The Bead Spot

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.

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? 

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....

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...

Last week, I was taking apart one of my daisy-chain bracelets . This week, I'm reworking it into a three-row daisy-chain. That's how I've been spending the last 20 minutes each night before I go to bed, working on this bracelet. After I had already deconstructed its predecessor, I remembered that I had it for sale at my Etsy shop , so I deactivated the listing. My sister noticed and sent me a text: "Did you sell your bracelet?" "No, I just deactivated it because I took the bracelet apart." "Oh, well," she answered. "It was in someone's cart for about three days. I was hoping you'd sold it." I about fell over. I had no idea it was in someone's cart. Odds art, the person who had it in his/her cart wasn't going to buy it anyway, not after it had been sitting in the cart for three days, but I'm still a little bummed I didn't notice it was in someone's cart before I took it apart. ...

In the interest of saving beads, I go through phases in which I deconstruct some of my beadwork.  That's what I’m in the middle of right now. I'd like to turn a few of these bracelets: into three-row (or more) daisy-chain bracelets I've seen in one of my bead books but have never tried. I like the way they look in the book, but I don't have enough of the beads I want to use without taking apart the single daisy chains. So I deconstruct, starting with the blue and white one. I still have a few "daisies" to demolish before I can start putting it back together again, but I'm eager to get going. Do you ever deconstruct your beadwork? Tell me about it in the comments section.

Daisy chain bracelets in fall oranges and browns. (And a blue bracelet I made in 2015) Ah, fall. I love the colors, especially when you can look across several mountains and see varying shades of reds and oranges. That's the view I get when I drive to my parents' home or when my husband, daughter, and I go visit his family. In my own backyard, fall colors never last long. One day the leaves are gorgeous, the next they're the same color as the inside of cereal box. Looking for a simple project to do last week, I had my mind on this season and pumpkins. (Yes, I am a pumpkin spice fan.) I chose Czech seed beads in two shades of orange, chocolate brown, and off-white pearl, and then I cranked out a few daisy chain bracelets while I listened to the "Undisclosed " podcast. I might not get much fall color in my backyard, but at least I'll have it in my craft box. What seasons do you most like to create crafts for? Let me know in the comments section bel...

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.

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...

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 .

With the rose-colored bracelet out of the way, I'm now ready to move on to the green bracelet I had in mind. My initial plan was to make the green as a right-angle weave, too, but I think I'll go in another direction with it. Over the past couple of nights, I've fallen asleep thinking about ways to vary the right-angle stitch, and eventually started thinking about using the herringbone stitch instead.

I finally got the right-angle weave bracelet I've been working on as wide as I'd like for it to be, and I've started on the clasp. Here's the work in progress. I'm a little nervous about clipping the strings from the places where I've had to add thread. Once before, when I was working on this bracelet: I wound up clipping an edge thread, too, causing the bracelet to pull apart in the middle. I was able to stitch it back together, of course, but it didn't seem as smooth. I guess if I were smart, I wouldn't wait until the whole thing is complete to clip my spare strings. That way, it would be easier to fix as I go if I do accidentally get too much or clip a string that's holding the piece together. However, I always feel like the transition is stronger if I get a row or so away from the work.