How Do You Do It?

I have no idea of how all of those successful jewelry makers and bloggers manage to do it all.

I have a full time job, no children or significant other to take care of, and I just can't seem to find the time I need to organize which would free up time to create.

Week days are filled with the tasks of daily living and a full time job + commute time.  

Weekends are spent taking care of all the things I don't have time for during the week.

One of my weekend tasks is a visit to the delightful West Side Market. The market is a short train ride from my home and I try to visit every Saturday.  This indoor market features small vendors selling a plethora of good food. I buy my poultry from vendors who purchase from the local Amish population which makes me feel better about my main source of meat.  I buy all of my fresh produce at the same market. When I want bread, other than Einstein Brothers Bagels, I buy from one of the local bakers at the market.  What a great resource the market is.  This weekend, for $27.00 I got: a small Italian loaf of bread, 4 apples, 5 oranges, 2 types of onions, 3 red peppers, 1 banana pepper, 1 head of garlic, 3 tomatoes, 1 cucumber, 4 links of sausage, ohhh, and from the spice vendor an ounce of fennel seed and an ounce of cayenne pepper for some Christmas baking.  I am well blessed to have such a resource, even if it means I have to make an additional trip to a regular super market for canned goods, milk, and some packaged food.

I am still getting organized.  For every step forward I take one step backwards. I did a little bit of beading and now there just isn't a clear space to work.

Actually, it only looks bad it would just be a matter of minutes to re-organize the mess to make work room.  The problem is I would just be moving the mess from one space to another to be cleaned up later.  Here is my bead storage- this includes display, packaging, photo storage as well as beads, findings, and a few other things bead related.

In addition to all of the above, I am trying to find time to scan boxes and boxes of documents so I can get rid of boxes and boxes of paper and cut down significantly on my storage needs.  I am also copying a box full of floppy discs to my computer.  Somehow I neglected to do that years ago and now I am have to make up for lost time.  

So how do you fit in work, commuting, exercise, cooking, laundry, cleaning, shopping, organizing, reading (a big downfall for me) and still find time to create, photograph, and blog? 

Buying a Camera

I spent quite a bit of time researching cameras before I bought one.  It was not a fruitful search when my search criterion was “macro.”  Although it seems logical that you zoom in to capture a macro shot, macro is not the same as zoom. 

Time to cut to the chase I bought a Canon PowerShot SX130 IS. 

I restricted my choices by setting a dollar limit of under $200.00 and aimed for under $150.00.  I was able to purchase my camera at a local big box store for a bit over that $150.00. 

I visited multiple stores over a period of months and asked questions. I even visited a shop specializing in cameras.  When I was ready to make my purchase I asked the young man why he was working in the camera department.  He replied that he knew a lot about cameras.  I followed up by telling him the camera I wanted and why and asked if he would recommend something else.  He came up with one option which was pricier and told me that my choice was good. 

As I hinted above I read reviews. The review that convinced me was from CNET my favorite resource for impartial reviews of tech toys.  The review stated that this camera was slow and the AA batteries ran out quickly. I wasn’t worried about slow but now I am thinking I need to get some rechargeable batteries for my camera.  The convincing line in the review was that this camera worked well in low light conditions.  All other reviews I read of cameras in my price range said that the cameras did not do well in low light conditions.  I don’t know about you but I take pictures of my jewelry inside in natural light, not quite dim light, but not bright either.

I am still at that steep learning curve with my camera, but I am quite satisfied.  The three things mentioned again and again that photographers must learn are ISO, aperture priority, and shutter speed.  I can set all three and white balance with my camera.  I have a macro setting.  I have a delay setting.  I like that I can switch between fully manual and automatic. I have auto everything, including focus.  This was a great choice for me and I would recommend this camera to anyone interested in photographing jewelry.

Additional resources for your reading pleasure:
Baubleicious wrote a post about her choices in photographing her beadwork.  She purchased an Olympus' Stylus Tough.

Pearl at The Beading Gem was one of the first posts I read about choosing a camera.  She chose a Lumix.

The review for my camera is linked above, but CNET regularly reviews cameras. 

Etsy has quite a few resources, but the one I bookmarked was Studio Quality Product Photography With a $12 Set Up 

Digital Photography Tips and Tutorials, particularly the article on macro photography. 

Life Hacker had a great series- Basics of Photography: The Complete Guide. 
Photo Net is another great learning resource.  I bookmarked The Missing Pages column  which addresses the details left out of your user manual. 

