Luna's Baublebilities

Bead Fail!

It was supposed to look like a sea urchin.  Instead it looks like a lumpy pile of badly stitched beads.

Bah.

But these are cool.  I made them with a cubic right angle weave pattern called "Cactus Drops" by Heather Collin from DreamWeaversStudio.  She sells lots of patterns in her ArtFire shop.  I found this one to be well written and illustrated.  I did a few different things with the embellishments on my little spikes (I never like to do things the way I am told!) - the design is ripe for variations!



I'm having significant trouble getting good photos in my studio lately.  (see how gray and shadowy these are?  yuck!  and that's after tweaking the contrast, highlights and fill light)  The angle of the sun just isn't as good at this time of year and it turns out that I spend the best hour of sunlight with Svenya in the barn every morning.    Attempts to adjust milking time always seem to fail so I've ordered some special studio spotlights so that I can (hopefully) take photos whenever I want or need to.  They should be in this week.

Halloween is coming on waaaay too fast.  Maxx wants to be a Barbary Corsair this year.  I need to make a pair of Sarouelle pants, a long tunic, a turban and a shiny cloak. Nothing too hard but lots of straight seams and hems to sew.  I was worried about cost but then I went through my bins and found a bunch of fabric that was originally supposed to become a quilt for him when he joined our family.  It is all in brick reds and golds and will be perfect paired with the scraps from Molly's golden Zombie Prom prom scene dress.  And I don't have to spend a dime!

Yay.

Wish me luck.  Maxx very firmly instructed me that I was to start working on it this afternoon just as soon as I return from shopping today.  We had to discuss the chain of command a bit this morning!

Here's a collection of beautiful RAW sparklies.

I think I need to look into a few of these tutorials.  Love the look of those cactus drops - they've got my brain thinking about all those seed beads stashed in my pantry!

You can read about THE ANKLE INCIDENT and the COW over at the Beorningstead blog.

Things have been a little hectic. 

But I'm working on this yummy project today. 

The purple raku tubes are bugle beads stitched with ladder stitch and secured in a circle - topped with some yummy cubes.  (I'm working on a wholesale order of drool worthy Tohos for later this summer - maybe kits?  classes?)

Brown velvet ribbon will be edged with seed beads - tubes, pearls and brass beads will dangle.  I'm so excited - I think I'll skip the dishes and just play with beads!

Since I'm obviously feeling confessional this week, having posted a photo of my epic cake FAIL of last week over at the Beorningstead blog , I thought I would let you all take a look at my latest bead fail.

Pretty weird, right?











The latest Beadwork magazine has a short tutorial on making sparkly beaded rings so I played around with the project a bit yesterday. 

I made a sort of fun little orange spiky flower ring.


And I beaded a setting for a scintillating rivoli and then decided to see if the duck bills I bought with the latest mega box of beads would work with this  design.





Ummm....






I was shooting for something floral but it certainly didn't turn out that way.  I think it looks like some bizarre sea creature gone horribly wrong.  Molly says it looks like a butt.  (If you have a large, short haired dog, you will instantly see what she means.  It is rather sphincter-ish.)

If only I had made it in pink.






Speaking of butts.  I'm so disgusted with Etsy.   They had full frontal female nudity on their front page a couple of weeks ago.  Oh - the artist's photographer had airbrushed out some specific anatomical details on top and the models hands were covering her groin area but it was still nudity on the Front Page.  The item in question was a hoop skirt support made to be worn under period costumes or alone as a "futuristic design statement".  The seller makes latex clothing.  Most of the images for the clothing available in this shop border on or qualify as soft p*rn.

You know what?  That's FINE.  If someone is having fun making a living selling titillating little costumes - go ahead.  I have no problem with that.  I don't even have a problem with them using racy images in their shop to sell their wares.  It's their shop.  I do not believe in trying to censor other artists and I think that there should be a place on Etsy and other venues for all kinds of  art - whether that art contain happy unicorn, Christian iconography or images designed for a mature audience.

I DO have a HUGE problem with Etsy putting those soft p*rn images on their Front Page and I'll tell you why.   

