The Bead Goes On

It's been almost 5 months since my last blog. For those five months I've been beading steadily but without my usual fervor...I've been distracted by our new family member ( Cappuchino, the cute little furball above) and dental drama (OK, it's been more of an uncomfortable, seemingly endless inconvenience then drama, but I'm fond of alliteration). I miss the "gotta bead" drumbeat at the back of my mind, but don't have a magic potion to bring it back, so I've been concentrating on three imperatives for the rest of 2009.

1) I will not buy any beads (unless I find an amazing deal that would be
just insane to pass up or I find it impossible to complete a specific project with the plethora of beads I have on hand).

2) I will finish at least 3 "Baggie" projects...the ones where the beads I've selected for bracelets, necklaces or whatever (either begun or just envisioned) reside all over the house in quart size plastic freezer bags awaiting my attention.

3) I will blog.

Bead on Down, Bead on Down the Road

So much for weekly blogging

My excuse is that I’ve been busy beading. The spiral “stem” for my Flowery Spring Vine ended up almost 36” long and I added the first flourish of tiny flowers and leaves before I realized the tubes of green seed beads I’d started the project with were just about empty.

I wasn't ready to incorporate another shade of green so went searching through my stash for the same colors in any sizes and finally found some in the bag ‘o beads from an unfinished bead embroidery project…which I was naturally obliged to complete or face another bead shortage in the future.

I had intended to sell the piece, but after three shortenings, it was still too large for anyone with a neck smaller than mine and I was anxious to move on…

Did I get right back to the viney necklace? Of course not!

Once again fate intervened.

At the April meeting of the Western NY Polymer Clay Guild, Barb Peck shared some exciting Kato Liquid clay techniques and I ended up with a piece that I just HAD to bead into a pendant.


I'd just begun a rope for the pendant (a classy take on tubular herringbone) when I detoured again to fill my daughter’s request for some jet bead jewelry to go with a vintage necklace she’s wearing to a wedding at the end of May.

Rachel is picky, so I made two bracelets and a few earring components for her to choose from.

Who knows where next the bead trail will lead me…back to the vine or off on another tangent?

when the world is mud-luscious

Today I spotted the first daffodil of the season...and it's not yet April. It was just one of those stunted feathery daffodils that grow where a garden patch used to be, but it brought a quick blip of brightness to a cold gray commute. (I hope I remember where it was in time to warn Ray to slow down so he can see it on tomorrow's ride).

Seemed fitting that all day I'd been thinking about beading something green, leafy and viney with splashes of color. Soooo...I started what will eventually be a flowering vine of a necklace. Here's the first couple of inches.

It's Like Buttah

I’ve been doing plenty of beading but have not blogged since August, 2008…there’s probably no one out there asking why, because I had never spread the word that I had a blog (I wasn't comfortable enough to invite guests). That is about to change thanks to a generous claymate, Laura (check out her blog: http://abbett2.blogspot.com).

I’ve been an Etsy fan since my daughter pointed me to the site (she does much of her gift shopping in Etsyland and I’ve been delighted to be the recipient of some of her finds). That same daughter has been encouraging (nagging) me to open an Etsy shop for over a year, and I’ve been intrigued yet intimidated by my techno-clumsiness.

Laura overcame my fears. At this Saturday’s meeting of the Western NY Polymer Clay Guild she walked us through the process of opening an Etsy store AND how to find widgets and gadgets so I could point you to my Etsy store to this blog. I got home at about 2pm Saturday and, by 9pm Sunday, March 22 had opened my shop and listed five items! I encourage all of you who have been thinking about opening an etsy shop to give it a go…there’s a bit of a learning curve, but if I could do it...

So today I am spreading the word that I have a blog AND introducing my etsy shop…Stephanalia. The shop is unpolished and under-stocked, but is a work in progress (like many of my jewelry pieces...the piece pictured is a commission I have to finish this week). Now that I have the hang of it, I’ve resolved to update my shop and blog at least once a week (though I promise this blog will not be an ongoing advertisement).