I received this from Beading Daily. I could not find a link, but if someone provides me with one, I will be glad to change this post. Karin
The Amazing Power of Beads
Topic: People and Events
If there was a fire threatening your home and you had only minutes to grab a few things, what would you take? One Beading Daily reader and Beadwork contributor, Cathi Tessier, knows. Cathi was one of the estimated 500,000 people recently evacuated in the southern California wildfires. As of today, Cathi has still not returned to her home–she’s not even sure yet whether there’s still a home waiting for her.–Michelle Mach, Beading Daily editor
October 23, 2007
It was Sunday, mid-morning, when my husband called.
“Quick, pack up our important stuff. We’re going to evacuate. There’s a fire close by.
I live and work for an RV park system, and as employees, we live in the resort in our motor home. Space is tight, and things must be very organized to live 24/7 in this lifestyle. My beads take up a good part of the storage areas. I peeked outside and saw a huge orange sun, smelled the thick smoke, and realized we were in big trouble. With only minutes to pack, I scrambled to sort and decide just what would fit in the trunk of our car.
Image Blocked
A couple of folders with the important documents were the first things I grabbed. For my hubby, a couple pair of undies, pj’s, and two changes of clothes. For me????? Oh boy! Big problem. Four cases of beads, needles, crimping pliers, eight jumbo spools of FireLine thread sizes 4, 6, 8 in black and also crystal. A couple of beading pads, Fiskar scissors, and oh yeah, one pair of panties, a bra, and an extra pair of jeans.
Ready to go.
Three days later, I am sitting among a sea of people in the parking lot of the local stadium, visiting with other evacuees, listening to their stories. No showers in three days, no changes of clothes, horses, dogs, kids everywhere. Tens of thousands of homeless folks, worrying about their homes, their photos, their heirlooms, their clothes. There are tears, hugs, worry, and sadness. I pop the trunk of my car and look at my stuff. My beads are all there. I open some of the boxes, and just look at them.
I ask myself, “What was I thinking? How could these beads, valued at a couple of hundred dollars mean so much to me?”
I can’t explain it. But I’ll say this. It gives me comfort to know they are there. I know that if and when we have a home to return to, I will sit at my dining table, pull out a tube of Delica beads, thread up, and make a little bracelet. It will be my “miracles happen” bracelet. A reminder that life can take a turn in a split second, and if we don’t take the time to smell the roses, or bead the bead, if we don’t follow our hearts and indulge ourselves in our passions, then we are not living.
At this writing I am safe, and while my future is unknown, I take comfort in knowing that although I don’t have my pj’s, my beads are in the trunk of my car.
Image Blocked
For a quick scarf:
1 ball of Lion Brand Fancy Fur (the kind with nubs) (39 yards)
8 stitches on size 17 needles
Knit each row to end of yarn, weave in the ends.
This is just the right size to tuck into a coat collar or to wind around to make a sort of collar.
For a quick collar (a bit like a cowl in a mobius shape):
1 ball of Lion Brand Fancy Fur (the kind with nubs) (39 yards)
12 stitches on size 17 needles
Knit each row.
When you get to the last row, twist the scarf once to make it a mobius shape, then knit through each last stitch as you bind off into the top part of the stitch at the beginning end. Weave in the ends. (This effectively stitches the ends together without having to sew.)
The quartz that I bought is drilled like briolettes, top drilled, not center drilled, so that changed the whole project. Therefore, what I started out to do is not what I ended up doing. I should have paid more attention when I bought them, or the store should have pointed it out, knowing how I intended to use them. OTOH, if they had, I wouldn’t have done the project I did. So it’s a toss up.
On the whole, I don’t like briolettes. They are hard to work with, unless you want the only style they are pretty much used in, and that’s not a style I generally wear. These fooled me because they are flatter, not so round. If they had been round, I would have known they were briolettes.
I ended up making a lariat with a briolette at each end. I can use the S clasp freely anywhere along the piece to make it any length I’d like, but the S is not attached. And I made earrings with a briolette on the end of each. With some left over beads I made a normal briolette necklace that when worn with the lariat looks as though it is part of the lariat, but it is not. And with the very most left over beads, I made a small piece with a briolette in the center, hung from thin leather cord. That’s fun. And considering that I took apart a necklace that I hadn’t worn in years to get to some of the beads, I will wear these, in some combination, a lot more often.
