The Savvy Crafter

Beads On the Beach...

Who doesn't love bead shopping on the beach?  Really!  What's better than having beautiful beads brought to your doorstep?!?!  Vendors at the beach walk around with their baskets of sunglasses, fruits, and my personal fav, pearls and funky shell jewelry.  The last time I was at the beach, I only brought home a few bracelets.  Not this time!  Check out my loot!

Needless to say, I stocked up.  I will stash a few pieces away for gifts and the rest I will cut up and use the parts.  Those green shells in the front are calling my name right now, "Charm bracelet, charm bracelet."

It's always fun to use beads that remind you of a place you visited.  I will associate these with the sounds of waves, the sandy beach, my friends, the cabin where we stayed and so on.  Even though they didn't cost a fortune, I know whatever I make with them will be a treasure of beach-side memories.

Here fishy, fishy, fishy...

You cannot come to Ch!na and not get a little obsessed with gold fish and koi.  Or at least I couldn't.  They are everywhere!  I've even wondered if Rocker needs a pet goldfish.  My aunt always says, "if you keep a goldfish on your kitchen table, it will never die." 

There's something quite soothing about these creatures.  I'm sure it has something to do with how slow and fluid they are in their movements.  Calming.  Here, they are a symbols of wealth and abundance.   

The other day I picked up these hand painted gold fish beads from one of my favorite vendors. 

They are glass bubble like beads where the painting is done on the inside.  Seems very tedious to me.  I've been to this vendor three times and every time he shows me his paintbrush with the tip bent at ninety degrees so he can get inside to paint.  Now, I only wish you could see the paintbrush he claims to use for these super intricate beads.  Seriously, there is no way this brush could do that.  It looks like a road killed paint brush with porcupine needle like bristles.  C'mon dude.  Really, do I have gullible tattooed on my forehead.....in Ch!nese?!?!  However, I always find it a tiny bit amusing that he thinks I believe him.   

And on the other side:

I know I over paid a ton for this one---they guy totally knew how badly I wanted it.  What was that bit about goldfish bringing wealth and abundance.  Worked for the vendor! As for what I'm going to do with them, I have no idea.  I have a small (but growing out of quite fast) box of special beads like this.  I call it my bead bank and it's pretty much a piggy bank of unique beads.  When I need just the right touch for a piece I go to my bead bank.  Or when I have not a clue where to start on a design.  Or a rainy day.

I'm Painting the Roses Red...

if there were any roses to paint.  It's been soooooo muggy, rainy and gloomy this week (which sans muggy, I secretly love, but this is not really a secret if you've been here before).  But, with all this sporadic typhoon rain, something happened that I can't believe I'm admitting to:  I wore my galosheRs with yoga pants to the studio on Tuesday.  That's gotta quite possibly be a first or second degree fashion crime.  I'm not going to lie to you, it wasn't pretty especially while sporting a ratty paint shirt and Swarovski earrings.  Oh, hell nightmare.  Whatta train wreck!  I blame it all on the earrings.  Once you put on sparkly earrings, nothing else matters.  True?

I really wanted to show you these paints from Ranger Ink  They're called Paint Dabbers and they sort of resemble a BINGO dabber or is it dobber?  Maybe that's how they say it where I'm from.  Anywho, let me tell ya, a little dab won't do ya here, get one in every color!  I used them with rubber stamps--just dab the stamp with the foam tip, no brush needed.  You can also remove the lid to access the paint.  Very multi-functional and the colors are outta-sight super!

Today's note to self:  Check fashion laws on wearing galosheRs with denim skirt.