Hmm… I think I might just have to add an additional subheading on photography to my list of links.

I am off to enjoy Thanksgiving.  Have a great holiday. 

New Links

It has been a busy week and the month of November is going to remain busy. My Aunt, who  generously presents my jewelry at her shows, will be having two events in November. I will be assisting.

I took my latest creations to work to show what I had been doing and sold two necklaces and gained one repair job. I have to finish the second necklace and repair job today.  I will try to take pictures.

I have been busy adding links to my RSS feed, which explains in part, why I have over 300 un-read blog posts in my reader. The new links are available on the All My Blog Links page under the subtitle New Links. There are 28 new links, all worth a visit.

I added 3 Polish blogs, and probably would have added more had I had the time to follow links on those blogs. Check out: Bizuteria by Dominikana for beautiful wirework, Margita- hand embroidered jewelry for stunning and bright soutoche, and Haft koralikowy by Jagienkaa for exquisite bead embroidery.

If you are looking for patterns, don't miss: Gyöngyékszer minták.

I find quite a few links through Lori Anderson's Bead Soup Blog Party which is where I found: Objects and Elements a truly awesome site with step by step tutorials.  The last two tutorials were for wearable journals.  The step by step instructions made it look easy to create these metal covered, hinged, journals.  What more could you ask for?

I am at heart a bead weaver.  If you want complex multipart tutorials for big finished pieces, do not miss: Tutoriels perles, Créations Laure.

The link for Bead Perles is a shop, but they have great interviews with European beaders.  What a great resource.

Finally, I posted a link to my friend Karen Landis.  I expect some day she will be well known.

Winnings

Look what I won

A platter filled with beads

This generous 5 pound package is from Judith B Designs.  What a treasure trove it is, chips, crystals, lentils, stone, brass, and more.  Judy was making room for new purchases and put together this package for a giveaway.  This was delivered last week and I intended to blog about it last weekend but this being Cleveland's record breaking year for rain I didn't have enough light to take a decent picture.

Thanks Judy, these will be put to good use.

The Plan

Do you design jewelry and in the process redesign and redesign again?  I do.  Which is why I don’t quite have a bracelet to share with you today.

Several months ago I purchased a pattern for a peyote puffy heart from Kreativ Keller.  There is no English translation, but Google translate worked quite well and the diagrams were great.  The plan for this weekend was to finally get around to trying out the pattern.  Now, that plan worked just fine.

Puffy Heart, pattern by Kreativ Keller

 
Having successfully made the puffy heart, the plan was to make a bracelet using these silver plated tubes as a quick and simple finish:

Silver Plated Tubes for bracelets

The plan also included the use of this carved bone frog as the center of the bracelet:

Plans don’t always work. 

Upon reflection the carved bone frog did not fit with the delicacy of the seed bead elements.  I am disappointed.  I think I have had the bone frog for a few decades.  The color was a perfect compliment.  The size was just right.  However, it just wasn’t going to work and I would not have been satisfied with the finished piece. 

New plans were quickly hatched.  I rummaged through my box of white beads and found a mother of pearl disk.  It was the right size and color.  However, when I put it together it was to long for a bracelet.  Which means the silver tubes will also be put aside for another day. 

The bracelet will now become a necklace, once I make it to a shop and pick up some silver plated chain.  Here is the unfinished piece:

Not Your Mother's Pearls

I am really happy with the way this turned out.  I am also well pleased with the instructions from Kreative Keller, they were well done, easy to interpret and follow, and the design is quite clever. 

Better Notes on Beaded Beads…

Okay, I should know better than to go from my scribbled notes.  I should have remade the darn beaded bead when I was getting ready to post my notes.  Corrections and clarifications are in red.

Here are the corrected notes:

The Beginning:  Thread 29 size 10 Delicas and tie a knot creating a circle of beads.  The tail should be equal on both sides, with needles on both sides. 

Size 10 Rows:  Peyote 8 total rows of size 10 Delicas; that is 4 rows on one side of that original circle (for future reference this is named the north side) and 3 rows on the other side (this named the south side.) 

Size 11 Rows:  Peyote 3 rows of size 11 Delicas on the north side and 3 rows of size 11 Delicas on the south side of the beaded bead. 

Size 15 Rows:  Peyote 1 row of size 15 Delicas on the north side and 1 row of size 15 Delicas on the south side.

Netting Rows:  On the north side exit from a size 15 Delica, add 5 size 15 Delicas, skip a size 15 Delica from the final peyote row, and enter the next size 15 Delica from the final peyote row.  Rinse and repeat.  Assuming my counting is correct you should have 7 scallops.  Repeat on the south side.

