Slow and Steady Wins the Race

Despite not being home most of Saturday, and having guests Saturday night, I managed to get some beading done.

I have an obsession with repurposing old jewelry to make new jewelry. It started with some vintage beaded pieces that I bought so I could reuse just the beads. But I also received some additional pieces of jewelry with those beaded pieces and was inspired. Since then, I have scoured eBay and ShopGoodwill.com for steals. I have a price limit, and I set a parameter that I must be able to see at least 5 pieces from the grabbag/lot/mystery-box-o-junk that I absolutely must have, before I bid. Its not hard to find lots with at least 5 pieces that I must have. So I now have a large pile-o-junk-jewelry. I plan to make some pieces that I can sell as a fundraiser for a charity organization I volunteer with. More on that in coming months I hope. And of course, if there is anything in the pile that I know I just won't make use of, I'll sell it on eBay so I can afford to buy some more stuff.

Last night, I started sorting through that massive pile (while watching "The Amazing Race", hence today's title). To make it easier to organize it, I started dismantling the beaded pieces, putting the beads into little zip-top baggies, so they will fit nicely into the compartments of my bead boxes (tackle boxes are the best). I didn't make much of a dent though, so I know for sure, I have a lot. And I love it. And I know what I will be working on tonight (much to my husbands annoyance, as the coffee table will be covered with beads again).

I also made the cutest earring yesterday. Tonight, I may attempt the second one so I will have a pair. And I may even go for a pendant or a full out bracelet or necklace, so I can have a set. I took a little bit of lightweight green beading wire. I strung an earwire onto it, followed by a ceramic leaf bead then crossed the ends of the wire through a crimp bead. I crimped the crimp bead to hold the crossed ends in place. Then I strung a 6mm round red bead onto each wire end, followed by another small crimp. Crimped the crimps, cut the excess wire (right at the crimp) and viola! Adorable Cherry earrings. I'll post a picture after I make the second earring. I still want to perfect a few things about it. Not sure if like how the silver crimp beads look.

I also spent some time on some red chandelier type earrings. I must be in the mood for fall (even though it doesn't arrive in the desert for another month or so). I have this set of beads, the manufacturer calls the colors "Asian Spice", in lovely shades of red and peach, in various sizes and cuts. Lovely eclectic set. Saw them, had to buy them, they sat in the bead box for months. Now I have a use for them. Only problem is, I can't decide on a final pattern. My inspiration came from a beading magazine project that used two-needle RAW to create some cute pearl and crystal earrings. I used beads of my choice, and altered the pattern slightly to make it my own. If I could just decide WHAT that pattern will finally be. I made two earrings, both slightly different. Not completely happy with either one. Will sit down one night this week and try to pull the best from both and finally finish the pair. Maybe I'll post the pictures for them too. I might just have to do a monthly "images" post, to show what all I did each month.

I have some shrink-plastic projects still sitting on the corner of the worktable, crying to be finished. Maybe I'll spend some time on those tonight as well. Gee, its going to be a long night. Good thing there are a bunch of new shows premiering tonight, so I have something to listen to while I bead.

Happy beading!