Toggle Technique 2

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Not so much a technique but a cautionary tale. I used a toggle with a plain, unadorned bar on a necklace. Although plain, it was very fine and looked quite pretty. I will never use a toggle on a necklace if the bar does not have some kind of bump or lump or flatish bit at the ends. (Check the breast cancer awareness bracelet pictured in the very first post from yesterday.) This clasp is an instrument of torture with that bar poking me in the back of my neck like an overactive conscience. One of these days, I'll re-make the necklace with an "S" clasp - my favourite for necklaces. Till then, it's easier to deny myself the pleasure of wearing the necklace.

Toggle Technique 1

My first effort at beading was a bracelet with a "toggle" clasp. In case you aren't familiar with toggle clasps, I will describe them for you. (I still love them, mostly for bracelets.) A toggle clasp comprises a bar and an "O". The bar is attached to the bracelet (or whatever) at the middle.

To operate the toggle you fold the bar so that it is more or less parallel to the bracelet, poke it all the way through the "O" then straighten it so that the bar is perpendicular to the bracelet. The bars in a toggle set is usually a bit longer than the inside dimension of the "O". This prevents it from pulling out and opening the bracelet.
However, there is a crucial bit of information that isn't immediately obvious with mere observation. (A good life lesson there somewhere.) If the beads are close in diameter to the inside diameter of the toggle's "O" then the bar won't fold down enough for it to pass through the "O". In these cases you must attach the Bar to the bracelet with a short, maybe 3 links, piece of chain (or 3 small jump/split rings chained together) . This way the bar will fold down nice and flat and slide right through the "O".
I didn't allow for this. The bracelet is very pretty, (barring its other manufacturing 'amateurities' but totally unwearable. Sort of like some people, nice to look at but you just can't live with 'em.

So Where Are We Going Now

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What I want to do with this blog is to write/ramble about beads and jewellery. Also, from time to time I may write about other stuff as the spirit moves me. Some of the topics that interest me include RVing & travel, the single life, women's issues, animal rights, photography, early retirement... and other stuff that passes into and out of my field of view.

As for beading, I spent years learning to make nice jewellery, (someday, I want to make great jewellery), I want to share the things I have learned and maybe save you a bit of trial and error frustration. I would also like to offer a question and answer (tutorial) section for folks who may want to ask questions or pose their problems. I will publish tips and techniques, patterns and reccommendations. I may add a "Donation" button, friends say I should, so folks can offer what they think my material is worth to them, if they want.

This is a concept which has worked with computer software. Someone develops a program and offers it to others as "shareware". You can use shareware and pay nothing to the author - nobody will know or do anything about it. But if you find the product useful, you can pay the author what the product is worth to you: only you know that. This honour system is working well enough for authors to continue to develop and release shareware.

I want to see if it works here.

Links

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Do you ever surf and let the links take you where they will? I do, from time to time and always amaze myself at where I've ended up. The net is an amazing thing.

I was looking for some info on using a Blog as an e-commerce site and ended up at an entertaining "vegetable soup" blog posted by a fellow named Richard Soderberg. I've included it in my list of Off Topic links. It's called "floating atoll". Give it a peek if you're looking for some interesting, eclectic stuff with a bit of a techie bent.

I've also included a link to Tioga and George one of my favourite sites which I have followed for over a year. George, or rather Jorge at the moment since he is in Mexico now, lives full-time in his motorhome and 99% of the time he "boondocks". Boondocking in the RVing world is camping for free, usually with no services (water, electricity, sewers). He has a child-like writing style (not childish) which is charming, and a philosophy of life to be envied.

I recommend giving vagabonders supreme a looksee.

It's all Mom's Fault!

Yeah, that's right. Sure...

Mom is artsy: needlework, painting, sewing... you name it. Mom had also moved from a large three bedroom townhome to a small two bedroom apartment undergoing, in the process, the inevitable purge. Out went the paints, sewing machine, and other artsy stuff. Ruthless that woman is.

Mom is also difficult in the extreme to buy for. "Oh, I don't want anything, Dear. I have everything I need." You've got one of those too, eh? Well, there I was in one of the trendy areas of town and there was the bead shop. They had all these pretty baskets with cellophane shreds and nested there all these little tubes of pretty beads. There was everything you needed to make a jewellery box full of earrings, bracelets, necklaces - even a couple of key rings. It was all I could do not to buy two: one for Mom and one for me. Greedy me.

I have bought Mom clothing I've never seen since. Books that now reside in the building's lending library. Jewellery that's "too nice" for the places she goes.

She really loves the coffee at my place. I use only Colombian beans and use a Bodum coffee press which, in my opinion makes the best coffee anywhere. So, I bought her a bag of Colombian beans, a grinder and a Bodum pot with a matching set of coffee cups. I swear the only time it gets used is when I visit. She always has to get instructions on how much coffee, how to run the grinder etc etc. (She never has to ask how much Tasters Choice to put into the cup.)

One year I figured I'd really cracked the code and bought her a case of edible treats: black olive bread sticks, lobster bisque, a packet of saffron, smoked oysters, Paris toasts... You get the picture. A couple of years later I found them at the back of one of the top shelves in her kitchen. "They're too fancy for me." What should I give her a case of cream of tomato soup and a box of saltines?

Anyway, back to the beads. I was really happy to find the beading kit. I gave it to her with hopeful expectations. She seemed so excited about it but then she always seems excited about the presents I give her. Guess what! I never saw one article that came from that darn kit. Until one day, we were chatting about hobbies and stuff. I mentioned that beading seemed like an interesting hobby. "Just a minute, I have something for you." And off she went. I just knew what was coming back. And there it was, all pretty and shiny with cellophane shreds and lots of little tubes filled with every colour in the rainbow and some no rainbow has ever seen.

"I really haven't had the time to use this - maybe you would like to give it a try." I felt the greed rising in my throat. Oh, OK, I said non-chalantly, unwrapping the basket. Conversation stumbled to a halt while I rooted around in that stash.

That was the beginning of my addiction. And it really was all Mom's fault, right?


This is a set I made for Mom, at her request, to her specification. It is Carnelian and Fire Agate with gold filled findings. I will let you know if/when I ever see it actually on her person.

Getting Started

I confess. I am addicted.

I buy beads and make jewellery. The making isn't keeping up with the buying. (Let's not even mention the selling.) Yet I continue buying. How can anyone resist the gold spirals cat, the irridescent pink leaves, the new dusty rose Swarovski crystals...? How did it begin, you ask? Well, it's all Mom's fault. Isn't it always?

Stay tuned for all the dirty details.

The first bracelet I ever sold was just like this one. It's a cancer awareness bracelet using Swarovski crystals, AB glass drucks and sterling silver findings and spacer beads. I am still using the same silver toggle clasp on most of my silver bracelets.