BTW - testing testing Cubic RAW rope

Ok, so I can't show you my table at the moment. I have like one hundred projects going on at the same time. That's how it feels anyway. Some of them are secret ones also ... Isn't that exciting ... I've never been in a position when I could say that before ... BUT, the main reason for not showing you my table is that it is soooo messy.

So how clever was I to purchase a tutorial yesterday for a new technique then? Beats me?! I saw it and thought I need it. And I have tried it already actually (feeling proud now).

RAW - Right Angle Weave. I've seen tutorials on RAW that's been nightmare's when you wanna learn. But about a month ago I found this one on Cubic RAW, on YouTube, from InterWeave. It's in two parts. And suddenly I got it. But I didn't try it yet.

‪PART ONE: Cubic Right-Angle Weave with Carol Huber Cypher‬

‪PART TWO: Cubic Right-Angle Weave with Carol Huber Cypher

Then yesterday this one was on sale on Beading Daily. It's a pdf.

Beaded Rope Chain by Judi Wood

I used FireLine instead of the recommended thread, and I do not have any conditioner or thread wax at home, so I go 'au naturel'. What I found was necessary was to go through all the beads many many times for the first two or three rows/rounds. This was to create some stability to begin with. But then it went super smooth to just follow the instructions. And after a while you just keep going without really thinking about what you're doing ... mmm meditative ...

I think I am hooked. But never can I imagine I would make a whole necklace in this technique. I love them, beaded ropes, really looong lariat style ones. Gorgeous! But to make them is not for me. I'll make a bracelet from this one though.

I also made a ring in good old Peyote stitch with Delica Beads. My own design. I like the color combo and the pattern. Sort of makes me feel like I'm in an olive grove in Israel or something, eating a fresh juicy orange sitting in the shade under a tree. I've never done that in real life, but that's my perception of it I guess ...

All my best,

Malin

Bead Table Wednesday - 27th of August

Hey, I did pearl knotting on silk cord today! For the first time. I followed this great tutorial from BeadAholique. Used the tweezers I ordered last week, which apparently are necessary. And I followed the advice from Erin Siegel to choose a silk cord size the largest possible to go through the holes of the beads. Thank you again Erin! And I went for my son Conrad's suggestion for the color on the silk to go with the purple pearls. Soooooo yummie, don't you agree.

Ok, so it didn't turn out perfect. But I am pleased anyway. And I know what I will make out of the string I knotted. But I'm not gonna tell you, coz I might submit it to a magazine. :-)

Oh, and I just have to share this photo also, of all of the lads of the family sitting in a line opposite me at breakfast this morning. Gotta adore them, don't you.

Conrad and Mark are looking at our female cat Alice climbing the wooden structure by our veranda. Charlie is more concerned with what's on the table.

All my best! And see you soon!

Malin

BTW - I have a good life ...

... especially on a day like this. What else could you wish for? Sitting on your veranda on a lovely summers day making jewelry.

This is my Bead Table Wednesday for today.
Bracelet for my dear friend Caroline.
This is what I, at times, dream other designer's would do. So I thought I'd better give it a go myself. Hope I am starting a trend now. :-)More macrame bracelets.

All my best!

BTW - Bead Table Wednesday - 11th of May

Re-posting the pictures from my latest post that got lost in the recent blogger-trouble.

Gorgeous focal by Erin Prais-Hintz, alias Treasures Found, alias Tesori Trovati.

Idea for bracelet for ABS's May challenge. Porcelain Rings by RoundRabbit.

Enameled green beads by PaintingWithFire.

BTW - Bead Table Wednesday - 13th of April

I saw these spectacular earrings by Emma of FredBean's Nook the other day. I fell in love with the design. I just love love love it. Had to give it a try myself. I did figure out to start with a ladder stitch ring in the center to surround the bead.

The next steps I will give a try in the coming days. I feel very uncertain about how I will do it. I think I know how. But I just think it is gonna look awful when it's coming from me ... You just HAVE to check out Emma's work. www.fredbeansnook.com

These beads arrived in the mail today, from Bead Of The Month Club by Heather Powers of HumbleBeads. Let's just say I do NOT regret I joined that club.

A sneak peek of one of the things I am doing for the Button Swap arranged by Michelle Mach. She sent me some awesome buttons. Reveal day with blog hop will be on the 29th of April. Don't miss that.

