Tuesday's Treasures: Cleopatra's Bangle Progress

Here is the (very Slow) progress I have made on the new bracelet. I keep getting distracted by fall cleaning, doctor's appointments and other things and have to keep putting it down. The good news is that my doctor told me I have acid reflux and not throat cancer (I'd been having a feeling of my throat closing for months so this is a HUGE relief), we got 3 new 2-drawer filing cabinets and FINALLY bought new sofas (on sale, to replace the 18 year old ones that practically sink to the floor!). The bad news is that, or course, my jewelry making has been suffering abysmally.

The base of this bangle is made with right angle weave, which I will be going over afterward in all manner of patterns to build it into a 3-dimensional bangle that feels soft as silk, yet is actually quite hefty. This bracelet uses about 50-60 grams of seed beads, each individually sewn into place with many, many yards of beading thread. This will end up containing AT LEAST 3000 beads!! Yes, I do doubt my sanity at times when doing this, but I must say, with a good TV show or movie on, a good cup of tea and a comfy seat, the time flies and I relax so much it is amazing. I will be covering right angle weave in one of my Method Mondays in the future, if you were wondering what that was :)
Here is the up close - I'm sorry for the bad photos: I took them in my living room window this morning, but as we are still fairly dark at 7AM now, the lighting wasn't so great. It really doesn't show how nice a blue these beads are - sort of an oily, lapis lazuli shade. I'll try to keep you up to date on the progress, and hopefully it won't look so pathetic next time!

Have a great day, tune in tomorrow for another installment of Arwendnesdays with Arwen the Wonder Dog.

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