The Bead Spot

Over the last few weeks, my toddler has had a tummy bug -- twice -- and I've had pneumonia. My husband has had to work extra to make up for sick co-workers, my sister had a baby, and wasn't there a holiday in there somewhere? In short, I've worked on no crafts at all in that time. But there is one thing I did do: I downloaded and installed Inkscape , software recommended by a reader a few months ago that can be used for charting bead patterns. I'm very eager to view the tutorial on 3Dbeading.com that she also mentioned. (Thank you, Merris Hawk!) I can't wait to do some patterns, and I love that the free software is available. Once I get the hang of it, it will come in handy for more than just beadwork. (Also, thanks to Debra Wilson for her tip on Gimp . I downloaded that one, too, and it helped me to work from home when a snowstorm blew through where I live this past week.)

Sometime around when my daughter started walking , she pulled one of my bead boxes off of the kitchen table, and this was the result. At first, I figured it was too much sorting work, so I decided to dig out the colors I wanted as needed. But this has been bugging the part of me that craves organization. Every time I've needed beads out of this box for a project, I've had stifle the urge to sort them before I begin working. With no project deadlines for a couple of months, though, I decided that before I do anything else, I'm going to get these sorted. So, I put all the beads into a bowl, and whenever I'm watching TV, I'll start picking them back up with a beaders needle then slide them back into their respective sections. So far, I'm about half-way through. Maybe by this time next week, I'll have this mess all cleaned up.

Before my daughter was born, I used to set up a tray table in front in front of the couch and work on my beads. For nearly a year after she came along, I was able to continue to bead this way. But when she became mobile, that became harder and harder to do. She would walk up, shake the table and scatter beads everywhere.  So I put the tray table away. Finding time to work on projects has been quite a challenge over the past year or so. But now I think she's old enough -- at age 2 -- to learn to occupy herself within my eyesight while I get some work done. The take tray table is coming back out, and hopefully she'll let me work. Here's hoping.

This past week, I tried my hand at a different type of craft -- cake decorating -- for my younger sister's baby shower. I have decorated cakes only once before, just this past August for my daughter's birthday. Then, I decorated cupcakes to look like Elmo. For the baby shower, I chose something a little more complicated. I bought a Wilton cake pan in the shape of baby carriage, and chose pink and green colors. To make sure there was enough for all shower guests, I made three cakes. (I told my sis it looks like she's having triplets.) When the cakes were finished, I wasn't all that happy with the way they turned out. There were gaps in the icing in places, and the end result, I thought, looked sloppy. If I could do it all over again, I'd give myself more time. However, my sister was happy with them, which is what matters most.  In the end, I learned to allow myself more time next time. And now, back to the beads.

I have an idea for a Halloween-themed bead project, but in order to get it to look right, I'll have to map it out on paper and create a pattern. That means a lot of time with colored pencils and graph paper, coloring, erasing and redrawing until I get it just right. It occurred to me, though, that perhaps there is software that could automate part of the process. So I did a Google search, and it turns out, there is. I have no idea why I never thought to look for this sort of software before. I like to hear from other beaders who use software to create patterns. What do you think of Easy Bead Patterns ,  Bead Tool , Bead Creator , Bead Canvas or Bead Wizard ? I'm mostly interested in Easy Bead Pattern, Bead Tool, Bead Canvas and Bead Wizard because of cost (Easy Bead Patterns is free; Bead Tool costs $45; Bead Wizard is $50; Bead Canvas costs $40; and Bead Creator ranges from $150-$250), but I'd like to hear opinions on any program. Is it useful? Is it worth the cost? ...

Fire Mountain Gems Giveaway Because of a tweet, I found out Fire Mountain Gems is having a giveaway. You enter through the shop's  Facebook page for free supplies. The first giveaway is today. I've got my fingers crossed that I'll be among the winners, but I still wish good luck to everyone else who enters, too. Stretchy String Not Good I made some children's necklaces out of wooden beads and stretchy string one day last week and gave one to my toddler. Within minutes, she had the stretchy string stretched out so that there are now some huge gaps between the beads. I think next time, I'm going to use monofilament. Deer Skin Project On Hold A few months ago, I mentioned  that I was stitching beads onto deer skin for the first time. I got into a rhythm with attaching the beads, but it was slow going and the further along I got in the project, the more I wished that I had used a different color. The brown of the skin and of the beads is just too close. I th...

