Just Bead It

I am a part-time crafter.  But you will not catch me tooting my own horn.

...

What does that even mean?  Because in high school I literally tooted my own horn, six days a week, 40 weeks a year for four years.  How does being a geeky trombone player relate to bragging??

But I digress.

...

I was turned onto jewelry when I stumbled onto the Mill Girl's blog featuring a felt ball necklace.  It was so unique, I fell in love instantly.  I ran out to our local craft store, bought the cheapest wool roving in every color I could find and ended up with three of the itchiest felt necklaces that no one could ever wear.

Eventually I discovered the gloriously luxurious alpaca and have been hooked ever since.

Hello darling.  Looking lovely today.

Each of those little suckers takes about five minutes to felt; a process that involves me getting soapy water all over myself, the counter, the floor, the dog, my eyes, etc.  There will have to be an additional pain and suffering charge when I'm eventually able to part with it and officially put it on the market.

But until then I will pet you, and love you, and pet you...

Since felt balls rolled into my life (pun intended) I've played around with different techniques...

Like decoupaged wooden beads....

...paper and cork...

...and plain 'ol random glass beads.  Because I'm a random gal.  Plain, too.  And I really love the "stray and unwanted" bin at the bead store.  I like giving stray and unwanted things homes.  Inanimate things.  Like stuffed bunnies with lopsided noses sitting on the clearance rack all sad and lonely.  See, random.

Currently my obligations to my student loan are keeping me from walking away from the working world altogether and making crafty things all day, every day.  And until I can change the earth's rotation to create a 32-hour day I will be on the same schedule of cranking out one piece I actually like every five years.  This means I can start listing on Etsy in 2035.  Mark your calendars!

But I exaggerate.

I do have a deadline.  The end of the month.  Everything.  On Etsy.

I'm just not sure which month yet.

Hey Stace, JCPenny called, they want their staging back.