Handmade Sunday

There hasn't been much extra crafting or any strides in my gift list this week as I prepare for the show. But I did manage to experiment with silk and beads, using a tiny bit of my silk dupioni stash. Above is a little bead stocking that I made. The front is a mystery fabric that is see-through. The back of the stocking is the silk dupioni in gold.

(Back of the stocking.)

I was telling my friend about ordering silk rippins from Bello Modo and she said, "You mean silk that is ripped? You could do that Heather." Uh, I can? And there, right during Thanksgiving, she pulled out some silk and showed me how to tear it into perfect little strips.

Above is a little ornament I made using an Illuminated Manuscript bead, chain, a lucite flower and glass bead along with a bow made from the silk strips.

I immediately thought of all the colors of silk I have and how I could use these strips in jewelry. Although I am concerned about the long term unraveling of the threads.

But that didn't stop me from experimenting. Here I used a torn silk strip with a brass chain for this bracelet that features one of my new beads. More trials will ensue, I'm sure. Have you ever made your own jewelry cords from silk, any advice?

Don't forget to join me tomorrow for my Cyber Monday Open House!

A Very Random Post...

Wow, how sad, a whole week without blogging. You'll have to forgive me, I am getting ready for a show this coming weekend. Free time is a rare thing in the Humble Home right now!

Jess is in the studio today keeping me company and making things for the show too. He is working on candle holders that are shaped like houses/altars. I can't wait to share pictures and he so better make me one for Christmas. I guess I should drop a few hints! Above is one he made this summer.

And have you been patiently waiting to find out who is this week's Funny Caption contest winner? It is AJ! A little purple bird will be flying your way soon.

Also I have to give a shout out for the Bead Art Originals Holiday Gift Guide. We are having an open house through Monday, so be sure to stop by and see if there is something that catches your eye for someone on your gift list. The gift guide is updated every Monday. And make sure to visit the Bead Art Originals blog, they have 12 days of prizes to give away!

I'm hosting a Holiday Open House for Cyber Monday in my etsy shop. I will have new beads, a few surprise deals for the day (make sure you are following me on twitter for some of those!) along with the free shipping discount that has been going on all weekend. I'm going to host a chat during the lunch hour with a drawing for a free holiday pendant! Details on the chat will be posted here Monday morning. Come and share your holiday ideas for gifts, decorating and celebrating.

(I heard a rumor that my Grandma reads my blog, if this is true I'd like to send a little hug her way!)

You don't say? Part 6

(Insert Funny Caption Here.)

Stressed about stuffing a turkey? Not ready to face less than 30 days til Christmas? In-laws arriving this week? We all need a distraction from the holiday bustle that is about to descend upon us!

Leave a funny caption for this week's photo. One comment will be randomly drawn on Saturday. The winner will receive a Purple Martin bird pictured here in the photo.

In Etsy shop news, I added my Illustrated Manuscript Beads since they received such rave reviews from everyone! Join me tomorrow for some holiday gift ideas.

Handmade Sunday

Today has actually been a fun day. No deadlines or orders, just a little organizing of the ol' craft stash and some sewing. My craft supplies have little homes all over the house. My yarn and knitting supplies are tucked in the bottom drawer of an armoire/tv cabinet in the living room. My sewing supplies and wool roving are in the dining room, tucked away in our family craft armoire. I guess I keep these things separate from my studio so that when I do pull them out it doesn't feel like work. I don't know, maybe I just need to mark my territory with craft supplies.

So today I kept it simple and made a few silk scarves. The one pictured above is a steel gray dupioni paired with an Italian tapestry fabric that is very soft and supple. I think I'm going to bead the end of it to hide my seam. I'm definitely not an expert seamstress. Thank goodness for beads, they cover a multitude of sins. The second one I created was a beautiful blue silk scarf that I did with a simple rolled hemmed and plan on beading a little snowflake on one end. I'm working my way up to tackle the pajama pant pattern that I picked up this week. Seems scary!

I was gifted with the luxurious stash of silk dupioni fabrics. Who knows what I'll whip up over the next few weeks. I was thinking today of making some monogram ornaments and using my new beads with them. Hmm, we'll have to see.

I leave you with a photo of my very hard working assistant from early this week:



Who felt he had to create a self-portrait on his glove, when he should have been busy rolling beads. Jesseeeeee...(that was me yelling like Dave in Alvin and the Chipmunks.) Now that, my friends, is handmade!

Winner and New Winter Beads

The winner from list week's Funny Caption contest is LavenderLizard. Liz won a Dove Ornament that was featured in this week's contest. On a side note, I highly recommend LavnderLizard's crocheted goodies. We have quite the collection of face scrubbies and love them.

So where the heck have I been? Buried under a pile of beads, in a faint voice crying out, "help, I've fallen and I can't get up..." Okay, it's not that bad. But I have been a beadmaking fiend this week. Plowing through orders, stocking up on ornaments and best sellers and working on some new jewelry. Along with that I have also updated my website to include more of the Kiss beads, like the disks and a few of the cuff beads. Along with those I've added the Branch Lentil and Disk Beads in copper, lime and purple to my Humblebeads site.

I'm having a sale this week on my website only, 20% off all orders. Use discount code Thanks08, sale ends this Wednesday.

In other Humblebeads news, you can see my beads in the December issue of Simply Beads. Melanie from Earthenwood Studio created an awesome scarf pin using our beads together. Above is my version with one of my limited edition Frost beads. You can find the pin and the beads in my etsy shop.

Have a great night. I'm going to go dig into my fabric stash and start working on some gifts, more on this tomorrow!