Bead Table Wednesday - And I'm back

Hi again, long time no see. I've recovered enough during my brake to be back here again, AND also my creative block has flown away, thank god. And I have made something I am dying to show you here. But I am not, not yet at least, coz I want to submit it to a magazine. That was my New Years resolution this year if you remember. To submit at least one of my pieces to a jewellery magazine.

So today I started looking into making something for this month's ABS challenge. I love the bright colour scheme of that Gaugain painting. And I couldn't resist putting together my own colour chart a few days ago. I've never done that before, but this time the chart is so beautiful in itself. I guess I'm not the only one longing for bright colours bathing in strong sunshine.

I have only come this far though, pulling out loads and loads of beads and components that I think would work. Within this soup I have ideas for at least one pair of earrings, one or two necklaces and two or three bracelets. Gotta pick one of them and get started. My weakest point that is. Staying on track. Yes, an ADD diagnosis I have aswell, apart from my MS. My goodness ... I have got the impression I am not the only one in our beading community, perhaps that's why I feel so at home here. :-)

And please take the oppurtunity to look at the two gorgeous links from Round Rabbit Extra, a tealish one and a wine red one both of them bumpy, sort of in the left side of the photo. They arrived in my mail box today. I was so happy they were still there to be purchased the day after the Friday. They were the ones I had picked out for buying from Nancy's sneek peak pictures. Can you believe my luck with that, everything just goes so quickly. Thank you Nancy, I loooooooooooove them.

At last a photo of my studio assistant Charlie, that I took a couple of days ago. See that wire bit sticking out by his belly. He is laying right on top of lots of rolled up wires of different gauges. I bet some of them are severely poking him. Anything to be in the center of the action. That's where you get the best naps, isn't it.

Now I also really want to thank everyone who has commented so kindly on my last post about taking a brake. Your words means so much to me. Thank you so much all of you!

All my best,

Malin

SneakPeek BSBP-BeadSoupBlogParty And BTW-BeadTableWednesday

On Saturday the Bead Soup Blog Party is on. I'm still in the middle of putting my piece together. It's been really tough on me this one. I've struggled with finding a design that I am pleased with. And I really hope this one will come out good and nice looking in the end. Here is a little sneak peek anyway. Only half done ...

Marcie Abner of LaBellaJoya has designed a great looking bracelet with Tila beads. I wrote about it before here on my blog.

I bought the tutorial and some beads that arrived on monday. Unfortunately I had miscalculated the amounts, so I didn't have enough beads of one colour for one bracelet. Being really keen on having a go anyway, I came up with this "every other colour" solution.

And went and ordered more Tila beads last night. Larger amounts and more colours.

If you haven't been to Marcie's blog yet I strongly recommend it. Lots of inspiration there.

Hope to see you again on Saturday!

BeadTableWednesday and Philosophising about creativity and skill

I am going through a really bad patch lately, when it comes to designing and making jewelry. It started a week or so ago. I had laid out this design for a necklace, that I am very happy with. But when I am going to assemble it I get stuck on tiny details. Either I don't have a clear idea of HOW that particular part shall connect with the next. Or I just don't manage to make it look good. So I take apart and try again, and take apart and try again. When I've been doing that for two or three days I put it all away coz I only get stressed when handling the parts, and my hands get all sweaty and such things, so I don't work well anyway. What a shame it is, coz I believe it will look great if I only get it to look the way I want it too. I have kind of promised people to show it ready also, as a reply to the positive comments I got on flickr and on my blog post. I feel I let you down. So sorry about that!

OK, so I started on something else instead. This Month's ABS challenge. Oh, I have some beads and parts that are so perfect for this. I was gonna make a bracelet. A really nice one. But it just wouldn't work out for me that one either. I tried for three days. Same story as with the necklace above. Aaaarrrrgggghhhh! Now it is just a pile of beads and components. And I DON'T want to give up. I keep coming back looking at the parts, fiddling with them, trying different possibilities. But na, I am not convinced yet. So back to the good old soup state again. And that's where we are standing now.

On the good side though - I did make these earrings and posted them to the flickr group. They turned out nice I think. So hurray for them! They are for sale in my Etsy shop. They sit very nicely on, I wore them all Sunday, and hardly noticed them during the whole day.

