Sadafulee ... always in bloom!

And....here's what came out of the pot...

2012-03-02T21:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the Bead Soup Blog Party! My blog is all dressed up and ready to go!

But before I get into full party mode, I would like to thank Lori Anderson of Pretty Things for hosting this hop. And what an amazing host she has been! She started an FB group for us to hang out at, I made SO many new friends there! She helped us with ideas for the hop, set us up with all kinds of cool links, even created a map of where all the participants are located! That was one amazing map! A global party! You want to see?

See...over here...

Lori, thank you SO much for all the effort you have put into this for all of us!

And I suppose I should get along and show you what I made now ;-)

Here's the soup I got from Kat White of Shiny Moon Beams: http://www.shinymoonbeams.com/

Like I had mentioned before, I had been in awe of Millefiore beads for the longest time, and was super thrilled to get this gorgeous focal!

The donut itself is so pretty, adding anything else to it without making it look too busy was a big challenge! I googled a bit to see how others had used these donuts. And I was right...most people had simply added a nice ribbon around it to emphasize the focal.

So I started breaking down the problem...

What stringing material did I want to use? Definitely not chain, and absolutely not a simple lark's head knot. Kat had sent me some seed beads I could use to make a loop out of, and she was sweet enough to even put up a tutorial for me. But I did not have the string I would need to use with the seed-beads, they were a very tiny size. And no time to go shopping for it either. So that option was out.

I did want to use some kind of "fiber" , so settled on waxed linen. I did have to use the Lark's Head knot, but then I did two of them instead of one...like this....

Next, what beads did I want to use? My main concern again, was not to overwhelm the design. So I picked a few and have kept the rest for future use. Also, I didn't want to simply string them in the cord one after the other (nothing wrong with that of course, I usually like to complicate things, haha :-))

What should I do with these spacers? I tried real hard to add the spacers to this, but nothing came to me. So they are not in there. I did add one of my own spacers, that I had wanted to use for a while, but had not had an opportunity yet. So this is what I did with the co-ordinating beads:

Yeah, I know...these two pictures don't really seem to gel very well, isn't it? But wait till you see the whole, its kinda unexpected, and quite pretty :-)

See?

Here's another view...with the clasp. I did use the clasp Kat sent as well.

I was aiming at making something "unusual" and I think I did achieve that. I didn't quite like it at first, but had to live with this one, as I was traveling the next day to go to India. I took it along to show my family and friends, and everyone, even my Dad, loved it (he didn't like anything else...he is the old-fashioned, "why-are-you-wearing-this-and-not-gold" kinda guy ;-)).
So I suppose I achieved the "prettiness" goal as well :-)

I wanted to make a pair of earrings for one of my closest friends in India (thank you, Internet, she is still in my top 3 in spite of the distance!). Now here was another challenge. She does not wear jewelry. Maybe occasionally...very very rarely. She said if you really want to make me something, make sure it is small and subtle. And maybe blue. Blue I can do. Small...is difficult.

A couple hours before I was to leave for the airport, and I still did not have anything for her :(( Finally, the blue beads Kat sent, spoke up and said they wanted to go to India, hahaha :-) So here's what I made...rustled them up pretty quickly once I knew what I wanted:

Both the beads are from the soup Kat sent to me. I added the leaf from my own stash, and made the earwires from eyepins to keep them short and simple. My friend LOVED them. The first thing she noticed was the leaves...she is a landscape architect :-) Funny isn't it how everyone notices different things, and a random choice, like the leaves, becomes a special one!

I wanted to make some more things from Kat's beads. I have a small focal made out of the rest of the beads, but did not have time to finish it off. Maybe soon...

Thanks Kat for sending me this wonderful soup! I loved each and every thing in there, and promise I will use them soon!

I think I will wear my necklace to work today :-)

Here are the other participants...do go on and party with everyone else!

