More beading projects

See, told ya' I'd  have more to share!  These ones are just from kits I liked or ones I wanted to learn from - Artbeads and Oriental Trading Co.

These are just a few bracelets I made from kits from OTC.  I plan to make some stitch markers with the same kits.  After all OTC packages come in bundles, and I don't actually need 12 of the same bracelet right?  And can't let cute beads go to waste!  :)

Next up, a few brooches (pins) also from OTC.  And again, the stitch markers I made with the leftover kits.  The light green pin is one I just put together myself.  Personally, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the bookworms and the "Love to Read" charms, as those just fit so well with both me personality and my job and career aspirations  :)

 

This kit is from Artbeads, to learn how to make a beaded bail.  I like the design of the necklace, but I think I'm going to find some new ribbon that matches the beads and pendant a little more to my taste.  Personally, the ribbon is a little too green, though not quite as green as in the picture below.  It's just not quite as teal as the beads, so I think I can find a ribbon that matches a little better to replace it...

After doing the kit above, I used the beaded bail technique to add the stone heart pendant to a ribbon necklace I had.  Just black beads, to coordinate with the black ribbon.  Nothing special in the construction, other than it was a chance to practice a new technique for me :)

 

This one isn't a kit either, but might have well as been.  It's just a basic leather cord with endings, to which I added a stone pendant I liked which I found on sale.  About as simple as can be!

One last beading post

At least for a while. I have a few more to photograph, but I still have to get my house all unpacked and set up, and the unpacking does take priority. Kitchen before crafts!  But as I do have a few projects ready to share, here you go.

A total spur-of-the-moment project, based on several elements I found on clearance at Joann's.  If I remember correctly, the only think that wasn't on sale was the chain itself, and I think the whole thing was less than $5!  Gotta love a sale!  The necklace was inspired by some quirky black-and-silver beads and a fun black-red-and-silver pendant.  Add a quirky chain to make a long drop necklace, and voila!

I know I said recently that I don't like the red-and-pink heart sappiness that comes with Valentine's Day?  Well, I caved to a particularly cute clasp and ended up inspired by this project from Oriental Trading Company.  In fact, I actually followed the directions, I liked it so much!  There are 3 sets of clasps in the package that you can order from OTC, and each half of the clasp has a half of a paired phrase (Hugs-Kisses; Love-Peace; and Love-Hope-Dream).  I'm trying to think of good colors for the other phrases in the package, because they're just too much fun to pass up!

 

While we're thinking OTC, this was a kit I picked up on sale from the site.  Nothing much to add to that, other than I like how the picture on the right came out, with the angle and lighting and all :)

 

One final project for this post (like I said, I do have a few more to talk about, but they still need to be photographed, so must wait for now) is one that started as a free bead included in a package from Goody Beads.  No, not all of their free included beads end up inspiring me to purchase more beads to make a full project, but this one did, so I guess the marketing plot worked.  But, being in the desert, I missed snow (and weather in general, for that matter) so the little snowflake bead was particularly appealing.  I added some of the little white 'snowball' beads, some contrasting blue-and-snowflake beads, some silver spacers, and some solid blues and just made it up as I went along.  I like all the blues and whites in this necklace, but my favorite part is the little snowflake charm at the clasp.  Just fun!

 

And this picture's included just because I like how the light was catching the beads, how they all seem to glow  :)

Yup, another jewelry post!

I was very busy with my jewelry making before we moved.  My inner magpie is finally emerging!  

The first two are pretty simple, just quotes I've added onto chains with a little bit of color.  The slightly blurry one on the left has three little charms that say "Live," "Laugh," and "Love."  The one on the right says "Never Never Give Up."  I fiddle with my jewelry a lot, so having little messages like this on me does help me keep them in mind.  Like I said in an earlier post, I was looking for a lot of motivation while we were in CA...

 

This one is one I think of as "my good little Southern girl necklace."  It has polka dots, my initial, pastel colors, and somehow strikes me as something worn by one toting Vera Bradley and sipping sweet tea.  As I was anticipating the move to TX when I made it, it seemed appropriate!  It's one of my own projects, no particular inspiration, other than the pendant itself.  I had lots of the black spacer beads, and then used the black accent beads to give it a little texture - the polka dots on those beads are the same colors as on the pendant.  The colored crystals are repeated in the same order as the colors on the polka dots, and the accent beads appear once a color repetition is complete.  I finished it off with just the black and silver spacers for the last few inches around the neck.  The daisy clasp seemed to fit with the personality of the necklace, so there you have it!

