Glass Notes

A Hand Full of Glow

2012-01-25T20:05:00.005-07:00

I just have to post a photo of the hand full of beads i made recently for a customer. They just look so glowy!

I listed three new pairs of earrings in my pet boutique, and a really lovely little set of heart beads in my bead shop. :-)

My Knife Project Part II

2012-01-23T21:26:00.005-07:00

The best thing about 5-minute epoxy is that it sets up in only 5 minutes. The worst thing about 5-minute epoxy is that it sets up in only 5 minutes...

A few hours after i epoxied my Arizona cypress scales to my knife tang, i began to shape the handle using the belt sander initially, and then various files, until i was happy with the basic shape. It just wants some gentle finesse sanding.

The day after epoxying my wooden scales to my knife tang, one began to separate. I popped it off, and was also able to pop off the other one. The epoxy separated from the metal surface, but photo shows the surface texture of the metal tang, and it looks pretty toothy. So i suspect that i spent too much of my allotted 5-minutes in spreading epoxy, lining up the scales, and trying to clamp the handle in a vise. So i sanded the epoxy off the wood, and did my best to grind some perpendicular grooves into the metal, and tried the epoxy again, but this time with a more critical eye on the clock. Fingers crossed, but three days later and there is no sign of separation yet.

I used some wood filler on the few little gaps next to the guard, and i used a Dremel tool to carve out the spot for my inlaid turquoise cabochon. The photo shows the turquoise unfixed in its setting. I have to decide how to finish the wood, and whether it would be best to set the stone before or after this step.

Pleasing Color Combos Made Simple

2012-01-20T13:06:00.011-07:00

Color choices are very personal. And it is one of the questions that someone could possibly ask me that i would have an immediate answer for. Bluegreen. If i'm at the mall and i pass a sale rack of tops, i look for the bluegreen. They may have one, but it's never MY version of bluegreen.

Combining colors that work well together is a science. You don't need to know the scientific details in order to find a certain color combination pleasing. But if you are putting your own colors together, sometimes it's nice to have a guide. You've got your monochromatic schemes, your compliments, your analogs, your triads, your tetrads, and your accented analogs.

When i'm making my lampwork beads i have something like 70 different colors within reach. Although i have come up with some bad combos, my recent bone beads listings use some really nice, scientifically proven, color combinations that work. Sometimes i like to use a free interactive online color schemer like Color Scheme Designer 3. On this website, you can select an initial color, and then it will let you see what various colors will make for pleasing combinations with it. Fun to play with.

My Knife Project Part I

2012-01-16T17:31:00.012-07:00

So last time i visited the world of big do-it-yourself projects, i was repairing the leaky roof. My latest project is making a knife. Son #1, who is a collector of knives, gave me a blank knife blade for Christmas. I picked this weekend to get my hands dirty. *Warning: This report is not meant to represent the "proper way" to make a knife--mostly i am winging it.

The blade is a skinning knife and my first plan was to use a southwest theme: i thought mesquite wood for the handle and some turquoise inlay. I fell in love with a turquoise cabochon on a post-Christmas trip to Albuquerque. I bought it, but have no real idea yet about how i'm going to use it on my knife.

I took a drive out to the hinterland last week and tried to find some aged mesquite wood. Based on what i found, i believe that mesquite wood tends to split like crazy as it dries--at any rate, i couldn't find anything usable. But then i remembered that we had some nice pieces of Arizona cypress sitting in our backyard, trimmed from our own trees a few years ago. I sawed off a piece of this and was impressed with the wood's density and grain. Jack, family dog, stood by doing his companionship thing.

I put my section of tree limb in a vise and hacksawed it in half, down a line i chose based on the grain, and trying to imagine the finished handle scales. I sanded each scale down to about 3/8 inch thickness on the belt sander. I penciled where the scales will meet the brass bolster, and sanded off wood to align with the brass (Son #1
suggested doing this before attaching the scales to the blade so there would be less chance of scuffing the nice shiny brass when trying to the sand the wood level after assembly.)

Then i used 5-minute epoxy on both sides of the tang, or handle part of the steel blank, and clamped it in the vise. I realize that i could have used the pre-drilled holes in the blank and used brass pins, too, but the holes were so narrow that i made a design decision to not have a skinny little brass pin head showing on the handle surface. If the holes had been larger bore, i probably would have added brass pins.

The knife tang has a thick and voluptuous shape, and my next step was to take a long time belt-sanding my scales to follow the tang outline perfectly, and then to sculpt the handle sides. End of Part I.

Showing the Toggle

2012-01-07T16:38:00.003-07:00

Check out this beautiful little dog paw print sterling silver toggle that i found for my GemBonz Boutique bracelets. I just love it. (Coral and ivory bones bracelet available now.)

Happy Coop

2012-01-02T17:05:00.003-07:00

I have been filling custom orders for "Soft Glow" beads by the score, and am grateful for the work! --the run-up to Christmas was very quiet saleswise. I took a brief, but fun, break when i went to Albuquerque with the family last week. The weather was sunny and warmer than it has been for weeks. Which was perfect for me since the activity at the top of my list was going to the zoo to see the condors. We were at the zoo just after zoo breakfast, and pretty much all of the animals were stretched out in the sun, dozing. And the condors were magnificent!

Sons #2 and #3 spent most of their time at the skateparks. And i visited Thunderbird Supply Co. for some silver wire and other goodies.

New to The Bead You Need: i just listed a couple more bone collections, and a flock of chickens.

Wonderful New Year to all!

Bones Bonanza!

2011-12-28T13:16:00.004-07:00

I've been messing around with some fantastic new glass colors, and first i made some heart beads as samples and then i made some little bones as samples. As most of the colors i was enthused with were actually kind of "gunky", they looked better as bones than as hearts. Check out the olive green ones, the ones with the surface sheen. That is a Vetrofond ODD called "verde muschio", if i got that right. It starts out as a transparent glass, but the more you work it, the more opaque and creamy olive it becomes. I can't seem to control the sheen, how and when it comes out, but i really like the transparent-opaque feature. Anyway, soon i had a small pile of bones on the table and they seemed to be sorting themselves into nice color combos. I listed a couple of "piles" of tiny bone beads in The Bead You Need this week.

Now, if anyone knows of some greyblue glasses that will give me this similar "gunky" look, please let me know-- i want 'em!

Mmmm. Sponge Toffee.

2011-12-27T11:29:00.005-07:00

I haven't made this since i was a teenager. I found two different recipes, both very simple. Basically, you boil 1 c. white sugar and 1 c. corn syrup until hard ball stage (300F). Remove from heat and whip in 1 t. vanilla, followed by 2 t. baking soda. Pour immediately into a foil-lined 9x13 inch dish. Cool, and break into pieces. Dip in chocolate if desired.

When making the first batch i used a recipe that called for less syrup, and partially substituted some honey for some of the corn syrup, and then proceeded to scald the mixture. But boy did it foam up (bottom stratum in the photo). Getting past the burnt sugar taste, i could tell that i didn't like how strong the honey taste came through.

So for the next attempt (middle stratum), i went to a recipe that called for equal parts sugar and corn syrup. I may have erred on the slightly undercooked side. The resulting candy was a little pale, and it didn't foam up very high at all, and lacked the tangy toasted sugar taste completely.

For my final attempt (top sample), i repeated the former recipe, but used a combo of vinegar and vanilla. I cooked the syrup mixture much more slowly and was more confident of the temperature when i removed the heat. The result was a fairly perfect color, texture, and flavor.

I dipped the pieces in semi-sweet chocolate, which is nice, but next time i would not coat more half of each piece of toffee, just a little bit of chocolate per bite being ideal.

