Who's having fun on Tik Tok?   

I am!!  I've been trying to post videos that you might find interesting :)  So far, I have a couple of tutorials, and I just uploaded a new tool video.  Hop on over and follow me there!  And be sure to let me know what you'd like to see more of! 

New Tool:  vedasbeads (@vedasbeads) | TikTok

Earring Drops Part 1:  vedasbeads (@vedasbeads) | TikTok

Earring Drops Part 2:  vedasbeads (@vedasbeads) | TikTok

Making Glass Buttons:  vedasbeads (@vedasbeads) | TikTok

Making Dread Beads:  vedasbeads (@vedasbeads) | TikTok

Making a Lampwork Leaf:  vedasbeads (@vedasbeads) | TikTok

Making a Heart with a round press:  vedasbeads (@vedasbeads) | TikTok

New Website!

It's Here! 

VedasBeads.co

A website to make it even easier for you to find the beads you need for your designs!

I'm excited about this 😁  As always, it's a work in progress, but I'm working on it! 😂

The really great thing about this website is that it's hosted on a platform called GOIMAGINE, which is a marketplace strictly for handmade, U.S. goods, and the best part is that they donate their profits to children's charities. 💖 Please check out the other makers on the marketplace!

Goimagine

Happy shopping!  And I hope you find a new maker you'll love!

Tool Talk ~ Zoozii's Charm Box

Let's talk tools!

I'm kind of a tool junky ~ I have a LOT of them! 

Today's tool talk will focus on Zoozii's Charm Box

First, let me say that Zooziis are my favorite tools!  They're high quality, excellent value, great customer service, easy to use, and I like the pegs for making sure you get a straight press.  This one is really opening up possibilities for me in making European charm beads and getting away from the standard donut-ish shape.

Here are some beads I made with this press

DONE!!

I'm completely finished with the studio organizing project!!   (Finally!)  Whew, that took a while.  I promise myself I will never have to do that again!

View from the door

Torch Bench

After ~ All set and ready for beadmaking!

Studio Update

So I've been organizing in my studio AGAIN!  I'm getting the glass done this time though, so hopefully, this is the last full on studio re-do I'll ever have to do.  I have made a big dent in the glass storage going from this:

Before

To this:

After

WHEW!  That was a bigger project than I anticipated!  In all honesty, I'm still not finished (I will NOT show you pictures of the piles that are still on the floor! lol)  But I'm getting somewhere, and I'm already finding it easier to decide what colors to use.

While I've been working on this project I've come to realize that I have a LOT of tools that are begging for some sort of organized storage too.  

If there was a "Hoarders" show for crafters, I would probably qualify!

But the upside is I've decided to start a "Tool Talk" segment on my blog.  I'll feature one tool (hopefully every week) let you know if I have any hints or tricks to using it, whether or not I would buy it again, show you some samples of what I've made with it, etc.  And the (other) upside is that this will make me really focus on each tool and possibly even part with the ones I don't really, truly love. (Read - more room for new tools!)

Okay ~ diving back in!  I've already started thinking about the first tool review ~ and it's one I've only had for 4 days and I already love!

I'll leave you with a little cleaning music ~ crank this one up and try not to dance!

Rebranding

New Year ~ New Look!

I've been giving this a lot of thought lately, and I think it's time for a change.  I've been using the same images to represent my business since practically the very beginning.  However, those images really no longer represent what I do, or can do.  My work and my business have evolved and it's time my brand reflected that. I think it's time for a fresh new look!  This probably won't happen overnight ~ I've still got a thousand business cards and a few hundred address lables with the old design, and lots and lots of updating to do on websites, but I will slowly be changing everything over.

I'll be changing from this:

To this:

Welcome to my new logo picture!  Same great affordable beads, made with the same love and sunshine, just updated!

I haven't made the flat squares in over a year, and my .co is now a .com ~ so I'm ready for a fresh new start!

New Contest

WIN FREE BEADS!

I'm running a quick and easy contest on my Veda's Beads Fan Page  

Under this box are 4 chunky squares ~ all you have to do is pop over to the fan page and guess what color they are and they could be yours!  Oh, and just a hint:  they are all the same color.  Winner announced Sunday January 27th.

