The Bead Spot

I think that before I move on to anything else, after I finish the bracelet I'm currently working on, I'm going take apart the children's bracelets I made that are too small for 5 year olds. I like the colors of them, so I plan to just remake them in the same colors. I wish I could just add beads to them, but there's no way to do that without throwing off the spacing, unless I break the strings between each "flower," but that would weaken them too much.

I could've been working on my bracelet over the past couple of nights as I wind down at the end of what's been some very hectic days, but I chose not to. Instead, I played on the computer and vegged in front of the TV. Now, I'm ready to finish, but I'm getting nervous about whether I'll have enough beads to complete it. The store at which I bought the beads has since gone out of business, so I don't know how easy finding more would be. My Beadwork on Etsy My husband says this bracelet is his favorite out of what I've made so far. I like it, too, but I've wondered about making another that has charms on it. I don't know what kind yet. I'll work that out as I go.  (To see my completed projects at my Etsy store, click here .)

Several weeks ago, I tried to photograph the black bracelet I made. I put my camera on its macro setting and used natural light just as recommended on Fire Mountain Gems. For some reason, my camera kept saying I was too close to focus. So I backed up and tried again; again, my camera wasn't happy. After repositioning several times, I was finally far back enough that the camera didn't give me the "whoa, I can't focus warning," so I snapped a photo. This was the result: No amount of zooming in or cropping made the detail on this any better. I figured at the time that the biggest problem with how it turned out was that I have no idea how to shoot beads. I've had some success with a few other things I've made, including this bracelet in progress: There is a difference between the two bead styles. In the first photo, the beads have a shiny coat. In the second, the beads have a matte finish. At the time, I wondered if the shine had something to do with...

Store Decor Earlier today, I was browsing my Etsy shop and comparing it with those of some other sellers. I noticed that mine looks far more sparse than I had realized. It needs some dressing up, though I'm not sure what all to include. I had started a banner for it a few days ago, but I made it the wrong size initially, and when I went back to resize it, I couldn't get the software to do what I wanted it to do. Another Site for Sellers I recently stumbled across another site through which I could sell my beadwork, too, but unlike Etsy, it doesn't have any listing fees and it doesn't take a percentage of what sells. That means less overhead and the ability to lower my prices some I've signed up to be a seller, and I'm now working on building my shop. I don't want to just abandon Etsy. It gets a lot of traffic, and until recently, I had never heard of the other site -- StorEnvy . But I have decided to try a little experiment. Right now, I have thre...

Blue Herringbone Bracelet Here's the bracelet I'm working on now. It's going a lot faster than the green one did, thankfully. Hopefully, I don't get the arms of this one tangled, too. I have an idea for a variation on the braiding, which I plan to try next. I'm not sure what colors to use though. People interested in seeing my other work on Etsy can find it here . Thanks for your interest!

These photos show the bracelets I've been working on. I've also started a blue one that has the thicker braiding shown in the green bracelet, but I'm only about a third of the way done with it. I think both of these look good, but I've also learned a few things, too, that hopefully will make the blue bracelet better on the first try. I've had to do a lot of reworking on these two, especially with the green one. Black Braided Herringbone Bracelet Green Braided Herringbone Bracelet Also, while I was at the festival , I had an idea for new colors to try in this same style. I'm not sure how well it will turn out, but hopefully, it will look good. Both bracelets are available at my Etsy shop, located here .

I spent what spare time I could last week trying to finish up the bracelets I was working on. I didn't get finished, but as it turned out, it didn't matter. The arts and crafts festival was very poorly attended. I sold nothing, but then, that's to be expected when there are more vendors than attendees. But anyway, onward and upward. Now I know not to mess with that festival again. And the weekend wasn't a total waste. I had a nice time anyway. I just wish the festival had been better attended. (Although, if more people had come through but I had still sold nothing, I'd be rethinking this little hobby of mine.) The Upside of the Arts & Crafts Festival The good news is that by seeing the work of other people, I had a few more ideas of the kinds of things I can do with my own beadwork. One woman used little mini baskets as pendants for her necklaces. They were so cute! I'm not going to steal her idea, but perhaps I can find my own way to incorporate bask...