And Yet Another Branch

2011-12-19T18:57:00.006-07:00

Branching out still further, i have a new etsy shop, entitled GemBonz. It is a boutique for the pet lover. I only have a handful of items on the shelves at this point--mostly earings and bracelets. I haven't started listing the dog and cat collar charms yet. Instead of having these finished pieces in my The Bead You Need shop, mixed in with all of the loose beads i sell to jewelry makers, it makes sense to me that i offer them in a specialty shop. A shop that people who shop for paw print and dog bone jewelry can easily bookmark and find again and again. ;-)

Going To The Chapel

2011-11-27T12:53:00.004-07:00

I hear wedding bells ringing. These little sock monkeys, aptly adorned in royal blue to coordinate with the wedding party, have been invited to A.'s wedding next year. Notice the heart on the back of the heads? They will be given a place of honor, wired in amongst the blooms of the bride's bouquet!

The Bead You Need Branches Out

2011-11-21T19:29:00.004-07:00

Notice anything different? New shop! over on ArtFire. So now i am running two shops. Neat thing is, i have them both signed up on Google Analytics, so i can compare how they are doing in terms of numbers of views and such.

The etsy outlet, if i understand these things correctly, is geared primarily for searches within its own site. So mostly, a person isn't going to find my stuff unless i've sent them to it via my own promotion efforts, OR they happen to be on the etsy website. I think etsy claims to have a membership of 10 million people, so that's a lot of shoppers.

ArtFire, however, seems to push their seller's items on google, so theoretically more people from off-site will happen upon my stuff. According to The Answer Bank, there are 250 million plus people surfing the net on any given day. I like them odds!

Papillon Beads

2011-11-13T17:30:00.004-07:00

One of my recent custom bead orders called for a papillon likeness. Something about the expression of the one on the right reminds me of a French porcelain figurine. The one on the left is more of a cartoon version. I'm new at dog bead renderings and it has been a little frustrating, taking several attempts to get something not coarse and clumsy.

That Crazy Cat

2011-11-11T19:36:00.008-07:00

I had to come up with a cat bead for a wonderful customer. And that is how this cool design was born, and i'm cazy about it. I want to spend a few days working out some more color schemes for them. But the kitty beads have to wait until i get about 20 sock monkey beads made! More on those in a future blog post. The red crazy cat is available now in the shop.

That Crazy Cat Lady's

2011-11-11T19:36:00.000-07:00

Sock It To Cancer

2011-11-08T22:16:00.008-07:00

I've been really busy lately with custom orders, and it has been a lot of fun. This pair of sock monkeys sport a yellow ribbon and initials "H1" and "H2" for a couple of girls who are fighting cancer. I'll talk about the Beads Of Courage Program in an upcoming blog post.

The yellow Astro bead and blue green BandOSilver beads are in the shop now. I'm working on cat beads, bird beads, dog beads, dog tags, and blue wedding sock monkeys this week (photos soon).

Mini Lampwork/Doll Beads

2011-10-19T20:24:00.002-06:00

Well-known fact: every American Girl doll needs a special necklace. As do many other dolls. My mini lampwork beads are in my etsy shop, and are available in a variety of stripe colors. These are great for people earrings, too. Because some gals like a small bit of color and sparkle at their ear lobes, rather than a chandelier.

Photodocumentology

2011-10-18T12:19:00.007-06:00

The most interesting photos i find on my camera are not taken by me.

My camera is conveniently located in the most trafficked area of the house. Everyone grabs my camera when they see something they think needs to be photodocumented. I take photos of new beads for my etsy shop every two or three days and then download all of the images from the camera. Often i am surprised by what i find. I have three teenaged sons, and i will spare you the picture of the swollen purple toe, or the blood trickling out of a gaping shin wound (unrelated incidents), but these pics were among the more pleasant surprises from my camera this morning.

What a Lovely Cranium You Have

2011-10-13T17:27:00.005-06:00

Here is my entry for the October Design Challenge : "Haunted" for the New Mexy Etsy Team (stop in and view the team blog). This handsome fellow is made with ivory colored glass. Ivory is the softest "soft glass". This is a happy feature when you are sculpting in the heat of a torch, because the glass on the end of your ivory rod melts quickly and you can apply it to your bead with such smoothness. But the low melting temp of ivory becomes a problem if you are have any detailed topography on your bead, since in melts flat while you are working away on adjacent areas. The teeth in the jaws of this grinning skull are of a glass called opal yellow. It has a higher melting temp, and this allowed me to keep the teeth sticking out in slight relief. And such rotting, crooked teeth should be noticed! (Available in my etsy shop now.)

Mini Lampwork Beads

2011-10-11T20:31:00.005-06:00

But first an update on the surprise guinea pigs. Poor little Headley was very runty and weak and passed away at 1 1/2 days old. Brent, who spent the first couple of days with his head bent so that one eye was staring skyward, is doing wonderfully now, and has even straightened out.

It makes me very sad that the breeders at this pet shop had such unconcern for their animals as to leave males and females all crowded together in one cage. Sure it's a good way to get a maximum number of progeny to sell, but it sure isn't good for the animals and the quality of the progeny.

I have been working on a new series of really pretty beads. They are mini encased stripes. I'm still working on colors, but i hope to have them in my etsy shop over the weekend.

What-Do-You-Know Wednesday

2011-10-05T16:51:00.003-06:00

I didn't know... Two months after purchasing a sweet little guinea pig, Sudsy, from a local pet store, we unexpectedly are the caretakers of two additional pigs.

Seems that guinea pigs possess the very interesting feature of being able to procreate at an extraordinarily young age. According to web sources, little male piglets as young as two weeks of age can impregnate a cagemate, and a female can conceive as young as 4 or 5 weeks of age.

Sudsy, our teen mother, fortunately, had no trouble birthing, and she seems to be caring well for the two little ones. If one is a male, he will be named Jesus (Spanish pronunciation, thank you) in honor of his pseudo-immaculate conception.

Paw Print Key Fob

2011-10-04T11:37:00.003-06:00

A customer asked if i could make beads with dog paw prints, so i had to make a few to find out. I turned one of the resulting beads into a key fob. I think i shall have to make a few more, as i have several floating keys on my key rack, and the paws look really pretty.

Buffalo Lake Hike

2011-10-02T19:17:00.014-06:00

It has been about ten years since we've been here and the water was getting low then. In the 1950's Buffalo Lake, in the Texas panhandle, was a busy little lake complete with cabins and fishing derbys. But playa lakes come and go depending on rainfall The '50's must have been moist times, and maybe the cabin-constuction era was wishful thinking. In any case, the cabins are long gone and the drying trend on the high plains continues. Today Buffalo Lake is a grass-covered depression (first photo).

We had a pleasant afternoon hike around the lake bed and saw mule deer and lots of nice beetles (disclaimer: not my fingernails). We tend to look for beetles everywhere, as my hubby is a coleopterist. The photo with the steps is an old dam, and the other pics of structures are of the sluice gates.

Canyon Petal Bone

2011-10-01T20:51:00.004-06:00

This bone is made using CiM's Canyon de Chelly. It's a really fun glass to use as it will give you from cool grey to a really warm buff, depending on how you heat it. I love a glass that gives you gradations! (Bead available now in my etsy shop.)

Little Black Dress Beads

2011-09-29T20:07:00.005-06:00

I can't help thinking how awesome these beads would look worn as the sole splash of color with a little black dress. I have this set available in my etsy shop now. I wonder how a set in amber and magenta on black would look...

Teal Vermiform Beads

2011-09-28T17:15:00.005-06:00

I like the little windows of transparent teal glass in the ivory glass of these "vermiform" (how i've begun referring to this style of bead). This set of ten beads is in my etsy shop now. They feel really nice to handle; their irregular shapes gives them an air of being antique and handmade and thereby "special". lol

Lampwork Chicken. And Oatmeal Cookies.

2011-09-27T20:48:00.006-06:00

Here is a little glass bead chicken family that i made today. They will show up in my etsy shop tomorrow, with three new sets of beads.

If you like oatmeal cookies, and you aren't put off my super sweet marshmallow icing... click here for a really good recipe.

New Beads

2011-09-23T20:23:00.004-06:00

More bones this week: this is a nice trio of transparent cobalt blue bones with blue blossoms. Definitely not Halloween bone beads. And i made a set of very colorful vermiform beads. They don't look as wormy in bright colors as they do in murky colors. And that's probably a good thing. All of these are in my etsy shop now.

