The First One!

Sorry for the picture quality (and pet hair)

Here is my completely finished first broach.  I took it apart the other day and redid the backing on it so the pin back would work.  I'm pretty happy with this one.  It's clearly my first attempt at this, because you can see all the glue and crap I got everywhere.  And I'm pretty sure the pin back isn't level, but I can't say for certain. 

So I'll be keeping this little guy.  Which is fine, I love sparkly, pretty things. 

I was going to take a picture of the back to show you what it looks like now, but like I said earlier, it's not that pretty. I sorta looks like I let a two year old loose with the broach and some glue.  I'm not really sure what I was doing when I glued the back on.  Okay, I do know.  I was very tired, frustrated, and didn't have the best lighting.  So it shows.  And that is why I'm not going to giving this broach away.  I don't want you guys thinking I can't handle my glue.  That would be embarrassing ;-)

But I have been working on a few more of these and I have to say I'm having so much fun.  I like to work on them when I need a break from a bigger project.  It's almost like a little break, a little vacation from the time consuming, extremely frustrating larger projects I have going right now.

And best of all I'm finishing up the last little details (pictures) for my next giveaway.  I should have the info on that up tomorrow.  Fun, fun!  

Almost Ready!

So last night I took apart my last broach that I was going to use in my blog giveaway.  I took the leather off the back and replaced it with a much thinner piece of fabric.  It worked really well and now the little locking mechanism works fine.  I was all ready to get some pictures of it and get it up for my giveaway, but I wasn't truly happy with it.  And I don't want to giveaway anything that I'm not fully happy with.  So what does that mean for my giveaway?  Well it means that I will be keeping the broach for myself, but I will be offering up an even better one.  As you can see on the right, there is a fun pink and red heart broach in the works, that's the one I'll be giving away.  I finished it up last night, and now all I need to do is snap some pictures tonight.  Then it will be available to win.  I think it turned out really cute and would be a perfect valentines day prize.  So stay tuned, and I promise that I will have my blog giveaway up before the end of this week.  I promise!!! :-) 

Road to Tucscon with ArtBeads

Wanna go to Tucson and the 2012 Gem, Mineral and Fossil Showcase?  Well if the answer is yes, then you're in luck.  ArtBeads is offering a free trip for two to Tucson, AZ!!!!  This sweepstakes is open to all US and Canadian residents over the age of 18.  Entry deadline is March 16, 2011 at 11:59pm PT, so hurry up already and enter, I have.  Just think the lucky winner (and a guest) will receive round trip airfare and three nights accommodations, as well as classes with well known bead instructors.  So like I said before, hurry up and click the picture above and enter already.  :-)       

To Be or Not To Be

So I finished up my first bead embroidered broach this weekend.  Like I said, it's just a simple, but at least I think, pretty little broach.  I used a cat's eye cab for the center and pink, blue, and silver beads around the outside. 

I'm happy with the beading, I think that turned out really nice.  And I'm happy with the moleskin type fabric I used to sew on.  It was easy to sew through, but still really tough and didn't really fray.

But what I'm not happy with was the pin back.  I thought I had some pin backs.  No I swear I had them.  Maybe they got misplaced in the move, maybe I've lost them, I'm not sure.  But what I do know is I didn't have any.  So I ran up to the craft store to pick some up.  Well they only had the pin backs with the little locking mechanism on the back.  And I'm not happy with this.  I don't really like those pin backs that much because I feel like the little mechanism always breaks.  And once I put the one I bought through the leather, the little mechanism doesn't even work because it can't turn.  :-(  So now I'm trying to find just the simple pin backs that don't have the mechanism.  And boy is it harder then planned.  I thought they would be easy to find, but I'm not having any luck.  I'll just keep looking until I find something I like.

What do you use for pin backs on your broaches?  Do you use the little locking pin backs or something else?  And do you back your work with leather or do you use a thinner fabric so the locking mechanism will work? 

