Making, Making!

A got a surprise Etsy request the other day for a beaded badge lanyard- a big surprise, because I'm not sure if I even have anything stocked in the Etsy shop any more, it's been so long since I checked.....anyway, these things are a blast to make! They're really similar to the beaded eyeglass chains (as in, they're both seed beads on beading wire) but I finish the loop to make a necklace with a badge clip in the middle. It was fun to get out all my supplies and make something useful.

I felt so adult: I didn't even pout when I lost 10 inches of beading, scooting the wire over to a measuring stick to make sure I'd gotten 32 inches. I used up every single red seed bead I had in that mixture, I was not happy to lose them all over the floor! I love the sparkle and crazy randomness of seed bead mixtures.

This one, I made a while ago. I just LOVE the colors on this- sparkly aqua things make me happy!

Trying to buy some time with a grumpy toddler son, my sister let him wear Grandma's vintage necklace. The beads flew a LONG way when he yanked it off! I offered to re-string it, since it needed new seed beads anyway; does anyone else find that vintage beads lose their metallic coating? Half of the remaining beads were gold, the other half were coral colored. So, now it's re-strung on floss with pretty silver beads. This necklace probably doesn't look long, but it's FOUR FEET of beads! Way too much fun to wear vintage jewelry like this, it looks just like candy I think.

A little clip I made for my little sister- it's organza with burnt edges, sewn together with a turquoise bead (I think- I know it's stone!) The organza was trickier to burn than I thought....or, rather, it burnt very well and my large circles of organza quickly became teeny tiny circles of organza. If you hold the fabric at a slight upward angle when holding it to the candle flame, you'll get a better curl on the edge. Just something I figured out.