More Asakusabashi Finds

Can I just tell you how much I loved all the bead stores in Asakusabashi? Here are more pictures of the nifty things I found. Hand crafted lampwork beads with lovely details can be found in many stores.

Flowers and nature motifs are also quite popular.
I also picked up a quartz apple for a friend who is a teacher. Quartz is said to help people clarify their thoughts and focus their energy and is good for people who need to attract good energy.

Also found in Asakusabashi, these gemstone strands... I have no idea what they are. I suspect the blue beads are some sort of crushed composite... maybe quartz as well. The red and green ones will be perfect for Christmas gifts. :)

Buttons, buttons, everywhere!

As you may have already noticed, I also like to sew. My mother made sure I took sewing lessons and know how to alter clothes, sew from scratch, and alter patterns. I couldn't resist these cute little buttons... Aren't they just yummy?

This cute little bear is probably going to be a toggle on a purse or something similar. The jelly beans, flowers, and small Hello Kitty buttons are going to embellish ribbon covered hair clippies for my daughter.

HAHA, poor girl. She doesn't really like wearing clippies.

Maybe I'll make some hair bands or something else instead.

More from the Road

While wandering from bead store to bead store, I came across another store with an Indian shop keeper. The prices weren't all that great but they had these really unusual sterling spacer beads. If you haven't already noticed, I'm a sucker for small and dainty components.

Since it was sold by the gram and marked up quite a bit over the current market price for silver, I only picked up a dozen of these.

These little beads are so cute, I had to wire up another pair of drop earrings... so I sandwiched them between some faceted roundelle iolites. I brought wire, but didn't bring any headpins, so the only thing I could do was use briolettes at the end of the drop.

Fortunately, I brought these beautiful moonstones along with. They were actually quite expensive and are also relatively soft. When I started working with them, I actually ruined quite a few stones. It's a shame. Moonstones are beautifully opalescent, and look different from every angle. I love these, since each stone is unique.

The iolite is the perfect compliment to the bluish hues in the moonstone.
(Actually, iolite is also kind of soft... but not as much as the moonstone.)

Since all of these gems were purchased in strands, I could actually make a couple similar pairs of earrings. They are light and pretty, but I probably wouldn't make these except by special order or as gifts.

Maybe I should go back to Akasukabashi and look for more of these beads. Hehehehehehe.

On the Road

Today marks the end of my first of approximately 2.5 weeks in Japan. Figuring that I might have time to bead, I brought some things along with me. As it turns out, beading is a very popular hobby around here. So, as I was wandering around Tokyo, I found a huge concentration of bead stores in the Akasukabashi area.

This strand of pearls is one of my Akasukabashi finds. I couldn't resist the luster and color of these pearls for the price. :)

So anyway, I paired the pearls with some faceted garnet discs I brought with me, and some metal charms I bought on my trip to DC last year. These came out so cute that I made a couple of pearl and garnet links to make into a matching necklace (once I get back home and get into the chains and clasps already in my stash).

Since I don't get out of meetings until after dark, I'm stuck with artificial indoor lighting.

But anyway, here they are... my dainty little Tokyo pearl and DC garnet earrings!

One Dress a Day

This chick is chic!!! OMG, I've been wanting to get into upcycling and repurposing thrift store finds into crafty type things like quilts and purses, but here's a young lady (and I can say that because I'm older than her) who decided on her 30th birthday, to spend a year making her own clothes... 365 new items in 365 days on $365.


Her creativity also extends to her writing. You should check her out!

http://newdressaday.wordpress.com/

Other Nifty Crafts

Here are some cute little blogs with free crafting ideas:

First, a "Twirly Skirt Tutorial," with awesome photos of each step (and other cute kids' patterns) at House on Hill Road. I am totally making one of these! There is also a really detailed tutorial on an absolutely adorable shirred tank top (which I knew how to do, but rather than explain it to you, well, her directions are much better than anything I could explain!)

Then, you've all seen those "I Spy" bags, right? The local yuppy educational kid's toy store sells these things for $35. Being a crafter, I can't bring myself to spend that much on what amounts to a glorified bean bag that would cost me about $7 to make. Well, check out this mega creative tutorial on Make It and Love It!! OH MY GOODNESS, this is an even better idea than the one I had! (Which was basically a glorified bean bag.)