Hostess, Lori AndersonSpecial Book Sneak Peeks, Cindy Wimmer

1. Adlinah Kamsir (Singapore) and Hajer Waheed (Kingdom of Bahrain)

2. Adrienn Lukacs (Hungary) and Agata Grygiel (Poland)

3. Agi Kiss (Hungary) and Carolien Muller-Genger (the Netherlands)

4. Agnes Asztalos (Hungary) and B.R. Kuhlman

5. Alesha Conklin and Becki Mendivil

6. Alice Peterson and Carol Dillman

7. Alicia Marinache (Canada) and Dita Basu

8. Amanda Dittloff and Brandy Thomason McNair

9. Amanda Tibbetts and Andrea Trank

10. Amy Freeland and Kay Mallery

11. Andra Weber and Christine Murrow

12. Ann Sherwood and Diane Welte

13. Barbara Bechtel and Kerry Bogert

14. Barbara Lewis and Cat Pruitt

15. Bonnie Coursolle (Canada) and Fay Wolfenden (Canada)

16. Carmel McGinley (Australia) and Tracy Stillman (Australia)

17. Cassie Donlen and Deryn Mentock

18. Cathie Carroll and Janel Dudley

19. Cece Cormier and Morwyn Mullins

20. Charlene Jacka and Christina Hickman

21. Cheryl Brown (Canada) and Diana Ptaszynski

22. Christina Stofmeel (the Netherlands) and Eva Kovacs (Hungary)

23. Christine Damm and Deb Brooks

24. Cilla Watkins (Canada) and Elaine Robitaille (Canada)

25. Sabrina Straub (Switzerland) and Kathy Combs

26. Cindy Cima Edwards and Eleanor Burian-Mohr

27. Cory Celaya and Rhea Freitieg

28. Courtney Breul and Dana Hickey

29. Cynthia Abner and Jennifer Boreck

30. Cynthia Tucker and Jean Peter

31. Debbie Goering and Heidi Post

32. Dee Elgie (UK) and Joanne Lockwood (UK)

33. Dian Hierschel (Germany) and Eniko Fabian (Austria)

34. Diane Cook and Lyn Foley

35. Donna Bohler and Lisa Lodge

36. Donna Millard and Kiersten Giles

37. Doris Stumpf (Germany) and Eszter Czibulyas (Hungary)

38. Elisabeth Auld and Eva Sherman

39. Elke Leonhardt-Rath (Germany) and Marjolein Trewavas (UK)

40. Ema Kilroy and Laurie Keefe-Cecere

41. Erika Nooteboom (the Netherlands) and Giorgia Rossini (Italy)

42. Erin Grant and Jean Wells

43. Evelyn Duberry (Canada) and Gaea Cannaday

44. Genea Crivello-Knable and Heather Powers

45. Ginger Bishop (military, Okinawa) and Martina Nagele (Germany)

46. Heidi Kingman and Lori Greenberg

47. Helen Kemp and Lisa Wangeman

48. Helene Goldberg (Australia) and Karen Vincent

49. Jamie Hogsett and Jeannie Dukic

50. Jeanette Ryan and Jelveh Jaferian

51. Jennifer Cameron and Tania Spivey

52. Jennifer Justman and Kari Carrigan

53. Jennifer Tough and Lorelei Eurto

54. Joanna Matuszczyk (Poland) and Julianna Kis (Hungary)

55. Joanne Tinley (UK) and Michaela Pabeschitz (Austria)

56. Julie Anne Leggett and Kelley Fogle

57. Karen Hess and Linda Landig

58. Karyn Bonfiglio and Kathleen Lange Klik

59. Kashmira Patel and Kat White

60. Kat Barron Miller and Kelly Morgan

61. Kathy Lindemer and Rose Binoya

62. Krafty Max and Sandra Miller

63. Kristen Latimer and Pam Ferrari

64. Kristie Roeder and Lea Avroch

65. Kristina Johansson (Sweden) and Penny Neville (Canada)

66. Krisztina Erlaki-Toth (Hungary) and Nicole Keller (Germany)

67. Lara Lutrick and Lisa Suver

68. Laura DeMoya and Lisa Hanna

69. Libby Leuchtman and Melanie Brooks

70. Linda Koch and Rosemarie Cowit

71. Lisa Chapman and Menka Gupta

72. Lisa Liddy and Marion Simmons

73. Lori Anderson and Marcie Abney

74. Lori Bowring-Michaud and Mary Govaars

75. Lori Dorrington and Maria Rosa Sharrow

76. Lori Finney (Canada) and Marie-Noel Voyer-Cramp (Canada)

77. Lynn Bennett and Mandi Ainsworth

78. Marta Kaczerowska (Poland) and Milla Starchik (Canada)

79. Mary Harding and Shannon LeVart

80. Mary Jane Dodd and Stacey Curry

81. Melinda Orr and Molly Alexander

82. Melissa Meman and Michelle Escano-Caballaro

83. Michelle Jensen and Sandra Young (Canada)

84. Nan Emmett and Nicole Valentine-Rimmer (Canada)

85. Nancy Boylan and Suzette Bentley

86. Natasha Lutes and Patti Vanderbloemen

87. Pam Hurst and Rebekah Payne

88. Patty Miller and Sara Rhoades

89. Rebecca Anderson (UK) and Lori Anderson

90. Rebecca Sirevaag and Sharon Driscoll

91. Rochelle Brisson and Shannon Chomanczuk

92. Rosa Maria Cuevas (Mexico) and Tejae Floyde

93. Sabine Dittrich (Germany) and Sally Russick

