The Bead Spot

Last weekend, my husband, daughter and I visited a fall festival we had never been to before. We went there not expecting much, but left pleasantly surprised — and $50 or so poorer since we spent money we didn't plan on spending at arts-and-crafts vendor tables. The first thing that caught my eye was a deerskin amulet bag, which I really wanted but it cost more than I could pay (It was worth its price tag, though, just out of my price range). The same vendor also had beaded barrettes, which I've never bothered to make because, in my hair and my daughter's hair at least, barrettes tend to pop out easily. My daughter spotted a pair of pink ones with a feather pattern that she really liked. She likes all things pink. Since they were only $5 for the set, I bought them for her despite my reservations about how well they'd hold. Unlike other barrettes though, these were snug and didn't pop out. They stayed in her hair for the rest of the day. I think it has to do...

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...

Last week, my husband and I took some vacation time from work to work on our house. We did the work during the day, and late at night after my daughter had gone to sleep, I worked on my beading. I managed to finally finish the herringbone bracelet I was working on and to start a loom bracelet. This week, we're back at work, and for the first time in a few weeks, I spent my lunch hour working on beadwork. I didn't want to haul my loom to work, so I started a kid's bracelet instead. I had hoped to finish it, but I didn't quite. I still have a little less than half to go. Hopefully, by the time the festival arrives, I'll have quite a few things on hand to sell.

Last night, I was able to make progress on the loom bracelet after two false starts the night before. Hopefully, I'll be able to finish it and start on something new before this weekend is up. I'm running out of time before the next festival.

Happy Labor Day, bead fans! The next festival I'd like to get a booth for is just a little more than a month away. I think I might need to scale back my wish list this time, too, but we'll see how things go after this week. Now that most of my distractions -- the consignment sale and the freelance project -- are out of the way, I'll be able to spend my at-work lunches working on my beadwork again. I hope that helps me make some major headway.

My mom makes earrings -- tons of them -- when she sits down to bead. She also makes barretts, bun holders, headdresses and more. For years, I never bothered to make earrings. I don't know why not. Perhaps it's because I don't ever wear them myself because I have yet to find a type of post that doesn't cause my ear to get infected. But about a year ago, I decided to give earrings a try. This photo show my second pair I attempted. This is how far I got before I realized something wasn't going right with it. Now, though, when I look at it, I don't know what my mistake was, but I think it's my choice in stringing material. This is Fireline, which doesn't have any give to it. I think it looks OK, so I might try to finish it anyway for the arts & crafts festival.

Because life can be hectic -- for me, lately it's been illnesses, being short staffed at work, a freelance project coming due and a consignment sale I need to prepare for -- I have had no time for beading coming up on two weeks now. As a result, the black seed bead bracelet I was working on hasn't been touched and is still unfinished. I think things will get back to normal now, or at least relatively normal, so hopefully this week I can get it done and get it listed. I'm anxious to give selling via Etsy a try. Once I get this bracelet finished, I need to get started on my wish list for the next festival. If at all possible, I'd like to have a basket ready to go, too.

With another festival I'd like to attend coming up in October and a push to get my Etsy shop up and running, I've been considering how much of a stockpile of finished beadwork I'd like to have on hand. As I finish items that I think look good enough, I'll list them on Etsy. But by the time the festival arrives, I'd like to have the following: 15 kids rings. 10 kids bracelets. 10 adult necklaces. 10 adult bracelets. 2 bookmarks. At the rate I've been finishing items, though, that's a tall order. Hopefully, I'll be able to find some extra time beyond my at-work lunches to get some beading done.

The next arts & crafts festival I plan to attend will be held in October. That gives me about three months to get a decent stack of bracelets, necklaces and earrings -- and maybe even a basket or two. The baskets, if I make them, will be small, though. I hope the next festival is a lot cooler than the last. Octobers can be kind of unpredictable where I live, but a nice cool breeze all day long would be great.

I have a lot of beads in primary and secondary colors, but very few in shades such as pink and neon green, such as these (pink) and these  (green). I think shades such as these would appeal to children more so than the primary and secondary hues I have, and I'd really like to expand my variety of kids bracelet designs. Of course, this will be AFTER I complete the right-angle weave bracelet. (Side note: I worked on it again on my lunch break yesterday. I'm really enjoying using that time to do some beading. I love my little girl more than anything, but it's nice to have that time without having to worry about her knocking beads over. I don't know why it never occurred to me to do that before. The only bad thing: My lunch break is only an hour.)

The arts & crafts festival was this past weekend. I didn't get anywhere near as much stuff made as I had hoped -- I made a whopping two kids bracelets -- and I pulled a few things I had made about five or so years ago out of a drawer. Everything I took fit in a quart-size zip-close freezer bag with room to spare, but I still managed to sell six items and make $19. That's actually better than I had expected, considering how few items I had and that the booth was free. Still, though, I wish I had taken more. Before I go to another one, I want to have quite a few items on hand. Maybe by this fall.

The arts & crafts festival I took some of my beadwork to was held this past weekend. I had hardly anything at all to sell, and as I suspected, I didn't even make back the cost of the booth, BUT, I did sell $22 worth of stuff, and the first thing to sell was one of the kid's bracelets I made. That makes me feel good about the work I put into it, but I wish I had enough time to make enough stuff to make even a small profit, even if it was just $1.

I have a long list of things I'd like to get done within the next couple of weeks, hence, my plan to have a beading marathon yesterday. I've shelled out money for an arts & crafts booth at an upcoming festival, and I'd like to feature my beadwork there. I hold no fantasies about selling even enough to get back the $75 I spent to reserve the booth, but I'd like to at least have enough in stock that it would be possible. The hope on this money-losing venture is more to build a customer base. However, seeing how I have hardly made a dent in the list of things I'd like to take, I'm cutting the list. I had planned: 25 kids rings 25 kids bracelets 10 adult bracelets 10 adult necklaces 10 adult earrings 5 wall hangings 5 small baskets I'm trimming that to: 10 kids rings 10 kids bracelets 5 adult bracelets 3 adult necklaces 3 wall hangings Hopefully, that will be enough that people won't just pass by my table because it looks l...