Tuesday's Treasures: Cleopatra's Finished! And More Treasuries!

It's Here! It's Here! The Cleopatra Bangle Bracelet is finally here and finished! It took over ten hours and 3000 teeny, tiny seed beads (each individually sewn into the next) but it is finished and FABULOUS! I used glass seed beads in shades of shiny dark lapis lazuli blue and golden amber to recapture the lost opulence of Cleopatra, once queen of Egypt.
This bracelet fits over hands with a circumference of 7-1/2 inches, and is now for sale on my Etsy store. This is ONE OF A KIND! I can't get these exact blue seed beads again so get it while you can. If you would like one in a different size, I can make a similar one for you, just contact me for details...
I also managed to get into 3 different treasuries, filled with other fabulous Etsy artists Click on the links to go and see more. Above is Handmade Holidays Part 2
The one above is Plurkers Unite, from one of my Plurk buddies (see my Plurk feed on the lower right of my blog for details).
This one is Festive Goodies, with more fabulous gift ideas.

Have a great Tuesday, see you tomorrow!

Thoughtful Thursday: Bracelet Update and More

Here is the fourth layer started on the bracelet. I am using an Amber colored glass seed bead for this layer, and as it is built up it will look more like amber and less green, since the blue beads underneath are trying to show through right now. I am currently working more amber beads in between the rows of these amber beads, to give a cross pattern effect. More to come next Tuesday!

In other news, a good friend of mine is in need of prayers and/or positive thoughts. She is a breast cancer survivor, and is now being looked at for ovarian cancer. She had "minor" surgery on Tuesday to do some tests and the results won't be back for a bit. I say "minor" because no matter how minor they say it is, it is still painful and a real inconvenience! Please keep her in your thoughts, and pray that it is nothing so serious as more cancer, but, if it is, please pray that it has been caught early and can be cured. Thank you.

That is all for now, see you tomorrow for a Fabulous Friday Feature!!

Sweet Saturday: I Can See My Desk!

For those of you that wanted to see my work space, you're in for a shock, not a treat. This is the first time I've seen my desk in about 4 months. No Joke. I have had so many papers, projects, and miscellaneous junk on it that I just about had a meltdown the other day and decided to clean it. It's not that I'm a messy or disorganized person, it's just that I have so much stuff and so little storage. Not for long: I have decided how I am going to redo my office, and when the store restocks the shelving that I want, I am taking the plunge. No more waiting, I can't stand to be so crammed that I can't fit a jewelry project and my laptop on my desk. I don't even have a large laptop, or large projects, it's just that I have, as I said, so much stuff to store on my desk that I can't do much more than pick out my materials and get out of there as fast as I can!

I will admit to one cardinal sin, though: I LOVE bookkeeping. I love it so much that I will let it pile up so that I have at least a few solid hours of sitting in front of my laptop, entering numbers into spreadsheets and doing calculations. That, for me at least, is like a yogi sitting and meditating to relax. It clears my mind and lets me have some fun with numbers (I know, I know, but I never said I wasn't a nerd, quite the opposite really!).
Now that the papers are cleared away, I have found that, not only am I caught up on all my bookkeeping for the year, but I have some space that might need filling on my desk! This is the start of a new project that I will keep you up to date on. It is similar to the Victoria's Bangle Bracelet that is currently for sale in my Etsy store, but will be done in dark, lapis lazuli-colored blue and amber-colored seed beads, inspired by Egyptian Queen Nefertiti. It will take the better part of a week (my hands cramp up so that slows me down a bit), so I'll try to update you often without boring you. It is using a bead weaving or stitching technique that is very fun and relaxing.

Arwen, meanwhile, is fast asleep, her paws making little twitching, running movements - I think she is dreaming of the deer we saw on our last walk!

Have a great Saturday,
and Arwen

Tuesday's Treasures

Today's Treasure is something I have just discovered I absolutely love: Beadweaving! I got a book a while back and never really did anything with it, as wire work was taking up every waking minute (and some of my dreams, lol), but now that I have discovered its possibilities, I am fascinated! I made this bracelet (sorry for the bad image, but I'll get better ones soon) with silver lined clear seed beads and natural pink seed beads (the pink isn't dyed, how cool is that?!). I used a 'daisy chain' pattern and then used a peyote stitch to make the toggle. It is very shiny and pretty - though small as the daisy chain is a narrow stitch. It will make the perfect dainty little bracelet for someone who likes smaller jewellery, or a great layering piece. I'll probably have this for sale in my Etsy Store soon...I'm trying to convince myself not to keep it ;-)
Who knew that something people have been doing for centuries would still be cool today?? I am super-impressed!
Don't forget to enter the January Blog Contest to try and win a very nice prize - see the post from January 3 for details.
Also, the SUPER 50% off sale is still going, but items are selling fast, so hurry to get some beautiful items at incredible prices!