Just For Me!

I did some beading today.  The side cutters to the left of Tessie are just as they were.  They are still in pretty good condition.

The ones on the right had to be taken off of the pliers in the second photo.  Then I put them on the pliers beside Tessie.  Why?

Because the pliers in this photo have a spring closure. 

The ones in this photo do not have a spring closure.  Not as easy to use.

I spent about an hour re-doing  them.

The only problem was.....

Tessie found these small ones. They both have springs and as you can see... She can handle them.

Yes.  She wants them beaded. I may just humor her.  They would be handy to carry in my work kit when I go to Wednesday Witches. 

And an added bonus.  They would not be as heavy as the larger ones. I may just have to do that.

I can always sneak them out when she isn't looking.

Yup. I am going to do tiny beaded handles on the tiny pliers. Back to work.

See you tomorrow.

One More Trip Into Town....

I went into town to go to the Jay's Indian Arts bead shop one more time...

I got all of this for $30.00.  It  doesn't seem like a lot, but the magnetic closures in the upper right of the photo are usually  10 for $24.05. So I got a pretty good deal on them all. I was really surprised that there were any magnetic closures at all.  I think that someone put them in the wrong box.  Everything is at least 50 percent off now.  Some things are 75 percent.

I stopped at the used book store that I got a gift certificate for, for Christmas.  I finally found something that I wanted.

Unfortunately I will have to wait my turn to read them... If Kota gets to them first he has to lay on them for a couple of hours to make sure that they are safe to read.

And Tessie? She has been standing on top of her dressing room box since I got back.  Hands on hips. Notice, she did changed her apron. 

Every once in a while she heaves a heavy sigh. Then she starts stomping her feet and yelling that she wants her dressing room NOW!

I am doing a passable job of ignoring her and doing other things that I want to do. 

It won't last, but I am enjoying it while it does.

Back to ignoring Tessie, watching TV and eating bon bons...

See you tomorrow.

Tessie's Jewelry Hunt!

I got out the five watches that I have finished so far.  I only have seven more to do... I wonder if that will be enough... I will let you know after I finish the last seven...

Tessie came along as I was digging around and decided that I needed help... Oh goodie!

I then went to the ring case.  It has some of the bracelets that I have done on memory wire. 

There weren't quite enough to cover Tessie's mouth and keep her from adding comments.

At least when I clean this out, she gets quiet.  This is where she gets to try on the hat rings.

Today she tried to make the bracelets into something for herself... It didn't really work, but she kept trying.  She can't walk when she does that, so it didn't last long.

I tried to show her the new beads that I bought this morning.  Not her size.  She just plain wasn't interested. She started searching through the fruit box again... now she wants a peach tree and an apple tree.

I can't win!

I went into another room and started searching through a drawer in my grandmother's sewing machine. 

She didn't really find anything in there.  I did find a few things that I think that I may be able to use... We shall see...

I got as far as the first shelf of the bead bookcase.  She jumped to the second one and threw up her hands in dismay.

She announced, "You aren't allowed to go into these shelves anymore! Not until you finish my potting shed and my living room.

She is being most unreasonable! I want to bead and she wants me to mini.  I am thinking of locking her in a closet somewhere and throwing away the key.

I want to do something besides her projects.  She wants me to do NOTHING but her projects. 

Right now she is standing beside the phone on the desk.

If I look to my right, she is standing there with her hands out wide, trying to stop me from typing. It's not working.  Thank Goodness!

I am going back and try to do something that I want to do now.  "Hey Tessie! How about a dozen chocolate chip cookies?

I think that will keep her busy for a little while.  Wish me luck.  See you tomorrow.

I Need to Get Started...

Kota is encouraging me to do beading... That way he won't have to sit and look at all of the places that he can't sit because there are stones piled there.

He is not a happy camper.  There are stones piled all over the bed where he likes to sleep in the daytime...

Every one of these stones will be a piece of jewelry if I ever get them done.

I gave April some of my jewelry yesterday when they were over planting the tree... That's what made me think that I should get back to doing some bead work.

My only problem is, where to start...

These photos are just the start.  With all of the beads that I have, I could keep going on for another century or two. 

Not only do I have a lot of natural stones, but then I get a stupid idea like making my own cast resin cabochons.  Silly me...

I am probably going to waste the rest of the day trying to decide where to start. Maybe I would do better to close my eyes and grab.  Whatever I pull out is what I do...

Anyway, by tomorrow, I hope to have something started.  See you then.

Locking Tessie in the Workroom!

My favorite bead shop is closing... I went to the clearance sale this morning.

The stuff that you see around Tessie is what I managed to buy.  Tessie seems to think that it is all hers.

