It's coming!!!

Is everybody ready yet? Because it is almost here! Aiden, my 4 year old is done with preschool until the 7Th of January. I almost don't know what to do with all the extra help I am receiving. The family is all starting to show up for the holidays( siblings from California, Kalamazoo, etc.) and the parties are being planned. And myself? I am no where near ready for any of this! I still have presents to create, and candy to make, and heck, I still have to even think of what I might be doing for certain people. I still have that male relative problem. Why cant they be more ...hmmm what is the word I am looking for...accessory-able? I would even go so far as to say more beadable! I seem to have this problem every year, and its not as if I am not trying! It seems as if my dad is just not the type to wear a necklace, or as I commented earlier a tie clip, belt buckle or cuff link type of guy. Well, Im off to go and make some more wire curly-ques and thats all that I can say for fear of giving to many clues...

A New Light!

Have you ever had one of those days that just seems to bring your spirits up? I think I am having one of those days today! Yeah! I needed this. Actually, its a good day for lots of reasons. I live in Michigan, and Saturday night into Sunday we got enough snowfall that they cancelled school today. Who doesn't love a snow day? Then I got a really cool email, that has just made my spirits soar! I love new beady endeavors!
Ive been thinking lots about The Beadin' Paths ( www.beadinpath.com) bead challenge that I entered, the beaded mask. I have been reading the posts from other challengers on their message board and trying to get a good idea of where I might start. Lots of people seem to be thinking the same things, bead embroidery, hiochol type beadwork, peyote, and even some RAW suggestions....Hmmmmm what to do. It will be on the back burner in my mind until after Christmas though. Everyone finished making their presents yet? I will admit that I am still coming up with new ideas for things to make people. I do wish there were more ideas to do with beads out there for the men in my life but I don't think any of my guys need belt buckles, tie clips or cuff links made with beads! Any body have good guy suggestions?

Bead Store Blues

Well, its been a few weeks now since Ive had to work, and the bead store is all closed up. You would think that this would be a happy thing, to not have to go to work, and have lots of time to deal with Christmas and all, but quite truthfully I think I am going through withdrawl. I am no longer used to days playing taxi to the kids, and barely getting a moments rest. I miss the bead store, and all of the customers. I made a lot of good friends while I was there, and they really helped the creative juices flow. I like to see what other people are doing in the bead world, and I liked to help problem solve. Now the biggest problem I get to solve has to do with who gets to play video games first, and whether or not all the homework is done. I don't quite know what to do with myself. Any suggestions? I am still beading daily(its a good stress buster, and I have a lot of presents to make), but the kids don't really want to talk about it with me. My husband is very understanding, and he will listen, but beads don't quite get his creative juices flowing, and he never has the same ideas I do. Oh well, maybe I will fall into a routine soon, and maybe I will find a new bead store to work at. A girl can dream cant she?

libeado

Okay, so what do you do if your "name" is being used elsewhere for the same purpose? I have realized that maybe this isn't a problem because the other woman who is using the name libeado is from a state far away from mine, and maybe it will never cross paths, but what about when someone googles it, and 2 different things pop up? And both of those things have to do with beads? I have been using the name libeado since the early 90's but haven't gone very far with it. I did get my DBA but it has since expired, and I don't know how long the other woman has been using the name libeado. I have found that many bead stores have the same name, but no correlation to each other. Oh how the Internet has changed things. 10 years ago, I never would have known about this other woman, and therefor wouldn't be concerned about it. What to do, what to do?

Bead Quilt Square

Well I completed my first square for Jeanette Shanigans Bead quilt. I know that it technically isn't a rose but do you think it will matter? I just fell in love with this flower that was made of shell and thought it would be so pretty that I would give it a try.

I know the picture isn't perfect but I still have a lot of practicing to do on taking the perfect picture. On that note, I would like to thank my ever generous husband for buying the new digital camera that takes a kick butt picture when it comes to the detail needed to properly photograph beadwork. Now if only I were that good, we could have awesome pictures. I find the hardest part is getting the perfect lighting. I should make myself a photo box, and see if that helps. I did find an instructional page on the net explaining how to make a cheap photo box with a cardboard box and some glass. Any one out there know of any other good methods?

I still haven't gotten any replies on anything, so I am assuming that no one has found this blog yet, but I did Google libeado the other day and this blog did come up as one of the hits, on the first page none the less. That must mean that the 250 words tip must be true. I know I could just tell people about this, but that would mean everyone that looked would already know me, and I wants some opinions of people that I don't already know. Where are all you guys hanging out at? Am I missing some really cool beading blog that I don't even know about?