Treasure

2011-09-19T20:34:00.010-06:00

My only bead eye candy today is one of the listings i made with some assorted "soft glow" beads that i had accumulated as leftovers from previously made sets. I think the gentle colors of these beads really lend themselves well to combinations. I made three such sets and am selling them for less than my usual custom ordered bead rate since you have no say in the colors or sizes in these selections.

I have been spending the evenings metal detecting with one of my sons, and so even though i have made a few beads in the last week, i haven't gotten around to photographing any of them. Treasure hunting is so much fun... you never know what you're going to find when you get a signal. We have found quite a few coins, the best being a silver one worth $15 on ebay. A bracelet made of sterling silver beads was a cool find also. For personal fun we also liked finding the face of a Thomas the Tank Engine toy, and a metal toy school bus circa 1950's.

And tonight while we were detecting we found a New Mexico blind snake (not my photo). Six or seven inches long, silvery pink, vestigial eyes and a blunt tail. They aren't normally found above ground so we felt incredibly privileged to see this, our second, individual of this secretive species.

Brenda's Bones

2011-09-13T13:07:00.008-06:00

These bright shiny glass bone beads (plus another half dozen) are going to a lovely lady in Colorado who turns them into suncatchers, which she then uses in fund raisers for the canine organizations near and dear to her heart. For example, Stiggy's Dogs, which unites military veterans with rehabilitated shelter dogs. She is just one of the truly special people i have had the good fortune to meet through my beadmaking business.

Snapshot Sunday/A Snapshot of My Day

2011-09-11T21:25:00.007-06:00

Whip Scorpion

2011-09-06T08:33:00.002-06:00

A gorgeous big whip scorpion, or vinegarroon, picked up in the Roswell area yesterday. Son #1 took her out to greet the morning sun in this photo. Later this week she will go to college with my husband and be show-and-tell. His classroom has a fantastic projector system that lets him show the students live specimens of invertebrates magnified on a huge screen.

New Tab Beads

2011-09-03T10:52:00.006-06:00

Well, not so new since i made the same kind several years ago, but these are hot off the torch and are going to be made into a bracelet for a friend of my mother. Don't you just love the blue/green!? I call this style faux dichro, because it looks quite a bit like dichroic glass (only cheaper, shhhh). Ya'll feel free to contact me if you need a set of these for your own selves now... :-D

In other doings, i have been making posy tortoises again, and more hearts, also. I remember when i struggled so badly trying to make glass heart beads. I do believe, i've got it down now. :-) See new hearts and turtles in my etsy shop now.

My sales on etsy continue to be achingly slow. The improvements etsy has made to the search options seems to have been the cause. I have revamped all of my titles and tags, to optimize this change as far as i can determine, and i swear i'm having fewer views, and fewer sales. The folks at etsy say it is better that folks can search more relevantly. And they argue that you don't need someone in your shop who didn't ask to be there. I say that has meant fewer people stumbling upon my beads. If you don't know what you're missing, how can you buy it? If you have ever used etsy, you know that the coolest stuff, is the stuff you happen upon by accident. It is part of the greatness of a site like etsy that brings so many diversely talented folks, and their diverse wares, together in one place. Perhaps it is time to try ebay again.

Assorted Things

2011-08-30T16:10:00.010-06:00

A very bright white chicken bead is available now in my etsy shop. It hardly compares to this absolutely gorgeous, HUGE, grey chicken we saw at the county fair last week. Wow.

And there's my spaghetti squash. It took the red ribbon... It came in second... Out of two... Lol. And my Sombrero Sock Monkey took a blue ribbon, but it was the only item in its category.

Have you ever seen a box full of half dollars? No? Well now you have. It is very heavy. :-)

Baby Horned Lizard

2011-08-28T20:03:00.005-06:00

They are about 5 inches long as adults, but in late summer when the eggs hatch, we find babies. This one may be about a month old already and twice as big as he was as a newborn. Babies are every bit as armored and spiked and dinosaur-like as the grown ups. Rumor has it that these lizards squirt red liquid from their eyes when they are threatened. We have caught and handled quit a few of them and never had one squirt. We've decided it would take the pressure of a dog's jaw or something to make one of these guys panic.

Let Me At Him

2011-08-25T22:05:00.002-06:00

Jack wants this toad real bad. Jack is at the end of his chain and he's being low and still, hoping the toad moves just a little closer...

Sparkling Bones

2011-08-25T14:19:00.004-06:00

I finally have some more bone beads in the etsy shop. They are listed by color. And speaking of color, don't you love that light purple glass? It's Effetre/Morreti 081 Dark Lavender. My camera pops the pink a tad too much, but you really can see both pink and blue in the glass, at the same time. A very pretty purple.

Family Pet's 15 Minutes

2011-08-24T22:20:00.002-06:00

Our dog, Jack, was on Dennis Miller's home page today. How's that for "making it"?

Personal Ads for Beads

2011-08-23T09:08:00.005-06:00

Bachelors beads are back! This harvest season my etsy shop will offer a brand new crop (>snort<) of available gents of the glass pumpkin bead persuasion. It is my pleasure to introduce Max and Frank. As with last year's bachelors, all guy beads can be optionally made into zipper pull/purse personalizers before shipment for a small extra fee, and each bachelor bead is packaged with a copy of his unique Personal Ad write-up -- as appears in his etsy listing -- making him extra desirable for gifting.

Mouse Bead

2011-08-17T18:05:00.002-06:00

One of my customers requested a mouse bead and this is the little cutie that came about. (She also requested a frog, but that result was too obnoxious to show! and i've got to go back to the torch to redeem myself.)

Good Wildlife Week

2011-08-10T22:27:00.006-06:00

And a nice trio of fern motif beads for a customer.

It might be the time of year, but whatever the reason, we've had some really nice wildlife moments lately. This gorgeous big bird is hanging out in our back yard. It is a redtailed hawk and he's probably using our trees as a perch to spot prey in the agricultural fields beyond our fence. We had been moving very slowly and quietly around him for the last few days in order not to scare him off. Well, he was sitting on the fence in the heat this afternoon, hence the spread wings, i think, and we just walked right up to him and our gesticulations and speech didn't seem to phase him in the least. He watched everything, and when those eyes turn on you, boy is it scary.

At dusk a few days ago we saw a great horned owl, and at dusk this eve we saw a grey fox. We poured water down a hole and found a green cicada larva (we put him back), and under a rock this gaudy centipede.

Rumply Rope Beads

2011-08-09T19:31:00.003-06:00

...or something... i don't know what to call them. I can imagine something organic being used as spacers (agate, wood, horn) between them for a bracelet. These are in the shop now.

It Will Be Alright

2011-08-06T22:29:00.003-06:00

The bleak economy seems to be striking my bead sales particularly hard for the past several weeks, and i had been considering options, such as Pizza Hut hostess, when all of a sudden the consumer comes through and takes some beads off my hands. No restaurant evening shifts needed just yet. Thank you so much, my customers.

I have listed several owl beads, and a bead i'm really quite fond of--this newborn snake coiled on a bead. I've been working on a set of spiral-wrapped beads (which i will photo and show tomorrow), but something about the pattern and tactile nature of the shallow ridges really appeals to me. This snake bead is one of those new beads but transformed into hatchling snake with a tiny head and pointy tail. I'm quite mesmerized. This bead is in my etsy shop now.

Trying Owls

2011-08-03T21:18:00.004-06:00

oh boy, i really tried not to jump on the owl band wagon, i did. But when you have a little niece that is owl crazy, you have to think of owls often. So i tried some owl beads. The were born in order, l. to r. I'm not happy with any of the wings and tails, and one of my kids pointed out kindly that "not all owls have ears, you know," and one of the beaks fell off. But i do like some of the eyes, and feathers, and colors. I shall persevere.

And this is our sweet new little guinea pig. Her name is Sudsy, and she is the nicest soft colors of white, cream, and dark grey.

