. I have no idea what the weight of the string is, or whether I used the correct hook, but it seems to have worked out well.
Happy Artful Thursday.
I’m really loving crochet and hardly ever want to knit anymore. Have you ever fallen in love with a new craft?
Once upon a time, I was working on a doll armature and in usual Tamdoll fashion, grabbed whatever was nearby to cut the wire. I had an old cutter, squeezed too hard and wrenched something in my palm…. a minor procedure at the doctor's office and a few weeks later I was relieved that no permanent damage had been done – and learned a lesson - good quality tools are important! Since then I’ve been more conscientious about what I use for each application – in my crafting I use everything from heavy-duty wire, to fishing line, to cotton threads and fine jewelry wire. Here, Stuart is going to focus on some precision cutting tools.
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