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

Peyote Ring

I was in the mood for a small project today, so I made a ring. I got to use some of my 2mm crystals. They are so cute! The pattern for it is on Cynthia Daniels' website, Jewelry Tales. But, shhhh, don't tell anybody, I didn't buy the pattern, I just copied it from the picture. Cynthia does have some great patterns, though. I've bought several of them. Her designs are beautiful and her directions are easy to follow. Now I'm trying to think of how I can combine some of them so that I can enter the Bead Mavens Meld Challenge. Of the group, Cindy's are the only patterns I own, and I don't have money to be buying any new patterns. Maybe I can put together this earring and this necklace to make a bracelet with a focal. Or maybe not...I don't know. I'll play around with it and we'll see. The challenge is open until October 15, so there's plenty of time to think about it.

Cat

My Happy Rock

Since I had so much fun beading the first rock, I decided to take Tara's suggestion and bead a rock with a happy face on it. First I colored the rock with nail polish (thanks for the idea, Mandy), then drew the face on it as a guide. I started with a band of tubular peyote around the middle, and beaded one half first, then the other. I think he looks pretty cute. Now I'm thinking about making another one and embellishing it with some beady "hair".

Cat

My Pet Rock

I felt like beading, but I couldn't settle on a project, so I decided to just bead around a rock. It was a fun way to practice increasing and decreasing peyote anyway. I don't even know why I had a rock in my room, but I did. I got out a black and grey bead mixture, and a few hours later, voila! My beaded rock was done. It's kind of fun to just hold it and feel the beads. Maybe it'll be my muse. My daughter says I should make one with a face on it. Hmmm...Maybe.

Cat

1000 crystals

Someone referred me to a seller on eBay who was selling "Swarovski crystals" very cheaply. I went to the site, and when I saw they were coming from China, I had no illusions. I knew they would be fakes. But it was only $11.00 for 1000 crystals! When I go to the bead store, I get 24 crystals for $3.00. I just hoped they would be pretty.

I ordered, and then I waited. I don't know why, I guess because I've never bought 1000 crystals before, but I thought I would be getting a big package in the mail. So when I got a tiny envelope in the mail from China today I thought, "This is my 1000 crystals?"

But it was! 1000 crystals really doesn't take up that much space. Of course, I had to compare them under my magnifying glass with some crystals I have here that are real Swarovski. Just to see how much difference there was, and if I had gotten ripped off for $11.00. The ones I received are just slightly longer and have wider holes. Other than that, I can't complain. They are just as colorful and sparkly as the real thing! They are well-cut and have smooth facets and holes.

I took a picture, but the light is really glaring on the plastic of the packages. This is what 1000 crystals looks like:

It doesn't look like a lot, does it? But each package has 50 in it. There really are 1000 there.

I can't wait to use them! I love crystals, but I hardly ever buy them because they're so expensive. Well, Mr. K. in China now has a new customer!

Cat

The challenge

The challenge piece that I made is up on the OTTBS blog! It's the first photo. I love the other two entries that are also on the page.

Cat