eTextiles: Beaded Battery Holder

I finished my beaded battery holder this morning and of course needed to test it out.  I started with conductive thread, the holder, my 3Volt battery sparkle and a size 10 beading needle.

I made large knots in the conductive thread and threaded them into the inside and the tail of the thread out of the holder as seen below:

My first try there was no light, so I took it apart and tried it with just the thread, battery and sparkle,

that worked, so I ended up making my knots that needed to be hitting the battery much larger.  It seems to be working well!

Next step is to work on the frame of the bangle design and mull over how the lights will be intergrated into it. 

Comission in Red.

Well, I have been so busy I haven't been blogging or taking pictures really.  I have been beading a lot, traveling a bit and finishing up some comissions as more comissions walk in the door.  My most recent comission that was sent out was a special request in red, black and silver.  For my own comfort I had to integrate some greys into this set since I have a hard time using red in my work.

I am however pleased with the outcome.  I think that the laboradite beads and silver pearls I picked up at Beads Beads Beads in Boulder, CO helped me out.



The set will end up being a Leaves Between bangle, a pair of cluster earrings, and an extra long lariat which is still in the works. Iwill do an extra-long lariat necklace psot since this is the second one that has been ordered!

March Update

Ack!  I didn't even blog in February!!!

The beginning of February was crazy-busy-awesome for me.  February 1st brought a nice jewelry sale over at the Soup Spoon Cafe right as snow-pocolypse began to come down.  Thank you to everyone for coming out and enjoying food and drinks over at the Spoon!  Then we cleaned the house (pushing all bead-messes into the guest bedroom) for a bridal shower at my place for an old high school friend on the 5th.  February 6th held my first beadweaving workshop over at Nonpareil in Ann Arbor with four great students and I wound down with a delicious dinner at Arbor Brewing Company.  My end of February held some unpleasant surprises but I managed to get my vacation in to Colorado to visit friends and do some skiing. I also met the fabulous Lynne Bruning for an hour or two, there will be more to come on that connection!

I have been managing to bead weekly and throughout my trip, but it seems that things are selling pretty quickly too!  I want to get a blue-green themed case together for the Grove Gallery Co-op this week.  I always am thinking of green popping through the snow and brightening the dreary days of winter this time of year.  Last night at the Greater Lansing Weaver's Guild meeting I won a philodendron as a door prize which I am pretty excited to add to my house plant collection.  Just a little more inspiration to add to my life!

Coming up I am planning on giving a beading workshop in the Lansing area as I have had some requests as of late.  Please feel free to contact me if you are interested and I can keep you updated.  I am also working on a follow-up to my Beadweaving Peyote Stitch class on how to design your own bracelets which I will get together to teach in both Ann Arbor and Lansing.  Events on the table are:

Fiberfeast with the Ann Arbor Fiberarts Guild, April 16, 2010 (I believe tickets are $28.00 and they go fast)

East Lansing Art Festival is May 21st & 22nd, I will be hanging out at the Grove Gallery Co-op during the downtown festivities.