Its all coming back to me…if I want it to or not!

For a few weeks now I’ve had an itch. An itch to make jewelry again. I stopped earlier this year to put all my focus on my crochet business. I don’t regret that, I love to crochet.

I was quite good at the jewelry thing. I started in 2006. I lost passion for it in 09 when I lived in Florida. I was mostly focused on my bath and body line. Thats how I payed my rent. I had my stuff at a local boutique that was mainly soaps and such. When she went out of business in August 09 , I couldn’t afford my rent so I lost my apt. ( I talk about that more here ). I was living pay check to  pay check. It sucked!

I got back into jewelry when my mom was diagnosed with Brain Cancer. I made bracelets to raise money to help with travel back and forth from the chemo center she went to which was 45 minutes away from where she lived in Florida. I was in Ma. and  my step dad was a tucker so he wasn’t always home to bring her.  So she relied on her sweet neighbors and a car service .

My popularity faded thanks to facebook and their changes sometime in 2012. I was still making and selling jewelry on Etsy and FB but comments and sales were down . I know I was under selling my work. I like my work to be affordable . I was using beads I bought a few years back since jewelry supplies were a bit on the expensive side and I knew I wouldn’t get what I should of.

So I put all my focus on my crochet business and it really hasn’t payed off. With no car of my own I can’t get to craft fairs so I have to rely on my etsy shop which is profitable during the Halloween season and a few times during the year.

I’ve been playing around with perler beads ( melty beads ) lately . I made Christmas tree earrings and and pendant.All I need to make it a necklace is some chain. And dammit , I don’t have any.. 🙂  So that means I need to take a trip to the jewelry aisle. Walmart is closer than Jo-Ann’s and cheaper.

It sucked me back in. This time I’ll make something different,

Goodbye November!

And goodbye (for now) NaBloPoMo. I have come to realize that I can not blog everyday for a month. A bunch of my posts are mostly pictures. Oh and I missed 1 day.

I thought NaBloPoMo was a once a year thing like NaNoWriMo. I should of looked in to it more before I committed to both . BUT I did finish hand writing my novel. I just have to type it up and have it validated.

That’s not a big deal to me. I know I finished it.

This past month I learned blogging daily is hard. Unless you have something to talk about. I did not. I don’t write how-to, or reviews. BlogHer had daily prompts but I wasn’t too fond of some of them. I want to do this again , using the prompts. Maybe in January.

See you then!

My Big Bang guest spot..I wish!!

“If you could be a cast member on any television show, which one would it be? Tell us about your character. “–BlogHer prompt

I’d like to be on the Big Bang Theory  as Sheldon’s sister. Hes needs a good talking to. 🙂

Finished Friday: A New Obsession!

I feel like a kid again. I love being crafty!

I received a melty bead kit in a October/ Halloween swap on Ravelry ( among other wonderful things my partner sent me). I instantly wanted to make something with the kit. Once I read the directions I noticed I needed an iron… which I did not have at the time 😦  I thought I could melt the beads in my toaster oven.

This past Sunday I went to Ocean State Job Lot and bought a $10.00 iron. YAY!  I tried to make a few things that night…. problem 1- peg board that came with the kit was too small. So I made a simple heart, I ironed it and a few of the beads didn’t melt. big FAIL. bummer.

My fiance wanted to see a friend of his who works at Walmart so after lunch we headed there. I needed a skein of yarn to finish his Mario blanket so I went over to the craft section . Grabbed my yarn and saw a bucket of melty beads at the end of the isle . AWESOME. over 4,000 beads for $4. I also grabbed a few of the smaller peg boards since they didn’t have any of the big boards. ( ordered some on Amazon along with other colors that didn’t come in the bucket o’ beads- dark blue, peach and gray).

Here are a bunch of finished projects… more to come.

Wedding Wednesday! The Dress

Since I crochet and we are on a budget I will be making my wedding dress. I do not trust anyone else with it. I was married before ( 9 years ago) my future mother in law asked her sister to make my dress since I couldn’t find one I really liked.

The only thing I knew about this lady was that she made men’s clothes for the war reenactments down south. So I found a pattern from McCalls that I loved . Off the shoulder with  cap and sheer bell sleeves  , floor length with a 2 inch train.

I bought all the materials needed for the dress….

After a half a dozen fittings and 5 months , it was done. I picked up the dress the same day I got my mom from the airport ( the day before the wedding) . My fiance’ s aunt left that morning to go down south. My mom asked to see the dress that night . As I opened the garment bag I noticed that she did not use the blue lace I bought for the bodice.  My fiance was in the Coast Guard and he was wearing his dress uniform and I wanted to match his light blue shirt. Instead of the lace I bought there was some gross off white lace P.O.S. It was also used for the trim for the bottom of the dress. She claimed there wasnt enough of the blue lace. I bought more than enough.  It was the good stuff. I went to a fabric shop .not Jo-anns.  The lady that I asked to help me made dresses for her grandkids.

I put the dress on and again noticed more f*ck ups.

-Zipper instead of the fabric covered buttons I bought.

-the left side where it rested on the shoulder was all scrunched up and the sleeve was too short.

– the back where it was seemed, was slanted . It was straight to about mid thigh and the seem went to the left.

-the right sleeve was too long.

– it was a mess inside. the tread was just cut, not woven in or anything.

After so many fittings you’d think she would know my measurements. I wasn’t able to have a final fitting because she was  “busy” . I didn’t pay her for the horrible dress. she called me immature. my fiance told her he wasn’t going to give her a cent for the mess she made of my dress.

I wish I had pictures or could explain the dress better. I did not wear the dress .

Moving on……Present day….. I found a skirt on ravelry.com and I checked out other peoples projects and found that someone made their wedding dress with the skirt pattern and a tank top pattern by another designer. I am so happy I found the skirt. I’m not a dress person so I hope the dress will look nice on me.

I have to get started soon … our wedding is in 5 months!!!!! 🙂