Toothy Sock Monkey Smiles

2011-08-02T10:17:00.003-06:00

A series of toothy sock monkey beads will be entering my shop soon. Please meet "Wesley," first on the scene.

Goldfish Bead

2011-08-01T19:53:00.004-06:00

"Girls Who Keep Goldfish"

by Jazz Butcher

Girls who keep goldfish
Interest me strangely
Girls who keep goldfish
Fascinate my mind
What are they doing here?
Why are they here at all?
Chorus:

Hey I'd like to know - Those fish are awful small (x2)
Goldfish are silent under the water
Girls who keep goldfish
Are sometimes quite loud
Is there a reason?
Should it happen at all?

Chorus

Goldfish or Mondays are life as it should be
Goldfish are grateful for sun and for food
Is there a secret?
Oh is there a secret at all?

Chorus (x2)

Robber Fly

2011-07-31T21:58:00.003-06:00

I was looking at this photo i took this evening of a nice hairy, bee-mimicking robber fly, when i noticed that my blue salvia has a nasty case of spider mites. See the fine webbing and little black frass?

Down here in eastern NM our gardens are really getting stressed in this unending heat and absence of precipitation. I think it has rained 5 times since last fall, and the avg. temp. has been about 95F for months. And before you say "well, xeriscape, then," i'd like to point out that i have xeriscape areas also, and they have needed extra water this summer, too. It's just been unusually nasty droughty here.

Sock Monkey Happened

2011-07-30T19:55:00.004-06:00

I am a long time sock monkey maker. I started collecting them and creating them about 20 yrs ago... i dare say, they weren't popular when i was doing it. In this day of very affordable Made In China socks, it is very hard not to pass a hosiery department without eyeing them up for potential as sock monkeys.

I have bags of sock creatures that i had made on long road trips--wide variety of shapes, sizes, buttons, stripes, bells, etc.-- with the intention of offering them on etsy. But somehow, when it came down to it, i couldn't seem to part with them. Or a new baby or little kid comes into my life, and they get happily gifted. But this SM (sock monkey) got made spontaneously and quickly and is now in my etsy shop. I wash my hands of it, so to speak; i'm not allowing myself to have emotional connection. :-) And with a new Section now in my etsy shop, "Plush", maybe i'll be able to add more sock creatures.

Red or Green?

2011-07-28T20:33:00.005-06:00

Here is my entry for the July New Mexy Etsy Team Challenge. The challenge was to make something that was inspired by the question: red, or green? For non-New Mexicans, this question means "do you want red chile or green chile with that food?"

I made 14 glass chiles and strung them as a ristra. I made a green chiles glass bead, and a sombrero-wearing sock monkey lampwork glass bead. I fashioned them all into a rather bold pendant using sterling silver findings and chain. Sombrero sock monkey and I like both red AND green, and appreciate the option!

My Homage to Van Gogh Etsy Treasury

2011-07-26T22:40:00.001-06:00

'Starry Night Homage' by TheBeadYouNeed

Inspired etsians.

Impressionist Artist Vincent... VenetianArtiqu... $150.00	Starry Nightmare -- 8x10 Ori... kiwiokieStudio $25.00
One of a Kind Blue Starry Ni... CreativeArtCen... $28.00	Van Go - 4 x 4 art print punsintended $5.00
Handspun 114 yds Starry Nigh... moondogswife $30.00	Starry Night- Van Gough Insp... MyBohemianSumm... $39.00
STaRRy NiGhT - LaRGe 13 inch... DirtKicker $125.00	Starry Starry Night mbrazeau $30.00
Starry Night by Vincent Van ... lizzica $75.00	Starry Night Blue and Gold S... GrievousAngelD... $25.00
Glass Chessboard inspired by... AndreasHideawa... $350.00	Starry Night Van Gogh Weddin... artbycrystal $4.00
ART SLICE Hand Painted Leath... clpstudio $24.00	Van Gogh Pony - handcrafted ... TheWillies $40.00
Starry Starry Night - Woode... MinterandRicht... $197.00	Starry Night - Van Gogh insp... Moussycrafts $58.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Sock Monkey Classics

2011-07-26T19:53:00.007-06:00

It has been a while since i made sock monkey beads, but a customer recently requested a couple, which got me thinking how neat they are, and so i made a few more. The classic Fez, and touque versions, are currently in the etsy shop.

Also, a really nice crusty old tortoise. His shell spots are actually made with copper green glass that reduced around the edges, but i don't why it did that since i didn't remember overheating it... But cool beans, i'm glad it did reduce like that! (I probably couldn't replicate this result.)

Bright and Happy Posting

2011-07-25T20:35:00.006-06:00

My cute little niece, HR, with her "Candy Goose".

And some of my poppy photos (i may get tired of poppies eventually, but not just yet).

More Garden Notes

2011-07-24T22:17:00.006-06:00

New Mexico is a great place to grow squash, and my garden just isn't big enough for me to grow all the squash i would like. I'm a fan of growing the various hardshelled gourds. Also, i was very envious of a yard across town last fall that had the most incredible big red disc squashes, etc. I need an acreage.

This year i tried spaghetti squash. I haven't grown this one before, and i guess you just can't go wrong with squash in New Mexico, because they are doing really well!

But i have the dreaded squash bug (photos: eggs and nymphs). Tomorrow they will be treated to a detergent shower, but if that doesn't work, i guess they'll just have their way with my vines. There are about 6 nice big fruit, so they can have the leaves. I think i have my entry for the county fair next month. :-)

My Pork Flavored Etsy Treasury

2011-07-23T17:03:00.002-06:00

'An etsy taste of pork' by TheBeadYouNeed

All manner of pork expression!

Original Oil Painting Happy ... catclawsstudio $70.00	Piggy Sue Piggy Bank Cr8zyGrrlCeram... $25.00
Small Art Print on Wood, DG ... dolangeiman $55.00	Pink Pig at a Party Linocut ... themattbutler $29.00
Funky Junq Recycled Aluminum... FunkyRecycling $2.00	Bacon Fragrance Oil 1 oz. Us... fragranceoil $2.25
Porka Dot necktie. Silkscree... toybreaker $30.00	San Francisco is for Carnivo... drywell $25.00
SaLe - Save 20% with code 20... Gelly $30.00	Chuckles the Pig- Felt Anima... woobiNwawa $37.00
Swell Swine - Original Acryl... ElizabethMiron... $30.00	Creole - PIG On Driftwood - ... blueridgemerca... $32.00
The Three Little Pigs(and Wo... KensaWool $59.00	Papier mache pig mask Jevgeniamasks $41.00
GroundHog Jtnee $50.00	Stained Glass Flying Pig Sun... vicandalbie $22.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

The Black Sheep

2011-07-22T21:31:00.008-06:00

A nice little black sheep glass bead, with gun metallic wool is in the etsy shop today. I'm very pleased with the dimensions on this one and the head has a perfect attitude, in my humble opinion. :-)

Critter Beads

2011-07-21T21:10:00.005-06:00

I promised to show you some of the little animals i was making the other day. Here is a cute little chicken family. The hen and chicks are listed in the etsy shop now.

Also a racoon, a skunk, and a guinea pig. I think the guinea pig will be put in the shop-- i'm quite pleased with him. He looks like our old "Pud". The other two, I tried to put to much detail into a tiny piece and they just look sloppy, so they aren't sellers.

Targeting a New Etsy Shop

2011-07-21T09:40:00.005-06:00

Recycling old bullet lead into nice new balls for use as slingshot ammo. That's my kid's new gig, his etsy shop named Target Practice. The kits he offers come complete with paper targets of funky cartoony design, and a handy homemade pouch of upcycled denim jean fabric. His shop has been getting a fair number of views, but no sales, yet. Fingers crossed.