And because of this, my first giveaway of the year will be postponed until I can figure out the whole pin back dilemma with this broach.  But as soon as I figure it out, you will be able to win that little beauty above.  So stay tuned for an update on that.   

TGIF

I am so proud of all the work I got done last night.  I finished up the beadwork on my broach.  Now all I have to do is put the pin back and add the trim.  Then that's one all done and ready for my next giveaway.   I also finished all the beadwork on my large sparkly "fish scale" cuff.  This cuff is about 2 inches wide and oh so sparkly and pretty.  I just need to add a clasp and I'll be done with that project.  Now I only have to finish up the beadwork on my bead embroidered cuff and finish up my latest guitar in my musical cuff series (hint, it's an acoustic).  I am on a roll lately.  Hell yeah!  And it's time for the next ArtBeads project.  Ohhhh, that means I get to place a bead order!!!!

I have even been pretty good about getting new things listed on etsy.  Not every single day like I wanted, but almost.  I have so many triangle earrings and pendents, that I'll probably be listing those for the rest of my life.   

I listed this fun blue and white spiral rope today.  I love, love, love making these.  They are so much fun and pretty easy.  I love how just changing a bead here or there changes the looks so drastically.  I plan on making a bunch more in the future (I already ordered a crap tone of different beads to make a rainbow of spiral ropes).

But this one can be found HERE in my etsy store (15% off and $1 shipping).  It's 24 inches (60.69 cm) long and is a wonderful light blue and white necklace finished with a fun lion's head button I picked up at a thrift store a while back.  I really like the button, it's kinda fun and I think adds a quirky aspect to the necklace.   

And in show news, I've started looking into art shows for the summer.  I've decided not to do as many as I did last year, just a few local ones and that's all.  With the new house, I don't see us having as much time to sit at art shows all weekend, we'll need some of that time to do the upgrades on our list.  So I've started to make my list and will start applying soon, so hopefully I'll have some shows to add to the list where you can come and visit me.

WIP

Wow, I seem to have a whole bunch of those lately (not including the ones I had already been hoarding).  I guess when my creativity came back, it came back with vengeance.  I have had so many ideas pop into my head.  Then I try to write them down or sketch them as quickly as I possible can so I don't forget.  But my mind festers on them, and I must start them.  What I already have three projects on my bead board right now, I DON'T CARE, start a new one.  I work on a little of each one every night.  Which isn't as quick going as if I just worked on one, but it seems to be keeping my interest, so I'm going to keep it going.

Here is a quick picture of one of the projects I'm working on.  It's my first beaded broach.  I've always adored others work, and I love me a good broach, so why not try it.  I'm keeping this first set really simple.  Just bead embroider around a cab.  No patterns, nothing intricate, just simple.  I'm liking this one so far.  I might keep it, or I might have a blog giveaway.  Hmmm, I wonder which it will be.  Maybe if enough of you want to try for beaded broach, I'll put it up for giveaway.  So who wants me to do a giveaway????

☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃

 

And so I don't forget to remind everyone, I'm still offering 15% off on all items in my etsy store.  That's 15% on top of the $1 shipping (US and Canada).  At Yoda's last appointment we found out her eye didn't develop properly and her eye lids are rubbing on her eyes, causing dis-colorization and eventually blindness.  We would like Yoda to keep her sight since she's only 1 1/2 years old and she's been through so much already, so we're trying to save up as much as we can (which isn't that easy when you've just bought your first home), so she can have the surgery.  So all the sales from my sale will go towards reducing her vet bills.  Thank you everyone for your continued support in Yoda's plight to healthiness.  It's been a long journey so far, but we're hoping healthy report card soon!  :-)

Wordless Wednesday - Blue Hoops

Making Progress!

I want to thank everyone for their kind encouragement.  I feel like I'm really getting out of the slump.  Thanks everyone, you're awesome!

