I'm Still Here - Somewhere

Amoungst everything that's going on in my life right now, yes, I'm still here - somewhere.  lol !  Hopefully everything will "come together" soon and I can get back to normal - whatever THAT might be. 

Creativity has been set aside for other important happenings this past month but now, I'm in NEED of my so called muse to pay me a visit.  Can't torch right now due to health issues and the darned heat and humidity so will be doing other fun things as stated in the last post.  Yep, more kumihimo - beaded and regular.  Also some jewelry making of some sort.  Maybe need to use some of my own beads for that.  I'm also going to dive into another fun venture I haven't tried as of yet.  Won't give that away until I take that dive though.  lol ! 

I have made up a couple new items recently - two bracelets and a new flat kumihimo braid.  The bracelets were actually necklaces at one time.  I had to take them apart for one reason or another.  Instead of taking off all the beads, I thought I'd try and save at least half of each necklace.  It seems to of work ok.  :)  The end results are the two bracelets below. 

I found these incredible snake clasps and had to get a few.  I love them !  I want to make a snake pattern kumi bracelet and use a pair for the next one I make.  This black and white beaded kumi bracelet was a necklace I made for my niece that she didn't want.  lol !  I like it better this way !  :)

 

This blue bracelet was part of a necklace I got in a jewelry exchange.  The person that was my partner made it with beads I sent to her and I made one for her with beads she sent to me.  The necklace broke by accident but I was able to save half of it and this is what I made with it.  I love it  ! 

 

The kumihimo braid I made the other day using some new multicolor satin cord I got.  I like how the colors blended.  I had no way of knowing where the colors would end up and that was fun !  It's a flat braid and would be great to use in a handfasting ceremony.  I've sold several out of my Etsy shop just for that reason and so far, my customers have loved them !  :) 

 

That's all for now.  Thanks so much for coming by.  I hope you come back again.  Have a great week ! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nothing New But At Least I'm Having a Little Fun !

Well, it would seem I've abandoned beading with a loom already.  As much as I enjoy the finished product, I just don't have the time or patience for it right now.  Too many other things on my plate, so to speak, at the moment. 

I guess you could say I've gone back to arts/crafts I've already established myself in and still love to create/play with them.  Some things, I just never tire of nor do I intend to give up ever.  I might walk away for a time but I always come back.  Lately, the bead muse just isn't calling to me so I've backed off a bit.  I did have some torch time recently and enjoyed my time there but it was enough for the time being.  I've come back to Kumihimo too and LOVE what I've been doing with that as well.  In fact, so much so I've made at least 4 regular flat braids in just the past week.  Beaded Kumihimo is a lot of fun however the age old tradition of regular kumihimo, with no beads added, using my wonderful Maurdai, also turns out lovely pieces.  Pictures below are the few I did make this past week.  I LOVE the colorways of these pieces so much so that I've used up the hand dyed satin cording that's in the first photo.  I'm hoping I can get more.  All of them are made with hand dyed satin cording I've had for some time.  The colors in all three braids are stunning !  And really, the pictures do the colors no justice at all !  They are must see in person to truly appreciate !  All three of these braids are in my Etsy shop now.   

 

Ok, wanna see some beads too ?  No problem.  I did do some torching on and off for a couple of weeks and the outcome is several bouquets.  Photo's just below.  I won't be posting much if anything over the next month so better put these up now.  The first bouquet is now in my Etsy Shop.  These were "extra" flowers after making the other two bouquets.  Those were special order bouquets and are now happily with their new owners.  The second photo is missing a white rose that came with it.  I just forgot to add it when I photographed it but it looks like the orange one in the top photo.  Enjoy ! 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed the eye candy !  Thanks so much for coming by !  Please come back again soon ! 

      

The Old of it and The New of it

It has been a busy couple of weeks here and I've dabbled in some new and some old crafty/artsy things along with getting a couple made to order orders in the works. 

