Quick bracelets

Most of my time the last few weeks has been dedicated to video games and study. For my birthday, my husband bought me a computer game that I have been spending long amounts of time playing. It has been super fun, and I am really enjoying it. It is called Surviving Mars, and it is basically a Mars colonization game.
When I am not playing games, I have been working on getting yet another certification for the day job, and so I have been reading up on the subject. This, unfortunately, has limited my crafty time. Since I'm also between craft fairs at the moment (with a 2 month span), I have been just enjoying my relaxation time.

That being said, I did make a couple bracelets using those blanks that I wrote about previously. Here, is how they turned out.

To be fair, I really didn't take too much time away from my studies for these. I already had the glass cabochons made, I just had to select a couple from those that I had made, to use for the bracelets.

I have a small bag that has a bunch of circles that I took from magazines, catalogs, and books, and they are just waiting to be made into cabochons. I also have a stack of magazines left to go through, as well. It's actually pretty fun to search through all the pictures to find some that will work for these cabochons.

99 Bottles - Beer #9

My husband recently lost an old high school buddy, and we went to the memorial celebration for him over the weekend. One of the few beers being served was one that I knew was next on my beer list for the beer project.
This week I had a Guinness.


What I liked: this is a very stout beer. They are not joking in this regard. It had a good strong flavor and didn't seem to be practically watered down like some beers seem. This is a good beer to take your time with.

What I didn't like: it was almost too bitter for me. I ate a little bit of the refreshments, which helped tone it down a bit. This definitely isn't a beer that I would be able to drink quickly. This is a beer that I would have to be in the mood for.

Overall thoughts: I liked it, and would drink it again. I would not, however, drink this with a meal. The flavor would way overpower the taste of the food. It is good to drink on its own, or with light refreshments, like chips or pretzels.

Here is my stitching of this one:

Here is my overall progress (of course excepting the one bottle near the bottom by itself):

Full coverage SAL

Normally I don't like to post progress so close to my last progress post, but yesterday was a full coverage SAL for Stitch Maynia, and I had to participate.
Honestly, the Stitch Maynia group has a bunch of different SALs, some that last just a day, some that last a month, some recurring and others not. It's enough to keep you engaged in your stitching, which is what I really need.

Every 5th of the month, there is a full coverage SAL, where you work on any full coverage piece that you have. Since my Palace Garden is a full coverage piece it was perfect to use!

Here is where I left off 2 days ago:

Here is where I am after 2 days (one of which was the SAL).

P.S. If you are interested in Stitch Maynia, here is a link.

Yay, stitchy time!

At the end of last week, coming into the holiday weekend, one of my projects caught my eye. Without even thinking about it, I just picked it up and started stitching. Let me tell you... it felt so good.
I realize that I haven't just crafts just for the enjoyment, lately. Yeah, I enjoy all the jewelry that I make, don't get me wrong, but there is always the underlying aspect that I am also making them for my business and am intending to sell it. With that mindset, I don't really form any attachment to most of it.

I was sitting in my recliner, and looked over at my craft chair (the chair that I keep a bunch of craft things in), and there was The Palace Garden, just looking at me. I automatically just picked it up and started stitching. Since it was a long weekend, I made the decision to spend as much time stitching as I could get in. It was so relaxing.

I managed to get a huge amount done, too! It's obvious where the progress is.
Here is where I was last time I stitched:

Here is the progress that I made, along with my overall progress:

New bracelet blanks

I recently bought some bracelet blanks that I am quite happy with. The closure is actually on top behind the cabochon tray, and that is a hinge on the bottom part.

The one thing that I'm not happy about with these is that I ordered black. The ones that I got were actually a gunmetal color. I'll still be able to use them, but I would much rather have had black, as it is much more versatile with the images I get from magazines and catalogs to make cabochons.

I'm going to keep looking around for another supplier to hopefully be able to find some actual black ones.
I'll post pictures of some bracelets with the cabochons later, once I get some made up!