Crazy Days

If you’re here to see my Black Stone Cherry inspired jewelry, scroll down two posts. Otherwise, I’ll make this short and sweet. It is 10:00 p.m. and I haven’t done any beading today. I should have been beading but sometimes, shite happens. The mail... it needs to run. It needs to bring my stuff. I hate waiting.

I had to take off time from work today to run errands and of course it rained and many people were in car accidents, luckily none of those people were me. I’m trying to get ready to leave town. I swear, I’ve planned less for week long trips than this.

BSC T-shirt is done and yes, it turned out awesome.

BSC jewelry is as done as I can get it right now.

However, the bridal necklace I’m making is not quite finished. This has to be finished by the time I leave for Atlanta. It doesn’t need much more work... just needs to be finished so I gotta go.

Bright Blessings to all.

More Pictures and a Bit of Babbling

My absolute favorite and the easiest to make so far. Could be the eight sheets of graph paper, seven prior prototypes, three variations of hangers, and two charms that went before it. I believe I could bead this in my sleep ... or blind.

Notice, it is not quite finished. I did get clasps this evening but notice I also ran out of silver beads and had to use bronze to finish it. It’s actually not "tied in" yet. On the right hand side you’ll notice black sinew and bronze beads. When I pick up new sterling tomorrow, that will be fixed.

I originally wanted to put a guitar charm on this choker, but it was too big. I switched it out with a "Kentucky" charm instead. I think I’ll move the guitar charm to the brown/cream BSC necklace.

My friend Stacey saw the brown and cream necklace today and he asked, "So, whatcha gonna do with it? Huh?" *Salivating* He met the band in Charleston at the same time I did and we’re supposed to be road tripping to Columbus on November 1st to celebrate our birthdays. His is the 6th and mine is the 21st. I talked to his girlfriend on Monday and she mentioned it too. He made me call his cell phone in the shop today so our friend (and my boss) could hear my ring tone. "Violator Girl," which for you non-BSC fans, is one of their songs.

My boss said, "I may have to pick up that CD..." DUH! I told him I would do that while I was in Atlanta. My friend Bob also asked that I pick one up for him since our listening party on Sunday, and I think Stacey wants a t-shirt. Some peeps need to be ponying up some cash!

Oh yeah, I do work a real job, just for anyone out there wondering. I’m a paralegal by day. I work part-time at the screen printing shop in the evenings and any free weekends I have. I’m the typical Girl Friday. Answering phones, invoicing, ordering, sales, trouble shooting, designing, pulling from the press and the dryer, bashing the printers skulls together when they fuss. My boss has been a friend for almost 15 years so it’s strange to call him, "my boss." Of course, I have Nate and all these pesky felines, and then, I bead.

Beading keeps me sane. It cures all my ails, except carpal tunnel.

Speaking of my son, he got a hold of my cell phone last night and when I opened it this morning I noticed a time in red above the regular time. Yes, he figured out how to put two time zones on my phone. I didn’t even know my phone could do that. Then I made him put it to Germany time because I have family there.

Well, that’s it for BSC beading for the time being. I’m out of white and burnished hornpipe and the black buffalo horn just doesn’t do it for me. But did I mention the graphic artist sent a mock up of the t-shirt I designed? It. Is. Gorgeous. He tweaked it a bit more and it was the perfect touch.

Now, I have to finish my friend’s bridal necklace so I can deliver it while I’m in Atlanta AND my cousins offered for me to stay at their place in Chattanooga the night after the show. It will be a bit of a longer drive back but better than having to pay for a hotel room.

I know it’s crazy, but I haven’t decided yet. There’s something about waking up in a rest area to the sound of diesel engines in the night... did you know that a cat’s low purr velocity of 26 Hertz is almost the same as an idling diesel engine? See, you learned something new today. I’m babbling. I need sleep. Three days...

Pictures...

First, I have to say "thank you" to the person in my life who has to put up with me the most. My son, Nate. He's posing here with a bronze manatee at the Columbus Zoo, taken a few weeks ago. Afterwards, I took him bead shopping, which is something like taking a manatee to a china shop.

As my Mama used to say, "I love him so much, I could just beat him to death!" I never quite understood that but anyway...

These pictures are bit out of order, so forgive me.





Forgive my model... she’s tired and cranky because she had to find a particular top, really a bathing suit top, and then put her hair up. It’s really me, incognito.

I have one more design to work on... it will be black and red. In the meatime, maybe I'll figure out how to put some kind of closure/clasp on these.