When beading, it is the beads that dictate the finished project. I have to wait until they speak to me. I might still try to make the original project, but only if I can get the right components. I’m not in a hurry. I’m surprised I beaded at all, it’s been so long.
I’m really pleased with the way the lariat and earrings turned out. I’m not sorry I bought all the rutilated quartz pieces. That way I was sure to have enough, since the store is not convenient to get back to, if I had wanted a few more. I think I have 5 left. If I had had less, I would have made only the lariat and earrings.
I must be on a creative kick. I made a couple of knitted collars this past week. Knitting is more relaxing than beading, because there is less thought put into coming up with a pattern. Once I decide on a pattern for beading, it is relaxing too. Sort of, anyway! Either one I can do in the midst of family life.
Do you like to bead? or knit? Now’s the time to knit up a few scarves. The weather will be turning cold for most of you.
I recently saw a $5750 necklace. It was lovely, but not in the least tempting unless I came into a windfall. For that kind of money, if I had it, I likely would not buy this necklace. I can think of other, more worthwhile for me, choices.
It was a lariat, about 40 inches long, made with gray Tahitian pearls, very good quality odd shaped smoky quartz, 18K white gold 2-3 mm diamond-cut beads — these really did look like diamonds — and chain, and aquamarine oval beads. A pearl anchored one end. The other end had a circular clasp similar to clasps used to hang slides from an Omega chain. This would clamp along the necklace to change the length.
I liked the pattern. I liked the way it draped. The major cost was likely the pearls. OTOH, this store has it’s own manufacturing center, so the mark-up was excruciating. Each component can easily be found, generally at cost, especially if you wander the bead shows.
The good thing about beading is that with a little creativity it is relatively easy to ‘copy’ something, even if it is not identical which is more creative anyway, because of the tweaking necessary since the components are usually similar but different.
Such is the case with this necklace. I might use some large freshwater pearls that I have on hand.
I pretty much decided I would skip the chain and beads. I could do it with silver, but I’m not sure I’d like it as well as without it. OTOH, it might not drape as well without the chain. I can’t picture it in my head right now.
I visited a bead store that I’d seen advertised on a billboard every time we went past it. They claimed to be wholesale — not — but they were interesting anyway with a fairly large selection.
They didn’t have smoky quartz, but they had some kind of rutilated quartz, just as interesting, in the shape I wanted. Several had very interesting striations, with gold lines or an interesting reverse side. These were separate in a dish, not a temporary strand. I decided to take them all as I can come up with various combinations for earrings, etc., plus I didn’t know how many I would want or need, and since the shop is down the road apiece, I wouldn’t be heading back there until another road trip, who knows when. Additionally they had a strand of hexagonal aqua chalcedony which looks a bit like Peruvian opal. $16 for that was a good price, I thought. And I got an interesting silver S clasp for the end which will link to the long side to change the length of the lariat.
At a second store I bought some silver chain. I don’t think it is workable in this project, but you never know.
So for well less than $100 I will have something I will like as well, I think — maybe better since I know it is not as expensive.
I haven’t beaded in months basically, due to life, but I think I’m motivated. I might play around with it a bit. It might be fun. I’ll keep my hand in.
There are two pictures of this embroidery here. One is particularly lifelike.
Someday I would like to see the double sided embroidery, where each side is a different design. I can’t imagine learning this style or being artistic enough to execute it.
At one time I did a lot of needlepoint, including some petit point, and cross stitching. I didn’t particularly like crewel because it was working with yarn (even though needlepoint does also.) I don’t enjoy doing hooked rugs, as they are so messy and the canvas is hard on the fingers. I liked doing the designs totally done in a stitch similar to French knots.
I’m doing beading now, even though I haven’t done much in weeks. I totally lack any impetus at the moment.
I’ll probably start to knit here again in a while, though my yarn is just making eyes at me, making me feel almost guilty for having it stacked up ready to knit. I might donate some for holiday items.
I appreciate the work done by others.
