The Bead Spot

Scrolling back through my earlier blogposts, I see I've been working on my three-row daisy chain bracelet for almost two months, and I'm just now starting to feel like the end is in sight. I haven't had much time, but I've been beading a couple of rows every night. If only I could bead a little faster. Here's what it looks like now: Just another three or four rows, and it will finally reach 7.5 inches in length. I haven't decided yet whether I want to list it on my Etsy site . I'll need a second opinion before I make up my mind; while I like the way it looks overall, I'm not sure it would appeal to most people, and I worry that the string is a little more visible than I'd like for it to be. I don't know if I'm being too critical. Is it really all that noticeable to other people, or is it noticeable to me? I need to ask someone whom I know will give me an honest answer and not just give me the answer they think I want to hear....

A few weeks ago, I went to a Joann Fabric and Craft store for the first time in years, and I found these two items: On the left are some connectors for making eyeglass lanyards, which have recently made my to-do list. One of my aunts used to make them, and back then, I used to think, "I just don't see why anyone would want that." However, now that I need reading glasses myself and realize how often a person has to put them on and take them off, I can see just how practical eyeglass lanyards can be. On the right are some clasps I found on clearance. I'm not sure how they work, or even if they work, since I haven't opened the package yet, but hey, they were on sale. On my to-try list is this item I found while flipping through a Fire Mountain Gems catalog that came in the mail, Tuesday: I am intrigued by this. I can't wear earrings for more than a day because they always irritate my ear lobes. But if this works as promised, I could wear my own e...

(Photo by Bilal Aslam / FreeRangeStock.com ) I want detail in my beadwork photos. If I take a photo of a bracelet, I want to be able to get a very sharp image of the clasp, any designs, etc., but I just don't seem to be able to get it. Perhaps, I've thought to myself, what I need to do is get closer while using the macro setting on my camera. Here's how most of my beadwork photography sessions go. I place the beadwork under my bright light and try to find a good place to stand to get the photo. I set the camera to "macro." I move in, then focus. I'm still a little too far back. I move in some more and focus again. I'd still like to get closer to better show the detail of the seed beads. I move in some more. I'm finally happy with the distance, but now the shadow of my camera is in frame. I move the light source, but I struggle to find a place I can put it that doesn't cast a deep shadow on the side of the beadwork. I move back as...

As often happens, I've only been able to work on beadwork a little here and there over the past couple of weeks. I have completed nothing, not even the three-row daisy chain bracelet I started a few weeks ago. I've made progress, but it's still not long enough to wrap an adult-sized wrist. This is all of the progress I've made on the daisy-chain bracelet I've been working on. The left photo shows where I was on the project on March 7. The right shows where it is now. But I am hoping that I'll be able to make some major progress in the coming weeks. I spent two whole days ridding my daughter's room of unwanted toys and outgrown clothes, and now I feel a little more like I can kick back and relax. New to my Etsy Store My older sister, whom I still look up to after all these years, created these, which have been added to my Etsy shop: I think they're so adorable. It's just a shame that I cannot wear earrings without getting an infect...