ARGH!

Sorry I haven't been posting. My computer blew up. Well, it didn't litterally blow up, but a lot of smoke started pouring out of it and it went dead. I've lost everything! All my pictures, my links, papers that I've worked on, and lots more.

And all my BEAD PATTERNS!!!!! Hundreds of them. I have nothing! I could just cry. Actually, I have cried, and I think I'll do a lot more crying.

So, now I've put a new laptop on my credit card. I've been working so hard to pay them all off too, and I was almost there. But I felt like it was a worthwhile purchase.

But I will never get my pictures back. and probably won't get most of my bead paterns back either. I've learned my lesson. Everything that I put on my computer from now on will also go on a backup drive.

If you have anything important on your computer, back it up.

Cat

August Moodboard

I finally finished my project for the OTTBS August Moodboard. It wasn't a difficult project, it's just that I haven't had much beading time this month. (my rocks are feeling very ignored) There's a really nice prize this month, I hope I win.

Can you believe that I've never made a herringbone twist? I decided to give it a try, and it was very easy. I love the spiral it gives you! Just ignore my wrapped links, they need a lot more practice.

Cat

Long Pearly Tila Earrings

I made these earrings last night from a pattern that I bought at Ella D's shop on Etsy. That site has lots of great patterns, and Ella's directions are easy to follow.

The pattern called for a 14mm pearl and 8/0 seed beads, but the biggest pearl I had was 8mm. So I changed the seed beads to 11/0, and boy am I glad I did! The earring looks perfect as it is, and I think it would have been way too huge with the larger beads.

Also, in the photo supplied with the tutorial, the tilas looked kind of 'floppy', so I ladder-stitched mine together. I think it looks better that way.

I'm going to make another pair with black beads. But I'll still have to use the gold tila beads because those are the only ones I have. It should look good in black and gold.

Cat

Wrap Bracelet

I've been wanting to try making one of these leather wrap bracelets for a while. I had some 4mm rounds that I knew I could use, and I bought some 1mm leather at Michaels for $2.49. I found a video on youtube showing how to make it. It was in spanish, but I could still understand it just by watching the pictures.

Boy, does that thing use a lot of thread! I think I pulled off about 12 feet. I doubled it, so then I had 6 feet, and I used almost all of it. It took a lot longer than I thought it would take too.

I really like it though. I haven't taken it off since I finished it.

Cat

You may be richer than you think

I know we're all having a tough time in this economy, but here's a little site you can use to put it all into perspective. You enter your annual income, and it tells you how rich you are in relation to everyone else on earth.

How rich are you? >> I'm loaded. It's official. I'm the 669,642,941 richest person on earth!

I may not be considered anything close to wealthy here in the United States, but I'm in the top 11.16% of the richest people in the world! I feel better already. Or maybe kind of sad that there are so many people who have to make do with so little.

Granted, after you find out how "rich" you are, there comes a plea to donate some of your hard-earned money to worthy causes. Maybe some people will be moved to donate an hour's worth of their salary to their favorite charity. It's surely a better use for those funds than another Starbucks coffee, right?

Cat

Earring Binge

I've been on quite a craze making earrings the past couple of days. Here are a few samples. These are all quick and easy to make, in case you want to whip something up right away. I don't think any one of them took me more than an hour.

The top two pairs are from a pattern by Good Quill Hunting, called Sonja. The pair on the bottom left is from a pattern by Marcia DeCoster, called Medici. The pair on the bottom right is made from a pattern by Leslie Rogalski, called Silver Comet. That one was in an e-booklet I got on the beading daily site called 6 Free Beadweaving Patterns.

I still feel like making more earrings, I like instant gratification, so I think I'll be hunting down some more patterns.

Cat

Green Hair and Bam!

So, here is my yellow rock with green hair. The hair is actually a more grass-like green than shows in the picture, I can never get my colors to come out exactly right in photos. I can't decide if I should give it more hair or not. Also whether it should be a boy or a girl. I'm leaning more towards boy. Yes, that's it, a boy, named Harry. Wouldn't it be cute to make a girl rock and embellish some jewelry onto her? A poster on Beading Daily suggested that I could even make bugs or animals with them. What a neat idea! Oh, the places I could go with this. What I will do with all my rocks, though, I don't know. Keep them as a mascot team, I guess.

Cat

Look at these beads

In my wandering around the internet today, I ran across a bead artist I'd never heard of before. Her name is Teresa Sullivan, and she does some wild beadwork! Look at this piece of art that she's wearing!

She also makes little 3-dimensional heads with faces, and makes collages of items mixed with beadwork. Take a look at her website and see some of the unusual things she does with beads. You can also watch a movie of her making one of her beaded heads.

I would love to take a workshop with her!

Cat