Weekend Wrap Up

What a weekend. I am still recovering from all the craziness. This past weekend was J's graduation party. The big kind of party. Family, friends, neighbors, strangers walking by. You know the kind; everyone was invited. It was a lot of fun, but parties like that are a lot of work.

I went to bed on Friday (okay, it was technically Saturday morning) at 2:00am and was up at 6:00am. So four hours of sleep was all I managed before I got up and started getting ready for the party. It was a very long day. But it was a very fun day and it was a lot of fun to see our friends and family. A lot of them we haven't seen for quite some time, with J being in school and all. So it was worth it. I unfortunately didn't get any photos because I was so busy being an awesome hostess. Oh well, next time.

I didn't just party this weekend. I worked on a bunch of new sketches and have a million ideas swimming in my head right now. So many ideas!

I also finished up my latest custom order. Okay, I still have to add the laces, but the hard part is all finished. Yay! This one was a lot of work and I'm so happy with how it turned out. I can't wait for it's new owner to see it. I really hope he's as happy with it as I am.

Today I plan on working a bit on this bad boy. It's been so long since I've done anything with it. I would love to finish it up by the end of June, but alas, I don't know if that will happen. Fingers crossed it does.

And of course, I could never get anything done without my faithful studio helper. She's a real slave driver. (Good god, I have to clean that window).

So what did everyone else do this past weekend? Did you have beautiful weather? Did you go to any parties? Did you work on something creative? I'd love to know!

Weekend Wrap Up

Another weekend has passed and another Monday is here.  This past weekend was nice, nothing too exciting happening here.  J and I did some shopping.  J got a new coffee maker, which made him quite a happy boy.  We went to a friends house to watch the playoff games (the game did not end very well) an then celebrated their son's 5th birthday.  It was nice.

I have been working on a new beady project.  I've been working on my first beaded tin.  It's been pretty fun.  I decided to start with a small tin and then I would work my way up to a larger one.  Hey, we got a ton of tins laying around the house after Christmas, I had to find something to do with them.

 
Here was my first attempt.  I liked the beads towards the inside, but just wasn't feeling the rest of it.  Sometimes that's how it works.  So I ripped out most of it and started over.

I'm much happier with the second attempt.  The little glass flowers add some dept and are also pretty fun. 

This is where I am right now.  I've started beading around the sides.  I'm pretty excited to get this done.  I should be able to finish this little guy up soon and then it's one to a bigger project.  I've already started thinking about what to do next. 

But before I start on another tin I should really finish up this guy.  I'm working on it, I promise.

So what did everyone else do this past weekend?  I'd love to hear about it. 

Monday's Weekend Recap

Another weekend has come and gone and now it's Monday again.  And what a dreary, overcast, cold Monday it is.  We are supposed to get our first snow fall today and tomorrow.  Good news, I don't live in northern WI, were they may get up to 14 inches snow.  I'm not quite ready for that.  I'm not quite ready to get that winter coat out, but with the weather predicted for this week, I think I'm going to have to.  Blah.  Someday I'll live somewhere that it's warm.  Someday.

This wasn't that exciting of a weekend around here.  J had a lot of homework to do because his final presentation is coming up soon.  His group is the first group to present at the beginning of December.  That's great because he'll be done early, but it's very stressful for him to get all that done in such a short period of time.  I'm so proud of that boy and I can't wait to throw him a huge party this December when he finishes up his masters.  So exciting.

So what did I do this weekend?  Hmmmm.  I recalibrated my laptop battery.  It's an exciting life I live.  But what did I do that was beady?  

Well I finished up a guitar string bracelet that is off to it's new home in MD.  I love these bracelets.  I have a few myself and I love to wear them all stacked up on my arm.  They are a lot of fun and I hope it's new owner loves it as much as I do.

I also got a little bit more work on the large red leather gauntlet done.  I'm about 80% done with the studs and beadwork.  I would like to finish this up this week so I can get it glued by this weekend.  I'm excited to see this finished because it is the first gauntlet I've ever made.

I even got a little bit of time to work on my solar system project.  I started attaching the planets to the canvas and adding some paint.  So far I only have the sun attached, but I plan on working on this today, so hopefully I'll have a couple more attached by the end of the day.  This might be the most exciting project I've done in a while.  I'm in love.

