The Bead Spot

For the first time in years, I added a listing to my Etsy shop a couple of weeks ago. My uncle has been making flutes for several years now that he sells to gift shops and tourist sites that highlight the Native American culture (he is full-blood Cherokee). He had told me that he was interested in selling them online; and since I have an Etsy shop, I offered to list some for him to see how they did. So a couple of weeks ago, I listed one. He says he has more ready to go, but I haven't had a chance to pick them up from him yet. It won't be the last of the items I list; I want to start listing my own creations -- beadwork and a few baskets once I get better at making them -- between now and Christmastime. In the meantime, if you'd like check out my uncle's flute, you can visit my Etsy shop here .

I recently received the sewing machine my mom told me I could have. We still have to attach it to the cabinet, but for the most part, it's just waiting for me to relearn how to use it. My sister-in-law suggested I visit  Tilly and the Buttons to learn. The site, as she said, is very thorough, right down to telling me how to set up the machine. I have plans to make clothes for my daughter as well as tear dresses and dolls, but I know I got to start smaller. Maybe by this time next year, I'll be a pro.

I'd like to make a wallet out of deer skin. For quite some time, I've had an idea of how I'd like for it all to come together, so one day last week, I made a pattern on my computer, printed it out, pinned it to the deer skin and cut the shape. Immediately afterward, I began second-guessing my idea. What if, I thought, because of the thickness of the fabric, I have to take more for the seams than I had planned? What if the edges look bad? What if my needles won't go through the fabric? All of those "what ifs" spawned offshoots of my original idea, leaving me sitting there, holding the deer skin and wishing I could make up my mind. In short order, my deer skin project grinded to a halt once again. I am determined, though, to make some headway over the next week.

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.

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.

I've started the ladder on my next project -- the dark green bracelet. I'm not sure how it will turn out; in my mind, it looks pretty good, but whether that translates well to a finished project remains to be seen. Hopefully, it will. Birthday present I just thought this was cute, so I thought I'd share. My 11-year-old nephew loves to make things and experiment, and he made this sailboat for me for my birthday using craft sticks. A few years ago, he made me a SpongeBob out of some blocks of wood he found. That's the type of things he does. A few years ago, I went to visit my parents and found him in the front yard with a turtle. He wanted to turn the turtle loose and see if he could catch it again later. To make sure he'd know he had the same turtle, he was painting an OU for the University of Oklahoma (he's a big fan of the football team) on the turtle's back in Sooner red. I think the paint must've washed off in the rain, but I still thought i...

About a year ago, I took a class on basket making. This is the project I started in class. I always intended to finish, but amid all of the stuff on our to-do list to prepare for baby , this kind of fell by the wayside. I'd like to get a few made, but I need to work on the bases a little before I list any on Etsy. It seems that this one won't stand on its own without a lot of steadying, and even then, the breeze from my ceiling fan is enough to knock it over.