Last night my beading buddy Cheryl brought along a baggy of beads, the remains (we think) of a broken necklace. I separated out some blue glass discs and used those as my starting point for a bracelet.

I found a scrap of beading wire just long enough for two bracelet strands and rummaged around for some other blue glass.

The nautical-style spring ring clasp complemented the shades of blue.

 

 

Perhaps this is the start of a new line of summer accessories. Beach Baubles. Lakeside Luxuries. Pool Party Pretties.

 

 

I’ll stop now and leave you with this pretty picture of roses from my garden.

 

 

 

Cost of this Thing: 0
Cost of all Things to date: €199.62

 

On Wednesday evening I made extra jewelry to save as blogging buffer. Today was going to be the day I finished the crocheted panda so I certainly wasn’t going to need it yet.

We all know where this story is going. It’s after nine in the evening and the panda is still limbless. Bye-bye, buffer.

Remember the children’s wrap bracelets I made way back when? I used up all the memory wire then except for two scraps of two loops each. They were too small to use, but I’m having such fun using the tiny impossible scraps that I decided to use them anyway. And they weren’t too small after all. I pulled out red and purple glass beads in assorted shapes and shades for these last two wrap bracelets.

 

 

A charm made with a fancy headpin and a couple of beads finished them off in style.

 

 

And see how pretty they look in action!

(Special thanks to Julianna, my lovely assistant.) 

 

Cost of these Things: 0
Cost of all Things to date: €199.62

 

 

Last night’s beading project combined the dregs with the new. I had a scrap of wire, just long enough for a short necklace, and a few beads leftover from last week’s bracelet set. To fill it out I pulled out an unopened bag of seedbeads called “Shanghai Midnight.” It’s a beautiful mix of dark blues and golds, but that’s not why I bought them. I bought them for the name. Shanghai Midnight. It sounds like a Jackie Chan movie.

 

 

 

The necklace is simple but delicate and I like the look of it on.  If I didn’t have too many necklaces already I’d keep it for myself.

 

Cost of this Thing: 0
Cost of all Things to date: €199.62

 

 

Last night was a productive beading session. Cheryl brought me some stuff she’s clearing out, including an old broken necklace with some delightfully mottled glass beads. I pulled out some beading elastic and got to work.

First I sorted by colour and then made one bracelet from each pile of beads. There was exactly enough of most of the colours. The beads are spaced with gold seedbeads.

 

 

I made two with the green, but realized this morning, when I saw them by daylight, that I could have made two different ones. Both the green bracelets are a mix of bluish-green and green-green beads. I suppose I could pull them apart. Meh.

Since all I contributed to these Things was the elastic it wasn’t even a stash-buster. It did, however, prevent my stash from growing. Also good.

 

 

They can be worn individually but the rich jewel tones go well together. I’ll probably gift/sell them as a set.

 

Cost of these Things: 0
Cost of all Things to date: €199.62

What a gorgeous day! While Martina was having her violin lesson this afternoon, Esther and I went to the beach. I ordered a glass of rosé and Esther played in the North Sea. Esther thinks she had more fun. I beg to differ.

I wasn’t home for more than a few minutes today so I was glad to be able to pull out last Wednesday’s beading project for today’s Things.

 

 

I made this children’s necklace and bracelet with scraps of beading wire discarded by my beading buddies. This is the beading equivalent of dumpster diving. The glass beads and magnetic clasps are from my dwindling stash.

 

 

See how well these go with Thing 128?

 

 

I need to get invited to more parties because I have a really great gift stash.

 

Cost of these Things: 0
Cost of all Things to date: €197.62

 

I’ve been working on clothes for Martina today, but I’ll blog about those this weekend. Today’s Things are a product of last night’s beading session.

I had some tiger’s eye in my stash, a beautiful honey gold to chocolate brown stone. I combined them with gold-coloured bead caps and some black seed beads.

 

 

I considered myself done for the night but Hester and Cheryl, my bossy-pants bead buddies, insisted I make earrings. Fine.

 

 

They were right. I’m pleased with this set. It accessorizes my tulips quite nicely.

 

 

 

Thank you to my assistant, Martina, for the photos today 🙂

 

Cost of these Things: 0
Cost of all Things to date: €174.82

 

I’m working on a Hollyburn skirt for Martina. It’s slow going, not because the pattern is difficult or complicated (it’s not). It’s slow going because I’m on an Agatha Christie kick, currently on my fourth in three days. They’re all ones I haven’t read in so long that I don’t remember the end, which is rather important to the suspense. I’m reading a chapter, sewing a seam or two, reading another chapter, adding pockets… Which means I still don’t have a skirt to blog about.

Fortunately I haven’t yet blogged about last week’s beading project. Buffer, baby! Buffer in the form of another bracelet.

 

The big black beads are serpentine, separated by small Swarovski pearls. I found a big nautical-style spring ring clasp in my stash to finish it off.

 

 

It’s big but surprisingly comfortable to wear. The stones are cool against the skin and not too heavy. I still won’t keep it for myself, though. Into the sale pile it goes.

 

Cost of this Thing: 0
Cost of all Things to date: €174.82

 

Last night was beading night. The bead collection pickings are getting slim, but there’s still some fun stuff to be found. Turquoise hexagons and coral rounds spaced with seed beads make for a summery 3-strand bracelet.

 

 

This was the beading equivalent of a scrap buster. The wire pieces were all leftover bits from other projects — too small for a necklace, too big to throw away.

I can wear it with the clasp up…

 

 

 

Or down…

 

 

But I probably won’t wear it at all. Turquoise and coral aren’t really my colours. This will go into the sale box/gift stash.

 

Speaking of colours, things are turning orange around here…

 

 

 

Cost of this Thing: 0
Cost of all Things to date: €163.12

 

On beading evening this past Wednesday I made one last bracelet for our sale tomorrow.

 

 

I strung three strands of lapis lazuli rounds and chips with some blue and gold seed beads, and then braided the strands loosely before attaching the clasp.

 

 

 

 

It fits me perfectly. Maybe I need to keep this one for myself. I’m working on a navy blue Coco that could use some accessorizing…

 

 

 

Cost of this Thing: 0
Cost of all Things to date: €100.61

In non-Thing news, I replaced a zipper in Martina’s spring jacket today.  I’ve been putting it off — who likes replacing zippers? — but it wasn’t so bad. I used a shortcut that Jessica at Gracious Threads wrote about. This quick method may not please the purist, but it pleased me and worked like a charm. Thanks, Jess!

Today’s Things were the result of yesterday’s productive beading evening. I made two bracelets, using 4mm Swarovski pearls (Mystic Black) and some silver-coloured seed beads.

 

 

The clasps are sterling silver, as are the little bits of chain, which I finished off with another pearl.

 

 

I love Swarovski pearls. They have a deep lustre and the coating is much stronger than most pearl beads. They stay beautiful for years.

 

 

The jewelry pile is growing. One more beading night before our sale!

 

Cost of these Things: 0
Cost of all Things to date: €88.61