Garden Surprise

2011-07-19T21:30:00.007-06:00

First, i admit that i am a big old arachnophobe. Even though i have a degree in entomology, spiders have been known to make me scream, if i walk into a web i panic, and they just give me the creeps big time. Except for jumping spiders. It seems that the shorter legs, being covered with "fur", and having visible eyes, makes me feel more like they are tiny rodents or something, because i will even catch them in my bare hands to get a better look at them. (I had the chance to hold a tarantula recently, and i couldn't do it. I couldn't get past the thought that even though it was sized more like a mouse, it was going to feel cold and have some weight.-shudder-)

I found this little orange guy, with the smile on his abdomen, in my garden today (Phidippus sp.)

There is a really neat website that you can check out if you find a "bug" and want to identify it: bugguide.net. To use it it helps if you have already narrowed your critter down to family, but there are millions of photos, so you can just peruse pictures to find your critter. These other jumping spider photos are from the website and are of other Phidippus species. The site is fun to explore, just to make you go "wow" and be amazed at the wonderful variety of insects and spiders in our gardens.

Fern Beads

2011-07-18T21:07:00.004-06:00

We've been home from our summer vacation for one week today, and i'm finally getting back into the bead making. It has started fairly slowly as i try to figure out by feel just what i want to make. I have settled on making animal charms/pendants apparently, and the photos will follow shortly.

Meanwhile, i have recently listed in my etsy shop a neat duo of beads that i think of as having pendant-making potential. I like the way the fern pattern looks on the barrel-shaped bead, and the olive green and buttery antiqued ivory colors look great together.

Asparagus Flowers

2011-07-17T13:31:00.003-06:00

May be the least conspicuous flowers in my garden. I have no experience with asparagus growing, but i bought 12 sets early this year and planted them as per package instructions in April. A few sprouted about 4 weeks later, a few more much later, etc., until now, in mid-July, the last two are sending up their first tiny sprouts.

I have learned that the plants will be either male or female, and both have tiny flowers, but i think these are male flowers. I read that male plants are preferable, since they live longer, are hardier, larger, and since they don't spend energy making fruits, they produce more crop. And if you don't cut down the female plants quickly enough in the fall, they drop their seeds and fill your plot with a weaker, less vigorous generation of new plants.

Next spring, i should be able to cut one sprout per plant. That will be one precious serving of vegetables! But the next year i can take a few more, and subsequent years, if my plants are happy with where i've put them, i should have lots of spears for the table and possibly the neighbour's tables as well. But we won't count our chickens just yet. :-)

twist of wire, lump of clay, and lick of paint

2011-07-14T19:58:00.003-06:00

Precious little black sheep on my brother's knick knack shelf. Sure is cute. Hey, know what? You could make something like that, too.

Now if you did make a little sheep similar to this, would you be copying? plagarizing? stepping on the copyright toes of the creator of this one? Or would the original just be an inspiration, and because you will be using different wire, different clay material, and different paint colors, as well as bringing your own level of sculpting skills and your own ideas about what a sheep looks like, result in something quite separate from the original? Is your imitation just a sincere form of flattery?

I argue like this with myself every time that i realize i'm using someone else's piece of work as an inspiration for my own work. If i see a bead that i would like to try to replicate, i learn a lot in the attempt, but it never looks like the original, so i've ended up not worrying much about it.

If anyone has their own thoughts on "copying", feel free to comment or send them to me. I'll change a few words and post them as my own thoughts--just kidding. :-) I'll post and give credit to you as "one of my readers".

Family and Reminiscences

2011-07-07T21:30:00.009-06:00

We don't think to get family photos done. But we managed to get one this year when we were all together. Mom and Dad at the base of the family tree, my three brothers behind, with me on the far right, and our families behind/around us.

Son H is having a blast with his "big" skating buddy. They keep in touch through Facebook all winter and practically skate all day, everyday while we are up here in the big city. (He seems to be some kind of poster boy for skateboarding, judging by this billboard downtown. And he's a great kid!)

Cute little heart carved into the paint on a bridge i was leaning over the railing of. Don't give up, Julia! :-)

And a wasp one of the kids found in my mom and dad's yard. I think it was trying to sting me with that incredibly long ovipositor, but it couldn't get enough leverage. Kind of took me back to the roots of my original career when i was earning an entomology degree, met my husband while i was collecting insects, and eventually became a stay-at-home mom... And I still like the bugs!

Baby Love

2011-07-06T14:05:00.006-06:00

We were so glad to be in the neighbourhood when our new baby nephew was born. He is the sweetest little thing and he shares my hubby's July 1st birthday, so he will always have fireworks (Canada Day) on his birthday.

The flooding continues up here. The Red River came up very high this spring with the spring melt, but didn't quite get high enough to enter my parents' buildings in the city. Water levels went down a little and my fisherman son was able to fish from the bank. But over the last week the water has come up over the banks again with run runoff from North Dakota apparently. It feels pretty special to be able to sit out on the back deck and have ducks and geese cruising past within reach, but it can't be too good for the trees...

Loving It Up North

2011-07-03T18:31:00.013-06:00

Sorry that reports have been few and far between during my holidays in Canada. Here are some pics, but with precious little commentary. I just want to mention the photo of the wall branch of paper flowers that i made one evening in the cottage. (The mosquitoes pretty much chased us indoors come dusk. :-))

small mouth bass fishing and canoeing, red-winged blackbirds, a muskrat lodge with a satelite dish and small Canada flag on it (nyuk nyuk nyuk), wild roses, wild strawberries (made wonderful pancakes!), and the adventure continues for a few more days...

Oh and i hope you get a kick out of the photo of myself as a bathing beauty. This is my real true bathing outfit. There is no beach at our lake so you need the shoes to protect your feet climbing up the rock face to get out of the water. My suit was kind of a three or four piece ensemble, ugly as sin, but so color coordinated!

Note to Shelley

2011-06-21T09:03:00.002-06:00

Hi Shelley W. (Blogspot doesn't give me people's contact info, so i respond to your comment on my sun scorpion post here.) We must have almost driven right past your house last weekend when we headed up the highway from Amarillo through Liberal, KS and beyond. We live in Portales, NM. I'm glad you are bringing your interest in local wildlife to your classroom. So important to develop youngsters' interest and respect for the other organisms we share the earth with. Thanks for your comments!

Road Trip Posting 1

2011-06-18T16:27:00.008-06:00

It was a very pleasant and uneventful trip from New Mexico to Winnipeg, Canada, a few days ago. I usually have a needlework project or something to do while my husband logs 24 hrs behind the wheel. I folded flowers this time. I believe it is called kusudama.

I nodded off one morning and came to with about two miles of flooded hiway in front of us, complete with whitecaps. The water was about 3 inches deep right across the 2-lane road. They were letting trucks through and warning cars to detour. Since i was sleeping, my husband made the unilateral decision that our vehicle wasn't a car--it was a minivan... :-) We made the crossing without problems.

The old house looks great, and compared to our New Mexico home, everything is deliciously moist and verdant here. Mom's gardens look great, and we're enjoying rhubarb pies and rhubarb crisps! The mosquitoes haven't come out in their expected swarms, yet. My mom and dad took us to Lower Fort Garry to learn about life here in 1850's. Mostly my kids (teenaged boys) acted bored, but the Fort interpreters are really amazing: they dress and speak like they are right in the 1850's, living life in a Red River trading post.

On Vacation

2011-06-11T21:42:00.002-06:00

Had to close up etsy shop while we head north on our annual trip to Canada. I look forward to posting a few blog entries while enjoying trees and water, wow!

Lost in the Petals

2011-06-10T08:58:00.004-06:00

Our rain last week was wonderful, but it is but a dim memory now as the hot, dry, windy continues. I love poppies, and i managed to catch this one's image before the heat and wind shriveled it. Our cat Bogart is a real character. He joined us about 6 months ago and he has been the subject of probably 75 percent of the photographs taken by my family. He liked the poppy, too.

Tuesday

2011-06-07T13:21:00.003-06:00

These long white bones covered in little flowers bring to my mind the Mexican Day of the Dead festivities. It's a strange combination of birth and blooming and death and mortality. The grungy antique look of the silver plum glass bone and heart is attractive, too. All of these bead are now in The Bead You Need etsy shop.

