Light as a Breeze

The Etsy Beadweaver's challenge theme for April 2010 is "Light as a Breeze" and the instructions refer to the "delicate and gentle first warm breezes of spring." Well, here in Indiana spring breezes are not so much delicate, gentle, and warm. Spring is a fickle season, jumping from winter to almost-summer, then down to cold rain. There are a lot of gray skies, though you do get a few glimmers of warmth and hope mixed in. My ideal world is one where it's always summer. I'm fine with rainy and dry seasons, and while I like fall well enough, I wouldn't miss it. (Hmm.. I think I sound like someone who grew up on the equator!!)

So this bracelet is my interpretation of "Light as a Breeze." The wisps of blue and yellow represent the few delicate, gentle, and warm spring days in the midwest, glimmers of hope in the midst of the overwhelming gray, rainy, dreary spring days. But they do remind us that there will be summer once again!

Head on over to the EBW blog to vote for your favorite through the 14th!   

Buy Handmade - send Ginny & Stephen to Sudan

We're full swing into fundraising mode to get to Sudan for 6 months this year! While we've had a lot of generous donations, we've still got a little ways to go before we can leave. We need to raise enough to cover our airfare, living expenses, etc. From here on out, I will be funneling ALL proceeds (not profits.. EVERYTHING that comes in from a sale, excluding shipping) into our "going to Sudan" account. If I do a custom order and have to buy supplies, the cost of new supplies will be subtracted from the proceeds, but that is the only exception.

I also spent a good part of today uploading greeting cards to my Etsy store, so head on over and check those out!

In Which My Blog Has Been Sadly Neglected

First off, I just got a treasury yesterday for the first time since, well, the last one I posted on here. Check out these great finds! The treasury expires Wednesday at 2:31 pm.

A lot of life has happened since my last blog post... At the time I posted, I was in Florida with my family helping to take care of my grandfather in his last week of life. That was, of course, a full time with family, followed by Christmas break for time with more family. I was at a conference between Christmas and New Years, and then spent most of the month of January in Guatemala. I was there for a service learning trip with a group from my school, working with local groups on water and sanitation projects. Also, two days before we left, we got to climb a volcano and roast marshmallows over a river of lava. As a holder of a BS in Geology, this was awesome.

Now, my husband and I are working on raising money to head to southern Sudan for 6 months later this year. We'll be working with an ongoing water development project there, and have set up a blog to chronicle the trip - http://brachtadventures.blogspot.com/.

In the meantime, I've finally completed a few beadweaving projects and hope to photograph them while I'm on spring break this week!

Cantankerous

Got a treasury last night! It was down to 333 with 8 minutes left when I logged in, so I didn't have a chance to pick anything out before snagging one, and therefore titling it. :p So what do I come up with on the spur of the moment? cantankerous. Not sure these items fit that word, but hey.

Holiday Sale!

The Beadweaving Emporium on 1000 Markets is having a holiday sale! Merchants are providing discounts, free shipping, gift wrap, or other promotions. You can find all the offerings here!

My participation is with free shipping on select beadwoven items. That's right, folks, free shipping here!

Some of the items I'm offering free shipping on are:

Turquoise Triangle Earrings

Linked Triangles Bangle

Turquoise Curls Cuff

Branching out...

Okay, not really. I've actually been crocheting WAY longer than beading, but I haven't tried selling any of it yet. Lots of friends and family have blankets I've made down through the years, and I keep my own head warm in the winter with a hat I made. It has earflaps and a poofball, I should share a picture sometime. There have also been scarves, sweaters, slippers, and even a sock in my crocheting past. (Yes, just one sock. And the toe of the second, but that's it.)

Last winter, I started using some leftover bits of yarn, plus some that was given to me a while back, to make hats. I was just having a ball crocheting hats in my spare time, thinking maybe I should try to sell them. But then, it was summer. And who wants to buy a nice warm crocheted hat in the summer? So these hats have been sitting around all lonely until NOW, when I finally pulled them out again and did a little photoshoot. They're all listed on 1000 Markets, just waiting for a cold head to wander by and find them.

In progress

Of course I have multiple pieces in progress at any given time! Who doesn't? Here's a little glimpse into that world....

First, some polymer clay cabs that I just worked up to bead around for a necklace. Some beads are even on the way to go with them... BRIGHT!

Then, a WIDE cuff. Once I finish the blue base, I still need to figure out what colors and pattern to add to the top of it... I bet it'll turn out pretty fun. You can see some bits of polymer clay in the background - colors I mixed for the cabs shown above, now leftover to be used for more fun things!

These, I've had in progress for several months. They'll end up side by side as a cuff. I could have sworn I've beaded more of the beige ones... hmmm, I'll have to have a look around for those.

...and then, a shot of my workspace for good measure. :) This 2x2 ft table is where the magic happens! And yes, there is rarely a square inch to be found clear. All around the table in various shoe boxes and other containers you can find my bead stash. That is, whatever's not on the table at the time....
What do YOU have in progress?