Fresh from the desk: Ideas for Fall/Winter designs!

I've been doing a little bit of trend research for Fall/Winter jewelry and I've got some ideas.  Several of the trends are just horrid, I think... like the chunky neon chain thing... bleh.  I won't make anything like that, I'm sorry.  I try to use as little metal as possible most of the time and that would be entirely counterproductive.  I saw a crochet pattern for large chain links that could be strung together, but I didn't like the look of that either.  I'll stick with what I know.

There are a few things that did sound good though: Mixed media is huge.  Wood and pearls on leather with a ribbon, braided denim cuffs, feathers, you name it.  That's very good news for me considering the materials I like to use.  Stacked bangle bracelets and cuffs are big too, and while I can't do the metalworking to make bangles I can figure out how to crochet cuffs with beads.  I have a couple of patterns I'm playing around with to get that to work.  Statement necklaces are still in, and while some of them are gawdy, that still leaves me with plenty of room to experiment.  My statement pieces usually end up smaller than what's on the runway anyway, just because I know so few people who would actually buy something like that, but it does mean I can still use color.  While I work on crocheting cuff bracelets, I'll work on crochet chokers as well.  Vintage-made-new is something I should look into... maybe a couple trips to some local flea markets are in order.

Clothing trends are surprisingly bland.  Lots of colorblocks, mostly with variations of beige, with occasionally something in red.  Runway fashion makes me crazy... so little of it is actually wearable.  A lot of it reminded me of a large taupe square paper sack that even makes the model look stupid.

This next batch of jewelry I'm working on is for the Sturgis Rally that's coming up.  Soon, the Hills will be swarming with motorcycles and they will definitely be around town at the next Saturday show, so I have some ideas for biker-chic pieces to cater to that crowd.

We'll see how this one does... It has a fire agate center donut, hematite, bone, horn, and glass beads, strung on hemp 20" long when tied.  The differing textures of all the beads didn't quite come through, but Mom took the good camera with her to Cleveland so this is what I'm stuck with.  Oh well. 

The heat has finally lifted a little.  Finally, opening my windows lets in the cool evening air like usual!  That hasn't been the case this last week or so.  Hope you're all staying cool and hydrated!

Fresh from the desk: Push to Pageant Weekend!

Hot Springs is a small town, but for some reason or another, the Miss South Dakota Pageant has been held here for decades (if not since the beginning... having some trouble finding the dates for that, but it's not terribly relevant for my purposes).  Having grown up here, left, and moved back, I can't quite figure out why something so big would stay here, but it's a huge deal for this little town.  There's a whole weekend's worth of events structured around the pageant.

The event that's of most interest to me at this point is the annual Arts & Crafts Festival held in Centennial Park.  It's a wonderful display of art, handicrafts, local businesses, local musicians, all of that.  Someday I hope to be able to afford a table there (as well as the 3 days the event runs... I'd have to miss a day of work for that now), but this year it isn't in the cards.  I'd need to sell everything I have to break even, so it's not an option.  What I will do, however, is set up my table on Saturday morning on my usual corner at the White Elephant and hope to catch some of the parade traffic there.  It may or may not work, we'll see.

Partly because of this and partly because of my decision to build my inventory and post more listings online, I'm beading like mad this week.  Tonight I made two memory wire necklaces, a pair of earrings to match a necklace I made yesterday, and reworked the green necklace I made a couple of weeks ago.

This one has a yellow carved bone pendant and two similarly yellow carved soapstone beads.   I employed my trusty color wheel to come up with the purple glass beads, and luckily I had a large amount of varying shades and finishes that were the first package of beads I ever bought.  I thought it was time to try to use them up.  That's a bit of a theme for me lately... I have lots of partially-used packages of beads that really just need to be worked with.  I'm not a huge fan of using straight-across complementary colors on the color wheel... they tend to be a little too jarring for me, but after I worked with this combination a little it started to grow on me.  I may try it more, if I have the right beads for it.  We'll see what the public thinks this weekend.  This is also the first memory wire necklace that I've beaded the whole way around.  It really is a bit of an experimental piece, but what else to do with such a stunning pendant?

This one is more typical of my style.  I have a package of dainty large leaf pendants, so I chose one of the smaller ones and added a symmetrical arrangement of shell and wood beads in greens, browns, and white, natural greenery tones to complement the leaf itself and lend their different textures.  I love this piece, and it went together in about 10 minutes flat, so we'll see what the public thinks of this one also.  Personally, it's one of my new favorites.