I made this bracelet on a loom a little over a year ago. Overall, I like the way it looks, but I think it needs something on the edges. I'm thinking a black fringe might be just the thing. Putting it on, though, is easier said than done. When I worked the warp threads back through it, I wound up passing through the edge beads several times on both ends. As a result, I cannot fit one more thread through the beads at the far ends. I've tried several times. This was my first loom project of this type in several years, so I had forgotten just how crowded the edges can become. Lesson learned. Next time, I'll try to better plan where I weave the warp threads to prevent this problem. The only questions I have are: Is this bracelet hopeless? Should I just break it down so I can save the beads? Or do I see if anyone one Etsy might be interested in buying it without the fringe? Any thoughts?

As I am with most social media, I am a late comer to Pinterest . I set up an account a few years ago, surfed the site a little, pinned a few things, but ultimately decided I just didn't get it. So I stopped visiting the site. Over the past month, I've been spending time on Google+ and through a few connections there, I've found my way back to Pinterest. This time around, though, I have a much better understanding of how the site works, and I've learned that it has a wealth of information and inspiration, and not just for beaders. I found projects that incorporate resin and needled felt and even a few my toddler and I could do together. On the home decorating front, I've also found a clever and stylish tips such as using a wine rack to hold towels, tea cups as shades and turning a dresser into a bench. Readers on Pinterest who would like to connect with me there can find me at  http://pinterest.com/catie70 . I'd love to see what inspires you, too.

Magnifying Glass and Twin Two-Hole Beads I've been away from blogging for a few weeks while I work on a freelance project, but now, finally, I have the bulk of the work behind me. On Monday, feeling ready to shift my focus back to crafts, my mom and I stopped in at a bead shop we had never visited before. It's  Whimsy House of Beads  in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, and we just happened to see the sign for it as we were driving past. To add to our happy coincidence, the shop is normally closed Mondays, but the owner decided to open her doors as she waited for UPS to make a delivery. The store isn't huge, but it's full of beads and beading supplies without being cluttered. The photo above shows a couple of my purchases -- a magnifier-chain holder and twin two-hole beads -- that have long been on my wish list. I also found a lot more products I didn't even know existed, such as boards for creating beaded macrame bracelets. I just bought beads, the magnifier and some spac...

When I don't shop in stores for beads, I order online, which might make looking forward to getting catalogs seem a little pointless. But I look forward to each and every one. There is something to be said about the print format. One of my favorite catalogs is the  Fire Mountain Gems  big book. Like other catalogs, it has page after page of beads, string, wire, tools and other materials, but also, sprinkled all throughout are photos of completed jewelry. Instructions might not be available for all projects shown, but even without the step-by-step, beaders can draw inspiration from what they see. The big book also often contains the color forecast guide shown here, which has a perforated edge so that crafters can tear it out and take it with them wherever they bead. The chart shows predicted fall/winter and spring/summer color trends through summer 2014. I have yet to put much effort in selling my work, but when I'm ready to give it a shot, having a guide for color trends will...

This project is easy for young children to make. My nephews made these when they were as young as 4 years old. Any younger than that, then they have needed a lot of assistance. This tutorial is specifically for rings with a repeating pattern. Variations will be added later. Supplies: 11/0 seed beads Thin- gauge wire (I use 34-gauge, but wire as thick as 28-gauge will work) Scissors Prep Work: String about 40 beads onto a wire, then wrap it around the child's ring finger (or whichever finger she wishes to wear the ring on) to see roughly how many rows of beads will be needed to complete a circle around the child's finger. Each bead equals one row. Map out the pattern. I usually make kids rings with five beads in each row, but any number will work. However, for most patterns, I've found an odd number works best. As you figure out your pattern, you may need to tweak it some so that it will work with the number of rows you need. For instance, the firs...

Because this is my first time working with deer skin , I wind up redoing a stitch about 50 percent of the time, but I'm making some progress when I can catch a few minutes to work on it. I even transported it to work, worrying the whole time that I get the threads tangled, but luckily, I got it there and back without a major mishap. I've been doing a lot Internet searches looking for a good tutorial on how to stitch the deer skin pieces together, but I have yet to find one that makes sense to me. I think part of the problem is that what I've found so far assumes I have more knowledge of hand sewing than I do. Hopefully, I can find something that works for me soon. I welcome any recommendations from readers, even if they're in book form. Freebie! On Saturday, I got an email from ArtBeads  giving me a $5 gift certificate for my birthday. I love that! If you haven't already signed up to get sales promos from ArtBeads, I recommend you do so that you can get some...