 

I also make a key clip using the larger version of the same pendant.  Both sizes of the initial pendants are available from Goody Beads, and yes they are available in all 26 letters.  I had an extra of the black accent beads, and liked the look of the little bag clip-style key chain, so... ta-da!

This necklace is a little dressier one.  It's based on another Artbeads project (Delicate Elegance).  I actually followed the instructions pretty closely!  I used the silver focal beads and styles of chains that I could get my hands on within my budget, but otherwise, a project that I actually followed the directions on!

 

This was a minor kit-bashing project.  I found the necklace-earrings set on sale at Target, and as my ears aren't pierced and I didn't want to waste the pretty teal and silver beads, I added them into the necklace!  You can see how pretty they are in one of the pictures below.  One of the teal beads I added to the end of the chain on the clasp, and the other I added as a drop pendant.  The green beads I just added into the chain to keep the necklace balanced.  And everything from the earrings is now used!  Waste not, want not!

 

 

Expanding my beading!

And I'm back!  More on the move and travel and new house and all the big changes in a later post, but first a few crafting posts.  I'm sorting my pictures on my computer and on Flickr, and realized I hadn't posted about any of the recent jewelry projects I've played with.  So here goes!

Between finding that I'm enjoying the beading and working at a job that had a dressier 'business casual' dress code compared to my last few jobs, I'm trying new projects - branching out into jewelry with my beading.  I'm not one for gemstones, really, so the beaded necklaces suit my tastes.

This very springtime-y one is based on instructions from Artbeads (the Pastel Passion Necklace).  This one was almost exactly as the original instructions dictated.  The only changes I made were using a slightly smaller silver spacer bead (only 1mm smaller, but about half the cost, based on what was on sale at the time!) and adding two little flower beads at the end by the clasp.  The holes in the colored beads were too big for the crimp beads, so they kept sliding around.  I put in the silver flowers to space them out a little, keep them from jamming up on the crimps at the clasp.  The flower clasp was one I had (Oriental Trading Company, I believe).  Also keeps with the springtime theme :)   Isn't it cute?

 

This one is inspired by a sample project from Artbeads (the Three Strand Pretty Purple Necklace).  I had black and red beads that coordinated well, so it's a totally different look than the purple sample. 

 

This one is also taken from Artbeads (the True Love Necklace), and the biggest thing I really changed was the color scheme.  I just don't really wear THAT much red, and don't really like kitschy red or pink heart necklaces.  So, white instead!  Not quite so seasonally limiting :)  I also spaced out the hearts a little more on the strands, and used 3 pairs of hearts, instead of the 2 pairs in the original. Finally, I put one pair of hearts on each strand, instead of having heart pairs on the same strand, like in the original.  Just personal preference on those changes.  For the clasp... well, I didn't do a clasp on this one.  The necklace is long enough that it will fit over my head without having to play with a clasp, so I ran the 3 wires through a large white bead and crimped them in place on either side.  So, one large gathering bead, instead of clasp.  The picture below probably does a better job of explaining than I'm doing right now :)

 

Yet another one inspired by Artbeads (Reasons of the Heart), but altered to fit what I had and wanted to use.  (Yes, definitely check out that website for some good inspiration projects!!)  I used a quote pendant of my own with a quote that I'm trying to adopt more and more - "Bloom where you are planted."  I saw that quote on a quilted wall hanging in a friend's office.  She had added pins from all her husband's units to the wall hanging.  I've also seen it as a caption for a painting of a cactus flower (very appropriate for our last and current duty stations).  Either way, I thought that was a good mindset for an Army spouse to have.  You don't know where you'll end up, so make the most of where you are!  The necklace itself here is made with mixed metals and mixed textures of chains, with the quote as the focal pendant.  The clasp is one of an assortment that I found on sale at Michael's, and fits in with the theme nicely :)

 

This one is one of my own designs.  The focal pendant came with the one above as a set.  I'm trying to be very positive thinking about where we bounce around to, can you tell?  I liked the green earthy beads with the theme of growth, and the little flower accent was just added for emphasis.  It doesn't curve as nicely as it could, due to the different types of beads (the green and the filigree) but I like it all the same.  The clasp is another from that same pack as the one of the Bloom necklace pictured above.