So that's what I accomplished this weekend.  Tomorrow I'll have an update on the artist reception at Ebling Library.  That was a pretty neat event.

Till then, stay creative.

New Beady Goodness

I have been a busy little girl when it comes to beady things.  I have been busy at work on some custom orders.  I finished up this bad boy at the end of last week.

 I'm in love with this one.  I love the beadwork and I love the way the pyramids look on it.  I'm dropping it off with it's new owner tomorrow, so I hope he likes it as much as I do.  If not, I would be happy to keep it myself, even though it would never fit me.

Speaking of custom orders, I've been working on my first custom gauntlet (this is for the same person as the cuff above).  The first one is a simpler one; rows of black metal pyramids with a single row of seed beads between each row of pyramids.  I'm pretty happy with how this is turning out.  It's not the easiest to sew through this leather, but it's doable.  Now I'm just waiting on more pyramids to arrive so I can finish this.  I'm hoping to have all the beadwork and studs in by this weekend, so I can get it glued and ready to go by next week.  That's my plan for now.

And last, but definitely not least, is the work I've accomplished on my solar system project.  I finished the embroidery work on Saturn's rings.  I'm very happy with how this turned out and I can't wait to start arranging it on the canvas.  Not only am I going to reach my goal of finishing this before the new year, but I think I might just finish it a month early.  Woot, woot!

  
A quick reminder to all my American readers out there.  Get to the polls and cast your vote.  J and I are going after he gets home from work.  GO VOTE!

Weekend Wrap Up

Ugh, this was supposed to be posted yesterday, but I can't publish a post if I don't write it now can I.  And why didn't I write Monday's post?  Because I was taking advantage of yesterday's beautiful weather and painting the garage.  Exciting.  It really is great being a home owner.  That's how you spend the last beautiful day of the year, painting a garage.  Don't get me wrong, I love owning a home and I love doing DIY stuff, but yesterday would have been an awesome day to go for a bike ride or just sit on the deck and bead/read.  We did manage to get a walk in last night, so I did get to enjoy the weather a bit. ;-)

But let's move on.  What happened this weekend?  Well, Nacho is feeling better.  If you didn't read last week, Nacho had another abscess in less then a month due to fighting with Toonces.  You can read about it here and here.  And don't forget I'm having the Nacho sale again to help cover some of the vet bills.  Use coupon code NACHO20 to get 20% off anything in my etsy store.  That includes clearance and patterns. 

Hmmm, what else happened this weekend?  Oh yeah, I finished up all the beadwork on the solar system project over the weekend.  I am also about 85% finished with Saturn's rings, I should have photos later in the weeks of that.  I'm so happy with how it looks so far.  I haven't decided on arrangement and a few other things need to be added, but overall I think it's looking good.  We had some friends over this weekend and they said it was even more impressive in person.  So I'm glad it's getting such good feedback.  I think I might be able to meet my goal of getting it done before the end of the year.  Fingers crossed. 

I also got about 95% of this wonderful custom cuff finished this weekend.  Now I jut need to punch some holes in the leather and make a cotton ribbon for the closure.  I'm in love with the design and I'm loving it with the studs added.  I glued it yesterday, so tonight I should be able to put the finishing touches on it and get it ready to go to it's new home.  

And last, but not least, I practiced some embroidery stitches.  I've never attempted these types of leaves, so I thought I would give it a try.  I have a sweater that I love, but I put a very small hole in it.  So I used these embroidered leaves to cover up the hole and add a little interest to the sweater.  I learned a lot from these two small leaves and now I can't wait to try it out on some other projects.  

I also wanted to show off this great cat themed treasury that my Down the Rabbit Hole cuff was included in.  Check it out and all the kitty goodness.      