94. Sandi Volpe and Sarah/Saturday Sequins

95. Shanti Johnson and Tracy Mok (Canada)

96. Skylar Brez and Theresa Buchle

97. Sonya Stille and Traci Zeller (Canada)

98. Stefanie Teufel (Germany) and Tania Hagen (New Zealand)

99. Stephanie LaRosa and Vonna Maslanka

100. Terri Wlaschin and Wendy Blum

And now I want to be part of a design team!

2012-02-16T04:27:00.000-08:00

I saw the announcement for this on Ahtee's Blog, and I knew I wanted to give this a shot!

The announcement is for getting on a design team for Suburban Girl Studio. You can get more details here

I had never been to this blog, and am so glad I did, ammmazing work! The components are all totally drool and swoon-worthy. The first design challenge will be using these beauties

Head on over to Suburban Girl Studios if you want to be in on this too. Sounds like a lot of fun!

New additions to my stash

2012-02-16T03:57:00.000-08:00

Beginning of this year, only a month and half ago, I had promised to cut down on my bead-spending. I know, a lot of you must be thinking, "yeah, I hear you! Not happening". You are so right. Not happening :-)

Am in India right now, and that seems like the perfect ~~excuse~~ reason to shop! I have not been too bad though...here's my new eye-candy:

These are large hole glass beads....luscious colors...

Metal beads and a really pretty wood beads bracelet.

The entire loot...along with some golden earrings I bought from a friend.

That's not too bad, right? Not a lot, right?

Dear Left Brain, I need a business plan

2012-02-03T08:29:00.000-08:00

I think my "left-brain" exists only to add the required weight to my head! Its pretty useless otherwise :(

Less than a year ago, I decided I wanted to make a pair of earrings for my friend. I had no idea how to do it, what materials and tools I would need. Blank.
The right-brain took over, and here I am today, having already sold a lot more pieces of jewelry than I ever thought I would even make! This tells me it is time to register my shop as a business. Get there on etsy, make it easier for my customers to buy (instead of emailing back and forth and all), easier for myself to keep track of things, and well, take this to the next level. Besides, the IRS scares the daylights out of me! I do donate all my profits to charity, yet, I think I need to let the IRS know where the donated funds are coming from.

I had been reading all those "Quit Your Day-Job" articles on etsy which gave me starting point, some basic information about what I need to do to start the shop. Don't want to quit my day-job since I won't be able to donate as much as I do now, but those articles really helped in figuring out what I need to do. Then I checked out books from the library, went over the SBA website and scoured the internet for resources. Everything pointed at one thing: You need a business plan!

Photo courtesy:http://thealphanetworkeralliance.com/mlm-network-marketing-tips/network-marketing-business-plan/

I have seen one. Vaguely remember hiring a corporate lawyer to draw up a business plan for me once for a partnership I had in the motel business. I think I didn't finish reading the first page. So you can imagine how excited I am that I need to make one. Myself. Left-brain, wake up. I need help. I dug up the aforementioned business plan. I could not read past the first paragraph this time around.

I downloaded a template from the SBA website, I beat myself into reading that completely and understanding what was needed. When I was done reading, I tried to start filling in the template. Useless, dumb, left-brain!
All I could fill out in that template was my name and address.

Since my left brain was not co-operating, and the right one was not interested, I found something else to do. I took a quiz. The results of which are these:

Right Brain/ Left Brain Quiz
The higher of these two numbers below indicates which side of your brain has dominance in your life. Realising your right brain/left brain tendancy will help you interact with and to understand others.
Left Brain Dominance:	(4)
Right Brain Dominance:	(10)
Right Brain/ Left Brain Quiz

Sigh.

