Please Visit

Solar Flare, Wall Art by Jan

I just wanted everyone to know that there are a couple new shops in town!  First of all, I want to tell you about my good friend, Jan, over at Laughing Dog Arts on Etsy.  Her shop is newly re-opened, and I really encourage you to go take a look at the vibrant, colorful works of art she has to offer.  Jan does amazing things with fibers and beads.  Please go take a look, and keep checking back because I'm sure she'll be adding more wonderful pieces.  This is just one example.  Look at those colors, shapes and textures!  She also has a blog that I'm sure you will want to see, also Laughing Dog Arts, right here on blogspot. 

Next up is a teaser.  You know how I'm always talking about the fantabulous work done by my super friend Beth over at Bellesanbeaus Crafts?  Well, guess what!!!  She is finally going to be opening an Etsy shop!  I'm so excited about that!  I don't have the URL yet, but you can be sure that as soon as I have it, you will get it!  Isn't the banner for her Etsy shop really cute?  lol...I can say that because I made it for her.  :)

I opened an Artfire shop!  I actually opened an account months ago, but I just started putting things in it.  If you've visited my Etsy shop, thank you very much!  But I want to tell you that each of my shops carries a few different things.  So if you're not looking at all of them, you may be missing something.  Please stop in!  I would be ever so grateful for whispers in the ears of even just one of your friends that I exist.  Word of mouth is the best way to grow, and I'm just asking for that little seed.  Also, did you know that I design patterns for peyote and loom/square stitch?  If you do these stitches, come see my 174 patterns for both tapestries (large and small) and bracelets.  You can find me at The Bead Coop.  Links for my Shop Handmade and Etsy stores are in the right side bar.

I want to thank you all for being a part of my little corner of the world.  It gives me so much pleasure to share with you and hear from you!

Faeries, Dragonflies and Crystals, oh my!

I made a few little things yesterday.  I made two pairs of earrings and a ring.  I got charms and a square Swarovski crystal button from Artbeads.com...you know how much I love shopping there!  Here are a few pics.

It really sparkles in the light!

The dragonfly earrings I made with large blue beads and 2 smaller beads that change colors in the light...purple, green and blue.  Pretty!  :)

Just as much as I love dragonflies, I also love faeries!  They are made with purple beads.

Reader Beware!!!!  SHAMELESS SELF PROMOTION AHEAD!!!  ;)


Please see my new items in my Shop Handmade store and in my Etsy shop.  (Not all items are listed in both shops.)  

Hope everyone is having a great week!

I had a productive bead week!

Hi, everyone!  Hope you had a nice weekend.  I know I sure did.  I was busy busy busy with beady things, which makes me a happy lil girl.  I've got two things to show you today, and I love them both.  My March BJP project is 2nd, so stay tuned for that, k? 

The first one is, well, definitely green. lol  I like green, but this is really green.  I still think it's pretty though.  I think the bracelet turned out awesome, and I can't wait to do it in other colors.  Next up will be a deep luscious purple with gold bracelet and I'd like to do a necklace/choker to match.  I DID IT!!!  I finally got up the nerve to try RAW.  I had a few false starts, but I think I managed pretty well in the end.  I see people do RAW jewelry that is really embellished and fancied up and I just love them.  Hopefully one day I can do that, too.  For today it's just a simple embellishment.

Like I said, I can't wait to try this one in other colors.  I really love how it turned out.

Next up is my March BJP Project.  I have actually been working on this for about 2 months.  For the month of March I decided to learn the Cellini Spiral.  I chose the blues because that color really represents me.  When I first started I didn't buy anything special.  I dove into my stash and chose beads that have spoken to me in the past, and I decided to put a bunch of them together.  It's a "Lisa Whirlpool".  hahaha  Over the past two months of working on and then staring at my 7" of labor intensive Cellini Spiral, I had different things cross  my mind on how I was going to finish it.  First I was going to do the whole necklace in the spiral, but then I thought that would be overkill.  Then I thought about using a cab from my very good friend Beth over at Bellesanbeaus as a focal for the center.  I had intended to do that all the way up until this evening as a matter of fact.  I even did a trade with her to get the cab for it. 

When I realized that an entire Cellini necklace would be too much, I looked high and low for just the right beads to finish it off with.  Sure, crystals would be pretty and Swarovski pearls would have been divine.  You know what though?  I'm really happy with the mixture of Druks I got to mimic the colors in the spiral in different sizes to represent the ups and downs of it.  I guess that's really the way things are going right now...up and down...but in the end those ebbs and flows really make up a beautiful life.  So it made me stop and reflect on mine.  Working with beads is such wonderful therapy for me!!!

I decided, too, that if I put the spiral right in front it wouldn't be as interesting as if it were a little off kilter. After all, I am a little off kilter. :) And I thought that the clasp is far too beautiful to hide in the back of someone's neck.  Don't you think?  So I put it all a little skewed to the side, and it was then when I saw it that I knew it was done.  This necklace was complete and needed nothing else to speak its statement.  Here is my work for the Bead Journal Project for March:

As you can see, I also made a little bracelet using the Druks in the same pattern as the necklace.  I'm thrilled with the work I did for this month, and I can't wait to start on next month.  Don't know what I will do yet, but the idea will come.  Probably at 3:00 a.m. and wake me out of a dead sleep. lol

I will be posting both of these in one or the other of my shops in the next day or so.  Indigo's Beads on Etsy and Shophandmade.

