Kumihimo - Beads - Fun & Failure

Can't believe the second week of February is almost gone.  Man, wha' happened to the week ?  It really flew by.  It's been a crazy week for sure.  I didn't realize it's been over a week I was here.  lol !

I had a few projects going over the last week or so.  One in particular drove me nuts.  I knew it was going to be a total failure but kept on going thinking I could fix it.  Didn't work out that way at all.  There was more than one fix too which made it all the worse.  Finally had to walk away from it before tearing out my hair.  lol !  Came back and tore it apart.  I should of taken photo's first to show those mistakes but was so frustrated...........  :(  I did have a good outcome on two other projects pictured below and have started another one.  :)  Looking forward to the finished piece of the one I'm working on now.  :) 

I also tried to draw up my own Kumihimo pattern using a grid.  I found it very hard to follow.  Gave it several tries before I had to walk away from that.  lol !  Not a good week for trying new things evidently.  It happens.  But it was a learning experience and I have a solution in mind.  There is a digital program someone invented that's suppose to be easy to use to create your own patterns in Kumihimo.  I am considering it.  This is the link HERE to that pattern maker.  I need to decide if I will use it enough to justify spending the money.

So here are the two projects I finished up this past week. 
The first photo is a flat braid and it's LONG.  lol !  I think it's 82" long !  lol !  Would be perfect for handfasting and that's what I made it for.  Now in my Etsy shop.  :)  I LOVE the colors of this braid !  They work so well together.

The second photo is of a necklace I made the other day.  This is the second BRIGHTS necklace I've made using Greek ceramic beads and my own lampwork spacers.  This one is a bit shorter than the first and this one has a clasp.  Something bright to wear on a cold, dreary winters day.  lol !  It's 29" long and very lightweight.  It is for sale - $40.00 plus $5.80 priority flat rate small box shipping.  Send me a message here if interested. 

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

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 !







 

Beaded Kumihimo - Always Something

Or so it would seem.  I finished up a few necklaces and even added one more to the mix as well.  Altogether, I've made 6 beaded kumi necklaces and 2 of them, nearly finished mind you, had to be torn apart.  Such things happen.  I also put together a ceramic beaded bracelet featuring one of my own lampwork beads as a focal.  That is in my Etsy shop if you want to see.  :)  So it's been a busy couple of weeks - Thankfully.  If I didn't have all of those beads, I'd be pretty bored while my foot is healing. 

So the "always something" part is about to be revealed.  As I was making all of those necklaces, I noticed something in a few of them I had not experienced before.  The end of a couple of them were "loose".  That really doesn't say much so I will try to explain further.  I found, as I was moving along towards placing the last rows of beads in the braid, the beads were becoming loose for some reason.  They were "tucking" in underneath the cords as they were suppose to and staying there but the whole end part, about an inch or so of the braid, was becoming loose.  The beads were not as tightly "woven" as they were throughout the rest of the braid.  Why ?  I am still not 100% sure but I thought that maybe, it's due to the weight of the braid itself really stretching the cord at the end only.  Still, that doesn't make a whole lot of sense if the rest of the braids remained perfectly fine, it's just the end part.  I use Omega #2 cord as I have mentioned in the past and this has never happened before so I am uneasy to put the blame there.  It never happened to ANY of the bracelets I have ever made and only has happened to a couple of the necklaces I recently made.  It's a mystery to me right now and one that I need to figure out.  Is it something I'm doing that's the cause ?  I have changed nothing in the way I finish the braids so.....................

If you have any suggestions or can figure out a reason, please leave a comment below. 

In the meantime, a few of photo's of 3 of the finished braids and the bracelet I made. 

 

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

Have a wonderful week ! 

 

Bead Addictions Can Be Costly !

I'm sure that's true for any addiction but at least with a bead addiction, it's fun, it's colorful, it can be creative.  :)  All of the afore mentioned is where it's at for me these last going on 10 years !  Wow !  I just now realized it's been 10 years on my bead journey.  Something I began 10 years ago has grown to include many things that branched out from beads.  Like Kumihimo, dyeing silk cords, Viking knit and the list goes on.  :)  But the real true love, the one I continue to always come back to that's deep in my heart is melting that glass into a pretty little bead.  :)  Doesn't matter the size, the outcome, the colors, it's ALL good.  :)  Yes, costly indeed.  :)  Still, I regret not one penny spent.  It has taken me to a place I had not known prior to the discovery - a place of knowing where I belong and what I was suppose to do for ME.  It took me a very long time to arrive.  I DID arrive there though and that's what it's all about.  :)  

For now, that glass melting is on hold due to weather and all that's keeping my mind preoccupied with family stuff.  Still, with the discovery of those fabulous Greek beads, I do get the opportunity to play a bit and make a piece or two of jewelry.  These beads just have my complete attention at this time !  This past week I put together a few more pieces using those beads.  :)  I was able to "test drive" a necklace and earrings I'm keeping last night and I loved how the necklace felt.  Lightweight and easy.  I purposely did not put a clasp on it since it's long enough to go over my head.  I prefer my own necklaces to be like that.  Anyway, it worked perfectly with my dark orange shirt and became the focal piece of what I was wearing.  That makes me happy.  :)  

So here's what I worked on this past week.  Two more sets pictured below.  The first set is very similar to the original set I made pictured in the previous post but has more earth tones & the necklace is longer.  The second set is much more earthy and organic in color, there are less beads used and a lot of the beads are smaller.  I left the bracelet unfinished so that whomever purchases it, I'll be able to fit it to their wrist.  :)  Both sets are in my Etsy Shop now.

 

That's all for this week.  Thanks so much for coming by.  I hope you come back again soon to see what's goin' on.  :)

 

 

   

New Year - New Ideas - New Fun

Ok so the holidays are over for a while.  It was fun and exciting for a brief moment but now it's time to move forward.  The New Year always starts off (for me) with, " Ok, now what ?"  lol !  Do I stick with the same ole' same ole' or try something new ?  Challenging myself can sometimes be regrettable.  lol !  Still, I don't want to give up nor do I purposely give up. Sometimes, life gets in the way and that's just not a silly excuse.  Right now, we have so much happening within our family it's almost funny.  It's all good stuff but will keep us on our toes over the next several months.  With weather the way it's been, all that's been and will be happening, I don't see spending too much time at my beloved torch. sigh.  Making jewelry is what I fall back on during the rough weather times.  Only on the "warmer" days will I be able to light it up.  :)  

As to what new things are on my mind.  I have "discovered" new to me beads !  They are Greek ceramic beads and have been around for some time but are new to me.  May I say I LOVE them !!  I love everything about them !  The colors, the textures, the shapes !  They make me VERY happy !  In particular the matte ceramics.  Yummmmm !  lol !  I ordered some from a fellow lampworker and that started my latest addiction ! :)  I found a wholesaler and the order I placed arrives today.  I'm very excited and can't wait to make LOTS of jewelry !  

For working at my torch.  As soon as the weather clears and warms just a bit I'm there !  I hope that's VERY soon.  I have new idea's floating in my head that need to be put to glass. 

In the meantime, here are two photo's of what I DID do this past week.  The first photo is of the set I made using those Greek beads only.  I LOVE it !  Not sure if it will go for sale.  lol !  The second photo is of a necklace I made using both the Greek beads (large plain purple beads and black tubes) and my own lampwork beads which are the black disks and the decorated purple beads in between the large plain purple beads.  I really like this necklace a lot.  It looks very elegant I think. This one I believe will be listed for sale in my Etsy shop when it reopens in March.

 

Time to wrap it up and start my day.  Thanks so much for coming by !  I hope you come back again soon !