First Metal Smithing Class!

I am so excited! While everyone else is worrying about last minute Christmas details, I am going to be taking my first Metal Smithing Class! I lucked up and was able to get into one at the last minute. I am going to learn how to make a forged folded metal pendant. I will try to post a picture of the finished product for you later. I couldn't learn it by myself though so I am dragging my best friend along for the ride. Weather we love it or we hate it, it's just exciting to learn a new technique and get out of my bead shop for awhile!

New Products

We have been getting tons of new products in this week at the store. As stated in a previous post, I want to be able to carry things that no one else in our county does. One of the new things that we got in this week are wooden bangles. These bangles come in all sizes and shapes and can be painted, wire wrapped, or you can add beads and embellishments to them. I love them because I have large hands and it is hard to find bangles that fit great. The bangles that came in this week come in small, medium, large, and x-large so that they will fit anyone's hands! I have a great idea for the first one that I am going to do so be sure to check back sometime this week for a picture.

I had a chance to peek into a box that came in yesterday and it had heat guns, Melt Art Pots, Ultra Thick Embossing Enamels, and some other suprises. The UTEE is a great way to make your own pendants or earrings as well as other jewelry projects. I am working on a class with them sometime in February or March.

My store is changing and I am so excited about it! I don't want to be just a store for regular beaders anymore. I mean it was great when it was just me but now there is another bead store in the county and they only cater to beaders too. I am going to cater to beaders, crafters, and alternative art crafters. I'm not going to do just bead classes anymore either. I am working on a series of classes for home furnishings that I think will go over great. I know people who love to bead but don't wear jewelry. They always give away or sell what they make. With the new home furnishings classes this gives them a way to bead and use what they make. I also have a few more suprieses up my sleeves if all the pieces fall into place. I am just going to wait a month or two and see what happens. Who knows what 2009 may bring!

Rain, Rain, go away!

Today felt like the longest day! With the rain, you couldn't get out and do anything! It was a great time to bead but I didn't even have the time to do that! We have been very busy at the store getting everyone ready for their christmas projects and getting the store ready for more great beads and findings. I am working with some new distrubutors who are sending me some awesome stuff! I am focusing on altered jewelry, personalized jewelry, soldering, and cold connection supplies. I want to carry stuff that no one else in the county has! I'm sure it won't last long though because someone always has to jump on the bandwagon!

Anyways, not only are we getting in some awesome new stuff but I have been busy working on some top secret projects for January and February. There is one that I can't wait for you guys to see!

Broccoli Cheese Soup

My life is beads but every once in awhile I try something new and I have to pass it on. Tonight I tried a new recipe for Broccoli Cheese Soup. If you like Broccoli Cheese Soup you will love this recipe.

Ingredients:
3 cans (14 1/2 fluid ounces each) reduced sodium chicken broth
2 packages (16oz each) frozen cut broccoli
1 small onion coarsely chopped ( I don't like onion so i left this out)
1 teaspoon bottled minced garlic
1 1/2 cups dry Nestle Cranation Instant Nonfat Dry Milk
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 cup shredded chedder cheese
shredded chedder cheese (optional)

Heat broth in a large saucepan to boiling. Add Broccoli, onion, and garlic. Return to boil. Reduce heat to low; cover. Cook for 5-7 minutes or until broccoli is tender. Remove from heat;

Combine dry milk, water, and flour in medium bowl; mix well. Stir into soup; season with salt and pepper if desired. Heat through. Add 1 cup cheese. Stir over low heat until melted. Sprinkle with additional cheese.

If you guys try this recipe, let me know what you think!

Beading Excursion

I love going to Bead Stores. Not only do I love looking at the beads but it gives me great ideas about how to display things, new project ideas, customer service do's and don'ts, etc. Well, Friday my friend Kim and I went on a bead store excursion and on the way home it gave me a really great idea. When I travel around to bead stores all over the state I am going to write a review about the store here on my blog so that you guys will know which one's to visit and which one's to skip. I will tell you about the store, what I loved about it, what was bad about it, and how their prices were.

On Friday we first went to the greatest eclectic stamping and paper store called Random Arts in Saluda NC. It was the cuttest little store I have ever been in. It had a great entrance and when you go into the store it is an artist's heaven. And the staff.....you can't get any nicer than these ladies! They knew how to run a store! They were very friendly and they had great product knowledge. They also helped to advertise other businesses on their block. They gave us some great recommendations for lunch and they told us about a few other businesses in their town. I love this because having a business in a small town, we have to help each other and advertise for each other. Word of mouth is the strongest advertising you can get.

