New Project in Progress

I thought I'd show you a bit of a work in progress. I was asked to do a custom bib-style necklace that I had to order some shell beads for, but while I'm waiting for those to arrive, I was inspired by that order to create something a little bit similar, but very different. Above is my little tray that I use quite a bit now - my husband has stolen my good desk chair from my office and is using it for his second desk (yeah, he has two "offices" in our house, don't get me started, lol). So I am stuck beading and making most of my jewelry here on my living room couch. Not that I totally mind - I can watch movies while tweeting to you all or making jewelry, so it isn't too bad.
Here are some of the tools I'm using for this necklace. It will be a bib-style, and in the bib part will start off with a chain mail type chain (a very simple chain mail weave though). To do this, I need my bent chain nose pliers - both pairs! I also need my jump ring opening ring - the little round silver thing in between two pairs of pliers. This little ring is a Godsend for chain mailers everywhere! Pop it on your finger with the correct-sized slot facing out to fit your jump rings and voila! your rings open SO quickly! I also have round nose pliers and my cutters for adding the beads after the chain part is done. In addition, I have some files just in case I need to smooth edges.
Here are my beads! Well, some of them I have also already added some onyx and lapis lazuli chips to the chain for dimension. Above are chips of amethyst, citrine and cherry quartz (which, incidentally, cherry quartz is NOT a gemstone, it is color-impregnated glass. Very pretty and colorfast, but NOT a gemstone!). I also have my headpins. When I start my metals mithing course next month, one of the things I absolutely HAVE to learn is to make my own headpins so that I never, ever, ever run out of these little buggers ever again!
Here is where you can see the stages of the necklace in progress, though I am deliberately keeping you fuzzy (pun intended) on the final necklace's details. Gotta leave something to your imaginations, right?? At the top of the photo above you can see the individual rings which I link one by one to create the simple double linked chain you see in the middle of the above photo. At the bottom you can (hazily) see the chain now has all sorts of bead chips added to it - what fun!! By the end, you'll have a hard time seeing the silver of the rings - it will be almost covered with gemstone chips, so pretty :)

Hope you are all doing well, and once again, thank you to everyone who reads this, even if you don't want to leave comments, or are just an occasional visitor, thank you. I really appreciate you visiting me here, and I hope you'll find the time to stop by my Etsy shop one day soon :)

Have a great day!

Thoughtful Thursday: New Project Update!

Here are a few interim photos of the new project I'm working on. This is a modified version of a project from my new chain mail book. In this bracelet, I am making my own rings (yup, all 200 of them), and then weaving them into a loose Byzantine chain mail weave...
In between the Byzantine weave units, I am attaching bead units that are actually a part of the chain weave. These are Czech glass fire polish beads in Crystal AB that are strung on small pieces of wire with their ends hammered flat. Then I take the other end and twist it into a double ring and attach it into the weave of the chain. After 3 hours of ring making, filing and chain making, I have about 6 inches or so done. I should be able to get the rest done today.

Tell me, what do you think (honestly)? Would you like it in silver plate or sterling silver, or 14karat gold filled? With different colored beads? Let me know, I value your opinion!

That's all for now, tune in tomorrow for a Fabulous Friday Feature.

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!!

Tuesday's Treasures and Arwednesday with Arwen

Well, oops! I was so busy yesterday getting ready for my first ever cooking class that I didn't have time to post the update on my latest project. Sorry about that, but here it is! You can see that I have started adding beads in a cross-weave-type motion to add stability, weight and strength (though you may have to click on the photo to enlarge it). I am now done this layer and will be starting the next layer today. I am very excited, though it does mean it is almost finished, and that makes me sort of sad - I love making these bracelets even though they are very labor intensive.
Here is the view from the top - you can see that I have filled in the whole of the second layer, giving it a more solid, filled-in appearance.
I took this photo this morning, as I am in one of my insomniac bouts right now and 4AM seems to be when my body just cannot stay in bed any longer (despite being awake until at least 1AM, lol). Arwen is, of course, very happy about this as it means that I spend even more time with her. Here she is "Smeyezing", which means smiling with her eyes. If you enlarge the photo, you will see that her eyes are not closed, but making that very happy look with them scrunched up. I thought it was adorable :-)

Tune in tomorrow for the run down on a great cooking class that I did last night with good friend Melody, in conjunction with Nature's Way Select Foods.