After making the green necklace a few weeks ago, I immediately started second-guessing myself.  I took it to the Saturday show right after and I wore it for a little while, and my suspicions were confirmed.  It was too long, it didn't lay right, and the daisy chain stitch just didn't work with the heavy soapstone centerpiece.  Tonight I cut it apart and put the soapstone where it belongs, on a piece of hemp surrounded by shiny glass beads, unfinished wood beads, jade-green pony beads, and pale green soapstone.  It's long enough to be about 18", but I prefer to tie it tighter.  The center bead just lays better when it's closer to a choker length.  This is a much better use of it.

Yesterday I made this necklace.  One of these weeks I'll take the time to get some good photos.  Maybe after Saturday.

It's simple, purple and white, 16" daisy chain with a faceted purple glass pendant and two small white shell beads on each side.  It's sparkly, just sparkly enough to be a little dressy but not overly formal.  Purple may be my new favorite color... it keeps showing up in my new clothes, new beads, new designs... I'm okay with that.

Luckily for me, there were smaller matching purple beads available, so I got them at the same time with the goal of making matching earrings.   It's still a daisy chain, still the same white shells around the purple pendant, but in earring form they almost look like a helix, don't they?  I like it.  Lots.  Again, we'll see how this set does this weekend.

Tomorrow I need to make more bracelets and anklets like this one just because they're fun (and to use up leftover beads).  No two will be exactly the same of course, but I should try to do matching bracelets and anklets just in case.  Hooray for progress!  It was a good night!

Fresh From the Desk: Time for a change?

Purple glass donut pendant on off-white and
matte blue daisy chain, with rose quartz chips

Carved resin pendant on knotted hemp,
with wood and bone beads

Resin pendant on brown and off-white bead chain,
with brown shell and peace jade

I finished that purple necklace tonight, as well as two more! :) The pictures are bad.  Yeah.  Sorry, I'm in a hurry.  After this weekend I'll take some better photos of what I have left.  Actually, that brings me to my first bit of news.  Someone at our bank is interested in her own piece, which is easy enough, but she suggested that I bring in catalogs or something to distribute when people ask about it.  Hmmmm, that sounds like a great idea!  I don't know if I can pull together a full catalog in any kind of decent time, but I can work on a tri-fold brochure or something with examples of what I can do and options for your own custom piece.  Thoughts on this?  Have an example of hemp, daisy chain, and straight beaded, with options of length, color, and whether there's a pendant?  I think it may be worth a try.  It certainly can't hurt to print off a stack for her, she sees lots of people every day.  This means I need to start scheduling in dedicated time to my marketing.  I have also had a few order/requests from friends this week, which unfortunately will have to wait until I can get up to Rapid to shop again, but all these are signs that things are picking up for some reason. 

I'm also starting to teach violin lessons next week.  I'm not a violinist, and I never said I was, but I have taken the classes, I do play cello, I know the Suzuki method, and the student is only 6 years old.  This one I may be able to handle for a little while.  I'm nervous about it since I don't play violin, and haven't since that one half-semester in 2002 or something when I took the class.  I'm debating advertising for my lessons and setting aside a day each week for them, but I'm nervous about getting lots of requests for instruments I don't play, like the violin.  Piano or guitar, those I can pawn off on someone else in town...those I can't even pretend to play well enough to teach lol!  Also, I don't have a good centralized location for them.  My books, instruments, and tools are at my house, obviously, but it's not quite ready for company yet, it's not really set up for it anyway, and parking will be an issue if I have several in a row.  Maybe once I get the island finished, baseboards in, latch on the bathroom door, and the huge wood box out of the living room...but I digress.  My house isn't a good place right now.  I could use my parents' house, but it's their house so I'm not comfortable taking it over for a whole day every week and the students might be nervous with extra people wandering around.  I know I would be.  For just a few students I could go to their houses, but that means I don't have access to all of my supplies that are at home and are impractical to lug around everywhere.  Can't afford to rent anywhere, and the room at the State Home is way too big just for lessons and people wander in and out all the time.  Haven't figured out the plan for this yet, obviously I'm still a bit anxious about it and finding excuses not to really develop it yet.  Maybe after the lessons have been going for a while I'll have a little more confidence. 

