A Pause for Nostalgia

This necklace is the very first piece of jewelry I ever made, back in April or May of 2007:



It was the second item I added to my Etsy shop, way back in November, 2007.

A lovely customer just came into my bead shop, and fell in love with it, and bought it - and I'm delighted it has a good home after all this time, but a little sad, it a funny way - it was my first!

I forgot to title this post!

I know some of you actually come here to read about my jewelry adventures, and I humbly apologize to all of you.

Truth be told, I hardly ever get to make something purely for me, or for fun, anymore.

I became a bead shop owner almost exactly one year ago - my "anniversary" was 8/1 - and ever since buying the shop, my jewelry making days have all but disappeared.

It takes SO much effort and time to run the shop, especially since the shop is not sustainable enough for me to afford employees.

I spent countless hours ordering inventory, sorting inventory, doing repairs, cleaning (Yuck! - I barely do that at home!), and teaching classes, that very little time is left.


And of course, there has been the whole millipede situation at the house, which I have been dealing with for 2.5 months. Ugh.


My absolute favorite thing to do, whenever I DO have time, is chainmaille - it is basically my obsession. If only the rings would appear, fully formed and ready to use - 'cause I despise cutting jump rings.

This is my latest creation - I just love this weave, and I like it in these 2 pinks:







These 2 pictures show the bracelet from the front and the back - I am amazed by how different it looks on each side.

But it takes about a week to complete one of these bracelets - that's a week of steady chaining- not just grabbing a little free time here and there to work on it. It is really a tough weave!


I got a huge new selection of gemstones in the shop 2 weeks ago, and have just finally finished getting them sorted and priced and out on display. Somewhere in these gorgeous beads I found this beautiful nugget of fluorite, and snatched it up for myself -




I have an idea of what I want to do with it, and hope to start on it tomorrow, if nothing else gets in my way first.

Remember this? The stunning turquoise and pearl necklace was something I dreamed up as a custom design for a customer, and the pink and pearl dangle earrings were made for a good friend who is getting married in just a few weeks. The 2 designs really had nothing to do with each other, except I made them both the same week.

But now my friend, the bride-to-be, has decided she wants her wedding necklace to be made in the same way as that turquoise and pearl creation, except all in white pearls, and rose and crystal AB Swaroskis. So she has been in the shop this week, working on it, with a little help from me - She is about halfway done, and it looks great, and will be perfect with those earrings!
I'll try to get a picture of it when it is done, to show here.

I'm baaaaaack...!

My poor neglected blog! I can't believe how long it has been and how much has happened since I was here last!

The big big news: I am no longer a struggling, independent jewelry designer... now I am a struggling small business owner! I bought a bead shop on August 1, and it is really keeping me hopping! But talk about the fox guarding the henhouse!

This pic shows my gorgeous, spacious solid oak work table. This is where I am most of the time - doing repairs, creating, or teaching small beading and beadweaving classes.

In the far back you can make out the wall of Czech glass, and behind those curtains is my classroom area, for the larger structured classes like Art Clay Silver, Glass Fusing, Wire-Wrapping, Chainmaille, etc. I can only teach class on Sundays, since I am also my sole employee, and someone has to work the front, but I also have contracted a group of fabulous instructors who come in to teach. I love my teachers!

This shot is taken from the back, and shows how some of the finished pieces are displayed, as well as some gemstones for sale, and against the left wall, all the seed beads, which are arranged by size and color.

This pic is also from the back, and shows the gemstone display, the vintage jewelry (in the glass displays), my findings, and the register area.

I have a great buyer who stalks estate sales for me, and brings in fabulous vintage finds!

This is a slightly different view of the seed bead wall - So many beads, so little time!

I love my bright and cheery shop!

Sales in my Etsy shop have been a little slow, but I have sold SO many of my finished pieces in my bead shop - so if you had your eye on something in my Etsy shop, and it has disappeared, it probably sold from my actual shop!

The opportunity to purchase the shop happened rather suddenly, and I had to fly into high gear, getting business licenses, bank accounts, tax IDs and vendor accounts, and all that other business-related red tape, and I have just now been able to settle down a bit.

I was so busy the first 6 weeks that I didn't even get to THINK about doing anything creative. That really bothered me, because in my head, I saw myself being able to sit there all day long and just bead Bead BEAD, like a kid in a candy shop! Ha!

When one of my vendors brought in these great turquoise donuts, I squirreled them away for myself, and finally had a few spare hours to play with them, and I came up with this macrame design.

October was fast approaching, and I have always been heavily involved with breast cancer awareness, so I wanted to create something special. My goal was to have it finished by October 1, and I didn't even get to start it until October 8, but I am SO pleased with the finished bracelet!

I had a small setback last week - I had to have cervical disc surgery. I had fallen back in April and ruptured a disc in my neck, and tried all the usual non-surgical methods to relieve the pain, but I finally had to bite the bullet and have the surgery last Thursday. The doctor told me I would be out of work 4-6 weeks, but that would have crippled my new business, so I went back this morning. I'm really sore right now from holding my head up all day long, but it'll be OK. The huge bruised, swollen gash on my neck did frighten a few customers, though!

Happy October!