That's all for now, have a great "smeyezing" day!
and Arwen

Thoughtful Thursday: Bracelet Update!

Thank you all for your well wishes. I am hanging in there, thanks to Arwen and Brennan. I am having a nice time watching my favorite movies and working on my newest bracelet. Here is the result of about 6 hours of work....well...interrupted work. I still need to move around quite frequently, so I have maybe 3 hours uninterrupted on this so far. This is the bracelet with the first 2 layers.
Here is the bracelet looking down to show the cross sections. You can see the thread. It is funny, the beads are very tiny, yet, with this new macro magnifying lens they look huge. The beads are in fact only about 1.5-2mm in width!
Here is Arwen, doing her Night Watchdog thing. There are many birds, squirrels and chipmunks hurrying around to prepare for the winter, which is fast approaching. Arwen likes to make sure everything is in order and everyone gets their share.

Until tomorrow, we wish you all the very best of health and happiness.
and Arwen

Arwendnesdays: Lending a Helping Paw

Hello, Arwen the Wonder Dog here again to show you how I'm helping mommy with her jewelry. She has been really sick lately with her Fibromyalgia and that means I need to be extra cute and helpful. My mom says that she is very, very sorry to have not posted for a few days, but that we are back and we are going to try to post every day again. Don't worry, mom is okay, she is just very sore and her muscles go into spasms, making it hard to do anything other than hold a book or sleep. Still, as mommy says, today is a new day and she says we are going to work on her latest beading project!

Here are the things I helped her gather this morning:
-Beading kit (tray with beading mat, scissors, needle, beading thread, beads, instructions)
-Moisturizer for dry hands (I always try and lick it off mommy's hands, but she doesn't let me!)
-LOTS of movies to stay entertained
-Healthy snacks and drinks
-Laptop and phone to stay in touch
-Binder of projects and to-do lists to keep organized
-Comfy blanket to stay warm
In truth, I only watched as mommy got all of these things, but I did the most important part: I kept the blankets nice and warm, and smiled at mommy when she was ready to sit down.

When you do your art or a craft, what preparation do you do? Do you gather any special items?

Have a great Arwendnesday!!
and Arwen

Monday's Methods:Jewelry Making Basics

~Bent Chain Nose Pliers, Round Nose Pliers (Ergonomic), Flush Side Cutters~

For the first installment of Monday's Methods, we are going back to the basics: The very foundation, the tools of the trade as it were. This is a very BASIC list of tools (and you can be sure that I'll be adding to this list as we go on) that you can get at any jewelry supplier or bead store to start your own beading adventures! The biggest thing to keep in mind at any stage is to get the best you can afford. Never, ever get the cheapest pliers ($5 and under here in Canada, probably less in USA and abroad). They are uncomfortable (read: bruises and blisters), they don't have good construction, and they won't really last. A good starting point is about $10. From there, you can move up to more expensive ones (I am coveting a set of German ones, at about $40 per pair....it'll be awhile!), or resell them to a beading friend at a reasonable price if you don't think jewelry making is for you. A quick note: DO NOT use regular needle nose pliers that you would get at the hardware store. With very few exceptions, these all have ridges on the inside of them which will seriously mar your wire.

The first photo shows three sets of pliers: Bent Chain Nose Pliers, Round Nose Pliers (Ergonomic), and Flush Side Cutters.

