My Shop at Zibbet

Monday, June 28, 2010

More UFOs Completed

Hi, just checking in to say that I am still on schedule to open shop by the end of the month. I completed two more of my unfinished objects. I have been writing the item descriptions and taking the photos of them as I complete each one. I really wanted to get outside yesterday, to see how they looked shot in the sunlight. Sunday is major chore day around here and no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't grab a few extra minutes to do it. I did play around with the Kodak Easy Share Software, though. Previously, I was using Windows Picture Viewer. I can't tell which program I like better, maybe a cross between the two.
Anyhow, here are the pics of my recently completed items.

Tonight, I plan on completing a few more ufos. Tomorrow is Tuesday and then Wednesday is the end of the month. I have no idea how easy or how hard it will be to actually get the items listed. But I will tell you this, I do love a challenge, so come Hell or High Water my shop will open on Wednesday by 11:59 pm est. Another reason that I am very determined to meet this deadline is  that Tammy bet me $20.00 that I won't. How's that for motivation?
Ok, so that's my update and now I need to get off this laptop and get busy beading. As usual, I hope you'll stay tuned for more.
TTYL and make it a good night
Debbie

Friday, June 25, 2010

Bracelet, Zibbet, & Thoughts of Murder

Yes, you heard me right, I did say murder. But you'll have to wait for the story. First I want to show you my latest bracelet, seeing as I didn't show you any pics last post. This is a bracelet woven in a flat spiral stitch. The inner beads are multi-colored blue czech glass. The beads spiraling the edges are smaller blue bicone crystal beads woven in with shiny whitish seed beads. You'll probably be seeing alot of these in my Zibbet shop, because these are pretty quick to do as far as beadweaving is concerned, and I must have every color of czech glass bead in the world.



 Speaking of Zibbet, I am still on schedule to open by the end of the month. Along with my profile, I now have all my policies done. It was easier than I thought. So now all I need to do is complete a few more items, and figure out how to post them.

 Now we can move onto the good stuff. --- Thoughts of murder. Well those who know me will have already guessed that the person I want to murder is none other than the preteen named Miss Thang Tammy. So now you are asking why would Debbie want to murder poor sweet Tammy? First you must know that I live for summer vacation. A week in Lake George, NY.  Well to make a long story short, I was just informed that Miss Thang has to attend summer school, and of course some of it falls during my scheduled summer vacation.  She assured me she had picked up her grades, was no longer goofing off, and actually was now attending school to learn ,not to socialize. We even had one of those talks (you know the talk I mean- the one where mother goes psycho on poor kid and puts the fear of God into her). Well because of Tammy's assurances and the fact that I wasn't contacted by any teachers, I believed we were good to go, so I scheduled my vacation at work. And then on the last day of school, she pulls the paper out of her back pack for me to sign. Talk about being pissed off. So of course, the rest of the calendar at work is already filled up with everyone else's vacations, and there is no decent week left for me to take. Oh well, you will be glad to hear that after alot of thinking, I decided to spare the child her life. There are always long weekends and day trips. Besides, I don't think I would be able to bead in jail!!

Oh well, after that long rant, I'm pretty tired, and that's all I have for now.
TTYL
Make it a good night
Debbie

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Extra! Extra! Read all about it

We interrupt this blog to bring you an important news update. That's right you heard it here first. Now that I got your attention, here's the the big news.............................................................
Abracadebra Designs will soon be opening up shop on Zibbet!  Well, it's big news to me at least. Remember a while ago, I said I was undecided on where to open my shop? I finally decided on Zibbet and spent a good part of the day designing my shop banner. I also chose a photo for my profile. It took at least a few hours to get these things done, because as we all know, I am not even close to being anything like a techie!!! But now I know how to use MS paint and I know exactly what a pixel is. So now all I need to do is set up my shop profile & policies, and last but not least, I have to get my jewelry up on there. For those of you who have never heard of Zibbet, here is a link  http://www.zibbet.com/  and better yet, here is a link to their about us page http://www.zibbet.com/aboutus and if you want to see what my shop looks like so far, just out  of    curiosity, here is the link  http://www.zibbet.com/abracadebra I plan on opening shop by the end of the month. Maybe it will be fun to chronical a countdown til opening day, seeing as I am a technically challenged procrastinator, who can't take a decent picture to save her life. Oh yeah, I also have to wrestle a preetenager named Miss Thang Tammy to get the computer away from her, so I can use it. Yes, this could get very interesting. As usual, I hope you'll stay tuned for more.
TTYL and make it a good night
Debbie

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Before & After

Hello there. I hope everyone is doing well. Today I have before and after pics to show you. Just to be different, I'll show you the after pic 1st because I can't wait for you to see it. Yes, I am that impressed with it. Shameless bragging-I know. A nettted chevron in eggplanty purple and pinkish seeds, embellished with peacock colored side drilled pearls. Once again the picture does no justice. The luster of the pearls really plays off of the rest of the necklace. Anyhow, here it is.

