The Bead Spot

Kids Facemasks Made by My Mom At the beginning of the pandemic, back when everyone was fighting over toilet paper and hand sanitizer, I found a mask pattern online and bought several fat quarters and sewing supplies. I planned to make masks and hand them out to my family. But I am no pro at sewing. I wasn't even sure I bought the right stuff. Additionally, my full-size machine isn't usable, so I dragged out a mini sewing machine I bought at Aldi to use on my first mask. Two hours in, I was so frustrated that I just left it a little less than half finished. I've been telling myself for months that I would complete at least the one mask. Maybe one day. My mom is much, much more skilled at using a sewing machine. She has easily made 50 or so masks, and kept cranking them out long after every member of our family had one and at least one backup. So, I think I might work on a few lanyards. My supervisor at work gave me a lanyard to use for putting my face mask on as needed at wo...

Last fall, my mom beaded some hair bun accessories in the netting technique. She first made these probably 20 years or so ago, but she has focused on mostly earrings, headdresses, and barrettes for several years. What a happy surprise to see them after this much time! If only I could make a decent bun show that I could show them properly. A couple of months ago, one of my co-workers wore her hair in a smooth, full, absolutely perfect bun. I told her I was envious; the buns I make, whether in my own hair on in my daughter’s, always come out sloppy and lopsided. My co-worker said she uses a sock to make hers look fuller and more uniform. That's something for me to google — how to use a sock to create a perfect hair bun — and then I can retake the photos of my mom’s hair bun covers for my Etsy store. My daughter, age 8, loves these, by the way. She insisted on wearing one to school, and I reluctantly allowed it. I envisioned her coming home with the whole thing nothing...

Pixabay.com It's too late to begin Thanksgiving projects for this year, but I've been looking around Pinterest for a few ideas for next year and making note of my favorites for inspiration. I'm thankful for each and every one, because they all give me ideas for my own projects. Here are just some of the ones I've found that made me smile: Beaded pilgrims on Pinterest.  These are some of the first ones I saw, and I just thought they were so adorable. Beaded pumpkin pie earrings , also on Pinterest. How clever! I think this is the first time I have ever seen pumpkin pie earrings. Turkey charms for a necklace and matching earrings. I haven't bought this pattern, so I don't know for certain that it uses double-hole Czech beads, but I think that's what it is. I love the colors of the turkey feathers and the layered looked. Turkey brooch pin . This might just be the cutest turkey I've seen today. I never think about making brooches. Perhaps I sho...

Feather earrings A few months ago, I had big plans for this holiday season. I wanted to spend at least thirty minutes every night from October 1 on working on holiday-themed beaded jewelry to list on my Etsy store. Funny how I keep making plans like that then don't follow through for various reasons. Rather than make excuses for the umpteenth time, though, I am just going to try to get myself on a regular schedule for everything from time posting for this and my other blogs to making some progress on my beading plans. I plan to get a few pairs of the feather style earrings up on my Etsy shop, and then I might do some other earrings and necklaces with a holiday theme, maybe Santas or Christmas trees. Time to get to work.

My husband and I have had some marathon TV sessions over the last couple of days, catching up on season 2 of Netflix's Ozark and giving Hulu's Light as a Feather a shot. We still have a couple of episodes of Light as a Feather to go, and I'm really enjoying it. It puts me in a Halloween kind of mood. While we're watching, I've been beading. So far, I've made one and a half pairs of feather earrings, and I can't be sure, but I think I might be getting a little faster at it. Or maybe it just seems that way because binge watching seems to make the time go faster. Once I get the second pair of earrings completely finished, I will list them and a couple of bracelets in my Etsy store in hopes of getting a few holiday sales. Fingers crossed. Do you binge watch while beading? What shows do you like?

