Kierabel Designs

Happy New Year!

2009-01-14T10:18:00.006-05:00

Happy New Year to Everyone! After a crazy Christmas season, I'm back in beading mode! I've finally picked up where I've left off and am starting to use all the wonderful items I picked up last fall. I reduced my cousin's Mommy's bracelet (have yet to send it, though - oops!) But that will happen soon enough!

This year I've started off trying to inspire myself with some outside stimulation. I took this project from Beadstyle Magazine, November 2008 Edition, Page 84:

And I created my version:

I'm wondering if I like the skinny arms as much as the thick ones. Weigh in if you have a preference!

I've started working on some earrings with the rose quartz I've got and they're simple, yet elegant. I think I'll do some simple pearl earrings to match this bracelet as well. Nothing fancy, just some plain drops.

It's very cold here in T.O. this winter, so my pain has been flaring up and I think my brain has entered the deep freeze. All technical terms have flown out of my head, and I'm only up for simple stuff right now. Hubby claims I get like this every year, so I'll just hang in there 'til spring!

Happy Beading!

I've Been Seriously Negligent

2008-11-26T16:18:00.002-05:00

I've been taking an unscheduled break from all forms of creativity for the past month or so, and I think it's time for a bit of an explanation. I had mentioned in my bio that I'm a pain sufferer. I have some nerve damage in my hip region that extends into my back. To control the pain I'm on some pain medication, and over the last few months, it seems, it's been interrupting my sleep by wreaking havoc with the area of my brain that controls my breathing centre. So, it seems, I haven't been getting truly restful sleep, for many nights this was obvious - until I had a sleep study done, which triggered the info, which led to finding the information that provided the hypothesis that a CPAP or breathing machine used at night would help me immensely. Since I haven't gotten this machine yet, I'm still feeling wrung out and lethargic. Unfortunately, working on my projects is not anywhere near the top of my list yet, since the thought of pulling out my supplies is quite overwhelming at this stage. Here's hoping that my meeting tomorrow provides me with the necessary machine and things progress smoothly from there! :D

The Crochet Bug!

2008-10-20T10:11:00.002-04:00

So, it seems I've been bitten by the crochet bug. I've been frantically crocheting lately, for some reason I find it so incredibly soothing. It's something I've not done in a while, so I'm brushing up on my skills. I found some amazing yarn and am hoping to put a few items up on Etsy to round out the selection of items. I wanted to make myself a scarf first, and that is going well, and then I decided on a hat. I've found out I have an exceptionally small head, however, so no matter what I do, my hats have turned out looking a bit too big. They're nice - just big. I took them apart, but wound up with two nice looking ones out of the bunch. All in all, I made six hats last week - LOL! I'm still on the hunt for the right pattern that I can adjust to fit me properly.

Healthwise, I seem to be catching up on some sleep! I'm starting to feel quite a bit better. That is so many colours of wonderful, I can't even tell you! My days have been looking a lot like: Sleep, crochet, sleep, read, crochet - but it's all good!

I'm still waiting for an order from Bead FX. I've discovered the lovely uses of gimp wire, and how that's been missing in my work. I'm fired up about a couple of projects, and just waiting for my order to arrive, so beading will continue momentarily. I'm very excited about what I've got cooking in my brain, so I plan on having a lot of items spewing forth soon. Of course, in between naps!

Today is my seventh wedding anniversary! Yay!

What's New and Exciting!

2008-10-02T11:07:00.004-04:00

I've just finished a beautiful Mother's Bracelet for my cousin. Of course, her daughter's name is Sara. She was born in September, hence the lovely Swarovski crystals denoting the September birthstone. The pink stones are Rose Quartz, and the stones separating the letters are Czech Crystals. I have yet to pop it in the mail. I've been lazy. :P I'm shocked and appalled at the cost of those darn letters! They are nearly $3.oo each! Holy Smokes! I'm so cheap...

