Small Business Saturday

Today I headed to The Bead Garden and started my tassel necklace. (They didn't have the right beads for the daisy, but let's face it, I'm a woman who knows how to substitute. Once I saw the size of the beads the instructions called for, I lost enthusiasm. It just wasn't as delicate as I thought it would be.)

I realized I'm always making pink and green for my aunt, so when I saw these pink and gold beads (dyed jade) I chose them. I also stuck with the extra large tassel, even though I picked smaller tassels for the sodalite (blue) and druzy agate beads (purple/green with sparkly insides). Speaking of, the tassel for those is army green.. (I have to wait for the silk cord to be restocked to start the latter two.)

Here's the sodalite. The photo of the druzy agate didn't come out well enough, but you can go here to see. Go! They're awesome.

How are your weekend plans progressing?

Five Pinterest Crafts I Hope to Do This Weekend

I'm so looking forward to the Thanksgiving Break. I know...I had a three day week last week, but when all you can do is sit on the couch while you hack up a lung...not the same. This is what I hope to accomplish/start.

Now don't rush out and buy up all the vintage Santa head mugs! I saw this cute idea in Better Homes and Gardens Holiday Crafts. (The one with a felted snowman in a bell jar on the cover; I tried to find the issue on their website for you but, why would they sell that on their site? Here, get it on Zinio.) I may not do much more than start to gather the items. Depends on how gung-ho I am to get out to the vintage shops in the inevitable traffic.


On Friday, I plan to make cards. Two of the ideas I have are pictured here. The first example is the non-specific holiday card for my friends who do not necessarily celebrate Christmas. I am going to use a cool blue instead of the spring-y gold to make something generally winter-y. (Find this card at Magical Scrapworld.)

I'm also going to use Warm Wishes stamp set that I love to make this sled. The original idea came from Stampin by the Sea. I might have to wait to finish these until I go to my Friday night stamping party again. I can't remember if I have the embossing folder for the background or not. (You know you have too many crafting supplies when...)







On Saturday, I plan to shop small at the Bead Garden. I am thinking about making two necklaces, pictured here. Tassels are all the rage, and I know how to make them! (Finally, a reason for that useless skill!) The pink and green necklace would be a perfect gift for a certain aunt. I would link you to the origin, but it is a piece that was sold on etsy, by a seller that didn't make sure a permanent link went back to their store. The item is unavailable--that's all I know.

Finally, that same aunt would love this daisy necklace. I think it will also be pleasingly complicated--not too easy, but not too difficult either. You can find the instructions for this piece at Pandahall Tutorial.

What are your plans?

String and Beads

Even though I hadn't stitched much this summer year, I did stop by The Bead Garden a couple of times. I took two classes where I picked up a needle. (One had to be a makeup class because I totally forgot I had signed up for the bracelet. Sheesh.)

First, we have the "Himalayan Brick Stitch Necklace." I have no idea what makes it Himalayan. This will become a necklace once I add the chain. As I wondered around the shop, I got the bug to do something. There is something about seeing a lot of color in one place that makes me want to create! 

I also took the Super Striped Herringbone Bracelet class, well, I had a private tutorial. I'm about 2/3 of the way through this one, but it's been so long I fear I might have forgotten when I was doing.

The good news is it was during these trips to the shop that I found someone help take care of Stella! Since I started working outside the home almost four years ago now (!)--actually since, about a year into the job when Stella got semi-kicked out of daycare--I have been racing home at lunchtime three days a week to let the dog out. She could probably hold it all day, but that seems so cruel. (There were some times I just had to do it, and she was fine but I was not!) This racing home did put a crimp in my lunchtime--it's 18 minutes each way. Plus I only had two days a week to have lunch with my friends. Fortunately, I met Nicole, an uber-beader,  who lives and works in my neighborhood, and lets dogs out at lunchtime.

When she came over to meet Stella, who is a really amazing guard dog, it started out a little rocky. So we took a walk; this always has a remarkable effect on Stella's ability to understand who a person is and how they belong. After the walk she was giving Nicole kisses and being an angel. It is such a great relief to have my lunchtimes back and a caring person looking after the pooch. Now I just need to figure out what to do with that hour!

Friday Finishing: Flat Ornament with a Beaded Edge

In the October 2008 issue of Just Cross Stitch (the Halloween issue), Heather Holland-Daly from monsterbubbles contributed the cutest bat ornament with a beaded finish. The finish is so gorgeous, I've been meaning to stitch this. Then it occurred to me that I could finish a different ornament this way. And then I looked through my unfinished ornaments and I saw Joyeux Noel, a monsterbubbles design. And it clicked!