My little babysitting ward turned two today! My previous nanny charge was named Henry. Since one of my son's was already a Henry, we referred to the baby Henry as "Baby H". He was about 4 yrs old when he pointed out that he wasn't a baby any longer and that the nickname "Baby H" was embarrassing, if not downright insulting. Up to this point i have referred to my current ward as "Pip", which seemed cute when he was a baby. But since he's getting to be a big boy now, i'm going to have to give him a different pet name. I'm leaning towards "J.D." (stands for John Deere) since he's a serious tractor enthusiast).

Target Practice

2011-06-06T15:53:00.004-06:00

My teenaged son has an etsy shop! The shop is called Target Practice. He is selling slingshot ammo that he makes in a mold. The lead he uses to make the ammo is stuff he's collected on our nature outings. So he's recycling, cleaning up the environment, and being creative. Awesome. I'm giving him a hand with the sewing of the recycled jean denim ammo pouches. These sets of ammo, pouch and amusing targets would make a really neat Father's Day gift, if the father happens to have a sling shot. Or a great outdoor activity starter for any boys in your life.

He's looking into making bullet shell and glass jewelry, too, and i hope this comes to pass. It sure won't be from lack of support, gentle nagging, and light shoving on my part.

Some Pretty New Crow Beads

2011-06-05T15:27:00.006-06:00

Finally! New beads. These are in the shop now.

I like beads that look handmade, as opposed to being made in a bead pressing machine. I like a little variation, particularly in color, but a little variation in size and shape doesn't put me off usually. But since i'm in the business of selling beads, not buying them, i get into this mindset where i don't think my beads are perfect enough for public consumption. Eventually i always argue myself back to a position of: i make beads that i like and people don't have to buy them if they don't like them. And then my job/hobby is enjoyable once more. :-)

Noble Sun Scorpion

2011-06-03T10:10:00.003-06:00

This is an arachnid from the Order Solifugae. They are found in most of the really dry, hot climates on earth. You don't come across them very often unless you poke around at night with a headlamp, like we do. :-) They are commonly called sun scorpion, wind scorpion, camel spider or false spider.

This one has been living with us for about a week. Why? because they are really fun to watch. They are incredibly active and voracious like you wouldn't believe. This one has been dining on cockroaches and even when she was full to bursting, like a grape, she couldn't resist tearing into yet another roach.

Note the cute little close-together beady eyes on top of her head. The front of her head is two massive chelicerae. The pair of long legs on the front are modified mouthparts called pedipalps. Before she gained all that roach weight she could pull herself up the side of her container using them, and they also are sensory in function, kind of like antennae.

As she fattened up, you could see her fill up with lumpy white tissue. We thought maybe it was eggs, but maybe just fat. The consistency of the white stuff is now much grainier, but we think it is too tiny for them to be eggs, since that would be a thousand eggs, where as they only lay about 100. In any case, she was released today so that she can go do what she needs to do. Good luck, Mabel!

Misc.

2011-06-02T20:29:00.009-06:00

Misc. blog subjects continue. With the kids out of school and husband off from his teaching job my time is not being used at the torch, and i can't seem to get a new routine going. Too many distractions.

My family is dealing with flooding up north, and we've been dealing with drought in the south. But for the third evening in a row it is raining tonight, and you can almost hear the land sighing with relief. And best of all, my roof repair seems to have worked! The other night it started out with a little light hail, and while me and the kid were standing at the back door in awe of precipitation, this single big hail ball came flying across the yard and stopped at his feet.

The guys drove out to Lake Meridith last week to collect a particular kind of beetles that can be found on the shores of certain lakes. The top photo is a picture looking down the boat ramp. Lake Meridith is a large reservoir north of Amarillo, and is the source of that city's water. The water level has been dropping for the past several years. But it looks like a nice spot for a picnic. There was water in other areas of the lake, and specimens of the desired beetles were taken.

The goats are in the back yard of a house here in town. I love those thick, knobby legs. Lots of homes also have flocks of chickens that free range down the alleys or into the playgrounds. One home has what sounds like many roosters behind a high fence. I'm pretty sure it is a cock fighting production.

Safe Harbor Lab Rescue in Wellington, CO.

2011-05-29T17:42:00.009-06:00

The dog loving folks of northern Colorado are in for a fun day on June 18th when Wellington holds their annual fundraiser Dog Show. Visit Safe Harbor Lab Rescue booth with photos of adoptable Labs, and Safe Harbor merchandise at this free, fun filled community event! Everyone who has a pet is welcome to just mingle and visit rescue and vendor booths or enter a one of the contests open to kids and adults alike.

One of my best bead buyers will be a vendor there: Brenda Leap is a long time supporter of Safe Harbor Lab Rescue, ever since she got her wonderful dog from them. She has turned my glass bone beads into fantastic dog bone themed earrings and beaded suncatchers, etc. and will be donating all of the proceeds of her sales to the rescue group. Good Luck, Brenda!

Filler Video Today

2011-05-23T21:00:00.003-06:00

Much like my kids' teachers, i am offering videos. Seems like they quite teaching sometime last week, but school isn't officially over until some time Thursday, so they show movies in every class. I've been thrown off my beadmaking routine by having house guests all last week, and have nothing new to show, so i'm going to try to keep you entertained with a video, too.

Here is a short video (click on the picture to go right to it) that my husband took. A tick crawled off our dog. It was full of blood so my husband took it to his school to show his Entomology (insects) students. While it sat it a vial in his office, the tick errupted into hundreds of tiny baby ticks. Thinking this was something that other biology people might find interesting, he recorded the mass of young ticks. It is on YouTube, and it has lots of views, and lots of strange comments (which you should definitely read--it seems that seriously disturbed individuals have been attracted to this video.)

Ned Houk Burn Pt. II

2011-05-21T18:40:00.008-06:00

These are new photos from Ned Houk Park burn area, just north of Clovis, NM. Not much has changed since my blog entry of 23 April, but that is hardly surprising since it still hasn't rained. I recall a late April hike in the same area a couple of years ago, when we were just stunned by the waving fields of purple and pink grasses and different wild flowers. This year? not so much...

These elms haven't sprouted leaves yet, but elsewhere elms are pretty leafed out already, so these trees may be done for. This particular piece of land was used as a motorcross track a few decades ago, and old tires had been used to mark the course. Most of the rubber burned away, but their steel belts remain. A big piece of pvc pipe got a giraffe's spot pattern. A few of the southwest incredibly drought-resistant plants are starting to come back, defying logic. It seems far-fetched that anything could live and grow out of bare sand and zero water, but a few representatives of three hardy plants dot the otherwise barren wasteland.

Dirty Pink Tutu

2011-05-20T21:34:00.004-06:00

>snort!<

How's that for a descriptive name for these beads...?

Available in my etsy shop The Bead You Need.

It's Spring in the Neighbourhood

2011-05-17T11:57:00.005-06:00

It seems like it has been spring already for a couple of months, but the weather was a little cooler for a couple of days and the air was fresh and it felt more like spring.

Here's my little nanny charge, "Pip", who is going to turn two shortly. He just learned how to climb up the steps of the playground structure and come down, AND get off, all by himself. He goes around and around and wears himself out and goes down for that nap real easy now. :-)

He enjoys trucks and tractors a great deal, and when i drove our little old beater of a Nissan pick-up over there the other day, he was thrilled to climb around in the back and inside the cab. He's a man.

I imported these poppies from my mom's garden in Canada, and they are getting more and more brilliant Barbie pink every year. I swear, this is true color in this photo! It's crazy flourescent!

Search Dog Foundation Earrings

2011-05-16T08:26:00.005-06:00

Head on over to etsy shop The Wizard of Roz and check out these great earring! Made using my glass bone beads, 100% of the procedes from these earrings is going to the National Search Dog Foundation. It's selfless people like Roz that make good things happen. Read below to learn more about the Foundation and what they do:

Our Mission: Strengthening Disaster Response in America

Founded in 1996, the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation (SDF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, non-governmental organization based in Ojai, California.
Our mission is to strengthen disaster response in America by recruiting rescued dogs and partnering them with firefighters and other first responders to find people buried alive in the wreckage of disasters.
We offer the professionally trained canines and an ongoing training program at no cost to fire departments.
And we ensure lifetime care for every dog in our program: once rescued, these dogs never need to be rescued again.
There are currently 74 SDF-trained Search Teams located in California, Florida, Nebraska, New York, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah.

