A Month For A New Endeavor And Thanks

And a tiny beady break. The month of November is National Novel Writing Month. So I'm working on a novel - it's one that's been inside my head for a while. The challenge/goal is to write 50,000 words by the end of the month. There are lots of tools, fellow writers, and many, many pep talks. There are also face-to-face gatherings which can be good for a wanna-be hermit like myself. So, as of this moment, I am on schedule with my daily word count and we will see what happens. If I can just get the bare bones down, I will feel like I've accomplished a lot.

In the meantime, I'm keeping my bead angel very busy. She has four projects and she is busily beading samples. All of those will be downloadable tutorials. She beads samples, I write tutorials. I learned several years ago that I cannot do it all and having a dear friend like her is indeed priceless. She is an angel, a cheerleader, a shoulder, a confidant, and a soul mate all wrapped up in one wonderful package. Love you, Gaye!

And in family news:

And he is due in the spring! Grandson Number 4 is eagerly awaited by everyone!

It's November and it seems that it's time for Thanksgiving - I am always very thankful for my family. I am also thankful for friendships, old and new. I only wish I had been taught at a much earlier age how to stay in touch with people. So, oddly enough, I am very thankful for social media! I have reconnected with folks that I've know since I was in 8th grade. That being said, I am thankful for this every day and not just during the month of November.

I am seeing a "30 days of Thanksgiving" going around Facebook. So what are you thankful for right now?

Everything Old Is New Again

Sunflower Earrings Tutorial
Copyright 2013 Theresa Buchle

So, what's new? Me? Well, I've actually reverted to old tricks - sort of. The T-man has a brand new gig and I am now helping him in a temporary capacity as his Girl Friday, but I am also back in my little studio space doing my own thing. Half a day here, half a day there - most of the time it works that way. Right now it's the best of both worlds. And unfortunately to do that Girl Friday gig I had to give up the teaching spot at Nomadic Notions but they will always hold a dear spot in my heart.  It doesn't mean I won't be teaching, it just means I'm on hiatus while I take care of clearing off my work table in my studio. It seems to be cluttered with beads and such.

So for now, I'll be loading the Etsy shop with tutorials like the one you see above. That's the Sunflower Earrings Tutorial and that gorgeous sample was beaded by my bead angel Gaye. She does a wonderful job of beading samples for me. Give her a big round of beady applause!

So, it's nice to see you again. I'll be back in a couple of days with more beady goodness. Keep on beading on!

Creative Thoughts

This is a "skewered dragon-fae" necklace that I made for my dear friend Michelle back in July. It was a special request, right down to the beautiful blues. Michelle and I met way back when I belonged to the fantasy/medieval role playing group (the same one wherein I met the love of my life). Once upon a time, Michelle and I did not speak to each other for years, which was a very sad time for me. We have since found our way back to each other, for which I'm exceedingly grateful. It's not easy to find good friends. It's even more difficult to hold on to them. I kept forgetting to post the picture of her birthday present! Her birthday is three days after mine, and her celebration was absolutely fantastic -- it was at a CHOCOLATE AND WINE BAR in Austin! Heavenly!!

And I've been trying to take my mind off my pain. It's a little worse this time, but this knee was in worse shape. Anyway . . .

I'm looking more at fibers. I left off fibers a while back, thinking that I just didn't have time to play with them. I might be wrong. I'm still hungering to work with wire more. I feel that if I make more of my own findings, the pieces will belong to me even more so. Of course, that might make parting with them even more difficult. Then there is metal. Geez, I love copper and bronze and etching seems not so difficult to do so I really, really want to.

But I also have to consider what I've chosen to do for a living and try to work all my little desires into the time I have left over when not coaxing little bits of glass into pleasing shapes and then writing down how to exactly that for others. And I couldn't leave those infuriating bits of melted sand if you held a gun to my head. As a result of all this musing, I've also been trying to think of ways to meld a few of the "I wants" with the tiny beads. Aha! (Believe me, it's probably much more difficult for me than it sounds.)

I'm also trying to come up with little items to stock in the Etsy store that folks might like to purchase for holiday gifts, and I've made the monumental decision to offer my patterns, tutorials and kits in the Etsy store. At this point I would like to open the floor to you, beadlings, to find out what you would like to see out of my repetoire of said patterns/tutorials/kits. Just remember that I'm still not up to full steam, so it will be a trickle of goodies, not a huge flood!

Have a beadiful weekend!

Oh Happy Day

This is my happy face self-portrait. No, I am not an artist but I like to play. Why I am I this happy? Read to the end of the blog (no, don't skip or scan, read the blog).

I have two new blog links to share with you. First is the lovely Lisa Peters. I've got four items from Lisa, which will all be put to good use in the following months. Second is the marvelous MaryLou Holvenstot. And I would not know of either of these two ladies without my cyber friend Carol Dean Sharpe. I got to meet Lisa in person at Bead & Button, but missed MaryLou -- our paths just never crossed. As for Carol Dean, we're working on a face to face. These are three very talented ladies and I'm very glad to have made their acquaintance, even if it is only virtual. Have you hugged a cyber friend today?

I still have earrings screaming to be made but I also need to do MASSIVE house cleaning! It's really too bad I can't do both.

Your mission for the day: Check out the web site and blog links I've provided for you. There are some giveaways, some art news, some great tutorials and lots of inspiration. Take a few minutes and surf.

I now have pants that can be removed without use of button/zipper. And Clara will be coming soon to take new pictures. Okay, enough personal stuff.