Do you do any of these things? Which do you prefer to do?
I haven’t done any beading in a month or so. Life just gets in the way and moreso over the last few weeks than usually.
But I came across a quote that I felt I wanted front and center right now:
…grace notes of happiness. Alexandra Stoddard
So after an appointment yesterday that took me into the neck of the woods of one of our beading stores, I dropped in and picked up small sterling silver block letters. Between the words I put Capri blue Swarovski crystals nestled between the little square shaped pave on all four sides crystals, and at the back to make it fit, a few more of the blue and a larger square not quite citrine looking AB crystal. They are strung on elastic, very easy to slip on, and voila! I have the words before me. And the blue makes me happy.
I think it’s important when life gets in the way to recognize those grace notes of happiness that occur in all of our lives, if we keep our eyes and heart open to see them. They truly are grace notes.
The earth laughs in flowers. I’ve seen it attributed to either Emerson or ee cummings.
A friend sent me a card with these words on it. Now the card is front and center to my computer screen where I see it daily.
I wish I knew why it seems like negatives grab consciousness quicker and stay longer than happiness, which seems so fleeting. I try to reverse the emphasis by being conscious (and keeping lists) of unexpected happy moments. They feel especially like serendipitous gifts, if I’m having a low moment.
This is a reminder to me that joy is found in places and moments that we might not recognize if we don’t consciously let it register. It reminds me to be childlike — to notice the interesting bug or the flowers in someone’s garden or the wildflowers that are profuse along certain roadways. These are moments of happiness mitigating the adult issues that we all face in some form or other. Nature is a gift, freely given.
It just tickles my fancy to think of the earth, laughing, in flowers. A kind of celestial hiccup. And there’s another one. And another one. Just like happiness.
I tell a friend that we need to string together moments of healing and happiness as if the moments were pearls. No one focuses on the knots in a strand of pearls, just the pearls.
I made a bracelet with small sized alphabet beads and crystals using this quote so that it would be before my consciousness as I go about my day.
I also found her website on Chinese beadwork to be interesting. There is a link midway down the webpage to page 10 of her book showing more examples. She teaches and gives seminars.
I know there is a place in China that specializes in embroidering both sides of a fabric with two different designs. I wonder if that has crossed to beading also, though I’ve never heard of it.
A book is a garden you can hold in your hand,
An orchard you can take on your lap.
A book is a companion who sleeps
Only when you are asleep,
And speaks only when you wish him to.
A book is a tree that lives long
And bears delicious and abundant fruit
That is easy to pick and perfectly ripe
At all times of the year.
A book obeys you by night and by day,
Abroad and at home;
It has no need of sleep
And does not grow weary from sitting up.
–Al-Jahiz (Abu Uthman Amr ibn Bahral-Jahiz, known to his friends as al-Jahiz, was born in Basra in 776 and was the leading literary and intellectual figure of his age.)
I like that when reading a book, we can commune with the author no matter what time frame they lived in. People we’d have no chance to sit down or talk with, are as close as our thoughts when reading the words they have written.
Another thing I like about books, outside of the fact that I like to read and have broad interests, is that they can be put down and later picked back up again — that’s an important thing in a busy life. Invariably if I try to watch TV, I am interrupted by someone or the phone. I might as well not try to watch TV unless it is recorded so that I can treat it like a book.
Plus reading a book is one of the few things that gets a little bit more done each time, like knitting or embroidery, unlike the chores of life that are never ending. You can actually see progress in reading a book as you get further into it, similar to seeing an embroidery begin to take shape.
I have, however, in recent years given myself permission not to finish a book if it doesn’t strike me in one way or another. Because I read fast, I could skim to finish — but when time is at a premium, I’d rather move on to another book or another project. It’s the rare book that I read every word at a pace that is savoring it.
I like the tactile nature of books, holding them in my hands. I’m not really into using wooden stands to help me hold a book, though it might be nice if a book is particularly heavy. And I like the way most books smell — a combination of paper and ink.
I store and read parts of books on my PDA (quotes and such) and at one time had the Bible downloaded into my Palm. I have yet to read an entire ebook, except I have read a friend’s manuscript on the computer. I did not print it out.
