Candy

Yes, I know this started out as a beading blog. Trust me, I'm still beading. You just can't eat beads, and therefore I'm doing some baking/candy making for the holidays. Chocolate is fairly simple as long as you remember not to apply direct heat. Lower is better, and absolutely do not let additional moisture into the melted chocolate. You can buy the professional cake decorating stuff if you like, or just spoon the melted chocolate in a ziploc bag with a corner snipped off. Easy peasy.

Grandma's Bracelet

The latest jewelry making trend is metal stamping. It's kind of surprising, given the high price of silver and gold these days, but it looked so cute I had to try my hand at it. These silver components are all sterling (except the jump rings) and I picked them up at a silver trunk sale at Bead It Kailua.

The metal letter stamps were purchased on Etsy from Goldenprimhollow. Obviously, I need some practice in aligning the letters a little better, even though uneven spacing is supposed to be part of the "charm." All in all, I like the look of the bracelet overall. I just wish I'd gotten additional sterling ovals.

More to follow, I'm sure, as I've ordered a bunch of silver stamping blanks from Artbeads, which should be here any day.

Sewing for Christmas...

So is it bad if you spend 3 hours making someone else a one of a kind, handmade purse for Christmas, and then decide to keep it for yourself? Just kidding, but I did make this as a gift... I love this material... I bought it several years ago when I didn't even have a sewing machine. The original idea was to make some fancy dancy throw pillows for my couch, but as you can probably guess, that didn't happen. The lining and pockets are made of an ultra soft minky fabric in jet black. Minky is that fluffy polyester stuff that feels like a fluffy kitten. I sooooo love this purse, which makes me question whether or not it's suitable for a gift. (You know, that it's something the recipient could appreciate?)

Due to the lighting, you can't really tell, but it's a wine colored satin, embroidered in black, violet, and turquoise... very different than the typical asian color schemes. All it needs is some special bead work or a fancy button for a closure. I would totally rock this purse if I had a formal dinner to go to. Actually, I like smaller bags, so maybe I'll shrink the pattern down a bit. It would be too little to use minky fabric for a liner though- too bulky. Hmmmmm...

Ok, back to work!

This purse was sewn using Amy Butler's "In Town" Bags pattern.

My new "Mommy Blog"

I decided to keep this blog strictly for beading, but wanted an outlet for a little more creative and personal writing.

Please join me on my new "mommy blog," at: http://somedaysijustworkhere.blogspot.com/

:) I will be migrating some of the non-beading posts over from this blog to the new one.

Thanks for sticking around!

5 of My Favorite Things

Since my kids are 9 years apart, a lot of my friends are asking what kinds of baby gear they should get. I am a sucker for anything that could make my kids happier or more socially/academically developed, so I've tried most of the gimmicky stuff out there.

Here are the 5 things we use for my daughter which I wish I had for my son:

Fisher Price Rainforest Jumperoo: When my son was an infant, the "experts" were all warning against baby walkers, so all "safety conscious" parents got Exersaucers. Honestly, I don't know of a single baby who really sat in those things for more than 10 minutes. OH MY GOODNESS, my daughter STILL plays with this thing even though she's been walking for months.

Baby carriers: Ok, so this one is actually a centuries old idea. But a decade ago, you pretty much only had the Baby Bjorn or the Kelty, and both were back-packy type carriers which were impossible to use after the baby weighed more than 12 pounds. Now, there's a wide variety of more ergonomic carriers. We are still using our Hotsling for running errands and Baby Hawk for around the house. Trust me, when Daddy's deployed, even toddlers get clingy.

Toy and Stroller Bag Loops: Whomever thought of sewing loops and plastic links to all toys is an fing genius.

Snack Trap: Really cute cup with handles and a nifty spill proof top for self-feeders. Perfect for cheerios and gold fish. Attach to one of those handy dandy loops and you don't have to stop every 5 seconds in the grocery store to divvy out another cheerio.

Starry Lanyard

It's amazing what happens when you clean up your "creative space." The dust and clutter was piling up so I decided to take the Fly Lady's advice and spent a few minutes on the kitchen island, which is a "hot spot." For anyone who feels overwhelmed by the mounds of cr@p to do around the house and/or suffers from CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome) then you need to take a quick peek at the Fly Lady website. It's free, and I promise, completely do-able.

