5 Beading Facts

1.  It was this bead necklace from Magnet (a magazine stall) that got me started with beading.  That was five years ago.

2.  Originally, a hundred pieces of my own version of Magnet's bead necklace was what I thought of giving to female guests on my wedding day.  Time obviously was a major challenge especially for a handcrafted type of souvenir. Instead, red, pink, white and yellow potted mums were given away. Less labor. Less toxic.  

3.  I used to bead at night (after work) and ended at 3am, on a mat covered with a white sheet.  Then wake-up at 5:30am to prep things up for another long day at work. I was five years younger then. High energy ruled. Fastforward to present times, I am OVER with night beading and so is my corporate life.  Now, I find mornings the best. Colors come out vivid.  I still do bead on the same mat covered with a white sheet but with an aching back this time.  I refuse to do bead works on a table.  More time is spent running after fallen beads than the work itself.  Lol~!

4.  Trends are great. But I am not an avid follower. My 6 collections -- Beaded Cloth, Laso, Tala, Flora, Chalk and Butones -- are all based on my highs-- Vintage dresses.  Ribbons. Stars.  Nature.  Color (think M&M). and, Buttons.  The design process only happens when I see beads. I suddenly light up, just as quick as it shuts off!  And yes, I am more inspired to bead when watching Kapamilya's Pinoy Teleseryes.

 

5.  And last, By Beaded Story is now FIVE (same age as my marriage).  Time does fly fast.  Yet, I am still amazed with the wonderful surprises that come my way. Lately, I was asked once again if I hold beading sessions.  At this point, I don't.  I am yet quite unsure of my capability to teach for these reasons:

• I have had no formal beading lessons.  My beading just happened one day. On my own.
• I attribute my knack for beading on creativity.  I look at each piece as art.  In fact, I have pieces exclusively meant for appreciation purposes only.  Not for wearing nor selling.  I deviate. I tweak. I alter.  I gravitate towards the opposite, the out of norm. In other words, I  heavily rely on creativity rather than technical beading ability.
• Lastly, my mood for the moment  dictates my beading.  There are days (even months), like this very moment, when beading is elusive.  I let it be. Until I panic.  Haha!

Nevertheless, I am not closing my door on this wonderful  "how to bead"-teaching opportunity which I actually consider another unsolicited sign. The first sign I talked about in this blog.  Lately, I have been told to stop limit the beading and to find someone to help  with the works since it has unfortunately brought about TWO hard and painful lumps on my right hand. Gosh!  But I remain positive that nature will soon take its course. Maybe one of these days, I can already give you an answer. 

For now, HAPPY 5 to me and my favorite story of all .... BY BEADED STORY!

CHALK is BACK!

If you haven't noticed yet, posted on the right are a few photos of the latest bead works of By Beaded Story.  Last week was about the new TALA Drop, and this week is all about CHALK bead necklaces. 

It's been two years (or more?) since I last made a Chalk necklace (click here to see the chalk of yesteryears).  I never thought I'd get back the knack for CHALK, especially with my obvious preference for these 4 out of 6 By Beaded Story collections:  (arranged according to preference)   TALA (glass collection) , BEADED CLOTH (cloth necklaces), FLORA (nature-inspired) and LASO (ribbons).  The last collection, BUTONES (buttons), entails a separate feature.  Unfortunately, this I have not talked about yet except for a photo posted in this blog.

As mentioned in By Beaded Story's multiply site, I have chosen to go slow with my bead works this year ... which has proven to be a worthwhile strategy to keep that fire-in-the-belly burning. So far so good and I'm proud of myself for keeping up with the promise.  Believe me, I've learned my lesson.  Stress equates to a grim dead end.  Thus, "having fun" with beading remains to hold that top spot in my list.

Anyway, I am ecstatic and without further ado, CHALK is BACK .....

Chalk A (ribbon):  Brown

Chalk A (ribbon): Black

Chalk B:  Brown and Mustard

Chalk B:  Grey

Chalk B:  White

Chalk B: White and Grey

More CHALK coming soon .....

Raj and 7-11

Here's a tip, Raj's "luck" cards suck!

And for some reason, being in this 7-11 branch yesterday afternoon reminded me of Raj's "quaint" store found along the corner of Kennedy Boulevard and Congress Street in Jersey City.  But the difference is -- this 7-11 is way too new, jampacked with goodies, fun knick knacks, patronized by a relatively "young" market and found at the ground floor of J. Bond's office in San Lazaro, Manila (near UST Hospital).  He was here for a quick construction inspection, while I strolled around (including a short stint of window shopping in SM).  Raj's store, on the other hand, is the opposite -- gloomy, old,  boring and  patronized most of the time by yours truly ... J. Bond and Dad2! 

I ain't  fully recovered yet.  So 30 minutes after, J. Bond brought me to  7-11 for a  bit of relaxation. I was struck the moment I entered their store door and I just had to repeatedly say, "I miss Raj!".  "I smell Raj!"   Hahaha!  I was  there only for the coffee, but apparently a lot of reminiscing came along with it.  Must be the Bingo posters displayed by the counter. 

Yes, it is the posters.  Raj's playing cards keep crawling back in my mind.  Unfortunately, luck ain't on my side.  As I've said, Raj's cards suck! Never did I win.  Not even a money back.

But I guess someone else sucked more?  Who else? ME!!! It was just way too difficult to resist the thrill.

I  had to have this photo taken.  Me at 7-11 yesterday afternoon.  Yup, alive and kickin'.