Monsterbubble's Joyeux Noel 
2007 JCO issue
Wichelt Tropical Green 
called for floss colors
Stitched June 2013

Only one problem. When I put together the flat finish, it wasn't totally flat. So I needed something to help me fudge a little. Like ribbon. I used Mona's directions for doing a beaded ribbon edging. But I used way more beads. It took forever to load up all the pins (63 of them!), but not nearly as much time to stick them into the ribbon and then into the ornament. But I love how this came out. 

Tool Time: Scissor Location System

I'm up past my bedtime to bring you today's craft. It was supposed to be something entirely different but there is no way I would have had time on this crazy day!

I may have stretched the definition of a needlework tool, but I would argue that the best way for me to find my scissors--which have a tendency to locate themselves somewhere between the end table, the arm of the couch, my lap, and between the couch cushion--is to have something on them that nearly doubles their size.

Tutorials:
SoEasyQuilts has a video tutorial
Abbie has a tutorial
Anne over on Focus on Finishing does too.

There are lots of ideas out there for these if you have trouble picking beads and colors!

Finish: Beaded Edge Ornament

I finished this Miss Crescent's Crowne ornament today, finally...the one with the forgotten stuffing.
I love the extra-large beads. I love the hanger. I just love how this looks.

If you're interested in doing a beaded edge pillow-style ornament, check out these links:
Snippets and Stash shows you how to do a beaded edge.
Jen Funk beaded edging for a bookmark.
If you prefer your directions in French, go here.
Double beaded edge, en francaise.

You'll notice that I also made a beaded hanger. I marked the halfway point across the top of the design, and when I got there, I just strang extra beads to a length that, when folded in half, appeared to be long enough to hang on a branch. Then I kept right on whipstitching the edges. Simple enough.

On the Road

The dude and I have taken our show on the road. Not to worry, I brought projects I could finish by hand! I packed all the accoutrements--sewing thread and needles, shears, beads. And then when I was three quarters of the way around this ornament, I realized I didn't bring stuffing!

I specifically choose a larger bead for this beaded edging to echo the snowballs on the ornament.

Links when it's finished for real.

Freeform Vine

Last night's beading class was about freeform wirework. I enjoyed this but I'm that kind of go-with-the-flow crafter. I think this came out a little too "branchy" but I think it still looks pretty good.

Remind me, in the future, when they tell you you can use small beads or chips, use the small beads. Stringing the chips on the necklace part was a huge pita. But they did match the agate slice the best. And they were cheap! Inexpensive, this was an inexpensive necklace to make. I didn't think it was going to be because the pendant was $6.95. I thought everything was going to go up from there, but that really was the main cost.

The first, or maybe second, time I took Beading Boot Camp, I made the most expensive piece in the class. Every week. The problem is that I love color so much, I am often unwilling to compromise on a good match. I don't know what's happened in the intervening years. Maybe my classmates just don't compare prices?

I hope the recipient likes it!

Picot Chain Necklace

Good news--I've signed up with the Haverford Township Adult School for "Beading Boot Camp" at Bead Garden. That means every so often, I should have something new to show you. It's also good news for my relatives because surely someone will need something I end up making. (There are too many mistakes to give this necklace away, but I do have the technique down now.) It's also good news for me because I enjoy the projects that Leslie chooses.

When I was chatting with my table mates--and not understanding the pattern of this project at all--she introduced me as a craft blogger. They accused me of being a ringer. But I just kept thinking, "oh, I'm not really a craft blogger."

Now that I'm keeping this necklace, I'm going to have to find something to wear with it!

Baby Girl Knits

I mentioned I was taking a knitting class and promised to show you the results of that. We had our second class this week. I'm knitting for twins, so I am doing two dresses at once. This will help prevent "second sock syndrome" I think. I also picked the 12 month old size, and they aren't due til August. To paraphrase, a woman's got to know her limitations!

This is the Marian Dress by Taiga Hillard Designs, and it has faux lace cable panels on the front and back. The pattern is available for purchase on Ravelry, and so yes, I'm there too now. (Which is ridiculous because I can barely keep up with the blog-Twitter-Instagram parts of my life.) (I did recently figure out how to get an instant response from the dude: DM him on Twitter. I'm not sure if it will work when we're in the same room. Or if he will remember that I asked him to bring the dog to the vet if I use Twitter instead of my mouth. I'll experiment and report back.)

