The Elusive Dragon - Pattern Review-Nancy Jones

This elusive Dragon is a complete understatement to be sure.  Dragon Bangle was published in the Feb/Mar issue of Beadwork.  First let me tell you I LOVE the look of this bracelet.  I love the feel of the beads and the funkiness of it.  I really love the colors I finally choose.  I totally and completely HATED making it.  The problem with making this bracelet was all on the beader NOT the designer.  Nancy's pattern was easy to follow and her instructions very clear for a magazine published pattern.  Her design concept is awesome for those of us who like a little funk in their jewelry.  This is one of those that someone sees and says "WOW that is interesting, I think I like it"

This beader is the total problem with this review.  I have mentioned before that I have tension issues.  I have remade this 4 times.  I was not real proficient in brick stitch before I attempted this and should have known a bit more.  First I was frustrated with getting the first few rows to stay stable and continued with that tension through the first 12 rows of the piece.  I had chosen a purple size 8 seed thinking it would work HOWEVER they were not uniform and that makes such a difference so I ripped it out.  I didn't have another purple that I liked so I attempted to make it with size 11's but they made the piece too loose for my liking (which she did mention you could try and that it would be a bit looser) so again I ripped it out.  I finally bit the bullet so to speak and purchased the perfect toho size 8's at Bello Modo and began again.  I attempted a looser tension but as I got about half way through I realized the threads were showing and I really can't stand that.  Okay so obviously I had to put it down for a bit and work on a few other projects to make sure when I picked it up again I would have a fresh out look because let me tell you we had quite a few arguments with each other and it was not pretty at all!

Fresh outlook, medium tension, perfect beads I am ready to start it again.  I went along beautifully and I finally was enjoying the beads and pattern.  Time to zip it up...Wow that was great.  Here is my Sea Dragon....

It feels awesome.  It is not hard like you think it would be and well I would love to tell you how it wears but you still see the thread don't you.  Well once again the beader *&%$ed it up!  I am 13 beads short.  Yes this little dragon is just that little and I am out of beads and frankly I am not seeing any possibility in the near future of getting any more of these magatama drops any time soon.  What a bummer!

So what do I think of Nancy's design.  Well first I still LOVE it!  That is what sucks about not being able to wear it.  I do not think a beginner should try it before having done brick stitch before but I do recommend it.  Her instructions are clear her design is unique and I would love to see more of her!  So Thank you Nancy but this dragon is eluding this beader I wish I could have done your pattern better.

Hugs and Blessings

KK

PS I have had 2 field trips this week so I hope to catch up with you all tomorrow.  I hope you are all having a good week so far.

F is for.......

Fantastic Blogger Friends

Thank you all so much for your comments on my anniversary.  Finding all of you while stumbling through this bloggy world is a gift I hope to treasure for many years to come!

Fabulishous phone call

I was also lucky enough to talk to Juls voice to voice and it was like having a conversation with an old friend.  How cool it that?  She (well you all know this already) is a wonderful person and someone I am blessed to call friend.  And I will say that if I didn't know how busy she is I would talk to her everyday!  Thanks soooooo much Juls!

Flowering Family

(OK this one may be stretching the "F" theme but you try to think of fun and funky f words for this one!)
If the day wasn't great enough, My aunt Lisa and her daughters Jenelle and Jessica came with her from up north for the day and Guess What?  Jenelle is going to have a BABY!!!!  I can't believe my sweet Jenelle is going to be a MOM!  Lisa and I are more like sisters because we are only 6 years apart so her girls seem more like my nieces than cousins.  I am so happy for her!  She will make a great Mom!  Then Shelby and I went shopping with them before they left to go back up north! Ya know what?  Yep I got a new t shirt!  I know how surprising that news is to all of you! ;) 

F#*%@# Failure

(Please hold your laughter until the end so that you may be clear eyed to get the picture (and one of them is blurry enough without the tears)
OK so I thought I would try my hand at beading around a cab.  Well.....first I did not choose a symmetrical piece, then I chose cheap seed beads that were not uniform at all and last I kept going thinking that it might get better as I went along.  GUESS WHAT........WRONG all the way around.  

What in the world was I thinking?????  Lots of Lessons Learned on this one!!!!!

Fishing for finds

(Yeah Yeah I am still trying to stay with the theme so sue me)  
(Oh I have nothing so suing me won't get you anything but a headache from all my laughing)
;)
So I my have a possible first sale of a piece of jewelry and I needed to go bead shopping.  (Humf.. how did that happen as I am supposed to be on a bead buying freeze.)  Well Aunt Lisa to the rescue I got a little bead money (ain't she great!) so here are the pics of what I picked up.  The first is some 8/0's I needed and bead caps I may use and farfalle beads that I had to have!  The second is the Merlot bracelet (that's the piece I am selling with those colors the buyer chose)
She wanted gold inside instead of silver grey so let me know if you think this will work.

Finally 
(You know I had to use it)
:0
Hugs and Love to all of you!!!

