Crafty ADD Update #9

It's update time again! I love doing these weekly updates :) Helps keep me motivated!

Crochet

I'm on to the third row! I think I'm starting to pick up speed gain and finally getting used to these fiddely pieces of yarn. Having said that...I'm dreading weaving in the ends because all the ends are freying and it looks like it's going to be a heck of a job! I might start on the first row tonight while watching the Heroes premier though. Lots of breaks and distractions that way :P

Cross-Stitch

I finished putting all my embroidery thread on little bobbins! I knew it was a good sized bag, but I was amazed to see that it filled a whole box! I also finished a WIP I had sitting around. I have two ideas sketched out, I just need to do the actual charting. Don't think I'll get to that today, but I should be able to do it tomorrow, which means I'll have a new pretty project to report on next week!

Jewelry

If this looks familiar...it should be! I put it aside a few weeks ago to work on my Mom's birthday project. And then it got set aside again while I worked on a custom order. Then I finished another bracelet I had in progress. :P I think I've only added about a threads worth of beads since you last saw it, but it's my main project at the moment! I have a lot of jewelry ideas floating around my head (or in my notebook) but I've made myself a promise not to work on any other pieces until I've added a thread's worth of beads that day. Each thread is approximately 5-6 feet long, so I should finish this by the end of the week that way :)

Mom's Birthday Present

If you've talked to me at all this week - then you know I'v been working furiously on my Mom's birthday present for the latter half of the week! Which is what happens when I work on it at the last minute... Not to mention it's a bead embroidery piece and I still find those challenging!

I took a couple of quick snap shots before I gave it to her. Not perfect, but my borther is going to bring it back over this week for a good photo shoot :)

The Top

The Back

I'm thinking next time I do something like this I should take more "along the way" pictures so I can give you a better idea of what's involved... There are a lot of steps! First you have to secure the cabochon to the material with glue. Which is really only a temporary hold. Then you bead around the cabochon and up the sides to truly secure it. Then you do the embroidery all around it to fill out whatever pattern/shape you desire. Then you glue all of that to a piece of ultra suede backing material and let that dry. Then you go around the edges with more beads. THEN, in this case at least, you glue it to the hair barrette!

I didn't get any pictures of me actually giving it to Mom, but I got my brother to snap a shot of it in her hair for me :)

Mom

What do you think? Should I make one or two for my shops? I might just at some point...but honestly...I have a LONG list of things I want to make...so it'll depend on when and what inspiration hits!

Crafty ADD Update #5

I'm late getting this post up because yesterday was...well...a bad day. Turns out I have a kidney stone. Those suckers HURT! Anyway - here's what I've been up to!

Crochet

I'm on to the 5th row of the baby blenket! I have the ends tied in on the first three rows, and while there are a few mistakes here and there, it's going pretty good! There will be 9 rows when it's all done. Unfortunately I'm almost out of pre-made squares, so I'll have to start crocheting the squares as well as doing the attaching work soon. Well...sorta soon... you see it's getting put aside for awhile! Why? Well for this:

I'm making the blanket on the right, not that you can really see it, but my cousin is having a baby! Since the other blanket is just something I'm going to donate, it has no time frame on it, so I'm putting it aside to work on the one for my cousins baby! My Mom's over here for the day in case I need any help or get worse because of the kidney stone, so if I'm feeling good enough to think straight, she'll teach me the new stitches I need to work on the new blanket :D

Cross-Stitch

As you can see I started a new bookmark! This one is butterflies :) I got a lot done on it this week, so it should be done in the next day or two! I'm not sure what I'll do for the next one...but there's room for one more before I cut up this canvas. I guess you'll find out next week!

Jewelry

I actually have two projects on the board right now! The piece on the right came out horrid in the picture, but it really is cute! The piece on the left is my first Cabochon! I'll be making a bracelet for it! I'm really excited :)

My First Artfire Sale!!!!

I'm so excited!!! I'm doing my first ever sale in my Artfire shop! Let me say I just LOVE how artfire has it set up so you just type in the percentage you want to give off - and they change all your listings for you! Sooo much easier than the way Etsy is set up!

So that's right - 15% off my entire Artfire shop! Make sure you check it out - most of the inventory (with the exception of my high priced items) is different from what you've seen in my etsy shop!

