From the Junk Drawer (WOYWW)

Feeling a little motivated this morning, I pulled out one of my junk drawers. This one is literally labeled JUNK as it doesn't fit into any of my other junky categories (keys, charms, rhinestones, buckles, etc.).

After sorting through it for a few minutes, I had this laid out on my desk.

Mysterious huh? (Sorry for the quality of the pictures. It was dark and I used my phone.)

It's all very organized in my eyes.

On the left is my junk drawer.

Along the top are some items I want to solder for various reasons.

There's a lot of safety pins in the mix because I want to make them even more safe by soldering them closed. That'll make me feel better about using them in jewelry.

Along the right are the pieces for two possible necklaces.

The bolt-like thing on the top is on its own as it looks something like a bail to me. The other pieces may likely come together in some sort of tassel assemblage piece.

In the center of my desk were some watch backs. I realized there were a ton of them in the drawer. As I pulled them into a pile, I saw that they would be perfect for a statement necklace of some kind. But, first they need holes.

After making an arrangement that made me happy, I marked where I want holes and numbered some of the pieces. That wonderful man-of-mine will use the drill press to make the holes for me. And, this picture and the numbers will serve as fabulous reminder of this arrangement.

Now to actually pull all this together and make some jewelry! Do you see jewelry here, or do you just see junk?

I'm linking up on The Stamping Ground for What's on You Workdesk Wednesday.

Keeping Busy (WOYWW)

Last week may be considered the "Lost Week". I wasn't near as productive as I'd have liked because my schedule was off. I did get to spend much of the week with my grandmother and oldest niece while my mom and step-dad went on vacation. As well, I helped a friend prep for her daughter's birthday. We also agonized over what to do about my sweet Asia kitty. Her illness isn't getting any better. While steroid shots seem to make her feel better for several weeks at a time, she's still struggling to breathe and looks uncomfortable the rest of the time. We cried and prayed over what to do, but the decision is so very hard to make. For now, she's received another shot while we monitor her even closer to try to make the decision and come to terms with it.

Gah! Okay, enough with all that. Here's what my desk looks like today.

There's a little of everything on there once again.
At the far left is my art journal, open and waiting with a blank page.
Next is my bullet journal, also waiting for me to set out the day's list.
Then there's the altered playing card that I'm currently working on. It's got some washi tape and gesso lines on it, but that's as far as I've gotten.
Finally, there's a bead mat with an assemblage key, some wire wrapped czech glass beads, and a variety of pearls that I'm trying to decide on. (You can see my mat better and pick your favorite on my Instagram video.)

If you're curious, the top of my desk includes a small trash bin (the green thing at left with the clothes pins on it.), a glass container with various supplies (rulers, x-acto, bone folder, wooden skewers, knitting needles, etc.), a swiveling organizer that holds my pliers and scissors, a bowl of miscellany (tape, glue sticks, lip gloss, liquid paper, and tape measures), a cup and saucer that I throw things in to keep them from getting buried), a plastic cup of water with some paintbrushes, and a nice big selection of pens and pencils (I have an office supply issue.) Also on my desk are my timers, which I set to try to make sure I get up and move around every half hour or so.  You know, for my health.

That's the bulk of it for today. And now, it's time to start tackling some of these tasks. Here's hope you keep happily busy today too.

I'm linking up my desk on What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday at Stamping Ground. Come play along, or just tell me. . .what are some of the supplies on your desk that are always there?

The Evolution of an Upcycled Necklace and What's on My Desk

It's been a wild few days around here. My grandmother's been in the hospital since Saturday with unknown pains. They're still running tests and trying to figure out what's wrong. I've been with her almost every day to help. In fact, I'm writing this from her hospital room now. She's starting to feel better though thank goodness. Yesterday we had a line of severe storms come through the area. Since I'm an hour from the hospital, I stayed home to get some chores done and hunker down. In the end, the storms didn't hit us very hard but wrecked havoc in areas around us. I'm sure you've seen the news. While I was home, I was able to work on a project I had started on Saturday.

It began with me pulling out my pickle jar of treasures. Basically, this is a tall jar stuffed to the top with old and broken jewelry. Some of these pieces came with the jar, some I've added from other purchases.

I only pulled out items from the top few layers to figure out what I wanted to alter and upcycle.

This pair of clip-on earrings caught my attention. They both originally looked like the one on the left. I was actually about to get rid of them, thinking there wasn't much I could do with them. However, I decided to stop and reconsider. When I realized I could pull the leather strip out from the chain, I changed my mind about doing away with them.

After getting the leather off the chain, I clipped and pulled the other pieces off the earring.

I washed the soldered chain portion with warm water and soap before working on adding a patina. At first, I tried black Rub 'N Buff but that was fairly unsuccessful. So, I went a little more hardcore with Novacan Black to age it a touch. From there, I went through my chain, beads, charms, and other whatnot to find bits and bobs to accent the golden aged chain.

Pulling it all together didn't really take long, but delayed me the most. I tried a couple different layouts.