Kristen

The day I was hit by that train

This is an anniversary of sorts for me.  I know I have mentioned it before but 2 years ago today my life was truly forever changed.  This may be a raw subject for some and in no way is it meant to cause any hurt to you so if you feel the need please stop reading and wait for the next post to visit (I truly understand)  And I know others don't like to be brought down but this does have a happy ending (obviously)

Now I will give you a little more background into my life.  You know I have a wonderful husband of 20 years, a beautiful 17 year old daughter/friend, a feisty 5 year old son, and a sweet kitty friend.  Life has been good to me since they all came along.  But.... I have had my share (and then some) of loss in my life.  In 2000 I lost my Gram to colon cancer in July and in October of that same year I lost my Mom to lung cancer. In the spring 2004 I lost my sweet Uncle Donny to complications of Malignant Melanoma and in the fall my sweet 17 year old cousin died of a massive seizure.  These losses and the ones that followed were all quite hard to handle but with each one I seemed to feel that I was immune to the effects of Cancer and all that it comes with.  I watched them put that poison into my mom when she was fighting and I knew of every treatment my uncle went through.  Then in 2006 my father in law was diagnosed with kidney cancer.  OK so the blow on that one was hard and his treatments were tough on him but he is clear and that is such a blessing!

So fast forward to 2008 and a check up at my PC and a mention of a spot.  A quick referral to a dermatologist and "could you just take a look at this spot for me".  If you could have seen her face when she saw this spot your heart would have sunk too.  August 26, 2008 5:04pm (after hours)  "Mrs Stevens you know I was concerned when we took the samples and I have to tell you "You have malignant melanoma"  I thought I had been hit by a train before but never this hard or scary.  I thought I knew what hearing that sounded like but it all changes when it's you.  I had to tell my sweet husband and that was the hardest thing I have ever done.  I saw fear in his eyes for the first time and that is hard to see as he is my rock!  Amazing thoughts went through my head but the funniest was not that I was going to die it was how was I supposed to live with this!  Shelby was just 16 and Derek was only 3 I was not going to let this take me because what would that do to them. 

The next morning my PC called and said (no joke)  "We are going to kick the @#$% out of this, there is no way I will let one of my prettiest patients leave me"  (shameless liar that he is)  I was blessed with a great team of Doctors and on September 17, 2008 it was removed.  The removal was a little more that expected and I know have a 12 in badge of honor on my right shoulder but it is all gone and I am still here.

It seemed like an eternity waiting for surgery and then waiting for the results to come back seemed even longer but when that call came (on a Sunday night)  and I heard " Mrs Stevens I am calling to say you are perfect"  OK what?  "You are perfect we got it all and your nodes were clear"  Seriously?  and then turning to my husband and telling him and seeing the tears of happiness WE were free to live again!  During that time I made some life altering decisions that I have tried to stick with.  Here is my list of things that I changed and now feel life is even more to me!

1.  I am a clean freak to a point but if the dishes don't get done due to family time OH WELL!

2.  Escape the negativity of others.  This one is hard sometimes (as you have read my whinny posts before) but if you get it out it is gone.

3.  It is OK to be lazy sometimes they can be rewarding in themselves!

4.  Try new things and you get rewards 10 fold!  Failing isn't the worst thing it can lead to great rewards!  Thanks Blogger Buddies!

5.  Say what you feel and mean it!  I don't mean that you hurt others in any way I mean you have to let the people who matter to you know how you feel, they shouldn't have to guess!

6.  Depression my suck but it is not your fault it is a body rebellion for no apparent reason that tries to bring you down (and it does) but you don't have to stay down if you take your meds!

7.  Life is a gift to be treasured but if you don't share it with others how can you pass it on?

8.  I am not perfect but I am perfectly happy!

If you have stayed to this point, I realize I should be sharing a pairing or talking about my latest flop (coming soon) but I need to say all this today to someone so thank you so very much for listening!

Hugs and Love to all of You

Laugh everyday (even at my expense if necessary) ;)

Kristen

What I planned to do and what didn't happen

Here was my plan yesterday.  I was going to take pictures of my finished class project (which is now a new pairing)

and what I bought at the bead shop ( aren't they pretty? )

and then maybe alittle about my weekend.  Here is what actually happened.  Saturday was great!  We all went shopping and out to lunch and then Michael (my sweet hubby) dropped Shelby and I off at the bead shop for the second part of my class and she really wanted to see what they had (she likes chainmail) (oh man I didn't get the picture of the bracelet she made me!) anyway, the class was good but I knew my first bracelet was going to be too small because I didn't verify measurements and just went with number of rows we talked about in class (I think I have mentioned before I have tension issues...with thread at the moment, not life ;) (that could change though :) ) It was so small that only Derek could wear it and even though that doesn't bother him because he thinks mommy's beading is cool, my husband would be mortified! Anyway (again) I brought it so I could learn how to zip it up and I had started another one so that I could at least finish something to wear. It is great taking classes and Susan was a great teacher so I do plan to take another class!  Shelby and I did some shopping and..... Ok I think I have mentioned before that ORANGE is my FAVORITE color (I will probably tell you again at another time) I have this shirt (this one I got at Tractor Supply and I love it and it is so durable and organic by the way, and is a little brighter in person (did I mention a photographer I am not))

