Boy! Have I been slacking....

Here I am telling Valorie Clifton how to bring more activity to her blog and look at me-----slacking.
I really do have a great excuse, " I've been chaining and beading and chaining and beading.  I have so much going the the Grey Matter that I had to use my sisters " Aura Cacia- Grey Matter Batter" in our diffusers.

Getting use to the new job which is not as stressful or strenous as my last position in Florida and they do let me chain or bead at work.  Which is a plus.  There are moments when I miss the Non-Stop to The Walls daily routine but maybe it is meant to be this way.  That means I can focus on Beading and Chain Mailling and it has given me the opportunity to decide I will work on a website and activating my ETSY site as well.  It always reminds me that the Universe guides us on which way to go..... hence,  I actually won another item:

" Weave Got Maille " and the Wednesday Give Aways.  There wonderful Autumn Jump Rings.....
I can already envision what I will make with these.  I'm on a Byzantine Roll right now and Deborah Apodaca and Genny Smith won as well.

Secondly, Valorie was gracious enough to share her " Eye of Sauron " ( Yes....yes... another Tolkein fan ).  Another reason to visit Nix Creations on ETSY.  Not sure how well that will go in Cherokee, NC but what the heck.

Deborah has been sending me items and U-Tube info for working in Word Press. Org to set the site.  I have also been looking at " Square Space ".  Hopefully I can make up my mind in the next two weeks.  I know it will be a lot of work, but it will be worth it.  I have people ask me weekly if I have
a Website after they see me walking through with my work trays.

So chainmaille wise:  Mastered " Double Vision " and " Lovers Knot".  Those mobius's are falling right into place as a left hander.

I've been working with Jodey Savitt Hathaway on her " Skull Burst " kits.  They are so awesome, especially for that " Harley Dude " in your life,  I've been making my own 2 and 2 for my chains and they really work well together.  If you participate on the Chain Maille group on Facebook, you will see us posting back and forth along with Michael Ball and quite a few others.

and now to the Skullbursts.....

Sweet!

Of course I have been Beadweaving and Bead Embroidering as well.  I loved the,, "Coronation Day Pendant" in Beadwork Aug/Sept 2014 by Evelina Palmontova.  Even though I am not a glitzy rope necklace person I had a blast with the Pendants and they set off a ribbon so well.

Worked them up in Purple, Gold/Amber/Pink and Green/Gold.
I played with " Four Corners " by Michelle McEnroe from the Aug/Sept 2013 Beadwork.  As I am not in the typical Florida setting, the more simplified " Four Corners " is cute on a ribbon as well. Attempting to find a happy medium between the Florida Bling and the Simplified Western North Carolina will take up my time over the next two months.  As well as finding some awesome 10mm rounds.  :)

Simply stated.  I should make earrings to go with these.

I have two pieces on the Bead Embroidery Board and two pieces to BE the clasps.  The BE pieces are with cabachon's that I cabbed and I have taken them all the way through to a perfect setting.  They will reveal when they are done.

I recieved my Round Robin doll from the " 2014 Flower Child 2 Round Robin.  Her name is Brigid and the request was for Red, White, Black and Gold to match the polymer face.

She came out lovely.  Beaders for this Round Robin were - Bev Moon - Ruth Osborne - Dian Moore - Suzanne Bang - Aryd'ell Hotelling and myself.  What a great group of ladies.

In closing some family fun - I am the proud rescue parent of Dracula....yes, that is what the original owers called this eight year old Cocker Spaniel.  He was surrendered to FL Cocker Spaniel Rescue and I was lucky enough to get this lovely chap and it must have been meant to be.  They had another rescue member coming to Murphy, NC  ( bless you Wendy Dimick ) and Drac was brought to me.

That is my sister PK and I picking him up in Murphy, NC   He's fitting in nicely with the herd.

I am sure that there is more that could be shared.....as this is Thanksgiving weekend I'll spend time blogging for sure.

Next topic:  " Resolutions for 2015 "  What will be your beady resolutions?

ARRRGHH! Inventory. I hate doing inventory.

Thoughts here ladies !  While preparing for a small show in Franklin, NC " Pumpkin Fest " , next weekend I had to review inventory.  How many pieces were tagged and photographed.  What was still lacking to be placed in inventory and do I have enough product.  Gosh,this really takes away from beading time, chainmaille time, just all kinds of time.

Has anyone developed a system of recording product?   I would love to hear everyones idea's on this.

