CafeChatNoir

watercolor pencil

The smudges on the right side weren’t there when I finished it, I think a feline may have dragged a tail through it…but happy nonetheless.

It’s been too long since I did anything creative. So today, I took an iris I’d cut (dog had run it down in the garden) went out to the back porch with my pencils and paper and went to town. It’s hardly fine art, but it makes me happy. :) I’d forgotten how hard it is to draw bearded irises, cause they’re so dang frilly – and also that yellow is hard to work with. Also got some more photos from some more blooming things, I think I am going to use those to do another drawing.

colored pencils & charcoal

Iris – this is the one I think I am going to try and draw next – I think the colors will be easier to work with than the yellows were.

I believe this one is called Loop the Loop – it’s one of my favorites, and I love that I’ve got one with three huge gorgeous blooms on it!

Wild strawberry!

Finished this bracelet this evening. Started it ages ago, but my eyes started yelling at me for the teeny, tiny freaking beads….

Managed to get over to the bead shop at lunch and get the straight pins I needed.

Fairly quiet today, and just about all the incoming calls were softballs. Should do something for my resolution stats, which have been sucking wind of late.

Then, 5 minutes before I am supposed to leave, at the top of the queue is the biggest prick client we have. No one wants to talk to him, and I mean no one. Even my manager says he should have the software taken back.

So – why on earth would I take this call? Because there were calls backing up behind it, and well, I’m a moron that way.

This is someone who basically calls us to pick fights. If he gets an answer he doesn’t like, he’ll call back 5 or 6 times and talk to different people, trying to get a different answer. So, he has two questions, one of which I have to research. The second one, it basically comes down to me having to tell him, “Look, you can do it ‘your way’, but you’re seriously going to regret it, so do it right instead, you jackass.” Well, I didn’t say jackass, but we’d been going around and around about how he didn’t really like the “right” way to do it, and I was completely done with his arrogance and stupidity. And then he says, “Well, I wouldn’t do it that way – I was just asking for my own edification.”

That’s when I threw something.

Finally got off the phone w/ him, researched his other question, and thankfully when I called back, I got his voice mail. I left him the info and emailed him the pages from the freaking manual that he hadn’t bothered to read, closed the call and went home. Amazing how one jerk can screw up an otherwise perfectly good day.

The choker and bracelet were made w/ beads from my grandmother (except the tiny blue-grey ones) and the pearls are the ones my mom bough in HK about 20 years ago and never got around to stringing.

Several more to go! Finished Mom’s pearls – that was an easy one. 4 strands, 31.5 inches. She said she wanted opera length, and she’s got it and then some. Next is the bracelet w/ grandma’s beads, and then something I’ve had rattling around in my head for a while – itty bitty seed beads, 3 shades of blue, one shade of green, and some bigger beads randomly thrown in. It looks great in my mind…

I’ve whipped through the downstairs, it’s ready for the cleaning service tomorrow, just need to gather up the laundry in my room and dump it in a laundry basket. Only thing I’ll have to worry about in the AM is pulling the sheets off the bed and leaving new ones for them.

Be interesting to see where this hurricane decides to go, and right now, it seems to have decided on hitting us. Just checked the most recent update, and this is the first one where the track has stayed steady – every other one has changed. Looks like Thursday & Friday will be the nastiest. I sure hope it decides to take one more right turn… At least I am well stocked with indoor things to do over the weekend. (I don’t even want to think about the possibility of evacuation)

But it’s going to be so good. Swung by the bead shop this morning to get some clasps for some projects I’m working on.

The first is re-stringing some freshwater pearls that are about 3-4MM that my mom got in Hong Kong about 20 years ago but never has done anything with. It’s going to be 4 strands, roughly opera length and this is the clasp I chose for it:

The second is going to be for me. I have a bunch of bugle beads that were my grandmothers’. Some silver and black in varying lengths that she bought when she visited us in Japan about 20 years ago (still in the little vials and the paper bag from the shop) and two little packets of black iridescent bugle beads that are about 5MM long from forever and ever ago. I bought a hank of sliver-grey seed beads today to round that out, and I am going to be doing a bracelet with all of these sort of randomized through it. I did some ‘test stringing’ this morning to see how they all looked together, and it is going to be terrific. This is the clasp I picked out for this one:

The pearls should go fairly quickly. The bracelet will take longer, between the tiny beads and the fact that I am going to 6 strand it to give it some width. (I’ve done 2 strands to one loop before, so I know it can be done. It’s a matter of just holding your mouth right and growing an extra hand.) And the beads are tiny. Did I mention tiny?

I get paid tomorrow… Always a good thing.

Despite this week’s hell in the office, I at least get OT for it in next week’s check.
Which is a good thing considering that I may be SOL when my boss leaves. (And frankly, watching the dysfunction today and tonight, that might not be the worst thing in the world.)

Made another bracelet tonight. Very happy with it. Love doing this stuff. VERY relaxing.

Cindy Finds A Hobby

Running out of silver crimp beads, though. Have some on order, still not here yet. May have to hit Total Crafts this weekend and take care of that little problem. It’s not like you can have too many of the little buggers.

Just looked at the map……Star’s beads (TMF buddy works there on occasion…) is only 2.6 miles from my office. Potential unemployment be damned, I think I’ll take a trip over there at lunch tomorrow – lord knows I’ll need something to do if I am canned. ;)

All in all, life is good. Tiring and frustrating at times, but good.

http://cafechatnoir.net/domestic/Earrings.jpg