For the first time in more than I year, I bought a few supplies from Fire Mountain Gems today. I bought a few big-eye needles so that I'll have backup and some size 6 beads for the kids bracelets I've been planning to make.
My mother-in-law gave my husband and me a gift certificate to Barnes and Noble a while back, and we just got around to spending it last week. With my share, I purchased a beading book that had been on my Amazon wish list for quite a while, " Contemporary Loom Beading: A New Look at a Traditional Stitch ," by Sharon Bateman. Because I've been in the middle of a freelance project I work on twice a year, I haven't been able to do much more than thumb through the book, but I have to say, the projects within have really piqued my interest. All of the loom work I have done has been basic, flat pieces that I learned to make years ago from my great-aunt . This book, however, features projects that have a little more dimension. For the most part, the loom work is done the same, but the book puts a new spin on what to do with what you create. It also features types of looms I didn't know existed, including one the author created herself . I look forward to putting so...
I've assigned myself beading days, three days a week in which I focus my at-home time creating beaded pieces and striving to develop my creativity. For three other days each week, I plan to work on DIY home projects such as decluttering, painting and redoing my kitchen cabinets. I'm tired of my house being incomplete, but at the same time, I want to stay on track with my beading goals. For at least the first year or so after my husband and I bought our house, I worked on my home at least once a week. After a schedule change at work, though, that changed. It's not unusual for months to pass between DIY days. And it's even harder to find the time now that we have a 3-year-old. So I've decided the only way it's going to get done is if I do it. But I don't want to lose sight of my beading goals in the process. I know myself well enough to know that I'll have a tough time sticking with my 3-days-of-beading, 3-days-of-DIY-plan, though. It will take more disc...
Seed bead bracelet in progress Lately, I've had a lot of job stress that's made me wish more and more that I had the courage to throw caution to the wind, turn in my notice, and turn my crafts into a business. Here are the biggest reasons why I love making crafts: Reason 1: It's calming ... Eventually When I am in the "what am I going to make phase?" my stress level goes up as I struggle to think of something new to try or to create a new pattern for an old project. But once I know what I'm making and can settle in and work on it, I feel a calmness I don't normally feel during waking hours. It's a peaceful, relaxing way to spend an hour or two ... Eventually. Reason 2: Completing a project feels good Recently, my grandma asked me to make earrings for a woman at her doctor's office. The woman had requested some, knowing that my grandma knows a few people who make authentic Native American jewelry, but she wasn't specific beyo...
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