I understand the need for a plan. It would be foolish to bypass that and move forward with anything. Will be difficult too, without the "roadmap" that the b-plan is supposed to be. So I checked out yet another book from the library:

The Right-Brain Business Plan

I started reading it yesterday while I was visiting my hairdresser to touch-up my roots. The book gives me some hope. It said my plan does not need to look like a very serious, legal document. It needs to inspire me, and keep me focused and on track and all that. The first exercise said I need to go into a quiet room, create a nice ambience, shut my eyes, breathe in and out...wait! I want a business plan! Not meditation! I brushed off that thought and continued to read. What I read kind of made me feel better...helped me figure out what sort of business I want, why I want it like that, where I wanted it to be in a year, all while I was supposed to be lying down with my eyes shut. I can do that :-)

Well, I have not completely figured out the plan yet. There was no quiet place at the hair-dressers where I could go lie down, you see. But I am not as intimidated either. After my hair appointment, I went to Marshalls and bought me a nice Vera Bradley dry-erase board. To start my business plan.
Left brain, I hope the vibrant colors on that Vera Bradley dry-erase board wake you up and you contribute at least a little bit to my b-plan!

Would love to hear from those of you who are already on etsy, or have their own store about how they got started.

My bead soup is here!!!!

2012-01-27T13:30:00.000-08:00

Finally getting some time to put up the pics of the sweeeeet bead soup I got from my partner Kat White of Shiny Moon Beams: http://www.shinymoonbeams.com/

I opened the door one morning, very soon after the bead soup partners were announced to find this nice little white box sitting quietly beside the big fern pot. The box itself was so pretty...adorned with butterflies and flowers :)

I was super thrilled to get my "soup" already! Opened it to find this:

I lovely Millefiori pendant! I can't tell you how many times I wistfully looked at these, and didn't buy any simply because I could not decide which one I liked best (yeah, I am amazing, I can control my bead-buying urges :p)
The "universe conspired" to bring me what I really really wanted :) (No, I had not mentioned this to Kat, of course!)

Here's a closeup of the pendant:

Love the detailed flowers in the pendant. And what's even amazing is how Kat picked out so many of the colors in the pendant in the other beads she sent! There is a very subtle lavender in there, the sweetest color ever, and she found me beads in that color! And the yellow! Have been looking for something I like in yellow for ages too, and she sent me those as well!

The pewter spacers and clasp match some of the flowers in the pendant!

And then there are the tiny little seed beads in the most wonderful purple! What's more, she even wrote up a whole pictorial on how to use the lil ones to make a loop for the pendant:

Want to see?
http://www.shinymoonbeams.com/2012/01/how-to-make-seed-bead-loop-for-donut.html

Thanks you SO much, Kat! This is all so very thoughtful and amazing! I am thrilled :-)
I have a bazillion ideas swimming in my little head...hopefully I will settle on one soon!

You probably also want to know what I sent to her? Yeah?

This...

It took me a couple days to figure out what I wanted to send...I browsed Kat's blog a few times. And then one night, it came to me! Crochet! She loves crochet, so I should crochet a focal! Happy with that decision, I set out to find a pattern I liked on ravelry.
This is what I picked:
Dream Weaver Square

I modified the original pattern to make it a bit smaller, since the pattern was for a quilt square. Loved how it came out. Wanted to keep it for myself, but then had to slap my own wrist and let it go to its rightful owner ;-)

Didn't have too much trouble finding the co-ordinating materials...here's another pic where you can see everything...in a soup spoon, haha!

Source:
Crochet focal: Made from pattern at http://stormyzcrochet.weebly.com/dream-weaver-square.html
Rose toggle clasp: Etsy:CMVision: http://www.etsy.com/shop/CMVision
Clove lace filigree: Etsy:CMVision: http://www.etsy.com/shop/CMVision
Ribbon cord ends: Etsy: buyimeiren2010: http://www.etsy.com/shop/buyimeiren2010
Wood beads: Michaels
Suede cord: Walmart
Seed beads: Not sure :-)

Can't wait for March 3rd now...to see what becomes of this soup!

Submit my designs to Stringing magazine?

2012-01-18T12:38:00.000-08:00

Have been reading books on how to get my little "shop" off the ground. One of the books I read mentioned things that would get me noticed as an artist...one of them being submitting my designs to magazines.

The thought stuck and I checked out the submission guidelines for Stringing magazine.

