Beads & Wires & Art, Oh My!
So I've been filling in at the bead shop whilstloveslashangst's mum has been out of town. It's a symbiosis thing that has to do with rent. It's been tiring and I haven't been getting as much editing/job hunting done as I should be, but it's been fun, too. As you know, I've been learning lots of new things.
And yesterday I learned that I have a lot to learn yet about teaching a class, when I found myself in the odd position of teaching an impromptu class in something that I just barely learned myself! Literally - it was just Sunday that LSA said to me, "You don't know basic bead stringing? Well, you're about to learn, because you need to know this." (And yes, that's paraphrasing.) Still, with LSA home on her day off and her dad busy helping customers, it was also kind of nice to be able to step in and teach someone how to make a neat piece of jewelry.
"She said modestly," because guess what the student opted to make?
(Click on photos to view larger.)
LSA and I dubbed this the "Lucky in Love" necklace, because each red section has a lucky seven beads. ;-) This is the second of the two necklaces I've designed since Sunday, and it was flattering that my sudden student opted to copy my pattern. You know what they say about imitation...
The necklace is basic bead stringing with some wire wrapping. I designed and made the funky wire squiggles, and handmade the earwires for the earrings.
When LSA first told me to start picking out beads on Sunday, it occurred to me that Valentine's Day is coming up. So my first design was also heart-themed:
Call this one the "Love Me, Love M'Knot". ;-) Same deal: basic bead stringing, wire work, handmade sterling earwires. Oh, and Swarovski crystal hearts! (And the second design mostly happened because immediately after I finished this one, I cashiered for a customer who bought several of the "scroll" hearts and I said, "Man, I wish I would've used those!" - so I had to made another necklace. LOL)
Both of these necklaces were made for the shop, so they are for sale! ;-)
So, yeah. I'm actually enjoying myself. (Imagine: me as a jewelry designer! North-Northwest Designs?) I do need to find a chance to play some more with the wire wrapping you saw in my earlier post...
And yesterday I learned that I have a lot to learn yet about teaching a class, when I found myself in the odd position of teaching an impromptu class in something that I just barely learned myself! Literally - it was just Sunday that LSA said to me, "You don't know basic bead stringing? Well, you're about to learn, because you need to know this." (And yes, that's paraphrasing.) Still, with LSA home on her day off and her dad busy helping customers, it was also kind of nice to be able to step in and teach someone how to make a neat piece of jewelry.
"She said modestly," because guess what the student opted to make?
(Click on photos to view larger.)
LSA and I dubbed this the "Lucky in Love" necklace, because each red section has a lucky seven beads. ;-) This is the second of the two necklaces I've designed since Sunday, and it was flattering that my sudden student opted to copy my pattern. You know what they say about imitation...
The necklace is basic bead stringing with some wire wrapping. I designed and made the funky wire squiggles, and handmade the earwires for the earrings.
When LSA first told me to start picking out beads on Sunday, it occurred to me that Valentine's Day is coming up. So my first design was also heart-themed:
Call this one the "Love Me, Love M'Knot". ;-) Same deal: basic bead stringing, wire work, handmade sterling earwires. Oh, and Swarovski crystal hearts! (And the second design mostly happened because immediately after I finished this one, I cashiered for a customer who bought several of the "scroll" hearts and I said, "Man, I wish I would've used those!" - so I had to made another necklace. LOL)
Both of these necklaces were made for the shop, so they are for sale! ;-)
So, yeah. I'm actually enjoying myself. (Imagine: me as a jewelry designer! North-Northwest Designs?) I do need to find a chance to play some more with the wire wrapping you saw in my earlier post...