For those of you who don't know much about FAS/FAE, one of the major challenges kids with this disorder have is a more than average level of difficulty making good sexual choices.  These kids are at a higher risk for STD's, teen pregnancy, date rape - etc. because they have an overwhelming curiosity about sex and intimacy, very little to no impulse control and very poor decision making skills.   I thought that we would be dealing with this issue in - oh about 10 years or so, during puberty.  But no.  It is here NOW. 

Maxx is hyper-interested in breasts and other lady parts.  He has already been exposed to p*rn on the school bus.  He asks inappropriate questions quite frequently and tries to engage in inappropriate touching with me and Molly.  We have had incidents of inappropriate tickling with other female family members that we have had to address with him.  We try to dress him in jeans because if he wears softer pants he runs around all day grabbing his goods.  We have had numerous discussions about biology and male vs. female anatomy, respecting people's privacy and what sort of touching is appropriate and what is not.  He levels off sometimes for weeks at a time until something sets him off - like seeing magazine covers in the grocery store or a scene in a film or on TV that shows a lot of skin and/or cuddling. 

Now some of you might say - "Oh, he's just a boy - boys are just interested in girls!"  Yes.  Boys are interested in girls.  As they should be.  Maxx is Obsessed with female bodies.  There is a difference.  His behavior and manner change when he is obsessing.  It is very troubling.  We work hard to keep questionable images out of our home in order to make at least this space safe for him.  He has enough issues to work through that he shouldn't have to be grappling with that particular obsession right now.

I left work at Creative Spirit because the owner was preparing for a new exhibit containing several "adult" images.  I was fine with that until he made it clear that he intended to hang one of the largest paintings front and center at the bottom of the stairs leading to the only bathroom in the building.  His intention in hanging the piece there was not to draw attention to a particularly masterful painting but in his own words, it was to "shake up the moral foundations of this community a little bit." 

Never mind that we had several parents visit the store with their children and if a potty stop was needed, these kids would have to be brought down through the gallery - right past the 'mature' content.  With no warning whatsoever.  I don't know if this guy ever actually hung that show that way or not.  I left and didn't look back. 

Etsy's front page is on our drop down navigation bar menu for Firefox because I stop into Etsy every day to manage my shops there.  I can no longer trust that opening Etsy with Maxx sitting on my lap or hanging out around the computer is safe.  I'm strongly considering shutting down both of my Etsy shops.  My supply shop has tanked over there.  Either something is STILL broken in the search or I've made some sort of blacklist as a result of speaking too bluntly in the forums about the numerous problems sellers have been having since March.   Either way, that source of income is drying up has dried up.  Pair that with not being able to trust Etsy to follow their TOU/ Dos and Don'ts and NOT put nudity on the front page makes me think that never clicking on that Etsy link again might be a good idea. 

Sigh.  Thinking about Etsy lately makes me depressed.  Thinking about FAS makes me feel overwhelmed.  I've had to think about both of them in one morning - I guess Ziggy and I should go walk off that Nutella on a rice cake I just ate and then try to figure out what on earth to do with these stupid duck bill beads.  Any ideas out there?






.....

I've been managing to make some actual progress the last few days!  Not sure how long it will last so I'm trying not to get too cocky about it.  :)

Driving home on 11B from one of my many many doctor visits in Malone this winter, I was struck by how incredibly beautiful the sunset is in late winter from that elevation.  Everything has been so grey for so long and then, once a day you get these incredible colors in the sky.

You know me - I wasn't content to let those colors stay up there in the sky.

Adirondack Sunset in ribbons.

I've got threads in this colorway, too. My first experiments with dyeing yarn!

The cotton and cotton/rayon blends are incredible.  Here's a 3 ply gassed, mercerized pima cotton, a cotton/rayon woven tape and a rayon/cotton chenelle.



Silks are likewise incredible - here's a very fine 2 ply silk (lace weight) and a gorgeous, delicate shimmering reeled silk cord.



Wools and wool blends were less dramatic but still lovely - these colors are simply yummy together - pale or intense.  These are a fine merino/bamboo blend, a super fine alpaca lace weight and a heavy wool/mohair worsted.  The bamboo dyed up darker and created a nice heathered look.; wool doesn't really like fiber reactive dye.



