Calling It Quits Folks

Stick a fork in me, I’m done.

After many years of blogging I’m calling it quits. I’ve done everything I know to build a following.

I follow a lot of blogs and they all have fans and readers that leave comments and participate and even buy things from them. I constantly promote the works of others, but there is no reciprocation.

After spending thousands of hours and taking thousands of photos the task has expanded to eat up large portions of my day. I have over 70 blogs, and 3 of them are daily blogs. I’m going to take all that time I used to spend blogging and use it on things like writing novels, sewing a new wardrobe, and making things to sell. I’m sure I can find something to do with all that time.

I’m leaving my blogs up, since I’m sure they’ll be useful to someone from time to time. And every now and then I may miss it and make a few new posts. I don’t think anyone will notice one way or the other if I blog or don’t blog. When all is said and done, I think it only mattered to me. 

Crocheting a Snood

Bunny needs eyes.

Beaded Star

This weekend when I set up my beaded pins in my craft booth I noticed I was out of stars. Did I give them all away for Christmas? Did I misplace them in another bin? So I started a new one on Sunday afternoon at the campground, and worked on it some more today at the laundromat. I bumped into another beader that works at Two Little Indians downtown. I recognized her right away but I don't think she knew who I was. She seemed to be in a rush so we just chatted a moment.

Beaded Earrings

Things are getting hectic as I'm getting ready to go on vacation to meet my granddaughter. I thought I was staying two weeks and she thought I was staying one week, so we'll see what happens.

I was working with tiny beads yesterday making an earring and my eyes were watering the rest of the day. I'm not sure if it's age, too bright sunlight, the wrong glasses or what. But today my eyes feel like I've been crying all night. I still want to finish the earrings though, so I can wear them on my trip.

Monday's sunset.

Making an earring.

Me at sunset.

Snowy Day

We went to Apple Valley today and I got to work on my knitted blue scarf. It's about five feet long now.

No sooner than we got the groceries into the house, it started to rain again.  An hour later the rain had turned to hail. Then right before dusk, it started to snow. My first snow at my new house! I watched it until it got dark out. I wonder if the ground will be white in the morning. We'll see.

I finally live somewhere that is cold enough to wear the sweater I knitted. It's the yellow one in the photo. It's mostly been in a drawer. My boyfriend didn't even remember me making it. Out of sight, out of mind I guess.


Hail in the yard.

Cold morning.



Yesterday morning was foggy and beautiful.

Purple star pin

This is the last thing I finished. They run about $25 plus tax and shipping if you'd like to request a custom order. This one will be a Christmas gift. Hope she doesn't read my blog.

Rainy Day and Snowy Night

I woke up this morning to the sound of rain against my window. The hills around us are dusted with snow. It was a wet day. Too cold to work in the studio so I brought my beads in the house. I finished a new freeform star beaded pin.

We had homemade chicken noodle soup last night and tonight. I'm going to need some warmer clothes. I hope I can whip some up as soon as I get my sewing machine area organized. But I have a feeling I'll just buy a couple of long sleeved flannel shirts before it gets much colder out. I'm not used to having to wear a sweatshirt indoors. Our little wood stove is doing the best it can but it's still cold in here. I need to dig my fingerless gloves out to wear when I'm typing.

On Tuesday we got to go to Anaheim. I visited M&L fabric and got some more stretchy fabric for the steampunk headbands I am working on. I also got to go to Micheal's and replenish my bead inventory. I just missed M&L's 20% off sale by one day. I didn't know I was even going to be near that store or I would have paid more attention.

I wanted to pre-wash all the fabric today that I got at M&L but we no longer have a dryer. And I can't hang the clothes on the clothesline in the rain and wind. Not having a dryer in our new place was my boyfriend's idea, not mine. Now I have to fit my laundry into a narrow window; early in the morning on a warm and sunny day. Rather hard to come by in the winter.



Misty Hills

If you want me to make a reserved listing for any pin or any of my artwork for that matter, let me know.



Bluebeaded felt pin.



Chilly out.

Almost done with this one.



Freeform Star Pin

Tiger eye pin

Misty hills

Beaded Felt Heart Pins

I'm at the library trying to fit a week's worth of Internet work into the 3 hours a day the library allows per person. In other words, I get to come here 2 days a week (if I'm lucky) so I have 6 hours worth of computer time, which may seem like a lot to some people, but considering I usually use the Internet 8 hours a day; 6 hours a week isn't much at all. And if there are no computers available at the time, I won't even get that.

So I got two beaded felt hearts listed on Etsy. I got them both done in about 30 minutes at the library, unlike the hour and a half it took me to do one listing yesterday with my home dial-up connection. The library only allows computer time in one hour increments, then if no one is waiting it gives you 15 minutes more at a time. Ugh.  Right now every computer I can see if full. And this one kicks me off in 10 minutes. So I better stop typing and post photos.

Beaded heart with fresh water pearls and gray French knots.

