You have to see this...

I'll be honest. I spend a lot of time looking at Etsy and seeing what other people are doing, admiring their work and suffering brief moments of envy and inspiration. I love finding shops that make me grin or say 'Wow'. Or squeal with glee over how cute they are.

Like Bolts and Bots. This has got to be one of the most adorable shops I've seen on Etsy for a while. These polymer clay robots, which can be customized at your choice, are so detailed and so well done, while being uncluttered. They're wonderful! I mean, just check out Captain Jack!



While you're here, check out one of my latest pieces too. I love the flat spiral stitch, because it's so elegant and the Swarovski crystals really seem ideal for it. These colors, however, went together much better than I expected, creating an elegant bracelet that caught me by surprise.



And that's that for now. Thanks for stopping by!

Falling down and catching up.

Obviously, I didn't make my once a week posting plan, but I solemnly promise to do better. As I realize, more and more, that I'm actually going to try making a go of this beadwork thing, I'm trying to ramp up my time and attention. It's a lot of hard work, especially balancing other things.

I am already a proud member of the Sacto Metro and Sac Etsy teams on Etsy, but I'm thrilled to announce that I'm now a member of the Etsy Beadweavers Team too. I have been watching this group for a while and I'm so happy to finally make it in! You can find them here: http://etsy-beadweavers.blogspot.com

I finished my beaded box and will post pictures (hopefully later today). Just putting on some last touches. And I'm back at work on creating new pieces. I will be attending a fair on Labor Day in Diamond Springs, CA, so I need to have more stock than I currently have completed. I could use about four more arms and another ten hours per day, but, this is the way it goes, and I'm loving it.

Look for more updates in the next couple of days!

ETA: As promised, here's the first of my beaded boxes, from a pattern in Julia Pretl's Little Bead Boxes.

Keeping Up

It's interesting to me, finding a balance with this whole working/crafting/living business. Someone on Etsy just made a post about how she's become overwhelmed (by her success, congrats to her!) and trying to figure out how to keep going without burning out.

Lately, I've found my thoughts not on that, but on keeping a balance in the things I'm making. I look at my plans and think 'no, too many necklaces' or 'I should make another bracelet'. When I step back and study my thoughts, it seems like a silly thing to think about, but then I look at my shop and wonder whether other people notice imbalances like that.

What do you think? Does it matter if you have an equal distribution of product or is an excess of, say, earrings, an okay thing?

Random thoughts for a Saturday. :)

There and back again.

That sums up my life in a nutshell recently. I had to make a quick trip back east to visit a family member in the hospital. The visit went well and said family member, I'm glad to say, is home now, but it's been a while since I traveled that much and I'd forgotten how exhausting it can be.

Also, how fraught with sickness airplanes are. Bleh, travel crud.

I was, at least, productive while I was gone, which is always a good thing. I finished a pendant necklace and a pair of clip-on earrings, delivered a crocheted gift for the sick one, and got many compliments on all of the above. Of course compliments were not the purpose of the trip, but they never hurt during a rough spot in life.

I just went and listened to a great podcast about the downside of being a top seller on Etsy. I know, I wasn't sure there was one, myself, but then in listening to Ryan's reasoning, I can understand and sympathize. I wish her much luck in her new endeavor. I also think it's good listening for anyone else on this crazy crafting road. Check it out here.

A-blogging we will go!

Hey hey. So, here I go, blogging at a new, well, blog for my crafting endeavors. My name is Sarah and I'm the gal behind Beadskinz, a primarily (if not solely) beadweaving sort of place. I say if not solely because I do other crafts, which I'll try to keep off this site, and I have a real desire to learn to make chainmail, which would be fun to combine with beads.

Anyway, I digress. I'll do that a lot, fair warning.

I intend to get here and post at least once a week. I currently have a "real" job as a bookseller for a major chain and I'm a writer as well, so there are things I really "ought" to do with my free time, but...beadweaving is so much fun that it's next to impossible to resist. If you're here, you probably already know that.

To celebrate my grand opening, I share with you a picture of my latest project. This is a flat spiral weave bracelet made with Swarovski crystals. My first, and boy howdy am I proud of it, because I think it's gorgeous.



So enjoy! And welcome to Beadskinz!