I've been a bad, bad girl...

I've been careless with a delicate man... Oh, wait, that's a Fiona Apple song! What I mean was, I've been careless with this blog! Well, not careless, really, just so darn busy with all the other avenues in my life that I simply haven't had time to write here, let alone read anyone else's blogs!

Well, with the cold months here already, I've been quite pleased to simply sit back, relax with a hot cup of tea (or coffee...) and a hook, and have been playing with my yarn stash. Oh, and what fun I've had! In the last three weeks, I've busily made at least a dozen cowls, (two of which have matching cuffs, see below...), half a dozen 'cup coats', and have even put some time aside to teach myself how to make organza flowers!

All this of course, was done in the midst of the little one getting dental surgery, then suffering through (and passing on...) two consecutive cold/flu viruses, keeping house, AND looking after a sick hubby who's business is soboominghecan'ttakeanytimeoff...

Anyway... At least I've had the time to photograph some of these creations, and this post is all about that: PHOTOS!

Deep Purple neckwarmer with matching cuffs.
The buttons were all salvaged from a second-hand store purchase.

Organza flowers with antique glass button centers.
These are SO much fun to make, and easy too! But still, a little time consuming, if you don't have a 'system' in place...

The cream one is one of my favorites. I also quite like the buttons I used, very understated, they almost look like carved crystal balls.

I went for a little jaunt downtown yesterday, and since we have a lovely little caffé there, called Balzac's, I thought I'd take along a few of my new cup cozies, and go ahead with a mini photo shoot while I had myself a little treat of medium roast and carrot cake. It was sooo worth it, even if I did start feeling very, very under the weather about 1 hour into my little excursion.

Another cup cozy, this one matches the neck warmer two photos down. I'm from a long line of crafty "Waste not, want not" Women, and if I like one thing in one color combination, I'll usually try to work with that same combination 'til there's no more yarn to play with.

Fiery Fall neckwarmer

Poetess neck warmer

Green Goodness neck warmer.
Might I add that I'm absolutely digging the versatility of these pieces? I love how you can wear the neck warmers in different fashions, as well as over the ears, as shown.

Well, I think that's about it for today. Hopefully I can get back to doing this blogging thing more regularly, but, I won't keep my hopes up about that, since I'm trying to line myself up with a few shows and sales. Oooh, and I did find a lady downtown yesterday who was VERY interested in carrying my beaded amulets in her New Age shop, and I'm quite excited about that prospect, and think my little amulets would do really well there as 'Medicine' bags.

"Magenta", the last bag I listed on Etsy, and which promptly sold!
Perhaps I should make more? ;)

Treasury: Beads are a Girl's Best Friend!

Another treasury I've created today. Click on the photo to check out the gorgeous pieces on display. Just a small selection of the many talented bead artists on Etsy.

Treasury!

I finally snagged myself a Treasury, and I thought I'd share it with you all!

I called it "Shades Of Fire" and it showcases a few of my favorite items at the moment.
I'm particularly partial to those large flower hair adornments; not sure if I could pull it off, personally, but I certainly wouldn't be averse to trying them! :)

*Which is probably why I've been playing with copious amounts of organza and tulle these last few days... Stay tuned!*

Thermos Cozy!

My Darling Hubby is an avid outdoorsman, and likes to be prepared every time he goes out. After breaking his old thermos, he broke down and bought himself a new one. This time, when he came home, he asked his clever wifey if she could create some type of 'cozy' for it, so that it wouldn't get damaged on one of his excursions.

Well, not one to back down from such a challenge, his clever wifey sought out the perfect yarn for the task, and got to work! Armed with my trusty 5mm bamboo hook, and a copious amount of excitement (I kid you not!), I patiently worked on this project all of Saturday morning. Not having a pattern for such a cozy, I had to do, and re-do, quite a few times, just to get it right. Me and the 'Frog Stitch'? Yeah, we're tight!
So, here it is! The Thermos Cozy! :) I made two little 'ear-flaps' on the cap, that act as button holes. I sewed some nice, rustic looking wooden buttons to the body of the cozy, which allows for "easy-on, easy-off" of said cap.

So? Whaddya think?

I am happy to report that D.H. loved it so much (verbatim: "This is freaking AWESOME!"), that I now have every weekend spoken for, until I have made cozies for his fishing reels as well... (He's got 5 big "spinning reels" that need protecting...) In coordinating colors, no less... ;)

Spiced Chai

Spiced Chai, originally uploaded by JewelsLB.