So,  here are a few recent beading projects.  I have a few more that I'll get posted soon too.  Gotta break 'em into a few posts, so that the pictures don't take too long to load, right?  :)

Temporary Hiatus!

I know I've been a little spotty on posting over the lats few weeks, and I know it'll continue for another few weeks.  But I've got a very good reason:  We are moving - FINALLY!!  After 3 years and almost 4 months (but who's counting) we are finally headed outta Irwin!

To be totally honest, we have already moved.  We are no longer in the isolated, beyond-the-edge-of-nowhere, lost-in-the-CA-desert, little post that we've been stuck at over the last 3 years.  I write this post from a Chick-Fil-A in TX!

Yes, I know that TX will still be a world of oddities (it is TX, after all), but it's a whole lot closer to the weird little version of normal that we know and grew up in.  For example, I'm in a Chick-Fil-A!  Aaah, back in the land of sweet tea, humidity, chicken biscuits, and hair that's actually allowed to curl (as opposed to being flat-ironed within an inch of its life).  Apparently, no one has curly hair in SoCal...  but that's another soapbox entirely.  This place is not The South that we're used to - as mentioned, it is TX, which is different from anywhere else on earth - but it's a heck of a lot closer to our version of Normal than the SoCal desert ever was!  :)

But, as I said above, it'll probably be another few weeks to get everything in the house totally unpacked and set up and have everything back to running like it should.  Be patient, and I promise I'll have stories of the move and the new house and all sorts of similar goodies!  As for now, boxes of kitchen dishes await...

Knitting and Crochet Blog Week: Wildcard

Just for fun!  I know it's way after the end of the knit-along, but as I am just about finished with this particular sweater (finally!) and it fit with the wildcard topic, I decided to use it as a jumping-off point.

Wildcard – Embellish the story

Embellishments come in all types and forms. Some are more than purely decorative and form a practical function – pretty buttons are as much part of holding a garment together as mere decoration, and some are just there to give a piece an extra ‘something’. Blog about an embellishment, be it a zipper, amigurumi eyes or applique patch which you are either saving to use or have in the past used to decorate a project with. Write about whether you are a very  minimalist kind of knitter with classic lines and timeless plain knits or whether you love all the bells and whistles or sticking sewing and otherwise attaching decoration to your pieces.

 For embellishments, I'm  rather simple.   Nicky Epstein inspires me, but at the same time can be so totally over-the-top bobble heavy that... I cringe, for lack of a better explanation of my reaction.

The embellishments that I do like are pretty classic.  I love clean lines in a sweater, with more subtle design elements than all-over color or bobbles or similar.  Within a piece (as opposed to added-on zippers or buttons or patches or whatever), I like trims at the cuffs or on facings on a cardigan; or accent elements like a well-placed cable or lace or intarsia panel.  Those are the reasons I like Nicky Epstein - her "edge" series of books is a great inspiration for edging ideas to give something more classic a more personal touch.  Norah Gaughan is a favorite designer for that reason - a lot of her designs are pretty classic pieces, but reinterpreted to give them something a little more.

For added-on embellishments, I like buttons.  Buttons can be such a tiny touch of personality to a piece, or a a show-stopping focal point.  Which is where I bring in the sweater I have almost finished:  Cumulus.  I know I started this one way back in November, and the knitting did just about all get done in the KniSweMoNo time frame, but I want to re-work the pockets in a lighter yarn (let's face it, my hips don't need any more bulk) and I also had to search for a good set of buttons for this piece.  So, a few little things preventing it from being a totally FO.  The buttons are proving quite a challenge - the color of the yarn is Pewter, but it's a soft grey color with blue and purple undertones.  In other words, an impossible color to match!  If I use a solid color, it gives the yarn a soft tinge in that color.  Black or purple buttons made it look much more purple than grey, and grey buttons just plain didn't match.  White didn't seem to work either, too stark a contrast, and I couldn't find metal buttons I liked in the right size.  Being a super bulky yarn, the pattern calls for enormous buttons!  So I needed to find 2 inch buttons that worked with a completely unusual color!  It was quite a challenge until I found a set of big enough shell buttons at the LYS in Apple Valley.  The shell buttons have so many subtle colors swirled together that they work beautifully with the crazy yarn.  Score!  Now I just need to figure out how to do those pockets, then attach the buttons, and this piece'll be all done!

Review: Wicked

No, not the musical.  The original book.