Bent chain nose pliers are great for wire working when you need a bit of an angle on things. They are great for helping you get into tiny areas. If you look closely, or at the second photo, you'll see that mine taper to a fairly fine point. This is, again, to get into those tight spaces. The angle looks awkward, and feels awkward, at first, but after a little while working with these babies, you won't EVER want to go to back to straight chain nose pliers. When I teach classes, I always get my students to grab the bent chain nose over the straight. Try them and you'll see why!

~Tapered Bent Chain Nose Pliers~

Round Nose pliers are great for making wrapped loops, bends in wire, and so much more. They aren't as good for holding wire as the chain nose pliers, as the rounded sides may mar the wire if you press down too hard. Mine have more ergonomic handles which reduce stress and fatigue on your hands - always a plus if you are doing many hours at a time, or if you have arthritis.

Flush side cutters are great for cutting wire flat. You position the cutters perpendicular to the wire and it will cut at a ninety-degree angle, reducing the amount of filing time. They are a little more expensive than regular cutters, but worth it. A side note: do NOT cut thick wire or memory wire with these, as it will nick the blades. These are for regular wire only. I cut 18 gauge or less, though usually for 18 gauge, I'll use my big cutters, just to be safe.

~Nylon Jaw Pliers, Crimp Pliers, Heavy Duty Cutters~

The next photo shows Nylon Jaw Pliers, Crimp Pliers, and Heavy Duty Cutters. Though not strictly essential, they REALLY help move things along.

Nylon Jaw pliers are great for straightening curled wire, and work hardening wire (we'll get to that last technique another day). They are also great for holding soft wire without making dents in the wire. You can even make small pieces of wire decoration (swirls, etc) and then hold and press them in the pliers to make them more sturdy (again, we'll get to that another day).

Crimp pliers are a wonderful invention for using the very finicky crimp beads. They help to make crimping and flattening the crimp beads as simple and painless as possible (this is again, for another lesson).

Heavy duty cutters are just that: cutters for cutting heavier gauges of wire, or memory wire. These are actually taken from a regular old hardware store set of pliers. They are inexpensive and effective. You can, of course, get the fancy heavy duty ones from bead stores, for a little more expense.

~Right Angle Bent Chain Nose Pliers, File, Tape Measure/Ruler~

Here is another set of bent chain nose pliers, a metal file and tape measure.

This, second pair of bent chain nose pliers, is less expensive (they were actually my first pair that I have retired to second duty, as their joint is starting to wiggle) and are used when two pairs of flat pliers are needed (usually in finicky wire work). If you look at the fifth photo, you'll see that these pliers have a near ninety degree bend and don't taper quite as much at the end as the other pair - there are many types and styles of pliers, so if at first you don't find a favorite, keep trying and you're sure to find some that you like.

~Ninety Degree Bent Chain Nose Pliers~

The file is an essential piece of equipment in my opinion - you don't have to buy expensive metal ones either, as a simple nail file will suffice for all but the most rare of projects. Use this to file the ends of your wires to prevent snags on clothing, or for filing the ends of ear wires to prevent them being uncomfortable when inserting them into ears.

The tape measure, or a ruler, is imperative. If you want to produce accurate replicas of your work (for ear wires, or other more particular pieces), you must be able to accurately measure your wire or other materials. I have both a rigid 6 and 12 inch ruler, as well as a standard fabric tape measure. They are all worth the money you'll save in wasted, improperly measured wire later on!

The second, forth and fifth (above) photos show how to correctly hold your pliers. You want to cradle your pliers in the natural depression of your hands (above). Gently curl your fingers around the pliers as you'll see in photos 2 and four, and you'll have your grip. Here is where trying a few different sizes and types of pliers will come in handy - my hands are long and so the "mini" or smaller type pliers are out for me, unless I want to induce fatigue on my hands. Also, pay attention to the handles - the smaller or narrower they are, the quicker they will hurt or fatigue your hands if you are doing anything remotely finicky.

That is all for today, I'm sorry this was a bit late - our internet kept dropping and then I had a doctor's appointment. Tune in tomorrow for a bit of the project I'm working on now.

See you tomorrow!

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