I've been in the trenches making jewellery like a fiend. I've been using all the lovely stones I've picked up recently. BeadFX has had a sale on this week until October 5th, that I have had to indulge in. Yes, I've just spent $100, and yes, I'm spending another $100 - free shipping! I don't care if it's only $5 for shipping. Gee whiz! Anyway, I've bought the knotting tool I've wanted for a while. I'm going to try and make some knotted pearl necklaces.

Lately, I've become fascinated with single-strand c0llar- length necklaces. Variations on the good-girl pearls theme. I'm not sure where this came from, but to the left you will see my take on some bad-girl pearls. I call these my Vixen Pearls. These will be going up on Etsy soon. They look absolutely amazing on. An 18" strand of round, red pearls paired with black seed beads. Not your Mother's Sunday Pearls!

I have another version in green with silver accents that is quite fetching, and a beautiful pink glass bead and pink pearl counterpoint to this necklace that is certainly the 'good girl' side of the coin.

I've still not finished my fascination with memory wire. I have a couple of pieces in different media. The one at right is with different colour glass beads separated by hematite. I have a set with faux pearls making a bracelet and cute rings.

I have lots of things coming up - I'm working in a creative frenzy. Hopefully I will shake it all out in the next week so I can get it up and published on Etsy so the world can enjoy it. I'm having a great time, but I've made some commitments to groups that I want to be involved with. I feel like I'm letting people down, but the muse is calling! It's a horrible choice - but I can't let these ideas keep swirling in my head, either. I feel like I must empty it. It's like catching butterflies in a net.

With all of this going on, I have the itch to crochet starting. I have balls of yarn calling me. :D I'm having so much fun, but methinks I'm going to be busy for a while!

Busy Weekend!

2008-09-22T15:13:00.003-04:00

I've had a very busy and expensive weekend, but have some exciting new materials to work with! There are some gorgeous natural stone pieces, some rose quartz, some turquoise, pearls, some Swarovski pearls... Not pictured is an order I placed with Bead FX, and a bunch of clasps I bought at some of the various shops on Queen street. My daughter helped me choose a lot of the materials, and she has excellent taste and an eye for the best!

I've got a few pieces that I've completed that I will be showcasing soon. I've also been bitten by the crochet bug, and had some fun picking out some yarn over the weekend. I plan to try out a few scarves and put them on the Etsy site to see how they do. I have a beautiful market bag I made - I love doing that sort of thing - we'll see how much interest it generates.

I plan to be very busy! I was at the doctor recently, and I will be tested for a sleep disorder in the near future, so how this will affect my ability to create, I don't know. Obviously, I'm hoping that the opportunity for good rest will bring all good things, but I am concerned about getting from here to there! Ah well, there is no success without failure, no gain without trying. I'm looking forward to a good result and increased energy and feeling better in the future!

Being Inspired and Measuring Up

2008-09-12T13:03:00.002-04:00

It's been a tough week this week. I've been dealing with a lot of pain, and when that hits I find I want to work on some simple projects. I find it much more difficult to concentrate, so envisioning what I'm going to put together isn't so easy. What usually works best at times like these is a bunch of trial and error. Sometimes I come up with some very different - than -usual looking pieces and it can be great! More often than not, I end up doubting myself and taking things apart. I do a lot of shopping at this time, thinking I really need to re-vamp everything I'm doing, and if I only had the tools and materials I could do so much better.

I'm sure self-doubt sits with every artist. I need to focus on why I'm doing this - this is my soul salve. I'm doing this for me - not for anyone else's approval. But don't we all look for someone else's approval in the end? It just helps things along in the mix.

At the end of a pain cycle, I find I have a lot of half-finished projects. Almost-finished projects. Things I don't quite believe I made! Some are beautiful, some need to be sent to the junk pile, but isn't that what art is all about? I have a couple of pieces that are screaming to be finished, I'm just missing appropriate clasps - the style is much darker than the sunny, happy product I usually design. It's cool. I'm evolving.

It's harder than I thought to produce art for art's sake, without seeking approval. The question I need to ask is "What do I think?" For someone who polls everyone for their opinion before getting dressed every morning, this is a difficult task.

Kierabel's motto: Peace, Love and Happiness. Those are the feelings I wish to have about my creations. The feelings I want to inspire within myself .

