Hair Dangles

I think I said something a few posts ago about the hair dangles that I made.  I've been having a heck of a time trying to get a good picture of them!

This one still isn't the greatest, but I think it's the best I'm going to get.  I made them using colorful hair barrettes, glass beads, and firepolished crystals, with a feather on one and a piece of chain on the other.  They were kind of fun to make, and I'm sure I'll be wearing them, but I don't really think the end product was worth all the effort it took.  They aren't all that expensive at CVS.

Oh, well, nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

Cat

Bead Shopping

Tara needed some beading wire, so we decided to take a little trip to the bead store to get her some.  It's always a fun adventure.

Oopsie, I may have gotten a little too adventurous and bought a few things for myself.  Oh, well, I didn't need to eat this week anyway.  :)  Here is a picture of all the loot.  I replenished my stash of 3mm Swarovski bicone crystals, got some seed beads in colors that I don't have, picked up a beautiful dichroic cab to bezel, and there are some tilas (with 4mm crystals to match), twins, tiny drops, and jump rings too.

This is a close-up of the small rectangular glass beads in the center.  I don't know what I'm going to do with them yet, but they were much too pretty to pass up!

Then I just fell in love with this piece of chain.  I'm a sucker for anything shiny, and sterling silver is one of my favorite things.

I told Tara not to even let me go near a bead store again until I've made a few projects with these beads.  I'd better get beading!  I just bought some bracelet patterns from Shelley Nybakke at Sturdy Girl Designs, and they use lots of crystals, so I'm ready.  I'm going to start off with the quick little tennis bracelet so you should be seeing some pictures of completed work soon.

Cat

March Pocket Calendar

I have the March pocket calendar ready to share with you.  Feel free to print it out and use it. The picture on the top is a cute little shamrock that I beaded using brick-stitch and Delica beads.  I even broke out my 24-carat gold Delicas for the outline!  They are so expensive that I have to use them very sparingly, but I like the bit of "pop" that the gold added.  The shamrock pattern was designed by Dana Hill.

Before I post the picture, though, I have to tell you a funny story.  There is one particular post on this blog that even now, long after I've written it, continues to get very many spam comments on it every single day.  Which I then have to delete.   

One of the spammers, by mistake, checked the little box that says "Notify me when new comments are posted" when he posted his spam comment on my blog.  So now he has written me another comment.  He asked if I can change the option he picked, because his email inbox is being deluged with notifications every time a spam comment is written on that post.  HAHAHAHA!!!  I am laughing so hard right now!  I responded that I will look and see if there is a way I can change it for him. 

Actually, I will just delete his comments, that will probably stop the "flood" of emails.  I did find it hilarious that a spammer had to ask me to help stop him from getting spam.  ; ))

Okay, I guess I am easily amused.  Now that you have suffered through that little story, here is the March calendar that I promised you.  Remember to come back and get the calendar for April next month.

Cat

A-to-Z April Challenge

I tripped over a blog on the internet devoted to an annual blog-hop called the A-to-Z April Challenge.  For the month of April you write one blog post each day, except Sundays, using the letters of the alphabet to choose your topics.  So April 1st would be A and April 30th would be Z.

I don't usually blog on a regular schedule, but I want to do this.  It sounds interesting, do-able (posts don't have to be long), and I might find some good blogs to read from the other participants.  I may not be able to think of a beady topic for every letter, but I'm going to try.  If I stray off-topic once in awhile, that might be fun too!

Wish me luck!  Now, I just need to think of something that starts with "A"...  ;)

Does anyone else want to do this with me?  You can head on over to the official A-to-Z blog and add yourself to their linky list.



Cat

Crystal Cross

My friend's birthday was the other day, so I wanted to make her something special.  I've made a few dragonfly necklaces for my kids and other friends of mine, so I was going to make that for her.  She just isn't a dragonfly kind of person, though.

I decided to make her a cross.  I started as I usually do, searching the internet for a pattern, but I couldn't find anything that looked like the idea I had in my head.  That led to a novel idea...Why not make my own design?  LOL

It turned out to very easy and quite cute, if I do say so myself.    I picked out some beautiful Preciosa crystals and used cubic right angle weave. I embellished each end with more crystals so that they would be a little wider than the body of the cross, and then embellished between each crystal with a seed bead.  It only took a little over an hour to make it.