DEPLOYMENTS:
Since the tragedy of 9/11, SDF search teams have been called upon by state agencies across the country to serve as the first responders to numerous disasters, including hurricanes, earthquakes, mud slides, train derailments and building collapses. Whether responding to a major national disaster, or one closer to home, SDF teams stand ready to serve.

Dirty Limerick Beads

2011-05-14T17:37:00.002-06:00

You know how it's so much easier to say "That would be a great name for a band!" and then plan on some day getting that band together, rather than sitting around with your band and trying to come up with a name? It's a moment of inspiration. Or at my age it is more often "Wow, that would be an excellent title for a book!" and then plan to write that book some day. I'll never write the book. And i'm pretty sure i'll never have a book sitting there on the desk all written and i'm trying to come up for a title for it. I often have a set of beads already made that i will need to come up for a name for in order to list them on etsy.

But sometimes we actually act on those backwards eureka moments. Yesterday i had this thought: "Dirty Limerick would be an excellent name for a set of beads." So i made some beads to go with the name. I don't think i'm quite finished with this pattern and these colors yet, so it may end up being a large set.

I'm fond of limericks and wrote a dirty limerick especially to go with the beads. It goes something like this:

A girl named Elizabeth Schmidty
Had a big hairy mole on her titty.
Her foot was a stump
And her back had a hump.
She said "Thank god my left elbow is pretty!"

And no one wants these beads now! lol

Retro Flower Beads

2011-05-10T19:37:00.004-06:00

I'm still a little shocked that these came out of my workshop the other day. They are so unlike the beads that i usually make. Bold and contrasty. Hmmm. [They are in the etsy shop now.]

One cool thing about little bits of color--beads, fabric, or what have you--it is really nice to be able to move them around and try out different colors next to each other. I had this set sitting on my kitchen counter and every time i passed by it i had to move them around and see what color combos i liked best. I had thought maybe i would make another set using just the three best colors, but the "best three colors" changed for me every time i looked for them!

Petal Bones

2011-05-06T20:38:00.007-06:00

It must be spring. I'm doing flowers on all of my beads. :-)

Some petal bone beads are in my etsy shop. I like the soft blue flowers on the delft bone. And the retro color combo on the ink blue bone is really nice.

I Heart My Dog

2011-05-04T12:07:00.007-06:00

Don't we all!?

I have quit selling my dog collar jewelry, but am launching into dog related human jewelry. At this point i am just sticking my merchandise toe into the water with the production of some very affordable and fun little charms:

My handmade glass hearts and dog bones have been fashioned into cute little charms which can be used on a charm bracelet, slip a small assortment of them onto a neck chain or ribbon, dangled one from your phone or zipper, and my favorite use: purse personalizers! I like to clip my special beads to my handbag--they go everywhere with me, and are always visible, and i get a certain number of comments (particularly on my sock monkey bead). Contact me through my etsy shop, The Bead You Need, to arrange for a custom order with your special color requests, etc.

Fans of my GemBonz and PuppyLuv charms will be glad to hear that these special birthstone dog bone and heart charms will soon be available as pendants on lovely sterling silver findings and sterling silver chains.

My Latest DIY Dare--A Nearly Dispassionate Recounting of the Experience

2011-04-27T08:16:00.005-06:00

I wanted my roof to stop leaking so that i could repair the ceiling in the sunroom. It's starting to really look like crap.

I didn't know if i could repair a roof. I've never repaired a roof before. I have vertigo.

I did very little research but read something about flashing, had already heard of shingles, and tar paper. I knew you could buy roofing nails. And cans of tarry stuff and caulking. Even though we don't have a tall enough ladder, there is a clump of cedars or something that conveniently grow right up beside the roof edge.

None of it seemed very mysterious. I hypothesized that i could do this roof repair.

I told my husband that i was going to do this roof repair.

I went to Lowe's and bought some flashing, some shingles, some tar paper, some roofing nails, and a can of tarry stuff and a tube of roof caulking.

I tested my hypothesis by conducting an experiment. I climbed the tree and after some patient help from an agile and fearless teenaged son, got myself onto the roof. I began removing shingles from over the spot i guessed was the problem area.

During this experiment i found rusted out flashing under cracked shingles and tarry stuff, and some ineffective caulking. I also found out that getting from the roof back to the tree produced a lot more trepidation than going the other way had.

Over the last three weeks (you would think it never rains in New Mexico), i have spent approximately 3 hours staring at my problem area, which turns out to be called a horizontal valley, and about 8 hrs actually doing stuff.

What have i learned during this DIY project? I learned that a 50-yr old woman can learn to climb trees to the roof, and climb back down again with hardly a flinch. I learned that she should wear gloves when working with old shingles if she doesn't want her skin full of fiberglass spines. I learned that she can rip up old roofing material and stick a bunch of new stuff down on it. All are skills that may not be very useful taken in themselves. But even here in the dessert, it will eventually rain, and IF that sucker holds and the leaking has stopped, i acquired the very cool skill of Roof Repairing during this DIY dare.

I stoically hope that my next DIY dare project will be gyproc/plaster repair of the sunroom ceiling.

Mummies and Burros

2011-04-23T20:03:00.007-06:00

Saturday morning, nice and early, a couple of the boys and i drove out to Ned Houk Park to hike. A grass fire had been through the back fields of the park some time early this spring and it made for really easy walking. Where normally there would be 6-18 inches of dry grass and spiky weeds, there was bare sand, with grass nubs, and yuccas with the all the dry spines singed off so that they looked kind of like pineapples.

Along a fence line we found the dry carcass of a dog or coyote and i had to take photos. This grizzly scene was later counterbalanced by a paddock of cute little old burros.

New Item. Still Tweaking...

2011-04-20T07:34:00.003-06:00

The simple bone bead is being tested on my dog, Jack's, collar. I like the bone in ivory glass, and the heart bead can be made in any color of opaque or transparent glass. Including the birthstone colors, of course.

But the big thing is to get all of my dog bone themed charms converted to human jewelry for the dog lover. I need to make the investment in sterling silver findings and chains first, and that's probably what has helped me procrastinate this important marketing step for the last year or two. That initial outlay of cash is so hard, lol.

The Sky is Falling, and Tons of SALE Beads

2011-04-10T21:13:00.004-06:00

I was trying to take photos of beads for the shop this weekend, but the wind was tearing across these high plains at such a clip that grit from Arizona or Mexico was dropping onto my outdoor bead photography set-up faster than i could sweep it away. You can't sell beads on a dirty background like in the first pic (unused)!

My family has never said anything, but my beads and lampworking equipment often takes over the kitchen counters and table for hours/days before i reorganize and push it all back again. Bless 'em. Today i made several etsy shop listings to try to get rid of some of the beads that i have no plans for, and which have been hanging around for far too long. I made a SALE section in the shop, and i've listed 13 assortments of beads for dirt cheap, including these neato yellow and green ones. I like the beads, but the majority aren't in sets, and are of differing sizes, etc. Maybe someone out there will find just what they're looking for and put them to some use.

Black & White Day

2011-04-05T18:49:00.008-06:00

I took my camera with me when i went to my babysitting gig yesterday. I took photos of high contrast situations that i figured would work well in black and white, and of course they turned out really obvious, almost to the point of uninteresting. I tried flowers, too, since that would be less obvious and pose more challenge. I don't think the results were very special, although i do like Pip's hair in the one picture where the sun is behind it. :-)

Crow Beads and Sizzling Sunbursts

2011-04-04T19:29:00.005-06:00

All of these beads are in the shop this evening, and also some really cool metallic glass bones.