And here are more daisies.  These are made with fewer leaves and a slightly different pattern.   I'm getting pretty good at making them up quickly - as long as I don't make my thread too long!  I'm ordering several more colors of dagger beads in order to offer many possibilities for daisies - I love how they look stacked together on a necklace.  I'm developing some beaded spacer beads to string on the chokers between daisies so that they will lie further apart, if desired.

Daisies should show up in LunasBaublebilities soon and Ribbons and yarn over at GoblinsMarket in a few days. 









 . . . . .

Here are some photos of our beautiful bride wearing her jewelry. It was such a lovely day - an unexpected gift from Mother Nature in March. Lauren's look from her dress to her hair was very vintage - the pearls complimented this look quite nicely but they were nothing compared to her radiance.



One thing that really strikes me is that while many brides spend hundreds or thousands of dollars and many days and weeks preparing themselves for the wedding, Laren's day was relatively simple and she looked happier and lovelier than any big spending "bridezilla" I've ever seen.























Also in this post - some new earrings I've made with some beaded beads. These are my new favorite thing (wonder how long that will last) and the instructions can be found in the latest issue of Beadwork. These beaded beads are included in the Vintage Charm bracelet by
Amy Haftkowycz on page 73. You wouldn't expect to find these fun beads in this project but there they are and they can be used for so much more than dangles on a charm bracelet. Now I know why you need lots of 3mm fire-polished roundelles! I've alwas focused on having 4mm and up but I'll mend my ways in the future. ;)

Sharon's theme for the month of March is ironically pertinent to my current living situation! Here's what she wrote for the challenge: "Do you ever notice the little things, the small moments, the details in life? This month's challenge is to do just that, pay attention to the tiny details. Sometimes the small things become emblematic for something larger."

Boy, Have I been paying attention to the tiny details! Details like, what is living in my water? And these small things really are emblematic of something larger. Our tiny neighborhood is currently suffering the consequences of American Agricultural choices. We are dealing with the fallout of an enormous industry that most people don't even pause to think about. I mean, what's so dangerous about a bunch of cows? Milk is supposed to be good for you, right? How many people actually know where their milk comes from, what conditions the cows exist under, where their waste goes and how they are fed? For most people the answers to those questions are: Milk comes from from cows raised in a CAFO. The cows are crammed in a barn all day, every day of their lives. Their waste goes onto the ground in the form of liquid manure, which can be smelled for dozens of miles in every direction when it is stirred or spread and from there it may possibly go into the local aquifer and fresh water rivers, lakes and streams. The cows are fed special dairy cow feed and lots of drugs which may include dead cows, antibiotics, Bovine Growth Hormone, genetically modified grains and/or mystery compounds from China.

Details, details, details. Did you know that the milk and eggs from CAFO raised cows and hens are higher in bad cholesterol and lower in nutrition and Omega 3-6-9 fatty acids than milk and eggs from grass fed, free ranging animals? Man. It's time to go buy a cow.

I feel that this is a good illustration of how small details, added together can become something worth a great deal of consideration.

For my challenge entry this month, I chose to make a beaded bead - a small object filled with tiny details. I anticipated making a whole series of them and even had a kit put together so that I could work on my beads anywhere my water disaster happened to take me. Needless to say, keeping the family fed and clean and entertained at other people's houses all month long really made it difficult to keep up with my project. I got one bead done. Here are the colors I used:

I used size 11 rose gold AB beads and metallic gold beads to form the main bead shape and then embellished with some Myuki size 15 taupe, gunmetal and metallic green AB beads. The pattern is a modification of Wonder Beads as taught by Sue Jackson and Wendy Hubick of Hummingbeads in the April 2001 issue of Bead and Button magazine. If you like the idea of beaded beads, Beadwork put out a teeny book of Beaded Beads in 2003. I got mine through a special offer for Beading daily subscribers, you may also be able to get it through Amazon, I know I've seen it there. The book has lots of different styles of beaded beads, many of which I wanted to try this month. Guess they will have to go on my growing to do list!