The coolest thing ever!!

I was out and about on Friday and decided to use my handy dandy iPhone to find bead stores near where I was at the time. The first stop was Salmagundi in Lemon Grove (SD County) Ca. This place was mentioned on yelp as having cool finds that no one else would have. Well... It was really a dusty little store with a sweet little old lady that was very helpful. The store had a decent amout of beading items among all the craft explosion. Unfortunately they are a cash only shop so I was limited to the few dollars I had in my wallet. I would go back if I was in the area.

Next on my list was an place 8 miles away in LaMesa called The Bead Boutique.









Also a small shop with an older lady (but not a craft explosion like the other place). After circling the store a number of times I started asking questions. This lady was awsome!! She helped me decide what to get and suggested a few techniques. As people kept coming in and out to get tips and show off what they had done I felt more impressed. The lady had regulars. Hmmm...

One of the ladies that came through was showing off a coiled necklace wich I thought was awsome. I was told it was easy enough to do. So the sales clerk showed me what I needed and...get this...spent 10 minutes showing me how to do the coiling. I had my own personal class right there at the counter. I was giddy.

And to make the magic all you need is this "gizmo"(aka the coolest thing EVER!) and some wire.




This is my first attempt wich I am trying to put into a necklace of some sort.




Needless to say...I am all over coiling now. And I can't wait to show you all the finished product...

Ok. This is the finished product. I am very happy with it. :)






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Photo charm keychains

I decided to make a photo charm and keychain for my cousin and her fiancé as a small engagement gift.

To make the photo bead I used all this...




1: two part resin w/instructions
2: modge podge (used to protect pic from color bleed and to glue to the frame)
3: two measuring cups (you have to have exact equal parts of each part of resin mix)
4: xacto knife (cut pic to size)
5: two cotton swabs (i cut the cotton off one end and used as stir stick. The other I used to smooth pic into the frame w/ glue)
6: photo frame beads
7: small photos
8: snippers
9: safety pin (to pop or move bubbles to the edge of frame)
10: cool article in BeadStyle magazine (feb '10) about making a resin bead

The bead, once set had to dry for 24 hours. In the meantime I gathered the keyring, chain, charms and beads to make the magic happen.

The finished result...

A keychain for him:




And a keychain for her:





I tried to use the colors that are going to be in their wedding wich is yellow and rust.




My cousin was so excited I ended up offering to make jewelery for the wedding. Yikes! I am getting bold now. But it will be a fun project. And the bride and bridesmaids will help me. Also my other cousins want jewlery now and my aunt had already put in an order. LOL Another project is always waiting for me. But I think I like it that way. :)

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Bead obsession

Once I read that great article in BeadStyle magazine I was inspired by the bracelet I told you about. This meant I had to go bead shopping right?

After hitting up Joannes and walmart I broke out my handy dandy I phone and went for an app that you can search for a business with. This app pointed to a store called "The Bouncing Bead" located in La Mesa Cali. www.thebouncingbead.com





After driving up and down the street looking for the place I finally decide to pull over in a lot to find some better directions. Lo and behold!! The store was right in front of me.

Unfortunately this place was situated behind another store in a corner of the strip mall that you would only see if someone said "Quick!! Look now!!"







Fortunately I was pleased with the cute little shop. The two ladies working were very helpful and had what I had been looking for all day. I didn't like the prices (1 frame bead for $3 and a tiny ribbon bead for $1.30). It was bit over priced. But I got some cool ideas for more projects because these ladies have displays of their work up around the store. And they offer several classes that I plan to take in the future.

The best part was that there was one other customer in the store that I was able to talk about my bead addiction with. She had the same issue! LOL

All in all it was a good trip. My next adventure is a place called The Bead Mall. Can't wait!! :)


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I am officially a bead geek

I was strolling through the store the other day and was walking past the magazine rack thinking "there are magazines for every little thing". Right then a hush fell over the store as a beam of light appeared over me...i got a revelation!! "I wonder if there is a BEADING magazine?" Why yes!!! There was two to choose from. I chose the cheaper of the two (because let's face it people...I am a bargain shopper at heart...ok..I am cheap but that's not the point). I found this cool magazine called Bead Style (http://www.beadstylemag.com)



In this glorious magazine is project ideas and bead shows and new teqniques and.....sorry...got a little excited there...

They also have a bead shop list in the back (by state). You can even search for bead shops near you on their website!! I am thinking i may need to subscribe to this magazine. Does that make me a bead geek?


One of the featured projects in this particular issue is photo charm bracelets. I am thinking of doing this for a gift. This one will be interesting. It's more than just beads but photos and resin and mixing and pouring. Still, I think this will be an awsome for an engagement gift. Photos of the couple in different places and all. Hmmmm...I could do a keychain for him. Oh My....I got another project on my hands.

My very first project

Here, my friends, is my very first necklace. I created it for that infamous secret Santa "be creative" gift exchage. I used the kit I bought bit I bought the pendant seperately.


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The beginning...

I did it!! I created a blog. I never thought i had much to say and certainly not enough for anyone to be interested....but we'll see how this goes.



Well...

I recently aquired a hobby i would like to share with the world. It all started a number of years ago (4 or 5 can't remember) with a group of work friends that inadvertanly became good friends outside of work. This group of friends decided to do a Christmas gift exchange. And thus a tradition was born. Well this past christamas one of the crafty crafters in the group decided our secret santa gift exchange should have a twist...home made gifts.



Darn it!! Now I gotta be creative?



Meanwhile I get a catalog from Oriental Trading (love them!!) and it happened to be their bead issue. I thought "I could do that". So I poured through the catalog ordered some beads ( $60 worth). In the meantime i visited Michaels (another wonderful craft store) and decided to just buy an easy kit (cuz resarching jewlery making online had proven to be overwhelming). I mananged to find a kit that had some tools and some beads and what i have come to know as "findings". Who knew that first necklace i made would lead me to making more necklaces and researching how to make earring on the web too?

Next thing I know I am a crafter and buying beading magazines in the store. I can't even pass the bead/craft section at Walmart without standing there for 15 minutes going "ooooh" and buying at least one package or string or beads or something


That, my friends, was in a very small nutshell, how I became the most unlikely of crafters.

Wish me luck as I learn more tricks of the trade...