Beading Revival

This morning I woke up to find my cats spooning, Smiley cleaning Carmen's little gray head. For some reason I always think it's the sweetest thing when they clean each other. They fight sometimes and bite each other, but I think they are good little cat friends nonetheless.

 

I had decided (yesterday) that breakfast this morning would be waffles; Kevin's request was to make them with blueberries, and I decided some chopped almond would be a nice addition. And so I whipped up some blueberry almond waffles while some warm coffee brewed. We have nothing to do today so it's been lovely having no pressure and going from room to room, task to task with no thought of time limits or being somewhere or doing something other than what I want to do in my own cozy house on a Sunday afternoon.

 

After a few mugs of coffee and a plate of waffles I decided completely randomly that I wanted to pull out all my beading supplies; I haven't crafted in months and thought it would be nice to make something. I get a hankering for it from time to time ... I suppose now is one of those times. Perhaps I was inspired by the several items I have been able to find on eBay for ridiculously low prices: Full, glimmering strands of semi-precious stone and glass beads, crystal bicone beads and some lovely silver findings; can’t wait to get them in the mail and create some new pieces.

I had put my boxes of supplies under my bed a while back so I went to pull them out and take stock of my inventory. In the process I found some lovely shoes I had forgotten about. I had it in my head that I had returned them since they didn't fit, but in actuality I had exchanged them. I like little surprises like that; sort of like finding money on the ground: completely unexpected and pleasant. Now I’m wishing I had a lovely colorful pair of tights – yellow or plum – to wear them with tomorrow.

I gathered all the beading supplies and took everything to the dining room; it’s nice and bright and our table makes a sturdy surface for spreading everything out in great heaps of tiny plastic baggies and compartment-ed plastic bins and little trinket-y boxes of assorted beads and charms. 

Today I’m making a pair of earrings with a mix of colorful glass beads. I have these lovely lemon yellow glass drop beads – they look like a huge vitamin E capsule and feel sleek and smooth in the palm of my hand. I decide they will look nice with some similarly cheerful colors, and set about partnering them with orange and pale mint beads on silver chain and hooks. I’m debating now whether or not to add beads all along the length of the chain or leave them as they are. I really don’t want to muddle the energy I get from the 3 beads but I don’t want them to look naked either.

I really need to do something with these delicious little amber briolettes - don't they look like sweet little honey drops? I'm super inspired by this use of amber briolette (love me some bees!). They are quite small, but I think they might look pretty clustered together as a charm on a necklace or dangling from a shiny earring? Hmmm … too many choices sometimes keeps me hung up just admiring all my goodies and not making anything out of them.

I realized I had finished these darliing little earrings and left them in my supply box ages ago. They are out now and definitely going to be worn - too cute to be stuck in a dusty box under a bed! 

And these, too? 

MAYBE I should start my own Etsy shop or something; that would force me to stick with this hobby and not tuck it away for months on end. What do you think?? I'm open to critique! Let me know what you think about my craft endeavors. For now, I'm headed back to my dining table and the sprawl of beads that are waiting for me.