Oh my gosh!!!  I almost forgot!!!!  I made a sale through my Shop Handmade store over the weekend!!!  How awesome is that???  I don't know if she wants me to publish her name or not, so I will just say a great big "Thank you!"  because she knows who she is.

Here's the pic of the one I sold:

I hope you love it when it comes in the mail!

And, I've still got that fantabulous cab coming from Beth, so watch for it to make its appearance soon!

Making a Trade and Some Other Things

Warning...long post ahead!!! :)  It has been a busy beading week for me.  Yea!  Beads, oh glorious beads.  :)  I can't say they were anything too complicated or extravagant, but you know what?  I like them anyways!

First up though I recently went into a trade with my very dear friend Beth over at Bellesanbeaus.  She does the most amazing face cabs, and I'm getting another one.  woohoo for me!  I'm working on a project that I want to use one of her amazing faces for as the focal point.  Being a little tight on funds I asked her if she would be willing to do a trade.  A pretty for a pretty.  She was game so I started wracking my brain on what I was going to make for her.  Her favorite colors are the same as mine...blues and purples...and luckily that's what I have the most of in my stash.  I picked out some of my most coveted beads that I haven't used before and set about making her a bracelet.  Had a few false starts, but what I decided on first was a Russian Spiral.  I just couldn't get the beautiful shades captured in a pic the way I wanted to, but you can get the idea.  I used my favorite bugle beads with varied shades of blue and purple along with some seed beads I found last year.  Until now they have been unopened.  Have you ever looked for a true purple purple shade of seed bead?  It's really hard to find the perfect purple!  When I saw these I knew I had to have them, and they were perfect for Beth's bracelet.  Here's some pics of the Russian Spiral:

I love the way it twists around.  Reminds me of DNA.  I was nervous that maybe she wouldn't like this one, and I really wanted to make sure she was happy so I made her a 2nd one.  This one uses a 4mm (I think) round that was actually called Indigo.  Hey!  They named it after me!  :)  Ok, maybe it was the other way around, but these are another of my coveted beads.  They are a super dark blue, not black.  I also used a triangle seed bead and a sparkly blue for the picot tips to finish out this netting bracelet.  Here are some pics:

Her package came in the mail today and she told me emphatically that she loves loves loves BOTH of them, so I am oh so very happy!  She also told me that my cab is looking pretty marvelous, and I am waiting on pins and needles to get it.  I will show it to you all as soon as it comes in.  She does the most amazing work!

A couple weeks ago my mother-in-law was telling me that I need to get some stuff together for her to take to work to sell there.  She works at a high school, and the teachers just love things like what I make she says.  I have my two higher end sets (the crystal and the dragonfly sets), and I also wanted to give some lower priced things too.  Again, I just used this and that from my stash and set about to see what I could put together with what I already have.  I was pretty pleased with what I came up with.  The first one I think is super pretty.  It's all purples with gold.  Can't go wrong with that, right?  It's made on memory wire, and I just love the way it wraps around.  Here are some pics:

I also did another one like this but using some wood beads that I had no idea when or if I would ever use them.  Surprise!  They worked out great with the combination of natural stones and Czech glass in earthy colors.

Then I did some even simpler ones, but they are using some really great things so I like them.  The next one is made using Stretch Magic, one of my new favorite stringing materials (now that I know how to keep the knots secure).  It's all about lusterous beads.

And then there's this next one.  I picked up this really unusual 3 sided piece of shell quite some time ago.  It's really interesting and has great shades of pinks and browns running through it.

And finally I did one that is using very simple blue beads.  It's dainty, but very sturdy.

Sometime in the next few days I am getting an order in from Artbeads.com, so I'll be showing some more things soon.  I posted these new things in two places.  One is in my Etsy shop here and the other is in my Shop Hand Made shop here if you would like to go take a look.

I probably won't be writing more posts for a few days, so I hope you all have a great weekend!  Bead happy!

Ebay?

Has anyone of my beading friends out there ever tried selling their wares on Ebay?  If so, can you tell me about your experience?  Someone suggested I try this route, but I'm just not sure if it is a good idea or not.  For my readers out there who like to buy beady things, have you ever shopped for anything on Ebay?  If you have, can you tell me about what you were looking for and what was the trigger that made you decide to bid/buy?

I've been increasingly frustrated with trying to sell my jewelry and things as I've had very little success.  I think my things are pretty, and I'm told from people who see my stuff in person that my things are very well made and beautiful, but it's just not coming across in the selling venues.  I'm usually not overly pushy to people on Facebook or on my blog, but I'm really reaching out to you for some help and guidance, as I am trying to break into the selling world and am doing a pretty poor job of it. 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.  Maybe I should press my shops a little.  My things can be seen on Etsy, Shophandmade and I have peyote and loom patterns on The Bead Coop.  You can also friend me on Facebook at the link on the right bar.

Thanks so much for any and all help!!!