My Creative Space

Well I have been beavering away putting together some beady goodness for an upcoming 3 day event - which might go some way to explaining my bloggy absence of late ...

My desk is covered in beads and findings - I had to have a little clean-up this morning so that I didn't have to keep burrowing under the beads to find what I was looking for! In a perfect world/studio I wouldn't let it get so out of hand and put things back where they belong as I use them - pfft - yeah right! I do have some organisation going on - it looks a bit like this ...

The surface of the desk is quite another matter I'm afraid!

Bits and pieces everywhere - I should confess that this was taken post tidy-up!

Yep - little bowls of treasure all over the place - it is probably not a very efficient way to go about things but I love the little groupings and I am often surprised and delighted by what my bowls yield  - stuff I have forgotten about or worse, knew I had but couldn't remember what I did with them? Who doesn't do that?!

Today was mostly about making dreamy pieces with a vintage feel - lots of pearls and flowers. Soft shades and neutral colours - very feminine and peaceful to create too!

My mannequin is literally dripping with adornments - what a riot of colour and textures! Oh my goodness I have had alot of fun haven't I? Of course now begins the boring admin stuff - labeling and pricing! Pity I can't just put a sign on my stall "100 bucks each - knock yourself out!" - have a feeling that won't wash!
Check out what other creatives are up to by heading over here. What have you been up to?

Playing with textiles.

 Mmmm - fabric covered beads and collage cuffs. I love the Term Break!

Oh dear, oh dear!

It has been a month or more since my beads have spoken to me and beckoned me to come and play. This wouldn't be a problem if money grew on trees and electricity and food were free. They aren't. Last night I did  the grown-up thing and sat myself down at the beady table and said sternly "Work!"
I had an idea for an epic, exotic bib-style neckpiece. What I ended up with was an epic fail.

 Ugh -it is heavy and clunky and no matter how I tweaked it, the beads would not fall nicely. It was destined to be one of those necklaces that you fiddle with when you wear it because it twists about - no, no - just not good enough. I left it overnight hoping that by morning it would miraculously appear to be the perfect necklace.

No significant changes were evident this morning -jumprings not closed properly and beads just refusing to play along nicely ... there was only one thing for it ...

It needed to get the big chop - I loathe remaking things but it was clear that this piece was going nowhere fast.

Chopped up and ready to re-string ...

 OMG - the second attempt was even worse than the first! Bletch! I was beginning to hate these beads ...

However, Round 3 gave me a simplified and far more wearable design and although it is well removed from an exotic, epic bib, I am pleased with its elegance.

It has a few exotic touches like the belly-dancer coins and the bauble that jiggles about - hhmmm maybe one shouldn't use 'belly-dancer' and 'jiggle' in the same sentence? In the end all the piece really needed was a change of colour, style and concept. Oh and a complete reworking - meh - bib necklaces are over-rated anyway!

Big Beady Efforts.

 Blogtoberfest (Day 20)

So this is what life is about just now - beads, beads and more beads! I have a couple of jewellery gigs coming up so I am staying chained to my workbench, making and making so that I have lots of stock for people to choose from ...

It is alot of work but those beadies sure are pretty - and fun to work with too!

 

Mind you, when it is all done and dusted I might just "fly" - and have a little rest!

Balls!

 Blogtoberfest (Day 8)

Well beads actually, but I figured "balls!" would get your attention! Bored with a bletchy collection of plain wooden beads I whipped out my moth-eaten paintbrushes and set to work.

 Begone boring beige beads ( hey, that is an alliteration!) and hello vibrant painted beadies.

 That front one is decoupaged with paper from a Japanese notebook I purchased in Melbourne earlier this year at ZiguZagu.

Now, to thread them up in some delightful way ...

Working,working,working!

After the mammoth clean-up I finally got into the workroom and made a few things - yippee! I am loving having all those beadies sorted and keep opening the boxes to look at the pretties within! Today was a Fleetwood Mac, Paul Kelly and early Rod Stewart day - hope the neighbours had their windows shut 'cos I'm not sure that my rendition of "Maggie May" is all that inspiring! I was inspired though and am really happy with todays efforts and plan to get into the workroom again over the week-end - maybe I could crank out some Savage Garden or Michael Franti .....

Must-try-not-to be-distracted-by-the-pretties ...