I didn't get a whole lot of beading done this weekend because we were trying to get a bunch of house stuff done.  But I did manage to clean up the studio a bit.

I know it doesn't look like much in the picture, but trust me, before I started it was just a huge pile of boxes.  I actually set up my glass table and unpacked quite a bit.  I'm still waiting on my pegboard.  J needs to help me put it up.  I was going to paint before I did any of this, but I've decided that I'm just not going to get around to painting this room for a while.  I'd rather be organized and have everything put away then wait for the paint color.  And I'm glad it was dark outside when I took this picture, or you would have seen the even bigger mess that is known as our three season porch.

I also picked up a copy of Curb magazine the other day.  I've been wanting to pick up a copy for a while and I've just never been able too.  So I made J take me out for Chinese food because I know the one Chinese restaurant has copies of them.  This is the magazine that is put together by UW students each semester.  This semester was a woman's magazine and they used one of my cuffs in there.  It's my first magazine appearance, and even though it's just a student run magazine, I was pretty excited.  The magazine itself is really nice and professional looking.  Those students do one heck of a job.  If you live in the Madison area, I would suggest picking up a copy to check out the hard work of these students.

My cuff was in there and it looked really nice.  I was honored to be chosen from all the extremely talented female artists in Wisconsin.  I can't believe something I made caught the eye of someone and then it ended up in a spread in a magazine, holy crap that's awesome. 

I grabbed a bunch of the magazines (yes, they're free, so if you live in Madison, there is no excuse for not getting one), I'm sure my mom will want one.  No matter how old you get, mom's will still collect things like this just like they did when you were in the second grade.  ;-)
                

I think I just might be....

So I've been in quite of a creative slump as of late.  Maybe it's just winter.  The short cold days, never seeing any sunlight.  Just wanting to snuggle up under a warm blanket and hibernate.  It just makes everyone a little bit sad.   

Maybe it was the stress of buying a house and then moving (in winter) that really was getting to me.  I mean it took really everything out of me.  It's hard buying a house so far away from where you live.  It just means long nights and little sleep.  But we did it and now I have a studio (well I will as soon as I get off my butt and start putting it together).

Maybe my creative slump was caused by a bad show.  All of you out there that do art shows know the feeling.  You do a show that you think will be fun and you'll make some monies, and then it just sucks.  Then you start questioning your work and telling your boyfriend that you're done making things and doing shows because everyone hates your stuff.  You get a little depressed and kinda just want to crawl in a hole.

Well I had one of those bad shows last month.  It was one held at my work for employees and family members of employees.  They have it every year and it's little, but free.  You just have to donate a little of your earnings to the animal fund.  Okay sounds good, guess I'll give it a try.  I probably won't sell much because my stuff is expensive, but even a few things would be okay.  But then I found out that money was taken at the door and then distributed later on.  Well, I was a little iffy about this.  I mean who wouldn't be, you hand over your hard work and don't physically get any money in return.  But they said they didn't have an problems in the past so I went ahead with the show.  Long story shot, I only sold a few things, but I made about $100, which isn't really great, but the show was only 3 or 4 hours long and it was free.  So I was happy with the extra hundred dollars I would have for Christmas.  Well when I went to go collect my money, they handed my $26.  When I protested that amount and showed them my receipt book, I was told that they didn't have any extra money and didn't want to take it out of the donation pot.  So in the end (after much debate and argument) I ended up just taking the damn $26.  That's $74 short of what I should have made, that's $74 that could have been used for home improvement crap, that's someone that got a free cuff for Christmas.  So, needless to say, I was unbelievable saddened by this.  This is why I didn't want to hand over the goods without getting some money in return, and this is why that was the first and last time I'll do that little show.

So I think that had a great impact on my creativity.  Why create crap, if I'm just going to be ripped off?  It just made me very sad.

