Someday Beads

It's been nearly 2 years since I've made a blog entry...... alot has happened.  A family member's health started to decline.  We were short-staffed at my full-time job, so the overtime was obscene.  I struggled to find the strength and time to take care of myself and my home.....no time to create.  I did, however, make trips to Hobby Lobby's discount wall and bought beads on Ebay.  I didn't have time to organize my buys.  I enlisted my family on a Sunday afternoon to sort my beads by color.  It took 3 of us about 4 hours.  In spite of my vehement denials, I think my family worried that I was a hoarder.    A bead hoarder......but, a hoarder, just the same. 

Let's catch up......
At the end of 2012, I was selected runner-up in The Ugly Necklace Contest.  This contest is sponsored by The Land of Odds. They hold this contest every other year.  This year, I won the contest...... thanks to all of my AWESOME facebook friends who helped me with their internet votes.  I also bribed co-workers (McDonald's Monopoly free food game pieces) and my niece (An American Horror Story sweatshirt).......I was going to get votes no matter the cost. 

I did find time to make a few pieces for friends.  Most memorable was a necklace/bracelet set for a dear friend.  Her daughter was getting married and the precious flower girl in her princess dress needed something sparkly and purple to wear.   I received a picture of that sweet little one, all dressed up, with a sparkle in her eyes that overshadowed the sparkle around her neck and wrist.  My heart was full......

My mom asks for blue earrings and bracelets, and my sister gives me components to design a necklace/bracelet set.  My friends will bring me their broken sentimental pieces hoping they can be easily fixed.  In retrospect, I guess I have had time to create and play with beads.  My life has felt very dry in the past few years....now,  I am experiencing a refreshing of my peace and calm......which is the perfect state of mind to create.

Today, I received an email from Michelle Mach.  She listed Halcraft's Monthly Jewelry Design Challenge as something she was currently enjoying.  If you have a blog, you can play along with the Halcraft Challenge.  I do.....and I will.  I can't wait to search through my vast inventory (hoard) looking for the perfect beads for January's Pretty Palette challenge.  Even though I was experiencing a paralyzing overwhelming of life-events, hope remained..... a small spark that lit the dullness when I would purchase beads, findings, focal pieces, books, and magazines.  I had hope (no, not in beads)......faith and trust in God......that the dust would settle, life would right itself, and I would have initiative to create with all those beads........someday.


~pamela

I accepted another do-over challenge.  This time, Jeannie Dukic offered to send a piece of jewelry she made as a beginner.....and we were supposed to make something wonderful :).   I hope I rose to this challenge.......and as usual, I was scrambling to complete the jewelry on time.  I requested the piece with plenty of time to be creative.....however, when I received the necklace, I stared......and stared.....and stared at it completely perplexed on how to make this beautiful necklace into something "better".  It wasn't easy.  My solution was to take the necklace apart and stare at the individual beads.  My first idea was to make a sweater clasp......I ended up making a necklace and two bracelets.  I used close to 85% of the beads.   I hope Jeannie enjoys my do-over! :D

Here is the original piece......I would wear this.....it was a shame to tear it apart!






......and here are my do-over pieces :D


Hope you enjoy this blog hop!! :D

 Jeannie/Hostess 
Cilla Watkins
Michelle Mach







 

This will be a short entry ..........have a little (?) insomnia, so I'm cruising around on the web.  Michell Mach announced that she will be participating in Jeanie's Do-Over Challenge #3 . I signed up....can't wait to get the mystery piece of jewelry.

I promise to post pics of this challenge, along with pics of my Bead Hoarder's Curiosity's box, and pics of my Ugly Necklace contest piece....and pics of something else that I can never remember to do......

Don't hold me to it, but I promise to do this......someday

~pamela

Once again, Michelle Mach presented a bead challenge..... Suddenly Spring Challenge .I forgot to take a pic of the beads, so click on the Suddenly Spring link to see what we had to work with.
 


I found it difficult to photograph this watch......I wanted to capture all the elements of the band in one pic......I used the rondelle spacers and a few of the blue faceted beads.....
 

 I also made a necklace.  I tracked down some silver wire mesh ribbon tube....don't think that's the exact name for this stuff, but you get the idea.  I purchased seed bead mixtures from Spirit Bear Beads  I love the way she mixes a palette of seed beads! I used the faceted beads from Michelle Mach along with some really cool Iris lamp-work beads I bought (a very long time ago) from Bead Party

I struggle with lighting my jewelry pics......there were lit with a mag-lite.....very high tech....please feel free to follow my lead in mag-lite photography aids....
These are my submissions.....I hope the links for the other blogs work :)

 Michelle - Beads & Books
Andrew - The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
Christa - Adventures of One Beady Woman
Dita - Alankarshilpa
Donetta - Simply Gorgeous
Erin - Erin Siegel Jewelry
Heather - As I Bead It
Jean - Snap out of it Jean There's beading to be done!
Karen -Over the Moon Design 
Kate - We Can Make That At Home
Kay - Palm Coast Art
Kim - Cianci Blue
Kristina - Wild Roses and Blackberries
Linda - Lindy's Designs
Lisa - Pine Ridge Treasures
Marlene - Amazing Designs by Marlene
Michelle - Reverie & Revival
Pam - The Crazy Creative Corner
Renetha - Lamplight Crafts
Sharyl - Catchenthesun
Terry - Pink Chapeau Vintage Jewelry
Therese  - Therese's Treasures

I promised to post pics of my Bead Hoarders box from A Grain of Sand ....haven't done that yet..  I entered my first jewelry contest The Ugly Necklace Contest ....I promise to post pics of my submission after the deadline has passed....don't want anyone stealing my ugly design.  I promise to post pics of other projects I've been working on......