No way.  No how!! Mine.  All mine!!!

There are 20 new big eyed needles in the needle case. Those are the main things that I went to purchase. I can't find any of my old ones.  I am sure that they are around somewhere, but it's hard to bead with a needle that you can't find.

Thus, new needles!

When I first started using Delica beads, I could fit all of the Delicas in the box that Tessie is sitting in... Somewhere on the list is rearrange Delica beads...

Tessie isn't going to like it, but it is at the top of the list. I put it there when I got home.  I am probably going to have to use the original box after what I bought today.  Oh well.  At least I will have enough beads to finish all of the watches and maybe even a few left over for other things. 

I am going back to the bedroom and rearrange beads now. 

Back to the beads.  See you tomorrow.

Not Today....

This is it... This is all that I got done today.

Not a very good total. 45 beads strung and a bad mess up at the end.

I am going to have to start over. 

I grabbed a bead box to take to the Witch meeting this afternoon and thought I had several projects in it... OOPS.

I had watch faces and lots of small beads.  I saw that I had a bracelet that I started in there too.  If I didn't want to do watches, I could do the bracelet...

I got the piece finished that is in the first photo...
When I got to that point for the third time, It was a mess.  I decided that I didn't want to work on a watch. I pulled out the bracelet and then discovered that I had none of the beads for that bracelet in the box...

I refused to answer Tessie when she asked what I made her at Witches.

She was NOT happy. We both spent the rest of the afternoon pouting.

I am going to get up in the morning and start working early. This can't go on!!!

Tessie at least had a comfortable place to pout.

I don't have a giant cat that can keep me company.

No more messing around. I am going to get Tessie's list and start at the top. One hundred and three items to go... Back to work in the morning. 

See you tomorrow.

Not Enough Time....

I do believe that, if there were enough time, I would have these all finished by now.

I started putting things away where they belong and was not a happy camper.

This photo is just of the natural cabochons that I have purchased at the gem show over the years... I have finished pieces and I do wear a lot of them, but.... They are multiplying as we speak!

 This bunch are resin cabochons that I made a few years ago... As you can see, I am just as bad about these.  The two bottom center pieces are the only ones that I am working on in this box...

I have no excuse where beads are concerned.  This is just the stash that I have bought at the gem show in the past two years... I think that I have more than enough beads to finish the pieces that I need to...

I just need to start doing it!

Those of you  that follow me for the minis are going to be pouting. I have decided that I want to finish some of these pieces. 

Here are four that are started. It really wouldn't take that long to finish these.  I just have to sit down and do it.

I am going to do some of both in the next year or two, but I am not going to do nothing but minis all the time.  From now on, I am going to do some beadwork here and there... Maybe sometimes even more than minis.  I just need to do a variety of things now.  After I get all of the bead work finished, maybe I will go back to all minis all the time... I just have way to many different things started and not a lot finished.  I do hope that you will keep tuning in every day.  I just need to finish some of the other things that I have started... Today I plan to finish at least one of these pieces before I do any mini projects.  Wish me luck.

Back to work! See you tomorrow!

Party On... Without Me!

I went back to work this morning.

I did 14 pendants.  That way, the Witches can choose which one each of them wants and I will have some left over for other people.

The one at the bottom right is the one that I chose. The rest are up for grabs.

 After I finished those, I mounted all of the stones that I plan to bead around.

Six are for beading the two fossilized shells in the center are already to be earrings when the findings that I glued to the back are dry. The shell below those will be beaded to match somehow.

I did get a bit of antiquing done on the bedroom, but it still isn't dark enough to go with the music tower.  Back to the paintbrush when I am through here.

Joan picked up one of these for each of us on the way out of the big tent at the ballpark. 

The larger of the two is a half inch thick... Maybe that will give you some idea of how big this show is.  It is all over town in hundreds of places.  I did hit one show besides the ballpark, but that was because we went there with the kids on Saturday. The only other one that I hit was the ball park this year, but I did it three times.

I am a happy camper now.  What I got will keep me in stones for another year.  We won't talk about the ones that I have left from previous years... Nope. Not going to discuss those stones...

See you tomorrow.

Telling Time...

We are Back to Wednesday Witches!

This afternoon, I took my Delica beads to sort.  They were all out of order, color wise and I couldn't find anything.

Now I can.

I have one of the watches that I got at Goodwill almost finished.

Only seven more to go after this one...All of the watches that I purchased are still running.

Amazing that people will throw away a perfectly good watch rather than buy a new battery. 

I am going to have a new wardrobe of watches!

I took this band off of an old watch that I had, when I put a new one on it.