And last, but not least, my favorite online beading supply place has a terrific section of free ideas of what to do with the rest of the stuff I bought from them! HAHA. I got an email notification from Artbeads months ago saying they were doing this, but to be honest, it wasn't all that creative when it started. However, it has significantly expanded to include all sorts of different designs that are submitted by customers. Very cool. I should get back to beading and submit my own design!

I Wish I Had More Time!!!

Life is crazy but good around here.

My husband is on travel, and the break in our daily routine somehow led to this pair of earrings last night. The beads are a natural stone which has been sitting among my things so long that I can't remember what they are anymore. The metal flowers were picked up at a sale from Michaels' almost a year ago.

The wire cutters I used to make these are so sharp that I accidentally nicked one of my wire wraps on the right earring, so I need to re-do that one. I might just have to break out the wire jig and make a little clover or something.

Anyway, since I haven't had time to do much of anything this year, I'm going through my stash to make presents for friends and family. I guess that means I need to resist the urge to wear these!

Chirimen Kanzashi

It's been a while. You know how it goes. Anyway, I finally had a few moments to myself and decided to try a new craft: tsumami kanzashi.

Basically, it entails folding cloth and gluing pieces together to make flowers typically used in hair ornaments. I grew up doing origami and can make a crane out of 2 inch paper. (Which takes a needle and some skill.)
Since tsumami kanzashi involves the assembly of many pieces, the cloth size you start with is typically quite small. It is recommended to start with a 2 inch square... each of which makes a petal or leaf.

So I followed most of the instructions I found online, and improvised a bit on the glue and wire base. (Hey, I'm into beading, and you need SOMETHING to be in the middle of all these petals.) Not bad for a first try, but as you might be able to tell, instead of starting with more expensive silk chirimen cloth, I chose polyester.

It was still a bit pricey, as I bought the material from a craft store in Japan. I think next time, I'll go with variegated colors without the distracting print. Although I cut enough squares to make 3 similar sized flowers plus two smaller ones (presumably for a comb or full sized head piece), I might just call it a day with this one and make a different style of flower with the rest of the squares.

As you can tell from the 2nd photo, this flower is pretty huge. Personally, I prefer dainty... however, this is large enough to make a pretty cool headband or cover for a large spring loaded barrette.

Maybe I'll make the rest of the flowers and make a larger, funkier head piece. Instead of the traditional metal bira bira and wisteria falls, I've got tons of ribbon and (of course) beads!

I guess technically, since I'm using fabritac glue and nylon, this is actually a lower end flower. We'll see how this all turns out.

A Worthy Cause

In case you were wondering what to do with that extra material, there's a young lady from Kentucky, Michala Riggle, who makes bracelets, donating the proceeds to a charity which conducts research on autism. String some basic bracelets and/or donate the supplies !

Here's an exerpt from her website:


With just $7.35 cents and a passion to help kids like her brother, Evan, Michala Riggle, age 12, started doing the only thing she knew how to do...make bracelets. See what happened!

Beading Sales!

It's been really busy around here with the family and work... unfortunately, I haven't been beading much recently. We also started getting some minor renovations done around the house, and the baby is now potty training.

However, for those who do have the time, Soft Flex is having a show at Ward Warehouse this weekend. This is always a really cool bead show because they bring in suppliers from throughout the country. On island, it's hard to find certain types of things, for example, lucite, porcelain, and discontinued Swarovski in interesting shapes. There are also super high end strands of all sorts of gemstones which are typically sold by the piece locally...

So there are great deals to be had for high end jewelry makers and those who enjoy challenging themselves beyond your standard stretchy crystal bicone bracelet.

If you can't make it to Ward Warehouse, Bead It! in Kailua is having a silver trunk show in their new location. Apparently, we're getting a Whole Foods in Kailua, next to Longs. So, Bead It moved across the street, next to BookEnds.

Anyway, they do these trunk shows at each of their shops about once a quarter. Typically, you can find a lot of charms, Bali style toggle clasps, hoops, and decorative links. Sometimes they have smaller blanks for metal stamping. Pretty much the same stuff you can get online from Rings & Things, but without the handling fees for smaller orders and without having to wait for shipping.

Maybe it's just me, but when I buy things, I always have a project. When the product is purchased online, sometimes the product isn't quite what I expected or can't be used for what I had in mind. Going to these shows, even if you can't buy everything you want right away, is a great way to put hands on some of these materials so you have a better idea of what you're looking at online.

So there you have it! Go have fun!