Notice the lovely stitch markers I made for this. I had made matching sets purple flowers with purple hearts and turqoise flowers with turquoise spheres but then a wrench was thrown into my plans when I needed a different color in my pairs so I am using the purple flowers with the blue flowers and the hearts with the spheres.

There's been a tragic accident. Yup, after one day of use the bead split. And it wasn't even like I forced the wire into it (like I did with the purple hearts). Lesson learned: don't buy cheap beads.

Oh, Hello Mill Hill!

Have you seen these? C-uuuuuuuuu-te, as we say around here*.

I'm having a hard time deciding which one I like best. There's something to be said for all of them!



*My niece, who is intellectually disabled, has speech and language blah blah blah. Anyway, at one point on her journey, she would show you a new outfit and then say "cuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuue.: (No "T" but a long drawn out u sound. Which, you will quickly learn, is what any of us would say if we liked your new outfit you were showing us. (And when we girls were younger, we'd have to have fashion shows of our new school clothes.) So of course, we all adopted her approach to saying it. 

Along Came a Spider

Yesterday I could not get motivated. Almost every craft I planned was lacking a material or two but I did not feel like running errands. I finally forced myself out the door and into Michaels (among other stops I had to make). When I got home, it was time to cook. By the time I finally turned my attention to crafting it was 8:30. Using this tutorial, just over an hour later, I had this:

It was fun. Except when I dropped one of the pink beads and the dude and I were down on all fours looking for it and Stella decided she could be most helpful by licking our faces since clearly we needed to play.

The big bead is a rhodochrosite. I scrounged around for things that would match. (I needed to buy the wire; I've got plenty of beads.) If I did it again, I'd go darker with the bugle and seed beads. But I still think it looks pretty nifty.

I think I might give it to my hairdresser who had a run-in with a wolf spider that she told me about at my last visit. This seems like a good souvenir.

Next up: Tea Bag Wallet

Two Project Post

I didn't have it in me to post yesterday. How is it that vacation always makes one more tired?

I stitched this Pine Mountain kit on the way to the airport. It's a good thing I had it with me because we got stuck in Traffic-with-a-capital-T. There was an accident on one major road we take to the airport, and when we finally got off that road it was smooth sailing. When we were in the middle of Sunshine Skyway, my father said we had 30 minutes to go. Our flight was at 7:35, and it was 6:05. Not great but not bad. Of course we ended up in more traffic and arrived at the airport at 6:50. My sister put our tickets through, the machine accepted them, and my mother asked the woman at the desk if we would make it.
"When's the flight?"
"7:35."
"No."
"But the machine just took our tickets."

She sees our baggage claim tickets have printed; she takes our bags, hands us our receipts, and shouts, "GO!"

We thought for sure we'd get held up going through security but there were only eight people in line. Which stops moving when we arrive. Because some little shit ass brat brought a knife with him. And for some reason, they have to stop xraying bags until a  supervisor can look at it. (Because opening the bag is above the agent's pay grade, or what?) In the end, we had time to get food and perform necessary functions before we got on the plane. I don't recommend cutting it that close, but if you do, make sure you have a project with you! It will keep you calm.

Yesterday I made this bird's nest charm. I'm very pleased with how this came out. If I did it again, I'd use only three beads. I think it's a little easier to make a circle around three beads. This would be a nice charm for a mother; you could use pearls and gemstones the color of her little chicks' birthstones. I used a creamy pearl, a gold stone bead, an amethyst bead, and some kind of green bead because it's what I had hanging around.

Drive By

We're on our way out the door but I wanted to show you what I made yesterday (in addition to holes in paper).

The beads are iridescent but you can't tell that here, too much Florida sunshine.

Day 21: Too Much String

I started stringing these clay beads that I bought in Oklahoma three or four years ago. My favorite bead shop owner helped me pick the blue coral, lotus wood, and white beads to go with them. For some reason when I started stringing, I thought there should be more than one strand. Of course, I didn't have enough beads to finish it. I'm liking it, so I think I'll need to stop in for more coral and white beads. I'll finish it when I get back home. Today's project is earrings, so let's hope I can finish those!

And just to keep you on your toes: if you think you've got me all  figured out, today daddy took Sissy and me to the shootin' range. I did okay. (The wild shots were with the handgun. Shouldn't have put on my glasses; I was doing better without!)

