Artbeads.com

Last month, I got an e-mail from Artbeads.com asking if I'd would accept free beads if I'd be willing to make something with them and to blog about it. Well, what would you all say to FREE BEADS! OF COURSE I WOULD. I chose some items from the Crystallized Swarovski Elements.
When I got the package last week, I decided on trying to make a Palm Doll which is a new class I'll be teaching at Byzanitum next month. I had decided for this project to use the Olive Cotton Yarn with the 3mm Olive crystals to wrap around the doll form giving it a fabric type of dimension, Then I was going to use the Mocca Diamond Leaf Sew on Cystrals as the focus pieces. I chose my favorite bone rondells along with a few vintage peals. I didn't want to use beaded hair on this doll so I chose three vintage sequins that I'd picked up on my trip last year to NYC. The Sew On Crystal leaf turned out lovely and combines with the fabric it gave that extra "umph" shining from either direction. I wasn't too pleased with the look of the Olive Cotton Yarn with the 3mm crystals though. I think possibly I should have used a different color as the cotton yarn was lost in the fabric pattern. I do like the possibilities with this and have some Cashmere yarn with crystals and a synthetic suede to try out on other projects. To the side is a great picture of the Olive Yarn...looks yummie, doesn't it?

Here is a picture of the little doll I created. She can be held in the palm or put a pin back on her & use her as a brooch. To give her additional sparkle, I did fringe off the bottom with 3mm bicone olive crystals.



I also wanted to make a flat fabric cuff bracelet with a Grecian focal bead that I bought off of Helen many years ago at an open house she'd had for the Ohio Beaders. I've kept it wondering what to do with it, when I found this African Tribal Mask fabric at a local Quilt shop. I didn't want to totally encrust the bracelet as I wanted those tribal mask to sneak out from behind the beading. So I chose to do a peyote cage around the odd shaped cab along with a few other bead embellishment techniques to draw the eye directly to the face. Then I decided to use the 12mm Round Hematite Buttons from ArtBeads.com with small czech silver flowers in the center. Then I pulled out some of the silver vintage sequins I picked up in NYC and started to scatter them all through the piece, but my EYES were drawn back to the EYES in the tribal mask. I knew then that this was going to be called "Hidden Eyes" so I went through the bags of stuff I'd bought at 1 Stop Bead Shop's Garage Sale and found small tiny pearls the size of the eyes. I then surrounded the eyes with black delicas. I really like how eerie this looks when on the wrist. All the sequins compliment the focal mask, but then deep down underneath hidden in the fabric are those eyes! I intend to wear this piece to the Retreat next month and made some earrings to go with it.

I've been thinking about these hidden eyes wondering wear all that came from. It is no surprise that when I really got to pull out the reason from my subconscious it was obvious. At work, we are having lots of turmoil as we cannot keep staff on our 3rd shift. It is like a "revolving" door with people being hired, taking 3 months to train, and then not even lasting a year before they move on. It happens all the time and in the 27 years I've worked 3rd shift, I'd say we've only had a stable staff for maybe 5 out of those year only because everyone wanted to be there. This year is even worse than normal as we are down over 1/2 of our staff. Next week we will only have one full time person scheduled to work when we need three people to cover the shift. I just take it one day at a time not trying to get upset, but just sitting back, watching the management and seeing how they are going to juggle the staff which is so low due to their cutting back last year when the economy crashed. My other coworker is MAD, UPSET, and ANGRY all the time wanting ANSWERS. He gets so mad some times I think he is going to have a stroke. I keep telling him to wait and stay calm, but he doesn't listen to me. I'm not saying some miracle will happen to make everything okay, but it doesn't do any good to be angry all the time. All it does is to make work unbearable for yourself and other around. So I've got my "hidden eyes" watching what is going on waiting to see how this fiasco can be turned around. I know only one thing, I'm NOT giving up the vacation time I've been given. I gave up three separate vacations this Summer to help cover holes in the schedule, but I'm not going to do that now. Also, I am NOT going to get angry about all this. It doesn't help. I made my suggestions to the Director this weekend, and tonight when I go into work, I'll see if she listen to me. If not...I'll keep low with my "hidden eyes" taking in everything not letting my "mask" slip off and get caught up in an ugly wave of anger. So maybe I SHOULD wear this bracelet in every night. I can look down, and see message my subconscious sent to me to cope. I'll get through this as I've gotten through all the ups and downs at work. It just gets harder every year with my coworker spouting hateful words all the time. I'm fine. I'll manage. I always do.

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