the Akamai Knitter

Yesterday was a busy day. I had several errands to run, a doctor’s appointment, the bead show, and dinner out. I won’t regale you with tales of my errands and my doctor’s appointment as they were all rather mundane and boring, but I’ll share my loot from the bead show.

Before that though, I want to introduce you to Andrew who’s with Green Girl Studios. He’s actually Green Girl’s brother and he’s a sweetheart. I look forward to seeing him whenever he’s in town.

Isn’t he a cutie? He used his wiles on me and I ended up buying all this:

I really love the mermaids. I have a “thing” for them and these are really beautiful. Take a look at the backs.

Don’t you think that makes these pendants extra special?

I also got a free bead for wearing a Green Girl bead to the show. It’s a real beauty!

I also got some charms just for me from Hip Chick Beads.

I especially like the one that says “Balance, Belief, Beauty.” I think those words are especially inspirational. :)

Here’s the rest of my goodies.

I really love those Panda Bears. They’re so sweet!

There is one last thing for me to share, but I didn’t get it myself. My lovely mother bought it for me as a gift. I wish I could remember who the artist is, but alas! My memory! It is shoddy!

I just love the colors! In certain lights it also looks green.

I wish I had taken more pictures, but even though I was there for two hours I still didn’t really get a good look at everything. It was such a whirlwind of people and now I’m just exhausted.

I did manage to get some new earrings up on the shop though. Since I’ve been doing such tedious and complicated designs, I felt the need to do something simple. So I came up with these earrings.

It was a really nice change of pace and talk about instant gratification!

I think it’s time to try and recuperate from all the hustle and bustle.

Happy Saturday everyone!

Since last year I’ve wanted to play with resin. It wasn’t until this last bead show I went to that I finally took the plunge.

You’ve seen my first attempt. Now I’m ready to put a few pendants out there for sale.

Of course, the one I love the most is the black cat.  That one isn’t up for sale quite yet. I thought I’d show her off a little more though.

I’ll definitely be making more of these. She’s too adorable!

Thanks to all of you who asked after my safety during the Tsunami scare.  For those who don’t know, I don’t live in a coastal area so I had no need to evacuate. In fact, I was quite snug in my home for the duration of the event.

It did shake me up a bit though. I live right next door to the warning sirens. To hear them blaring at 6am was quite a wake-up call. Especially since I went to bed at 2:30am the night before.  It’s taken me a few days to get my sleep schedule back on track. I think I’m good now though. :)

There’s another bead show tomorrow.  I’m not as excited as I usually am. I think I’ve reached a heavy saturation point where beads are concerned. I feel like my stash will soon explode and then I’ll have drowned to death in a sea of beads.

Haha!

So I plan on going tomorrow and I plan on being extra picky. My main focus will be the Green Girl Studios. I love talking to Andrew and her beads, buttons, and pendants are just so fabulously unique. I always go a little crazy at that booth.

Sammy says, “Whazzup!”

(Let us now talk about the carpet. The carpet is doesn’t exist in my reality. It just doesn’t. In my reality that right there is hard wood floors.)

Happy Thursday, folks!

So I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but I’ve been consumed by the seed beads. Only I’ve missed my shiny, so when the new Step By Step Wire Jewelry came in the mail, I was inspired to try one of the projects.

This is what I came up with.

Of course it’s a little different then the project in the magazine, but whatever. I didn’t stray too far from the original design.

That is until the second and third piece. I’m calling them Medusa’s Nests.

I originally just left the edges alone, but genius Jamie suggested I coil square wire all around the piece. I’m not sure she meant to coil it the way I did, but that’s the only square wire I had on hand.

This piece was done with an earring hoop frame.

The earring hoop is made with a really thin wire, so I decided to make my own frame with a sturdier wire. That’s what I did with the third pendant.

The kitty bead is from Green Girl Studios and was the basic inspiration for the pendant. There’s a bead show rolling into town next weekend and if you wear a piece with one of their beads you get a free bead!

I’m not sure how Andrew from Green Girl will like what I did to their bead, but I used it and I’m gonna wear it.

You see, I’m really ambivalent about my latest creations. I can see they’re not for everyone. I mean, you should have seen my mother’s face when I showed her the purple pendant. She has very classic and simple taste.

So when I wore one to a class at The Bead Gallery and I received compliments, I ended up acting like a fool, asking people “Are you sure it’s not too garish?” or “You don’t think it’s gaudy?”

Yeah. Way to take a compliment!

But since I did indeed receive compliments and I have a lot of fun making these, you’ll probably see them pop up in the shop.

That is if I don’t drown in seed beads.

Happy Thursday, folks!

Remember this yarn?

I spun it from this beautiful combed top, dyed from by the talented Margot of Forest Fiber Works.

photo courtesy of Forest Fiber Works

Then the fabulous Katie of Two Hills Designs took the yarn and created this.

photo coutersy of Two Hills Designs

So there you have it. A collaboration of three fiber artists who were pretty much strangers! What a wonderful way to come together.

The cats were so impressed they disappeared on me. o.O

Happy Wednesday folks. :)

On Saturday I took a bead embroidery class with a couple of my bead girls over at Bella Beads.  Our teacher was Norieta and not only is she an accomplished bead artist, she has the patience of a saint. She was also endlessly entertaining. She had us laughing and smiling throughout the four hours we were there.

Yes, you read right. Four hours.

And here’s what I got accomplished.

What’s not pictured there is a bracelet blank that we had to glue some fabric onto then sew the edges onto. You would not believe the mess I made! Getting a needle through fake suede is not my thing.

Norieta had to help me, hold my hand, rescue me, etc. etc.  It was sad, people. Very sad.

Also? Glue and I mostly have a hate/hate relationship.

I can’t even look at that bracelet blank without shuddering.

Here’s an example of Norieta’s work and what I hope to exemplify. This bracelet doesn’t have the brass bracelet form though.

Luckily, there was pastry to decrease the frustration when I couldn’t whip one up like that in the four hours we had.

It was so good, I forgot to take a photo before I started nomming on it. There might have also been some Korean sushi. Mmm.

It was a wonderful Saturday when all was said and done despite the fact that I went home cross-eyed and exhausted.

I hope you all had a great one too!

I”ll leave you with the fabulous Norieta and her glorious smile.*

*If you’re interested in the seeing more of the necklace she’s holding,  here’s a close-up.