Monday at the store

Well, Here I am at the bead store on a Monday. The most boring day of the week to work here. Everything else except the dry cleaners is closed in this plaza on Mondays, so we don't get a lot of traffic. I do believe that Monday must be a good day to pick up your dry cleaning because there seems to be quite the flow of people down there today. I am trying to motivate myself to do something today. I am just not sure what yet. I finally got my pellon to make my squares for Jeanette Shanigans bead quilt she is doing for breast cancer. Every year she does one, and this year the theme is roses. Check out what she has done so far on her website http://www.shanigansbeadshenanigans.com/ . I give a lot of credit to women like her. Not only did she come up with a fabulous way for people to reach out and help with such a worthwhile cause, but every year it gets bigger, and she stays so dedicated. I really am glad that we have people like her in the world. Okay, well I have motivated myself just by talking about it so I am going to go and make a square. I will post a picture when I finish it, or you can check it out on Jeanettes website once I mail it to her in Alaska! Thanks again for listening, maybe you would like to respond?

What gives?

Okay, well it has been about a week since my last post. I still don't think anyone has even looked at this blog, let alone can even find it. I read somewhere that in order for Google to even hit on something it has to have a minimum of 250 words. I don't know if this is true or not, but I am sitting here trying to add more words so maybe I will be easier to find.
I have been continuing work at the bead store, and just dealing with all the comments that people are making about the store closing. I have been beading for approximately 22 years, and am shocked that people keep asking me whether beads are actually a profitable business. Of course they are!! Beads have been around since the dawn of time. Humans never get tired of trying to adorn themselves and make themselves stand out from a crowd, be it jewelry, tattoos, piercings, etc. The owner of the bead store I work at just doesn't seem to have a business head on him, or maybe he is just giving up. I wish there was something I could do to convince him to hang in there, but it is to late, and he is hanging up his towel(or something like that). If I had the time, I would consider opening a small store of my own, but with 2 young children (Xavier age 7, and Aiden age 4) I don't feel I have the time to put into a business yet. I still have feel I need to put the most time into my guys while they are little ( Aiden is still in preschool, and only half day at that). I am still wondering whether an Internet venture is that right way to go. A book I read recently suggests that all artist should have their own web page, but if it cant be found, what good is it? What makes a web page worth visiting? And as an artist, do you just show your work? Or do you have to try selling it over the Internet also? I happen to live in a town where there is not a good market for the type of jewelry that I like to make. It is a small town in Michigan, and Michigan's economy is not doing all that well. People do not have the same sort of disposable income that the rest of the country seems to have right now. So how do I get my product to a market that will buy it? I don't travel much, so that isn't really an option. I wish someone would just find this blog and give me their 2 cents worth. I need input, and I am hoping someone out there might be kind enough to give me some. So this is my plea....please respond if you read this. I am starting to get kind of lonely here all by myself.

Bead Dreams

Ok, so correct me if I am wrong. I am not the only one on the planet that has many a sleepless night because I am working out bead problems in my head, am I? I was once told by a young beader I had just met that after I had been beading for awhile those dreams would stop and then she asked me how long I had been beading. Needless to say I think it shocked her that I had been obsessed with beads longer then she had been alive. Funny, I think the dreams are more frequent the longer I have been at it. I guess I shouldn't complain, I have worked out many a dilemma in the wee hours of the night while trying to convince myself to just to stay in bed because sleep WILL happen if I stay there long enough.

Some projects I have made come entirely while I am laying in bed. This beaded butterfly mobile developed while I was "dreaming" about long walks in the forest with my family. I love to watch butterflies flit around, and it always amazes me at how many colors and patterns they come in. This project was my entry in my local bead societies bead challenge in 2007. I ended up in second place, first place being a beautiful beaded floral arrangement. The pictures will hopefully be up on the web page soon http://www.saginawvalleybeadsociety.org/ . Sorry this picture is not as good as I hoped. The wind was just enough that day that the butterflies were dancing around and making it hard to get a nice pictures.

Beadwoman

well, since no one responded to the first post ( and I know you might still) I figure no one is interested yet. So I thought, what might make people even want to look at this? I guess it comes down to pictures. As I said before, I like to play with beads, and make all sorts of things from jewelry to house wares.

This is a picture of my recent submission to Margie Deebs color challenge. Check out the rest of the entries at http://www.margiedeeb.com/ under the color challenge page. I thought that this piece was easily understood to be a beaded woman figure, but after talking with my family, no one could figure this out on their own. I am not offended by this, actually I think it is rather funny. Oh well, some times only the artist can truly see their own creation for what it is. Any one out there have any opinions? I would love to hear them!

New to all of this!

Well, this is my first post. I am very new to all of this, but thought I might give it a try. I currently work at a bead store in Freeland Michigan, and am having some inner turmoil on what step should come next in my life. I have been beading for 23 years, and finally when I got this job at the bead store I felt like I had found my place in the beaded world. Well, now the store is going to close at the end of November and I need to find an outlet to share my creations with others. I have been entering beaded challenges, and trying to get my name out there a little, and new prospects are opening themselves to me on a daily basis. I have been considering selling some of my work on ebay, but I am not sure if this is the proper venue for my work. Will the customers who would buy my work even find it on ebay? Where is the right place to sell hand beaded jewelry and other crafts? Is the internet fully saturated with online bead, and jewelry stores? Who might know the answers to all the question that I have swirling around in my head? Before I spend a lot of money trying this out on the internet, I would love some feedback. Am I better off trying to do something with some local boutiques? Or is worldwide a better market?