Kumihimo

Kumihimo is my latest venture. I took a class 2 weeks ago, and instead of choosing to do the 18-inch necklace that the other students chose to do, I had my mind set on a lariat. A 60-inch lariat, to be exact. Naturally.

If I had fully understood the implications of this, I might not have been such a rebel.

Kumihimo is a lot of fun, and though it was a little difficult to get the hang of at first, once I figured it out, it turned out to be relatively easy. And it is completely portable once it is set up on the disc.

This is the kumihimo disc - it is made of foam, and is maybe 8 inches in diameter.

The most tedious part of Kumihimo is the set up. At least 8 different strands of seed beads have to be pre-strung and then wound onto something that will hold them - plastic bobbins work well. The number of beads needed on each strand to complete a necklace varies with the length of necklace desired and with the size of the seed bead, and when using size 8 seed beads, it takes about 10 beads per inch.


So for an 18-inch necklace, I would have needed to string about 180 - 200 seed beads on each of the 8 braiding cords. But for my 60 inch lariat? Yeah - I could not even start learning the technique until I had strung almost 600 seed beads on 8 different cords. That's a lot of seed beads!

The other students finished stringing their cords, and there I sat, still trying to fit the tiny beads on the thick braiding cord. Ultimately, the other students pitched in and helped me get set up, and we all started braiding.

And here is my finished lariat, with the fringe I added at the ends.

And back to my point about portability: once all your beads are loaded on the bobbins, the whole shebang fits in a Ziploc bag, disc and all. And the notches on the disc keep your strands in place, no matter what. Trust me - they do not come out of the notches, even when thrown in a tote bag with a bunch of books, or tossed around in a car, etc. And once you are all set up, there are no needles, no tools - so this is an ideal project for air travel, or car travel: you hold it in one hand, move the strands with the other; it is lightweight - I love it. It doesn't hurt my hands at all!

Of course, you can also do Kumihimo without beads, or with a combination of fibers and beads - so I love its versatility.

I've purchased some pretty textured fibers to try, and I am anxiously waiting for my square Kumihimo disc to arrive. The square disc supposedly makes a flat braid, and I already have my colors picked out for my first project on the square disc. A 60-inch beaded lariat, of course. Because apparently, I never learn.

Custom Design

A good friend dropped by the shop about 3 weeks ago, carrying a garment bag.

Inside, she had a gorgeous, peacock-blue satin evening gown. Just below the plunging neckline was a diamond-shaped beaded design, about 3 inches square; the design had a hematite-colored background, bordered with peacock-blue bugle beads, with a beaded flower in the center.

My friend wanted a necklace and earrings to match the dress.

I took a photo of the beaded design, and gathered some beads together, and started stitching. I didn't have any peacock-blue bugle beads, but I had these size 8 delicas, which I figured would substitute nicely, once I got them lined up on the sides.

20 hours later, I had the beaded pendant stitched, and set out to design the necklace and earrings.

I chose 2 Swarovski square rings to bling it up, and hung them so that they mimicked the pendant.

My friend was really happy with the end result, so Yay!

Snow in Aiken

This was taken at 6:15 PM.

The snow had started falling around 3:30 PM, and it is still coming down. Fast.

But it's dark outside, so Bailey and I are in trying to get warm again.

View from my kitchen window.

Any weather is soccer weather!

Snow bunny.

Snow bird.

We're supposed to get about 3 more inches, and then it is all supposed to melt tomorrow.

A couple of completed projects!

Just a little bit about 2 of my latest designs, both available in my Etsy shop:

This is a pendant I designed a couple of weeks ago:
It was largely created using various cold connections techniques, although I had to make the fused glass pieces in the kiln first. I then worked out a pattern on paper that would allow the glass to peek through a window in the copper, with a big focus on asymmetry, which I really love to play with.


This is a bracelet I created over the weekend:
I wire-wrapped hundreds of beads, including freshwater pearls, glass seed beads, and large aquamarine rondelles, to a sturdy bronze-colored frame. I love the blue, bronze, pink, and white palette - it is very soothing. The bracelet is easily adjustable to anywhere from a size 6 to a size 7.5 wrist.