Now I think that I can save this one by just putting new beadwork around the bars for the wrist bands. We shall see...

Anyway, I feel good about what I did today.  Now I can get serious about beading new bands for all of them.

Back to work.

See you tomorrow.

Day Three!!!

Walter and I went out to the ball park again this morning. 

He got me two rocks for my birthday.  They are both turquoise.  They are both going to become either bracelets or pendants.  Wire wrapped.

The first one is a very dark blue green variety with a few veins of black and yellow.

The second one has a lot of black, green and some ochre in it.

It was either these two or one larger stone.  I liked that one, but it was too big for me. 

Being 4'11", I think that the smaller stones are more to my scale...

These ten tubes of seed beads cost me $20.00. If I had bought them here in a regular store in Tucson or on line, they would have cost somewhere between 60.00 and 100.00 dollars. 

Now you know why I like the gem show so much!

I got all of these drilled small stones for 6.00.

Lots of stones for bracelets and other jewelry.

This is my whole stash for this year....So far. 

Maybe we will go out to the ball park one more time.  After all, it's only once a year and if we don't spend now, we will spend a LOT more later in other places for the same things.

I am going  back and start designing a thing or two now.

Back to the drawing board.

See you tomorrow.

Stocking Up!

This morning, four of us went over to SAS.  We stocked up on leather for minis.

I don't know if this is a chain or if it is a single store, but if there is one in your area, they are the best place to get leather for minis.

They sell scrap leather for 7.99 a pound. They also sell lace and ribbons for very reasonable prices.

Two of us had been there before and the other two had not.  It is like turning a kid loose in a candy store, the first time you go in there.  You don't know which way to turn first.

The two of us that had been there before headed straight to the back of the store to the leather boxes. They have nine big boxes in a tic tack toe shape back there and you can dig in them to your heart's content, I will be making purses for years  on what I bought today. Yay!!!

When I got home I sorted the leather and then put away the FIVE new watches that I got at Goodwill yesterday. I took a chance on one of the big jars that they sell for $9.99.  Yesterday was a senior day so I got 20 percent off... Not a bad haul for $7.99.

Now all I have to do is get out the beads and start designing.  The black watch on top is one that I got for $7.99 at Walmart.  That's my favorite.  Now, if I do it right, I will have five more favorites.

But before I do that, I need to finish sorting this mess, so that I can start knitting socks again.  And maybe a couple of hats and scarves too.

Back to the sorting and organizing.

See you tomorrow.

Protected By The Cat!

I got home from Wednesday Witches about 4:15.  I put the bead box on the bed and look what happened...

Kota decided that would be a good place to sleep...

I ask you... Would you fight that face to get to your beads?

I walked away. 

I am making progress on the rainbow shall.  I still have a  lot to go though.

I have decided that this box is going to be a fairy cottage for the back yard.  It already has a roof.  Now all I have to do is make it look inviting to the fairy crowd.

Maybe some rock sides and blocking off some of the windows...

I did manage to get a tiny bit of the watch that I finished out of the box.  Then Kota took over guarding the treasures again...

I doubt that I will be doing anymore beading this evening.

Maybe I can talk Kota into finishing what I started.  He definitely is not going to let me get back into the box.

Oh well. I didn't want to do anymore beading tonight anyway. maybe I will put some more rows on the rainbow.

Back to work. See you tomorrow.

Three Things at Once...

And not one of them is Tessie's!

I quit working on any of her stuff yesterday after she quit talking to me...

I went back to my beadwork.  I am working on three watches at once... One at a time, but rotating.

The top one is almost done.  I started that one last week.  The middle one, I started yesterday.  

The bottom one is very strange.  I have had it for a number of years.  I have never seen a watch with only one side bar for holding the strap on... It really doesn't make a lot of sense.  I finally thought of a way to use it.  I am making a strap that will wrap over something and will put a snap or some other kind of closure on it so that I can fasten it. 
Wednesday morning I made myself a new case for carrying projects with me.  I had this big old hard sided wallet.  I don't know why I bought it in the first place. It took up way too much room in my bag and I never liked it...

Now I do... I took the card carrier out of it and lined it with some of my favorite beading blanket.

 This stuff is one of those blankets that was popular a few years ago... Nice and fuzzy.  The beads don't move once they are in there.  No jumping out onto the rug... Well, not as often as they jump off of other beading mats.

Anyway, now I can grab and go!

As for Tessie, she is not speaking to me and has been laying with her face to the wall all day.

I am not going to disturb her.  It would just start an argument about what I am working on and why...

I am going back to finish at least one watch now...

Tessie can just take a LONG nap...

Back to the beads. 

See you tomorrow.