I Feel Like the 60's

Beading and macrame were passions in the 60's and 70's.  I even got the hubby of the moment to get
into the macrame and he helped with larger projects.  I remember hanging rope from a patio arbor to make plant hangers and wall hangings.  I was doing the free-range thing way back then with combining various cords and yarns for texture.  I did many little projects with crochet cord for jewelry as in the bracelet to the right.  It's all that remain of those days.  We didn't have much money, and hippy crafts were cheap.  I loved beads, but hated rat tail cord that always broke during wear and left me scrambling up beads from their scattered landing spots.  I gave it all up until I was a Cub Scout den mommie and my cubbies did some beaded key "chains" to satisfy the Indian badge. It was a brief resurgance and then years later, I had a wonderful Union Bay denim man shirt that I wore the poo out of.  At some point, I got out a shoe box and did some bead work for the shoulder seams.  About 2 years ago I upcycled that shredded shirt into small shoulder bags.  I tried to sell them on Etsy, but Etsy has never been golden for me.

gorgeous wrap bracelet found on Pinterest

This week has seen me returning to beading.  I am drooling over a gorgeous wrap bracelet I found through Pinterest and tangent searches.  After pinning it, it has been climbing in popularity, and I have wanted to make my own version.  The hammer and torch-ering metal is on hold for a while as my right side is sore from neck muscles down to the right hand fingertips due to what I jokingly refer to as "man-handling" (lifting and moving) during care-giving activities. Repetitive stress injury can be devastating and I want my body to heal and take it easy while this level of care continues.  I have moved the bed position so that I am using my left side more, and trying to be more mindful as I lift and move her in the bed.  Now that she has been bed-ridden for nine months, I am simply forced to take better care of myself.

So, this is my little project.  ...Just getting started, and I plan to add some leather and wrapped cord too.  

Studio Setback

I am so bummed.  The de-cluttering I have been doing has gone well, carrying out at least one bag of trash daily is so great, and I do still have a way to go with organizing the rest of the "stuff."  However, as floor space and table tops began to clear, my mind was racing ahead to how best to move the table near the window and how to arrange the rest of the furniture.  I realized that my plan to remove the computer and all the related paraphernalia to another room was impossible because that room has no space available.  It also hit me that all the furniture would have to hug the walls and would be lined up close together circling the room.  Such a major frustration!

So, wallowing in a pity party and confusion, I missed the deadline I set for myself which was July 31st.   So, my option is to leave the table as it is (and hope for the Dream Plan to evolve in the near future after a great deal of work and planning of other spaces).  The cons are that I sacrifice the natural light, the view, and having a wall at the back of the table, and a lessening of work space since the table butts up against the computer desk at a right angle.  I am also concerned about over-lapping work spaces.  Paperwork done at the computer will certainly overflow to any adjoining space.  I challenging issue is that I was going to hang my Dremel flex shaft from a towel bar on the wall.  Positioned as the table is now, that is not possible and I have been wracking my brain for solutions.  Obviously, from this amusing sketch by The Dremel Amateur I am not the only one trying to figure it all out.  ...Don't worry, I will never go this route.  Backpacking a tool like that would have my hair so tangled you wuold have to hold me down and shave my head to get me free.


My new Dream Plan will have to be a long-range goal.  I'll keep posting as I figure it out.  In the meanwhile, I think I will get another cup of spicy coffee to help clear my muddled brain and then settle in for yet another day of clearing and figuring out how to get set up.