Eating the Elephant

    What do you do when you NEEEED to make something but everything you start goes nowhere? ACK!! frustrating. I'm working on my bead soup, getting ready for an annual festival coming up in April, and trying to stay ahead of sales.... lots of little projects.

    Normally when I can't figure out what to do - I use the elephant method of problem solving. 'When you have to eat an elephant, the best method is... one bite at a time.'  I definitely have to eat an elephant. Sometimes I sit down and so many good ideas come to me, I can't make them fast enough. When that doesn't happen no matter what I'm supposed to be working on, I make earrings.

     Earrings are great, they're fast, require hardly any supplies and can be made with left overs! Making earrings usually sparks an idea for something similar, bigger, more involved. It's also a great way to try  something that you can picture working really well in your head, but you might not be sure about it on a necklace or bracelet.

    Guess I better get to it.... Time to eat the elephant!

MyElements - My Good Thing!

    There is a lot of bad in the world, turn on the news - if it bleeds, it leads. I think if there were more stories about the people who are doing good things... more people would be encouraged to do good things! So, here's a story about a good thing that happened to me!

    I got home from work today and in the mail was a package from one of my all time favorite people, Yvonne Irwin-Faus of MyElements. I have been ordering supplies from Yvonne forever, if you're not familiar with her follow the link to her Etsy site - its awesome!

    Anyway, I've had a tough year - not whining, just sayin' - and I haven't really felt up to being creative. But lately I'm starting to come around and I had decided if I was ever gonna get myself back to work I should start with something fun and colorful - I signed up for the Bead Soup cause a deadline seemed important and, of course I ordered some stuff from Yvonne.

    What showed up today was just awesome - she sent what I ordered (of course!) but she sent me a big ol' bag of Happy! I was really overwhelmed - I'm still smiling and I'm definitely ready to get back to play! Thanks Yvonne!! I owe you a hug next time I'm close enough to deliver it!

A Mile of Smile!

I'm Percolating Along

     The soup arrived, I told you about that. A lot of soup, a lot of variety.  Linda Djokic does really beautiful work and sent me an interesting sampling of it. When it first arrived I was so knocked out by all of it that I didn't really THINK about what I would do with the various components.

     I started playing around with all of it over the weekend. So far, I've made two pieces, one using most of the speckled lampworks. At first glance these beads have the feeling of an Impressionist painting. When I started putting them next to other beads I was amazed at how many colors worked with this one little bead. I could have used purple, blue, green, pink, ivory or a combination of several of those. I knew I wanted the beads to be the focus and that I wanted to make a bracelet. It just came together beautifully and I can't wait to share it with all of you!

     The second piece I made is a necklace. I really loved the lampwork heart and two matching spacers - who doesn't love spots? It really was a challenge to come up with something that made the heart the center of attention without it looking like what everyone else makes. It's different then anything else I've ever done but I think it still represents me - Now, I just have to figure out what to do with all the other amazing sparklies that I still have left!

Better Pictures

     Lately, to save time - (always a bad reason!) I've been using my phone to do photos. Either I have a seriously crappy phone or the hand holding it is a seriously crappy photographer. I choose 'B' - but even when I'm not lazy and I use my camera my pictures always seem to come out too dark. I'm sure there is some secret tip that you all know.... SHARE PLEASE!!

A Pondering....

     Not sure how I feel about everyone using ribbon, fabric, specialty yarns etc... in jewelry pieces. The look is interesting but I can't help wondering how well they hold up during wear. Its definitely not going to last and how the heck do you keep it clean? is it colorfast? What happens when the little bits start to unravel? How comfortable is it to be tickled by little bits of thread, fluff or feathers all day? How about it folks?? Do you or don't you and what are your customers saying about it??

Love the colors!

Yes or No?

The Best Things in a Plain Brown Wrapper

     I was not having a great week. I had an accident and had to have surgery on my knee. I was feeling sorry for myself and guilty because my accident was creating havoc in my families lives. I arrived home Monday night from the hospital, in pain, tired and very done with the day.

     In my mailbox was a box and I knew the minute I saw it that my soup was in there.

     In the box were 5 plain brown boxes, all tied with little ribbons and a note from my partner, Linda Djokic Lutka & Co. To say that I was delighted is an understatement ~ this was the perfect pick-me-up! Linda is a talented lampworker and had sent me some of her beautiful handmade beads. Along with a ton of filler beads, silver components and a really lovely silver toggle.

     The photo is not perfect, but I was so excited to share that I couldn't wait until I was allowed to climb the stairs to post about the stash she sent. I promise I'll do better pictures as soon as I can walk! Aren't the oranges so charming!? Also really love the heart, who doesn't love polka dots?? But I'm really impressed with the glass flowers... awesome! I hope I can make something worthy! Stay tuned.... I'm percolating!

Meet My Partner!

 

      I found out that my partner for the Bead Soup Blog Hop is Linda Djokic. I didn't look at her website or blog until I had mailed her soup to her. I didn't want to be influenced. Linda lives in Southern California (jealous!) and sounds like one truly busy, creative lady. In addition to making beads she knits, crochets, sews, paints, scrapbooks and gardens. All while raising three children!

     She makes really great lampwork beads, you can see that she's influenced by nature. Her style is light, pastel, feminine and delicate. I like her work a lot. You can see more of her work at her website site: lutkaandco.com  or her Etsy store:  Lutka and Co - Etsy

     So.... what did I send this poor unsuspecting lady??

      It definitely isn't what she normally works with! I sent her a set of awesome petal lampworks made by Michelle Veizga of Sun Door Beads, some of Alisha White's lampwork caps and a lampworked toggle. In my personal world there should always be some O Rings from Yvonne at MyElements! I tried to keep the color scheme simple and happy. I love COLOR, lots of intense, saturated colors so of course this is what I shared with Linda. I'm hoping that she can use her obvious creativity to make something fun and interesting... I can't wait to see it!

My next post will be about what Linda sent here to Virginia!