Worktable Wednesday: The Green Experiment

This is another art card for the Bead Journal Project. Green is not a color I normally use in my work, so I decided to experiment with it. I found this cool diamond shaped stone at Artful Bead, my favorite bead shop here is Dallas. I've colored the background in green permanent marker so the white doesn't show through in between the beads. I've used a lot of olive green, some emerald, bronze, and brown so far. I still have some edging to do on the Strike piece, and then I'll post the final product!

Premio Meme Award

Hooray! I received the Premio Meme Award from Theresa of Studio618. She is the creator of the fabulous peace sign ring pictured. Theresa fabricates these herself!


The rules are simple. I just share 7 facts about myself, and pass the award on to another 7 worthy bloggers.

1. It's my Grandma's fault that I'm addicted to beads.
2. I believe coffee is the nectar of the gods.
3. If it wasn't for Etsy Dallas, I would have convinced my husband to move back to Austin, TX.
4. Even though I'm from Austin, I went to the rivalry school, Texas A&M, and had the time of my life.
5. I don't think I want kids. I just want to be the "cool auntie" to my friends' kids.
6. My favorite artists are Peter Max and Pamela Michelle.
7. I just convinced my apartment complex to let me paint my walls!!

And the awards go to...
1. Christina Likes
2. Tefi Designs
3. La Alicia
4. A Bead A Day
5. Kessler Craftsman
6. The Bead Doodler
7. Pamela Michelle

Time Track Thursday: Review

I just finished reading Time Management for Creative People by Mark McGuinness. The 32-page e-book is filled with great tips and resources. It was fun reading about creative habits of famous writers like Maya Angelou, who writes on a yellow pad in a hotel room, with nothing on the walls. It made me think more about when I feel most creative and what items/situations fuel my creativity. It also reinforced my belief that I need to spend most of my time on things that are important but not urgent for stress-free productivity.

Here are the 3 most important things I learned and will implement today:

1. I will work on my own projects first, everyday, even if only for 30 minutes. No matter what interruptions follow, I will have the satisfaction of having made progress on my goals.
2. I will write down things that come to me while I'm working, and put them in my "bucket". I need to get things off my mind and on paper so I can better focus on the task at hand.
3. No more endless to-do lists! If it won't fit in today, I will put it on tomorrow's list. What gives me the most energy is being totally on top of everything.

Click here to get this free, easy to read e-book. I highly recommend it. I also think it's best to read it on your computer screen vs. printing it out. That way your ink won't be used up on all the pictures, and you can click on all the fun and useful links.

Worktable Wednesday: STRIKE!

This is one of the art cards I've been working on for the Bead Journal Project. DH and I are in a bowling league that meets on Sunday nights. One night, he threw the ball down the lane so hard a chunk of the ball broke off! He still got a strike, though. I decided to use the broken piece of ball in this art card by encasing it in beads. I had another layer of beads on the ball but took them off because the gold beads were overwhelming the bigger gold beads I was using for the finger holes. I'll have to think of something else or get some matte gold beads. The pins were fun to bead and it's lookin pretty good so far.

What do tattoos and mustaches have in common?

They can both be beaded on pens!



The mustache pen idea developed during a craft circle (crafts and wine have created some awesome projects). Tamara of TP Design was making necklaces from 40 year old vintage velvet Christmas bows rescued from her parents house. She even added pearls and I wanted one really bad! So we decide to trade for a custom mustache pen that I am finally sending her way. She is a beautiful person and a ridiculously talented artist. Click here to visit her shop.

The tattoo pen features the symbol of local artist Jared. He paints, he draws, he tattoos. We have some of his coffee paintings in our gallery at the Starbucks where I work. The symbol is an arc with 3 lines slashed through it. It's tattooed on his forearm and he sometimes signs his work with it. If you're in need of a killer tat, see him at Artistic Encounter on Rosemeade. Ask about the swine flu tattoo :)

Etsy Dallas Beer-B-Q

My friend and co-worker had her baby this past Tuesday, so I worked overtime last week. I normally work around 20 hours, so this was a huge difference. I was so excited when it was time for the BBQ this weekend! We had a silent auction of member-donated goods to bid on. All proceeds benefited La Reunion. I donated this pen:



Larry aka Kessler Craftsman grilled the burgers and made some awesome Sangria. We had a nice assortment of beer, too. It was nice to catch up with all my friends and kick the soccer ball around. I'm glad Cheyne of Cut Out and Collect shared the picture taking task with me. Otherwise I wouldn't be in any of the pictures. I'm sitting on the step next to baby Ian wearing black in the Texas heat.

Time Track Thursday #6

It's a proven fact that when you have written goals, you accomplish more important things more often. So, I was astounded to find out that only 3% of Americans have specific, written goals!

Grab a sheet of paper and think about what you want to accomplish this year, in 5 years, even 10 years. I'm more of a "fly by the seat of my pants girl" so my only long-term goal is to have a studio in a house with walls that are any color but white. I have many goals for this year though, including blogging at least 3 times per week, keeping a full Etsy shop, and getting the new, improved Bead Circle website up and running.

My site is a big goal so I have smaller supporting goals that make a big goal manageable. For example, a goal for last month: research web hosts, choose one, and buy a year's worth of hosting. Write out many goals and focus on the most important first. It's a good idea to have some easy goals, and some more challenging goals.

Commit to your goals today by writing them down and sharing them with others. Now you're accountable, and exponentially more likely to achieve them!

Worktable Wednesday: Embellishment Explosion + Finished Lariat

I'm finally feeling better from being sick all 4th of July weekend. All I did was watch the history channel and bead. I got a little beading done between cat naps on the couch. My table looks like a bead bomb went off when its time to embellish! Here is my completed Dragon Tears Lariat by Melanie Doerman:

Swap Goodies: It's always worth the wait!

Sister Diane of Crafty Pod fame is one of my favorite people to swap with. We both just send our packages whenever our schedules allow, and its always a fun surprise because you never know when it will arrive. This time I received:

• Chic and Simple Sewing- I have been wanting this book so bad! It's a great novice sewing book complete patterns of the cutest dresses, and even a rain coat. It will be hard to decide which one to make first.
• Designing Jewelry with Semi-precious Beads- I don't usually work with gemstones, but the book has several designs incorporating seed beads. I would love to make something using amethyst, my favorite color or peridot, my birthstone.
  
• Dogzilla, a Craft Leftovers project- I love green crafting and this project is too cute! I think I will end up adding some bead embroidery to him. He can be the watch dog for my bead stash.
  
• my very own pink kanzashi pin- I squealed with delight when I opened this and immedatly pinned it on my shirt! DH came to check on me, saw what I was doing, and called me a craft nerd, hehe. The design can probably be found in her book, Kanzashi in Bloom. I pre-ordered the book a month ago, and it should be arriving at the end of the month!
• 3 ancient (1949) issues of Gourmet magazine- I read one of the articles about a woman receiving her first freezer, and it made me fall out of my chair half laughing half appalled at the language of how it "used to be". There is fantastic collage potential between these covers!
  

You can view the amazing things I sent here. Thanks Diane, you're the best!

Worktable Wednesday: I'm at the end of my rope!

I'm finally at the end of my rope! It took 16+ hours to complete this netted rope with size 15/0 black and purple seed beads. I'm really happy with it, and now its time for the best part...embellishment!