Almost There

Let's see, yesterday was errands, cleaning and a family dental appointment. No, really that was pretty much it. I did have a little sitting time in the evening so I worked on some gift bracelets. These ones are in school-colors. I thought that a few of the nieces and/or nephews would like them. It's always really hard to make gifts for them, especially as they've become teenagers. Of course I suppose I was just as bad with my noncommittal, 'I don't care,' when asked what I wanted for Christmas. They generally suffer the gift card as a result and I feel bad that I spent so much more time on their parent's gifts.

Today is a trip out of town followed by the arrival of the first house guest. From here on out the week should get away from me pretty quickly. Hopefully I at least remember write tomorrow.

Weekend Recap

It was a busy weekend full of cleaning, wrapping, binge watching The OA on Netflix and sitting about waiting for packages. On Friday I worked on remaking this necklace. It's actually one of my favorite designs because it reminds me of a crow. Of course this is just it in progress so it's not very crow-like at this point. I still haven't put the chains on it yet, so it's not back up in the shop. I might get around to that today, but then again I might not.

I used any sitting time I was granted over the weekend to work on more beaded double bracelets. I'm up to eight total now. You've seen the green and tan ones, but I also made up one in black with gold beads and a dark gray with purple beads. I added them to the listing yesterday, so they are all available in my shop and ready to ship. I'm getting faster at making them, but they still take a good amount of time, particularly the beaded crochet cord.

I think that I'm done with the bracelets for the time being, though I am making a couple as last minute gifts. I'm got more wrapping to do today and more house cleaning. I'm pretty sure it's going to be a busing week, just not knot-busy.

Distracted

Okay, I have a bit of a confession. The day started out with good intentions. I started this new bracelet in a nice light tan thread with brass beads. I was working on it while schooling with the intent to finish it and one more and then get the last three photographed and added to the listing. This was all derailed quite efficiently by the release and my subsequent download of the Super Mario Run game.

I don't know how much time I lost to it, but I had iTunes credit so I bought the whole thing. It's nostalgia factor is high and it's both easy and hard to play. I did eventually put the phone down and finish this bracelet, but I didn't have the time to get onto another one. I had other tasks to get done with the holiday inching ever closer.

Right before I retired for the evening, I got another order in my shop. It's a single necklace, so I have a task to start with today. Hopefully I'll stay away from my phone long enough to accomplish what I meant to do yesterday as well, though there are more holiday tasks and cleaning that need my time today as well. I fear the kids vacation, which starts after schooling today,will be anything but time off for me.

Nice and Busy

I started out yesterday with some Orchard Green thread and seed beads during schooling. I did finish this bracelet, but I haven't gotten it listed in the shop yet. I wanted to get another one done before I added them to the existing listing for the Beaded Double bracelets. Right after I finished this one I got distracted by the best sort of thing, an order.

The order had two custom pieces that needed making in cream thread. This one is the beginning of a scallop earring. There was also a bracelet to make in cream and then a few pieces that would need remaking for the shop, I was on such a roll that I finished all of that save for adding hardware to the pieces. I'll get that done this morning so that I can get the order in the mail today. It's definitely the time of the year for working quickly and efficiently.

I woke up to another order, though this time it's just one piece and I have a second already made, so I'll get back to the beaded double bracelets. I have a habit of making new pieces in as many colors as I can. This time I'm limited by what beads I have on hand, which is probably a good thing. I usually end up with pendants in colors no one wants that just sit in a box forever. I'm certain that will happen with these as well but it likely won't stop me from making them anyway.

Beaded Double

I worked through schooling in order to get four of the new bracelet designs made. I wanted to have a similar collection to the other ones, but these ones definitely take longer to work up. It was well after lunch when I finished the last one and got them all listed in my shop. I am calling them Beaded Double, though it's not a very creative name, is it. Oh well, I do like the way they turned out though.

Not surprisingly, my favorite is the black one. I think I may do another in black with gold beads, since I don't have to worry about matching hardware and I have some on hand. I don't like gold for me at all, but I still think it would look striking. I'm also thinking about making myself one since they are so easy to wear. Oh, and I did actually sell one yesterday! The ocean turquoise one is off to its new home today and I'm just about finished remaking one to replace it. My thumbs are not liking all this beaded thread crochet, but I am certainly pleased to be creating something new.

