How to Unstring Beads...

When you buy beads, they come packaged on a few different ways. One way to buy them is strung on what are called "hanks", which is sort of like a bundle of strings of beads. Books are written about how to string beads, but unstringing them is usually accomplished by trial and error. And believe me, I've erred a few times in the past. What that means is beads flying everywhere and nobody wants that.
I recently read a tip on unstringing hanks of beads in a book I'm rereading called "Getting Started With Seed Beads", a fun and informative book by Dustin Wedekind. He suggests placing the strings of beads in a bowl and then clipping the strands one at a time and gently pulling the strings out. Dustin knows a lot about beads, but I've got a better way...

Using a tall plastic cup, hold the entire hank in one hand, right at the knots. Let the hank of beads dangle into the cup, then clip all of the strands and let gravity unstring the whole lot right into the cup.













It's faster and less chance of flinging beads everywhere, plus it's much easier to pour the beads from the cup into your bead storage. Mine happens to be portion cups with lids that I buy at Smart & Final (they're available at Vons too, near the Glad & Ziploc containers).

How to Photograph Jewelry and Other Small Items...

Here are some tips I use for taking great pictures of my bracelets using a regular old point-and-shoot camera. Mine is a Kodak EasyShare I've had for probably 10 years -



Use the "close-up" or "macro" setting on your camera. They all have one. On my camera, it's represented by a little flower icon.
Use natural light! This is probably the most important tip. I happen to have a skylight in my bathroom, so all my photo shoots take place in the shower, but any place where you get indirect natural light works.

No need to buy on of those fancy photo studio deals they sell in catalogs. A plain white piece of paper makes a great back drop. Prop it up against a white back ground like this (I'm using a ream of paper. It's perfect.) The pros call this a "seamless", and it eliminates the horizontal line in the background.






Place your item on the paper and get your camera up there real close. If you have shaky hands like me, you may need to brace yourself. Any jiggling while in macro setting will make your pix blurry.

There you have it. Great pix to showcase your beautiful creations!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/120802869/bamboo-tile-bracelet-santos-clasicos

Art is good medicine...

So far this year I've been slacking on my to-do list. The usual post-holiday funk, then a wicked chest cold that totally kicked my ass. I got a tetanus shot AND a flu shot last week and have felt like crap ever since. Can you get the flu from your flu shot? I still have a knot the size of a gumball on my left arm from the tetanus shot, but at least it doesn't hurt anymore.

My latest project was a chicken coop remodel for my Showgirl Silkie chicks. That made me feel a little better. It was nice to be outside, and it got my creative juices flowing. Yesterday I finished stringing three bracelets, and today I plan on photographing them & listing them in my Etsy shop. Now I'm debating whether I should go to the store or string the rest of my bracelets. I really don't want to go to the store, and I really do want to string the bracelets. As a moody Scorpio, it's very hard for me to get motivated to do stuff if I am not in the mood to do it. But Sprouts has shrimp on sale today and I am in the mood to eat shrimp...

UPDATE: I did go to the store & I actually feel much better now.

Lucky '13

The Holidays have once again come and gone. My plan was to make this New Year kick ass but instead I've been getting my ass kicked by a hellacious chest cold and severe asthma. Good news, I am on the mend, and it's certainly not too late to start the ass kicking. I had a pretty nice Holiday season in my Etsy shop. Which is great, since I have recently given up my day job to focus on being a full time artisan.
Now the store is depleted and I need to get myself busy restocking it full of lovely one-of-a-kind art. I'm excited to begin experimenting with some new craft & art techniques, and to improve & expand on some cool stuff I've been playing around with.
Happy New Year, Everyone!

That Time of Year...

The Holidays are here! The time of year when everyone wants to spread joy but ends up getting stressed out by all the commotion. I used to be one of the worst offenders. I wanted everything to be perfect but ended up being miserable because I was putting so much pressure on myself and trying to do too much. My husband enlightened my with this helpful advice, "Stop it." He got me to understand that all the good I was trying to do was undone by all the chaos I was creating. I realized that having perfectly wrapped presents and tons of decorations was not the key to my Christmas happiness. I scaled back on the decor and relaxed my wrapping standards. I made an effort not to take on too much and to plan better and start my projects earlier. I prioritized them so if I couldn't get everything done, at least I would get the most important things done.