Ok so now for the before.  This necklace was planned to be a quicky chevron choker with just the purple and pink seed beads. The peacock colored pearls weren't even on my mind. I had basically completed  the project before I had put away the pearls from my last project. ( My usual method of madness. I have beads & supplies everywhere.) Anyhow, for some odd reason, I decided to pick up a bit so I went to put the white pearls from the last project away, where they belong, in my bead box containing all my pearls. All of a sudden, the peacock pearls which were sitting on top, just started shouting out "Pick me, Pick me!!"  Then a light bulb went off in my head, and viola- The birth of what I feel is my most beautiful creation yet.

So anyhow, here is the before pic. Not a bad-looking simple netted choker. Teens really like these

You must be wondering why I am showing the before and after. Well, its all about the inspiration. I was inspired by the color of the peacock pearls. Their color and luster were a perfect match for the shine of the purple and the matte of the pink beads. With this project, I feel I learned a great lesson in design. The lesson is to ask myself, "How can I take this project and step it up a notch? How can I make it even better than it is now? How would it look if I added this? , etc, etc, etc.  Wow, now I am totally motivated to conquer that heaping pile of beads that need to be put away, just so I can be inspired again.  No Time like the present. Gotta Run, Can't wait to see what I'll find.
TTYL and make it a great day
Debbie

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Twins (Kind of, sort of)

Today is my older sister's birthday. We are 11 months apart. Since we were born less than a year apart, some people say that we are Polish Twins. Other people say that we are Irish Twins. Either way I'm proud to be both, since I have a bit of Polish and a bit of Irish in me.  So now you know something about me that you didn't know before. Maybe I'll start giving you a random fact about me in every post and before long you'll feel like you've known me forever. Anyhow, talking about twins, I have two almost-twin necklaces to show you today.
I decided to do something a little different than my usual work. I have been seeing these necklaces all over Etsy lately, and I said Hey, I can do that. So here are my almost-twin necklaces:

They are both made with glass pearls & Swarovski Elements flowers with rhinestones in their centers. The 1st one has ivory colored pearls, a gold toned flower & is hanging off of a gold chain. This will be given to my sister when we have her Bday party over the weekend. The 2nd necklace has pinkish-lilac pearls, a black flower, and is hanging from a silver chain. I really had fun making these. They were very quick to do. I definitely plan on doing more of these in different colors & with different beads, too. Of course I have to do some with my beloved czech glass. I swear I can't live with out my tiny colorful bits of glass.
Ok, I guess that's it for now. Gotta go through my bead stash. My head is swarming with all the different color combos. As usual, I hope you'll stay tuned for more.
TTYL and make it a good night.
Debbie

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Summer Breeze Makes Me Feel Fine...

Hello. I hope everyone had a nice Memorial Day. In the Northeast (USA) we had the perfect weather for a good old holiday cookout.  Well, I forgot the newest bracelet I made at my Mother's house, so I can't show it to you until next week or so. A flat spiral made out of the most beautiful multi-colored czech glass beads you have ever seen. Oh, well enough about that.  In the meantime, I decided to lighten up and post some summery stuff, seeing as the last post featured darker things.

First is a recently completed spiral rope. Started it at least a year ago. Just needed a few more inches and a clasp. See, I told you I procrastinate. Anyhow it is very summery with lime green, turquoise blue, and bright gold seed beads. I have been looking forever for the perfect pendant to go with it. I'm kind of anal about that stuff. (Is anal a bad word? If it is I am sorry, but it happens to describe me to a tee. Ask those who know me well!!) Anyhow, I could write a book about that, but I'll spare you. 

When I got home from the cookout Monday, I was definitely in a summery mood, so I whipped up a cute pair of flower earrings. These are made out of lucite flowers and lime green & silver twisted bugle beads. Again, the pic doesn't do them justice.  I couldn't get a decent pic with camera and they wouldn't dangle correctly sitting on scanner. Oh well, here's the pic anyhow.

To wrap it up, I wanted to let you know about a very nice & talented group of people at the jewelry making forum at about. com. I have been lurking around there for years now, and finally decided to come out of my shell & join their group. They are all like a giant family and gave me a nice warm welcome. If you are into any type of jewelry making at all, you really need to check them out. You will be blown away by their collective creativity and talent.

Till next time,
Make it a great day
Debbie