I have an idea for a wallet using deerskin I bought several years ago off of eBay . So far, I've done little except for research the best ways to work with deerskin and practice stitching the beads. What I've learned: I need sharper scissors. My regular pair is fine for cutting Nymo thread , monofilament , beading wire  and other stringing material, but making a straight line on deerskin with them is tough. A needle tough enough to go through deerskin yet still thin enough to fit through 11/0 seed beads is hard to find -- in my supply stash anyway. Searching the Internet for "how to sew deerskin" brings up a lot of finished deerskin products for sale but very little info on how to do the sewing; therefore, this project is going to be more "figure it out as I go" than anything I've done to date. I hope to have my first wallet by the end of this next week. I hope once it's finished, it looks as good as it does right now in my mind. A Litt...

My daughter and I went to my parents' house Saturday to take my dad a belated Father's Day gift, but once we got there, I found out my dad had to work. So we hung around until he got off work. In total, we were there for seven hours, a rather lengthy visit for me these days. When my daughter's nap time rolled around, I rocked her to sleep. Then wished I had brought my beads with me so I could work on a project during her nap while I visited with my mom and other family members. Therefore, I've decided to keep a mini craft case in my car, just in case I find myself in a place where I unexpectedly have time to bead again. I doubt the opportunity to bead on the go arises very often, probably not even once a month. But those moments when I can are so few and far between right now, I'd like to take them when I can get them.

I've been thinking a lot lately about trying to make enough doing beadwork and other crafts to actually earn a living. I know it won't be easy, and it will probably take far more determination and patience than I currently possess. However, I've toyed with the idea for several years now. I think it's time to either put the energy needed into it to see if I can do it. Building a stock of completed items won't be easy with a toddler , especially if I want to have enough money in savings to tide us over through tough times. My best efforts will have to be made while my little girl is napping and on my lunch hours at work.

On Friday, as I was getting out of my car when I got home, I spied a string of herringbone beading on the ground in the driveway. I have a vague memory of losing it months ago as I was getting my daughter out of the car one night when I got home from work. Her car seat or her shoe or something had snagged on it, and it pulled completely out of my craft bag. It was dark, so I left it. By now, I figured some gust of wind must've carried it away, but nope. A good chunk of the string had been mashed down into the mud between the seams in the concrete. I've just tossed the whole thing into the trash. At the very least, it's been rained and snowed on while it languished in the drive way, so I figure it's probably not wise to wear it. However, finding it did give me a rather big boost back into beading mode. I have some ideas for making beaded figures , but that's something I've never attempted before. I am in the mood to try something new.

I'm kind of a late bloomer when it comes to Twitter , although I've had an account for a few years now. I've mostly used it to interact with businesses that post discounts and other promotions, but I'd go months without checking my account and at one point was debating just closing it down. However, my interest in Twitter has grown quite a bit recently as I have done more exploring on the site. One thing I learned recently is that people have bead giveaways via Twitter. I entered one myself, the rules of which required only that I retweet the post. I'm sure that there is a whole beading community on Twitter isn't news to most readers of this blog, and I know that my chances of winning the contest are pretty slim, but I'm very excited to see what else -- bead related and not bead related -- there is out there. The contest I entered will be closed by the time this posts, but I found another via Twitter. To enter the contest, though, you must connect to F...

I still haven't had a chance to work on any crafts lately (hence the lack of posts) but I'm hopeful that will change soon. My work schedule has changed so that my daughter won't need to go to daycare at all most weeks. However, my husband and I are planning to take her for a few hours a week anyway so that she stays familiar with the other kids and staff there. On the occasions when she does need to go, we don't want her totally freaked out because enough time had passed since the last time she was there that she doesn't remember the place at all. On those days when she's at daycare and I'm home alone, I plan to get some work done. It won't be tons of time, and truth be told, I feel a little guilty about sending her to daycare while I'm sitting at home, but I look forward to being able to get a few projects done.

Because my schedule has been hectic, I haven't had a chance to work on any crafts lately (or to even blog about them), but I have a sneaking suspicion that completing projects may gradually get a little easier. Right now, working on anything when my toddler's around is tough because she gets curious about what I'm doing. She's been known to shake the tray table that holds my beads, sending those teeny tiny things all over my living room. I also have to spend the whole time guarding my tools so that she doesn't pick up my flush cutters or some other device that she could seriously injure herself with. Today, I put her in her high chair and gave her a piece of paper and some crayons, and for the first time, she created her own craft, even if it was just a white sheet of paper with a bunch of scribbles on it. I know she won't be beading, knitting or doing anything else that complicated anytime soon, but I think we're getting closer to the day wh...

