Then again, the last two projects I had started, which were supposed to be Xmas gifts last year (and I doubt will be done in time again this year) are WAY too ambitious.  They’re projects that are at least do-able, but they consist of multiple images on a single shade, and since one image already takes a fairly long time to do, having more than one is really slowing down the process.  Add in little to no time for beading and, well, the projects are just taking too darn long.

As soon as I get the first one finished, which has about 1/4 of one image left, plus another whole one to do, I’ll post some pictures.  The other multi image one is at home, and hasn’t been worked on for a LONG time, but I will either get back to that one when this one is complete, or go back to working on the rooster, which had been started and fell by the wayside when I started these two bigger projects.

Hopefully I’ll get these shades done in a somewhat decent time frame, so I can move on to a new project and test out more ideas I have.  And never, NEVER will I do a multi image shade again!  One image is enough work and if I ever get enough shades made to sell (instead of just giving as gifts) the multi image ones take so much work that if I were to price them based on time plus materials, no one would ever consider buying them, they’d be too expensive.

All the shades I’ve been using previously are fabric with a hard backing.  This new shade is bigger than any others I’ve done so far and is just fabric – no hard backing.  I’ve only just started outlining the pattern, but I must say, the first few beads were a royal pain in the tuckus.

Maybe if I would have started with this type of shade I would feel differently, but after having worked with the hard-backed ones, this one just seems like it’s more difficult – I can’t see where the last hole came through all the time (it’s easy with the hard-backed shades), but yet it is easier to run the thread through – no having to push so hard (I’ve got a lovely callous forming on one of my fingers from pushing the needle through).

I guess time will tell.  Even with the hard-backed shades I’ve had difficulty with the outlining and then the filling in has gone easier – maybe I just need to get past this first part and the work will start to feel more smooth.

And yes, I know I have the rooster shade still on the back burner.  I started it and I definitely need to get back to it, but I want to try and get these other projects done in time for Christmas this year, so that means all other projects are just going to have to wait a bit.  I’ve got lots of different patterns in mind already and have been searching for just the right picture to work with, so there will more to come – or at least as many as I ever have time to do. 

I’m donating it as a door prize for a function at work that I am hostessing.  I signed up last spring and said that I would like to do the planning for a wine tasting (the college my department is in tries to do one each semester as a way to get peeps to mingle after work), but that was before I even knew I was pregnant!  So, I get to do all the planning, but don’t get to partake in the tasting.  Actually, as it is, I may not even get to attend the party itself.  Depends on when the baby decides to come, but I’ve got everything ready to go and a few people that are my co-hostesses that can do the set up and tear down for the evening.  I’m hoping that everyone will have fun and that the lampshade will be a success as the door prize!  : -)

I had been waiting for some different beads to arrive that I had ordered on eBay, but wanted to keep working in the meantime.  So I started on a shade of a wolf howling at the moon.  The intent was for it to be a silhouette, so all black for the wolf and a silvery/grey for the moon.

I haven’t had a chance to work on beading as much lately.  Work has been busier, so I haven’t been able to take my regular breaks (I work at a university and the regular school season is just starting), but either next week or the week after things should be settled down enough that I can get back into my break schedule.  On the plus side, I’m off summer hours now, so I go back to an hour for lunch instead of 1/2 an hour, so that alone gives me a lot more time to work as long as I’m able to take my full lunch and not play catch up with last minute work projects.

Here’s the wolf shade after about 10 hours of work: 

The wolf is about 1/2 done and then I’ll do the moon.  Once I’m finished with it, then I’ll go back to the rooster, but I do have another project that may supercede the rooster again.  It’s supposed to be an X-mas present, if I can finish it in time, but I won’t be able to post any info on it until after X-mas.  It would spoil the surprise if the person it’s for happened to see any status info on here! 

Aside from the outline, I’ve been stringing 2-3 beads (mainly 2) at a time instead of individually.  They’re still very secure, it just saves a little bit of time.  The outline is still one bead at a time, otherwise it’s hard to get the right angles and curves to follow the pattern.

As soon as the comb is finished (which should be during break this morning, this pic was before I worked yesterday afternoon for a bit), I’m going to tackle the beak and start on the face.  Then probably the legs, as I have that color already.  Other beads should be coming soon.  I keep checking eBay periodically and have been buying only from sellers that have shops, so I can get what I need for now, but also have a better chance of getting the same ones again later, if need be.  Actually if you watch for various sellers, there’s either really good deals/sales once in awhile, but some just have really good prices, even with shipping that is less than what I can get in the stores locally.  I guess that’s the price for not being in a large metropolitan area – basically two main craft stores to choose from (I’m sure there’s smaller ones, I just haven’t looked for them) and their prices are decent, but not as good as what I can get on eBay at times.