Now, getting back to the beads. I've had beader's block for a couple of months and decided to start putting away the crafting stuff so I could dust the kitchen island. Lo and behold, the ideas started coming together again! This lanyard is actually made of stuff I bought when looking at different ideas for wedding accessories. When I switched from a champagne colored dress to diamond white at the last minute, these beautiful beads got pushed to the wayside. They're gorgeous though. Instead of using the typical S-ring I've been using on my other lanyards, I used a simple "embellishment ring." (The kind used for making cluster rings.) It has a more delicate look, don't you think?

Beachy Lanyard

In case you missed it, my day job requires the display of an ID badge. The focal point of this beach-inspired lanyard is a 20mm Swarovski pendant shaped like a starfish. The accents on the sides are two-toned Czech glass beads that I bought at locally at Bead It, and 12mm Swarovski beads (in the new, "cosmic" shape) that I got via the Artbeads Blogging for Beads program. Dainty little 4mm Swarovski pearls and 2mm silver beads finish off the rest of the lanyard, and the badge clips to a heart shaped S-ring.

Here's the obligatory shot of the lanyard, both laying flat and as modeled by my 14 month old daughter.

Purply Flower earrings

When it comes to crafting, sometimes you feel creative, and sometimes you don't. For some odd reason, as I was cleaning up my craft area, I decided to put some vintage German lucite calla lilies and pressed Czech glass bell flowers together with some Swarovski crystals. It's a little eclectic in that you generally don't put frosted lucite (which is an early plastic) with crystal, and the crystals themselves are an odd combination (one is a shape that's been discontinued for decades... the other is a brand new, whimsical shape in a trendy color). The end result is a cute pair of really unusual earrings.

I don't wear a lot of earrings. It's actually an old habit, since you don't exactly get a choice in the matter when you're in the military. Well, that and when you're as organized as I am, you tend to only be able to find one earring at a time, or only the pairs you aren't interested in wearing. So anyway, the latest trend in beading these days is the cluster. In fact, my best selling piece in the Etsy shop is a pearl and shell cluster ring. Shells are fun to work with because they're natural and come in all shapes and sizes, but that also makes it a bit tricky to make things like earrings which are generally expected to be in matched pairs. Ironically, it's harder to make them to look like they match when you have fewer elements. So, if you're like me and prefer lightweight earrings, it's much simpler to use manufactured components.

Yard project

And here are some photos of the yard project. Since these photos were taken, the old tree stumps and root systems rotted out and created sink holes in our yard... so I need to get more dirt, regrade, and plant more grass. The question, however, is whether or not I should take this opportunity to install a sprinkler system. Very little digging involved since I have to fill quite a bit.

What do you think?

Cherry Blossoms and a Red Panda

Since I haven't been crafting a lot lately, I thought I'd throw in some photos that I took on a trip to Washington DC last spring. (Yes, photography is another hobby of mine. Is it any wonder I'm always running late?)

Labor Day supply sales

Don't ask me when Labor Day weekend turned into such a shopping occasion, but hey... if I can get something on sale, why not?

As always, here are the favorite online crafting supply sources:
Artbeads.com (20% off most of their beading supplies- free shipping in US!!)
Fire Mountain Gems (bulk discounts, check out their $3 bead-a-rama)
Wazoodle (fabrics, patterns, notions, etc. with tons of new additions to their "Flash Sale")

For those in Hawaii, I hear Bead It might have some good deals going. And Ben Franklin is, of course, offering extra savings to their craft club members.

Bibs for the Baby

It turns out that the baby has her dad's sensitive skin. When she was born last summer, it seemed that everything gave her heat rash. I got this bright idea to make a bunch of baby blankies, wrap style carriers, and other baby things out of bamboo jersey that I ordered on Wazoodle. Since they were having a sale, I rationalized that it cost less to buy 6 yards than it would've cost to buy 4. And then it occurred to me that someone may have already thought of the idea of using bamboo jersey to make a baby swaddler and onesies.

On several occasions, I've also been inspired to try quilting. Or rather, I've pieced quilt patterns and bought materials.

Ummm, I have a lot of fabric.

So anyway, I got motivated and stitched up 6 bibs, two in each of the patterns shown here. The cute prints are from fat quarters, the back side is bamboo jersey, and I recycled some of those small flannel receiving blankets for use as an absorbitive liner. All they need are snaps. Since I don't have one of those snap fastening tools, I bought some snaps at Walmart that came with a little plastic contraption to hold the snaps while you hammer them through the material. It's late and the kids are asleep, so the snaps can wait until tomorrow morning. :)

More Beading for Bloggers

A few months back, I signed on to Beading for Bloggers with Artbeads.com. Since then, I've undergone some beader's block and got a little side tracked with more "instant gratification" type projects like those clippies and bibs. However, there is that rather large tackle box full of beads and other beading supplies...