From there we went to "My Garden Of Beadin" in Hendersonville. This is a really cute bead store that specializes in Vintage Beads and Findings. The store is small but they have a lot of stuff in it. They carry Swarovski and some chech glass beads. There prices are reasonable and the staff was nice. I saw a Montee ring that I loved and they allowed me to sit and make the ring while Kim was shopping. The only problem with the store is parking. There is a large parking lot at the end of the block but it was full and we had to drive around and wait for someone to leave so that we could get their space. Don't let parking keep you away though, because this is a bead store everyone should visit at least once.

I hope you guys enjoy this new blog idea. Also, be sure to check out my website at www.offthebeadedpathbeadstore.com because we have added a new contest for January! And remember, as of today there are only 17 more days until Christmas!

The Perspective of My Life: (Kelly Dale aka. queenofbling)
This first picture was taken around lunch and it is my work space. I was working on making a needle case holder for a class sample.

This is my favorite thing to eat for lunch at my favorite Coffee Shop called "The Daily Grind." It is a grilled cheese. It has 2 different kinds of cheese on it and it tastes great! It is supposed to be an "adult" grilled cheese with mayo and tomatos but I don't like either on my grilled chesse so I just get it plain.

This picture was taken around 10:00am. It is a small glimpse at what I see in my bead store called Off The Beaded Path. If you can't tell, I love purple!

This is a picture of the fountain in down town Forest City North Carolina USA. This fountain is right across from my husbands shop. It is one of the things that People love about our town. During Prom season all the prom goer's like to have their pictures taken in front of the fountain.

This is one of my favorite things to look at.....naked trees. This is a fruit tree in my back yard and I get to look at it every morning when I get into the car.

I was searching the internet this week and I found a great article on bead trends for fall and winter. Here is what it says:

Bead trends: Colors for fall and winterExpect to see lots of black beads and crystals showing up on necklaces, earrings, and even attached to clothing. Black is always a strong color going into the winter months and it appears to be even stronger this season. Another bead color to watch are fiery carnelian beads and stones which will make a dramatic statement around the holiday season. Expect red to have a strong presence this fall and winter both in fashion and in the world of jewelry. With the emphasis on purple in the world of fashion, amethyst will make a strong showing along with labradorite, a multicolored stone with purple and blue undertones. Blue is also an emerging color trend which will bring lapis into the forefront along with sodalite. You'll see these colors emphasized not only in semiprecious beads and stones but in glass and crystal beads as well.

Bead trends: The return of gold Although silver beads and pendants are still strong, gold and gold toned beads and jewelry is making a strong comeback overseas. Gold provides a beautiful contrast to the fiery carnelian and red shades that will be so popular this fall and winter. You'll also see a renewed interest in copper beads and pendants in keeping with the focus on red tones. Silver beads will continue to be important as they bring out the beauty of purple and blue stones and provide a contrasting background for black. Choose the metal that flatters your hair and face and you can't go wrong.

Beads trends: Long or layered beaded necklaces

Hope this helps you a litte bit when you are working on your jewelry in the upcoming weeks!

Swap Bot Earrings

I love to get things in the mail and that is why I love Swap-Bot. I joined an Earring Swap a few weeks ago and these 2 pairs have come in for me. I love to see what all people create. The small telephone earrngs are handmade of polymer clay. The orange one's are vintage earrings. They are both cute but the orange one's might be a bit too big for me. I know...Can't believe I said that can you?

Who knows though, they might go great with something that I own.

I am also in a Christmas card swap and the cards I have gotten have been really interesting. I got one from Portugal the other day and it was really interesting. I love to see how other people from other countries celebrate Christmas.

Be sure to check back one day this week because I am in a swap where I take pictures for one day of the world from my perspective. (What I see everyday.) I am really looking foward to that one! Also, I am going to try to post a new jewerly project this week!

Love this website!

Hello fellow Bead Geeks:

My mom and I went to the Southern Christmas Show this past friday and there was one vendor that I was absolutely smitten with. It was a company called Sweet Tees. (http://www.sweetteesbling.com/index.html) You have to check out their website! They use the Hot Fix Crystal Flat Backs and they design T-shirts, hats, aprons, etc. with these crystals. They have some really cute stuff! I instantly came home and started looking for the tool to add the crystals with. Come to find out my main distributor had them all the time I just never paid attention to them. I have some Hot Fix Crystals and Tools coming next week and I plan on doing a try-it-tuesday demo on them next month. This could take some of you to the next level on your beading! My husband said that once I get my hands on it nothing will be safe. I offered to do his Next Level Gamez logo in crystals but for some reason he wasn't too keen on the idea. Oh well, my first project is going to be a T-Shirt for me with the store's name on it. I'll let you know how I like it as soon as they come in~!