Mother-Daughter Bracelet

2008-09-10T16:24:00.002-04:00

Mother-Daughter bracelets, made of natural pink pearl and closed with a lobster clasp. The Mother's version measures 7.5 inches, the Daughter's version is adjustable from 5.5 - 6.5 inches to fit snugly.

What's New?

2008-09-10T15:33:00.004-04:00

This yellow pearl and memory wire bracelet is for my cousin Wai-Leng. I was out to visit her in the summer and we saw one reminiscent of this - but I think my version is much prettier!

The pink version of the pearl memory wire bracelet will go up for sale in my Etsy shop

Peace, Love and Happiness: My Etsy Store

2008-09-05T11:35:00.001-04:00

I have my main store on Etsy. Etsy is a fantastic website where artisans of all types can get together and sell their wares - kind of like an on-line craft fair. I think I tend to do more shopping than I do selling, but that's okay - I love to support my fellow Artisans. It's overwhelming how much talent is out there!

What is really cool about Etsy is the opportunity to join teams. Teams are co-operatives of all different formations that get together to do everything from cross-promotion, cross-marketing, social support and everything in between. I've joined up with two teams:

Squidetsians
This is a wonderful group of people who each has a web page (called a 'lens' in the local lingo) on Squidoo (see Kierabel Designs' page) and who also sell on Etsy. Although this is the basic fabric that holds the group together, even though I'm a newcomer, I can see this group working together in a lot of different ways. There are several opportunities for cross-promotion, cross-marketing, and because the members are willing to work as a cooperative, it seems boundless the ideas that may be able to work in the future.

EtsyBEAD
This is a larger group that gets together for weekly discussions, has a message board and does a lot of cross-advertising type of promotions. It looks like there will be a wealth of information available with some seasoned beaders.

Two very different groups! I'm very excited to be able to devote more time and energy to my love of beading, and it will be interesting to see how these two groups affect my craft. I feel like I've learned so much in the past two weeks and I have a lot of appreciation to show!

Grandmother's Bracelet

2008-09-04T16:41:00.011-04:00

This bracelet is an example of my custom work. It's a bracelet I made for my Grandmother. She wanted something to represent the birthstones of her 4 children and their spouses, her grandchildren and their spouses and her great-grandchildren. Altogether there are 41 of us. I made a three strand bracelet, divided it into the four family sub-groups and used Swarovski Crystals to represent each family member. I finished the bracelet with a large Swarovski Crystal on each end to represent her and my Grandfather - 43 crystals in all. I was able to find a push clasp that I thought she would find it simple to operate, since at 88, she has a bit of arthritis. She was so happy! She loves this bracelet, and I was honoured to make it for her!

My Family's section, including my parents, Andrew and I with My sister and her fiance on the middle row and Kieran and Annabel on the bottom

My Aunt and Uncle's section with their 4 children, 2 spouses and currently 5 great-grandchildren are the largest group! There are two more sections not pictured in the close-up.

The Birth of Kierabel!

2008-09-04T14:09:00.000-04:00

Kierabel Designs first got its' start in 2002 when my daughter Annabel was born. I was hooked on the trendy Mothers' bracelets at the time, but couldn't find one funky enough to suit my style, nor inexpensive enough that I would actually part with the cash to pay for it - especially since I was anticipating adding to the family, making this bracelet obsolete before too long! With much encouragement from my hubby, I decided to try to make my own. It was a hit! Before long my friends wanted their own - each designed for their own tastes - some with birthstones, many liking the funky hematite design I favoured. In 2004, my son Kieran was born, and most of my friends were having their second - sometimes third! - children as well. A whole new market had emerged! Adding on nursing necklaces for my acrobatic boy was a natural extension! By 2006 I had more jewellery than I could wear and decided to start a storefront on etsy (www.squidgeaboo.etsy.com) to sell some of the things I was producing. I still sell most of my things directly to people who ask me, and I still make gifts of a lot of my items, but the idea of making enough money to keep myself in beads is all that I'm after! I'm sure you've guessed the name Kierabel comes from my kids - Kieran and Annabel, my two best co-creations ever!