Changing the topic slightly, I took the kids to the mall over the weekend, to check out a new (plastic interlocking block toy, starts with L) store and return some trousers that I bought last week. (They were on sale, but I found an even better deal online!) Well, this week's killer sale was on accessories. The prices appeared to be good, compared to their regular ones... but as it turns out, the "instant gratification" project in the beading world tends to be a pair of earrings... so I opted to take these cosmic Swarovski crystal components in olivine, and made myself a new set of earrings to wear to work!

:)

Baby/Toddler Hair Clip How-To

Here are some of the hair clippies I've been making for the baby:



Part of the fun is that it's a great way to use those scraps of ribbon and left over flowers, etc. from other projects. They're great for keeping her baby comb over in place while playing and super cute for pictures, but definitely require close supervision when in use.

Here's the tutorial I used when getting started. I did not make this tutorial. Note that the fabric glue being used in the video is fairly expensive, relative to other types of fabric glues. Spend the money for the good glue. I cheaped out on the glue and it "dries wet." (Look at the pink clip with the rhinestone flower and you'll see exactly what I mean.)

Multi-Tasking

Although I haven't done a lot of beading this summer, I did try my hand at making ribbon lined alligator hair clippies for my daughter. (We've been using the baby comb over to try and make her head look less bald.) Ribbon is significantly less expensive than beads, so for about $20 worth of supplies, I made about 3 dozen different clips. Ordinarily, each hair clip would run anywhere between $2-5 each, so I'm pleased with myself for being crafty and saving some cash.

Naturally, I had to embellish a few of those clips with flatbacked rhinestones, however, I decided not to try and peddle clips in my Etsy store. Quite frankly, I have too many different styles of jewelry in there and adding hair accessories would only make things harder to manage. The other thing is that these tiny little clips are choking hazards. I put those things in the baby's hair only when she is directly supervised. I don't send her to day care with clips in her hair, and I sure as heck won't leave her in the car seat with one of those things on! The last thing I need is for some less conscientious parent to let their baby chomp on something I made for use by babies... They are super cute, though. I'll get additional pictures and post them at some point.

The other thing I've been making this summer are bibs. Once upon a time, I got this bright idea about trying my hand at quilting (which obviously didn't work out). So, rather than let the fat quarters sit around, I traced out a bib pattern and started cranking out bibs out of way cute materials... for the liner, I recycled some "tiny" flannel receiving blankets. (You know, the cheap ones that come 5 to a pack and are only good for swaddling newborns and use as burp cloths?) One of these days I'll remember to get some photos of those, too.

Less is more....

Believe it or not, I actually have been crafting this summer, just not a whole lot of beading. In fact, although I did intend to make up a super glizty set or earrings for my wedding, I ended up with very simple briolettes on coil and ball ear wires. (Shown here, in progress.) In retrospect, I'm glad that I went with an understated look. What do you think?

Swarovski Obsession

Did I ever mention that my sister in law is the one to blame for starting my obsession with Swarovski crystal beads. She started making a bunch of simple stretchy bracelets and earrings, which were totally darling. The thing about starting out with Swarovski, though is that you get spoiled. No kidding, you get what you pay for. Cheap crystal beads are not all uniform in appearance or color, the facets are not as brilliant, and sometimes the beads aren't even all the same size. The other thing is that once you become interested in doing more than stringing beads, there are a LOT of other Swarovski components to experiment with.

Since I also sew, I love flatback Swarovski crystal rhinestones. Haha, it's not like having a Bedazzler, I swear! Well, I guess if you got carried away it could look like that, but I digress.

Coincidentally, I got an email from the Artbeads Blogging for Beads folks on my birthday, saying that their latest promo involves Swarovski crystal beads and components. They're sending me a goodie bag of stuff I got to pick out, including some of these super cool shaped 12mm Cosmic beads, pictured here. (I can't get over the really neat asymmetrical shape!) Pretty nifty, huh?

Happy Birthday!

In case you were wondering, this is the Princess of the family. Her brother, the Crown Prince of the clan, doesn't seem to mind. She's the spitting image of her Daddy and Grandpa, even though she's obviously hapa (Hawaiian term for being half "local" and half "haole"). That's ok, since all my friends say she has my mannerisms. Or maybe that's a recipe for disaster 15 years from now.

Anyway, she's got her feet under her and is busy toddling around. As you can imagine, that means my days of leaving my beads out are long gone! Needless to say, I went down to Bead It and bought a couple extra bead mats. That way, I can fold up my "in-progress" projects and shove them into ziploc bags. Only problem is that it's one more level of effort which I need to motivate myself to get past.

