New Beads Listed

Wow...I've never had a post title like that before!  I just created the first listings in my Etsy shop for beads that I made with my own two hands.  It's kind of a laborious process, but I'm really thrilled with how they came out and hope that someone else out there will love some of them, too.  :)


I started out with some India ink that has bright vibrant colors and then started painting my heart out with a big fat brush to cover entire sheets of thick white paper.  Then I measured and cut long, lean triangles so I could actually create uniform bead shapes.  Thank goodness I still have a big paper cutter from back in my scrapping days--it helped a lot.  I have to say, though, that I didn't figure that shortcut out for the first few sets and tried my darnedest to cut straight lines over and over with scissors.  Nice.  I had a good laugh at my own expense when I realized how much easier it would be to use that little sliding cutter.

I love the bright colors of these sets...the orange is my natural favorite but i was able to actually create a whole set of blue & purple that have a similar pattern--blue in the middle and purple on the end--without actually setting out to do it when I first started painting that piece.

I haven't been out here in blog world for a little bit and I miss it, but I have been trying to spend more time away from the computer and off the couch.  It's actually a good thing because then I go to the gym or catch up with friends or cook dinner or work late because I want to (not because I have to).  So, while my blogging is getting a little sparse, it's because I'm attempting to keep my life full.  :)

This computer time has been super-productive for me this evening...listings on Etsy is only one thing, I also did research into graphic design classes and edited a TON of old family photos that I finally got scanned in.  I'm researching design stuff because I'm at the point in life where I want to figure out my next career and that's a field that really interests me.  ITT Tech...who would've thought?   As for the family photos, my mom will pass out when she reads this and discovers that the albums I've had on my desk for over a year have finally been completely scanned and there is actually potential for projects to be completed by Christmas.  Whoo hooo!  On that note, I'm off to get some beauty rest before another hot and busy week.  :)

Weekend Crafting: Creative Block & Inhalants

Since it's Sunday, I'm starting out with a macro shot of my paper beads.  I spent Friday and Saturday evenings spread out on the kitchen counter with some paper I painted up last week along with a yardstick and paper cutter.  I cut dozens and dozens of skinny triangles and then set out with fingers full of glue to come up with these.  I'm really tickled with how they came out but I want to actually use some and see how they work before I try selling them or giving them away.  Is it bad that I'm admitting that I spent most of my weekend by myself at home playing with glue and paper and sticks?

The paper I used has a white core so the winded edges of white show up fairly prominently and I have to decide how to exploit that look.  They have a sort of optical illusion to them when viewed from the side. I may try some sort of tea-dye ink to "age" them and take some of that fresh white look away.  

One of my goals this weekend was to get some of these babies sealed.  I decided to use some spray sealant because that's what I had handy.  I spread out some newspaper on the kitchen counter and took each mandrel (uh, bamboo skewer, actually, by "mandrel" sounds so much more official) and gave the beads a few sprays.  This is where the "inhalant" part of the weekend comes in...I live in a small apartment and after standing there spraying in the kitchen for about five minutes the cat started to meow really loudly--which is not normal.  I walked over to look at him and in that movement took a big breath and realized that I am standing in the middle of a closed up room spraying hugely flammable and dangerous spray that is so smelly that it has started to freak out my cat.  Nice.  I immediately turned on the stove vent and then opened up a window and lined up a fan to blow some of the noxious air out of the apartment. It never even crossed my mind to go outside.  Once I got everything opened up, I made sure that cats were still running around just fine and left the apartment for a while so it could clear up.  Even when I got home three hours later it was still like walking into a paint shop.  But, I think we're good to go now.  The cats are still fine and I haven't had any issues either.  I probably still won't light any candles tonight.

The paper bead frenzy--not the inadvertent inhalant abuse--started out of a need to break my creative block.  I have an Artisan Clay piece that I'm working with as part of Kristie's design team and the reveal is next Friday.  Last month almost all of us were caught by surprise because the last Friday in June came earlier than we thought it would.  I find it shocking that now the end of July is just around the corner.  How can it be that summer is halfway done and I feel like I have nothing to show for it?  Alas, in trying to have something to show off for next Friday, I am working with a gorgeous pineapple yellow donut.  My first instinct was to go monochromatic with tons of lemon and pineapple quartz because I have a ton of different shapes and textures.  But, when I sat down on Saturday morning to work, there were too many things jumping out as perfect...I starting thinking pink and yellow and it went downhill from there. I had everything going on--chain, ribbon, leather, stone, wire--and felt like I had too many ideas and not enough focus.

It was like a festival of too many ideas and I just started to get angry.  I'm used to sitting down and things just happening naturally and they come out right.  The process of editing down this collect of stuff was too overwhelming.  So, I left it.  I was totally blocked so I got dressed and went shopping.  A few new bits from Chico's had me all sorted out...oh, and some Ben & Jerry's helped, too.  I sat down and finished it up this morning.  I'm pleased with the results and you'll see them next Friday.  :)

BTW: Makin' Some Beads

Since I'd generally consider myself a bead "user" more than a bead "maker" I'm thrilled with the results of my first special paper beads and want to share what's on my bead table/kitchen table on this Wednesday update.  I posted over the weekend about the fun I was having with the gorgeous colors in India Ink and just going to town with different palettes.  The last couple of evenings have been kinda late ones at work, so I used sitting quietly at the table playing with scissors and glue as my relaxation method of choice.  Here's my "hint of storm" paper and the resulting beads:

I made just a few beads with some of the papers including a saffron shade, a sunset shade, and a blue-purple shade (that I can't think of a good name for right now...the first thing that came to mind that's blue and purple is a bruise and that's not exactly a good bead name, I'm guessing) along with the stormy rainbows.  It's 0600 and I'm dealing with crappy lighting on the kitchen table but I think they still look awesome.  I have to finish them off with some sealer now that they're all dry.  I may try to list some in my Etsy shop.  :)

I've been wanting to make paper beads since I got my little Paper Bead Girl roller.  I saw the feature for it in BeadStyle magazine in April and found Vicki's little invention in her Etsy shop.  I'm really tickled with how uniform they all came out...I guess using a template to cut the shape actually works, go figure!

There are lots of other tables on display in the Bead Table Wednesday flickr group.