Rollin' On! Four days... and I'll on the road again! I hope I don't get lost in all the peaches...

I Changed My Mind

I spent most of today beading, washing clothes, and hanging with friends, listening to Hinder and Black Stone Cherry while my clothes dried. I had expressed irritation with my jewelry this morning until... I was on the phone with the Jolly Chainsaw - Mike. Mike makes wood carvings with a chainsaw and he was asking about business cards and possibly me making some "chainsaw" inspired jewelry. Suddenly, it just came to me that I was being far too complicated with my jewelry and sometimes, less is more.

As I visualized "chainsaw" jewelry, I just realized... *bloop* I had found the solution to my problem. I went to my friend’s house and started stringing and playing, finished the "S" of "BSC" and then strung them with the hornpipe I had picked out. It was a bit more complicated than the other piece but I have to say... you will have to pry this necklace from my cold dead neck when it is finished. It is gorgeous. My friends even said that it was the best and had a particular look about it.

Trouble is... yeah, that was the only pipe of that kind I had. Don’t get me wrong, I can still see how it needs to be tweaked... colors especially, but... I’m much, much happier with it. Pictures as soon as I get the "C" finished and figure out the clasp.

I’m Rollin’ On!

Finally!

I finished the centerpiece on one of the Black Stone Cherry chokers, then I put it together... and *sigh* It’s okay. The centerpiece looks great because I’m a beading goddess. The rest looks good too, just NOT what I’m used to. I’m not used to bulky jewelry. Not used to Native American hornpipe and tailpipes and half pipes. I’ve tried it with natural bone and buffalo horn and I’m not even sure how to finish it.

I keep reminding myself these are prototypes and prototypes are for working out problems and kinks and things of that nature. Part of it is just, I want it to look good. I also need smaller beads. I’m using 15's but I’d rather be using 20's or something like that. The smaller the better. I also need more beads, more bone, more of everything but I’ll use what I have for the prototypes and then order more if I have to.

To say I’m satisfied, I’m not. Of course, part of me never is. I always wonder if I could have done better. I’ll be posting pictures by the middle of the week and hopefully I’ll have another design finished by then. Coffee is my friend.

Here is what is going on in my beading world:

I paid for some jewelry that a friend of mine was selling. I eagerly await its arrival. I may get to attempt some things I’ve never attempted before. Because I don’t do metal work, I was excited that she had some very nice sterling pieces that I can dismantle and re-design with beads.
I still have to finish my friend’s bridal necklace. It’s just the strap for the neck, so no one panic. I have to photograph it and send her the picture.

I have another choker due by the time I leave for Atlanta. It is not a difficult piece but the centerpiece may not arrive for another week! I may have to send the choker without it and then send the centerpiece later. That would suck but ... I can’t help it.

Tamarack has contacted me for more product - bracelets and earrings. Lucky for me I picked up beads to make bracelets while in Columbus.

Christmas order has already come in. Lucky for me, I have time to complete that. I also have another order for a bracelet.

So, pictures very, very soon... Now, have to finish my laundry and do more beading. I hope to have more product - bracelets, earrings, necklaces - ready for the Christmas season. Thanks to everyone who has stopped by.

ow

Carpal tunnel. It's catching up to me. Small wonder considering I started abusing my hands and wrists early in life. Around fifth grade I started writing and those were the days before I knew even how to type. In 7th or 8th grade I spent most of my summer visiting with my grandparents and writing fan-fiction. Then in Germany and college, before Internet, writing letters. Long letters. 25-30 page letters, longhand.

Then the typewriter, then data entry, then my computer and the computer at work and over 700 blog posts, 20 short stories, two novellas, countless poems and more letters and e-mails, cross-stitch, painting, drawing, 9 years as a paralegal, pregnancy, a car accident, working in the shop, and now beading, yeah, I'm feelin' it.

Change of seasons always gets me anyway. I'm still coughing, I have a bad left knee, bad right ankle, and my shoulders have never been the same since my car accident. Right now, my body is saying, stop- stop - stop - stop... no more! My neck cracks when I roll it. But my mind keeps clicking along and when it clicks my hands move.

It is the way things are. Hot shower, nap, I'll be right as rain. (Oh, the rain, it makes my injuries ache.) LOL!

Why DO I Have Felines?

The Culprits!



Lola - Don't be charmed by her cute face.
















Smokey... big man of the house

And these cuties - Napoleon and Ireland...brats, all of 'em!

I love cats. They’re beautiful, sleek, they purr, and they’re independent, like me. I love all animals but cats fit my busy lifestyle much better than a dog, although I’ve had a few.