Here's how it turned out.

My friend loves it!  I also gave her a silver chain so that she can switch from the leather necklace to suit her mood.  (That's why the jump ring is so large)

I think I might make a few more in different colors for my ArtFire store.  If I stay with using the Preciosa crystals I can keep the price at a reasonable point.

I also made some hair dangles for myself, but I'm having a hard time getting a good picture of them.  I'll keep working on that and try to post them up in a few days.

Cat

February Pocket Calendar

Just a quick 'post and run' today with a gift for you.  ;)

Here is a pocket calendar for February.  Feel free to download and print it for yourself.

I made this heart pendant with the right angle weave stitch.  I used size 11 seed beads with Swarovski crystals and pearls.  The design is courtesy of Artbeads Korea.

Cat

New Year, New Work

I finally have a new work to show off!  It's been a little while that I haven't really kept up with my beading, but I think this piece shows that I have jumped back in with a big bang!

I bought the tutorial for this beaded dragon from Fantasia Beads.  It has 4 sizes of beads and 2 different stitches plus crystals for embellishment.  I found it just a little bit confusing, only because of the way the beads are oriented in the photos, but once I got used to that and after a couple of times reading it through I was fine.  I would even make another one, lol.

I used blue-green iris beads for this one, but I would love to see what he looks like in gold or silver.  Or maybe using one color for the body and a different color for the scales.

Anyway, take a look.  I love him!

I had made him to sell, but now I don't know if I can part with him.  I may have to bead a second dragon just so that I have one to sell.  But first I think I'll take a break by making a few simpler pieces.

Cat

Happy New Year!

Can you believe it's going to be 2013 already?  The years just fly by faster and faster.

I have made a little gift for you.  I felt the smiley face peyote rock that I made symbolized the happiness we should all start the new year with.

Feel free to download this picture and use it as your pocket calender for January.  You can click on the picture to make it bigger.  I will put up a new one every month.

Happy New Year!
 

Cat

Xmas Decorations

My friend asked me to make some beaded decorations for her tree.  She said it is just a little tree, and she wanted blue and silver to match the other decorations she bought.  So, I looked through my collection of Sandra Halpenny snowflake patterns and picked two.  She makes the greatest snowflake patterns!  And her directions are easy to follow, with good diagrams.

Anyway, here are my snowflakes.

Then I wanted to make her a really special ornament, so I chose Paula Adams' Pagoda pattern.  It was pretty easy to follow as well, though I wouldn't recommend it for beginners because she doesn't include any basic instructions, like 'step up' at the end of a round.

Here is my Pagoda ornament.

My friend loved them!  Yay!

Cat

Can I take a minute of your time?

I don't usually write about politics as it can be such an inflammatory subject.  But Senator Mark Begich of Alaska has come up with a great idea for extending the life of our broken Social Security system.  I think that is something we can all get behind!  He will be introducing it to the Senate during this coming lame duck session, and I will be contacting my Senators asking them to support him.   I am hoping that some (in my wildest dreams - all) of you will do the same.

His proposal is called Protecting and Preserving Social Security Act.  The text of it can be found here.  Very basically, it proposes to remove the $110,000 income limit on FICA tax contributions.  This would only raise taxes for approximately the top 9% of earners in this country, and in return for that they will be able to collect higher Social Security benefit payments after they retire.  This one change would keep Social Security solvent until at least the year 2085!

There is a second element of the Act asking for a change in the way we compute the SS cost-of-living increases each year (you can read it in the first link).  This is a good and fair request, but if it has to be used as a bargaining chip/compromise to get the rest of the bill passed, that would be okay with me.

In 2010 the Congressional Research Service (non-partisan) studied what effect such a change could have for this country.  If you would like to read that study, here it is.  It's pretty long and detailed, but written in plain enough language that it is easy to read.

How can you help?  Contact your Senators and ask them to support this bill when Sen. Begich brings it up on the floor of Congress, or even for them to approach him before then and co-sponsor it.  Here is a list of U.S. Senators and their contact information.

OK guys, I promise, that was my only public service announcement for the year.  Thanks for listening.  If you agree with this cause, I hope you will help it's passage.  The power of The People is strong!

Cat