I wanted to venture into something new and decided to find that cheapy beading loom I bought a long time ago.  As it's known here I have made jewelry using the peyote stitch and made a couple of beaded dolls using bead embroidery.  Figured it was time to give the loom a go.  I really love the look of seed bead embroidery and stitching.  Found the loom and began.  Eye, eye eye !  Warping that darned thing drove me INSANE !  The key word to using that loom is cheapy and it sure made life difficult -  but I pursued !  Used the cheapy beads that came with the kit and wha la, I FINALLY finshed this "piece".  It's nothing in particular, just wanted to give it a go to see if I wanted to continue. 

 The really hard part of using this loom I have is it is too flat.  I had to sit one end of it up on a box of tissue.  lol !  Made life much easier.  Also, I started this piece at the wrong end of the warps !  lol !  When I got to the end of the loom, I had to work backwards to be able to keep going.  lol !  It worked but I wouldn't recommend doing that.  

Once I finished this piece, I decided I have to try one more just to see if I really wanted to continue pursuing this new venture.  I picked out some of my own seed beads this time, found a pattern I wanted to try and got started.  It was still difficult to warp the darned thing but after a fight I finally got it done and began.  The pattern was super easy to follow and I just got on a roll.  The outcome is just below.  I like how it turned out but made it too long to use as a bracelet and too short for a hatband which is what the pattern is for.  lol !  I didn't warp enough thread.  Oh well, such is life.  Maybe one of these days I'll figure out what to do with it.  lol !

 

So the question is:  Do I want to continue with this beading on a loom ?  I'm on the fence about it.  If I do, I will buy another loom before giving it another go.  There are a couple of looms I have in mind.  I have enough seed beads that's for sure.  This shall be continued at a later date.  :)

 

So that's the new of it.  The old of it, I made a couple kumihimo braids !  It was fun !  These are flat braids, no beads in them.  I used my Marudai for both and enjoyed making those movements again.  Might have to make more.  These are in my Etsy shop now.  These would be GREAT for handfasting.  I made them with hand dyed satin cording.  LOVE the colorways of both.  :)  I left the ends unfinished that way the purchaser can finish or decorate the ends as they wish.  These are LONG too measuring 48" and 43" long.

 

 

That's all for now.  Thanks so much for coming by !  I hope you come back again soon. 

 

  

It's Been Too Long - Again and Now With More Kumihimo

Yes well, that's pretty much all I had been able to do in the past couple of months.  lol !  With a broken foot, there's not a lot that one can do or is suppose to be doing.  lol !  The doc said stay off it so I did.  I saw the doc this past Monday and the foot has about another 3 to 4 weeks of healing to go but at least the darned boot is off !  Yay !  That said, he gave me a funky looking shoe to wear until we meet again in a few weeks.  That "shoe" hurts my foot worse than the injury itself.  :(  Onward and Upward as it were. 

First of all, I never did find out what is the actual cause of that previous issue I was having.  The end part being "loose".  It seems to come and go.  Doesn't happen with every necklace.  I made another necklace since and it didn't happen with that one.  Hopefully I'll be able to figure it out in the future.

I did manage to make a few things and finish them up last week.  Photo's are below.   A necklace for my niece in spring colors.  Which I should of mailed this past week and for some reason it's still sitting on my desk.  A bracelet which was fun to make.  I used three sizes of seed beads including 8/0's, 6/0's and magatamas and three colors.  I really like how it turned out.  It kinda reminds me of a dragon's back.  :)  Then the wire wrapped earrings.  I saw some like these on a glass forum, searched the web to find the tutorial (it's a freebie), found it and made these two pair.  Of course they are FAR from perfect but they were kinda fun to make.  One pair is copper and the second pair is made with rose gold color wire.  These are the last kumihimo items I've made.  I'll make more I'm sure.  I have ALOT of seed beads in all shapes and sizes I can use but the magatama's are the ones I like using the best in kumi.  They just make the pieces more dramatic and prettier I think.  