Two pairs. That’s the answer to the question I asked myself last week, “How many beaded earrings can I make before Saturday?” That’s only half the pairs I’d hoped to make, but I’m not complaining. To reach my goal, I would’ve had to bead twice as quickly, and beading fast leaves me with nothing but tangled string and little patience. I made both pairs in the feather shape I’ve used several times before. I had hoped to come up with a new pattern, but, in the interest of getting earrings made in a hurry — I don’t come up with new ideas quickly at all — I stuck with what I know. I just used colors I hadn’t before. One set was pink and white, the other gold and black. But guess what? Both pairs sold at the festival last weekend! Yay! I wish I’d taken photos so I could include them here. I am encouraged by the speed at which they sold, so even though I’ve been trying to come up with a fresh idea, I think I’ll make more of the same earrings. Then I’ll list them at my Etsy stor...

Feather earrings, made by me in 2017. How many pairs of earrings can I make before Saturday? That's the question I'm going to try to answer in the next couple of days. I've been focused on bracelets for months, but I'm shifting gears. Today, I was talking with an aunt who also does beadwork, and she sells a lot of it. I asked her what sells the best; she said earrings. With that in mind and with an arts and crafts festival coming up Saturday, I'm going to see how many pairs I can churn out this week, then see if they sell. If they do, I may try to make even more for the holiday season to sell in my Etsy store, Beadwork and Woodwinds .

I don't have a whole lot to write about this week. I'm still just making some peyote stitch bracelets in a diamond-back pattern, though I realized too late that the last two I made were too big for most women's wrist. This morning while I was in the shower, I had an idea for a way I could salvage one of the bracelets by adding places for it to "clasp," which would essentially make it adjustable. I was so proud of myself ... and then I thought about how that would when it was done. The unused clasps would be smooshed underneath the band. That would look just awful. So I started making another bracelet, and this time, I'm going to stop stitching at 6.5 inches. Perhaps some large-wristed woman will take an interest in the one I completed. Or maybe a small-wristed man will take an interest in it. Or maybe I'll just take it apart and start again.

I've had a productive past couple of days. I finished a bracelet that I've had "in progress" since about May, and I created a lanyard for my reading glasses. I also started a second bracelet. The lanyard is just for me. I've been wanting one for a while now to make accessing my reading glasses easier. But the black and blue bracelet ... well, I can't decide if I want to list it at my Etsy store . See that small bend in it? That won't be noticeable to someone wearing it, but if a buyer doesn't notice it from any photos I put on Etsy and bought it, would she feel cheated when it arrives in the mail? I don't think it would bother me, but I don't know how someone else might feel. Anyone want to share their thoughts? Reworking this bead blog In the coming weeks, I plan to revamp this blog some so that it's a little more navigable. I also had some thoughts on beading videos I can do. Please feel free as I tweak the site to let me know ...

(Pumpkin earrings for sale at my Etsy shop ) What little time I’ve had for beading over the past couple of months I’ve spent doing other things, like going to the gym and reading the latest Stephen King novel, “The Outsider.” Thankfully, I now have a temporary reprieve, and I plan to spend it doing some of the beading-related tasks that I’ve had on the back burner — like making a lanyard for my reading glasses and doing a little research to see if I want to move my Etsy store to another platform after its recent fee hikes . But in the meantime, I’m sticking with Etsy. The best thing it has going for it is that it’s well established, but I’m still not happy with the decision to start taking a percentage of shipping charges. Ultimately, I may decide not to switch platforms at all, depending on what I find out there. (Pumpkin earrings for sale at my Etsy store ) For now, I'll just roll with it. I've even expanded what I have for sale there by two, because I’ve l...

( Jack Moreh / FreeRangeStock.com ) I have sold only one item on Etsy, but the upcoming fee increase still frustrates me. According to the notice Etsy sent me, as of July 16, transaction fees will jump from 1.5 percent and will be imposed on shipping costs. The shipping cost thing bothers me the mos t. I'm struggling to build up my listings, hoping what I do have listed might sell in the meantime, so I want to cut people a break on the cost of shipping. I do charge, but only the estimated postage amount. If Etsy were to take 5 percent of that, I'd be losing money on shipping. My options would be to raise my asking price or take the hit. A friend who makes and sells makeup bags told me that someone she knows had told her about another platform that charges a flat $10 a month, charges no listing fees and takes nothing from what users sell. That sounds a lot more about my speed as I'm trying to get my "craft store" up and running. I could spend $10 a mont...