Thankfully, one of my coworkers commissioned a piece for his wife.  It was a Christmas gift.  I made a cuff like my horse cuff, but with a cow instead (she has a pet cow, yes you heard that right, a pet cow.  And no they are not cattle farmers, just one pet cow).  So imagine that cuff with a happy jumping cow in it.  It turned out a lot cuter then I thought it would.  I didn't get any pictures of it before I gave it to him, but I'll get some soon.  She really liked it and wears it all the time, so that made me happy.  It sort of helped me out of that slump.  It showed me that people liked my stuff and people were happy to wear it.  So I started to feel that spark of creativity come back.  And it started to make me forget that we don't have any furniture in the living room yet. 

Crappy Iphone Pic, but you get the idea!

That got me started, I've been on a roll this last week.  I started slow with some small projects that utilized the small amounts of beads that were left over from other projects.  I just sat down with some thread and a bunch of small piles of beads in front of me and started beading.  And before I knew it, I had three cute, colorful bracelets made.  Each one unique, never to be replicated.  It showed me how to have fun with the beads again.  It's what I needed.  Take my mind off of everything around me and just make something pretty.  Sometimes I think we all forget that, that it should be fun.   

Fish Scale Cuff! Ignore the bead mat mess!!!

So those three simple bracelets got me going.  I then started a sparkly cuff, a big one.  That one is also just free form, no pattern just some sparkly hex cut beads and what every pops into my head.  I'm loving it.  I looks a lot like a cuff I made last summer, and that one sold and the first show I brought it too, so maybe I'll have the same luck with this one.  J says it reminds him of fish scales, but in a pretty way.  I guess I'll take that.  I really love how sparkly it is and how much it catches the light.  Cant' wait to finish this little guy up.  Maybe I'll use my sparkly buttons for clasps on this one, we'll just have to see what I'm in the mood for.

Purple embroidered cuff! Again, ignore the mess!

Then I received a bead order and that sparked another cuff idea.  So I got straight to work on that.  Last year I bought a grab bag of cat's eye cabs, no know what I would do with them.  Well the white square cab went great with the purple and blue beads.  And I'm trying out a new fabric to bead on.  I'm trying some good old moleskin type fabric.  We have a bunch of it laying around from a project J did, and I thought why not.  I'm in love with it so far.  I love the colors and I love the look.  Simple, but still so pretty.  I can't wait to get it on some leather and finish it.  I want to see it on.  Oh, I can't wait.               

So hopefully I'm out of this slump I've been in.  I seem to be.  I seem to be back in the swing of things, with more ideas then I have hands to make.  My sketch pad is filling up fast.  I'm glad to be back creating!!!

Cow Print Listed - Check that off the list!

When we moved into our new house it gave me the opportunity to go through my beads and finished product and see what I actually had.  I realized I have a crap ton of beads that I should maybe, just maybe try and use.  So right now I'm working on some small projects that use up some of my left over beads.  You know, the ones that just sit around with no plans for the future.  I've show you my guitar string bracelets that use left over beads and used guitar strings, but I'm also working with my left over seed beads.  Just making a few true one of a kind bracelet using all the tiny little beads I have lying around.  I'll get pictures of them up as soon as I finish them.

I also had the opportunity to go through all my finished stock.  All those pieces that I've finished, maybe photographed or not photographed, and then put in my finished pile to just be sort of forgotten.  Well not really forgotten, but just not listed on etsy.  I guess last year was just such a busy year that I didn't get around to listing everything I wanted too.  But I promise I'll try harder this year.  I'd like to list all those lost forgotten souls before the end of the month.  It's a big task, but hopefully I can do it.

One of the first projects I have listed is my cow print cuff.  Now I'm not really an artist that can draw all that great, but cow print I can do.  So I sat down a drew up a very simple cow print and then made up a cuff.  I wanted it to be more then just black and white, so I used hex cut beads in silver and black.  This little guy shines and sparkles so much.