I have listened to a couple of audio books which were very well done. The Harry Potter audio books are excellent. The reader voices every character differently. Another I read (and heard) took place in England. The reader had an English accent, so it had a different feel than reading it to myself with my own voice which is not English, but American. I get impatient listening to a book because I can read it so much faster, but it is a good pastime in the car on long or repetitive rides.
I thought this video was quite funny. Introducing the book (with subtitles.) This is a skit showing how a monk might have learned to read a book when he was used only to a scroll. Not too far off from introducing a computer or an ebook. We gotta learn how to do it!
I enjoy beading now, better than any of the other crafts I’ve done or am doing. I sort of rotate with some knitting at the moment, but beading is my fun-creative-thing.
Like any craft (except for knitting or cross stitch or needlepoint where you buy by projects) there is a certain level of investment before it begins to pay off. The more beads, the more interesting, the more creative.
But you can’t accumulate beads unless you can find them. So, I simply buy some beads whenever they strike my fancy, whether I know what I’m going to do with them or not. And sometimes people give me old beads…or you find them in flea markets, etc.
Then I wait for the muse to hit, or not, or for them to speak to me.
I generally limit myself to one strand of whatever it is, and out of that, with adding other beads, I can usually get a necklace, bracelet, and earrings. Or some combination. Leftovers, go into the bead mix.
I’ve had people stop me on the street or in the mall and ask if I sell them. Not so far.
A local woman (now a friend) who owns a store makes beautiful beaded jewelry. She works with both seed beads and larger semi-precious stones and beads. With her leftovers she makes more beautiful jewelry by simply running a needle through the seed beads and smaller beads and doing multiple strands, very ecclectic.
I put my beading away sometime before Christmas, because I felt I wouldn’t have time, and I wanted a neater look with so much going on. The only way really to bead is to look very scattered so you can see colors, etc. so the muse will find you. Mine tend to be in ziplocks, which isn’t as ideal. My friend’s are all out on a table or on hanging rods. I want to do something like this, if I can figure out how to make it look like a changing display. Then it wouldn’t look so messy, even though it would be messy.
She has a very distinct style, and it is fun to see what she does and how she does it.
After doing next to nothing with beading since before Christmas, taking a hiatus of sorts, having organized it all away, I finally got the gumption to begin again. The muse didn’t hit, but I took a couple of things to my friends and used her creativity and bead mix, and we did it together. I knew she’d accomplish what I was hoping for.
Then I was bitten by the bug again.
I had bought some seed beads months ago, seeing another project in a bead store, but it seemed more like a chore than fun, so I felt burdened by it. But this week, I finally decided to make them up into the project I had bought them for so they wouldn’t be hanging over my head any longer.
First, I had to try to learn Peyote stitch. Try is the operative word. It took a couple of tries. I laughingly say, it might be the only time I do it. (It is a two-stitch pattern that is laying up sort of like a basket weave.) The pattern shows doing a whole bunch of beads on top of the basic bracelet, but I only want the bracelet, which I saw while the project was in process at the bead store where I bought the same color beads. My idea is that I might also be able to design it, so it can be worn as a collar. I want to be able to attach different pins to one side of it through silver rings (using a locking mechanism with it, between the rings, so the pin won’t fall off.) When I want to wear it plain, I’ll just flip it over, and the rings won’t show.
That’s the plan. I think it will work. I like to design…I won’t know until I actually get to that point if it will work or not. Stay tuned.
Meantime I’ve put some time into it. The good thing is that it is mindless, in that there is no pattern per se. I think all the skills learned with knitting ski sweaters and doing cross stitch and needlepoint (following designs) could easily be transferred to seed beads. And ee gads, I might even try it. On the next project.
I kinda, sorta, maybe, think I like doing it, if I’m not into fast, but just into repetitive. Of course, adding a design takes it out of repetitive. And there are a lot of designs available.
Repetitive can be very relaxing. Plus I don’t fall asleep. Which can be a problem when I’m reading…
When I bead to make up a design, the time is in deciding the design, which I generally cannot duplicate. Just doing repetitive is a nice way to bead without any big effort of thought.
.