On a different note... I have a lot in the works for both my shops! Life has been really busy with apartment hunting so I haven't had the energy to take pictures this week, but I have a bunch of new inventory to put up as soon as I do!

I also picked up a book at the library that I've been waiting for - it's all about beading with cabochons and I'm so excited! I've been doing some research on-line and one of the sites recommended this book. So I ordered it at the library, had to wait TWO MONTHS, and it's finally here! I read the intro and first chapter last night and my fingers are itching to play!

I'm also planning on expanding my hemp line in the near future. I've sold quite a bit lately - for me at least - so I plan on having a hemp section in my Artfire shop soon and more inventory over all for both stores!

UPDATE:

I just found out that this necklace is in a treasury! Thanks Peacox Creations!

So Many Pretties!

I have so many new things right now! It's like Christmas in April :) I know, I know, not your normal time for Christmas, but it all came at once therefore it feels like Christmas!

The first thing I got was a present from my brother in Nepal. This was supposed to be our Christmas box, but it got here just in time for April! Got to love transporting things from third world countries. Mom and I got similar shawls (mine's a little more purple) and we're pretty sure that they are cashmire! So incredibly soft. Mom and I both wore our shawls for Easter. With the peasants blouse I wore underneath it my dear hubby told me I should be out milking the yaks or something...

The next thing I got was PACKED box that's been awhile in the making! I was contacted awhile ago by Bird of KittyHawke to see if I wanted to do a trade. I loved the idea! So we started negotiating and I'm in LOVE with what I got! She even gave me presents in the box :)  Here's what I got :)

A bag full of glass stones.

Some funky fiber beads.

A box of totally random beds (a bunch of them wooden).

4 Cabochons - which I'm really excited about!

I've got lots of ideas and I've been wanting to learn to use them in beadweaving.

Funky Peace Charms.

14 strands of beads! (I've already used some).

A special pendant - just for me :D

And as if THAT wasn't enough...I won a bloggy contest from Mama's Little Monkey's, and the package came in the mail yesterday! I didn't get a shot of my own of the crayons I got for my neice, because I was out running errands I took them over as a present right away!

She also included several soap bars that I gave to Becca - because it was her birthday was on Easter! Becca is my nieces mom - an adopted sister :P

The below is some bath salts that are just for me!

I tried them out last night and they smell heavenly :)

The Bead Museum in Phoenix

Ok, I promised to share more about my trip to the bead museum - so here's some pictures and commentary! They had beads there that were around 15,000 years old! If you believe that the world is that old. Some how I didn't manage to get a picture of it though.

Amber Necklace - Isn't it incredible?

Can you imagine wearing REAL beetles around your neck?
That's what these we're! Kinda creepy.

This looked heavy. Tribal obviously, not exactly my style :P

Fetish Necklace. Reminded my of the work of my friend StoryBeader.

There is apparently a big beading society down in Phoenix.
Of course it's a big city, so that makes sense eh?
Anyway, each piece of this necklace was made by a different member.
It was commemorating some anniversary for the museum.

Can you imagine wearing skulls around your neck?
Don't worry, this was for the men :P
The plaque said that they often carved the skulls from wood.
From the dimensions of this I'm hoping it was one of the carved ones.
But it didn't say.

One thing I find fascinating about jewelry is the different traditions
that are often associated with it. This Beaded apron was given
to a girl when she came of age as a sign to all that she
was ready for marriage. I can only imagine how long it
must have taken! I wonder if they worked on it as a community?

And these are the Ladies! From left to right:
Cheryl, Sharon, Grandma, Ruth (MIL), Me, Jamie
We didn't all go through the museum, but we all explored the bead shop!

One of the best parts of going to the bead museum was getting to connect with Jamie. This is my husbands family, and for most of them it was the first time we'd met. Jamie has fetal alcohol syndrome and, as a result, is mentally much younger than she looks. She's not the first "young" adult I've met, but I wasn't quite sure how to connect with her at first. Then we started talking about jewelry and we had a blast! Going through the museum with her I had a lot of fun explaining the different exhibits to her. I'm a natural teacher, so it broke down any inhibitions I had! Plus I could often expand on what the exhibits said because of what I know about beads :D That was fun!

I didn't buy much at the bead store attached to the museum because the prices were kinda high. But I did buy a dichroic cabochon to play with. We'll see how long it takes me to get to it. I have soooo many projects I want to work on!