Fourth of July sneak peak

I've been working on a few Fourth of July pieces this week, including a bunch of Fourth of July themed button earrings, which will be my free giveaway with all orders during the month of July.  Here are a few pictures of my progress this week.  I'm planning to list them by the end of the week so they'll be ready to go July 1st.  I'll have my other item up shortly, too.

Now that I have my gluing tray back in action, I'll be working on more button earrings and button magnets in the near future.  I already have 8 more earring pairs in other assorted colors ready to be glued.

final Iowa City bead purchase and a sneak peak

One of the last times I was down in Iowa City to get my hair cut, I made a final stop at the bead shop there: Beadology.

When I took the pictures for this blog post, I'd already torn down my light box set up so I took this shots in the living room with a Stauer catalog.  I'm way out of practice with that but I did all right.  Anyway, yes, I just went to a bead store in Chicago, but I wanted the packaged seed beads from Beadology.  The red beads are just plain red in person.  They look almost pink here.  Of course I had to look around at everything else and got a dagger strand and two leaf strands, too.

Sadly because our closing date got pushed back, I did not make it to Milwaukee in time for Bead and Button this year.  I will do everything that I can to be there next year.  For now, I will have to start scouting new bead stores in Milwaukee.

I finished my July EBW challenge piece over the weekend.  I'm not going to take the listing photos until I have my light box set up again, but you get a sneak peak for now.

I'll have lots more details about it when I list it.  For now, I'll just say that the biggest challenge of this piece is that it's the first time I've done true free form detail.  You can judge for yourself whether you think it was successful or not. :)

rock garden in the works again

I usually get a new listing up right at the end of the weekend.  But I didn't this weekend because we've been out of town my little sister-in-law's graduation.  I'll have one up tonight or Tuesday.  For now, I'm leaving you with a sneak peak of my newest rock garden bracelet.  Yep, it's coming back in green!

orange treasury and custom earrings in progress

Mouna (beadsofaquarius) included my Square Stitch Cuff Bracelet - Embellished - Summer in her Orange Mecanique treasury.  This collection is so elegant!  And I love that it's orange.  Not many people would strive for orange elegance.  But it really works here.  Thanks Mouna!

bracelet pearl green vintage inspired fashion jewelry La Boheme spring summer

I got the periwinkle beads that I needed for my custom earrings to match this bracelet so I set to work on that last night.

I should have pictures of the finished earrings up within the next week.  I also finished my June EBW Challenge piece and am planning on listing it within the week.  Stay tuned!

sneak peak of Working Together

I had no intention of entering the June EBW Challenge, but an idea came to me within the week after it was announced so I'm going for it.  I absolutely have to get it done during this lull while I wait for my beads for custom orders or it won't happen.  So I put a lot of work in this weekend.

It'll have three strands like this, each with the dark blue running through it.  Originally I was going to have them lay next to each other, but now I think that I'll end up twisting them.

I also got the second strand done over the weekend.  Here are some of the beads for it before I started.

The last strand will be light blue.  That's all I'm leaving you with for now.  I'll have more details about the theme for the piece and why I choose it when I finish.

I published a new crafty hub this weekend: Craft Fairs: What to Bring and Display Considerations.  Please check it out if you haven't already.  As always, if you've missed any past crafty hubs, they're all linked on the side of my blog.

finished photo display and a classic combination

I finished the photo display that I first blogged about last week here.  I seriously overestimated how many photos I would need for one display board.  So I ended up making two displays.  I had to buy another display and then wait for a day that wasn't rainy or super windy so I could safely bring it into work.  Yes, normally I would work on this at home, but we're showing our condo so I'm not leaving any projects out.  Anyway, things got a little delayed, but I still got it finished with plenty of time to spare.

I apologize that this photo is a little cluttered with the full shelves underneath.  This was the clearest spot I could get on a raised surface in my room.  I'm really happy with the way that they turned out.  Hopefully others will enjoy them, too.

Also, I'm finally bringing back my black and white button charm bracelet design.

newest shell bead earrings and button bracelets in the works

I promised quite a while back that I would make earrings to coordinate with my black shell bead bracelets.  I finally listed one of the pairs of earrings this week.

These earrings are available here.  I'll list the smaller version of these earrings soon.  The vote for the coordinating earrings was black so that's what I decided to make.  But if you prefer white, just let me know.  I still have some white shells.

I have sea green and pale blue bracelet and earring sets ready to photograph, too.