I finished the top heart today and the bottom one a few weeks ago. Both are for sale in my Hypnotic Etsy shop.

Tiles I found in my yard that I'm saving for a mosaic project.

Spiral Beadwork and Paleoplanet Meeting

Yesterday was a fantastic day at the archery range. I spent most of it talking to other artists and paleontologists and working on a beaded spiral vessel. One of the women from Beverly Hills wanted to buy the bead project right out of my hand. I tried to explain that it was part of a much bigger project but I could turn it into a brooch if she was serious.

Well she was serious but her husband put his foot down. So I handed her my business card, so who knows.

My friend Roland recently took up loom beading and made some amazing things. I'll post his photo here.
Lawyer by day, beader by night.

Boy using an atlatl to shoot at a cardboard mammoth

Rain and Murphy's Law

Yesterday and today I was working on some earrings for a friend. And I had to rearrange everything on the patio three days in a row. So now I have a bit of a pinched nerve issue in my left shoulder blade area. I've had those before in that very same spot.

The first time I moved everything was because I woke up to thunder, and ran outside to move all our projects so they wouldn't get wet.  Then it never rained. 

That night the landlord called at bedtime to say he was sending a crew first thing in the morning to cut down a giant tree that overhangs our patio.  Well, wouldn't you know it, the gardeners decided to drag the whole tree through our narrow back yard, so we had to move everything we could out of harms way. 

So on the third day we put a few things back like the canopy, the work table and a few bins. So of course I woke up to rain, so everything I was trying to get out of the rain in the first place got soaked.  Sigh. It's raining right now; the first rain I can remember since last autumn.

I've had to hold off on making videos too. This computer is out of memory. I thought I was going to get another used computer yesterday, but the guy changed the pick up time to today. So hopefully by tomorrow I can finish the two crochet tutorials I was right in the middle of.  One is on how to crochet in a circle, and the other is a crocheted beaded brooch with a face on it.  I hope to make a third one with a necklace.  

Peach Beaded Collar Necklace Revisited

This morning I did quite a bit of work on the peach beaded collar. I finished the beaded fringe which was very time consuming. I added buillion knots, fresh water pearls called potato beads,  disc shaped shell beads, and some green leaves to help balance out the green I used on the roses. It's coming along. I still have to design some sort of fastener. Maybe ribbons that tie or some sort of clasp. Then I have to sew on the liner. People that don't do beadwork no doubt have no idea how many hours go into these things. Then you put it on Etsy and they want to buy it for $20 or less, when even the parts cost more than that. It's going to be lovely though.

Detail of beads and embroidery.

Buillion Knot Roses and vintage silver beads.

Freshwater potato pearls at the top. Lace ribbon rose made from trim.

Every time I think I'm almost done I think of something else to add.

I'm glad I finally finished the beaded fringe.

Beaded Pendants and Brooches

I've decided to make some smaller beaded items so I can finish them faster, get them into my Etsy shop sooner, and of course since I can do them with fewer beads and less time, I can offer them for a lower price. Beadwork is labor intensive, which is why it usually carries a high price tag. It may take 5 minutes to cut out a heart brooch, but 50 hours to sew all the beads onto it and finish it with a cord to hang from. And of course some beads are very pricey.

Spiders and Gourds and Angels Oh My

Today's productivity made up for the lack of it earlier in the week. I felt better so I got more done.

I finished these spider ornaments for a custom order, but if you want one too, I can always make more. I also finished 2 angel gourds and a gourd with an AZ desert scene on it and just put the finishing spray on them.

I had a blast in the Etsy chatroom exchanging twitter addresses with everyone. I have 300 followers now. Granted we'll all be trying to sell each other crafts, but you can't have everything.

A few days ago I dropped my camera as I was going through the sliding glass door. It hit on the doorframe and now the battery door doesn't close quite right but thankfully it's still working! I totally don't have the money to buy another camera right now and it's critical to being an online artist.

It was good to spend time in the garden. And I'm so happy my pink ice plant is in bloom. It's spectacular this year.

Beaded Spider Treasury

Last night I stayed up till 1 AM in the Etsy chatroom waiting for enough treasuries to expire so I could make one. Then the room crashed and when the screen refreshed it said Etsy was down for maintenance for the next 3 or 4 hours. So whenever the treasury did reopen, I was sound asleep.
So it was a nice surprise to wake up this morning to find I was in this treasury.


I woke up to find myself in a spider treasury. Thanks Julie. Julie's shop: juliechristie.etsy.com

Two New Necklaces

It stopped raining long enough for me to take photos of my 2 new beaded necklaces and list them on Etsy. I still need to put a clear spray coating on the black gourd to keep if from getting scratched but I want to let it dry overnight first, unless it gets really warm out today, and for all I know it may be raining again in 20 minutes.

