Weekend fun at the Alamo Drafthouse!

We have been going to see a lot of movies since we moved to Texas!  It is nice to have that huge screen with a super buttery bucket of popcorn.  Not to mention the second run theaters here are pretty nice, and we can see a 3D movie for $3 each!  Woo!

Recently we found a place called Alamo Drafthouse.  This is not your typical movie theater!  Even as far as the dine-in theaters go, this feels far from typical.  While we decided what to eat for lunch, old-school cartoons and commercials from the 70's and 80's played on the screen.  I admit, it took a while for us to decide on our food because of the fun distraction!  And the food?  Possibly the best french fries ever, and when anyone puts cranberry sauce on a turkey burger, I'm sold.

I am also a huge fan of their very strict no talking/phone/noisy neighbor policy.  How many times have you been in a movie theater where people were talking loudly or texting on a ridiculously bright screen?  They are very clear that if that happens here, you are outta there!

Also worth noting are the special events - Elf Quote a Thon, Christmas cartoons with all the cereal you can eat (yeah, I am all over that one!) holiday sing-a-longs, and countless older movies that aren't currently shown in theaters.

With prices not above typical movie theaters, I don't see why we would go anywhere else for first run movies now!

Don't be afraid of odd count peyote stitch!

No!  Please don't click away!  I know what you're probably thinking.  Odd count peyote is confusing.  It takes longer.  Results with even count peyote are just as nice without the hassle.

While I do agree that even count peyote patterns that are planned out work up to be bracelets that are just as beautiful as odd count peyote, there is just something about weaving your bracelets into that perfectly tapered point.  It is so satisfying!  They make for beautiful endings with a special clasp.  And some patterns just work out to be odd count because of the design!

I was browsing YouTube a while back, and discovered a video from The Potomac Bead Company.  It explains how to use two needles at the ends of your single piece of thread to quickly and easily weave up an odd count peyote pattern!



See there!  I gave it a go over the weekend and it works beautifully!  Now you can have confidence while browsing through odd count peyote patterns!

I do have a few in my shop to get you started!

There's this super fun Rainbow Hearts Odd Count Three Drop Peyote Pattern:

And this very unique Honey Bee Pattern:

There is also this elegant Phantom of the Opera inspired pattern:

I have several more odd count patterns available, but these should be enough to get you started with the new technique!

What will you make first?

Happy Beading!

Amanda

Disney Frozen Crafts

Have you seen Frozen yet?  It has got to be one of my favorite movies!  If you haven't seen it yet, be sure to stay until after the credits! ;)  Totally worth it.

I have been very inspired to do some bead patterns this past week.  We have so many other things going on, it's easier for me to sit down here and there and work on a pattern. 

Here are my frozen patterns!





They are both available in my shop, in the Holiday Patterns section!  Anna and Else use brick stitch, and Olaf uses square stitch.  I have included the recommended Delica bead colors, and I feel they match the characters very nicely!

I also have some new Frozen earrings in the shop!

Winter is here! (Unoficially!)

I know winter doesn't officially start until December 21, but I feel like it's here already!  We had a beautiful ice storm last week, and had to stay indoors for several days!

Of course I made a cute little pair of beaded snowmen; they are wearing Mickey ears!

At the moment, I am working to organize my projects and time, so that I will be prepared when I can really get going with my shop again!

As some of you know, we have been in a 'temporary' house for over a year now!  Because of this, I haven't been able to really focus on my shop.  That will hopefully change next year!   

It has been a long exciting journey, but we are really looking forward to settling down!

Dole Whip Earrings are back!

After receiving so many requests for Dole Whip earrings, I have made up a brand new batch and they are available to purchase!

Better hurry though...  They are going fast!  Only 5 pairs left!  I had made up some necklaces, too, but they are already sold out!

Delicas by the gram!

I am so excited to have found this wonderful shop that sells Delica and other Miyuki seed beads by the gram!  

I wanted to share it with you!



I can't tell you how many times I have needed just a few beads of a particular color, but ended up having to by at least 10 grams of them!  (Not that you can ever have too many beads, but let's be real - I want to be able to order a bigger variety of colors at a time!) 

Not to worry though - she also sells by the 5 and 10 gram packages!

So if you've recently bought a bunch of patterns, but still need to order your beads, this is the place!

She also carries books, needles, storage for beads, patterns and more!

It's a one stop beading shop!

Mickey Mouse Bracelet!

Whew!  Things are pretty crazy around here as we get ready to visit Knoxville next week!

Of course, I did sneak in some time to make a new ready-to-ship item for my shop!

I've also added a ton of patterns!

Here are a few of my favorites!

All of these and more are available in my Etsy shop!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Now it's time to say goodbye...

I'm sure most of you have heard of the passing of Annette Funicello by now.  Yesterday was such a sad day in the Disney community.

Annette has always been my favorite Mouseketeer, and I know I'm not alone!

I worked up a tribute pattern this afternoon; this is how I will always remember her!

 

Rain, rain...

It's dark and rainy here today.  But I have to admit...  I love it!

After living in Reno for about six months, and only having rain maybe twice (and those two tiny little showers were hardly anything to get excited over!) I am so happy to see a nice rain out the balcony window today!

