Humble, Powerful ... TRUE.

"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give."

                                                    ~Winston Churchill

Let's Talk BEADING, shall we ?

Similar to the the Owl in the old Tootsie Pop commercials, ever wonder HOW MANY BEADS it takes to get to the finished product ?

Here is a very short "cheat sheet" of BEAD SIZES per inch of wire (or whatever stringing material you prefer)  that hopefully may help you some. 

** REMEMBER ... Lengths are APPROXIMATE and DO NOT include your CLASP, as there is a limitless number of combinations you may use there. **

Beads are in MM (millimeters). 
Stringing material is in IN (inches). 
(SEED BEADS NOT INCLUDED)

5 mm      16"       24"       28"     32"
# beads   82       102      143     164

8 mm      16"       24"       28"     32"
# beads   51        76         89      102

10mm      16"      24"       28"     32"
# beads    41       61        71       81

We have beautiful round Fire Polished Beads in 10mm :
http://www.dominionartsncrafts.com/product_details.em?product_id=1453152

12mm     16"      24"       28"     32"
# beads   34       51        59       68

16mm      16"      24"      28"     32"
# beads    25       38        44      51

This info will help get you started if you are just learning beading and as you go along you will get better at figuring out what you need to do your project. 

Visit our website and our beads and go crazy ! Have Fun ... you can't go wrong.  There is no wrong way to do beading.  You do what pleases YOU. If you intend to make jewelry to sell, your unique creation will be that much more appealing.  Same thing if you give it as a gift.  So you see, you can't do it wrong!

My Good Deed

I wanted to share this with you because I am proud of myself for this contribution. I've gotten mixed reviews from folks about how the kids get the hairpieces (paying vs not paying or how much, etc) .... I checked the website and there is a fee (for some), which stands to reason, but the organization works with all the families and well, see for yourself if you are interested ... http://www.locksoflove.org/faq.html . It makes sense. Nobody can do anything for completely free ...

Anyway ... I wanted to share this in hopes of inspiring some others to do the same.  It's painless and sure does make your heart feel good, knowing you are helping someone less fortunate.  YOUR hair will grow back. I got mine cut on August 13th (ha, it was a FRIDAY too!) and see how well it has turned out :) . It's already a couple inches longer and I'm very satisfied with how it looks. My hairdresser took more than the required 10" off (she got about 12"!) but you'd never know it now. (That's NOT me in the picture by the way!) 

It's a simple thing you can do that takes just a few minutes and can be proud of forever.

Postcard Received from Locks of Love for Hair Donation in August 2010

HOW ABOUT THIS .....

"Take time every day to do something SILLY."

~~ Philipa Walker

The Hardest Part of Quilting ~ Choosing Colors

Over time, this WILL become less taxing and more enjoyable. Mother Nature does it every day! Clothing designers do it all the time, and we trust them because we buy their stuff without thinking twice about it ... look at what you have on now ... be it PJs or jeans or a dressy outfit leftover from work ... or something you created yourself. Whatever it is, it's the same thing when QUILTING ... really it doesn't matter. Sure you want it to look nice, but it's YOUR CREATION, so no matter what you choose, it's GOING TO LOOK NICE because YOU PUT IT TOGETHER. I personally prefer NAVY BLUE and WHITE. EASY EASY EASY !!! Any other color and white you can't go wrong with either ... Red/white, Green/white, Orange/white, duh, Black/White! ... See ... do those a few times then branch out a little, like I was told "get out of your comfort zone" ..

So, TRUST Nature, TRUST your Fabric Shop Ladies, TRUST your COLORWHEEL, and most of ALL ..... TRUST YOUR OWN INSTINCT !!

General Tips for General Crafting

Generally speaking, no matter if you are beading, quilting or painting, if you are a novice or an experienced crafter, it seems like common sense to have "all your stuff" around you before you begin working. It seems like a given ... but please don't overlook this, please don't take it for granted. It seems like, to think about it, that "all I have to do is reach for such and such" or "run to the store to get this or that" ... oh, you will get SOO tired of that! If there are experienced crafters reading this, I'm certain they are thinking "no doubt" or "they'll learn"! I can say from some experience myself that that got old real quick. 

I am the type of person that when I develop an interest in something, I go at it "whole hog" .. so when discovered beading, decorative painting and then quilting, the local craft shops and fabric stores were happy to see me coming ! My den is full of paint jars and wood sufaces that need to be introduced to each other, one corner of my kitchen is reserved for quilting .... containers, my ironing board, and boxes of my scissors and other notions.  We won't even get into the beads .. they are all over the place!

So, I say all that to say this ... again ... please, please gather your tools and materials BEFORE you start working. Make a smart, practical list and take it with you to the store ~ get what you need and nothing more (for the time being :-) 

Get yourself the best possible workspace ~ if it's the kitchen table, be prepared to move your stuff somewhere and somehow you can keep it organized (I have a fishing tacklebox .. it's awesome! works great ... from walmart ... waaaay cheaper).

You have GOT to have GOOD LIGHT and try to avoid TOO MUCH LIGHT as that will cause deceiving SHADOWS! .. experience speaking :( 

I don't have a table top ironing board but my board will fold down kinda short so I can fit it in a small space close to me so I don't have to get up so often ... I learned that was a very nice treat.  My steam iron is an old, old Black & Decker ... I think from 1988 or so .. I wouldn't trade that iron for a Gold one. I can't speak on irons, obviously. I just know you need a good one ... a heavy one is best in my opinion.

Ultimately, you want to have fun at whatever it is you are doing. I have said a lot on sewing / quilting, but really it all applies to whatever you want to do. When I tried my hand at decorative painting, I sat on a couch and used an old coffee table to work on ... the couch was too low and it killed my back! But, it was all I had and I enjoyed the experience. Beading was in my favorite rocking chair for hours on end. There are a few bead samples on my Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Dominion-Arts-n-Crafts/139290840504?ref=ts 

Do what works for you, get what you can afford, and don't feel bad if you can't get that fancy drafting table to paint on or the big fabric cutting table so you have room for your sewing machine and all of your fabric scraps and magazines and notions or one of those big beautiful bead organizing cabinets right now. Someday you will.

ALWAYS REMEMBER ...  YOU MUST CRAWL BEFORE YOU CAN WALK.  I tell myself that often.

THOUGHT FOR TODAY ...

"The average pencil is seven inches long, with just a half-inch eraser - in case you thought optimism was dead." ~ Robert Brault.