When I took a wardrobe class they talked about putting together different looks and one of them was called 'Sophisticated Gypsy'. To get the look you wear a solid colored dress in a simple design and then accessorize it with a necklace like these to draw the eyes of onlookers upwards to your face. Thus it's a look any woman can wear. It's most effective if your stockings and shoes match your dress, giving you a longer line, or wear tan stockings and shoes with a colored dress.

So I thought it would be appropriate to name my listing Sophisticated Gypsy.

If you've had your colors done you'll know whether you look best in cool colors (Winter and Summer) or warm colors (Spring and Autumn). So I made one necklace in each.

Two Beaded Necklaces

I rolled out of bed this morning and beaded two necklaces with bigger chunkier beads to offset all the projects I have going with tiny seed beads. I just needed something that would give me some instant gratification. One necklace is in warm shades and would look great over a black turtleneck and the other is shades of blue and pink with swirls of silvery color. Even though I didn't try to make them the same length they came out exactly the same length. They would be great for a sophisticated gypsy look or to wear with an African print. A perfect activity for a rainy day.

I used glass and plastic beads as well as chips of red jasper. And though I put clasps on both of them, they do fit over my head unless I'm wearing a hat or have big hair.

Now I'm painting a big gourd black to use as a necklace stand.

Pink and Aqua Earrings

First thing this morning I worked on some more beaded earrings in aqua and pink. I have noticed that if I reach a certain frustration point with beadwork, I need to go do something else. So even though I meant to get around to the 2nd earring I never did. I have a tooth that's bugging me and it's hard to concentrate.
At least I finished reading the book Druids by Llewellyn tonight.

It rained most of today. I got a short daily walk in between raindrops. It's raining right now. It's almost midnight. My neighbors are still talking loudly or I'd be in bed already.

Today I joined some more Earring and Beading groups on Flickr. There sure are a lot of them. I tend to avoid groups with too many rules. I can't keep all the rules straight. I also avoid the invitation only ones where you have to apply to be a member. There are plenty of groups open to all.

Beaded Earrings

I finished two pairs of brick stitch beaded earrings yesterday. The thing that took the longest was finding a beading needle. I buy some everytime I go to a craft store it seems, and then they disappear into the woodwork. One pair is blue and white and the other is midnight blue and orange. It was a joy going through all my bead boxes and putting together new beads with beads I bought in the past. I think I have every color under the sun. Beading makes me feel guilty because I know I'll never get paid what my time is worth. But they are so beautiful and they feed my soul so that's worth something.
It is still raining today so if I get my book finished I'll start on another pair. Then I'll leave them in my Etsy shop for 4 months, and if they don't sell I'll start wearing them. So I'm using sterling silver ear wires because my ears are unhappy with cheapo ear wires.

Followers

I 'unfollowed' someone, then lost a follower. So I wonder if it's the same person. I'm so excited to even have followers. Hopefully I'll get another one to fill the gap.

This morning I got a little knitting done. I meant to get back to it but it's been a busy day and then I decided to finish the pair of beaded earrings I started late last night. I still have to figure out how to add the ear wires without breaking the beading thread. They are orange bugle beads and peacock colored shiny seed beads. They really do look lovely. Someone please invite me out dancing so I can wear them.
Maybe I'll make some pink and black ones next.

Beaded Earrings

All day I've been doing beading so right now I'm taking a break from making beadwoven earrings. I was hoping to sell some on Etsy but one woman has flooded the market and is charging a mere $8.00 a pair. I think a more fair price would be $20-$25. Otherwise it's just like giving them away. Have you seen the price of beads lately? She says she's been making them for ten years so it must be working for her. I'm just not sure I can price my earrings any lower than $10. a pair, and that's making virtually no profit.

Warm Day in the Park

I just made myself sit down and weave in all the ends on my leaf scarf. Weaving in ends is always the most tedious part for me. I finished it just as it started to get dark so I guess I'll take photos tomorrow so I can get it listed in my Etsy shop.

Today I went to a nearby park and worked on my embroidery. Then I designed 3 brooches, except I still have to sew the pinbacks on. First I have to remember where I put them. Maybe that's why they are called 'findings' because I am always trying to find them.

Last night I was working on beaded spiders. I really like my new design.
I'm making a give away box, which is a box filled with things I've made that I will keep with me when I travel to either do trades with other artists or use as gifts when appropriate. I thought it would be fun to let someone pick something out of the box.

I also want to start wearing a pin traders vest. On one side I'll have pins I made that I want to trade, and on the other side I'll have pins I got in trade.

Beaded Spider

Last night I made a cute little beaded spider out of seed beads, bugle beads, a focal bead and wire and gave it to my boyfriend for his 50th birthday. I found some more bugle beads just now in one of my old bead boxes and can't wait to try some different color combinations. I used 26 guage wire and I really need to use 24 so it will hold its shape better.

I think one of these spiders would look great on a steampunk inspired hat. Victorians were crazy about spider jewelry. I saw a great spider marcasite ring once at an antique mall and I wish I would have bought it.