Bead Table Wednesday

Today is a super-busy day, full of eBay listings and preparing Etsy photos and experimenting with my new camera. I have a few minutes before I dive in, so what better way to spend it then to chronicle my ongoing jewelry desk saga?



This is an unusual desk picture, because this is something I do only once in a blue moon; it's sort-the-stash time.

You see, whenever I have a few leftover beads from a project, or something that's kind of unclassifiable, or beads I was intending on using in a project but just don't have the time, then it goes into a tray. When that tray overflows, I add another tray. When those trays are overflowing, sometimes I put all of it into a big bag just to get it off the desk.

Eventually, though, the bag reaches the breaking point, and I end up sorting. It's generally a much more difficult sorting project, because some of the stuff needs to be made into jewelry, or needs to be put back into my containers, and this means that I have to really concentrate and figure out how to resort this all logically. Which means that it often ends up...back in the bag. There are some beads that have been in the bag for three years.

The funny thing about this sorting project is that I only pull it out when a) I am desperately bored, or b) I am desperately needing to do something else. ha! Isn't that always the way?

I went to a show, and I came back with...more beads

This shouldn't have surprised me. As always, I just can't help but get new inventory. I had a great time at the Madison show, and then I went shopping.

The first taste of yum:



From left to right: Rutilated quartz, fossil coral, amethyst slices, imperial jasper, rhyolite, red creek jasper, ocean jasper, sodalite, silver needle agate, and smoky quartz

I sold several pieces of rutilated quartz at the last two shows, so I've decided to carry more semi-precious stone. In fact, I'm thinking of selling some on Etsy, even though I generally don't sell any semi-precious stone online except for closeouts.

The thing is, I keep finding really special and unusual beads, and I want to share them...so I think I'm going to start doing so!

I also checked out a semi-precious stone trunk show, and found some really nice beads:



From left to right: Rhyolite, soo chow jade, brioche agate, porcelain jasper, and apatite.

I can't wait to design with these. Sometimes the simplest cut--a round or a chiclet--is the most attractive in a necklace, and I'm eager to use these!

And a sneak peek of some new show merchandise:



These were so jewel-like, almost like candy! And the molds are terrific--you can see how great these Asian-style shapes are. I can't wait to take them to a show.

Bead Table Wednesday

A few times a year I buy large closeout lots. Several boxes full of bits and bobs and loose beads and stringing material and all sorts of unrelated things. And I go to work with my Ziploc bags and I bag everything that needs to be bagged. I pull out what needs to be put aside for eBay and Etsy, and what needs to be stashed, and what can be sold loose or on a strand. I price everything, bag everything, and put it all away.

First, though, it needs to be sorted.



I used to sort at the coffee table, with everything spread out everywhere. But now that I've switched desks around, I decided to try to use the new larger jewelry desk to sort. The results are mixed. On one hand, it means the office isn't quite so much of a disaster area, and we can still have dinner while sitting on the couch. But on the other hand, I haven't made anything because the desk is so overrun.

Last time I introduced you to my possibly stolen 1978 ruler. This time, you can clearly see the Super Aytinal Vitamins metal ruler. I'm not certain how I managed to get such a strange collection of rulers.

I'm getting to the end of the sorting, thankfully. I think I will have most of the desk cleared today. I'm going to hold off on stashing my personal stuff until I have a little more time, I think; I really want to get the desk cleared off so I can make some jewelry.

I am growing very fond of this desk, though. At first I wasn't so sure, but now that I've been using it for a little while, I really love it.

Bead Table Wednesday!

Or should I say...Bead Mess Wednesday.



This is a very small section of the mess. It was pretty overwhelming at its height.



This is a little slice of the detritus of ten years of hoarding.

I have a tray on my desk, which I alluded to in the last BTW post, that has lain dormant--er, has "caught" extra beads for years. Every so often, I rake through it, and put some of it away, and the dregs are put into a big ziploc bag.

This afternoon, I wanted to make a special piece of jewelry to celebrate listing my 100th item in my Etsy jewelry shop, but instead, my Avoidance Trap got activated and suddenly I had to go through the bag. And the tray, too.

Fortunately, I curbed my OCD tendencies and refused to get farther than sorting. I put everything in piles according to where it should go. One pile for "keep for self," one pile for "sell," one pile for "broken," one pile for "sterling silver scrap," and one pile for "why on earth did you keep this in the first place." I've bagged them all by type, which should theoretically make it easier for me to subdivide or dispose of everything.

And with that out of the way, I could finally concentrate on the necklace.

Changes in the office

It isn't Bead Table Wednesday, but I do have a picture of my desk.

Why? Because I went temporarily insane on Saturday. I was goofing around, you see, and all of a sudden I was struck by the most intense desire to rearrange all of the furniture in my office. It was like lightning. I got goosebumps, and then I jumped up and started just--doing it.

There were two main reasons. 1) My rack of beads is in front of a window, and I don't want anything to fade. 2) I need more space to bead.

So I have relegated the desk I've used since I was thirteen to be the new printer desk. (Three printers, a scanner, and paper and speakers and bill racks...yes, I need an entire desk just for printers.) And now I'm using a higher desk with a bit more storage space for stuff.



I'm still getting used to having alllll this space. It's kind of luxurious. I can spread out a little more, and there's a teensy lip at the edge so beads don't roll off.

