Saturday, October 25, 2014

Kumihimo Necklace

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This necklace is in my Etsy shop.  Come on over for a look at hand dyed silk cords, my lampwork beads, jewelry and braids.  









    

Friday, October 17, 2014

Weekly Update

This past week was about getting house repairs, remodels, re-do's and cleaning done more than anything else.  It's been busy to say the least.  :)  I didn't have time to torch however I was able to do a little something.  More on that below.

I put together one necklace.  Yeah, that's pretty much it for the week.  sigh.  The Greek ceramic beads in bright colors had been sitting around long enough with nothing ever being done with them.  It was time - even though my hand/thumb was hurting.  At least there was no twisting or hard grabbing of any kind involved.  I had fun constructing it to.  I LOVE bright colors in jewelry so that part made things a little easier for me.  I added some of my lampwork spacers to it as well.  Gave it a different look than the other Greek ceramic beaded jewelry I've made.  It's in my Etsy shop now but also pictured below.  I REALLY like it alot and thinking of making a set for myself.  Also, if anyone buys the necklace and wants a pair of earrings to match, all you need to do is convo me and I can do that too.  :)   So that was fun putting that together.  I have sooooo many of the Greek ceramic beads in all shapes and colors I have extra for sale in my Etsy shop on sale.  Check them out.

I was shopping yesterday at my local big box store and found some cord very similar to the Omega cord I use for my kumihimo !  In fact, it's EXACTLY the same but on a smaller roll with much less in yardage.  It's size #2 just like the Omega and also made of 100% nylon.  They had 8 colors available.  The price was expensive compared to where I buy my Omega which is Creative Yarn Source  The price at the box store was almost $2.00 for only 100 yards compared to Creative Yarn Source where they sell it for $2.80 for 300 yards with LOTS of colors.  Go figure !  lol !  Still I wanted to compare it.  The name of this cord that's on the label is Sizzle by Red Heart.  I'll stick with Creative Yarn Source whenever I need more.

So comes the fall weather finally.  I need to be at the torch as much as possible now and restock my shop.  Still with so much that's been going on it's been rough to find that free time.  Am thinking maybe this morning if I'd get off this computer and do what I need to do first !  lol !

Time to get my day started.  Thanks so much for coming by !  Come back again next week for an update.  :)





OPB's For Sale  Come on over to my Facebook page where I have other artists beads for sale.  I need to destash these beads that I bought long before I started making my own beads.  Come on over and take a look.  :)  Just click on the link "OPB's For Sale" at the beginning of this paragraph.  Thanks so much !







 

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

All Kinds 'a Flowers

Yes, it's flowers week at my house and I'm enjoying it even though I can't breath.  Sigh.  Allergies are still really doing it's thing on my nose and head and something moving on down into my chest so I'll be calling doc - again.  Anyway........onto more fun stuff..............

Flowers have been the theme this week at the torch !  Yay !  I was able to get on my torch and melt some glass into some flowers of some sort.  lol !  The photo's below only show a few I made.  There are more that are waiting to be cleaned so will show those next time around.   I was a little shaky with the first one, which was the red rose but got right back into it.  lol !  The thing about making these types of flowers is there are extra steps while assembling them in the flame.  The petals are made first and kept warm on a portable burner.  Then comes the stamen or the part to attach the petals to which is made seperate on the mandrel.  While adding the petals one must remember to keep all parts warm or cracks make an appearance !  Not good.  :(   Once all together, pop into the kiln.  :)  Sometimes those cracks won't show up til after they come out of the kiln which is just a bummer.  lol !  It happens.  If all goes well though the flowers will be pretty cool in the bouquet that comes together.  Speaking of which, I am offering those bouquets once again in my Etsy shop.  You can see samples of some of the bouquets I've made in that listing.  Check it out.  :)

I was cleaning up my work space where I put jewelry together and discovered a little something I just never thought about before.  There are some that use the bell flowers for making jewelry with and they have wondered if there were any bead caps that were small enough to fit on the tops of the flowers.  Well, quite by accident, I found some that work perfectly.  They are pictured below.  Tiny, yes but they work beautifully.  The red bell flower is the 20mm size and the pink is the 14mm size.  I don't have the 12mm size but if the bead caps fit the bigger sizes they'll fit the smallest size.  :)  Yay !  These are not sterling silver but silver plated and come in 3 colors - silver, gold and copper in one bag and are available at Fire Mountain.  I bought them a long time ago and just forgot about them until the other day.  lol !  So if you need some bead caps for your bell flowers or whatever, check out Fire Mountain.

Thanks so much for coming by !  I hope you come back again soon !

Please check out my Facebook page that has OPB's (other peoples beads) For Sale.  Just click this link  https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100005964946289  






Friday, October 3, 2014

Just Beads

This past week was not productive at all as far as my creative brain goes anyway.  My muse flew the coop as it were and I do believe it's due to the pain in my hand/thumb !  Geesh.  The question is - do I consider the dern shots to help reduce or eliminate the pain ?  I don't know.  The thought of someone sticking a needle in a hand that already has MANY issues other than just pain really scares me !  :(  I can handle having a baby alright but sticking a needle in my hand - ewwwww sends shivers up and down my spine.  So hopefully the week ahead will be better.

As it is, I've been working on a new page on Facebook.  I have ALOT of OPB's (other peoples beads) that need to find new homes.  These are all beads that I bought mostly before I began making my own beads.  Before I made beads, I made jewelry therefore needed beads to use.  I had a blast making all the jewelry but once I started making my own lampwork beads, I stopped buying others beads.  No need for them anymore.  So they just need to go.  All are priced right.  Lower than what I remember paying especially for the dichoric beads.  Which that artist still makes and sells her beads at a higher price.  So come on over to my new facebook page and have a peek.  If you see something you'd like to buy, just message me over there.  Here's the link:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100005964946289  You have to sign in to your facebook acct. to get it to open.

Since I have nothing new to show, I've added a few pics of goodies I made in the past.  Enjoy  !





Thanks so much for coming by !  I hope you come back again next time.  :)

Check out my Beads For Sale Facebook page.  It has lots and lots of destash lampwork beads up for grabs !  https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100005964946289