In the end, I just added the beads and charms to the soldered chain that became the focal. The actual necklace chain is made of some gold tone faceted glass beads, olive dyed jade beads, and gunmetal colored seed beads on a rosary chain. I haven't added a clasp yet because I can't seem to decide on the length of the chain. So there the necklace sits on my desk at home... along with the rest of the mess.

So that's what's on my desk this Wednesday; a necklace to finish and a mess to clean up when I get home. How's your desk looking?

Days of My Craft Desk | Episode 2

What's with this year already? It seems to be just slipping away. Maybe it's me. That's the more likely case. I feel completely distracted and can't quite accomplish one task before I'm off on another. My desk is a perfect example of this scattered, unfocused trend. In the last episode of Days of My Craft Desk, I showed you the evolution of my workspace over a single day. Today, I offer you a look at it over several weeks' time.

Like beads rolling across the craft room floor, these are the 
Days of My Craft Desk.

Warning!! Those who are neat freaks and need complete and utter organization should look away before continuing to scroll down.

On January 4th, I started my day as always - making my to do list in my planner/bullet journal. I like to use a variety of pen colors to highlight different tasks. My favorite pens are the pilot V5 RT. I love that they are retractable and have an extra fine tip. LOVE!

By 11am the next morning, I was working on relisting some items in the CraftyHope Etsy shop. The items making their second appearance were strewn on my desk. And, I was probably on my second cup of coffee, my lifeline.

That afternoon had me pricing earrings and putting them on cards. Most of those pretty pairs on the right are now in my Southern Antiques and Accents booth.

On January 11th, I dove into my thrifted jewelry stash for a broken brooch. I also pulled out some Chinese crystals to match. These components came together as a necklace fairly quickly.

By the next morning, the necklace was complete (though not removed), and my daily planning was underway.

Just days before my Mardi Gras ball, I started gathering components that I thought would go well with my costume. I knew I was only making earrings so I did try to limit my selections. It was difficult.

At 9am on Jan 19th, I started on my daily list. However, I was distracted by all the pretty pens. Being me, I had to line them up in Roy G Biv order, obviously.

This was the state of my desk on the morning of the 21st. I was trying to finish up/start on some altered playing cards (not the ones in the link, but just so you get the idea). I had hoped leaving them out like this would help me find inspiration. It did not.

Two days ago, upon finishing the cards, this was the state of my desk. Yes, a complete disaster of stamps, inks, brads, glues, and more. GAH! But, I got them done nonetheless.

So, that's been the gist of what's come across my desk lately: scatterbrained, schizophrenic chaos. And the days seem to keep slipping away. Please tell me I'm not the only one whose craft desk is suffering from multiple-interests disorder. If so, I guess it's all in the life of a craft table.

Tune in next time to see what else is in store in the Days of My Craft Desk.

Days of My Craft Desk | Episode 1 (WOYWW)

I know I've mentioned here somewhere how much I love seeing other artists' craft rooms, workbenches, and creative spaces in general. I've been lax in sharing my own as I'm still not sure how this new space will work for me. However, I don't mind sharing my desk. In fact, I'm going to try a recurring feature giving you peeks of what's on my desk through a single day. Now, this can range from beady to crafty to paperwork-y, and that's just in the course of one day! And, because I'm a dork - I have to name it something corny.

Like beads rolling across the studio floor, these are the Days of My Craft Desk.  

In this first installment, let me start by sharing just how clean and pure my craft desk can be.

Yet, at other times it's quite dirty - piled high with miscellaneous craft supplies, projects, and general junk.

Now, let's begin.
Yesterday's desk was pure beady goodness all day long. It started out with the sorting of some broken jewelry acquired at an antique store.

By mid-day, actual jewelry was being made for a silent auction.

After lunch, a large jar of 'bead soup' was sorted into separate palettes for more silent auction projects.

Before the lights went off in the craft room, this was the bead desk's shameful state. Beads were scattered everywhere as bangles were being created from the bead soup palettes.

Come back later to see what else happens in Days of My Craft Desk!

Ha, see. . . I'm a huge dork, but I like this format so much. I'm sure I'll be sharing many more days. Of course, I'd like to know what you think of it too. Please let me know before I embarrass myself any more!

I'm also linking up at Stamping Ground for What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday

What's on Your Workdesk Wedneday (WOYWW)

I'm desperately trying to get so much done that it feels like I'm not accomplishing anything. I don't even know how that's possible. With so much going on, my desk feels a little schizophrenic at the moment.

At left is my to do list, then some beads in a muffin tin, and washi tape at the far right.

Here's a better look at some of what's going on.

I've re-filled one of my muffin tins and am SLOWLY getting some items made from it.

Then there's the pile of Valentine washi tape. . .just waiting for inspiration to strike.

As you can see, there's not much in process at the moment. Like I said, nothing's getting done. Blarg! Hopefully once I check off, 'blog post' from my to do list I can engulf myself in creating. . .oh wait, laundry first. Anyway, I'll be linking up this post with What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday at Stamping Ground.

What's covering your work area at the moment and are you getting anything done?