Needle Tatting Tutorial Uploaded !

Needle Tatted Earrings with Beads

It was so hard getting this project off the ground. My Windows Movie Maker maker and I were no longer married, so I had to figure out how to do it myself :-/ and I had to wait until the mood hit (which is the way I've been operating since we split). Anyway, I figured out how to import, drag and drop, add fades, titles, captions and music (which disappeared when I added narration...arrrgh !) and voila ! My second tute in two years. Now that I know how, there will be more to come :-) I prefer making photo sequences because if I screw up while in the middle of a project, I would have to start another one and work up to that point just to re-record the video. Maybe I'll use video with a quick project. However, I have a very vocal parrot who tends to dominate the airwaves whenever he senses something important is going on (aarrgh !). I hope you like the video (don't know why it looks so out of focus...the photos were crystal clear when I was working with them...maybe compression altered them...oh, well).

Etsy Front Page Happy Dance !

front page my girl with dragon tatoo treasury july 2010, originally uploaded by crownrose gems.

Fellow Etsy Beadweaver, Crownrose Gems, posted this treasury a few days ago and today it spent a short time on the front page of Etsy.com ! My Venezia bracelet is part of the collection which is based on the popular Millenium trilogy by Swedish author, Stieg Larsson. I wouldn't have know about my front page appearance if it hadn't been for Statsy.com. I totally forgot about the fact that I linked it to my Facebook profile and besides generating an email to me, it automatically posted to Facebook ! Very handy indeed !

A Novel Treasury

My Venezia bracelet is part of this treasury based on the novel, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. This collection is so interesting, I'm tempted to go check out the book !

Tatted Earrings with Beads

Tatted Earrings with Beads, originally uploaded by ambrosianbeads.

Needle tatting seems to have taken over my beading life, especially since I'm getting a clue as to how to design. Here are some earrings I made recently. I'm working on a video tutorial and learning how to use Windows Movie Maker in the process. Hope to post that soon.

"Adrift" Freeform Bracelet

"Adrift" Freeform Bracelet, originally uploaded by ambrosianbeads.

Again, a tale of procrastination and inertia but with a happy ending ! This bracelet started out as a project for the EBW Spring Swap, but I had a hard time moving ahead using these colors....they just don't motivate me. I used them because my swap partner liked "earth tones." I searched my bead stash for the "earthiest" bead colors I could find, and found only a few. The clock was ticking and the shape kept growing and I couldn't stop it, but knew I didn't have enough time to let it grow into the size it wanted to be. So I set it aside and started the round pendant (see previous blog post).

Fast forward a couple months and the as yet unfinished bracelet...determined to submit a completely new item to the recent gallery show, I took it out and let it reach it's destined size. It was kind of growing on me, but I probably won't attempt using these colors again anytime soon. Finished in time for the gallery jury day, I submitted it and it was accepted, and just a week later it sold to a lady from France ! And I'm happy to report, I've also sold a necklace I finished last December and three pairs of earrings ! I think my "year of inertia" has finally come to a close :-)