In order to shift my focus to jewelry and music, I need to cut down elsewhere.  My regular job is fine, no problems there, it's a regular part-time schedule with minimal stress.  It may go full-time eventually, but it's not yet.  I have a once-a-month 20-minute job at the VA for $10, which is barely worth the trouble to get there but it's a jewelry vendor contact that I need to stay on top of.  Not like it takes much time anyway.  Symphony is done for the season, so that won't be in the picture again until the fall.  I have lots of gardening, landscaping, and general housework to do, which hasn't been getting done these past few weeks.  I'm on Weight Watchers now which requires more careful meal planning, which also hasn't been getting done very well.  There's occasional things like groceries, bead shopping, and having to hold a large cat that is currently draped around my neck because I've been gone so much the last week. 

Then, the major dilemma, I'm working an extra insurance day up in Rapid, every other week for 6 hours.  It was originally 3 hours once a week, on the same day as Symphony, which after gas and a meal just broke even with itself, but it was alright since I had to be up there anyway.  Now, we changed it to every other week so it takes less gas and therefore yields a little profit, but it still ends up being a whole day up there.  I'm torn in that I can't decide whether that extra $60-80 a month (after gas) is worth losing a day.  I really can't decide.  I guess the question is whether shifting my focus will yield more return, though I do need to go up there every week or two anyway for various reasons.  I really don't know.  My schedule at my regular job has been screwy the last few weeks, so that plus starting WW plus getting ready for spring/working on the house again plus (heaven forbid!) taking a weekend trip to see some friends, I feel like I'm stretched way too thin, like silly putty.  And, the little holes are growing the thinner I stretch.  As it is, no project can get the attention it deserves, and as such nothing is yielding what it should.  So, do I drop the extra day and use it elsewhere, or not?  I just went yesterday and I'm not scheduled to go back until Monday after next so I have some time to decide.  I keep going back and forth on it.  I'm torn!  Help!

Fresh from the desk: Playing with hemp

Concert week always wipes me out.  Period.  It might be easier if I didn't have to drive an hour to get to rehearsals and such, but I wouldn't want to stop playing and I'm used to it, but I need to forgive myself for getting nothing else done those weeks.

So, with that said, welcome back!  Yesterday I got started on rebuilding my inventory after the last sale and at the suggestion of a friend I decided to try some hemp with simple macrame knots.  I may try more complicated macrame at some point, but not today.  I wasn't sure what to do with the large green aventurine donut pendant, but a fiber necklace seemed to be just the right approach.  It's a large statement stone, but "felt" more like an informal one.  After reading a bit about the stone and its traditional ties to creativity, stress relief, luck, and healing, my intuition there was confirmed.  It's perfectly at home on a string of hemp between wooden and carved soapstone beads and looks great with a t-shirt.  I attached the donut with a lark's head knot in the center of the two strands and tied an overhand knot between each bead to keep it all secure.  I did the same (minus the lark's head knot) with the little turtle that I found at our Earth Goods store in town.  We've been going to that store more and more lately and I enjoy supporting local businesses the only way I can.  On each side of the turtle is a bone disc bead, silver spacers, and round pink and black leopard jasper beads.  Because of the size of the holes, one hemp strand has to go around each of the jasper and bone beads, but I like the effect.  Both necklaces are about 24" long and can be tied to any length the wearer desires.  Fiber is a great way to expand my metal-free capabilities so I should experiment with it more.  I bet my cousin would like the little turtle...hehe!

I also made an anklet for myself just for fun.  I haven't had an anklet in a while so since I needed to use up a shorter length of hemp I figured I may as well do it for myself.  I normally don't make jewelry for myself; I tend to keep the "duds" and try to sell the good designs so I have very little of my own to wear.  Maybe I should get over that, I might be my own best billboard so maybe I should try.  This isn't a great picture, it's too dark and not staged at all and you can see the beads better in the other picture, but I like it. :)  I used 4 wood beads and 3 soapstone beads, the center one being a dark-ish pink and the sides being a pale green.  They came in the same package so they're carved the same but there's a good amount of color variation between beads so it keeps things interesting. 

I might be able to get one more necklace out of that package of hemp, but I'm not sure what else to do with it.  Most of my other beads that would work on it are too small to fit on it, even if I improvise like I did with the jasper.  I do have another wooden donut I could use.  Maybe I should work on something else for a bit, or maybe take it easy for the rest of the evening.  I'm getting a little sleepy.

According to Niche magazine online, the 2011 color of the year is honeysuckle.  It's not a color I would wear, ever, because it would simply look horrid on me in all kinds of ways, but if I were to try to use it what should I do with it?  What kind of beads should I look for?

*Edit 5/11/11* The aventurine hemp necklace is now available on Etsy for $15!