I have been sitting by the window, working on patterns, of course!

There's something relaxing about working on patterns.  And it's very satisfying to finish a pattern that has been floating around in my imagination for a while!

All of these patterns are currently available in my shop!

What patterns would you like to see?

I have become a pattern shop!

I have been super busy the last month or so!  Which is obvious from my lack of posts!

Not wanting to close my shop, or have an empty shop, during this busy time, I have been working like crazy to get new patterns up!

Here are a few!
[This is nowhere near all the new patterns I have listed!  Go check out my shop to see them all!]

Don't worry though!  I will start listing actual physical items again just as soon as we find a house and get settled!

I thank you all so very much for your continued support and patience during this busy time!

Pavoreal

Finally finished tweaking this new pattern!

I've been working on it off an on for a week or so now.  I think I am finally happy with it!

You may recognize the earrings from this post from a few weeks ago!  I am so happy to have the pattern available now so that you guys can try your hand at them!

I will have several more patterns up over the next week!  I love working on patterns!

If you are looking for something for Valentine's Day, I do have this adorable little free-form hearts bracelet pattern up as well!  It looks so gorgeous using pretty shades of silver-lined beads!

What are your favorite patterns so far?  Are there any that you would like to see?

We're moving! Again!

After six months of Reno life, we have decided to move again!  Nothing against Reno, we just want to be in a bigger city!

Because of the upcoming move (we are leaving at the end of February!) I will slowly be deactivating things in my shop that are not ready to be mailed out.  I have already started with the items that take a bit longer.  So if you needed something for an upcoming trip, now is definitely the time to grab it!

My goal is to leave the shop open during the move, but slowly dwindle down to having only patterns available, since those can be easily emailed out during the move.  Then, as soon as we are settled (hopefully before the end of March!) everything will slowly become available again!  

I have also been working on some really fun new things!!  I am so excited to share them, but decided to wait until after the move since I can't really take orders for the new things right now!

I am excited about another adventure, but I can't wait to have my shop up and running again with all the things I used to have available - Dole Whip earrings anyone?? :)

I thank you all so much for all your support, encouragement, and enthusiasm!  It really means a lot!

My first class!

As the title suggests...  I taught my first official class at work yesterday!  It went very well!  The girls couldn't believe it was my first time teaching - they said I was a natural!  I guess it's easy to do what you love. 

The class was a basic jewelry class.  The girls made a necklace, while I made a bracelet as the example.  We also did some simple earrings.

Here is my finished bracelet!  I ended up buying it since it was a special bracelet!  I can't wait to wear it this summer!  I chose these capri blue beads because they remind me of the ocean on a Hawaiian beach.  What do you think?

I've also listed a couple new things in my shop!

This ridiculously sparkly necklace, which has been very challenging to get good photos of!

Along with a couple of new patterns!

You can click the photos to go directly to the listings!

I should also have a lot of free time this week to add new goodies, so stay tuned!

What I do all day!

Before I get into my original blog topic, I just want to say thank you to everyone who responded to my plea for help! :)  Now I will be able to create all sorts of new treasures with real Disney World maps!

Now...  Onto the beads!

As some may know, I work in a bead shop now!  It is quite the dream job, being surrounded by beautiful beads all day!

I wanted to share some of the things I have made!

Hearts, just in time for Valentine's Day!

And who doesn't love a simple daisy chain!

My version of dream catcher earrings!

And the notorious beaded peacock feather earrings!

And this does not even include the Halloween goodies [which are all sold!] or the Christmas creations [which I totally forgot to photograph!].

If you can't make it to Reno, you can order any of these through my shop!  And if you can make it to Reno, you are in for a treat!  There are soo many talented ladies working at Beads, Etc.!

I hope you are all having a wonderful week, and until next time, Happy Beading!

Free Walt Disney World Jewelry!

Hiya folks!  It's that time again!  Time for more Walt Disney World maps!  I am running pretty low on current extra Walt Disney World maps to use for my jewelry.  So I need your help!

If there is anyone out there reading this, and you are going to Walt Disney World soon, and you are willing to pick up a bunch of extra park/resort maps for me, I will send you a free Walt Disney World map pendant necklace!

It will look very similar to this:

Here is the pendant sitting on top of a US dime!

Except your necklace will be customized to any attraction, shop, restaurant, or whatever!  You will just let me know your favorite place at WDW, and I will capture it in one of these tiny bubble necklaces!

If you would like to help, please message me over at Facebook!

Time does fly...

I realize that it has been nearly 6 months since my last blog post.  I just can't decide if I like to use my blog, or Facebook more.  Facebook seems to be getting a little less user-friendly these days, which is what made me start thinking of my little blog again.  But I am on Facebook quite a bit since we moved, because that is a fun/quick/easy way to share pics and such of what we have been up to.

I really want to start blogging more though, since it seems more personal, and customizable.  So maybe I will try blogging at least once a week.  I would love to start doing contests and giveaways again as well!

In the meantime, I have been adding lots of new things to my shop!

 

Lots of fun Disney inspired jewelry for your Disney trips!  (And there's plenty more in my shop!  

Also, look for the mixed media section to explode in the next few weeks!  I have lots of ideas that I am just so excited to share!