Having cats as a beader though, is pure insanity. IN-sanity.

When I first started beading my oldest cat, Smokey, would jump on my lap and lay down while I beaded. Only problem is, he weighs 15 lbs. It was like beading around a boulder. To make matters worse, my big Siamese Napoleon, LOVES Smokey, more than he loves me even. If Smokey was laying on my lap, yes, Napoleon also wanted to lay on my lap. With Smokey. Two for the price of one.

Beading means you bend forward a lot or you bend back and forth a lot. 20+ pounds of cat makes this impossible to do. Why did I LET them get on my lap? Because I love cats. Pay attention please. One is okay. But if Napoleon tried to get on my lap I was too busy trying to keep my beads from being swept away and the thread from getting tangled to stop him. I actually beaded around those two for a while until I lost all feeling in my legs. Plus, I bead beside of a window and it can get cold in the winter. Nothing like real fur and fat to keep you warm.

Then Ireland stepped in. Ireland is Napoleon’s little sister. She only weighs five or six pounds and she chased the men off for the prime spot. Makes it easier right? WRONG! Ireland likes to a) knead my legs with her sharp little claws for 30 minutes before she lays down which results in her being placed on the floor every 15 seconds of those 30 minutes; b) Once she lays down she immediately begins cleaning herself for 30 minutes. Every 15 seconds of those 30 minutes I have to de-tangle my thread from her ears, her mouth, and her claws.

I had one good beading cat... Jack-Jack. He didn’t weigh 15 lbs., closer to five. The other cats didn’t try to chase him off. He didn’t care how many beads I dropped in his fur or how often my thread brushed his nose, mainly because he was very ill. He had a chronic condition for which there isn’t a cure and passed away on Sunday very peacefully. RIP Jack-Jack.

Ireland is laying in the cabinet on my desk, perhaps out of respect, perhaps out of fear because she dumped my beads yesterday. She and her sister, Lola, (Yes I have a lot of cats, be glad I don’t have as many kids!) started fussing yesterday evening for the 2.5 seconds I stepped away from my desk. Normally, I place my beads in a cubbyhole but since I was just stepping away for a moment, I didn’t. The howling, hissing, and caterwauling brought me running. I let out a string of cuss words that would have made my Mama faint. The other cats scattered, Nate (my son) hid under the bed, the neighbors drew their shades, and there sat Ireland in the cabinet, calmly cleaning herself.

Size 15s, everywhere. Thread missing. Needle dangling from the chair. When I huffed and puffed about the mess and the loss of beads and where is my new *&^*(&$# thread, I swear she raised a feline eyebrow.

It’s a wonder I get anything done.

WHAAAA!!!

Meet Napoleon. That's me with the long hair. (I don't have long hair anymore. I donated it and I'm growing it back out but that's beside the point. )

Napoleon likes to sit on my beads. He sat on my beads tonight. I am 3/4s of the way finished with the "S" and he sits on my beads and dumps them. Just in time for me to realize, the "S" looks like "S"h*t. Heinous in my book but I'm particular.

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

I'm better now. Just tired. I'll have a post up about beading with cats tomorrow. It's just so much FUN!

Crunch Time

I haven’t had a lot of time to bead due to some personal problems but I was able to finish the "B." I’ve decided to go with "B," "S," "C" for the first design due to the aforementioned size of the original design, which is slowly being reworked.

Ideas keep clipping along. Pictures very soon.

Re-Design

Started on the first Black Stone Cherry choker. Realized, yeah, that looks great, but, it’s too BIG. So, the first design will be different than I first envisioned. I’m excited about it regardless.

One of their designs is a cigar smoking cherry. I worked on that last night.

Tough, very tough. Very, very tough. Brain in overdrive.

Maybe I could piece it... applique? Maybe... red cloth? Possible - very possible. I may have to break out my other artistic skills.

As in the post above... draw it - bead it? Draw it - bead it, draw it - bead it , draw it - bead it???

I could try it in 3-D. Wow. I could. I have wooden beads somewhere - I could bead one then build out the design in 3-D. Could I? Maybe. No. Yes. Maybe.

I think Blackstone Cherry smoke just came out of my ears. Just thinking out loud.

Inspiration III

Today was X-Fest and another opportunity to see Black Stone Cherry and bend their ears about my designs. In working on this project, it reminded me of another project I did many years ago as an exchange student in Germany.