Then there is also the Bead Soup Blog Party. I don't know what to make with the parts I got from Anita. They are all lovely and beautiful, don't misunderstand me. And I can see them in many different kinds of jewelry looking really good. Made by other people. But you see, I want to make my own kind, my own style. So last night I was laying out at least ten different concepts for designs of different pieces. I wasn't pleased with any of them. They would work, shurely, and I would get away with showing them. But I wish for something extra. Not just "good" or "nice". But "WOW" and "awesome". You know what I mean!?!

I do know from my previous artistic careers that this patch I am going through is a clear sign of that I am just about to take a leap in my performance level. An art teacher explained it to me once like this:

Picture some stairs. See yourself, your skill and ability moving up those stairs. When you have reached a new step on those stairs you feel great and excited and in flow. But then slowly you are moving forward on that step in order to get closer to the next one to climb. The closer you get, the more and more you get a glimpse of what is awaiting you. You can see what you COULD achieve, but you are not yet there. At a certain stage in that process of moving forward you are not any longer satisfied by what you already know, but ONLY see what's there on the next step. This is when the big frustration strikes. "So really", my teacher said, "you thinking that you suck at what you do, is a sign of you having developed, and that you know where you want to go." "You are just about to move up onto that next step."

I have carried this picture with me for many years, coz it works for me. And right now I am standing right there by the wall of the next step again. Oh, it is so tough and difficult to actually push myself over. I am STUCK basically. So what I have often done in the past when I am standing here, is to decide to do the opposite of what I believe is good. The opposite of the familiar and known. Coz really, when you think about it, it is what you already know and can that you are NOT satisfied with. You want something more, something new, something fresh and exciting. How to access that, unless you try something completely unfamiliar. You have to not care about the end result when you have your first go. But you have to complete the idea, the attempt to the end.

Alright then! I guess that is what I will be doing for the following days, or weeks. And this time I shall push myself to show the results swell, not judging myself before. All the way!

Now just please give me a BIG KICK IN THE ASS for my coming journey!

Thank you!

BTW - Purple Rose Earrings

This earrings idea turned up about a week ago as soon as my Tin Bead Caps from Lorelei had arrived. This is the biggest size. And I saw they would go wonderfully with the facetted Rose Quartz Rondelles.

But I haven't been able to figure out how I want to assemble them. So every day I have been looking at different possible ear hooks, wires, directions and so on.

I thought I had settled for a silver hooks and wire solution when I came in to my studio today to take this photo I suddenly saw that purple drenched copper wire by MissFickleMedia. Of course! It is of a lower gauge than the silver wire I looked out before. Much more proportional. And then it was so easy to also go for the earhooks by HigherChakraSupplies. Perfect!

Now it is only the assembling left ...

VLOG - Bead Table Wednesday

Hi,

another Vlog, totally without any manuscript, me just babbling on ... :-) Just to show you my updated studio with a new table. I think I have the BEST BEADING STUDIO IN THE WORLD right now!!!!! (Click the YouTube-link to see the film in better resolution.)

These arrived in the post just after I had filmed this. Wooooooow! I am looking forward to use them.

Later on tonight (21.00 Swedish time = 15.00 east coast US time) I will draw the winner of my give away. See previous post. Don't miss a chance to win some truly beautiful beads.

All my best, and see you later,

Malin

BTW - Bead Table Wednesday

Heather Powers has created a group called BTW on flickr. We are supposed to take a photo of our bead table every wednesday, in order to share what is going on in our own little corners of the world. Read here on HumbleBeads blog about this group! I love this concept. I love to see what other's are in the middle of, and I love to get comments on my own doings. Please join you too. The morer the betterer!

So here is my table today:

Firstly, I have done a tidying up, so now it looks a lot better than on my VLOG from Saturday. Which is nice! (Does anyone remember those scetches from Fast Show? My favourite is the one about the original copy of the bible. But that particular one can't be found on YouTube unfortunately.)

Secondly I recieved these silk cocoons yesterday. Lovely aren't they!?! What shall I do with them? So many ideas and possibilities.

I directly came to think of this meat-eating plant when I saw them. Searching for this image on the internet I came across a lot of other beautiful meat eating plants. Gorgeous photos, really inspiring. Unfortunately copyrighted all of them, so I recommend you to do a search yourself for "meat eating plant" images.

And look at this wonderful Macramed Silk Cocoon Table Lamp from Wordly Decor.

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All my best,

Malin

(My Fusion Beads has NOT arrived yet. Let's hope for better luck tomorrow)