Don't worry, bead happy

I had yet another productive weekend, although I didn't get much drilling done.

Friday afternoon I stopped by a small local salon and boutique in Scottsdale called S.tylers of 5th Ave. A friend told them about my jewelry and the owner asked me to stop by. They loved what I have and put 11 bracelets and four necklaces on consignment!

So I got busy, after making Mom a Patriotic bracelet. She didn't realize the one I had made was a sale item and had been looking for it so I made her one of her own. Using 7-4-1-7-7-6 (Character?) tiles I made it with red stripes and royal blue beads.

That done, I had to get busy making new items so I started stringing some floral Mah Jongg beads I had. This has been a favorite bracelet of mine for years so I was delighted to find more online. I thought they were drilled tiles but after getting them I think they are just really good beads. Who knows.

First I made another bracelet like mine (six tiles) with 10mm white fiber optic beads. This is on Etsy.

I also made some with 10mm magenta, blue and green glass pearls, which pick up the three colors in the floral tiles. All are in my Etsy shop.

These are really festive but only the green and white beaded bracelets are truly reversible since the magenta and blue don't match the faces.

Saturday was busy with various events so I didn't string or drill anything! However, I was able to give my future sister-in-law her personalized bracelet for her birthday celebration and she seemed very pleased.

Tonight I made more floral bracelets and drilled my four final black Rexphiles logo tiles and strung them with two 20mm twisty black cinnabar beads between each. It's stunning but you'll have to wait to see it since I forgot that to shoot that one.

Monday I need to get busy with gift boxes and tags. And restring a butterfly bracelet for the shop owner's granddaughter.

Oh! And here's the ice-blue bracelet I did last week for Mom with the 11mm sea-green cinnabar beads.

Proud as a peacock

I only made three bracelets tonight but my mind worked on dozens, thanks to a new shipment of cinnabar beads. Oh, the possibilities!

First of all, I restrung a blue denim/granite bracelet I made last week from 15mm red cinnabar rounds to new 15mm dark peacock blue cinnabar rounds. While I liked it with the red I am really tickled with the new blue beads - especially since the one Bamboo is a peacock. I'd make more but I'm out of the blue tiles for now.

I then drilled six of the pink breast cancer awareness tiles I did yesterday and made a similar bracelet for myself. I do love this odd combination.

Sadly, I can't show you my last effort since I couldn't pry it off Mom's wrist! Drilling the same ice-blue tiles from yesterday, I strung them with these lovely new blue-green cinnabar beads. (The beads in the photo are 15mm but we got those colors.) The beads are supposed to be 10mm but are more of an 11mm so we'll have to play around with the number of beads for size.

When I get it off Mom. It's too bad she "doesn't like" these ice-blue tiles!

Click on any photo to see it larger.

When it rains, it pours

I am sooo tired.

My friend-the-bride decided today that she wanted the zipper replaced in her wedding dress. So after leaving work I got my daughter and took her home. While waiting for my friend to call I showed my daughter how I drilled holes in the mah jongg tiles.

This time I used the green & white speckle-backed tiles with copper beads. Living in Arizona one gets to see a lot of copper. I love mixing old and new and the green of the tiles reminded me of the patina of old copper, so I wanted the shiny new copper beads to go with it. I'm very pleased with the result. I might try it again with some Bali copper beads I saw at the same bead store.

After going to the bride's house and measuring the old zipper I slowly made my way to the fabric store to get a new zipper. Sadly, all the local fabric stores have closed so I have to travel much farther than I used to.

Why was I slow? Of course, that's when Scottsdale got hit with a microburst. The palo verde in our front yard snapped at the base as I was leaving home and I saw downed branches and light poles all over the place. So I took my time getting to and from the store. I removed the old zipper after I got back and told her I'd be back tomorrow to put the new one in.

I was tired when I got home but the rhythm of the steady rain was soothing so I went outside to drill one more bracelet. Similar to what I did Monday night, it has six 1-9 Character tiles and the large twisty modern red cinnabar beads.

Jennifer commented today that she liked the meaning I had in one of the bracelets. I actually try to do that in most of my bracelets. For myself, I prefer the Wind tiles in the N-E-W-S order since I'm a journalist and I try to match them with the dragon tiles since I was born in the year of the dragon. I also like to spell out important dates if possible with the numbered tiles.

Of course, some are just a pretty blend of different tiles.

Well, I head back tomorrow to hopefully finish the wedding dress zipper. Please wish me luck!

Click on any photo to see it larger.

Just bead it, bead it

I have had so much fun making bracelets and being creative since I got my drill press on Friday!

I love to make things and, while I also love to sew, making several bracelets in one night is much more satisfying than taking several days (or weeks) on a dress.

Last night was especially fun since I finally got to drill and make some bracelets that have been haunting me for more than two years.

Using what is called a blue denim Mah Jongg tile, I strung it with red (modern!) cinnabar tubes. This one is for sale on Etsy.

Pleased with the results, I made one for me that's a little larger and heavier. It's also made with blue denim tiles but with modern red cinnabar rounds.

When I started sorting through the black & white speckle-backed tiles (similar to the blue denim), I was delighted to find a Mazel Tov joker. I immediately thought of my soon-to-be sister-in-law. She's Jewish and loves to go canyoneering year-round. So I made her a bracelet with the Mazel Tov tile and four Season tiles on the black & white speckle-backed tiles (which I think looks like granite) matched with some twisty red cinnabar - just like her beloved Utah slot canyons.

Mom and I were so pleased with the results that we bagged up several more sets in black & white and green & white speckle-backed tiles for me to work on Tuesday night.

Finally I got some .7 Stretch Magic and got my Christmas bracelet finished. I am delighted with it and can't wait until the first Sunday in Advent, Nov. 28, so I can wear it!

Click on any photo to see it larger.

A beady eye

In case you haven't noticed, I love Asian culture. It started as a love affair with all things Japanese as a child and it morphed into a love for Chinese thanks to my Taiwanese roommate in college. (Her mom, who owned a tea shop in Taipei, first introduced me to oolong in a serious way.)

I also learned to play Mah Jongg with Amy and the other students of the Chinese Students Association at Northern Arizona University. I haven't played it since, although I am looking for partners. So I was tickled when I spotted Mah Jongg bracelets online several years ago.

Being a crafty sort, I decided to try my hand at it and a beading addiction was born. I've purchased bracelets and taken them apart and restrung them. I've gotten beads and made my own. I even got a drill press and started drilling my own tiles - never from a complete set but from broken sets or tiles I've purchased online.

So here are a very few of my recent efforts.

Click on any photo to see it larger.