Dove Grey

2011-04-03T19:43:00.008-06:00

The bird was in my son's hand under the flourescent lights of the kitchen, so my original photo had an icky green tinge. My solution was turning it into a black and white photograph. I take tonnes of photos. The vast majority of them are of beads for my etsy shop listings, and so i am constantly obsessing over the colors in my photos, since they have to be as true to the original beads as possible. Thinking of photography in terms of black and white would sure be a challenge for me. I'm up for that challenge. I'm going to carry my camera around for a few days and see if i can compose for black and white, posting what i feel is my best and worst here.

New beads to list tomorrow, and i'm hoping for sun for photography's sake. There are trees burning somewhere to the southwest of us and the sky is full of smoke this evening.

A recent "Etsy Success" mailing was about finding a niche for your craft business. One of the great things about how etsy has grown is that there are enough shoppers patronizing the website that crafters can have a successful business by filling a pretty narrow niche. It's got me thinking about my bone beads. Customers that buy them almost always buy several, and/or put in custom orders, and/or return to buy more. I really like to make bone beads. The shape is such a pleasing--nice to have a relatively long, thin piece of glass as a bead. It's a nice change from your typical round bead. I think i'll make bones for the next couple of days and stock the shop with an abundance of bones.

But i procrastinate so much. About half a year ago i decided to turn the GemBonz line into human jewelry and bury the "dog collar charm" aspect. I have yet to do that, so i haven't been promoting the GemBonz at all. That ain't no way to run a business.

Always something to tweak, though, and that's what's fun about it.

What I Did On My Spring Break

2011-03-31T18:54:00.008-06:00

With my folks antici-pating bad flooding of their riverside property this spring, i flew up to Manitoba to do what i could to help raise everything in dad's studio to a level of 3 feet above the floor. It was a huge job and i still can't believe we got it done in a week. Back in New Mexico now, i am keeping my ear on Manitoba flood updates. We'll see what happens in the next couple of weeks, but the long, slow thaw this spring bodes better than the "worst case scenario" predictions.

At some point this winter a shepherd mix pup crossed the river ice and took shelter under my parent's back deck. She was pretty feral, and between flood-prep tasks i took it upon myself to dog-whisper her into socialization. My family and the immediate neighbors were all concerned for her welfare and hoped we could find a dog rescuer that was willing to take on a difficult case. We thought it unlikely that she would be "adoptable" while she remained scared of people. But in five days we got her from cautiously coming out from under the deck to take kibble from a hand, to letting me scratch her belly. Sadly, someone not involved in her rehab called in the big guns and she was dragged away at the end of a noose pole the same day i left for home.

Get your pets spayed and neutered, get your next pet at a shelter, and please support your local animal rescue group.

Perky New Card of Business

2011-03-10T15:29:00.004-07:00

On a whim last night i took some time to design a new business card. The basic card design i started out with was very simple, kind of fresh and clean and new. It had a plain white background and just a few colored balls on one end that could look almost beadlike if you were inclined to see them that way. It had my name and status ("glass bead maker"), and my etsy shop address, and that was it.

And then i pretty much went the opposite way and ended up with this ornate, old fashioned style of thing. It was past my bedtime, and so i called it a day and ordered 250.

As i look at it this morning i'm shaking my head. iI'm wishing i had stayed up just a little bit later, since the next logical step would have been to go with a design somewhere between the two extremes... But i used VistaPrint, so all i paid for these cards was the five and a half bucks for shipping. And since the whole point of having business cards is to give them away, well i feel right now like i won't be able to get rid of these ones fast enough!

Yay Glass Pearls Color Combo

2011-02-23T20:13:00.002-07:00

I'm going to be terribly busy for the next few weeks with two HUGE bead orders, but while i was waiting for my shipment of the required ivory colored glass, i worked on these transparent rounds with fine silver foil and thick encasing. I had the amber set and the blue set on the counter together and i absolutely loved the combination. Although i've listed the sets separately in the shop, i almost hated to separate them.

Freshwater Limpet

2011-02-17T10:50:00.003-07:00

My husband, as a biologist, collects various organisms from local water bodies, and was surprised to discover that one of his aquaria has been housing a population of freshwater limpets. He didn't even know such a thing existed. Click on the photo to go to his video on YouTube to watch the tiny gastropods in action.

Back to Business

2011-02-15T18:48:00.007-07:00

I've had my dear friend from way back visit with me for a while, and i had some downtime with a cold, but things are back to normal now and the beads are finally getting made again.

One item in the shop now is this set of four little bones made with the Messy Color glass called Stone Ground. The round bead i made using this color wasn't very interesting, but it really shines when used kind of sculpturally, like in my bones. Then many different, albeit pretty subtle, colors are brought out. A lot of the Messy Color glasses behave like this and it's really nice.

I used another Messy Color called Sangre to make the red set of rounds. An encased layer of fine silver foil (melted off and reduced) provides that neat pearly, metallic residue.

Where's the Cat Drain?

2011-01-29T16:45:00.004-07:00

Stinky we hardly ever see, but then he'll come inside and get a couple of days of loving and spoiling, and then take off again. And there is a tom we haven't even named. He just sneaks in the cat door to scarf down kibble when he thinks no humans are around, and if he hears a sound he's gone like a shot. The last kitty we took in is a real sweetie. He was sick last week and had us wondering if there was such a thing as feline polio. We feared he would never chase a laser dot again. But antibiotics have pulled him through.

I love them all, but sometimes i think longingly of this handy gauge we saw labeled on an aircraft carrier, and how much simpler (and less hairy) things would be... if i could just find the "cat drain" lever or button.

Oodles of Soft Glow Beads

2011-01-28T21:15:00.002-07:00

I sent a nice big custom order out yesterday. It was a pleasure to have a couple of hands full of these lovely beads, even if for just a little while. :-D

Peanut Butter of the Month, Pt. 2

2011-01-27T20:08:00.004-07:00

Saratoga Peanut Butter Company's Blizzard Butter, a 100% natural (but with cocoa butter, milk, and vanilla--and soy lecithin as an emulsifier) Creamy White Chocolate Peanut Butter out of Saratoga, NY. And St. Laurent Brothers Peanut Butter, smooth and 100% natural (just peanuts and salt), from Bay City, Michigan.

These two offerings from my Peanut Butter Of The Month Club xmas gift couldn't differ more packaging-wise: Saratoga has a really modern, funky label design with several fun fonts on a paper that looks distinctly recycled and uses low key natural ink colors that give it that granola belt, health food look. St. Laurent Brothers uses a glass jar and a label that looks like it might not have changed since the 1960's. Maybe they were going for retro?

It was probably a mistake to taste the Saratoga one first-- with the extra ingredients it is sweet and rich and creamy. The St. Laurent Brothers peanut butter tastes very peanutty, but even though the consistency seems strangely runny (and it hasn't separated) the texture of it coats your mouth in a exagerated legendary peanut butter way.

I have a feeling the Seratoga jar will be empty in a week. The St. Laurent Brothers will likely be the one my husband has permission to make cookies with.

How May I Serve You Better?

2011-01-23T14:28:00.003-07:00

If you are a bead shopper, please take a moment to vote in the poll in the top right sidebar. The results will help me offer beads in the most useful way for you, the beader! Thank you so much for your input.

Relic

2011-01-15T16:08:00.004-07:00

Looks like an old bone, right? One of those fossils that have the nice iridescence on them? Or a bone made out of iron or something, with a fabulous patina? Naw. It's just a glass bead. This is Effetre's Plum Silver, and it makes awesome heart beads, too. I've got the bone in the etsy shop, but cool as my hearts are, i haven't listed any yet.

Jar O Bones Destashed

2011-01-13T20:40:00.003-07:00

A jar of bones is a pretty cool thing. It has been sitting in my kitchen for a couple of years. Today i dumped it out and separated it into destash piles and listed the piles in my etsy shop. I kept the little mound of lilac and opal bones to make a bracelet or something for myself. Hmmm, i wonder how many other people like bone beads to this degree...