Do you think I could find the right bead combo to make a pairing?  NO  I can't seem to make it work (I brought the shirt too)  I am looking for something fun and funky to pair it with but nothing is jumping out at me! (jumping out at me might be scary but you know what I mean)  Ok I do have a necklace plan (if Nicole will accept my nickles and dimes I am saving) Belinda did one of her kits that would match perfectly and it will be my first attempt at embroidery (I'll end up having enough by Christmas so maybe it will be a wish list item) but a bracelet not yet!
Between Saturday night and Sunday night I had baked cookies for Michael's monthly ucher tournament, chocolate banana brownies and banana bread ( obviously the banana were very ripe ) and tried to start a new bracelet and ended up starting it 3 times before I decided enough is enough ( I should have been finishing others but I blame crafting ADD again) It rained most of the day, we were all tired from the late night Michael was out til 2:30, and I stayed up to finish my 2nd class bracelet and Shelby and Derek just didn't sleep well and well...depression got the better of me (again)  You know, I really can't stand knowing that I have nothing to be depressed about and then my stupid body rebels against me without warning and I end up over thinking things, rethinking other things and getting mad over nothing!  OH I could just scream!  So..... I didn't take pictures til this morning (and it wouldn't have been good if I posted a pity party for myself yesterday) and if you have read this far you have seen them and probably think I have babbled enough.  Don't you?  :)

Always Believe (even when you can't remember why)
Kristen

Is my head really attached?

I seriously don't think so.  I have been forgetting everything!  Things we need for groceries, why I went upstairs, things that should have been removed and now Derek's teacher conference.  I hate hearing that its an age thing (mostly because I have always been a little airy) but it is getting worse!  I have had enough of it!  (don't worry I'll forget about this later)
Speaking of forgetting I was going to tell how my shopping went at Lets Bead in E Rochester.  I put Nancy Cains $12 bracelet to the test and she failed miserable considering the sterling wire itself was $8 and the S-Clasp was $3 I didn't have enough to get the drops or 8's that I needed (I did buy another class kit too after all)  I still intend to get the rest of the supplies (if my sweet hubby remembers) but $12 bracelet no its not!

My homework and Ode to Juls!

This is my beading tray right now.  I was going to post a pic of what it looked like when there were 4 projects on it at one time and ask for an intervention but.....IT SPILLED!  Oh it was my own fault having too many projects and all the beads on the tray at one time but as I have mentioned before I do have a pit of crafting ADD and that does conflict with the crafting OCD (having everything in its special place) So there I was trying to pick up all of the tiny little beads in the carpet and thinking ohwhatamoron and howcouldyoubethatbrainless (nice little words I have picked up from Juls @ Julesbeads who I am so lucky to have found and that she is following me Thank You Juls) and a thought occurred to me HUMMM why to they give you nice containers for beads if you just dump them on the tray and risk another bout of howcouldyoubethatbrainless?  So now the OCD is winning and I only put out a few beads at a time and things stay much more organized (and I don't sit on the carpet looking for 15's and thinking "you actually work with these for fun?" ) So that is my first rant and I am able to get this out due to the great teachings of Jules!

On to the tray, on the top is the Twisted Pink Nightmare (Shelby named it) which is a pattern from Rubys Beadwork with a literal twist.  An the bottom is my class piece that is almost complete.  I love this! It is designed by my teacher Susan and it is so much fun to make!  I have the last class this Saturday and will learn how to zip it up to make a bangle!  (and an excuse to buy more beads I hope :) )

Always Believe
Kristen

FireLine Lesson

I did get to go to Dick's and get my fireline and I love working with it! Here is a pic of the box it came in and the reason I am showing it is because My sweet Hubby and I learned something while debating what fireline makes and what they don't. You have seen and read on patterns calling for certain pound test and diameter as well as color. In the little corner of the box we discovered a neat little info box. You can get the diameter you need but it can be stronger. I am not sure how to highlight that part of the pic but if you look at the large 14lb on the sticker you will see in small print that it is 6lb test diameter. This is an awesome thing for me because I do tend to have a tight tension so it has strength of 14lb test but diameter of 6lb test. Is this useful to anyone (or is this a known secret I stumbled upon)?

Always Believe
Kristen

Lessons Learned

This is my version (or whats left of it)of satin spirals from the April/May issue of Beadwork Magazine. My daughter loves the bracelet and while wearing it yesterday it broke. It is all my fault not hers! First I read the pattern too fast and purchased crystal bicones instead of fire-polished rounds. It makes a pretty version but the second lesson is that crystals cut nylon thread! I am hoping that when I remake it I will have purchased the correct thread and prevent her from feeling bad again. Sorry Shelby!

I thought I would also show the other 2 bracelets she has claimed (she does that all the time ) while I was making them.


Always Believe
Kristen