With those pieces done, I took a few days and did nothing as far as jewelry or any crafts are concerned.  Needed a bit of a break.  Then it was time to get back to something.  So I have begun a foray into something new to me - beading on a loom !  lol !  Why not ?  I've tried many things using beads. This is one art/craft I had never tried.  I will write more about this new adventure in an upcoming post. 

Photo's of the last couple of kumi pieces I did and the wired earrings.

 

 

 

 

So until next time, thanks so much for coming by !  I hope you come back again sometime soon.  If you have a couple minutes, check out my Etsy shop.  There may be something in there you like.  :)  Also, I will be posting some new items in the next couple of days. 

 

 

  

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 ! 

 

Finally - A Little Something

It's been a very long couple of weeks with little to do - or so I kept telling myself.  A broken foot can be prohibitive afterall !!  lol !  Finally I've come out of the "funk" I was in.  Figured I could sit and mope about being bored or do something about it.  lol !  I did something about it and am having fun again !  I can't make beads right now but I sure can do other crafty things. 

I dug into my seed bead cabinet and decided it was time to start foolin' around with the long magatama's again.  They look so darned nice in jewelry any way one uses them.  I am fascinated with their shape to begin with.  This is an ingenious shape in my opinion.  lol !  Right now, I can think of a few ways to incorporate them into necklaces, bracelets and earrings and that's about it however,  I'm thinking they would look great in some bead embroidery as well.  I haven't tried that but it certainly would add some dimension to a piece.  I'm guessing someone somewhere has tried it although I haven't seen it yet.  If anyone out there has seen them used in a embroidered piece, please drop me a note and let me know cause I'd LOVE to see it ! 

Anyway, so far, I've put together 3 pieces using these little seed bead gems.  One is a finished necklace I think I'm going to wear at a wedding.  The other two are waiting to be finished.  I need a couple of supplies I had to order and am waiting on.  I found a new way to finish off the ends I want to try and need those supplies to do it.  I'll talk more about that in my next post.  :) 

In the picture below, the gold and silver necklace is finished and the perfect length for me.  It took me a little longer than "normal" to braid it because I hadn't made a beaded kumihimo necklace in a VERY long time.  lol !  I think it turned out very pretty.  I've always wanted a piece with silver and gold in it.  I intend to make earrings to match and possibly a bracelet that I'd wear separately.  

The other two are also necklaces but as I mentioned before, they're unfinished.  Don't ya just hate waiting on parts ??  lol !  I love the way both have turned out !!  I'll post full pictures of everything when they are finished and give details.  :) 

 I must say, it feels GREAT to be productive again !  I am enjoying beaded braiding again too after a LONG hiatus.  Thankfully, I had just about all I needed to get these necklaces up and running.  :)

Time to get my day started.  Thanks so much for coming by !  I hope you come back again very soon ! 

 

Latest Update

February was a long month away from home !  It's time to update this blog that's for sure.  lol ! 
There's nothing new to show since I was away for so long.  No new beads or jewelry.  I hope to try my hand at some jewelry as I won't be able to do much of anything else.  I'd love to torch but my foot won't allow it right now.  lol !  See, I broke my foot on the 21st.  And I wasn't even having any fun when I did it !  My right foot just did a "side slide" and hit the pavement and rocks.  I ended up with the 5th metatarsal Valusion break.  I've never heard of such a thing.  Doesn't matter though cause it's a break and now I have a big ole' boot on and have to use crutches.  Let me tell ya, gettin' thru the airport last weekend was a bear but at least the one I left from was pretty small.  It was the Atlanta airport I HAD to have a wheelchair and Thank-Goodness for that !  At least I'm home now and it feels pretty good to be here. 

The Etsy shop is open again and I will be able to ship now.  Hope you find something you like there.  Nothing new but hopefully some new jewelry soon.

Since I haven't made anything new lately, here's a few pics of things I've done in the past.

First pic is of some bell flowers I made.  The glass and colors are fabulous !

Second pic of beads I made a while back while practicing encasing flowers.  

Third pic is of some nice twisties I made long ago and are pretty much used up.  :) 

Thanks so much for coming by.  Come back again soon !