Remind me never to do THAT again!

I spent the majority of the weekend catching up on computer work. Updating the website, updating the Etsy store, cleaning up files, packing up jewelry for storage, etc.


Y'see, I had about a 3 month backlog of that stuff to do because I'd been told to cut down on my computer work due to my neck and shoulder pain. And since I can't cut down on the stuff at the day job well...that leaves the home computer.


Good news is that my pain is nearly gone. At least, it was until I stayed up until 1 AM on Friday night working on the sites. That was dumb, but I seem to have some kind of built-in thing in my head that once I start a particular project, I can't stop until it's either done or I fall down dead from fatigue.


Which is what happened at 1 AM...despite the Diet Coke.


Oh, and DC at 1 AM? BAAAAAD idea. Just thought I'd mention that li'l tip.


So, then I worked 3 more hours on Saturday afternoon.


And another 2 more hours on Sunday.


And then I finally realized (I'm a little slow on the uptake sometimes) that this project was NEVER GOING TO END. So I went off to make jewelry instead. It was either that or pitch the computer out the window.


Then I worked 2 more hours last night and I'm STILL not done. I have 3 more pages of website updates to do before I can upload all the changes to the server, but the Etsy shop is up to date. I did get that much done.


I will NEVER let this much of a backlog pile up again. It's just too darn difficult to get caught back up.


Also, if I don't sell some jewelry soon...I'm going to need a storage shed for all my unsold inventory. Or maybe if I paperclip a $20 it would "encourage" people to take this stuff off my hands? I know I'm not a great designer or anything, but occasionally I manage to crank out something non-ugly that is deserving of a good home.


Or maybe I'm just delusional. It's entirely possible. I have been known to talk to myself so really, how far off can complete insanity really be?


Either way, here's some pictures of some stuff I made this weekend (during my enforced break from the computer updating project from hell):






Oh, look, another ocean-colored dangle bracelet. I told you I wasn't afraid to take a trend and run it endlessly into the ground!

Those rectangular Czech glass beads are actually striped with a deep blue color, not black as per my uber-fabulous photography.

I can't help it - the one thing about this bracelet that rocks is the clasp - I had to do a super-in-your-face closeup on it.

I had two of the little aqua lampwork spacer beads left and they DEMANDED to be earring-ized so, here they are. Because when the beads demand something, it's not wise to go against them. They know where you live.

Oh, and here's a closeup of my inability to wire-wrap. I wasted at least 4 decorative head pins trying to get these finished which really ticked me off. I can't stand wasting the good silver! I'm not usually quite that bad, though. Maybe I shouldn't bead when I'm exhausted? Ya think?

Occasionally, though, I do manage to come up with something that I'm rather proud of. Like this design I made for my Mom a few months ago:

The daisy is the symbol for a women's group she belongs to. She finally wore it to a meeting last month and it sparked a lot of interest so...off I went to pester LeAn from Summers Studio to make me some more of these gorgeous daisy pendants and charms in various colors and she charmingly obliged me by producing a whole set:

I got the original mint green and then had her add some other colors as well.

Here's the rest of the set.

The package arrived on Saturday and I just had to get to work with them right away (go away stupid computer updating project) and here's the first result:

The orange rondelles are carnelian, the bronze wire is from Vintaj, the brass "pod" beads, twisted rings and green glass leaves are from (would you believe it?) Michael's, and the small Czech glass flowers are from my LBS. Brass chain and hook clasp are from Patina Queen.

I had originally planned to use these two-holed daisies as the earrings, but given that this jewelry is for ladies my mom's age, I decided they might be too big. I think I'll use the brass "pods" instead and hang a leaf and flower or a carnelian disk from the bottom of each.

Here's a closeup of the central pendant - it's smaller than the one I used in my Mom's original necklace.

I am in love with this dark, patina'd brass chain - it really makes the leaf and flower beads come to life.

Sorry for all the pictures - I'm just really, really, really happy with the way this turned out. Funny thing is, I thought this set would be the hardest for me to work with because of the color. I'm not really a "brown" kinda girl (see incessant number of previous posts featuring aqua beads and blue jewelry), but when I started laying things out next to these beads, this necklace just sort of made itself. I LOVE when that happens!

Okay, I'm done. Until it's time to post the earrings tomorrow and the teal necklace which I have mostly completed and which is TOTALLY DIFFERENT than this design. I thought it would actually be the EASIEST one to do and I'm having a much harder time with it.

Hope everyone is having a good Monday!

KJ

P.S. Need some help - I need to locate another source for those white shell disks that I used in my Mom's original necklace (the mint green and white one). I originally bought them from a vendor at a bead show years ago and need to replace them to finish off these necklaces. Anyone have a source they'd care to share?

Thx!