The Bead Spot

A few weeks ago, I had an idea for earrings with a Fourth of July theme. If only I had sat down with pen and paper right then and worked out the mechanics of how to make it. Instead, I let a couple of weeks pass, and then finally last weekend, I took out some graph paper and tried to work out the trickiest part: How to make a star look star-ish without making it so big that I can't add the rest of my idea. I figure that at most, the star cannot be bigger than five beads high. However, no matter how I worked it -- brick stitch or square stitch -- my sketches seemed to look more like little aliens that stars. One page of my "star" sketches. So I switched to my Bead Canvas software, and yet again, I wasn't happy with the results. More attempts to make a tiny star. After a few hours of trying to figure it out, I think what I'll need to do is rely on the colors around the stars to make them look as they should, which, for me, will take trial ...

It's tough when trends change before you're ready. The problem has affected both my mom and me. First, the local stores stopped carrying the starburst beads Mom likes, and now she cannot find the  spaghetti and rondelles she uses to make headdresses. In the case of the starbursts, she wound up substituting a different bead. For the spaghetti and rondelles, I'm still hoping to find them somewhere online. For me, the issue is mostly about convenience. Not too long ago, I could find Delicas at local retailers. Not anymore. Now if I need a specific color, I have to order it online and wait for it to show up. By then, I may or may not remember the project I had in mind.  I've also had trouble finding items I want, like trays that make toting beadwork easy, and a particular type of big-eye needle. I've found other (though inferior, in my opinion) needles, but no substitute -- good or bad -- for the trays. Should I ever find any of the supplies on M...

Kids seed bead rings, made in ladder stitch It took her nearly a month, but my daughter finally finished the ring she began working on back in mid-April. Her beading sessions were short, maybe 20 minutes at a time. And she insisted on having YouTube Kids playing on a smartphone as she worked on it, so because her focus was divided, she managed to complete two to five rows each time she sat down to work on it. But she stuck with it, and got it done. The wires got rumpled, which happened to me when I first started making them, but with more practice, she'll be able to keep that from happening. She also used colors -- a dark blue and dark green -- that were a little too similar. In bright lights, you can tell the differences in the colors, but in lower light, not so much. But to me, it was the most beautiful beaded ring I've ever seen. I just wish I'd taken a photo of it, but now it's too late. I wanted my little girl to feel proud of the work she did, so I to...

My latest project is another pair of feather earrings . I really like this pattern, but I'd like to create another one that doesn't look so simplistic. Feather earrings in progress. I've seen some gorgeous ones on Etsy (like these ), and I just think, "Wow! Maybe one day I'll be that creative, too." In the meantime, I've been playing with my new toy -- a Kodak PixPro camera. After six or seven years of solid service, my old camera was on its last leg. My husband, who takes photos of the comic books and action figures, et al, that he sells on eBay , said the old camera still works fine for him, so now its his, and I've moved on. I had a lot of fun testing the new camera's macro function as I took the shot above. I still could use a lot of practice with it, but new toys are always fun.

Seed bead rings made with wire and Delica beads. Last Sunday, I gave my daughter a quick lesson in making seed-bead rings. She didn't get very far before she wanted to do something else, but since she's just 5 years old, I didn't want to force her to stay with it and make it not fun for her. Well, earlier today, she asked to work on it again. And much to my happy surprise, she started picking up speed. Last week, it took her probably 10 minutes to put 5 seed beads on the wire. Today, she was able to add 5 beads in about 3 minutes. I'm very proud of her. What crafts do you like to do with your children? Let me know in the comments field below.

My daughter, my niece and I put the pottery wheel my daughter bought back in November to use recently. It was fun, but not as easy as I thought it would be. Going into our afternoon of pottery making, I foolishly thought my daughter and niece would each be able to create their own cup. But I realized after the first 10 minutes of trying to shape the first project that we would have time for only one. Also, the instructions were not as clear as I think they could've been. It would've been nice if they had a diagram noting what each piece was called, and I just wasn't understanding based on the instructions when it would be OK to remove the cup from the encasement. So, our first effort was mostly a trial-and-error project. We didn't bother to smooth out rough edges because I just wanted to test how long it would take the clay to dry and whether it would be OK to wait until it was entirely dry before removing it from the encasement. In short, it's not pretty, bu...

Time management and crafts (Image by Gratisography/Ryan McGuire/ FreeRangeStock.com )  Do bad time management practices negatively affect your crafts hobby? It does mine. For instance, this week, I took a few days off work to burn some use-it-or-lose-it paid time off I've accrued at work. My plan for those days was to finally cross off a whole lot of tasks that have long been on my to-do list before I begin another crafts project. Here is the list of what I didn't get done: Clear clothes that don't fit out of my daughter's closet. Get rid of toys she hasn't played with in a long time. Gather up the clothes that don't fit me. Take all of that in to a resale shop. Finally finish organizing my crafts supplies. I did manage to get some important things done, and some not-so-important things, during my few days off. But, everything above that didn't get done makes me feel like my house is cluttered, and that makes it hard for me to tackle so...