Reorganizing

I've spent some time over the last two weeks reorganizing my bead box. I got new containers that allow me to label everything and store it in an orderly manner. It's so amazing, I can actually find things!

It's a work in progress. The entire middle section needs to be organized and I need a suitable case for my tools. But sometimes, cleaning up results in new and interesting color combinations. 

The rose and smoky quartz fell together on my mat while I was dividing and labeling new containers for my semi-precious stones and I really like how they look together. Now that I'm better organized, I plan to use a lot more of the stones in my work.

Brave

Watching Brave yesterday evening with the girls resulted in this:

I will fly, I will fly,

Chase the wind and touch the sky.

I will fly,

Chase the wind and touch the sky. 

Music and nature often inspire me. The song, and the accompanying scene of her riding through the green glens became the shades of sparkling green and the bird in flight. 

Basically, run

Here's another Doctor Who themed piece I finished yesterday. It didn't come out quite as I had originally planned, but I incorporated the main elements I had wanted. 

Beginning anew

It has certainly been a while, hasn't it? I'll admit, I was discouraged, distracted, and generally discontent for some time. My blog doesn't look like the ones in the magazines. My photography lacks that artistic flair. My work isn't as nice as what I've seen online. It's time I stopped telling myself these things. It's time to work at this and be proud of what I've accomplished. 

Lately, many of my pieces have been reflecting my love of science fiction and fantasy. Firefly, Harry Potter, the Hunger Games, and Star Trek have all made appearances in the last six months. More  recently, I've become obsessed with Doctor Who.

I like making something that is both beautiful and nerdy. I like when people notice and ask me about it or, even better, recognize the theme and start a conversation about it. I like when people who share my interests ask me to make them something similar. I'll admit, I do this mostly to make other people happy, which in turn makes me happy.

Waiting for the sun

It's supposed to be spring here in Michigan, but the sun still comes out only once in a while. A friend of mine used to live in Minnesota and he says that it may be -20 there some days, but the sun still shines and that makes all the difference.

I have decided to stop making sister night posts since we haven't had much opportunity to actually work on anything in quite a while. Hopefully once I get my house situation figured out, hopefully we'll be able to resume our crafting.

I can't say I've been all that inspired lately anyway, with all this gray and gloomy weather we've been having.

Gloomy Sunday

This week was my four day weekend. And what was the weather like the entire time? Rain and more rain. Looking on the bright side, at least it wasn't snow and it melted the last clingy remnants of the aforementioned substance from my neighborhood. And what else are gloomy Sundays good for but creating things?

Unfortunately, the only thing I created aside from this set was a dent in the mess in my basement. But I'm glad to have this project finished. It's a birthday gift for my old manager's wife. I thought it was rather sweet that he requested this piece due to the aquamarine being her birthstone.

Now, on with my bridal project for my friend Rochelle. The lovely color she decided to go with is called oasis.

Sister Night III & IV

Due to an unfortunate mishap involving photos and email and differences in OS's, I was unable to post last week's sister night entry. So here it is:

I really liked this one that she did. A friend gave her the little keys and asked her to make a necklace with them and this is what she came up with.

And on to this week's edition:

Lovely. Where I favor crystals and freshwater pearls in my designs, she prefers the jewel tones of swarovski pearls. The color combinations she creates are simple and elegant.

We don't usually do this, but we have a theme in mind for next week! I'm so excited.

And now for a taste of things to come:

These are for a variation on the second starfish necklace. My old boss wants me to make one for his wife for her birthday this month. Aquamarine is the birthstone for March, so I have to say he made a pretty good choice with this one.

These are for me. I've been coveting these red pieces for quite some time, so I took the opportunity to pick them up while I was out there on Monday. The clear one is an effect called crystal moonlight. It's difficult to see in this picture, but it has a more subtle rainbow shine to it than the aurora borealis beads. I picked this one up to repair a piece in my jewelry box that got chipped. Now to find some time to work on it!