Instructions seemed simple enough, and I actually have some items I can submit for the Summer and Winter issues.

I think I will do it :-)

Excited already? You bet!

5th Bead Soup Blog Party!

2012-01-17T16:49:00.000-08:00

So so so thrilled to be part of this!

I just put up the post with a brief history of my entry into the jewelry making world.
What kept me interested and curious for almost a year were these super-talented ladies whose blogs I have been lurking around at for the longest time.

Had been following blog parties and challenges where the talent on display was simply unbelievable. Secretly wishing and hoping to be part of it all one day...I am part of it now!

I registered for the 5th Bead Soup Blog Party, and wonder of wonders, I was selected too! So what is this bead soup!?

It is hosted by Lori Anderson who says..."Life should be full of beautiful experiences and pretty things!"
In her own words:
The Bead Soup Blog Party is about exchanging beads with a person, a "bead soup" as it were, and you have no idea what you'll get, so it will help push you out of your comfort zone, and have you think about beads you may never have chosen yourself.

Lori has selected my partner...and this is what I need to do:

Send a beautiful clasp (no lobster claws)
Send a beautiful focal, which is defined as something that can be used as a necklace centerpiece or bracelet centerpiece.
Send coordinating beads to go with the focal. Not a whole kit, but something I think would co-ordinate well.

Samples that she has put up already have my brain cells jumping into action.
Want to see? Here:Bead Soup Samples

200 people are participating! Imagine all the goodness that will be on display come March when the participants will display what they made with their "bead soup".

I have been paired with Kat White of Shiny Moon Beams

Off to figure out what I will send to her!

New Year, New Beginnings! (Cliched title ;-)

2012-01-17T16:33:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone!!!

The title for this post is cliched, over-used, chewed to death. But what can I do...it applies!
For the very first time, in fact! In all of my decades on this earth, this is the first time I am so excited and positive about something! (That probably explains all the exclamation marks in this post ;-))

The new beginning I am talking about is my entry into the world of jewelry making...aka the bead playground. Quite an unintentional entry it was too...

I was heavily into crochet during the beginning of last year. Been giving gifts (scarves...nothing else, mind you) to folks that I knew would have opportunity to wear them, and those who I knew would not be crocheting themselves. One such friend, who knew how to crochet, one day joked and asked, "So when are you going to make something for me"? I thought about it, and decided to make her some crochet earrings (I had NO clue how to do this...but the decision was made). I was planning on surprising her, and it was all hush-hush. I started looking for patterns online, and eventually reached this post on this blog:
Un Jardin De Hilo: Crochet Flower Earrings

This lady has done some AMAZING work! And her blog led me to her etsy store, droolworthy eyecandy!
While I was browsing her store, my friend walks by and in the next 15 minutes or so, we decide we need to have an etsy shop of our own...we could make things like these! Within the week, we shopped for supplies, figured out how to make basic earrings. Eventually my friend decided that she could not take this up at this time. I was a bit disappointed, but had these supplies on hand, so played with it a bit, and came up with this...my first pair of earrings!

Sent it off to a friend "R" in India. And there was no stopping me after this :)

I did, in due time, make a piece of jewelry for my other friend who had planted the seed for this in my head...this was my gift to her (yeah, a set...given to two different people ;-)

Seeing this, yet another friend asked if I would take orders. And thus happened my very first sale, to my very first supporter! She ordered a few more things as birthday gifts for her friends...here's what she inspired me to make:

This was given to her as "customer appreciation" :)

And some other friends and family got gifts

Some I kept for myself....

And I got a couple more orders...

Didn't feel so good making my friends indirectly pay for my hobby, so I decided to donate what I made from these to my favorite cause: PWhy...

And finally, the same friend who was originally my "partner in crime", suggested that although she could not work with me full time, she would love to host an exhibition+sale for my jewelry (aren't friends the awesomest awesomest people!?)

And thus happened my first exhibition on December 17th 2011. I am amazed at how this came to be, and am really thinking of making this a constant part of my life.

Sadafulee...is going to be my brand name (if it can be called a "brand")
Have always loved the simple, yet beautiful flower. The name means "Always in bloom". Here's what it looks like...would love to know what other names it is known by!

Am hoping to promote my "Sadafulee" through this blog! And connect with the amazingly talented artists I have come across while trying to learn so many different techniques!

Wish me luck ppls!