Just a regular day in the life

For my family at least. We sit here and play with glitter and hot glue. Here is my daughter making a pickle bacon rocket for her science class:

And here she is after she painted her face, cause that is what happens when you give her a paintbrush:

Then she attacked her brother with it:

Handsome, and colorful!

As all this crazy was going on, I was beading on this:

and I was also building myself a light box out of poster board and duct tape. I think it came out pretty spiffy if I say so myself. Why buy a light box for $80 when I can spend around $3 and make one myself with some trusty duct tape. Here it is in all it's glory:

So then I took pics of my awesome new business cards I ordered from MOO.com. I got their mini cards cause you get more of them for your money, plus I love the size. I also love how smooth Moo's printing is and the paper they use is sturdy, and you get cool little boxes to keep them in!

As usual, getting things ready for the Plaza District next week, so make sure you all come check us out!

Beading Gone Wild

Been busy beading lately, so much so that I wasn't paying attention to the time! I can't believe it's been a month since anything has been posted here. I really try not to go that long. I apologize. Let me share with you what I have been working on lately. First up are the pieces I am working on for my husbands grass dance outfit for the upcoming pow-wow season. There are two of these, so far one is completely finished and I am working on the other one:

Here are some headbands I have made that are available in the Etsy store. I have several more in the works. Having to find time to bead for work and bead for family and still do some artwork in between! It's fun though, I like all the work!

I have also been working on some screenprinting designs for some shirts I am going to do. My mom, Catherine, is making some new jewelry. I am in the process of uploading some to the Etsy store, so check in during the week, lots of new items are becoming available every few days.

We are also going to be showing every second Friday of the month in the Plaza District at their Live on the Plaza events. I can not tell you how exciting it is for us to be part of it! It really is great being able to be part of this amazing local artist community we have growing here in Oklahoma. There are so many awesome people and the things they are creating are astounding. So look for us there every month and quite possibly other places, will keep things up to date as to where you can find us! Plan to get back to at least posting every two weeks, if not weekly again. Maybe get some of the others to post something, if I can convince them to come out of their shells hahaha.

Author:
Kiamichi

Bead Madness

I have been beading like a maniac for about 2 weeks now, I think. My perception of time is a bit wonky cause I work from home so I never see weekends anymore, but that's a whole other post about the side effects of working in your pajamas every day.

These are for the upcoming Plaza District Festival on October 9th in Oklahoma City.

The top one is going to be a bag and the others are hair pieces. I need to edge them and put them onto some barrettes. Then I decided to show my mess. I have this HUGE stack of drawers that are full of nothing but beads in them. I am slightly shocked though cause when I went through them the other day I realized I am running out of a few colors. I haven't had to buy beads in about 5 years, I buy in bulk, so it was a bit of a surprise to me.

Other than this, I am just trying to get my whole look for my booth together. I haven't had a real booth in a long time and I have changed what I sell so coming up with a cohesive look is stressing me out a bit. I want it to be simple but pleasant to the eye, but not to where it is distracting from what I am selling. The crafts are the stars after all. Until next time, happy creating everyone!

The One Man Hat Band

I decided to do my baby sister a favor and bead her man a hat band. It was supposed to be for Christmas, which he got to look at it but I hadn't finished it yet. It's now March, I just got it done last week, lol. So much for me being swift on this one. Granted though, I have to be in an emotionally stable place when I do any kind of traditional bead work. I can't bead when I am feeling crazy or for certain other reason I do not care to share with the population at large, kind of personal spiritual reasons that I just do not feel like explaining. Basically, when you are in a rotten mood, the beads seem to know and they will hate you for it and not do what you want them to then the item you are making is just going to be a source of frustration for you and you will resent it the whole time you are making it. This is why it took me so long, I didn't want to resent it. It isn't necessarily a pattern I would normally do, it is very different and one of a kind. Kind of like the person I made it for. He really is a great guy. So here is the hat band I made for him to wear with his cowboy hat. The photos are progressive and I made it with nylon thread, beeswax, seed beads (size 11), card stock, felt, and backed it with leather.






That's my son holding it for me. I think he would kill me if he knew I posted his picture somewhere, he is kind of shy lol.

Now that I have that finished I can start on another piece. Well several pieces actually. They will all be part of a traditional grass dance outfit for my husband. He is going to start dancing again and we are hitting the pow-wow circuit hardcore this summer so of course, he wanted brand new bead work. Here is kind of a sneak peek at it and a few pics of the beginnings of his cuffs:




Please, this is a family design so no stealing it. As in, everyone in my family has this on their regalia so if I see it on yours I will shame you out. You know what I mean. Use it for inspiration all you want, just don't blatantly rip it off. I will have some more updates soon, shoe related ones! EXCITED!!!