Thursday, August 14, 2008

Have some earrings with that whine...

I finally made something with the silver pieces that I created in my Art Clay Silver intro class back in May.


I just added some sterling silver chain, a few crystals (both Czech and Swarovski) and some Bali silver spacers and…ta DA! Instant, cute earrings.

Of course, I haven’t made any new silver pieces since I took the class (and bought all the corresponding supplies) THREE MONTHS AGO! While the material itself is relatively simple to work with and has a lot of creative applications and potential, there’s a lot of set-up and preparation that has to be done before you can sit down and actually work with it and I just do not have the time right now.

In fact, most of my beading is getting done on my lunch hour at work because that is the only free time I have any more. Sometimes I get an hour or two after the kid goes to bed at night, but I’m usually too tired to do much at that point. I certainly don’t feel like dragging out a bunch of stuff that will just have to get cleaned up and put away before I can go to bed.

I’ve also learned from past experience that it doesn’t do me any good to attempt creative work when I’m tired. Either I make mistakes in execution (knots, tangles, skipped beads, etc.) or the designs are boring or bad (poor color choices, etc.)

This lack of time is also why I’ve been doing mostly beadwork rather than stringing or wirework, lately. The short amount of time I have at lunch is mostly conducive to rote work like bead embroidery where I’m just doing the same stitch over and over and not having to read/interpret patterns or make color selections. I only bring in projects that are in a certain “phase” – they’re already underway and the color selections have already been made and I just bring the beads I need. I certainly can’t set out my beading board and fiddle around with potential stringing combinations at lunch. Not enough room and even if I did get a combo I liked, I probably couldn’t get it strung before lunch was over and then I’d have to pack up and lose the design.

This whole single, working mom deal is really, really tough. Even when I can get a babysitter (that I can afford), I have to use the free time to get chores and errands done AND I feel guilty about not spending that time with my son even though I know it’s not something that can be helped and he’s probably happier at the park with the sitter than waiting in line at the bank or dry cleaners with me.

Anyway, I just wanted to say kudos to all the women out there that fill the roles of two parents as well as keeping the household financially afloat. I’m sure there are many who aren’t even as lucky as I am to have the family support that I do. I don’t know where I’d be without my folks around to help out.

Probably under a bridge somewhere, living in a box, eating cat food and making jewelry out of tin cans and grass blades or something.

Okaayyy…on that happy note…time to go to lunch and hopefully, get a pair of Rivoli earrings finished.

KJ

3 comments:

Dana said...

Absolutely lovely! I have been meaning to take some jewelry classes, but haven't found the right one.

I'd like to learn more about wire-wrapping cabochons.

Jenie said...

i hear ya on time. i think you deserve mad props for doing the job of parenting you're doing and doing it without the help you'd get from a good relationship. you rule, my friend. RULE! also, a) i am jealous you got to take a pmc class and can now work with the stuff (JEALOUS). b) i love the celtic bits. c) those are so cute!

Silver Parrot said...

Dana - if you are in So Cal, I can recommend the classes at the Bead Station in Lake Forest; Brea Beadworks in Brea; and the Pasadena Bead store in, you guessed it, Pasadena. I've never done wire-wrapping with cabs, but I've seen beautiful, amazing work by others using that technique. I say find a class and go for it!

Jenie - thank you so much for the kudos. I spend a lot of time each day berating myself for my YAPM's (Yet Another Parenting Mistake) and at this point am merely hoping I can get the kid to 18 without doing to much damage. And here I thought the "diaper years" were hard.

Also, don't be too jealous of my PMC class...I haven't been able to do anything with the product or the experience since I took the class. All the materials are still sitting in a forlorn little pile in the middle of my studio (I had this great idea that if I put them where I'd trip over them all the time, that maybe I'd use them more often...yeah, right.)