Category: home

I used to have chickens.  Real hens.  I loved my hens.  I had to sell them when we moved or I would still have hens.  I miss chickens.  I also miss the fresh eggs we had every day.  I miss the way the hens sounded when they were happy–sort of a cross between purring and  a song.  So yesterday, while I was snowed in, I decided I needed to make chicken earrings.  Here I offer you my new flock.

 

 

The girls will be finished soon and will bob and peck from earwires.  I still need to find a better color for the red hens, but I’m okay with how they came out, which is a little better than the pics show.  I’m also working on the pattern for these.  I used 15º beads.  I’m happy with my little flock.  Now, if only I could teach them to lay.

Stacker bracelets with 8mm studs.  The 12mm studs won’t work for this.  I’m working on patterns and will have them soon.

I had a great Sunday with my 3 grandkids–one little girl who is SUPER into princesses, fairies and kingdoms and two little boys into wheels, trains, and rough play. They had a good time until everyone got tired and a little cranky.

I use them as a guide for making jewelry durable. If it can hold up to a three-year-old for a couple of minutes, you’re probably doing a great job.

Kids also have a way of putting a hodge-podge of things together, with varying results. Try this with your beads. I’ve had some great surprises happen when beads and stones got mixed together by accident. You can also deliberately mix things together. I’m working on a RAW-based embellished bracelet right now for a class. I first made one like this about 9 years ago and wore the bracelet for about a year, then sold it right off my arm. These are fun to work on–not boring at all. It’s almost as much fun picking beads as it is wearing it.