beaded diamonds first peek

It's been...several years since I last published a beading pattern. How did that happen? I've been way overdue to publish another pattern. It feels so good to have one well underway right now.

I'm writing basic instructions for creating beaded diamonds, eight variations for earrings, and instructions for making a ring, pendant, and bracelet. I'm planning to release two versions: the full pattern and earrings only. It's been a very time consuming process because I've had to make so many samples. I will be able to sell all of them when I'm done with the pattern, which is some consolation. (It also means that if you see anything that you like, you're welcome to claim it now). Regardless, it's still exciting to see it all come together.

Tentative release date: April 2015. Stay tuned for more details over the next couple months.

What have you been working on lately?

holiday inventory stocking in the works

You can check out my current Christmas online inventory right here. I'll be adding more over the coming month.

What are you working on for the upcoming holidays?

in the works / life lately

Just a few of the things that have been going on the past month or so...

I never did put together a craft fair prep post like I'd planned so I'm sharing those pictures here today. I had my first 2014 craft fair at the beginning of the month.

I'm well stocked on button magnets, music magnets, and other small show items again. I have an abundance of bottle caps saved so that I'd like to use for magnets as well, but otherwise I'm in pretty good shape for the next show.

Since the 2013 holiday season, I've been restocking all of my best selling blue and rainbow items. I always save price tagging new items until the week before the show.

I organize all of my show inventory in Tupperware containers with labels on the tops. By the end of the 2013 holiday season, the containers were not very organized. Before the first 2014 show, I went through every single piece of jewelry and made sure that it was in good shape and had an up to date price tag before getting it into the proper container.

I picked up a bulk stash of wooden buttons at some point near the end of 2013, and I've been having a blast creating new pieces with them.

I'm super excited about these new wooden button embellished rainbow bracelets. They'll be heading into the jewelry shop soon.

Edi gifted me some custom buttons for my birthday last year (yep, almost a year ago), and I'm so happy to be putting them to good use at last.

One of the things that falls to the wayside during the holidays is listing new items on Etsy. I try to keep re-listing the best sellers that are likely to sell online, but I don't feel like spending my little free time photographing brand new items that I may turn around and sell at a show the next weekend. As such, I just pack them up and end up listing them later. These pairs of earrings are still on the list.

One of the first photos that I ever shared on Instagram was of this piece in progress. That was back in August. Clearly this is another project that I put to the side for a ridiculously long time. I want to get it finished, photographed, and listed in the near future.

As the weather has been very winter-like most of the month, I'm still making a lot of slow cooker and cold weather foods. I recently made pulled pork for the first time. I make pulled chicken pretty often and would like to get pulled pork into the regular rotation, too.

  

Finally, I couldn't put together a life lately post without a few of my recent SLR kitty pictures. On the cold weather note, they like this spot because it's right by a heating vent.

Everyone loves Michaels.

Ares, my ever present photography helper. I still had the daylight bulbs on in the lightbox, which is why he has a slightly washed out appearance.

What have you been up to lately?

in the works / life lately

I'm a little tired of hearing endless raving about fall everywhere I turn. I didn't think that it was possible to say so much about fall colors, sweater wearing, and soup and pumpkin everything eating. Seasonal allergies, short days, and cold weather zap every last bit of reserve energy that I have from mid-September until sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Give me summer any day of the week. With that being said, I do still enjoy comfort foods and warm drinks this time of year even if I don't feel the need to talk about them all the time.

I've been working on holiday / show inventory a lot lately. Surprise, right?

I got it in my head that I needed something new for the remaining 2013 shows. I found a little tree at Target for $8 and made a set of music button ornaments for it.

Pretty much all of my creative time and energy lately has gone toward the wedding jewelry and stocking holiday show inventory, but I have found bits of time for other endeavors.

I led a craft night for a group of girls in my Bible study and taught everyone how to make paper pumpkins.

This winter I'm sure that I'm going to find a lot more time for these type of experiments, but lately when I've had a little down time and haven't gotten out to take pictures, I've been playing around with low light photography and my (new!) 50mm at home.

Jake and I took a working trip to Chicago at the end of October / very beginning of November. He was there for classes, and I was working remotely, but we were able to get out in the city a little with family and friends.

My writing load has (finally) lightened a little bit since we got back to Milwaukee, which was great timing because it has given me time to focus on shows and take care of a few projects around the house that I've meant to work on for you know, a few months or so.

Of course I had a kitty helper for that particular project.

Remember how I was just talking about this pose?

What have you been up to / working on lately?

in progress / life lately

At the beginning of this month, a lot of people commented that I have a lot on my plate and am keeping busy this fall. We're heading into what will be some of the busiest weeks of the year for me, and I'm doing my best to stay organized so I don't get overwhelmed. It's debatable whether or not I can avoid getting pretty stressed out at some point or another, but so far things have been going pretty well in October. (They're also going insanely quickly. Does anyone else feel that way?)

I'm just a little bit excited about how all of the shower preparation for my future sister-in-law's Chicago bridal shower has been going. I got all of the invitations in the mail at the end of last month and finished the favors and centerpieces this month. I'll share some more updates as it gets closer to the event.

I'm feeling pretty good about my jewelry stock for my first holiday shows. Recently I went through everything I've made since my last show (which was in May, how was that five months ago?) and got it all price tagged. I still need to work on some smaller show items like magnets and button post earrings.

I'm bringing back the black and white button charm bracelet and unrolling new matching earrings for it in the jewelry shop this week. I have a couple new pairs of peyote triangle earrings that I'm planning to photograph and list within the next month, too.

Don't forget to pop over to the photography shop once in a while, too, and see what I've been listing there. I'm getting new items up just about every week. It's not too early to start shopping for the holidays! Spread the word, and let me know if there is anything you'd like to see there.

Many of you know that I've been putting in a lot of hours writing lately. It's been significantly more hours than usual just to keep up with client assignments. There have been a few days that I just wasn't feeling very well or needed some extra encouragement to put in a really long day of client work. Starting with a homemade drink or two can make a big difference on those days.

This fall I haven't been getting out to take pictures nearly as much as I was for much of the spring and summer, largely due to the huge work loads. However, we've been blessed with a very beautiful fall in Milwaukee thus far, and I've been fortunate to get out for a few awesome photo excursions.

What have you been up to lately?