So Many Beads...So Little Time

Making beads out of denim jeans is just one of the many tasks involved with my jewelry making. In addition to making beads, stringing jewelry, and listing my creations in my ArtFire shop and promoting my business, I have a part-time job during tax season and I am a caretaker of my parent while keeping house with my daughter and husband. Today is my hubby's birthday!! Last year we celebrated 15 years of wedded bliss. He has been so supportive of me in every endeavor. My denim jewelry idea was no different. When trying to decide on a name for my unique creations, it was actually my wonderful husband who came up with "Casual Day Designs"!! Fridays are known in most workplaces as casual day Fridays when employees are allowed to wear jeans--since my jewelry goes so great with jeans, it just seemed like the perfect name. I just wanted to give credit where credit is due!! Thanks to my loving husband, and have a great day, Honey!

Custom Denim Bead Necklace and Earrings Set

In September of '08 I designed one of my denim bead necklaces using a polymer clay pendant I made. It was quite a unique piece and one of my favorite creations. Recently, I had an individual view the image of that creation on my facebook page and contact me regarding a custom design.

I am so pleased to be able to show both the before and after pictures here. The main changes were for the use of all dark denim beads instead of both light and dark denim as well as incorporating more purple beads into the design. I think it turned out very nice, and it made me want to try my hand at the polymer clay again.

Denim Bead ID Lanyard Now Availabe on ArtFire Store

Those that know me know that it's practically a tie which jewelry task I like doing best--stringing new creations or finding new bead stores to go through. Just like my denim bead designs, no two bead stores are alike. I keep a list of clever names of coffee houses, B&B's, and bead stores! On a trip to Stillwater, Minnesota a little over a year ago, I happened upon a quaint bead shop entitled Art N Soul. In the basement of this gifts and novelties store was tucked a little room of spotlighted brick walls with baskets and containers overflowing with beads and findings--I was in bead heaven! Among the varied treasures were some painted bone beads. I wasn't sure what I would do with them at the time, but knew they had to be part of my collection.

The end result included several of my dark blue denim jean beads along with some black dice beads. At the time I created this piece, I was working as a revenue auditor at a casino. My plan had been to sell these and other employee ID badge lanyards in the casino gift shop, but I've decided to showcase them in my ArtFire studio instead.

Check out this creation as well as many others. I'm adding to my inventory daily!

Casual Day Designs Opens ArtFire Store

I'm very excited to be opening my first online store via ArtFire!! After losing a sale last month because I wasn't set up to accept credit card payments, I knew I needed to take that leap of faith and join the ranks of the ever-growing eCommerce world. Thanks to my dad's research and experience, I was able (with his help) to quickly get a store up and running. Now it's just a matter of finding the time to photograph my jewelry with a little more finesse, write some descriptions, and get my product in the store "window"! I still have a lot to learn, but there are plenty of artists in the ArtFire community eager to lend their expertise to their fellow artisans.

Thanks for stopping by!

Here it is at long last!! Shinier, sparkly denim beads with personalized "denim-look" pendants.

A Time for Harvest

My last post was in April of this year. I've taken some time to travel, relax, sample a variety of cuisine, hone my coffee snob status, and plant some new and renewed ideas with regards to my denim bead designs.

There's still no doubt in my mind that I have a very unique and valuable idea (to toot my own horn), but I had been wavering from my own lack of self-confidence (and lack of sales) whether to even pursue development of my jewelry creations.

During my haitus, I continued to ponder my denim bead idea and ways to improve my product. I've struggled with whether or not I like the "frayed" look of the beads upon prolonged wear and have been trying to come up with an idea to eliminate that aspect. I've also felt that while I like the denim look and the fact that it matches the jeans that I love to wear, the notion that jewelry should be more shiny and sparkly has niggled at the back of my mind as well.

So given the fact that my daughter is back in school once again and I've had to curb my vacation-taking, I'm back in my creative zone and working on a couple new enhancements to the denim beads.

I will be trying a new and improved denim bead that has sparkle, shine, and less fraying tendencies. I did manage to stumble across a few other rare bead finds throughout my travels that I will incorporate into the designs with my new denim beads.

So watch for some new creations from Casual Day Designs (and hopefully new posts that will occur more often than every four months ;) ) as my ideas come to fruition.

The seeds of new ideas have been planted and it is now time for harvest!

It's A Spring Thing...Mama's Country Memories

May 1 & 2 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. - Casual Day Designs jewelry will be featured at the Mama's Country Memories craft sale this weekend. Come spend a fun day in the country--handmade crafts, home and garden decor, refurbished vintage furniture pieces, primitive antiques, iron yard and garden art, hostas, perennials and potted plants, fresh baked goods, and so much more. There will be a wine tasting on Sunday, May 2nd hosted by "Garden Winery" a new Iowa Winery. Mama's Country Memories is located 7 miles east of Northwood on Hwy 105 at 4685 Vine Avenue.