New Construction Pays Off

Sometimes when your husband decides he needs to add a garage on to the house, you can also reap some benefit.  That is how I have come to be getting a new bead studio. 

It is not all fun as this is what the back of my house looks like right now.  Backyard is just one big pile of dirt and rock.  And yes, tons of rock were damaged in the making of this hole.

Today was the first day of actually putting something back.  The cement truck arrived and the footers were poured. 

This corner is where my bead studio will live complete with windows and outside access. 

 

Can't wait to see how it turns out.  Stay tuned for progress. 

 

Keep creating,

Carol 

 

 

 

Jewelry for My Scissors

Lately, I have a new project that combines my love of jewelry with my sewing.  I have been seeing these scissor fobs around and knew I had to make one for me.  This is my first attempt for one to use on my small embroidery scissors.

 

Then I made a couple more using pink glass beads.  They are easy to attach and will move out of the way when using the scissors.

 

 

 

 

 

These are very helpful when you travel with your scissors or are using them around other seamstresses.  It makes it easy to identify yours (a little like a wine charm).  I am thinking that these would make nice gifts for friends, too.   

 

These clasps would only work on the smaller scissors but I have some larger clasps that should work with my dress shears.  Will have to give them a try.  And I think my scissors deserve fobs made with my lampwork beads.  What do you think? 

 

I might even put some of these in my Etsy shop.  If you would like to order some in certain colors, give me a shout and I will see what I can do. 

 

Use some new ideas in your creating,

Carol   

 

Gem and Bead Storage

If you are looking for the Bead Soup Blog Party, please click here. 

While participating in the Clean-Up, Fix-Up Challenge, I had to find ways to store some of my gemstones and beads.  Whenever I purchased gemstones, I would keep them in the bag from the store or gem show and stuff it in to a large shoebox (no pic of this mess, thank goodness).  Soon, I had no idea what I actually had.  After much searching through hardware, bead and department stores, I finally found a solution - boxes with bottles inside.  I found these boxes at a small bead shop and at Walmart.

These boxes and bottles come in two sizes.  The shorter boxes are great for the smaller beads or small amounts of beads.  The taller boxes work for larger gemstones or a larger amount of small beads.  I further organized by sorting the bottles by color in the boxes.   

I also discovered that I could hold the box and bottles to the light and look through to see the color of the beads.  This makes finding the stones I need or auditioning for color much easier.  I also put a sticker on the bottle lids showing the kind and price of each bead, which saves time in pricing a finished piece of jewelry. (Hint:  Put the sticker on the jar, not the lid, as the lids can get mixed up. Don't ask me how I know.)

The boxes stack together and fit neatly in my desk drawers or on shelves.  So one storage issue solved. 

Organize for creativity,
Carol     

Bead Soup Addendum

If you are here to visit the Bead Soup Blog Party, please go here.

I have beads left in my soup, so I am still coming up with ideas.  First these sparklers have been planned for a while but are just now finished.  Perfect for a prom or special night on the town?

 
Then I decided that the dragonfly necklace from my Bead Soup needed some earrings.  So pulling out more of the blue beads and a couple of the small gold flowers from the soup, I put these together. 

I think they coordinate without trying to compete with the necklace.  What do you think?

I still have the black buttons with the rhinestone centers that I am trying to fashion in to a bracelet.  I just can't figure out how to make them sit properly.  Stay tuned to see how that turns out. 

Keep those creative thoughts,
Carol 

Bead Soup Blog Party

It is now time for the Reveal of the finished jewelry in the 8th Bead Soup Party hosted by the lovely Lori Anderson.  The idea is to be paired with a partner, send each other a gorgeous bead soup that will stretch the imagination, make some fabulous jewelry with the bead soup you receive and share on the Reveal day.  This year there are nearly 500 participants so if you like jewelry, you can view to your heart's content.

I was honored to be paired with Cathy Buckley, a mixed media jewelry artist, at Cat's Meow.  Here is the bead soup, with some of my lampwork beads and handmade clasp, that I sent her.  Can't wait to see what she has done with it. 
  

 

And here is the Bead Soup I received from her.  Lovely gold, black and brown components that are definitely different than what I am used to using.

 

 So here is the first piece that I created.  I took 2 of the fan shaped pieces and drilled a few extra holes to be able to join them in a new way and wired a bead to the top.  Then using the rest of the animal print beads I finished the bracelet and added the clasp.

Then here is the second piece I made, although it is the one that I have pondered since first seeing the dragonfly.  The whole bead soup reminded me of Art Deco pieces I have seen.  So that was my inspiration.  But I have to say that this piece changed several times before I finished it.  These blue beads were not my original plan, but when auditioning choices they won out.

I still have more beads and will be adding a pair of earrings on here later today.

Hope you have enjoyed your visit to my blog and the Bead Soup Party.  If you would like to see more, go HERE for the list of participants.  

Thanks for stopping by and keep creating,
Carol