I sold five button charm bracelets on Etsy last month.  I've started restocking my stash.  I know that my shop is still plenty full, but my button bracelet supply has diminished.  It's been one of my few designs that has sold consistently on Etsy so I'm not going to stop making them any time soon.  I have blue in the works right now.

All of my new button charm bracelets will have beads like this recently sold button charm bracelet has.  They have been popular and are something that sets my button charm bracelets apart from others that are available on Etsy.  The turquoise/red combination will be back as well as green and purple.

in the works and other creative endeavors

I was very excited to get my Art Beads blogging package at the end of the week and start of my new piece this weekend.  Unfortunately, even though all of the daggers that I selected are supposed to be the same size, they're not.

I should have realized this when I looked at the picture for the green daggers.  Going back to it when I e-mailed the Art Beads coordinator, I could see it.  But the listing clearly states 15x6, and I believed that.  I might have enough daggers to complete the piece without those.  It doesn't change the fact that I was planning on using them, though, or that the listing is wrong.  I'm still waiting to hear back from Art Beads.

But the patina daggers are just as awesome, if not more so, than they look on the web site.  I'm still very excited for my piece.

Instead I've been working on my new neutral skinny fringed cuff.  I love this neutral partially metallic palette.  It's coming together even better than I'd hoped.  And I've picked out a metal button for the clasp.

Finally, I joined HubPages this weekend.  I'm planning to do a lot more with this once we've moved to Milwaukee and I'm not working full time.  But while we have a little uneventful time here before the graduation and moving craziness, I'm getting it started.  I'll mostly be writing about education/special education stuff as well as some DIY craft projects (most of which I've posted here before), recipes, travel, music, books, and anything else that inspires me.  I took new pictures of my process for making spinach calzones this weekend (Jake and I did photograph this a few years ago).

The calzone hub is up here.  Also, check out my first two hubs that I wrote yesterday: 10 Beadweaving Books to Check Out and Beaded Peyote Triangle Step by Step Instructions.

Art Beads sneak peak

The Art Beads blog design team got details this week about our newest challenge: "What's Old is New Again!"  Of course my mind immediately went to work because I can never resist placing my blog order with them as soon as possible.  I have a lot of the cube and seed beads that I need for my idea.

As you can see, I'm using an orange, lime green, turquoise, and purple color palette.  I'm actually going to substitute the purple cubes for some darker matte finish ones from Art Beads.  And yes, this is going to be another dagger piece.  I'm going to use the wasabi and orange daggers on the right as well as some transparent green and patina daggers that I'm ordering.

Some of you may remember that I made a dagger piece for the last Art Bead challenge.  The color palette and theme will be totally different for this.  I'm also going to add some side embellishment and substitute a metal clasp for my typical button clasp.  Yep, I have about a couple hundred vintage buttons in my own collection and could easily pick out something awesome, but we need 2 main product categories for our piece so the metal clasp is a perfect way to make that happen.  I found a neat retro one.  I love how it has the circles in it, which will coordinate perfectly with the patina daggers.  I won't have any true vintage components, but I will have vintage inspired components, which is okay for this challenge, and the piece will have a definite retro feel.

I should have my order within the next week and will have more news about this piece soon.

organization and a sneak peak

As part of our effort to clean and organize our condo before we will most likely move in June, I have been organizing my beads.  We have a lot of random things stored in shoe boxes.  I'm trying to get rid of those.  I used several large craft organizers in my classroom the first couple years I had my current position.  I don't anymore so I took them home.  My goal is to get all of my beads, buttons, and findings into proper craft organizers and throw my remaining current craft supplies (E-6000, extra pliers, etc.) into a couple small storage bins.

Needless to say, this is easier said than done, especially because I would rather be crafting than organizing.  I'm planning to organize most beads as I go, filing them into their new homes after I finish projects instead of throwing them back into shoe boxes.  I organized my findings first because they were honestly the easiest part of the task to accomplish.

The Czech glass and more specialized components (handmade ceramic buttons, etc.) will be pretty easy to organize, too.  I'm going to keep working at it slowly.  The buttons won't be too bad either once I get a color system going.  I'm not positive how I'm going to sort my seed beads.  I figure I'll save that for last and see how my storage space looks when I get there.

I organized my living room work space last weekend before my in-laws came for a last minute visit.  This way some people can believe that this is how I normally have my current/next in line projects organized on that table.  (Anyone who does any sort of crafting knows what a funny idea that is.)

