Pendant sale

I've been making pendants for about 6 months now and stashing them under other stuff on the bead table. While cleaning I decided that they were taking up valuable real estate and needed to go live in my etsy shop until someone wants to take them home. I listed a few today and plan to list the rest in the coming weeks at a sale price. I think I'll keep a few to wear myself now that I have found a stringing material that looks and feels good with claywork. See anything you like?

Epiphany

While browsing for info on photography for etsy and talking to my computer-savvy son, I had an epiphany. There are two mindsets when it comes to doing things on the computer. There are people who fearlessly fiddle around and try every button on menus until they figure out how to do something. And....there are people who search desperately for a step-by-step manual, a diagram, a person who can simply tell them in plain English: "Click that button." Why is this so? My training in education taught me to read instructions, follow directions, and, when you can't find something, ask the reference librarian or teacher for help. There is no reference librarian on your computer. There is no teacher. You have to figure things out for yourself. You have to boldly go. I'm not sure if the two mindsets are a generational thing or a personality trait. I simply know that I need to take better photos if I want to succeed as an online beadmaker. I just wish there was a computer-savvy reference librarian or a photography teacher leading me by the hand.

Summertime

Summertime-and the living is ...well, not quite easy, but more manageable. Two classes to teach and some sporadic office work and possibly time to work at the bead table. Goals for this summer: learn to make earrings, put cords on pendants and list lots of stuff on etsy that's sitting in the studio,co-ordinate tags, business cards,online presence, see Polly, Diana and Hannah. Might even find time to read a book on the front porch. Ahhh, summer.

Samurai beads

While watching "Seven Samurai" I was intrigued with the headgear on this guy. I had to recreate that curve and worked all week to perfect the technique for these samuari beads. It's so strange how inspiration can come from something totally unrelated to beadmaking: a color, a shape, a texture. I'm always looking at printed fabrics for patterns, but ideas can come when you least expect it. I'm popping these in my etsy shop. If you'd like some in a different color, just let me know.

Fidget beads

Just a few bracelets with fidget rings. The perfect way to use up bits and pieces of a cane or special color combination.
Someone just told me that they can tell if I have been making beads or not by how I sound when I answer the phone. If I'm beadmaking I sound happy. I'm needing to let go of a lot of baggage lately. Is it safe to say that there are beaders and there are beadmakers and one does not necessarily have to be both? I LOOOOVE to make beads. I don't mind stringing them into simple bracelets and have even managed to make a few necklaces which I truly enjoy wearing. After buying several books on more complicated jewelry making, however, I've realized that I really don't want to invest the time and money into learning how to do wire work and more sophisticated techniques. Will this change? Perhaps when retirement comes or I get bored just making beads I'll take a class or read just the right book, but for now let's go make some more beads.

Ocho de Mayo

For some strange reason this one makes me think of balloons. I've been listening to an internet radio station that plays 70's songs all the time. Lots of Rolling Stones, Beatles and Chicago. Saturday in the Park...I think it was the Fourth of July...

Cowgirl Boots

A long time ago I had a cowgirl doll and a pair of red cowgirl boots. When I look at a picture from that time, I can remember that doll perfectly, but not the little girl who wore the red boots. I've been thinking about mothers and children lately. It's strange how the person we remember being is not the same person our mothers remember. Mothers tend to attribute traits and characteristics to a child before they are able to fully express themselves: "She has Grandmother's freckles and Aunt J's stubbornness," they say, but are these things true for a lifetime? Probably not. We try to assert our adult identities, but should realize that our mothers will never see the person we are now without the misty and cherished image of the child we once were.