What I have done lately...

My latest piece using some gorgeous beads by Anne Dundas.

I wanted simple, but I am unsure if this is too simple??? To me it looks incomplete.













Then there is this peyote stitched cuff....

Another UFO complete finally. I gave up on the fancy button clasp I was planning as it was too fussy and too gold. I felt it would detract from the look of the cuff, and lets face it, the patterns on these should be the focus!

So 2011 is here and....

I confess to not being very creative this year either, so far :(

I have little to no desire to finish UFO's nor to start new pieces.

I know what my problem is though..... I look at other people's work and I don't stack up (I know it is all relative). I feel like everything I do is a replica of someone elses' work or I wonder why, when I see something so fantastic, didn't I think of doing that first??

I need a niche and to do that I need to purge all the old stuff, so I am having an Etsy sale via Facebook to get rid of the old pieces.

I guess as we go along in our crafts (whatever they are) we look back at our older stuff and wonder if it was ever really good or were we in denial. I think I have been in denial.

I don't want sympathy and I don't want validation. I have done some gorgeous pieces, I know that. But I also know that I have done some stuff that stinks!

So I am saying goodbye to the stink and hello to the new inspirations that I hope to have.

Oh My..... Where has the time gone....

I have been a really neglectful beader this year and it is bothering me!

I started work on a casual basis in the 2nd week of January this year. Nearly 12 weeks later I was offered the role of Assistant Manager. I had just got used to the hard yakka involved in 20-30 hours per week of working in a Petshop, only to go and increase my hours to over 40 per week!

Not only was it a culture shock, but my body has not done so well by me- I am tired all the time. I have also GAINED 4kgs since commencng this job! I throw bags of dog and cat food and bird seed around weighing from 8kgs all the way up to 25kgs! I should be losing weight!

So I get home at about 6:20pm at night and by 8:30pm I am crawling into bed and crashing for the night.

The only good thing so far is that I do not suffer from insomnia anymore LOL

Actually I shouldn't say only thing. I love my job, I really do. I am just dying for the day that my body learns to cope with it :)

Hopefully, I will have some things to show you soon :)

Latest Use the Muse project...Sneak Peak!

I received my kit, took one look at the beads and went "oh crap"! This kit is definately not my colours. It contains Tiger Eye, which I loathe...... and the muse just doesn't seem to want to talk at the moment.

I do however have a vague idea of what I want to do, I just don't know if it will work given that I know of one Muse that broke.....

Anyway, here is a piccy of the little I have done and the beads I have to work with (not the Muse though, because that is against the rules).

As yet un-named- but it is FINISHED!

Finally, I can tick off another UFO...

I beaded the cabochon probably close to 18 months ago, then didn't know how to finish it. After rediscovering the Cellini Spiral, I decided that it was perfectly suited to the cab.

The question then was, how to attach the spiral to the cab????

I worked through some ideas and came up with this.

My list of UFO's is getting shorter....

I have worked my backside off these past few days thanks to a new group on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups.php?ref=sb#/group.php?gid=230032434388

So far I have completed these two cuffs:

Triangle Earrings

I bought a tutorial off Sabine Lippert here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/Trytobe and used the triangle pattern to make these earrings for my sister>








I then made these grey earrings and whilst over for Christmas dinner, my stepmother snagged them.



These are such fun little gifts to make and quick too!