And no, we're not doing the traditional Hawaiian baby luau. We're still recovering from the wedding last month! Not to mention, the family is just not into loud crowds. We're pretty low key that way! ;)

Hello, it's been a while!

It's been pretty crazy around here, with the new job and the destination wedding in Vegas. Not a whole lot of time for beading and blogging, unfortunately. The good news is that there's a lot of good family stuff going on, and the new job is also pretty rewarding (even if kind of stressful).

So, what have YOU been up to this summer?

Ooh, another website for supplies!!!

One of the fun parts about blogging is getting to meet new people and see what they're about. That's why it's fun to link to all the different places you go and people you blogstalk...

So anyway, I got a tip from drive by comment on Rings & Things in Washington State. A lot of online stores have some info on their products, but Rings & Things has an extensive library's worth of information regarding different gemstones which is really easy to use. They sell wholesale supplies as well as small quantities for hobbyists. But get this- twice a month, on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month, they have A FIVE DAY SALE!!! Ok, so I had to check this thing out, right? The first time I clicked through to the website, I obviously missed out on the sale. Yes, yes, I know less is more and we're all spending less these days. There are some REALLY nice strands on clearance, but I haven't bought any yet. Need to pay off the bills first... but I definitely bookmarked this place and am passing it on to you!

Tackling the African Helix

Ever since reading this article from Howto.com, I've been dying to try out an African Helix. In all honesty, though, the sheer size of the spiral really intimidated me.

After surviving the Dutch Spiral, Russian Spiral, and Herringbone stitches, though, I think I'm ready to try it out. While putzing around on youtube, I found this great tutorial made by a lady who obviously knows a lot more about beading than I do. Actually, I really love her tutorials. She explains things so clearly I actually think I can follow her directions and end up with the desired outcome.



If anyone else is willing to try out this stitch with me, please shoot me an email or leave a comment with links to your blog or website showing off your African Helix projects!!!

More keiki bling

Here's a cute little bracelet inspired by a suggestion made my incredibly crafty and imaginative friend Myra. Naturally, as moms, we are always on the look out for cool stuff for the kids that is also safe and practical for them! This bracelet is perfect for kids ages 3+, made in a cuff style, so no messing with clasps or worrying about size. Unlike stretchy and other styles of bracelets made for kids, the crystals will not come off of the wire cuff unless you cut the wire. There is also no worrying about getting caught on playground equipment, since it is not a closed loop. And check out the light this thing throws!!! Older girls will like this too!

The only challenge I'm having is in capturing the cuteness of this bracelet. It looks a lot better on than just laying flat on a piece of cardstock. I threw the question out on Twitter a few days back and got a suggestion back from Meanbean to *gasp* use an actual child to model the thing!!! Oh wow, why didn't I think of that??? By the way, I took a gander at Meanbean's line of custom made purses. Let's just say that I am eyeballing some things for when I actually have a real paycheck!!!

More Pineapples

I love pineapples. Seriously! If you know me, I'm from Hawaii, hate wearing Aloha attire (too bright), don't like coconut (except haupia- YUMMY!!!), and pretty much don't like most Hawaiian music (unless it's an original or traditional Hawaiian song... most popular Hawaiian music is really just country or R&B with a ukelele... think about it). But I can't get enough of fresh Maui gold pineapples! Not that junk you get in a grocery store, but one that's sun ripened and freshly picked. *Slurp!*

Anyway, was making a bunch of these pineapple earrings and realized they would make great stitch markers... they're smooth- no sharp edges, weighted enough to lay nicely but still light, and just really pretty. So, I did up a set. I don't knit, but Sara turned me onto making stitch markers. I enjoy the wire working aspect of making stitch markers. It's really challenging to make round loops and even wire wraps... even harder to make a set with all of them the same. But each of these is neatly done with the ends tucked in AND all with the same number of wire wraps!

Leftovers?

Ok, so I started out the year saying I was going to blog daily and post lots of pictures. You know, I'm usually pretty good at sticking to New Year's resolutions. But, life is what happens while you're making other plans, right?

Here are some keshi pearl hair pins I made last night. I bought this particular strand to make my own bridal hair piece, and it's really beautiful. Since you pretty much have to buy pearls by the strand, I have tons of beautiful creamy keshi pearls. It seems a shame to call them leftovers, because they really aren't. Well, maybe they are. Here's a blurb on keshi pearls which I paraphrased from a couple different websites:

Unlike regular pearls, which are formed when something (called a nucleus) is embedded in a mollusk and coated with a substance (called nacre), keshi pearls are formed in one of two different ways. Sometimes, the mollusk rejects and spits out the nucleus before the development of the pearl is finished. The second way is happens when the nucleus fractures and forms two separate circles of nacre that do not have nuclei.

