Blog Challenge: The Disaster Area

As promised, here are some shots of the Disaster Area that I call my bead room. Shameful, I know, but it was mine once, and I will reclaim it!

Clutter Alley
A view from the door.

A view from the work station.

The Workstation....shudder....

Updates on progress coming soon :)

Blog Challenge: 12 weeks to a cleaner Beadroom!

Yes, you read it right....BEAD room. Two years ago, when my husband and I were looking for a house, my one stipulation was that it had to have a BEAD room (for those of you who are wondering, HIS stipulation was that it had to have a place to build a PUB.;)
So, we found a house, we moved in....I found the perfect French Blue and Frosty White to paint my Beadroom. I painted it, my husband laid hardwood floor, and I moved in a little table and chair. For my birthday a month later my husband hand-built a beautiful bookcase,

large bead table with storage cubes,

and a work station, complete with shelves in what used to be the closet.

Within two weeks, I had the vast majority of my crafty stuff moved in. Within a couple of months, the room looked like.....we'll just call it Creatively Cluttered ;).

Three or Four months later, I 'noticed' the clutter, and decided that I was trying to fit too many crafts into one room, so I took over a small room in the basement as my 'sewing' room to keep all of my fabric and sewing notions (I have yet to sew there...) . The clutter stayed about the same for the next few months with one little space cleared off on the counter of my workstation for me to work at, and a space at the table that stayed relatively clear....then I opened the kiosk...and then the bead shop....and then product for the new shop took over, and the little spaces I had cleared off suddenly became pricing stations.

When I needed somewhere to bead, I found a tray, and retreated to the couch....whether my husband was there to keep me company or not. It's gone on like that for months now, and I started to wonder why I had a bead room that I can't bead in. Why am I digging for the Modge Podge every time I use it when that I use it often? Why are my old cd's in easy reach (they're already on my IPod), and my soldering iron is on the other side of the room? The solution? Organize and clean!

I'm giving myself 12 weeks, starting now, to get my room into some semblance of a working order. Why 12 weeks? I have no clue. It seemed like a nice round number that was a little down the road so that I can pretend that I'm going to get something done.;) Now, notice that the title of this post is a 'cleaner' Beadroom, not a CLEAN one, so don't expect the room to shine like the top of the Sears Tower, but anything is a start at this point... Pictures of my disaster area coming soon!

Wish me luck!

The Peacock Shop is 6 months old!

Many of you know that I own a bead shop called The Peacock Shop. My little bead shop has grown from a corner of my livingroom, to its own bead room,to a kiosk in a bitty mall, to its current incarnation (and first storefront location) a 170 sq.ft. shop. My goal is to continue growing incrimentally until I have a mini Beadlush (a wonderful bead shop that I used to work at, located in Charlotte,NC. Stop by to see Lydia, Vanessa, and the girls if you're ever in town;). Eventually I would like my shop to occupy around 1500-2000 sq ft, but I've got a long way to go!

What am I doing to ensure survival? you ask....On top of working my 45 hour week as the sole (yet unpaid) employee of the shop, and lone teacher of classes both public and private. I often wander home at the end of the day and continue working (bagging, tubing, pricing, searching for the next cool thing) until it's time for me to pass out, and do it all over again. My 'days off' are spent taking pictures to list on one of my Etsy sites (Gypsybeads and ThePeacockShop, if you're interested), testing class 'ideas', and sometimes teaching private lessons. I blog, I Tweet, I update my shop's Facebook Page a couple times a day most 'working' days. I host Crafternoons, I teach at bead shows, as well as the shop, and sell my jewelry in person at shows both night and day. In my 'spare' time I come up with new ideas for classes and kits, and teach private lessons. Recently I've been working with Bead Unique Magazine in the hopes of getting some of my work published more nationally.

For those of you who are wondering: Yes, I am married, Yes, I do make time to 'be married', and Yes, I am exhausted most of the time....but I'm hoping it will pay off in the end :)

How do I do it? With the world's most fantastic support group, of course! From my best friend Shannon who gives advice both personal and professional, and is always ready with a Margarita, to my husband who seems to understand when I need to just run with something, and not be bothered, to my wonderful beaders and crafters who purchase things from my brick and mortar and online shops, and let me know what they want the next 'big thing' to be, I thank you all! I really couldn't have done it without you.

So here's to the first 'real' 6 months...May there be many more to come!

As Promised.....

A view of Dustin's Missile which was originally a lollipop holder of some sort. He painted it himself, and worked it into a class example tower of wonder. You can purchase his kits through Nikia Angel at Buy the Kit.com. She has them in her traveling show right now, but I'm sure they'll be on the website soon!

