If It doesn't work - Try Try again.

Have you seen one of those posts on Facebook titled Pinterest Failures, or Craft failures? If you havent, here's a really funny link.

http://craftfail.com/

 I could spend as much time on a site like craft fail as I do on Pinterest!! At least I'm not the only one.  I have to say my failures lately haven't been that bad.

 I have an excuse! I'm Still Stuck in a hotel room.  We have been away from our household items Since December 6th, and spending time in hotel rooms since then. My Creativity is slim to none right now. Thankful that I have kits with instructions to keep me occupied! Even so I've had a few failures.

It's understandable, I've had far too much to think about lately.
We needed to find a place to live, and then hurry up and wait until the current tennants move out. The worry of leaving all of our household belongings with strangers to drive it across the country and store it, and all of the bad thoughts going through my head as to the condition our things will show up in.

I've been thinking about  how much we have spent in hotel rooms over the last month , and how it could have been used for a wonderful all inclusive vacation to some fantastic location.

The list is endless, I keep telling myself to stop worrying about the things I can't control. It's just a lot of unknowns all at once!!!
uuugh. Soon We will be settled!!!

 Ok, On to the projects that didn't work.

My last post included a necklace design from Jill Wiseman www.tapestrybeads.com. Love love love this necklace.

I had some extra supplies left over, so I decided to make a matching bracelet and just go with the flow not look at any of the instructions. Can you spot what might be wrong with this?

If you haven't guessed already,  the two ends next to the clasp are two different lengths. Remember, I'm in a hotel room in a place where there aren't any bead shops close by. I ran out of # 11 seed beads LOL!! By the time I got to finishing it off, I didn't have enough seed beads left to even it out!!

I figured ok, I'll adapt it, by making the shorter end of the bracelet the end with the loop. It actually did work, and the bracelet fits nice and even on my wrist.

The second and real problem with this adaptation is the toggle I made. It's not big enough. I wore the bracelet for about 30 minutes and the thing kept falling off. I was trying to rush to get it finished. Now I'll be taking it apart, and redoing! 


Here's the second project, that to me is a fail - the photo isn't the best, but it's pretty close to what it looks like in person. I thought for sure that the base gold color would look great with the Swarovski Sequins, it looks flat and just blah. It doesn't work at all, but I couldn't give up on the project, I felt the need to finish it.

This is a very pretty project that I got from Bead and Button magazine,  Brilliant Crystal Jewelry 2. It's by Bonnie Mountain. The Magazine is from 2009 but can be found on Kalmbach.com Here's what it should look like:

You can purchase the individual pattern from this link
http://www.kalmbachstore.com/bb9pdf0920.html





needless to say I spent about 25 bucks on the Swarovski sequins. I'll be taking mine apart and trying it with a different color background!!

We'll i'm off and back to the drawing board!! Wish me luck!





. 

A Present from a friend - A Jill Wiseman Beading Kit

One of the things I miss most from Maryland is the group of ladies that I used to bead with at my favorite bead shop Bead Soup in Savage Mill. www.bead-soup.com.

I had spent many many hours with these ladies, and we all have grown close. I would spend Wednesday Afternoons, and every other Friday night beading, talkng, laughing and eating with the girls.

Before I left Maryland, my beading friends each gave me beads for a beading challenge. It's provided a lot of crafty entertainment during our move. I received multiple strands from a few friends, some mixed seed beads from another, handmade beads from multiple beaders, a color coordinated bead soup, and a really nice bead kit too! I've been given a challenge to do something creative with each set of beads, and will be posting each challenge as I complete them.

We're still hanging out in our temporary lodging, separated from our houseold items (and all of my supplies!)  I'm thankful to have packed a travel beading bag and thankful for the goodies the ladies sent me off with!

I'm happy to say i've finished one of those projets. My good friend Lisa gifted me a Jill wiseman Beading kit, (www.tapestrybeads.com).  The necklace is called bubbles and bumps - It's from Jill's beautiful beaded ropes book, released a few months ago.

It's a great pattern/Kit and was very easy to do.  The price of $30.00 is very reasonable
and leaves plenty of supplies left over for other projects!

www.tapestrybeads.com/bubbles_and_bumps.htm

Here's a photo of my finished Piece. I'm going to start a matching bracelet next. I've got some extra seed beads stashed away in my bag, and should be able to complete one.

Jill Wisemans Necklace Pattern:

Thanks so much to my friend Lisa for my gift! It came out really pretty!

Happy New Year 2013 - Here's to a New Everything

New State to live in, A new house (well soon) We move in the end of the month. New Job for the Husband and hopefully myself! Here's to a new everything!
Uuggh...... did I mention  I have Fear of New syndrome? I've vowed this year that I will jump in with two feet, and face the Fear, get lost while driving, make new friends,do a few new things, and take a few chances!

I'm not one to make New Years Resolutions. I prefer to make a list of goals and revisit them during the year, I helps me make baby steps to get to the end result. Plus, I like the word goal better than resolution!  So the question is what will the goals be this year?

I only have a few so far. I usually have a big long list of goals at this time. Not much time to think about these things when you're prepping for a move across the country! However a shorter list will allow me to focus on just the few tasks at hand.
Right now my short term goals are to not get lost too much in the new area, and not mind if I do get lost because I always find something interesting when wandering aimlessly in a new area.

The real long term goals:
Make time and take time for myself, for health and well being.
Blog More!
Take the time to keep up with old friends, and make some new ones along the way.
Get serious about a crafty business. Start a website, and stop treating it like a hobby.
Explore the new place we live in and experience some new things here!

What are your goals for the new year? Whatever the are I hope you write them down and you see them to the end.

So Here's to a New Year and new everything!