Hollywood Red Carpet Creations

When I first read the theme for the May Etsy Beadweavers' Challenge, I thought, "Oh, boy, this is going to bring out the glitz and glamour". How was I ever going to come up with something to compete with some of the wonderfully elaborate creations this team thinks up? Answer: Not gonna happen. I'm really not a "Wonderfully Elaborate" kind of person. So I got to thinking about the kind of fashion that appeals to me when it comes to formal dress. Again, I normally don't lean toward lots of ruffles and frou frou. I like draped designs, simple sheaths, skirts that flow. I love men in tuxedos. And when I thought of tuxedos, that's when it came to me - Black Tie! Fortunately for me, I had just bought Diane Fitzgerald's book Shaped Beadwork and was learning how to make the different components. It occurred to me that if I put two of the open teardrop shapes together point to point and figured out how to do a center, it would look just like a bow. A circle of fire polish beads did the trick for the center and my old reliable spiral stitch seemed a natural for the strings and ribbon. I used another of the open teardrops with a peyote stitch bar for the clasp. Done up in shiny black opaque and sparkly silver seed beads, I think it's Red Carpet worthy. I'd like to imagine someone like Diane Keaton wearing it at the next Oscar Awards! :-)

That was fast!

Finally got my entry completed for the December Etsy Beadweavers challenge, "Snow Queen". Since it's announcement, I've known I wanted to do beaded snowflakes in some fashion so I looked up old patterns for inspiration and came up with seven different flakes. I was watching TV Wednesday evening and finished the last snowflake. So, seven snowflakes made, now what? Necklace or bracelet? I thought of doing them in a charm bracelet style, but they tend to be a bit floppy and lay best when laying against something, not dangling. The necklace won. So then, I thought, elaborate rope, RAW, what? Well, the KISS technique won (keep it simple, stupid) and I decided to go with a single strand of beads to dangle the snowflakes from to keep the focus on the flakes. By the time my show was over, I had it finished and was quite pleased with the results. Thursday evening I set up my light box and started to photograph it, but ran out of battery and it was late enough I had to wait until Friday evening to finish it. Was going to get it listed but my children and grandchildren all were coming for an early Thanksgiving on Saturday and I had more important things to do.

Saturday morning after finishing my pre-family arrival tasks, I decided I had time to get my entry listed. After I listed it on Etsy, put it up on Flickr, etc., I was just messing around on the internet reading forum posts and stuff and went back to the Etsy front page. OMG, I had a convo! I thought, I bet it's one of the EBW members telling me they like my Snowfall necklace. No! It was a buyer wanting to know if it was okay to go ahead and purchase Snowfall even tho it was a challenge entry. After a couple more convo's clarifying things, she made the purchase and the necklace is packaged and waiting to go to the post office tomorrow for a trip to New York state.

Isn't it amazing that things can sit in your shop for weeks and months on Etsy with no sales and then magically, you happen to list just the right piece at just the right moment for just the right buyer and Bingo!

Uplifting!

It's been a while since I've posted. Been busy with life, the good and the not so good. Have two loved ones right now with health issues and naturally, that is worrisome. One will have resolution soon but the other will not, primarily due to lack of health insurance. I will help what I can, but it will be a struggle to put together the money so treatment can be obtained. My job has been very stressful for a while now and I feel I'm burning out. What keeps me sane and keeping on is my family and my art. My grandson "graduated" from Early Headstart this week at the ripe old age of 3. We had a lovely evening in our little local park and zoo, eating pizza and cupcakes and watching the kids all get their pictures taken in a little cap and gown. Ashton was not too keen on wearing the cap or gown but he had a blast looking at the animals and running with the other children. His sister's favorite part was her cupcake. Emily's 10 months and managed to get more frosting on her face than in her mouth! Of course, Grandma got pictures.

Then there's my beads and my floral work. I finally got my September challenge piece done this past week and I am very proud of it. I feel it's one of the best pieces I've ever done. Evidently, others think so too, because I have received so many compliments from people who have seen it. In fact, this evening when I logged in to Etsy (after a Very long day at work) I found two convos waiting for me. Convos are always very exciting! The first was from someone inquiring if I would make a custom wreath. Evidently, they liked my Kansas Color wreath well enough to get in touch with me. Of course, I responded in the affirmative so we'll see where that leads. Hopefully, to a sale and a satisfied customer. The second convo was from a fellow EBW'er and even though it was not about a sale, it probably lifted my spirits as much or more than a sale. She convo'd me just to tell me how much she admired my Tears of Joy and was very lavish in her compliments. I've looked at the things in her shop and she has some pretty amazing things herself, so I considered this high praise, indeed. To receive the recognition of ones peers is something I think we all strive for as designers and artists. I'm going to try to follow her example and when I see something that really moves me, I'm going to make the extra effort to let that person know. I know I'm going to be riding high for a while because someone took the time to share with me. Thanks!