Not Quite the Thing

I mean, I do love it, but it just misses being perfect for the pendant I had planned. And it's not quite finished, but I'm not exactly sure how I want to finish it. 

So there's that.

I wanted something . . . softer, for want of a better word, so I went with this lovely soft turquoise color. I can hardly wait to see how this one turns out. I may have to do a beaded bamboo bead as well, just because I am so in love with this color.

That would mean there'll be more later.

More Beaded Beads

And on the worktable:

A few more and I'll open a new section in my Etsy shop.  

So obviously, more later!

Beaded Beads

I love making them, designing with them, and photographing them.

More of them will be making an appearance soon in my Etsy shop, but for now, here's my latest design, incorporating a beaded bead, turquoise, copper, and polymer spikes from The Jade Dog.

 

Cheers, and more later!

Brand New Brand

Now that I'm (almost) settled in to my new digs, it's time to make a few changes.

My online shop has been open since 2006; however, I've only had 123 sales in 10 years. When my husband contracted a serious medical condition, I had to put the shop on vacation multiple times. I needed to focus more and more on running his business, then on being his primary care giver during his final illness. He passed away two years ago, and my life has gone through several major transitions, including retirement and relocating from High Desert country to the Great Plains.

Now that I'm devoting more time to the crafting and the business of my beadwork, I took a hard look at where things stood. Even though my shop has five stars, I felt that potential customers might look at my statistics and get the wrong impression. I decided to re-brand with a new shop name and a shift in emphasis, but then I wondered which route to take. Should I rename my existing shop, which would give me a fresh approach yet preserve my excellent rating, or should I create a new shop, which would eliminate the appearance of few and far between sales?

I asked this question on the Etsy forums, and the majority opinion was that I shouldn't start from scratch - which would be a huge pain, not to mention labor-intensive - but simply rename my shop.

So I did - and there's nothing simple about it.  It means I have to change the name all over the place. Ain't social media grand?  I'm still in the process of updating my internet presence (when did I open a Photobucket account?), and while it's not as time consuming as building a new shop, it's still a good-sized task.

As to that shift in emphasis, more on that later.

The Jade Dog's Studio Clearance Sale

And here's your link to the info on Facebook - and remember, you don't need a Facebook account to have a peek:

Studio Clearance - Spike Sets!

I love these - I had to have two more sets to add to my spike stash - they're versatile and utterly unique.

Here's some of the necklaces I've made using them -

I've had a total brainwave for a new pendant design, so I'm hauling out the sketchbook and a huge pile of bits and pieces. 

The worktable is about to disappear under the chaos, so there will obviously be more later.

I Made a Thing

I made a bracelet. First, let me show you the Pinterest find that served as inspiration:

Read all about the piece here.

I thought, that is so pretty - and I have all these irregular flat Red Creek jasper beads - this might work out very nicely. So this is what I made:

Chunky, bold, gorgeous colors - I may end up keeping this one, since it is my prototype. Here's a more in-depth look:

I have the next one lined up on the bead board, but I've managed to get side-tracked by a coloring book and Downton Abbey.  Oh, and a knitting project. I want to make this sweater:

with this yarn:

(wish me luck - I haven't knitted a full-sized garment in 40 years)

Have a pineapple empanada while you're waiting, because there will be more - just . . . later.

The Jade Dog's 2016 Spring Challenge

Every year for the past few years, Darcy Horn (my daughter) at The Jade Dog has run a beadwork challenge. Even though I'm ineligible for the fabulous prize ($50 in merch from her shops), I always participate because I love a good challenge. Gets the old design juices flowing. This year's no exception.

Glass daggers, wooden cubes, polyclay spikes, and vintage German glass cabochons among other things were in the kit I chose.

And this is what I made:

Haven't done any bead embroidery in quite some time, Felt good to break out the short needles again. To the kit contents I added lots of seed beads, copper rounds, and some vintage sequins (also available from The Jade Dog). 

I enjoyed that so much I've managed to lose my table under a pile of beads, stones, and thread as I try to narrow down some choices for an art jewelry bracelet I keep seeing in my head. 

So that means, of course, more later.