Day 20: Wherein I Miss My Craft Room

I came unprepared. I thought I had packed everything I needed to make three necklaces and a bracelet. Turns out not so much. But my mother's Michael's is really awesome. Unfortunately, not as local as it used to be.

You may remember Sissy and I visited a bead show three years ago. I finally did something with that beautiful stormy sea scene lampwork bead.

As you can see, like Sissy, I am headless. Family trait.

I think this is the perfect jeans and t-shirt necklace! I'm very pleased with it. The crystals that appear clear are actually light blue. The grey beads are Labradorite. I just went for a quick check that I spelled that right (Blogger doesn't think so), and I found the "meaning of gemstones" website. "Labradorite is a gemstone from Atlantis. If you have genes or a previous lifetime in Atlantis, this gemstone will awaken your sensory faculties of awareness, clairvoyance, ingenuity, and perception." This is a necklace made of awesome! Now let me get back to my vacation...

Three of 24

Thanks for your compliments on my first presents. Especially the bag--I had to put that lining in three times. After the second time, I was willing to live with the imperfections, but I was shamed into correcting it. (Those ladies were merciless!) I'm glad I did because it looks great now.

I'm pleased to report that I have finished a third gift.

The inspiration can be found here. It's just three strands on elastic tied with a brown taffeta ribbon. It's very dressy. I thought the fabric wasn't right for my recipient.

BTW, you can find the pattern for yesterday's scarf here. 

Gotta run...it's Stitch Night, and I have to finish another gift because tomorrow is the framing deadline. (Ack!)

More Downsizing

I've got my sewing machine set up on the dining room table and I am going great guns like a single person sweat shop. I might finish these Amy Butler bags for my MIL yet. (Did I start them last year or two years ago?)

Sunday was my turn to make dinner but I wasn't sure how I was going to get my father into the house because of all the snow. They did a lousy job plowing our street because the neighbors at 1 and 5 (next door to each other) left their cars in the street. Apparently walking to the backyard driveway is too far {not}. So we brought the mountain to Mohammad meatloaf to my sister's. I made Mandajuice's teriyaki meatloaf, mashed potatoes, salad, and the dude made Pioneer Woman's peanut butter pie for dessert. The meatloaf is a big favorite; last year I bought everyone the Soy Vay to make it. My mother (who never cooks) confirmed that even she made it, but the "recipe is complicated." Turns out, old hand cooks like my mother aren't big on photographing every step of a recipe. My sister also put in a special request for Chile con Queso which around here we call crack dip.

Anyway, as I made my lunch by scooting the dirty dishes out of the way--including the skillet with dried on Velveeta--I was thinking something along the lines of Spinster Stitcher's post only I was worried those British birds from "How Clean is Your House?" might show up. I don't know how I am getting on a plane in five days.

In the continued downsizing, my sisters-in-law have gone from being proud owners of quilted messenger bags to proud owners of beaded jewelry.

This one is for the dude's sister. When I think of her, I think of neutral shades. Her husband is the geologist and hiker and somehow I think of her as being a natural, outdoorsy sort, though I can think of little evidence for this conclusion. I do know she wears these colors.

The dude's brother's wife, however, wears a lot of bright blue. I had trouble putting something together. I thought I wanted to make something like this necklace, but I couldn't find a donut that lent itself to being matched with bright blues. The turquoise donut was all wrong. I was wandering around the store and thought there was something very cool about the large beads I ended up using. I'm not going to lie to you, it is bright. This may be a miserable failure. Or it will become a treasured possession. I'm pretty sure there are no in-betweens on this one.

What am I doing here rambling on? This bags aren't going to sew themselves!

Earrings

Thanks so much for the Pot o' Love for the sorting hat boxes. Couldn't have done it without "little mojo," a designer over on the Leaky Cauldron.

A lot less interesting to Potterfans is this pair of earrings I made for my cousin that you never hear about.

The beads are mini goldstone donuts.

It's a Dead Man's Party

Happy Halloween!
I took that pretty skull bead and turned it into this for my sister:

The beads are matte gray with a few faceted hematite beads to add subtle bling. From this picture you'd think it was a lot more subtle than it is. I needed a tiny black crystal to keep the head from falling off the head pin. Rather understated...you know, for a skull necklace.

Thanks for the love on the martini. The button has been stitched, just in case that kept you up last night.