On A Roll

Right after schooling, I made up just one more of the new bracelet before getting them photographed and listed. They are up in my etsy shop now and ready to ship. This is just two of them, the variegated purple and the ocean turquoise. The other ones are done in black and medium charcoal.

After I was done with that I started thinking what they would look like with beads added to them. Eventually I got a plan and started figuring out where exactly in the crochet process to add them. This bit was harder than I thought it would be, though in retrospect, I probably could have found a tutorial for it. Instead I worked it out on my own with good old trial and error and with pink thread. Yeah, I know, not exactly my style, but I had plenty of pink beads and thread and this was an experiment after all. It could have failed miserably.



Once the cord was done, I decided to knot along both sides of the
piece for a completely different look, from the other bracelets and necklaces I've recently done. I really like the result. It's dense and a bit ornate without being gaudy. It did take forever to make, at least compared with the simple version, though. I'm hoping to make this in a couple more configurations today and then I'll get them listed in my shop as well. They are really fun to make and with the tatted ring on the ends of the bracelet and the macrame slide clasp, they are made with four completely different thread arts. That's kind of neat, right? Well, I thought so, but I am easily amused.

Sure, That's What It Is

I used to be a pop culture expert, well perhaps not expert, but I knew way more than was necessary. This was of course before I stopped working at the retail end of the entertainment industry. Since then my knowledge has drifted toward the toddler end of the spectrum, so it wasn't really a surprise that I had not heard about the Twilight phenomenon until it started infiltrating just about everything in the last couple of months. When I heard it was about vampires, I was curious enough to do a little research. I think I learned just enough to know that I would not enjoy it and as an old school goth it was not about what I define as vampires even in the loosest sense. I can allow for a lot of changes to myths, but I'm afraid I must draw the line at fundamental changes to the legend that cause vampires to sparkle.

I am however getting away from the point of this post. I made a bracelet in the pattern I showed off yesterday. I chose to do the filigree looking base in black and I made the rose in a deep red. I think it looks positively Gothic and lovely, but something else struck me as I was taking pictures of my creation. It occurred to me that fans of this Twilight business might love this piece as it is made in the colors that appear on the novels covers and in all the Twilight inspired items saturating etsy. I was very tempted to slap a twilight tag on the sucker and exploited its success.

I'm not going to though, I just can't do it. I'm certain that others have done it and will continue to jump on any band wagon that comes along, but the piece certainly wasn't inspired by the books or movie and it just doesn't seem right to say it was. I have had the same dilemma regarding the term Lolita. I see it a lot as a tag on etsy and I have a passing knowledge of the movement and even though I could guess that my pieces would fit in with a Lolita style, I don't know enough to say that with any confidence. I guess I am trying to avoid being regarded as a poseur by assuming where my work fits in. So if a sparkly vampire lover finds my bracelet and like it, great, but I'm not going to pretend it was made just for them.

Tatted Goggles?

So, I've been super busy lately, mostly making masks. I really did not anticipate having to make more than a dozen of these suckers. Not that I'm complaining mind you, but I am looking forward to making something, anything else after Halloween. To that end, I have finally broken down and purchased a pair of brazing goggles for future embellishment. They came in the mail yesterday and and I'm bursting with tatting ideas. The plan is to use tatting to encircle each eye cup and if I'm feeling adventurous, also covering the headband portion as well. I'm afraid right now that using black on black would lose all details of the lace, but since I won't be working on it for a while anyway, I can let the ideas percolate. I imagine if they turn out really good I'll make a few for sale, but the first pair is definitely mine.

Since that's about all that's happened recently on the creative front, I thought I'd give a product plug out for one of my recent purchases on the etsy. As I have repeatedly mentioned, I used to work at a music store. We received tons of promo tags to wear and these were always accompanied by piles of bead chains, which I collected. I would wear several connected together wrapped around my wrist and neck...because they looked cool. Anyway, as I was checking one of my fav stores, I saw this beauty. It is just so me, and I quickly snatched one up.

The description states that it will wrap about 10 times...mine goes 11 and it is so comfy and neat looking. I actually haven't taken it off since I got it. I can't really wear jelly bracelets or bangles because my wrists are so small, but this piece lets me rock the look of tons of jewelry easily. Allison from RockLove is also an awesome seller I've had the pleasure of being acquainted with for a while now and I highly recommend her as a seller as well as her fabulous edgy pieces.
Just for a bit of added kick, here I am rocking the bracelets.