B&B Last Days

On Friday, I got up to help my friend Suzanne at her booth A Grain of Sand. I worked a couple of hours, then took Crystal Elements II. Afterwards I went back to work, getting off an hour before the show closed to shop a bit. Saturday, was my main shopping day, so I got up really early, and was at the show doors when they opened..... I'm lying. I got up at the crack of 10 or 11am, took my time and a shower, and wandered over there around noon-ish. I made a mad dash through the first row ( I love lampwork, but wasn't in the market just then :), and then started buying in the second. My picks:

True Red Shell Pearls: I saw the shell pearls for the first time last year, and didn't pick any up so that I could see how well the coating lasted.

Turquoise Magnesite Skulls: I bought these in both Turquoise and regular cream magnesite. I loved the shape of them. They were very Dia de los Muertos :) I might put little crystals in some of the eyes....not sure yet.

Ammonite Pairs: Laura McCabe put some nautilus components in her Primitive Origins piece, and I've been on the lookout for such neat items. I bought one for myself last year, and thought I would bring some home for you all!

Is that everything I bought? No, but it really was too much to post here. After their debut last Tuesday, a lot of you stopped by to buy beads, and I thank you for it :) Still a bunch left for those of you who are still considering it ;) You can find them in store only at The Peacock Shop. I'll see you there!

B&B Second Class and Shopping Preview Night

Thursday, Shannon and I took our all day class Hoity Toity. The instructor, Shelley Nybakke, was very warm and amusing, and the project was stunning.

This is what the finished project is supposed to look like:

And Shannon and I got about one and 3/4" of one of the double-sided wheels done. Step 7 or 8 said " And make 15 more of these", or something of that kind....needless to say, we didn't finish the project in class ;) Here is a close-up of the front and back of one of the wheels I did finish.

Thursday is the night when the show floor is open to show attendees only (meaning those who registered for a badge and classes) for a limited number of hours in the evening before it opens to the paying public on Friday. It's sort of a prestigious thing to go because you feel special with your 'badge' and all.

This is Keshi, the B&B mascot to greet us at the entrance :)

The show floor is huge, and there are everything from seedbead vendors to purveyors of vintage crystal, and everything in between. We showed up a fashionably late so that we didn't have to wait in line, and the floor was packed by the time we got there. Here are the first things I picked up that night.

It was a little tough to get in to the booths, and Shannon and I were hungry after Hoity Toity, so we cut out a little early to the Applebees, only to wait an hour to get the wrong meal. After a talk with the manager, we walked down to an Italian restaurant to eat before we passed out for the day.

B&B Wednesday Download

On Wednesday, I took the Photo Pendants Under Glass Class with Susan Wade. I was having a hard time at first trying to figure out what was wrong with my technique, until Sue came around and proclaimed that it was my soldering tool, not the technique. She switched me to an extra one of her soldering irons, and the effect was like night and day. I made 3 pieces by the end, and was reasonably happy with the outcome. I left the class with the feeling that I had accomplished something, and took away skills that I can build upon.

After a filling dinner at Benihanas, Shannon and I lugged our bags over to the Meet the Teacher's extravaganza where we oogled the wares that teachers were offering, and managed to get a picture of me standing next to the Guinness Book of World Records record-holder for the longest necklace.

As shown in the picture, they really did make a big pop-up necklace bust to hang it on. It made me smile :)

More later on the first day of shopping, more classes, and even a picture of Dustin's Missile ;)

We have arrived!

We have arrived in Milwaukee, WI at the Bead&Button Show. Our flight was uneventful as it were, despite the attempts by Blucifer (the scary Denver International Airport icon), and

Anubis, Egyptian God of the Dead to thwart us. We ate late at the Millertime Pub, and are now heading to bed for a good night's sleep before a full day of beading. Night all!

Bead&Button 2010

It's coming down to the wire now! The Bead&Button Show starts tomorrow (for me), and several of my friends are already there and taking classes this week. My friend Shannon and I will be joined by THE Dustin Wedekind (he's kind of a big deal ;) this year. Dustin is looking to promote his kit lines in bead shops across the nation, so if you know anyone who owns one and is looking for a neat suplemental product line, let them know!

I promised a few friends who weren't able to make it this year to try to take pics and post during my week, so I'll do my best to get you some up-to-date updates on what I've seen, what classes I've taken, and what I'm bringing back to the shop for you. I've toyed with the idea of a scavenger hunt, but that means I would have to write one, so we'll see what I come up with in time, if anything at all.

Stay tuned for more beady goodness! Oh, and what's that picture up there? Why, it's a pendant that I made for Joanna Ashleigh of TribalTique :) You can visit her Tribal Bellydance Blog here.