Week 8

Well, I am three weeks late on this blog but I have been doing stuff.  I just got stuck on the writing part.  This whole idea of fix, finish or fling is if I don’t finish, then it gets flung.  I think I put too much in my fix and finish it pile because I didn’t finish all of it and really don’t want to fling the rest.  While still recovering from being ill for a month, I was also trying to catch up on all the housework and volunteer work that had accumulated in major piles that made my brain hurt.

So, it is what it is, I’m going to say it will all be ok and just tell you about it.  I mentioned in my last blog that my new camera came in.  We ordered a kit and look at all the goodies!  I still am learning how to use the camera and haven’t watched all the tutorial videos Sir T emailed me yet.  I did take it with me when we visited some friends.  We had a lot of fun trying out all the lenses and playing with settings.  I still have so much to learn in order to use this camera to its full potential.

Ooo la la!

My pile of jewelry was engaged and I did make some progress.  I also discovered that while I love beads and all the pretty colors and possibilities, I don’t really enjoy making jewelry for myself.  I am a small trinket person.  The pendants on my necklaces are small, my hoop earrings less than an inch in diameter and I really dislike necklaces that drape down into whatever I’m working on when I bend over.  Yes they are pretty but not very functional as I don’t seem to do just pretty very often.  I always end up moving chairs, picking up trash or I don’t know, doing something that gets me smacked in the face with a long necklace.  This doesn’t lend well to fancy, chunky jewelry regardless of how much I like the beads.

The status of my drafting table for the last couple of weeks.

I have read several opinions on how to start a project or a group of projects in such a way as to help motivate you to continue.  One thought process involves tackling the hardest task first and after conquering that, everything else is a piece of cake.  The opposite idea is to do the easiest task first so when you have finished that project you will feel a sense of accomplishment and continue on with other tasks.  Rather than debate the merits of which one is better, for they have both worked for me in the past, I’m going to focus on what both do… they DO.  In each case you do SOMETHING in the pile.  I decided to start with easy.  For me this was the pieces that I knew exactly what needed to be done and had the supplies to complete it.

The original clasp on this bracelet my sister gave me came undone without my permission.
I’ve almost lost it multiple times.  Not any longer!

This belt was purchased at a second-hand store and perfectly matched a shirt that I wear quite often to festivals and while performing.  Several of the strands of beads broke while I was dancing and I was able to gather up many of them.  I never repaired it as it was still functional and you couldn’t really tell it was missing beads.  However when I was pulling out the “gotta fix it someday pile” the baggie of beads was there.  I had extra beads and sequins in my stash that filled in the missing beads nicely.

Back to dancing!

This next necklace was also given to me by a sister (different one) and I love the butterfly carved into the mother of pearl pendent.  The small leather thong that tied it onto the necklace wore out and broke.  While fixing that part, I decided to add a bit of chain to allow for greater flexibility in the length.  It is a rather short necklace and it is nice to be able to adjust the length to fit the neckline of the top I’m wearing.

When in doubt, bling it out.
I like to add a bead dangle to the end of the chains to make them pretty and tidy looking.

Melting beads

I love the color of these teal stained mother of pearl beads.  I created this necklace a couple of years ago and actually wore it even though these beads are a tad beyond my comfort level of size.  The problem is the black beads started to “melt” and get tacky to the touch at room temperature.  I knew I had to get rid of them and recreate this necklace.  It took way longer than I thought…. So many choices…

This is version four and five of the necklace.

Final design.  Mother of pearl is really hard to take a picture of.

My pile didn’t get finished with about half the projects left behind.  We had a busy weekend and since I wasn’t finished, I didn’t write a blog.  That old pesky perfectionism reared its discouraging head.  I also didn’t want to toss the rest of the projects.  However, a deadline isn’t much good if you don’t believe it is absolute.  Anyway, the goal is to get back on track and finish up what is left.  Ahem…  this is my mess on the other side of the room next to my bead drawers.

Sir T would really like this to be picked up.  He’s not wrong.

Sir T making us food when I was sick.

While going through the pictures I’ve take in the last month I saw a picture I took of Timothy when I was terribly sick.  I don’t know if he was sick yet but he made us food.  He was raised by a wonderful woman who made ALL his food and he was seriously spoiled.  It is kinda a big deal for him to make food by himself and I really appreciated that he kept both of us fed when I was really sick.  Thus the reason I took the picture.  I know I’m loved.