Back to Crafting Today

I was so busy at the archery range yesterday that I never got around to doing any beadwork. I was way out of my comfort zone trying to straighten 12 foot long reed shafts over some Sterno for my atlatl darts. Then Sal and Guy helped me finish my berimbau. The wire under tension on that thing is a little scary. Diane sat next to me all day making beaded necklaces, so I was seriously wanting to drop everything and do some beading but I ran out of daylight before I ran out of projects. So today I already started a necklace with black seed beads and colorful glass tube beads.  I'm about done with the beading but stopped for lunch. But I need balance in my life, which means getting some exercise, so I'm about to walk to the grocery store. Hopefully I'll get back to my necklace later this afternoon.

Berimbau and Caxixi

I can't believe I missed a few days here. I guess I've been posting to my other blogs instead.

Yesterday in Pasadena my friend brought his berimbaus and taught me how to make the berimabau and the caxixi. I haven't yet finished because I need to let my stick dry and also find some more hard seeds to put into the caxixi to improve the rattle. But so far so good. My other friend Tom just happened to have some reed that needed a new home so I took that and started making a gourd and reed basket. Basically I had a blast learning new things and making new things. I've had a berimbau on my to-do list for about five years.