You'll notice that we still have the castle walls on that same table.  When we gave our second TV to my little sister-in-law this winter, I was able to relocate most of our smaller plaster pieces to the mantle, but I don't know where we're going to put the walls when it's time to sell our place.

Finally, here's a sneak peak of one of my current projects.  I have so much finished, not yet listed inventory right now that I haven't taken too many "in progress" pictures lately, but the process pictures can be just as fascinating as the finished pictures.  This is an idea that I've had for literally almost a year (although the metal shank button clasp was a more recent addition to the overall idea) and I'm finally using some of the beads that I bought almost that long ago to make it happen.

I'm also planning to remake this bangle design when I've finished, which has an almost identical color palette.

free shipping, sneak peak

I'm offering free shipping in my Etsy shop through Sunday October 31 11:59PM EST.  All refunds will be issued through PayPal.  It does include custom orders.  You have one more day to enter my blog giveaway, too.

I finished my newest Natural Sparkle piece today (as well as a pair of earrings) so I cleared out my box and started laying out on my newest winter leafy pieces.

I know that some of those leaves look green or purple, but they're really blue or clear in better lighting.  I'm excited about all of the gray and silver leaves that I'll have in the mix this time.  It should add a really nice dimension to the final look.

work in progress, treasury feature

Here's a sneak peak at the set up for my Art Beads blogging piece.  It's going to be my newest Natural Sparkle piece.  I'm going to make an additional Natural Sparkle piece, too, while I have the seed bead mix together, which is why there are so many large beads there.

I am definitely not going to have it finished and photographed before my show on Saturday, but I should have it done sometime next week.

Chris (beadn4fun) included my Beadwoven Bracelet - The Leafy Series - Fall Autumn II challenge piece in her The Autumn Beads...drift by my window... treasury.  Thanks Chris!

 

And finally, I'll end with a new picture of Angel.  Sharla posted one very similar to this one of her Angel a few days ago. :) I couldn't resist sharing mine, too.

sneak peak, treasury feature

I'm almost finished with my most recent custom order.  The buyer requested one more little detail tonight so I'm going to add that later.  I'll have the final pictures tomorrow.  Here's a sneak peak from earlier today.

One of the newest EtsyBlogger members HoneyFromTheBee included my Beadwoven Bangle Bracelet - Dreaming of Hawaii in her Chasing Rainbows treasury.  Thank you!

I think that I'm finally finished with my fall leafy bracelet designs (for now).  I'm still going to make more fall leafy earrings.  I'll have some new pictures of the final bracelets up soon.

Birthday Cake, free samples, sneak peak

I finally listed my Birthday Cake cuff tonight.  Some of you may remember that at some point this summer, I posted a sneak peak of the Birthday Cake bead mix.  I shot the original pictures before I made my light box so I decided to retake them over the weekend.

I generally have a difficult time naming my pieces.  If I do name them, I almost always do it partway through the creation process or afterward.  This name just came to me, though, as soon as I started putting the bead mix together.  I still think that it's very fitting.  And I really love this button.  It ties everything together nicely.  I made another bracelet with this same seed bead mix but no other embellishment that I'm going to list at some point, too.

Shannon (beadsandbabble) was so pleased with my inclusion of her chocolate dagger beads in my random feature earlier this month that she offered to send me some free sample beads!  Of course I wasn't going to say no to that!  They arrived in the mail today, and I certainly wasn't disappointed.

Some of these beads fit into my Art Beads fall blogging piece perfectly.  I've been planning some simple jade pieces for a while as while.  The neutral/metallic seed beads on the right will coordinate well with that green.  Thanks again Shannon!

Some accepted another Alchemy request today so I'll be working on that custom request this week.  I picked out the beads tonight.

I'll leave your imaginations open on that for now.  And no, it's not anything Christmas related even though it is that color scheme. :)

Finally, I got confirmation today that I will have a piece published in Bead Trends February 2011!

EtsyBloggers treasury, my favorite lake, sneak peak

I've been so caught up with everything lately that I didn't think to post my newest EtsyBloggers treasury until now.  I signed up to curate our weekly treasury this week.  I got on such a lime kick with my feature earlier this week that I decided to stick with it for my treasury.

