Unemployed- Crafting and Cleaning Day 8

Two of my guys went off to work today but I had to play chauffeur in the morning since my younger son needed to have his car checked out.  Is that a good enough excuse for not getting much done around the house?  OK- I did wash a load of assorted rags and towels that were collecting themselves by the washer.

And... I cleaned my nightstand!!  I read a blog a long time ago (sorry- I don't remember which one) on cleaning your house.  It said to start small and to start with drawers and closets.  Everyone starts cleaning up the clutter and things sitting around but they find they have no place to put everything since the hiding places are all jammed up.  The trick is to start with the hiding places.  I'm not posting pics of my house but I did clean out all 3 drawers and the top of my nightstand.  We have house gremlins that constantly move things around and I have discovered that my nightstand is one of the few places the gremlins haven't found.  Things stay put on my nightstand- but unfortunately that also means things pile up.

And I tried get a few pics of my lacey bridal necklace.  I don't have enough to list it on Etsy but here's a sneak preview. This isn't the best pic but it has pearl colored beads on one side, matte crystal beads on the other and some silver beads off-center in the middle.

Unemployed- Crafting & Cleaning Day 2 & 3

My daily blog posting plan has been messed up from the beginning because I needed to be away from home for 1 1/2 days to pick up my son.  But I did manage to get some beading done in the car.  Here's my trusty travel beading tray that goes everywhere with me.

I have a spot in a craft show next month at the local Navy depot so I decided to make some red, white and blue pieces.  I felt very patriotic since I snapped that pic just as we crossed the Potomac River in Washington, DC.  Here's the pieces I finished while we were away- a wrap bracelet and a pair of earrings.  I didn't get any cleaning done.

I Love It- I Hate It

It's been ages since I listed anything new in my Etsy shop. But I just listed Turquoise and Copper Striped Cuff.


I actually started making this piece for myself last fall. More important projects kept popping up and I kept putting it aside. When I finally decided to finish it all my troubles started.

I had never made a beaded toggle before but I had been told by several people that they were easy to make. My first toggle had major problems and was extremely crooked. I took it apart and tried again- ending up with with a better looking toggle that would not sit right. I decided to use a button instead. This meant ripping out about 2 inches since I wanted the button shank to sit down in the cuff and not sit on top. After finishing the cuff, with the button attached, I realized I had a 1/2 inch long piece of Fireline that was exposed right under the button. So... I ripped the 2 inches out again. While doing this ripping I had a flash of inspiration and realized what I had been doing wrong with the beaded toggle. I decided to use a toggle but I was so frustrated by then that I couldn't picture myself wearing the cuff. I purposely made it too big for my wrist and I hope it sells fast so I don't have to look at it anymore. I love the colors and maybe if I get some free time I'll try again to make something for myself.

Another Treasury

I haven't had any new items to show off, but I'm in another treasury! MaryTDesigns included my Rebel Bride cuff in this beautiful treasury. Thanks Mary.

Pearly Grey Treasury

I just discovered that my Night Waters No. 1 freeform cuff is featured in a beautiful treasury by windyriver. Here is Pearly Grey treasury.

My Personal Challenge- Friday and Saturday

My lay-off week is over. Posting everything I created this week helped me feel like I really accomplished a lot -even though I didn't finish as much as I had orignally planned. I'm back to work on Monday so I won't have the time to be taking pics and posting everything like I did this week. I do have a few more pics left from this week.




I started another People Pin and
experimented stitching a freeform peyote chain into a knot for a necklece.












I'm still not convinced I like the colors in my needlepoint piece. Here's what it looks like after my meeting.





And the best part- I found a pair of earrings I had made to match my Night Waters No. 2 cuff so I had a piece to list on Etsy!

I'm in a Treasury

I just found Night Waters No. 1 that I made for the April EBW Challenge- Time Machine in a Treasury on Etsy. Thanks PRPs Treasure Lighthouse for including my piece in your great looking treasury.

Custom Pieces

I'm WAY behind in posting since I wanted to post at least every 2 weeks. How about once a month ? :) I just finished some custom pieces and sent the pics off to my customer. I will list them on Etsy even if she doesn't buy them. First is a copy of the necklace I used for my Etsy banner and matching earrings.































Next is a custom length of my Blue Multi-Strand Necklace and matching earrings. The earrings are a clip-on version of my Team Colors Earrings.

Salmon Run Cuff

Wow- it's been a month since I last posted! So much for trying to post once a week :) I taught my rescheduled Crazy Wavy bracelet class last week. I had 6 students (which is about all I can handle) and 5 bracelets were finished by the end of class. I thought the class went well and everyone seemed to enjoy it.

I've been busy but I managed to finish a cuff. Since I hate coming up with names and doing the Etsy write-ups I asked Bob for some name suggestions. He came up with Salmon Run. Here's a sneak preview of Salmon Run. I'll list it on Etsy as soon as I get the pics touched up and the write-up done.

Crazy Wavy Bracelet

It's been awhile but I'm back. Things were crazy over the holidays, both at work and at home, so I didn't have much time for blogging.

Last Nov I agreed to teach a beginner freeform peyote bracelet class at our local recreation center but not enough people signed up for it and it was canceled. Some of the disappointed students told their friends and I now have 6 students signed up for the same class in Feb. The rec center will be posting their Spring classes soon so hopefully more people sign up. Here's a picture of the sample bracelet. Can you tell it was fall when I made it?

Present to myself

I really hate to tear apart anything -even if it isn't turning out like I imagined. This necklace started out to be a freeform cuff but I thought it was too stiff and kind of lumpy looking. So, I tossed the unfinished piece aside and moved on to other projects. I found it while I was straightening up my craft table and decided to try to make a necklace out of it. I really like the way it turned out so I treated myself and kept it. It's navy, grey, and purple and looks great with a denim dress I have. In the winter I usually wear a burgandy cardigan with the dress so the necklace still works.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you in the USA. Our turkey is finished and football is on TV so I get a break to do what I want. I've been extremely busy at work the last 2 weeks and haven't had any time for crafting - working 10 hour days. I work for a ribbon distributor and we formed a partnership with another ribbon company. Fortunately, we have the money and ended up in control so my job is secure, but the hours have been brutal. And next week doesn't look any better.

I managed to start a necklace during a bus trip last weekend to NYC. Last summer I discovered I can do freeform peyote while riding in a car. The problem with the bus was I had limited arm space so I had to use shorter lengths of Fireline- meaning more knots which I don't like. Since it's a gift I won't post any pictures.

I did start a freeform cuff before my work hours went crazy. It's not looking like I wanted but I'll finish it since I hate to tear things out. There's nothing wrong with it- it just has more white than I visualized when I started.

Here goes nothing...

This blog is my birthday gift to myself. My hubby and 2 sons are out of town for the weekend visiting my mother-in-law and I'm home alone on my (never mind the year) birthday. I've decided to prove that even aging baby boomers can be part of today's computer technology- even if I'm a little slow getting started.

Today was beautiful and warm in PA so I decided to spend the afternoon outside in a lounge chair doing what I love to do- bead! It's November and I managed to get a sunburn on my face while I made a replacement black Crazy Wavy necklace for my Etsy shop. My MIL bought 2 of my necklaces and my shop looks rather empty.

Here are pics of the necklaces my MIL bought since my guys took the camera and I can't take pics of my latest creation.

Crazy Wavy Necklace

Stormy Cloud necklace