© Kadrof |  Dreamstime Stock Photos  &  Stock Free Images After seeing a Facebook video last week on bar shampoo, I've been thinking about learning to make soap. The video argues that bar shampoo is better for the planet than traditional shampoo because users don't have a bottle to throw away. At first, I thought about buying bar shampoo; organic versions are easy to find on Etsy. But then I thought I could probably save money if I learn to make both bar shampoo and bar soap myself. It won't be as pretty or as creative as the Etsy offerings, but it would be cheaper and I wouldn't have to worry about paying shipping fees. So, when I have time, I've been looking at YouTube videos that show how to make and/or offer recipes for bar soap and shampoo. A few have made me a little afraid to use lye, describing it as caustic and recommending gloves and goggles, but I'm determined not to let that scare me off. Once I get the first batch made and cured, I...

For months now, I've been looking at some pretty awesome work members have been posting in a Facebook group I belong to called "I LOVE Peyote Stitch Beading." I haven't done a project in peyote stitch for a couple of years, but looking at all of that great beadwork made me want to do a project. I was in the mood for something simple, though, so I settled on a diamond-patterned bracelet. Everything went fine until my thread broke. For some reason, adding in the new string created a "bump" in the bracelet. Just look at this: See the crookedness? I've tried pulling and shifting the beads to see if I can work it out, but nothing I've tried so far works. I can't decide if I want to finish it. Part of me wants to keep going to see whether it's noticeable when I wear it. The type-A person who occasionally pops up into my psyche, though, wants to rip it apart and start over. What do you think? 

I love my mom’s beadwork. She has never said whether she ever beaded when she was a child, and oddly enough, it never occurred to me to ask until right now as I’m writing this. All I know for certain is that she began beading in earnest about 20 years ago. Back then, three of my four siblings and I had left home, and the youngest, my baby sister, was in high school. Suddenly, Mom had time for pursuing crafty hobbies. She began the way many people do, working from patterns in books she bought at Hobby Lobby and other craft shops. She started with earrings, the dangling kind that you often see in Native American patterns, and gradually branched out into making barrettes, dream catchers and headdresses. And at some point, she began creating her own patterns, and that’s when she really began to wow me. Everything she makes is in the Native American style (we’re Cherokee, my mom is full and I am half) even if she doesn’t use the traditional colors. Recently as I was looking at som...

Deep down, I knew my plan for the silver tube beads was iffy. Once I got all of the pieces for the bracelet I was planning to make — rectangles of beads linked together with the tube beads — I started putting them together, only to see the ratio of beads to tubes was way off. Smaller tubes would’ve worked much, much better. So I started going through some of my stash to see if I had anything that could work in place of the silver tubes. I found short black twisted tube beads I haven’t used in years, and they looked like my best option. Here’s what I wound up with: And that was just the beginning of the issues I had. For some reason, on two of the rectangular pieces, I skipped one silver bead in a corner, and by the time I noticed, I had already cut the thread and tied off the end. So I remade them, only to do the same thing again. I thought I could knock this thing out in about six hours, but instead it took me three days. I told my older sister about what a headache it wa...

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...

It’s been another slow beading week as I work on an unrelated freelance project, but I’ve had a few ideas hanging out in my brain. I’ve had plans to use these tubes in a bracelet that incorporates seed bead squares between the tubes: Because I haven’t had time to focus on beadwork while I’m at home, I found myself thinking of variations of the original plan as I was driving to pick up my daughter a couple of days ago, such as arrows instead of squares, or maybe even stringing the tubes onto a loom and beading around them. I'm just not sure what type of clasps to use. Hopefully it looks good when it’s complete. Just gotta finish the freelance project so that I can get back to beading.