EtsyBloggers: Lime/Peridot

The second sign that I've been so caught up with everything is that I didn't upload my pictures from Labor Day weekend until tonight.  As I'm sure some of you know by now, one of the things that I miss when I'm in Iowa is Lake Michigan.  I always like to visit it when I can when I'm in Chicago or Kenosha.  I had a couple opportunities to visit it when we were in Kenosha for Labor Day.

Anyone who doesn't think that the midwest is beautiful is crazy.

These last two pictures were later in the day, around 7PM.

Finally, I got the final supplies for my pearl bracelet yesterday so I've been hard at work the last couple nights.  I'm still waiting for the proper wire for the coordinating earrings, but I'm hoping to finish the bracelet by the end of the weekend.  Here's a sneak peak.  I took this tonight, and the light box just doesn't work as well when there's no natural light.  I'll get some lighter pictures of the final product.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Busy Friday!

Lots going on!  The biggest thing this weekend is that the EtsyBloggers are having a team wide sale for our 3rd anniversary as a team.  You can view all of the sales here.  Approximately 50 shops are participating.  I'm offering FREE SHIPPING in my entire Etsy shop, include sale and custom items, today through Sunday.  I will do a few single day free shipping offers before the holidays, but this will be the longest free shipping sale for randomcreative for 2010.  So take advantage of it while you can!

I published my second beading PDF pattern yesterday.  This one is for my Button Embellished Beadwoven Bracelet design.  Check it out here.

You can view all of the button embellished beadwoven bracelets that are currently available for sale here.

As promised, I have a couple new leafy developments.  I reworked my Indian Summer design and updated the listing yesterday.

I want to mention that I normally use Aleene's Jewelry and Metal Glue for the knots on my leafy designs.  I don't normally glue my knots, but because this design is fairly weighty, I like to give it a little extra security.  The glue itself works pretty well, but the bottle is a bad design.  I always end up getting glue everywhere, and it's about as strong as super glue so it doesn't create a good situation.  Jake always keeps super glue around for his models so I tried Loctite super glue for this bracelet instead, which was much better.  Their bottle designs are amazing.  If any of you who bead weave need a glue for your weightier designers, I highly recommend it.

I'm working on a couple purple/pink leafy designs next.  Here's a sneak peak at the first one.

I haven't mentioned any non fiction books that I've been reading in quite a while.  I recently checked out Camera Creative: Professional Photography Techniques for Innovative Images by Chris Gatcum from the library.  For those of you who use a light box and/or enjoy experimenting with photo editing/lens/etc., this is a great resource.  I have gotten some excellent advice from it about my light box, as well as confirmation that some of the things that I'm already doing are good.

Finally, I found out that my pieces are featured in two new treasuries yesterday.  jessypatterson included my new Tortoiseshell Cat Button Charm Bracelet in her Steeped Tea treasury.

Fellow EtsyBlogger DevineDesignsJewelry included my Beaded Bracelet - Double Linked - Chocolate and Cream in her Etsy Bloggers 3rd Anniversary treasury.

Have a great weekend everyone!

new listings, sneak peak, other random happenings

I listed two new items in my Etsy shop tonight.  The first one is Tortoiseshell Cat Button Charm Bracelet.  I think that the name is fitting for these neutral shades.  Some of you may remember that I created a custom bracelet like this for someone I met at the Arts Festival earlier this summer.  I liked the result so much that I decided to create another version to sell.

Also, continuing with my red theme for this week, I finished and listed my newest red earrings: Red Striped Beadwoven Peyote Triangle Earrings.  If anyone missed the red items earlier, these earrings coordinate with this peyote cuff and this peyote triangle pendant.

I finally set up the beads for my next Turquoise and Red Fringed Peyote Cuff Bracelet.  I sold the original last summer!  How has it taken me this long to make my next version of this awesome design?

This version will have more variety in the shades/colors for the cube beads and a little different fringe combination.

Finally, here are a couple other random pictures from this week.

My latest baking project: oatmeal chocolate/peanut butter chip cookies.  It's the Quaker Oats recipe (which I can't find online, believe it or not) with chocolate chips and peanut butter chips instead of raisins.  I also used half whole wheat flour/half white flour.  They're pretty awesome.

I know that this picture is dark, but Jake thought it would be cute to take a picture of Angel in her towel for medicine time.  She was diagnosed with a hypothyroid back in February and has to take a liquid dose of medicine twice a day.  Living up to her name, she's about the most well behaved cat ever when she has to take them.  It's taken some training, but she'll sit like that in the towel with me for a minute after the medicine (before she jumps down to get a treat).