... and ME in my Laso beaded necklace standing along Kennedy Boulevard en route to Raj.   Right across this street is his store :) 

Temptation Island

I was literally on the brink of giving in yesterday while having lunch at Paseo Uno, Mandarin Oriental Manila with an aunt who celebrated her 60th.  The feeling was exactly like this less the "sexiness ...

Courtesy of http://www.giovanniplozner.com/

LOL!!!  As I've said, I am a true blue WEIGHT-O-HOLIC.  No doubt about that! But much to my dismay, I am frequently lured by the scorching  redness of temptation ... most especially -- the forbidden. 

Jelly topped with 3 blueberries

Chocolate lollipos and Cookies

Here's what I call this, Sinful Strawberry cake

Fruit tart

Four out of so many that I hallucinate for, but can't!!! As in NO for the rest of my life.  I have long passed that age of "innocence".  Ergo, cute excuses are no longer cute!  Allowing myself to succumb to sweet cravings for satisfaction's sake will truly cause a great "mishap", not immediately but definitely sometime in the future.  Am I confusing you?  Whatever question you have in mind (most especially to those who only know the superficial me), the answer is yes I AM A WEIGHT-O-HOLIC and yes to the question that pops in your mind. 

But as they say, life is life!  So, I am left with just one choice ... deal with it and be happy with whatever is thrown my  crooked, tempting yet colorful way :)

Bread!!! My every single day staple (with Good Shepherd's sugar-free Strawberry Jam).  This I can't live without.

Say Cheese!!!

Yummy salad placed inside Mr. Crab's shell

Preferably, a must not.   I gave in (in moderation, promise!).

I love Tuna Sashimi until I came face-to-face with this ...

Plus an eye contact with this!

Something's missing here

There you go, healthy (really sour) dessert to satisfy the  sweet-craving.

A limbo rock is how I describe the battle.  Living life surrounded by sumptuous temptations ain't no joke. 

But, I have slowly learned to come to terms with the real deal especially now that I have J. Bond who very much enjoys my share of the forbidden ...

... and exactly that J. Bond who said NO and immediately pulled away that dessert-filled plate away from me...

J. Bond               NO way will you eat any of those deserts!
J. Bond (again)  and NO to bead picture taking now. Let me finish.
ME                     Pleeaaase. I want NOW! If you won't help me, I can do it.

So here you go. My attempt to take that bead shot.  Eeek!

So far this 2010

By Beaded Story's bead neck pieces since the block broke in January 2010. 

details are posted on this multiply site http://bybeadedstory.multiply.com/

And the journey continues ..................

March 1, 2010 LASO COLLECTION

I thank the age when ribbons were discovered.

Do you know that.....Ribbons appeared when civilizations began crafting fabrics. They are among the oldest decorative or adorning materials. When all textiles were handmade, items with the finest threads were the most expensive. But the simplest, most coarse textiles in plain colors could be made more elegant and individual with a bit of ribbon as decoration.

 In the Middle Ages, ribbons were so identified with luxury that, during the sixteenth century, the English Parliament tried to make the wearing of ribbons a right of only the nobility. They were also identified with certain orders of merit; the Knights of the Garter wear broad blue sashes to this day, and the Knights of Bath wear red.

Photo by http://www.zeitlerweb.com/midages.htm

By the seventeenth century, ribbons stormed the fashion world. Both men's and women's clothing of this period were extravagant, and every accessory from gloves to bonnets was festooned with ribbons in many forms. A length of ribbon could be given as a gift to decorate clothing, for use in braiding and curling hair, for ornamenting baskets and furniture, or for brightening linens. Ornately patterned household fabrics were further bedecked with ruchings (gathered ribbons), frills, and rosettes.

The huge demand for more elaborate ribbons prompted a manufacturing revolution in which Coventry, England, and Lyons, France, became hubs of ribbon design and generation.

Photo by http://www.topicalstamp.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?type=search&search=minor&minor=Animals:+Cats&shop=stamp-search&amount=10&num=3

This ribbon industry sprang from the silk trade. Merchants who traveled the "Silk Road" to and from Asia sold raw silk to middlemen in Europe who boiled, cleaned, and dyed the ribbon yarn and sold it in "twists" to weavers. The enormous demand for ribbon was one of the sparks of the Industrial Revolution.  

Peasant costumes of many lands are often distinguished by single or braided ribbons that are dyed bright colors, decorated with lace or beads, or patterned. Unique designs came to characterize cultures.  During the Napoleonic Wars early in the nineteenth century, the ribbon industry suffered a major decline because skilled weavers from England and Western Europe were recruited for military service.

Photo by http://www.festiveattyre.com/gallery/jacobean/index.html

The next ribbon "boom" occurred in 1813, when picot-edged ribbon (with tiny scallops along the sides) became a fashion must. Ribbon-weavers reaped the benefits for the two years picot-edged ribbon topped the fashion charts. Ribbons often followed fashion trends. Deaths at the courts of Europe stimulated the demand for black ribbon; military tapes, jacquards, and medal ribbons became symbols of military regiments and the highest awards nations could bestow.

 

The Victorian Era was the last to see a ribbon boom when the dresses, underclothes, coats and cloaks, and hats of Victorian ladies used yards of ribbon. Trade agreements between European countries killed the English manufacture of ribbon because cheap labor and ever-larger looms could not produce competitively priced products. 

Photo by http://hubpages.com/hub/victorianhairstyles

The development of synthetics and paper fibers for use in making gift wrap quickly extended to the ribbon world in our times, and ribbon became as adaptable to modern living as other fabrics. Many types of ribbon today are colorfast, shrink resistant, and able to be washed or dry cleaned.

In the 21st century . . .  I use Ribbons for my Laso Collection.

***History of Ribbons by http://www.answers.com/topic/ribbon