My house is small but my ambitions can be big. My mom has three sewing machines and offered to give me one. It comes in a table, so it's not very portable, but I decided to get it. I don't know where I'll put it once we get it here, but I'm looking forward to getting it. I've sewn before, back in high school home ec (eons ago when it was called home ec) but I don't remember anything, not even how to thread the machine. I'll need some good books to refresh my memory.

My break took longer than I anticipated, but I finally have some time for blogging. Since my last post, I have gotten a new book, "Your Seed Bead Style: Accents, Embellishments and Adornments,"  and, like the other books I have by Bead & Button magazine, it is chockfull of idea-inspiring projects. It's not all new, though. A few use techniques I've seen other places, but overall, I think it's a pretty good addition to my bead references. My favorite uses jump rings as an edging. It's got me thinking about what other nonbead objects I could incorporate into my work.

These are the wooden beads I bought a few weeks ago at Dollar Tree.  When I got them, I had planned to make some more stretchy kids bracelets, but I've been having second thoughts lately. Because they're made of wood, I think they might look more cohesive with a natural cord versus the elastic string I had planned to use. Perhaps I'll try them both ways to see which works best.

After what seems like forever, I'm finally down to just putting the clasp on the blue herringbone bracelet I've been working on. With e verything that's been going on lately in my personal life , I haven't had much beading time. On Sunday, I had the chance to bead during my lunch break at work, but I decided to get some exercise instead. I walked a mile and a half, and it felt good. I need to find a way, though, to have time for beading and exercise.

I'm very close to finishing up my latest herringbone bracelet. It just needs a few final rows, and thankfully, it turns out I will have enough beads  after all. Yay! I'm a little up in the air about what I'd like to do next. I'd like to rework some of my children's bracelets since I found that most of them would be too small for girls about age 5 to 8, which is who I envision wearing them. Getting them redone before the next arts and crafts show I decide to set up with should be a priority, but that probably won't be until this May. I've been thumbing through my new book ,  "Traditional Indian Bead & Leather Crafts"  by  Monte Smith and Michelle Von Sickle, and I'd really like to try one of them. I have some leather that I bought several years ago, but I haven't done anything with it yet. Perhaps I can give a project or two a try.

Last week, I was still battling a sinus infection, and some of the medicine the doctor gave me made me sleepy. As a result, I got very little work done on the bracelet I was working on. I even spent a couple of my lunches at work resting. This week should be better, though. The sinus infection seems to finally be gone, so I'm down to taking just the antibiotics. Revamping Etsy I also haven't had a chance to make any changes to my Etsy store yet, but I hope to add more photos of the items I have for sale -- a black seed bead bracelet , a green seed bead bracelet and a kids bracelet -- within the next few weeks. I think all three items would benefit from me spending some time trying to get better photos, especially the kids bracelet. That photo makes the white beads look as if they have a reddish tint to them.

For years, I've wanted to bead on leather, so I bought a new book at Amazon with a gift card I had. The book is called "Traditional Indian Bead & Leather Crafts" by  Monte Smith and Michelle Von Sickle. I haven't had much time to go through it yet, but after just flipping through it, I think it will be a little heavier on the beading than I had hoped. I was mostly looking for info on the leather side of the crafts. Hopefully, it will have enough to get me going regardless.

Last week, I was feeling under the weather. I completed a little bit more on the blue bracelet I was working on, but not as much as I had hoped. I'm a little nervous on whether I'll have enough beads to finish it. If I can't, I'll just set it aside and move on to something else until I sell something, because I've decided I have enough beads for now. I don't want to shell out any more money for my hobby until I get something else sold.

This year, I'm going to do this blog a little differently. I'm only going to post on Mondays. I love writing as much as I love beading, but between the two hobbies and having a toddler at home, I'm having trouble getting done some key chores around the house, like, the dishes. Therefore, I'm cutting back on my blogging here. I still welcome comments at any time, and some weeks, I might have an extra post or two. I also plan to do a little "remodeling" on this blog, as well as on my Etsy shop, which I might close in favor of selling on StorEnvy instead. I haven't quite decided yet.