Manufacturing Upcycled Jewelry Components???, Beaded Beads, Must-See Cat Videos

Steampunk? Recycled?

Okay, I will spill my guts about something I’m not fond of. I’m ALL in favor of repurposed and upcycled art. But why are jewelry parts being CURRENTLY MANUFACTURED to imitate bits and pieces of things (like old watches, etc) so that someone can make a (fake) repurposed piece of jewelry?

I don’t want to seem snobbish, but there is something about this that bothers me.


This weekend’s project/s

I told Monica I wanted to do some polymer clay. She jumped right on that.

Polymer clay, though, is one of those things I’ll have to have a plan formulated prior to jumping in and creating.

So I’ve got two days to think about what I want to try. And since I have no skills… it’s got to be a fairly easy project. And yet, something that appeals to me. Hm… I’m not asking for much. :-)


Currently working on

So I mentioned the other day about that new technique Monica and I wanted to learn… tube netting, or something like that.

Anyway, here’s what it’s SUPPOSED to look like (btw, you can click on the photo to see the listing):



So last weekend, Monica worked diligently… (btw, we’re doing bracelets… no patience for the lovely, long necklaces). So what do we have at home now? Six Viagra-style bracelet components.



Monica weaves these SO tightly, they have zero bend in them. Eek! I’m sorry sweety, but dead straight doesn’t work on a bracelet. Sigh…

After much sadness, we both (simultaneously, I might add) came up with a brilliant solution. Monica is now making much smaller sections, calling them “beaded beads”, and we will use them as such in our bracelets. Yay! Can’t wait to show you a finished product.



In the mean time, here’s a pic of the one and only beaded bead made by me. I got the instructions during the last BABE show and sadly had time to work on it last November while Gabe was in the hospital.

I have no clue what to do with it and I seriously doubt it’s a technique I’ll ever use a lot (or even ever do again), but I like to learn everything I can. And this technique was on my list.



Well, time to get back to beading… TTYL!




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