Note:  See my pictures below.  On the beaded bead I made today I had to use 5 beads on the south side scallop and 7 beads on the north side scallop. 

Final Row:  On the north side exit through the middle (3rd) bead of the size 15 netting row, add a bead, and enter the 3rd bead of the next size 15 netting row, rinse and repeat.  When the circle is complete pull your thread tight and weave back through your bead work to tie your knot.  Repeat on the south side. 

Below is a collage of the beaded bead I made today, a heart beaded bead that I will post more about tomorrow when my new bracelet is finished, and the pair of beaded beads showing the difference in the final netted row with 5 beads and 7 beads.

Notes on How to Create Beaded Beads and a Personal Update

Many months ago Mandy of Beads for Brains and I exchanged e-mails bemoaning the fact that a simple round beaded bead made with Delicas never quite turned out to meet our high expectations.  It seems all my efforts showed too much thread, the underlying bead, or was slightly unbalanced.  I finally made a beaded bead that works.  

Here is one that doesn’t work- notice the thread and the bead on which it is woven?

Having pointed out why it is unsatisfactory, it is only fair that also tell you that beaders that I showed this bead to thought it was just fine.  Macro pictures show every slight flaw.  Here is a different view of the same bead:

Here are two other views of the beaded bead that worked:

I told Mandy I would share my notes when I found them during the process of unpacking.  These are notes, not a diagram.  If you are not familiar with peyote this is not going to be much help, if you know peyote this is what worked for me.

You will need:

• a 5/8 inch wooden bead.  Available at Michaels
• Delicas in sizes 10, 11, and 15
• Needle, Fireline (or your preferred thread)

The Beginning:  Thread 29 size 10 Delicas and tie a knot creating a circle of beads.  The tail should be equal on both sides, with needles on both sides. 

Size 10 Rows:  Peyote 8 rows of size 10 Delicas; that is 4 rows on one side of that original circle (for future reference this is named the north side) and 4 rows on the other side (this named the south side.) 

Size 11 Rows:  Peyote 2 rows of size 11 Delicas on the north side and 1 row of size 11 Delicas on the south side of the beaded bead. 

Size 15 Rows:  Peyote 1 row of size 15 Delicas on the north side and 1 row of size 15 Delicas on the south side.

Netting Rows:  On the north side exit from a size 15 Delica, add 5 size 15 Delicas, skip a size 15 Delica from the final peyote row, and enter the next size 15 Delica from the final peyote row.  Rinse and repeat.  Assuming my counting is correct you should have 7 scallops.  Repeat on the south side.

Final Row:  On the north side exit through the middle (3^rd) bead of the size 15 netting row, add a bead, and enter the 3^rd bead of the next size 15 netting row, rinse and repeat.  When the circle is complete pull your thread tight and weave back through your bead work to tie your knot.  Repeat on the south side. 

I love this beaded bead, it is simple, it is clean, it is even, no threads show, and I really like the top and bottom.  As the top is netted you may want to try a trick I picked up on other blogs and use nail polish on your wooden bead prior to beading to give it a more finished look.  Maybe at some point in the future I will draw some diagrams.  Hopefully these notes will be enough for you to create your own unembellished and simple beaded bead.  If you decide to try out these directions, please let me know what your results were like.

You may recall I recently purchased a camera.  The pictures in this post were an exercise in learning about my new camera.  I am still on that steep learning curve and hope to post about how I chose my camera in the future.  The beaded bead pictures were done on different settings.  Thus, this blog post served two purposes: a commitment kept and a camera test.  The names of the pictures include my notes on the settings I used.

I moved this summer and had my furniture delivered in July.  I tell people I have finished unpacking; which strictly defined means I have opened all the boxes and created a large pile of things to be given away.  I have scanned all my hardback books into a spreadsheet so I know what I have.  I have also washed everything, including at least 24 curtains.  What I haven’t quite accomplished yet is getting the decorations out or my bead studio and table organized.  Also still on my to do list is scanning all my paperbacks and scanning the boxes of paper I have to my computer. 

To toot my horn about my accomplishments and to show you what needs to be completed here are a few more pictures- these were taken on the “easy” setting of my new camera.

The hardback books:

The paperback books:

My bead studio storage more is planned and necessary as these are not even my best beads:

My bead table- scattered with many things that don’t belong and a clean corner where I took my photos this morning.

Now, it is time to go and do some organizing.