And I actually have time this week to bead-weave, something I have really missed. I'm working on a freeform peyote bracelet, which I hope to showcase here this weekend.

Shame on You, ABC

I am absolutely disgusted at the way ABC is promo'ing tonights 20/20 episode on Jenny Sanford.

I have had the TV on for less than 30 minutes (albeit, all during the ABC Evening News), and there have been at least 2, and I think 3, commercials for tonight's 20/20 interview between Barbara Walters and Jenny Sanford. And each commercial ends with a very dramatic voice intoning: "Jenny Sanford; She's the Woman Who Didn't Stand By Her Man". The commercials even end with a still shot of Jenny Sanford next to a headline reading: "The Woman WHO DIDN'T STAND BY HER MAN." In all caps, and bold font.

OK - here's the thing.

To stand by your man, he has to be standing beside you. Mark Sanford? Wasn't. He was off in Argentina.

So Jenny Sanford is "the woman who didn't put up with a cheating asshole husband."
Jenny Sanford is "the woman who didn't tolerate an adulterous snake."
Jenny Sanford is a courageous role model - unlike some other politicians' wives, who I won't be bothered to list here (listen up, HRC.)

Roadside Dinosaurs

On the way home from Gainesille, Bailey and I passed through Bishop, Georgia, which is really just a wide spot in the road, but had a couple of (closed) antique shops, and this cute little roadside lapidary/gift shop, with these fantastic fabricated dinosaurs facing the highway.

I parked the car next to the dinos, and went inside what I thought was the gift shop - turned out I was wrong, and it was actually the owner's home (the gift shop was in a shed next door). But his front porch was strewn with fantastic cabs, wire-wrapped crystals, and other rocky treasures, and despite his "Open" sign along the highway, the gentleman told me his shop was closed, but since I was there, he would let me look around his shop.

He left me alone to wander through his large gift-shed, and when I returned to his front porch to pay for my treasures, I asked about the dinosaurs, and he told me everyone tried to buy them, but he and his wife had grown so attached to them, that they no longer wanted to sell them.

So, naturally, now I WANT one.

And now for true confessions time.

I came here today to post all the things I posted here.

So imagine my surprise when I discovered I had already done (on 1/29), virtually word-for-word, what I had intended to do today. Obviously, I was so high on the Vicodin Friday night that I don't even remember making that entire post. And I am still having the headaches, but am now out of Vicodin, so hopefully the headaches will start to improve soon.

You've waited long enough!

Here's part 3 of my trip to Gainesville, GA:


Let's just go ahead and get to the heart of the matter (in other words, what matters most to me)
Remember the ongoing saga of my Bailey-induced black eye?

I developed excruciating, basically debilitating headaches shortly after this incident, and since I have a long history of migraines, I ignored them at first. But it soon became obvious that these were not my "normal" headaches, and I eventually wound up at at the ER, and had a CT scan, and evidently Bailey managed to give me a concussion, so now I have post-concussive headaches, and one day I will be better. Or not.


This picture was taken on Day 20 after the head-butting.


I would sue Bailey for all he's worth, but that is only a few slobber-coated dog toys, so I'll pass.






The Gainesville hospital is gorgeous, and I discovered these incredible malted milk balls (called "Outtakes") in the food court, as was instantly hooked. They are at least 3/4 again the size of a regular malted milk ball, and twice as good - I highly recommend them!



I had 2 of these gorgeous beside reading lamps in my hotel room (rock on, Gainesville Days Inn!).

I deemed them to be trimmed with Gen-u-Ine Swarovski crystals, and told my friend Kathy (who's husband was our patient undergoing bypass surgery at the Gainesville hospital) that I would be slipping both of these lamps into my suitcase and taking them home with me (I did not). Kathy firmly believed that I believed that these were Swarovski lamps - and kept trying to convince me they were just Czech crystals. Doesn't everything look better with Crystal Embellishment??

This is a home visible from our deck at the Gainesville Days Inn - the snow had been on the ground for AT LEAST 4 days -and the laundry remained (stiffly) on the lines.











This "car" was parked on the floor below ours at the Days Inn - several tires missing, and no back window.

Nice ride!

Train parked next to Poultry Park.

My concussion and Vicodin are now going to bed!

See you next time.