Gotta love eBay.  I don’t know what I would do without it!

Normally I don’t even look at the little clearance cart they have, since the shades are typically the ones that are already “fancy” with patterns or frills already, so there’s no point in beading them to make them pretty.  But on the bottom rack there were a few plain shades that caught my eye.  I stopped and picked them up – imagine my surprise when I discovered that they were not only the same brand I have been buying, but 7″ as well!  The only difference is that the ones on the clearance rack are attached with a finial instead of clipping directly on the light bulb.

I figure a different way to attach to a lamp can be a good thing, so I nabbed all five that were there.  The best part – because they were on clearance, they were less than 1/2 of what one of the other 7″ shades costs!  I returned 3 of the 4″ shades and bought 5 7″ shades, but only ended up contributing less than $5 for the new purchase.  Can’t get much better than that!

However, that problem can be overcome by using a small craft pliers, which I’ve used for beading projects before when the beads are being stubborn.  So it is technically do-able.  Second problem is that the particular kind of shades I was able to get have an extremely stiff backing.  I prefer the shade to have some sort of plastic or whatever they use to give it more stability, but the littler shades have such a thick backing that as soon as I poke through with the needle, it’s cracking, which does not happen with the 7″ shades.  It might just be the brand, so I will try another store (although it will be more expensive for the shades) and see if I can find some that aren’t as stiff.  If not, then the little 4″ shades are going to be a no-go. 

But there is one bright spot – I did finish the vine shade, as I wanted to make sure that was complete before I started on the new project(s).  Pictures will be posted as soon as I get a chance, but I think it looks pretty darn good – if I do say so myself.  :-p

The two shades I’ve done so far are 7″ – which I think of as a small tabletop lamp, like for a nightstand.  I did already buy some more shades to work on – one more 7″ that I’m not sure what I want to do with and 4 smaller, 4″ shades to try my new experiment with.

What I am envisioning is the 4″ shades on small bases to use more like a nightlight.  The bases I’m picturing in my head are the ones I see a lot around Christmas – the little electric candles that you put in the window, so it looks like you have real candles burning.  Of course fancier bases could be used as well – I’m not concerned with the bases per se, as that’s not what I would be selling, but I do want to get a couple to use as examples and maybe find a couple other inexpensive “fancier” bases to use as examples as well.  Just to give people an idea of what they can use for the shades.

The shades themselves I want to bead a small picture on.  I’ve already started finding “patterns” to use.  I’ve thought of what things are most popular right now (chickens, frogs, moose, bears, wolf howling, etc.) and started doing a search for pictures.  Actually, more specifically I searched for coloring pages – as those will give me an outline, so I can fill in accordingly.

The first one I’m going to experiment with, as soon as I get the flowers on the vines finished, is a little frog/toad with spots.  I figure I can use a dark grey or black for shading to distinguish where legs, mouth, etc. are that would just blend otherwise, a dark green for the body and a light green for his spots.  It looks like his mouth is open slightly, so I’ll need to get some pink at some point for the inside of his mouth, but I’ll worry about that when I’m getting closer to being done.

I’ve already found beads on eBay, along with other colors that I will need for some of the other patterns.  I’m very excited to get started on the next project, but I want to make sure I finish the vine shade first.  Then I can post it on my website for sale, and/or just hold onto it until I’m able to participate at a craft show.

I need to dig around at home at some point and see if I can find a small base I have that would work for the 7″ shades.  I would like to take a picture of each of the shades when they are lit up, not just in a lit room.  I also need to find some boxes that the shades will fit in comfortably, so I can pack them with tissue and put those boxes into a storage tote, so they stay nice and don’t accidentally get wrecked.

So exciting for all these things to do.  Just wish I had more time to work on my little projects, but maybe the pace I’m at now is just right – I’m only able to work on beading during my breaks at work, so it keeps it interesting and exciting.  Although being able to work for hours at a time and finish quicker sounds good in theory, I think I would get bored quickly as my projects would no longer be fun, but more like actual work.

Crappy pic, but at least you can sort of see the bud…