This year, I've been so busy making things for gifts and for my Etsy shop that I didn't think I'd have time to decorate, not even a tree. I really didn't think anyone would mind, after all, the kids are now 20-somethings and they didn't seem that into it the past few years. I was surprised when the family told me that they would be sad if we didn't get a tree, in fact they said I was being "Grinchy".  Who, me?? I relented and agreed to get a very small tree which we will decorate with ornaments that we make.  Sounds reasonable.

PS: The Holidays are the perfect time to give handmade gifts. Visit Red Scorpio Crafts & Art, or one of the many other Etsy shops that suits your needs. Or go to a local craft fair or Holiday bazaar. Handmade is better.

i heart discoveries

Pure pleasure is when an oh-oh turns into an a-ha. It is how some of our greatest inventions came to be.

I use a lot of glass beads to make my bamboo tiles bracelets and I buy bead mixes a lot of times because they have colors that cannot be purchased by themselves. Also, they are much cheaper, if you don't factor in the time it takes to sort them into individual colors. Sorting beads is laborious, but kind of zen because it requires absolutely no thought, so I can zone out into my kaleidoscope of a subconscious. Until I get bored, then it's a big PITA again. And sometimes you spill an entire cup of beads that you just sorted, right onto the carpet. Ugh! Or maybe not...when I picked the beads up off the carpet I noticed now much easier it was than when I picked through them on a plastic tray. Off the carpet I could use my fingers, not the tweezers and pliers that I normally use.

No, I did not dump all my beads on the ground. I got out a large tray and covered it with a towel, then I just spread my bead mix out and went to town.

My life just got a lot easier.

Support Your Local Library..

I've always been "artsy", even when I was a kid but I never took it seriously. I'd always been under the impression that arts & crafts were hobbies and not a sensible way to support a family. So when I grew up I got a real job and made crafts in my spare time, when there was any. This mostly meant making Christmas decorations with the kids, maybe some handmade gifts and of course, school art projects. Over the years I've dabbled in cross stitch, beads and sequins, papier mache, decoupage, tole painting, plaster figurine painting and even went through a body art phase with the whole tattoo rig. I learned about most of these genres by purchasing a craft kit at Michael's, before that it was Lee Wards or Moskatels. I've been around a while. But my art, and actually my whole life, changed when I re-discovered the wonder that is my local Public Library.

I am a life long artist and also an avid reader of non-fiction. I thrive on learning and knowing new things. I was an Internet enthusiast since the early days of dial up when it was mostly 'bulletin boards'. Anybody remember those? If so, you must be old like me. The webs have come a long way since then, but even at the time I was ecstatic over the prospect of instant information. I still love the Internet and spend way too much time exploring it, but in my opinion, nothing beats a good book.

Back in '98, my husband and I bought our first house. The kids were in a new school and right down the street was the public library. My husband and kids are avid readers too and we were all excited to have a library so close, but our first visit left us a little disappointed. The branch was tiny compared to the giant library in our community's downtown area. What to do? Our local branch was too small, but the big library was too inconvenient. I mentioned this to the librarian and what she told me rocked my world. She said that it was easy to get any book in the system delivered right to my neighborhood branch free of charge. I could go online and request any book, CD or video in the county library's vast holdings and when it arrived they would notify me to come pick it up.

This literally changed my life. Thanks to the public library system, I have acquired knowledge and skills that have made it possible for me to confidently plan family trips to the Grand Canyon, Washington, D.C., London, and Paris. I've learned about organic gardening, homesteading and raising backyard chickens. I've checked out books to learn new computer programs, how to work from home and how to write a resume'. By far, the majority of the books I check out are books on art & crafts. I have learned dozens of new crafting skills. Sewing, resin casting, altered art, wire jewelry, soldering, bead stringing and much much more.

And it's all thanks to my local library.