I had a denim jacket that I wore everywhere and my cousin Niki, a very talented seamstress, musician, and artist, inspired me with some of her designs to make my jacket a masterpiece. In the days of album covers (versus the smaller CD cover designs), the logos of the bands of the day (Bon Jovi, Poison, Kiss, Whitesnake, Guns N Roses, Cinderella...etc.) were unmistakable. I drew many of them on the jacket, I think I may have also included Slash, the guitarist from GNR, and then some, or rather most, were then embroidered by hand.

HA! I’m sure my mother wondered where particular colors of her cross stitch and embroidery thread wandered off to before she saw me wearing the jacket. Then she kinda knew I had raided her thread.

I did as much embroidery as I could in Germany. After a while, I started adding patches from all the places I visited there, further adding to the unique factor. I think what happened to the jacket was it just finally dry rotted and at some point I removed all of the patches and, as it happens to things with holes around my mother (jeans, shirts, jackets), it was eventually tossed with all of my “artwork” on it. *Sigh*

But, I did at least find one picture with the jacket in it. This pic was taken the day before I left my host family to start the process of returning to the States. (Okay Blogger won't let me load the pic for some reason but you can see it here.)

In addition to the Black Stone Cherry jewelry, I’m working on my first bridal necklace, due... very soon. It is almost finished and when it is I will post a picture. I’ll also be working on two more chokers and a bracelet. I’m in the process of buying some jewelry from a friend of mine. I’m looking forward to getting it “in hand” so I can start some work I haven’t done before and that is working with sterling and trying out some new designs with that.

Inspiration II

What inspires me? Where do I come up with ideas?

It depends. I love nature and symmetry. I love all things German (as I used to live in Germany as an exchange student), French, Roma, Irish, Welsh, Middle Eastern, Egyptian, Native American, and the Middle Ages. I love old clothes and old places, cathedrals and cobblestone streets. I love dance and music of all types.

I started a belly dancing class today and I love the fringe and the bold colors of the costumes. I also love the bold colors of Fall, the oranges, yellows, and reds. But I also love the blue of the sky and the ocean and storm clouds with lightening. Creams and browns and the white of the moon. I love the night and all its creatures.

And, I love a challenge.

Beading is a much about creating the design as it is beading it. I take from two or three designs and add them together. I switch, I change, I envision.

I always say, "If I can see it (in my mind’s eye), I can achieve it (in reality)." That’s part of how I psyche myself up to complete pieces and create, not just duplicate.

On Tuesday I began a new design for a choker. It started with the idea of a man’s choker, thanks to Jon from Black Stone Cherry. Then I envisioned it. Next, I printed graph paper and got their CD cover. I began counting beads and graphing their logo on the paper.

It’s not perfect, it never will be. Although there are programs which would digitize this, graph it, and give me the color separations, I chose not to use them. I prefer to do it myself. It’s not exactly as it appears on their CD cover and that’s fine, because that makes it mine. As I work, I think of the size bead I want to use. After graphing the "B" I determine it will be small beads, 15's although I found some 16-22's online, the color selection is not great. The 16-22's or even 24's are antique and rare to find. But the detail is amazing. 15's give great detail too, so... I’m still kicking that around.

For those non-beaders, the higher the number, the smaller the bead.

Then, I ordered beads. While I keep a decent selection on hand, after looking at the CD cover again, decided I needed a darker cream bead and felt a rootbeer colored bead would do well for the antique look. Then I ordered burnished bone hairpipe and spacers and brass beads of two shapes and sinew.

I know I’ll be using square stitch, which makes the piece look loomed, except on a loom you add several beads in rows at a time, whereas with square stitch it is one bead at a time. I could have used peyote stitch but chose to use square stitch because of its durability. Unlike peyote, if square stitch breaks, it does not unravel. The chance of losing the entire necklace due to the degrading of the threads from sweat and body oils is increased with peyote and reduced with square.

If I’m going to be rocking out in a crowd and sweating, I need a sturdy set up.

So, here’s the inspiration. I’ll update as I begin creating.

Inspiration

I have been inspired by Jon Lawhon, bassist of the band Black Stone Cherry (www.blackstonecherry.com) to create men friendly jewelry. I realized that all of my jewelry is female geared, so check back soon for Native American/natural material/wood jewelry. It’s time I returned to my roots. I’m ordering the materials today and as always when I’m on a mission, I will dive into creating new pieces of art.

Jon, if you check in here, you and the guys put on an incredible show. I love the CD! "Tired of the Rain" is my favorite. Tell John Fred, Chris, and Ben I said hello. It was great meeting you all and I’ll see you at X-Fest!