Just finished crocheting this cute bag, after completing its prototype yesterday (It's my own pattern dont'cha know, and I'm SO proud of that! LOL!). Of course, my little highness gets to keep most of my protos, except if they're not age appropriate ;)

My Darling Hubby got me this wool as a Yule present last year, and I hadn't even taken it out of the bag until yesterday. I'm really liking the look of the large coconut shell button, and chose a deep wine red thread to complement the red lacquer of the flowers. It's a fantastic little bag to hold my keys, my iphone, and a few cards. I like it so much, I've decided NOT to put it in the sell pile! ;)

Etsy Treasury: When Yellow Leaves

A lovely lady by the name of Jane, of Glorious Hats, has added my "Stone" bangles to her beautiful treasury. Take a peek:

You can also see it by clicking here. Thank you Jane! :)

Mimi's New Shoulder Bag

Mimi's new shoulder bag, originally uploaded by JewelsLB.

I'm still playing with my beads, but when the cooler weather comes in, I always pull out my yarn to play with. Of course, the beads get a tad jealous, especially if buttons are involved, but they understand... I think. I know the Swarovski's gave me the cold shoulder this morning, it only lasted a short while. The pearls? Well, they're like a happy oblivious puppy: They just ran up to me and licked my face 'til I gave them a stern "enough!" ;)

Here's a little shoulder bag I started working on Monday night. This bag is completely freeform, no pattern was followed. The body and strap are all extended single crochet, and the drop is just a series of stitches in varied lengths, which I customized to fit the large button Mimi picked. Lucky Little Highness that she is: she gets all my prototypes! ;)

Definitely going to be making more of these, but now I'm thinking I'd like to add some of my nice art buttons for the closure. I'm thinking Raku, metal and wood (oh my!) ;)

Jewels

Almost Fall!

Four more days and it's Fall! Already? Time is just flying by right now. I honestly thought I'd have more me time once school started, turns out I was slightly off on those calculations. We've had a few organized school excursions already, which required some parental assistance for the teacher, and I've been running back and forth from Niagara Falls to St. Catharines and back again, for doctor's and dentist's appointments for our Little Highness. Nothing TOO serious, she just needs some dental work done, but she's a nervous patient, and still young, so her dentist has chosen to perform her procedures under full anesthesia in the hospital. That last part doesn't sit well with me, and that probably has to do with the fact that I sincerely don't trust hospitals. I know it's not a 'bad' place, but I can honestly say that I don't have many positive experiences when hospitals are concerned. At any rate, what I thought would be Me time, turned into "Running all over town, catching up with myself and everybody else" time. ;)

I have been keeping busy during 'off' hours though. Wait, do I even HAVE off hours??? No, guess I don't... LOL!

I recently organized a necklace swap on my facebook "Canadian Beadworkers" group (which is turning into more of an international group, LOL!), and I thought I'd share the piece I made for my partner with you. I chose to make a lariat for Nancy, and though she did mention liking darker colors, I did use artistic license and mixed some lights in there too. I created a bead soup with 6's in silver lined purples in light, medium and dark tones, and another mixture of iridescent 'ambers' in the same tones. I liked the outcome enough that I believe I might make another lariat with the same soup. I will make sure that the ends differ from these ones however, since I don't really like to duplicate my pieces too much. Well, unless they're part of a collection/series, of course...

For the ends, I used two large glass crystals, in a smoky topaz color, and extended the fringes about two inches down, embellishing them with an array of glass beads, keeping in the same colors and tones that were in the rope. The only thing I played with were different finishes. The rope itself was shiny enough, so I went with plain transparent beads, and frosted finish beads that I hoped would stand out.
I'm quite pleased with the result, and I'm happy to report that Nancy LOVED it! :)

I was also commissioned by a friend to make a very special piece for her sister, who also happens to be a close friend of mine. Of course, it was my absolute pleasure to be given complete carte blanche to create this particular piece, having intimate knowledge of my friend's likes. This is a new design for me. Not too overly complicated to make, even though I did have some minor difficulties with the clasp attachment. Very fiddly! LOL!

Four beautiful strands of netted beads in metallic iridescent green, and silver-lined beads of the deepest most delicious 'fir' green I've ever seen!
I used a sterling silver four-prong slide clasp, which I thought really lent itself well to the design of the strands. It kept them nicely spaced, and gave the piece a well 'organized' look. (Cause, you know, I'm all about organization... ) ;)

I thought it fell quite nicely on the bodice, and was weighty enough to feel, but not so light that it felt too delicate to wear.

Well, now that I've caught myself up with the last few details of back to school, work, housework, moving (Items that were lovingly packed by my Mom, and promptly lovingly moved 7 hours South to me, by my Dad), renovating (my Studio! Yes! It's finally getting the well-deserved attention it's been vying for!), and, what? Oh, yeah, more housework... ;) I'm hoping that the next few weeks will see me doing a lot more in the beady creation department, and less in the laundry department. Oh who am I kidding? I've got an avid fisherman and an 8 year old Princess in the house... Laundry services is sure to be added to my resume, should I ever need to look for a job! :P

Hope all is well with you, my dear readers!

Blessed Be!