A Little Bit Different, Not So Different, and Exactly the Same

I'm still waiting for all my vibrantly colored leather and waxed cotton cord that I ordered so I'm still handicapped in the Doing Something Completely Different department. And then all these custom requests (can you make me a thing like that other thing you did) and alterations came up and I had to go back to the Same Ol' Same Ol' for a while. But I managed to sneak in something slightly different, something similar to what I've done before, and another thing that is exactly like I've done before but I had already started it when I decided I was bored with that so I had to finish it. Here they are:

Something slightly different:

Green magnesite cross, dyed limestone, lampwork and deerksin.

Brown beads are metallic brown seed beads in two different sizes, lampwork from BeingBeads. All hand-knotted on brown silk cord and waxed linen. I was going to use silk ribbon but the color I had just didn't work. So I used three strands of knotted beads instead. Magnesite cross and deerskin lacing from Magpie Gemstones.

These are sort of like I've done before, but smaller with different stones. These are copper. I've also made the same things in brass, and antiqued them to a dark brown. I have some ideas for those that I didn't get to this weekend. I finished up some brass ball headpins finally and got those all antiqued--not having as much luck as I'd like getting the pink fire scale off with the Sparex. It's just not that effective on brass. I tried a homemade brew of hydrogen peroxide and vinegar that actually did a better job of getting the red out of the brass, but it etched it too and I didn't like that (probably left it in there too long). Back to the cauldron.

Magnesite and, I think, dyed quartz.

Red glass, carnelian, and Tibetan-style etched red agate.

And lastly, something Exactly the Same--I was dying to use these "Stormy" Macarroll beads and didn't know what else to do with them. I loved them with the burnt horn and leather so I just decided to embrace my rut and hold my head high:

I have two of these beads left (yay!) but they're not the same size, so clearly they're going into a bracelet or an asymmetrical necklace. I love the soft clickety-clackety feel of these porcelain beads! Can't wait to get more!


I sure don't feel like I accomplished much this weekend, although I worked my tail off the whole time. What with making components, communicating with customers, online promoting, photography (sometimes you just can't get it right) and altering existing items, I don't feel like I have much in the way of new, completed items to show for the weekend. I actually started all these items much earlier in the week (like LAST week) and it took me forever to get back to them. Sometimes multi-tasking has its drawbacks.