How Lucky Can One Girl Get?

I've got jury duty AND a root canal, all in one week. How's that for lucky?  Still, it could be worse. I can afford the root canal, and the agony before the doc relieved the abscess made me realize how amazing modern dentistry (and medicine) is. I've never had an abscessed tooth before, and now I know why people used to just yank bad teeth out, even without anesthesia. Wow that was bad.

Sometimes life gets in the way of beading. I especially regret that now as I'm really starting to get back the flow of ideas that sort of dried up before when I was so overwhelmed by the needs of getting the software out to market.  One project after another leaps out of me, and I've got far too many to try even if I could bead for hours each day.

Our Etsy Beadweavers Team has a monthly challenge, with each entry being a listing in our Etsy stores.  This is my entry for October. The original title was supposed to be "Gifts of the Earth" because of all the semi-precious stones used in it.   The theme of the October challenge is "Inspired by Picasso" so I retitled it and related it to the theme as required.

From October 9 until October 15, you can visit the EBW blog and vote for your favorite entry. Every month there are some amazing entries, you'll be sure to get an eye-full, and find a favorite!

I've also been inspired by the November challenge theme, on Spirals, and have started a project I hope will develop into something worthy of entry.

Meanwhile, I'm learning to bead crochet, and trying to earn a living.

Notice where that last falls on the priority list.

Working from the Stash

Sometimes, like now, money is in short supply. Every trip to the bead store, or to a show, or even online, leads to currently unacceptable expenses.

But wait. I spent the better part of two years buying so much that I liked. I don't really need anything new, I have wonderful things squirreled away in drawers marked "Special Beads" and "Cabochons" and other tasty categories.  I shopped assiduously and filled the empty-seeming gaps in my palette of colors and sizes as best I could, I built a backlog of findings, and invested in a fair amount of wire and thread.

It's always nice to trawl the stores to get inspired...but "shopping" in your own stash can be rewarding as well, and much more fiscally responsible.   I bet many beaders have things tucked away they haven't seen in months, perhaps longer. 

So last week I went shopping in Ye Olde Stashe, and found some gorgeous lampworked beads in orange and blue/black from Prima Donna beads. Oh, and in another drawer some ancient sea glass, and oh, some chrysocola, orangey carnelian, apatite in blue, African trade beads and this and that. Very quickly, it seems, this necklace created itself. 

No new beads were purchased for this work. Thanks to my BeadEnCounter software, a beta version of the program in development for sale, I know exactly where all the beads came from, and what this piece cost, though it's been months, or more than a year, since I purchased some of the components.

Earlier today I wrote and sent Donna Conklin, the lampwork artist that made the bead set, a couple of pictures of the necklace. She was admiring of the outcome, and we've been having a lovely correspondence. What a nice person! She says she'll be at the LA Bead Bazaar this weekend, so if you're in the area, go patronize her booth!  

If I were to win a challenge for the Etsy Beadweaver's Team (hah! Like that's going to happen) I think my pick of a challenge theme would be "Look What I Found in the Bottom Drawer."  And no, I don't mean those unmentionable things you don't want your children to find after you die. I mean in the bottom drawer of the bead stash. Or the back of the least-used drawer. 

I'm finding some wonderful things that got shoved underneath newer purchases. More to come.