stormyseasons

Had tea with family, then sat down to bead when I got home. Managed to remind myself how much faster than off-loom square stitch working on a loom can be - a 2/3 around my neck strip of beaded fabric worked up, in essentially 2 afternoons, with the only slow down at the adding and tying in of thread, and the weaving in of the warps. If I use my beading looms more often, I think I'll try the methods of laying in warps which don't result in having to weave in many many strands of warp threads after I'm done with the weaving.

Result: a totally used up 10g tube of cream coloured short Toho bugles, used up for the main strip of my new choker necklace. 14 picasso finish 2 - hole bar beads, and 40 8/0 cream coloured Toho seed beads, and one vine pattern anti-tarnish brass toggle-loop clasp, used to lengthen necklace strap and clasp it. Cream coloured 15/0 Toho seed beads, 4mm fire polished czech crystal, czech pressed glass bellflowers, both in a partly translucent pale gold-mauve colour, used as accents along with some 2-hole light mauve and black Toho superduos I've been meaning to find some good ideas for.

I think I'll wear it a while and let the necklace design percolate in my head a little before embellishing further. It's been quite a while since I've tried to add netting embellishments...

Gifted a necklace crafted entirely on whimsy to use up a shell feather-shaped focal I got a while back to a colleague. Who wasn't expecting to get it, but hey, pleased to see it anyway. It's enough to make me wonder if I could get started on ArtFire. Just enough to at least cover the monthly costs of being on Artfire, with whatever extra being counted towards returns on my rather large bead stash. . . and to let others enjoy the pleasure of a unique handcrafted item. I certainly can't wear everything I could craft myself.

Of course, if I take this step, aside from having to bead more often in order to have stock, I'd have to actually try to do things like blog about it more often. Not a hardship, considering my own habits, but definitely something to keep in mind. Definitely a thought to pursue further.

And I'd have to find out what the international shipping costs are, and list prices and shipping policies accordingly... Maybe I really will take that plunge this year. After beading a bit more frenetically anyway.

Spend the productive after lunch hours you were going to use on work.... looking at the options for setting up an online store to sell your own handcrafts... as inspired by many comments by people, who you've made jewelry for recently, that maybe you should set up a store to sell some...