once upon a time, mo hated nelson – now look at them! beads and cats, two of my favorite things!
It occurred to me today that perhaps the reason that “old” people are so “cranky” is because they’ve long since discovered that “adapting” truly means giving up pieces of themselves and denying their preferences for the sake of survival, and at best, the comfort of whoever/whatever surrounds them. Once upon a time, they were probably nice and wanted to get along. By the time they’re 80 and nothing is remotely the same as it was even 10 years ago, who gives a rodent’s hiney anymore about manners and propriety. And at the very end, most of them would tell you that all the work, the worry and the stuff they accumulated didn’t matter as much as the people they loved.
my sister handed me these as she got out of her car the other day: Oscar de la Renta, Niki De Saint Phalle, and holy smokes, KL – a whopping 1.7 ounces of my absolute favorite. All vintage, all extremely well preserved, and close enough to full. you guys should’a seen my face.
I’ll admit I’m having a hard time making the change from Etsy to Big Cartel. Plus, other things have been on my mind. My favorite cylinder delivery guy quit and now I’ll have someone new to deal with, and as a woman whose career requires lots of guy stuff to deal with, not to mention non-cookie cutter tastes in art and decor, the distinct possibility of having to charm my way out of some sexist/judgmental BS may now suddenly be on my list of things to do. It’s way too soon to tell if it will be that way, and I try not to expect the worst – but it’s always a smallish concern. When people walk into my space there’s no telling what they’ll think. It could be “wow, you’re pretty cool” or “wow, you’re weird and scary and I don’t understand you, and as such, I don’t like you”. Understanding is not a requirement, but kind acceptance is a good place to start any sort of relationship. I figured out recently that most people end up liking me and those who don’t have a silly bug up their bum and aren’t worth the worry.
I’ve been making beaded beads:
And jewelry:
a recent custom order
And looking through some of the stuff I’ve already made:
jewelry I have extracted from the stacks of train cases
I’ve decided that more is probably too much and sharing is more exciting than keeping it all to myself. If I don’t need it (and I probably don’t) I’d like to pass it along to someone who does, and I can do so without regret. I’m hoping that in the interim – that is, between Etsy and Big Cartel – I might be able to share some of it with you here, with the assistance of some halfway decent photos and descriptions, and by modeling these pieces myself to give you a better idea of scale. As you’ll be able to surmise by the photos, I’m not so experienced with modeling my own jewelry for this purpose, and I’m definitely not entirely comfortable with taking pictures of myself. I didn’t even bother with anything but lipstick. But it should do the job, and if you require more photos/descriptions, just ask!
#1 Katamari Necklace (circa 2006) – $225 – (SOLD) – click on any one of the photos to see everything up close
Do you know what a Katamari is? Google it. Meanwhile, I made this necklace at least 10 years ago. I know I wore it to a Flaming Lips concert in 2008 after having it for at least a year or so, and people were stopping me and asking me where I got it. If you’re into your jewelry announcing your presence, this is a good way to go. This is made with macrame’d ultra strong deep black beeswax nyltex, which is basically nylon. It isn’t itchy, it won’t fade, and since it has been worn a few times it has softened up flexibility-wise quite a bit. This also means it has stretched as much as it is going to. It’s surprisingly comfortable, even with all those protrusions, but since it’s 100% glass, chunky glass at that, it’s delightfully heavy. It weighs about 5 ounces, which I suppose isn’t all that bad, but if you’re accustomed to dainty chains this might be a grand change of pace. As for the beads themselves, we have 6 Katamari beads, 7 Bubble Toggles, 2 Fizz Tabs, 2 Happy Tabs and 12 Czech rounds and size 6/0 seed beads in Prussian blue. It’s finished off with a signature “S” lampwork button.
Inside circumference: 15 inches
Katamari beads measure approximately 20mm
Bubble Toggles measure approximately 13x28mm
Fizz Tabs measure 16x20mm
Happy Tabs measure 11x18mm
signature lampwork button measures 15mm across
#2 Tab-Tab Necklace (circa 2006) – $175 – (SOLD) – click on any one of the photos to see everything up close
When I came up with this bead design, I thought it was the coolest thing, but it only lends itself to tighter bracelets and choker style necklaces. Macramé works very well for these. The backs of the Tab-Tabs are reinforced with two strings of the macramé material that will keep them protruding outward. The string I used for the macramé is beeswaxed nyltex, a hemp weight deep black nylon material. It isn’t itchy, it won’t fade, and since it has been worn a few times it has softened up flexibility-wise quite a bit. This also means it has stretched as much as it is going to. It ends with two Happy Tabs, two incredibly chartreuse Czech cube beads, red pony beads, and has red size 6/0 Czech seed beads knotted in between each lampwork bead. It’s finished off with a signature “S” lampwork button.
Tab-tab beads measure anywhere from 15mm to 18mm and are approximately 18mm tall
Happy Tabs measure 12x15mm
Czech cube beads measure 10mm
button measures 15mm across
Inside circumference measures 14 inches
#3 Mink Stole – Lucite, pearls, Czech glass and lampwork – $200 – (SOLD) – click on any one of the photos to see everything up close
This is another one that gets many compliments. Large cool mink brown Lucite moonglow beads (a whopping 22mm, and in perfect condition), my favorite champagne colored pearls, Czech faceted disks and saucers in a lovely vanilla latte color, and a variety of my lampwork in my tea-stained colorway – a Glitter Toggle (center), two Bubble Triangles, and two Fly-Eye Tabs, all finished off with a sizeable sterling lobster clasp. Strung on heavy-duty softflex.
moonglow Lucite beads measure 22mm
lampwork measures approximately 16x19mm – 16x30mm
pearls measure approximately 10mm
Czech saucers measure 8mm
sterling clasp is 13mm and easy to manage
Inside circumference measures 15 inches
I hope you see something you like! Hit me up via the comments section, or for more privacy, email me (evolutionnow@sbcglobal.net).
Thanks so much for reading, and being around through this unsteady time… bead folk seem to be particularly reasonable people, and I’m glad to know you all!
Read Full Post »
the z-beads blog 