The luxury of Shibori Silk.

I must say that my first experience with Shibori was with Sherry Serafini's class at Crystal Creations in West Palm Beach.  My first cuff that was completed in class was sold to a dear friend when we met at Chili's for dinner one night.  Well, I just could not let the Shibori Ribbon just sit in the drawer. I finished this one this past weekend and did share with " The Ladies of the Evening " for critiquing. I think I will continue to work in this medium and it has that "quilting" feel to it and yet it is a elegant backround for Bead Embroidery.  Besides, who can resist the use of the LunaSoft cabs.  Yummy!

                                                           " Are you Blue ? "

Wonderful Bead Stash Giveaway......

Valorie Clifton is having a Bead Giveaway.  A Yummy Bead Giveaway.  Not only is she looking to build her blog following ( sound familiar ) but she is looking to find the answer to that impending question we all face.  " Lack of Motivation ".  How do you or I stay motivated and what have we done to motivate outselves on projects?  I know, we all have a ton of UFO ( Unfinished Projects ) where we look and say, " Did I start that last year?  The year before?  Darn, where is the pattern? " and of course there are just mornings where you do not even want to think about picking up a needle or a set of pliers.  But it is a good question and I hope I gave a good answer.

Of course, I shared for you all on Facebook and subscribed to her blog.  Not sure how I missed her blog as she is one of the original  BEAD MAVENS.  But these are my thoughts on how to stay motivated.

1.)  I make myself participate in a beading Round Robin.  It keeps my calendar set and keeps me focused on priorities.  I bead in a Art Doll group and our ladies change at the start of each round robin keeping us fresh with ideas.

The next one will get groans but it keeps me focused and darn do I come up with some great ideas to boot.

2.)  I get up one hour before the household, either 4:00 am or 5:00 am.  Walk the dogs, make the coffee....the SHIZAM......I start working.  When the household leaves I am already in the groove.

So visit her site:
VC Artisan Originals- The Bead Zealot

and leave a few comments yourself.  Who knows, you may be the lucky winner.

Settling in North Carolina.......I've never had two weeks off..... AMAZING!

The Studio is organzied and projects on on the Bead and Chainmaille Boards.  I've never been able to

devote continued work to beading or chaining.  It is " kind of weird".  But I have been completing projects to include the Nutty Byzantine by Genny Smith.  It is standard Byzantine components with 12/32 SS Hex Nuts.

I made a 18" Necklace with a 7" bracelet.  It believe it came out very nice, especially for the " Gear Head " type of group.  Once the weave component was perfected, it wove very nicely.  I am on to 

Aurelio's Tuercas Bracelet with SS Hex Nuts.  A very nice bracelet for a guy.

I stopped off at the Cherokee Craft Supply store and found a wonderful Celtic Button.  You know my bezeling addiction.  Wallaah!

I wold love to complete one without the swarovski bicones.  It is a very striking piece and PK had the perfect neck chain to go with it.  

Currently finishing my new Shibori Cuff " Are you Blue? " and I'll post new photo's when she is complete.  

I cannot say " I am bored".  Nope!  Not going to happen. 

The " Move " is done...... and now the FEAR set's in

The move to North Carolina is complete and as I unload the boxes, upon boxes of beads and wonderful adornements and take the two weeks to decompress of leaving not only my Birth State of Florida but realizing, " I do not have a job " after 30 years of working in the Construction Industry. Whew!  Mild moments of panic here.  In thirty five years of my work history I have never collected
Unemployment.  Well, we will see.  The Studio is coming along quite nicely with a work station set for company and enough room to just spread out those numerous projects.  Amazing what trouble one can get into when she can see " All of Her Beads ".

Fall is beginning here.  One of my most favorite times of the year.  As Kinga Nichols has been posting on Facebook, I believe that most of us love this time of the year.  Of course, photo's will
follow.......yeah!  Now where is that camera.  LOL!

I did find out that there is a Beading Group at the Tribal store on Saturday afternoons, from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm.  Guess that is worth a visit this Saturday.

Off Line until the 22nd of September....

To all my Beady Buddies.......

Forgive my tardiness in posts but I will be offline until the 22nd of September while I move from Port St. Lucie FL to Whittier, North Carolina.  Almost packed and all items are taken care of.....but posting will be limited while the new studio is set up in the lovely mountains outside of Cherokee and Bryson City.

Catch up with you soon........