MoeSmile Beads Necklace

This necklace started down at the river one evening. I practiced twisting wrapped loops while the Other-Half fished. He ended up with a nice stringer of catfish and I ended up with a bunch of little copper sticks with wrapped loops on one end.
A week or three later I spent the day with a friend, getting hands-on help with learning some basic wire techniques. I have books and a computer and a long-distance tutor but I just wasn't "getting it". Somewhere between looking at a picture of a step and my hands actually doing it, things get garbled. Like most people I suppose, I learn much better with a live example to follow.
So feeling inspired and much more confident after my "class" I went to work on making something out of those wire sticks.

First, I picked out some beads and made a number of segments, like this:



Then I needed a way to connect them so I made a pile of jump rings and used two at each link up. (OK, OK, jump rings were the easy way out here, but it worked and I like the way it looked.)



Here's the end result, a long necklace with largish beads on copper wire. I like the copper with the orange beads. I did not make the MoeSmile beads, by the way. They came to me as a gift and were gifted back to the giver in the shape of a necklace. ;)



Did you notice the unique clasp on it? Here's a larger view of it:



I was looking through my collection of store-bought clasps, not liking any of them. Too flimsy, too hard to fasten, wrong color ... and in a flash of insight and inspiration said to self .. why don't I just devise my own clasp? This is what I came up with. Cool huh? I'm pretty proud of me for thinking that up.
Actually, I'm pretty happy with the whole thing. :)

And in case anyone is wondering what happened to the catfish, we gave them to neighbors. I'm from the Midwest where catfish seemed to be on everyone's menu, but here in the Northeast, not so much. I don't think I've ever actually seen catfish on a menu here. Which is fine by me, much better fish out there to eat. ;)

Helping Hearts 2011

My latest project, now complete: 100 polymer clay hearts, approx, 1.5 x 1.5 inches, made and sold to help raise money for the American Cancer Society.
You can visit my photo gallery HERE to see all of the actual hearts.



This year I decided to put the logo of "my" Relay For Life team on the backs of all of them, using liquid clay and an image transfer technique. I had more trouble with that then I counted on, almost gave up the idea, but stuck it out and worked it out and think they came out fabulous if I do say so myself. :)



I also decided to use several different colors for the awareness ribbons this year, instead of just periwinkle. The different colors were a success as it turns out everyone has their "pet" cause that means something to them, and they want the color to show it.



My regular readers (HAHA!) might remember that I posted a while back about my experiences thus far with image transfers. Well, after many more fits and starts I finally worked out something that worked for me for this particular project. I'll be posting soon about how I ended up doing it, mostly so I don't forget myself. ;)

For now, I'm off to practice more on making wire loopdeloops.

Adjustable Length Cord

My friend JoAnne taught me how to do this and I think it is just ingenious in its simplicity. If making a pendant on a cord, you don't have to worry about how long to make it with this "trick". How great is that? One size really will fit all. :)

I chose to tie a little bead on the ends of my cord, but that is totally optional, you can leave the ends bare if you like. If you leave the ends bare, that makes it easier to un-tie it, slip on a different pendant, and re-tie. If you tie a bead on, that makes it easier to grasp the tail ends while you're wearing it and can't see what you're doing. ;)

Take the left end of the cord and tie a simple slip-knot around the right side of the cord.

Pull the knot tight, using your thumb to "push" the knot along so that only a small tail is left.

Now take the right end and do the same thing: tie a simple slip-knot around the left side and pull the knot tight.

You'll end up with something like this. To shorten the necklace, pull the tails away from each other, at same time. To lengthen it, pull the sides away from each other, at same time.

At its longest length, you'll have a "single strand" cord and the knots will be touching each other at the back of the necklace.

At its shortest length (half the longest length), you'll have a "double strand" cord and the knots would be touching each other at the front of the necklace. (Well, the pendant will be in the middle of the knots, so not actually touching each other. ;)

Now, how cool is that?! A totally adjustable necklace that leaves no extra length hanging down the back when you wear it short because it doubles up on itself. And so easy to adjust you can change the length on a whim, while wearing it even. And if you're selling it, no worries about exactly how long to make the cord - one length really will suit all as the buyer can adjust it to any length they want.

And so simple to tie, even I can do it. :)

The Empty Box

We needed a few boxes so stopped at the liquor store where they always have mountains of them for the taking. The liquor store is the best source for free boxes if you don't mind all the advertising on them. It's also the best source for booze and beer. And wine if you're in to that kind of thing. ;)
So we're rooting through the pile and .. what's this? A perfectly pristine plain brown box. Completely sealed, and completely empty.



And conveniently labeled:



!!! The box sits in my office now as it makes me laugh every time I look at it. I'm sure there's a logical explanation for this but I don't want to hear it. I prefer to revel in the absurdity of it.

Best Deal Ever

Wow!! God's autograph is going for a minimum of $75 on eBay right now but with this deal you get a bible AND the autograph for a mere $50.

(Yep, from the same local classifieds that brought us "Call Ed".)