'THIS CAT IS OOAK!!!' by COSIMITA

♥ =^..^= ♥

Artist: Jack Babiloni / OOAK... UCRONIA $39	Boy Patchwork Placemat Break... iasio $23	THE SASSY CAT- ooak- Thick c... PenelopeMeatlo... $24	Little witch/ Home Deco Wall... Adushkas $200
Christmas eve igloo dress fr... NATIPUREIDEA $279	Love Cats OOAK necklace MetallicMuseCr... $200	Fanciful Felines on a Golden... LouAnnsdesigns $215	My Blue Nouveau Art Pin - OO... ApacheMoon $175
Down the Rabbit Hole - Bead ... ThreeFatesDesi... $225	Cuff Egyptian Setmet Cat BondsJewels $425	Purple Jade & Turquoise Cat ... LifeTravelsDes... $265	Funky handmade cat and deer ... PlanetNathalie $139
Here Kitty Antique Fork Ne... WoodsEdgeJewel... $85	Life Size Black Wire Cat Scu... PoppySeedCats $250	Cats & Kittens "Proud M... ACutAboveMemor... $275.24	Artist teddy bear cat, ooak ... ShabbyGoesLuck... $75

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Monday, Monday - Weekend Wrap Up

Wow, it's Monday again.  Weekends are always so short lived and this one was no exception.  It was a fairly busy weekend for us.  We hung out with friends, saw some bands, I beaded, J did homework and had meetings, we took the dog for a nice fall walk.  It was a lot busier then normal.

Friday I picked up embroidery thread to finish up planet Saturn.  I'm so excited to get Saturn done and see what it looks like with rings.

If you don't remember, this is what Saturn looks like without rings.  It looks pretty awesome if I don't say so myself.  So just imagine it with a ring system.  I'm hoping to have a little bit of time this week to work on that.

Let's see, what else did we do on Friday?  Oh yeah, a good friend came over and we watched weird documentaries all night.  I know, we are out of control here.

Saturday was homework day for J.  He's really getting close to that Masters.  Only about nine weeks left and he will be done!!!  I'm so proud of that boy.

I working on beadwork on Saturday.  Exciting news, I finished my last planet on Saturday.   Woot, woot!

Uranus is finished!  I cannot wait to see all of them together.  I plan on getting out the canvas and getting all the planets on there today.  So I should have some photos soon!

Hmmm, what else did we do?  On Sunday we took little Yoda for a walk.  We took her up to the high school to let her run around the large field they have up there.  It's one of her favorite things to do.  We just might have to buy a house in the country so our little pug has the room she needs to be free!
We finished out the weekend by going and seeing a few bands play at a local bar.  It was a pretty nice night.  See what rebels we are, we went to see some bands on a Sunday night.  Crazy!

So what did everyone else do?  Did you do some fun fall related activities?  Did you get some crafts finished?

Monday, Monday

Ugh, this post was supposed to be up last week, but due to my inability to get photos taken, it had to wait until today.

I've got a ton of projects going right now.  Well, I guess it's not that many projects, just a few.  Three or four at best.  It's funny to think that when I first started beading, I never wanted to work on multiple projects at once.  I wanted to focus on one project and not move on until that one was completely finished.  There were times where I would bead through the night to get something done.  Now, I'm more then happy to work on multiple things.  It helps me from getting board.  So what am I working on right now.

I only have one more planet to finish up for my solar system project.  Okay, I have to go back and work on Saturn's rings, but I'm almost done with all the beading.

Here is the work I've accomplished on Uranus.  I'm hoping to have it done in a week or two so I can start putting the project together.  I'm so excited to see all the planets together.  Maybe I will have this project done before Christmas.

I also have been working on a few custom orders.  I'm working on making large leather gauntlets for a customer.  This is a first for me.  I love going big, but I've never beading a gauntlet before.

Here is a little sneak peak at the first one.  It's just going to be an all matte white with white glass pyramid beads for accents.  I like that we're starting out simple.

And here is a little sample of bead embroidery for my customer.  We are going back and forth between if these should be done in embroidery or if they should be done in peyote stitch.  I vote for embroidery, but the final word is up to my customer.  It just depends on which one looks better to him.  I'll see what he says next Wednesday, that's if I can get this sample finished.

And last, but not least (okay, that's a lie, I may or may not have some other projects going), is a pair of purple tassel earrings that will be going to their new home in Georgia today.  I love these guys.  They are so playful and fun.  And if you are interested, they are now available as custom orders.

So that's a few of the projects on the board right now.  What is everyone else working on?  Any fun Halloween projects?  I would love to hear and see them.