Daydreams in Black

I've been daydreaming about designs, like the collar that I want to make with the above pieces, which I'd like to make before gem show. Realistically, that probably won't happen, but it would be awesome to have if I get a chance to go to the Swarovski party again. The necklace that I wore this past year (my steampunk cameo) only had a little bit of Swarovski in it, whereas this one would have the wings and then lots of jet bicones as accents, and maybe some other crystals and/or crystal pearls.

The other design on my mind is making a necklace with a goodie that I picked up at a craft fair yesterday... a nice black trilobite fossil elegantly wrapped with silver wire. I'd like to be able to wear it for my recital, as my costume is black and silver, and modern enough that I don't feel limited to kuchi. I just need to make sure that the teacher's OK with jewelry, since she chose our costume theme because it was relatively simple and sleek. If she wants to keep the jewelry simple, I may just wear the trilobite on my plain black herringbone cord. One of the reasons why I liked this particular pendant is that it has a nice big bail that my basic black cord would fit through.

Perhaps more bead time is in order...

Daydreams for 2009.

Well, so much for Thursday Thirteen. I went to their site today and I got a Godaddy page instead. Looks like someone forgot to renew their domain or hosting (then, the pot proceeded to call the kettle black). I'll still stick with the theme that I had in mind for today, however!

I've never been a New Year's Resolutions kind of gal. My family didn't do them growing up, and while there's a lot of things that I do differently than my parents do, resolutions were never something that I felt like adding to my holiday celebrations. But I do like to start the year off by thinking about things that I want to do in the following year. Today, I'd like to talk about fun things that I'd like to do this year.

1. I'd like to go to the San Diego Comic-Con again. I had so much fun in 2008, that I really want to go back. Besides, my little brother is getting a fan booth for the Toy Soldiers (the fan club of the musician/performing artist Dr. Steel), and I want to be there to offer him a little support and help if he needs it.

2. I'd like to go to the Faerie convention in Phoenix. I wanted to go in 2008, but then I got corgis, and I didn't want to leave them home alone. This year, they should be settled in and able to go to a boarding kennel for the day.

3. I definitely need/want to go to NY this year! 2008 was too chaotic, so we didn't go visit Chris's family, and I feel bad about it. I missed them, and I missed all of the fun things that we do together while we're out there. His Mom and Stepdad are coming to visit next month, but let's face it, Tucson just isn't as exciting to visit as NY!

4. There's a bead retreat in Tahoe in October that I'd like to go to, if time and money allow. I really enjoyed the Vegas retreat that I went to a few years ago. Bead retreats are just a great way to meet new people, learn new skills, and also hang out with old beady friends that are spread out across the country.

5. I'd like to bead at least one coin bra for belly dancing. I'm terribly unhappy with the selection on-line, and I've got the skills to make my own... and I bought the right coins at the September gem show, too. Now it's just a matter of buying a bra that will be able to support their weight, and deciding what else to add to the mix.

6. I have this necklace planned, called Bioluminescence, and I want to finally make it. It's going to be a very large project, but I need to do more large projects.

7. I'd like to have a short story published somewhere in 2009, even if it's in a very small magazine.

8. I'd like to get my corgis well-trained enough that I feel like they can go places with us. Right now they're kind of bratty, but they're such sweet, friendly girls. I think they deserve to be out in the world, meeting new people and experiencing new things.

There's more, but I'm starting to drift into goals instead of daydreams. I'll discuss goals in another day or two.

Cleaning and organizing, what fun.

So, I'm working my way through the mountains of bead clutter. I've got a lot more beads now than I did when we moved in here 6 years ago. I can't even remember how I moved them last time, but I don't recall it being much of an issue. This time around, it's my main concern. I want everything to go as smoothly as possible, so that I don't have too much beading downtime after moving in.

It's amazing how many half-finished projects and leftover beads I have lying around. I'm such a beading slob! One of my goals is to stop being like that. I need to make a better effort to put everything away when I'm done with a project. It will make my life so much easier, and keep my space so much prettier.

While I'm doing all of this practical cleaning, I'm also daydreaming. I'm going to have a lot of space in my new beadroom, and I'm wondering what I want to fill it with. Do I want to buy some sleek crafters cabinets? Do I want to hunt down a cool old apothecary, typesetter, or watchmaker type desk/cabinet dealio? Or do I want to buy things on the cheap at the thrift store, and use all the extra money for more beads?

Although I always like the idea of more beads, I find myself jealous of people with really cool workspaces. Sure, the desk that I found by the dumpster is great and has served me well for the past 5 or 6 years, but it is pretty boring looking and only has two drawers and one cubbyhole. And the plastic iris carts that I keep most of my beads in are effective, but there's an awful lot of wasted space in the deeper drawers and again, they're boring.

We'll see what I feel like after I've been in the house for a while. To start with I'm going to take my dumpster desk and my iris carts, and see where I want to go from there.