Plot: This is a revisiting of the Oz stories, but this time told from the point of view of Elphaba (better known to the world as the Wicked Witch of the West). To summarize (from Publisher's Weekly, courtesy of Amazon):

Born with green skin and huge teeth, like a dragon, the free-spirited Elphaba grows up to be an anti-totalitarian agitator, an animal-rights activist, a nun, a nurse who tends the dying, and, ultimately, the headstrong Wicked Witch of the West in the land of Oz. Maguire's strange and imaginative postmodernist fable uses L. Frank Baum's Wonderful Wizard of Oz as a springboard to create a tense realm inhabited by humans, talking animals (a rhino librarian, a goat physician), Munchkinlanders, dwarves and various tribes. The Wizard of Oz, emperor of this dystopian dictatorship, promotes Industrial Modern architecture and restricts animals' right to freedom of travel; his holy book is an ancient manuscript of magic that was clairvoyantly located by Madam Blavatsky 40 years earlier. Much of the narrative concerns Elphaba's troubled youth (she is raised by a giddy alcoholic mother and a hermitlike minister father who transmits to her his habits of loathing and self-hatred) and with her student years. Dorothy appears only near novel's end, as her house crash-lands on Elphaba's sister, the Wicked Witch of the East, in an accident that sets Elphaba on the trail of the girl from Kansas, as well as the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodsman and the Lion, and her fabulous new shoes. Maguire combines puckish humor and bracing pessimism in this fantastical meditation on good and evil, God and free will, which should, despite being far removed in spirit from the Baum books, captivate devotees of fantasy.

This is an interesting read, though not necessarily an enjoyable one.  It wasn't an easy read for me, either.  There were sections of the book that I was honestly just forcing myself to get through.  It's a very thick book, and could have been trimmed a bit - one of those less-is-more sort of feelings.  Some of the back story, and some of the details just seemed totally extraneous and, quite honestly, vulgar or gratuitous.  I'm not one for censorship (it's not like the book needs to be banned because of it) but at the same time, sometimes details or scenes add nothing to the plot or characters, and are just there to be there, no point to them other than to further the tense, dark, downtrodden feeling of this Oz.  Which, honestly, could have been captured without those scenes.  Those scenes just irritated me, and I had to force myself through such sections of the book. And it seemed too, that the details, even those important to the story, could have been trimmed.  A lot of the details and subplots did get tied together, albeit 250 pages later, but that didn't change that there felt like a lot of extra pages to slog through.

It also felt like Maguire couldn't decide what sort of book he wanted it to be.  It was part fantasy, part political maneuverings, and part philosophical discussion, but I'd always seen it marketed like a lighter piece of reading, a more 'traditional' fantasy sort of piece.  So, yes, I admit that did set me up for a let-down, as I certainly wasn't expecting something this dark.  The political back-and-forth dealings of Oz would put any modern day government to shame - this is not Judy Garland's Oz.  You have societal repression of certain groups of citizens deemed 'inferior,' you have class conflicts, you have politicians corrupting youth and organizing murders to further their aims - and that's just off the top of my head!  Maybe if I'd been expecting a more dystopian Oz, I would have been more prepared for the world Maguire had created.

Elphaba is a really good character, however.  I think the parts that dragged the longest were the ones that drifted away from her (like the first few chapters, which focused on her parents, neither of whom were particularly sympathetic characters).  It would have been easy to make this a lighter book and just write off Elphaba as a purely 'wicked' character.  Instead, it's a much deeper story.  A lot of Elphaba's actions show how 'treason is a matter of dates.'  Elphaba disagrees with the Wizard's rule, and tries very hard to bring about change against injustices that she sees.  She is brave, intelligent (much more so than many of her fellow characters), and a very well-rounded character.  Had she been successful in her efforts, then she might not have been seen as so Wicked.  The book makes you think too, about fate, as Elphaba tries very hard against a system that has seen her as a curse since birth (she is green, after all).  She has tried to further her causes despite setbacks and separation from her family and loved ones, and to no avail.  Yet Dorothy is plopped down in the middle of it all and things just work her way.  This makes Elphaba's story a pretty complex one emotionally, as you don't know how much to root for her, and already knowing the Oz stories, you also already know her ultimate demise.

Overall: 2.5 of 5.  It kept my interest, mostly.  I don't think it'll be a reread for me, and I'm not in a hurry to have it on my shelf, but I didn't dislike it either.  Would've liked it better without some of the extra unnecessary sexual details, and if I'd been prepared for a much darker world than the Oz I was familiar with.