What this means is that keshi pearls are especially bright and lustrous. Their highly unique and irregular shapes ensure that no two are ever alike. Due to advances in pearl culturing techniques, keshi pearls are increasingly rare and now very difficult to find.

Well, I love them! The luster on this strand is just incredible. When it comes to pearls, you just can't cheap out and get the low end ones. They just don't compare.

Blogging for Beads with Artbeads...

So, I signed up for this program called Blogging for Beads with an online bead store, Artbeads. It's an interesting idea in that they offer bloggers the option to receive one of several new products for free in exchange for blogging about their program. I opted for an copper enameled pendant, with the Chinese symbol for Faith on the front. (It's written in English on the back.)

Honestly, I've had a bit of beader's block with this one. Originally, I envisioned something like this project, which is a copper necklace with freshwater pearls. It was pretty, but I wasn't quite satisfied and pulled it apart. Then I thought I would try making my own wire bail (similar to example #2 shown here) and string the pendant between pearls. That was pretty too, but I wasn't too sure when anyone would wear something like that, so I pulled it back apart. Then, I saw a facebook update from a friend whose mother passed away several years ago, and another idea popped in my head.

I scored a great deal on some hand dyed silk ribbons (again, on Artbeads- I swear they are NOT paying me to say this, but I do get a lot of my beading supplies there!!!) and decided to make a choker/yoga style bracelet with the pendant. Not a whole lot of beading going on here, but I did buy some 8mm sterling silver ribbon ends to finish the ends of a lightly pressed black silk ribbon. The pendant itself is hung on the ribbon with a sterling silver Awareness Ribbon bail. I tried a light pink ribbon first, since her mother passed away from cancer, but the look was just too whimsy for what I was going for. I also wanted to incorporate chain as part of a focal piece, but with the vibrant color of the pendant and the relatively large bail, it was better to keep it simple.

This piece was finished using a sterling silver infinity clasp and delicate silver chain as an extender with a Swarovski crystal drop in black diamond and jet. Anyway, rather than attempt to sell this on Etsy, I am going to send this to my friend. I hope it inspires her to have faith that even grief and loss are part of "the Plan," and that her mother is in good hands.

Mothers' Day sale

I scored a couple of really nice strands of pearls at Bead It! Best part is that the pearls were 50% off due their Mothers' Day specials. :) Can't pass up a good deal, now, can I???

For some odd reason, I've been on a sewing kick this weekend, so I haven't actually finished anything with these pearls yet. We'll see. :)

Something different

Maybe it's a mom thing, but I have no idea where April went!!! It's almost Mothers' Day, and Bead It is having a sale on pearls... all their freshwater pearls are 50% off until this weekend. So of course, I stopped by and scored a few really nice strands of colored/dyed pearls I've been eyeballing for a bit, and another strand of irregular chunky ones with an incredible luster. I also picked up a small sterling silver hoop with 1+1 loops to make a Mothers' Pendant for myself. (Swarovski crystal in birthstone colors.) And a pair of faceted semi-precious briolettes... the precise stone escapes me at the moment. I guess today's project is to take some photos, huh?

So what on Earth is this picture of a card doing on a beading blog? Well, those are the wedding invitations!!! (Thanks to Myra at Kassidy's Kreations for the help with the red sakura seal/focal piece. Sorry, I have no idea what you would call that in paper crafting terms!) Anyway, by doing some comparison shopping, I found Taylor's Paperie on Etsy, who did a spectacular job printing the flat invites (see the Cherry Blossom branch?), matching RSVP cards, and mailing envelopes with return addresses. Her service was absolutely incredible, shipping was the fastest I've ever experienced, and proofing the invites was the LEAST STRESSFUL part of the wedding planning by FAR!!! (Naturally, she also has some wonderful samples of invites for a multitude of occasions...) The price was very VERY good for such a small quantity. Perfect for the DIY destination bride!

I also got some pre-made pocketfolds and pre-cut mats/inserts at Cards & Pockets, an online store run by a mother-daughter team. The best part about Cards & Pockets is that once you hit the minimum quantity (usually 10 units), you can order odd numbers of items. We made 40 invitations and ordered a few extra pieces just in case. Could you buy the paper for less money? Sure, but I've got other things to do with my time... like bead! HAHAHAHAHA.