Pretty Pendant

Hm.. I'm the only one left in Corner Bakery other than staff... this... feels... um... odd...

I finished making this pendant last night. The wrapped frame (brass wire and pearly white seed beads) had been sitting in my tool kit for about a week and I couldn't decide how to finish it. Then as I was going through my stash of beads, I found this lonely flower. Stick it on a head pin with a brass spacer and VOILA! A pretty pendant.

No clue how I will string it. Any ideas?

I have a terrible headache. I think it has something to do with this tiny cut I discovered in my left ear... right at the opening of the hole... canal? Hole? Meh. Whichever. ANYWAY. Gross. I know. But it's the center of my world right now. I took Ibuprofen and it just blah... didn't work. SIGH.

Maybe tomorrow's post will be about butterflies and puppies? :P Hope you guys had a fantastic weekend and that Monday treats you well! :)

Bread and Butter

I read somewhere that every handmade artist needs to have that "bread and butter" piece. The one thing that they can make over and over again and 1) not really get tired of it, 2) it's the piece that they believe will sell, and 3) they WILL sell it. I think this is that piece.

I had so much fun making this. And I made it during my lunch hour at work (well, technically 2 lunch hours...). I love the color of the seed beads and the feel of the leather on my wrist. It's so easy to wear and... GAH! I just love it. I know, I'm totally tooting my own horn here, but seriously. This is a piece that I drew and it came out exactly how I wanted it to.

...Well, that's not entirely true. I was going to add some dangles to the focal/clasp but decided against it. Do you think it's too plain? I was wearing a t-shirt yesterday at work and decided that this could go with it even though I wasn't dressed "nicely" (hey, I need to do laundry... so sue me :P). But I can see this working with a summer dress. Something white and flowy and pretty.

This one is mine. I'm working on others in more colors. YAY for staying productive! Bringing my jewelry kit to work is really working for me. I get stuff done in the hour I have to eat. It's really wonderful.

What is your "bread and butter" piece? I'd love to see them! Hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend!

Moo

I had a deep, philosophical post all planned out in my head and I decided that it's Friday, and I'm not going to get any deeper or serious than this kitten.



Hope everyone has a FANTASTIC weekend! I'll have something more substantial tomorrow :P

A Bracelet on Date Night

First off, sorry about the crappy picture. I forgot my SLR at home.

RH and I are on our date night. We've made a habit of having a date day every week, really. This usually includes running around town shopping and being together during the day and then at night, we'll have dinner and go to a movie. Lately, we've been trying to sneak in art time so he can paint and draw and I can do jewelry. The above bracelet is what I made tonight.

All copper wire and blue crystals. All handmade, as well... even the hook. YAY! And I'm wearing it right now. It matches my blue shirt :)

I need to invest in a bracelet sizer... anyone have any good suggestions other than the one linked?

A Corgi

I had a pretty miserable day yesterday. The highlight of my work day was when a long-haired corgi and her owner came into the store. The corgi's name was Sandy. She sniffed my hand, bowed, I patted her head, and she promptly sat on my foot. She was adorable and I thank her for making me smile. I mean, how can you not smile when looking at a corgi?

I didn't take a picture of her but a Google search yielded the cutest photos. The above is the closest thing I could get to Sandy. The real Sandy was plumper and hairier. I so wanted to take her home with me.

I cannot wait for my day off tomorrow.

A Peak Into My Travel Kit

I've taken to bringing some of my jewelry making stuff with me to work (have I mentioned that before?) so I can make pretty things at lunch time while scarfing down some soup. Even if I don't feel like making anything, I still bring it just in case.

The box shown is roughly the size of my 15" laptop. Its got enough room for my pliers, wire, seed beads, honey pots, and other beads and things I've put in baggies so I can stuff as many things in the compartments as possible. I like having a ton of stuff to play with and hold. Even if I don't use them for the piece I'm working on, sometimes holding the beads will remind me I have another bead that would be perfect for the current piece... its a beautiful thing.

The flowers you see there are made of RESIN. Can you believe it? I couldn't when I saw them so I had to snatch them up. I've only used them maybe once in a piece but I like having them and have tons of sketches for future pieces using them. I'm just completely obsessed with wire wrapping wire frames right now that I can't be bothered to flip through my sketchbook. Haha.

In the middle row, in the compartment on the far right, there's a little statue of Ganesha I keep in there. He makes me smile and reminds me that the obstacles placed before me can be overcome.  Do you have a travel kit you take with you places? What are some essentials you absolutely need to have with you?



PS. We're more than half-way through the month of November! I can't believe I've actually been posting everyday! I think I should buy myself a treat... some kind of chocolate something or other maybe. :P

Feathers Turn to Crystal

Remember yesterday's post? I ended up buying the feathers. They're peacock neck feathers, so says the package. And at my bead store, you can get them 2 for $0.50. RH and I did some driving around before picking up these feathers and found out you can get some pretty floral picks with peacock feathers (with eyes, even) in them at Michaels. The one I wanted was $6.99! I'm glad I got the neck feathers because I ended up breaking one of them anyway and because they were only $0.50, I didn't feel too terrible about it.

I was attempting to wrap wire around the ends so I can hang them... well... they're very delicate and didn't like that very much. I decided, anyway, that they didn't work for the design and ended up finding some peacock blue crystals for my earrings.

Much better, I think. Sorry about the crappy photo. Light's not very good in my room at 7am.

These will make it to Etsy... someday... hahaha. I am planning a massive shop update... I just need to find the time. :P

Happy Monday, everyone!