J doesn't really think it looks like cow print.  He told me it looks cool and abstract, but not like cow print.  But I have been told that it does look like cow print by some really fantastic bead artists and friends.  So there J, it does look like a cow.  Hopefully all of you think it looks like cow print as well. ;-)

If you'd like to see more pictures of this cuff you can click HERE to go to my etsy store.  I listed it last night.  See I'm on a roll, I have listed a cuff, 3 guitar string bracelets, and 2 triangle earrings, as well a few renewals.  So lets hope I can keep this up.  I know that our home remodeling and decorating may try to get in the way, but I'll try to keep posting new things and keep listing new things.  Now I jut need your guys help, if you notice I'm getting behind let me know, give me a little kick in the butt.

I'd also like to announce my next project soon.  And I would love all of you crafty or non-crafty people to be involved.  I know that's pretty vauge, but it will be using color pallets from one of my favorite shows and I'd like to see not just what I can come up with, but what you can come up with.  I'll have move on that soon.

 And don't forget that I'm still having my 15% off sale.  Everything in my store will be 15% to help us save up a little bit of money for Yoda's eye surgery.  We're hoping to save up some money in the next couple months so she can have the surgery as soon as possible.  Click HERE to read more about Yoda.  

Guitar Strings Upcycled!

I actually have some new things to  share with everyone today.  It's not actually anything that I've made recently because I've been a bit distracted by other things, but it's stuff I haven't posted here or listed in my etsy store, so it's like it's new.

I have been hoarding J's used guitar strings for a while now.  Every time he changed his strings, I hid the old ones away.  I've always wanted to do something with them, I've just never have.  Well, that's all changed. 

I made myself a bangle out of them last summer.  Just a simple bangle with some left over beads strung on the strings.  Then I just did some simple wire wrapping to hold it all together.  It seemed to work and I really liked it.  I still wear it all the time.  I made a few changes to how it was made (like soldering all the strings together), but over all I like the idea, so I made a few more.

I have three guitar string bracelets made right now.  A pink one, a green one, and a red one.  These are great because they reuse J's old strings that he would probably just throw away and they use up my stashes of left over beads. You know the ones that you only have a tiny bit left so you can't really use it for another project except maybe a bead soap project.  Well now instead of throwing those beads in the big bin of left overs, I can use them for these.  Perfect.

Each bracelet is made using all the different sizes of strings he has.  So there are little ones and bigger ones in each bracelet.  The beads are free to move around the bracelet, which I think makes it fun.  I left the ends of the strings on because I find them visually interesting.  Then soldered all the wire together, which is easier then it sounds.  Guitar wires don't really like to stay all wrapped in circle, they want to spring open and be free.  To hide the solder, I added some wire wrapping.  I kept it simple because my wire wrapping skills are pretty sad.

You can check them out in my etsy store.  Click HERE for the link to my red and yellow bangle.  

As much as I love these bracelets, I've been playing around with some other ideas as well.  I have some smaller sections of the strings left when I make the bangles, and I didn't really want to throw those away.  They were perfectly good art materials, they just needed a purpose.  So I made myself a simple little pendent.

Again I used a left over bead I had sitting around, I love putting those extra beads to use.  Just wrapped the wire in two ovals and soldered the top to hold them in place.  I again added some wire wrapping to hide the solder as well as add a loop to attach it to necklace.  I put the pendent on cotton cord that I made adjustable by adding a small glass crow bead to the back.

I love this necklace.  I wear it all the time.  It's really simple but really stylish at the same time.  I've gotten a ton of comments on it when I wear it.   I haven't made any more like this.  I'm just testing the waters with the strings.  If I get good feedback on this one, I might have to start making some more.

And I have added to my collection of strings since last summer when I started working on this project.  Since then I have added bass guitar strings, which I hope make more masculine jewelry with (J's suggestion) and some cello strings, which are so beautiful, I can't wait to start working with them (they have silk on them).  So stay tuned for some more guitar strings jewelry as well as other guitar and music themed items.

Wordless Wednesday - Someday I'll get things listed again!