New Christmas Jewelry Creations

I was at Wal-Mart the other day looking at Christmas stuff and I came across some of the cuttest miniture polymer clay ornaments. They are about 1 inch to an inch and a half tall. You get 4 on a card for $1.00 and they would make the cuttest pendant or earrings! They have Santa's and Snowmen as well as candy cane's and lots of other mini ornaments. I bought 4 packs of them to make myself some Christmas creations as well as I am going to make a few simple necklaces to give to relatives as a "just because gift." As much as I hate to send people to Wal-Mart, you have to stop by and see the mini ornaments because they are cute and interesting enough that you could make some really cute holiday jewerly with them.

What a nice day!

Today was a really nice day. People came in the store all day talking about how dreary it was outside but I was really enjoying the weather because of the coolness. I love COLD weather! Today was also a great day because the lady over the Look Good Feel Good Program came by and picked up the earrings that people donated for the earring drive. She was so excited that we had done that! She said that they had 8 people in their upcoming class and that they would be the first to dive in the basket. It made me feel good to know that we all did something that might lift someone elses spirits. Because of us someone might have a brighter day. I almost feel sorry for those who didn't donate because they don't get to feel this joy. I told the lady that we would try to help do something else later for them also or we would try to make this a yearly donation. I think I was as excited as she was.

I am finally getting the layout of the shop and where everything is memorized. I had to move everything because I have something really special planned about the first of December and I had to make room for a few things. I can't really say much now but we be able to later in November.

A New Day

Well, this may come as a shock to some of you but I completely changed around the store this weekend! The only things that didn't get moved was the register area and some things on the wall. Everything else is somewhere completely different. People always say that I like to move around the store alot but the thing I can't get people to understand is that I have to move things around to make room for new products. I am about to reach capacity so I may have to do a few "Out with the Old in with the New" sales. :) I really do enjoy moving things around thought :)

Sammy and I are going on another excersion to Chimney Rock Park today. Last week we bought season passes and hiked a short trail with our puppies. Today we are going to hike the "skyline trail" if it is open. This is the one that is on the top of the mountain above the actual chimney. We aren't taking the dogs today though because we want to see what the trail is like before we take them on it. Last week it was all we could do to keep them walking off the side of the mountain. By the time we got done with the trail I thought that I was going to have to carry Sammy and Lilly to the car. We had a great time though and I found out that I really enjoy hiking. It was the first time I had ever really done it and it was awesome. Seeing the beauty of my surroundings and being able to take my time and not be rushed was wonderful. It was also great because I left my phone in the car so i wouldn't be bothered with it either. All in all it was a great day!

For those of you who read my last blog....the puzzle is no longer on the kitchen table!

Puzzle!

I worked at Sammys shop all day today making jewelry samples for November classes. Since I made jewelry all day I needed something else to do when I got home so I started working with a puzzle. I love to do puzzles but I hardly ever get the chance to work with them. This Charlie Brown Pumpkin Puzzle arrived today so as you can see this is what I got finished and it will probably sit on our Kitchen Table for weeks. Guess that means we will be eating in front of the TV for awhile.

What a day!

I found the coolest website today! It is called Swap-Bot.com. You can sign up for swaps and swap handmade things with people all over the world. I signed up for two swaps. The first swap was an earring swap. I make 3 pairs of earrings and send them to 3 selected people. I then receive 3 pairs of earrings. The second swap was a 75 question swap. I make a questionier with 75 questions. I then send them to two selected people. They fill out the survey and then send them back to me. Meanwhile two different people send me 75 question surveys, I fill them out, and then send them back. It's kind of like a pen-pal type thing.

I also have found another website that offers swaps but I'm not sure how great it is going to be yet. I will let you know how that goes.

Hello Blogger World!

Hello Blogger World!
This is my first post to the new store blog. My name is Kelly and I own a Bead Shop in Forest City NC called Off The Beaded Path. With the rain we got today, it was a great day to bead. Too bad taht we didn't get to much beading done because we were too busy packaging up new beads. We go tons of new seed beads and Preciosa Crystals in today! The new colors scream fall! We got some great new olive and brown colors in Size 11 Seed Beads and we got about 22 new crystals in. Preciosa has just came out with new Celsian colors and they are a crystal lovers dream! If you have never seen a Preciosa crystal then you are missing out! They are similar to Swarovski but they are 1/2 the cost! At the store we sell a 4mm bicone Swarovski for .20 each. We are able to sell the Preciosa 4mm bicones in a 12pk for 1.25. They are selling great and our customers LOVE them! If you have never seen them before check your local bead store. If they do not have them be sure to ask them to stock them!