I promise to do all this..........someday

I did finish the repair jobs and custom requests since my last post.....and I managed to get a couple pieces completed for me :D  This is what my bead board/coffee table looked like 1-1/2 weeks ago.  I had pulled all my pink beads to make a custom pink bracelet.  The vintage glass pearls and pink aventurine flower bracelet/choker is intended for me....I had to push that  idea into one of the wells so I could complete the custom project ....sometimes the creativity process is a distraction to the REAL project I need to complete.  This picture really shows the uber-cool-ness of some beads I found on Etsy.  They look like ordinary....even boring...vintage acrylic beads until you position them just-so under the lights and then you get this AWESOME glow effect.  One friend said she nearly wrecked her car trying to look down at her necklace when the beads would glow in the sun.

This bracelet was a birthday present for my Aunt.  


These earrings were to cheer up a discouraged friend :)
Custom requests......

.....and I found these beads for $.50 a strand on Yardsellr
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A Grain of Sand is offering subscriptions to a monthly bead hoarder's club.  I purchased  a 1-month subscription to see what it would look like.  I like mystery bead packages if they aren't swept off the floor of the delivery truck.  I won't mention any names, but I recently bought a "grab bag" from a bead company only to send it back to them.....I actually separated the scuffed, broken, dirty, useless beads from the order to show them this wasn't acceptable.  The two box clasps would have been really nice if they had the snap-in end .....it was missing for both of them!  I am eagerly awaiting my bead hoarder's package and will post pics!!


I have purchased Michelle Mach's Spring Challenge kit.......I'm tossing around a few ideas....the deadline for her challenge is March 13.  The deadline for the Ugliest Necklace Contest is March 15......


I need to start on those projects.........someday

~pamela

My first blog entry........ 1/25/2012

Secret Snowflake Challenge

I had entered a bead challenge recently (Secret Snowflake Challenge hosted by Michelle Mach ...more about her bead challenges later) and was inspired by the participant's blogs.  At the time, I didn't have my own blog, so Michelle Mach graciously allowed the blog-less to post our creations on her site.  With my awesome niece's help, I now have my own blog to post my pictures and be a REAL blog-hopper.  It's the little things in life...

A few years ago, a friend showed me how to make a pair of simple earrings and I was hooked....french-hooked ;)  I wanted to make earrings with every imaginable and unimaginable bead that I could find.  I poured over bead and jewelry magazines......bought books.....viewed jewelry-making YouTube videos...spent hours looking for bargains on Ebay and Etsy.....and lurked in the jewelry aisle at Hobby Lobby with my 40% off coupon clutched in hand.  I soon moved on from making earrings to making necklaces and bracelets.  I wore my "creations" to work and soon caught the attention of a co-worker who asked me to make a necklace using her authentic ancient Egyptian cat pendant as a focal piece.  Each time I presented this necklace to her.....yeah, EACH time....it would fall apart.  I was MORTIFIED......I had accepted money from her!!  I test-pulled that necklace....shook it....and each time the wire near the cat pendant would snap when she took it out of the packaging.  She was convinced the cat was cursed......I suggested holy water.  Finally, I fixed the cat pendant with a clasp to be removed at her descretion.....put the necklace in a  package...put the cat in it's separate packing (with a stern talk about attitude adjustment)....and the necklace finally stayed together!  Because I was mortified and this was a paying gig, I made a few free bracelets for her.....all of which have stayed together....all of which have nothing to do with anything feline in nature.  I ain't stupid.....

My love of making jewelry...playing with beads....and learning new techniques has borne a sub-hobby.....collecting some-day-beads.  Thus, the name of my blog.  



This picture shows a smidgen of my some-day-bead collection.  The large rondelles are Pink Peruvian Opals.  The Opals and the 5x6mm crystal sparklies were purchased from the lovely ladies at Happy As Can Bead.  They loaded me up with coupons during my last visit to their store.  I must have looked overwhelmed because they said when I come back, I can hand them all my different coupons and printed special offers and they will figure out the best deal.  Works for me.....
The white flowery lampwork rondelles are from a local Hobby Lobby...my second home.  The lampwork iris beads were purchased from a shop on Etsy Beadparty
I have an Etsy shop, but it is neglected....or perhaps I'm being too hard on myself.  I haven't posted new jewelry in a loooong time.  I am motivated to create, not sell.  I would rather make jewelry for friends (sans the feline factor) or help friends with jewelry repairs...I am a poor business-woman :)



This picture shows a recent purchase from A Grain of Sand
I found this vintage bead store after reading a bead magazine article about her purchase of a hoard (understatement) of vintage beads and findings.  The lucite "apple juice" earrings obviously aren't beads, but they were a STEAL....I just had to have them.  The bright yellow faceted triangles? to the left of the earrings are .....of course.... vintage dangles.  This picture doesn't do them justice.  The light pumpkin colored hex-shaped ring beads are West Germany celluloid (rare).  The beads in the middle are West German ruby red crystal encrusted beads.....a gold foil bead with red crystals that are encased in a faceted acrylic......awesome and FUN!  The two small cameos are Limoge and the larger cameo is Italian, turn-of-the-century, hand-carved shell.  I find myself holding my breath when I hold the Italian cameo.  There are new listings posted frequently, so check out A Grain of Sand

So, how was my first post? too long?  I'm looking forward to gaining followers and to reading your feedback....mean people will not have their comments posted.  What some-day-beads do you have?  What some-day-projects do you have scattered on your bead board?

My some-day-beads will remain as such for a little while.....I have one necklace repair, one bracelet repair, one custom pink bracelet order, one custom wire-wrap bracelet order, and one birthday wire-wrap bracelet present to complete.....some day.

~pamela