Even better? I'm using the keyboard drawer as my wire/tool stash! This, more than anything, has been a dream come true. I have waaaay too many pliers, and they took up so much room on top of the desk. Having them in the keyboard tray is fantabulous.



I think the most momentous part of this rearranging is the decision to let the biggest desk be the jewelry desk. It's a renewed commitment of sorts.

I need to clean out my beads and get into the habit of making jewelry every day again. I think this is a good first step!

Bead Table Wednesday

Heather Powers of Humblebeads started a meme called Bead Table Wednesday, and it sounded like so much fun that I decided to play along!



Sadly, my desk is not very photogenic, and my pictures definitely reveal all of its undusted glory. But I'm going to soldier on. For the Meme!

My jewelry desk is actually my study desk, given to me when I was thirteen. It's just a typical presswood Sauder piece of furniture, with a work surface and an elevated shelf above that. It was the desk that held my typewriter for many years (my manual typewriter, at that), and eventually when the beading bug hit I pressed it into service (get it? pressed?) as my jewelry-making spot.

It has a couple drawers that are full of stuff I never touch, amusingly enough. I really should organize it better at some point.

Here is the first pic. This is the main area where I work. I've never used a towel or bead mat or anything fuzzy for beads, and they usually end up rolling all over, which is why I sometimes use lids from tins. I have a big collection of them at this point. I also use the little triangular trays, though I have a tendency to tip them over constantly. The white postcard is just so I can double-check colors, because with a background as aggressive as this fake wood-grain is, it can sometimes kind of shortcircuit my already wonky color perception. You can see my fantastic Eurotool pliers and my ancient ruler, which I apparently stole from someone named Kevin, probably in 1978.

There's a pendant from Earthenwood Studio and a couple of bracelets that I'm about to restring for a good friend of mine. There's also a collection of bits of chain, funky headpins, and a few leftover pearls from my last mermaid necklace.



And now the next portion. The Back of the Desk.

This is a scary No Woman's Land, let me tell you. The tin lid on the right (remember my obsession with tin lids?) is full of leftover...stuff. Beads, single earrings, giant fine silver shell of hugeness, strands of offset pearls, crystals, headpins...anything that just hasn't been put away yet. I have a huge bag of this sort of thing, stuffed full of leftover beads and bits and bobs. Eventually I'll get in an organizing mood and put most of the stuff away where it belongs, but there will always be a few beads that stay in the dish. Forever.

The dish to the left contains some fantastic druzies set in sterling silver. I really have to get around to making something out of them. In the middle, you can see beads of Czech firepolish, meant for my made-to-order charm earrings. In the very far back, you can just barely see a plastic bag full of awesome vintage Japanese shell pendants that I totally will make into jewelry, I swear. Just not today.



Let's see. The right hand side of the desk isn't much better. There's a long train of charms, meant to be made into charm earrings, but I haven't gotten around to it. I might just polish them and put them away. There's a glass crescent moon pendant and a few Irish stamp pendants, all meant for eBay auctions, and a set of Swarovski vintage pagoda/potato chip beads, also meant for eBay. And my Soft-Flex cutters and crimpers. To the back you can see three bags of the last of the amazing Czech lead crystal that I auctioned off for (literally) years. I think I might keep it for myself. On the right, you can see a funky ceramic cup that Melanie from Earthenwood Studio gave me years and years ago, which holds pens, markers, screwdrivers, bead reamers, and a hatpin, naturally.



And that's it. I could show you the Giant Wooden Rack of Doom (But Mostly Of Beads), but that's for another day.

If you're interested in seeing other Bead Table Wednesday photos, the Flickr group for BTW is here!

Cleaning and organizing

After taking care of a few odds and ends at my grandmother's Assisted Living apartment, I've come home to start some organizing.

I've purchased another cabinet from Best Craft Organizers, and I've just put it together and labeled the drawers. These things are addictive, I swear; I've already filled the new one, and I'm contemplating a third.

I have new merchandise to sort and lots of things to bag for my upcoming shows. And here, a pic of the nightmare so far:



It can only go up from here, right? *grins*

Organization: it's not just for breakfast

I have just received my fantastic Mini Stackable from Best Craft Organizer and I must say--it really is fantastic. It sits under my eBay desk from Ikea (I guessed at the height, and I'm so thankful it fits), and it has ten drawers.

Two drawers for eBay, of course; one for this week's listings, one for next. Two drawers for the eBay store; one for Czech hanks and vintage necklaces, the other for everything else in the store.

One drawer for Etsy stuff.

One drawer for a few of the bags of plastic bags that end up everywhere.

I couldn't eliminate three giant bins, unfortunately. I have one for eBay store backstock and one for eBay auction backstock; these were both much too heavy to put in the drawers. They have plastic rails, after all. Also, the bin full of plastic bags was just too awkward to put in the drawer as well. So while it isn't quite as helpful as I hoped, I know that I'll be able to really work with it in the future and use it quite efficiently. I'll save one of the deep drawers for beads that will eventually be sold on my website, and I'll save another drawer for jewelry on the website.

As for right now, however, I'm just so happy with it--already everything looks so much neater.

Too bad I didn't make any bets with anyone about being able to bring another piece of furniture into this already incredibly crowded room. I would have made some money!