Monday, July 2, 2007

Busy Hands, Busy Mind

Well folks, I don't know about you but I've been busy! Kevin is keeping me busy going back and forth to his class which ends next Friday (mom's birthday). And I've been making a bunch of new stuff recently (a bunch compared to what I usually make, anyway. It's nothing compared to Shannon or Kathy though). I put together a mosaic of some my most recent pieces just to see it all in one place besides on Etsy. It's kinda cool looking!

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And today I hit 401 hearts on Etsy! That's cool too. Wish I had 400 sales!! Now that *would* be cool! Anyway, to all of you out there somewhere who have hearted me, I send a very heartfelt 'Thank You'!

:D



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Now on to the part where I want your opinion....


Sometimes when I sit down in front of my beads with no ideas in my head, I can look at them along side the findings I have and just sort of see itself put together in my mind. Other times I write it out and plan what I want to make ahead of time. How about you? Do you plan out your pieces or do they just come to you randomly while looking at your beads? A little bit of both? Then what do you do when you have a good mix sitting in front of you and you can't for the life of you figure out what to do with it? I have so many mixes put together and I just can figure out what to do with some of them, but they look great together! I guess it will come in time. I don't like to string. What I have would probably be great for stringing. But I don't like to string. I don't know why. I'm just not that good at crimping I guess. For that reason I've always liked to use crimp covers when I have strung. But I still don't like stringing really. I'd rather wire wrap. And you? How about you? Do you prefer to string, knot or wire wrap? I'll be interested to know how you put your designs together and if you prefer stringing, knotting, wrapping, etc.


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I do hope everyone has a wonderful July 4th! We'll be going to see the fireworks at Carowinds. We actually go to an industrial business' parking lot behind Carowinds to stay as far away from the traffic as we can. It's great. We'll shoot some fireworks of our own and Kevin will get to throw 'poppers' down on the ground and do sparklers. He loves that. I just hope nothing catches on fire. We sure do need a heap of rain!

So I bid you all a wonderful holiday week and I hope to hear your comments on the above!

Take care! Happy Fourth of July!!

7 comments:

Kirsten said...

I too wish I had as many sales as hearts!

Good question on the creativity, worthy of a blog entry in itself. Sometime you should post a picture of a sketch and the finished piece together. I did that once and should probably do it again sometime.

Steph said...

Holy Cow, Lady! You HAVE been busy! They all look wonderful together!

I usually don't plan too much. I tend to get a couple things together and then add and delete as I go. I have been very uninterested in stringing lately. As you know, I went through a wire-wrapping phase, but since none of them sold, I moved on to knotting. Still enjoying it, though feeling the need to cook up something new for fall.
I would love to see your sketches!

pomomama said...

great blog post and read with interest.
hmm creativity? i think i have a bead soup in my studio (ie. the place where I can store things away from the wee guy and the cat) which i stir occasionally and then fabricate from. i'm at a bit of a loss right now as i've just finished two big custom projects and sample work for a wire crochet class i'm teaching, so everything has been 'dictated' recently. now i need to start making some new pieces and i'm not sure what direction i'll be going in (prob more sea glass!! and some wire i guess LOL)

Puffluna... said...

Your new items are wonderful! I love your style!

I think of alot of pieces in my head and write it down. Once I'm home or in the bead room I'll put a few of the beads in a holder to remind me to work on it some day.

Oddly enough, some of my best sellers have come from my lack of organization and the pile of beads on my table. hmmmm those look good together! haha

I love the fact that there are others out in the world who stare at their beads just looking... waiting... looking... thinking... and then "WHAM!" it hits ya' I just love that!

I'm kind of tired of stringing too. I do it once in a while when I feel lazy or just don't want to spend the extra money on wire.

I love reading your blog! You keep it so interesting!

Thanks! :)

Julie

AnnieRoso said...

I love that Butterfly necklace, Ginger!

I don't string much. I only really make one thing that involves stringing or knotting and that's my super-long pearl necklace -- I think by the time I'm done whipping one of those up, I'm over stringing and knotting for a while! Also, I don't really gravitate to strung jewelry myself, and I pretty much only make what I think I would probably wear myself (though I've come up with some real dogs from time to time).

Wire work is my favorite, very useful in making earrings, which is predominantly what I make, and just so versatile. The more I look around at what some other incredibly talented wire workers out there are doing, the more I realize I've only barely begun to scrape the surface.

Unknown said...

Hey Ginger :) Nice work you have there. I myself have been feeling a little uninspired lately. Guess my mind's been all over the place, plus the lethargy-inducing weather's not helping.

Interesting thoughts... which I've had myself from time to time. I tend to be most satisfied with pieces that happened out of the blue, ie I'd be looking through beads and suddenly grab a few to put together on the spur of the moment. I can't do sketches and stuff... I just can't visualise a 3D object on paper. So everything's in my head, except for a few basic shapes and designs I've drawn out. This also means I sometimes lie awake in bed with visions of jewellery floating through my insomniac mind. Argh!

As for stringing vs wire-wrapping... I'm fine with both. It depends on what I need. Stringing's for quick and dirty pieces :X I hate wrapping briolettes btw. I think I'm too impatient. I like hammering stuff though... hahaha!

Happy July 4th and I hope Kevin's doing better!

Unknown said...

Oh my Lord!
What I wouldn't give to open a big, wide, velvet lined drawer and see all that!

This new collection was made for me.

I will allow for it to be dispersed.
Your welcome, everyone.