GOOD LUCK!!

Happy New Year!

Well, we have survived yet another appocolypse ~ it was a close one this time!

Since we're still here, I guess I better start setting my goals for the coming year.  I've never been a fan of New Year's resolutions since they're really more a to do list for the first week of January.  By the second week you feel like you're falling behind and by the end of the month you feel like a complete failure.  So to continue my own tradition of making plans instead of resolutions I've decided to make a list of things to accomplish this year.  I'm taking a page from my friend's blog Kat's On Fire  (If you haven't read her blog you definitely should!  She's hilarious!) and making an epic list of 100 things I want to do this year.  

100 things for 2013 

(in no paticular order)

1.   Visit a Mayan ruin
2.   Send a message in a homemade bottle
3.   Go to a live concert
4.   See a sea horse in the wild
5.   Go spelunking
6.   Participate in a 5k
7.   Drink something more sophisticated than beer but less snooty than wine
8.   Go to the gym at least twice a week
9.   Finally finish Don Quiote
10.  Walk 4 miles at least 5 times a week
11.  Make a Kiva loan
12.  Build a bird house
13.  Go to a play
14.  See a pro football or baseball game
15.  Organize the kitchen cabinets
16.  Write a weekly to-do list ~ and accomplish everything on it!
17.  Go kayaking in at least 2 countries
18.  Take a road trip
19.  Spend more time outside
20.  Participate in at least 2 craft shows
21.  Make a higher sales goal ~ and meet it!
22.  Finish the trim in the bathroom that was remodeled 3 years ago
23.  Kiss behind a waterfall
24.  Take a hot shop class
25.  Find a new doctor
26.  Finally decide what to do with Mom's ashes
27.  Get a tattoo
28.  Stick to a weekly cleaning schedule
29.  Wear real pants more often
30.  Spend more time outside
31.  Swim with whale sharks
32.  Wear a bikini ~ even I don't look perfect
33.  Organize my glass
34.  Swim in the ocean
35.  Paint my lawn furniture
36,  Have a big yard sale/Goodwill trip and seriously downsize my "stuff"
37.  Do more off mandrel work
38.  Find one new venue to sell beads regularly
39.  Spend one weekend doing "touristy" stuff in my town
49.  Have something published in a magazine
50.  Take a photography class
51.  Get a great haircut
52.  See a sea turtle in the wild
53.  Pay off credit card
54.  Put in a sidewalk from the driveway to the back door
55.  Plant a big garden
56.  Blog every week
57.  Use the fireplace at least once, just for romance
58.  Fly a kite
59.  Take a dance class
60.  Own at least one complete outfit that is currently in style
61.  Spend more time outside
62.  Go hiking at least once a week in the summer
63.  Take my "someday I want to" goal and make a detailed plan to reach it
64.  Be more frugal
65.  Clean my studio
66.  Take an overnight kayak trip
67.  Do one thing that scares me
68.  Go snorkeling at night
69.  Give my decor a carribean makeover
70.  Learn a new recipe every month
71.  Host a real dinner party
72.  Buy accounting software and use it
73.  Go somewhere I've never been before
74.  Keep a journal
75.  Advertise in a magazine
76.  Donate to Circle of Hope
77.  Raise $300 for Relay for Life
78,  Build a front porch
79.  Renew my passport
80.  Do sit-ups every day
81.  Keep an indoor plant alive for longer than a month
82.  Eat more vegetables
83.  Practice an "attitude of gratitude"
84.  Practice random acts of kindness
85.  Sleep in a hammock
86.  Go skinny dipping
86.  Hang pictures in the hallway
87.  Meditate every day
88.  Develop a bead style that is uniquely me
89.  Never stack anything on the treadmill
90.  Pick an inspiration quote to focus on every week
91.  Use the "big" torch more often
92.  Streamline my promotion efforts
93.  Go kiteboarding
94.  Go out on a sailboat
95.  Watch more sunsets
96.  Attend a festival in a foreign country
97.  Make homemade ice cream
98.  Go geocaching
99.  Ride a train
100. Make a video tutorial

Whew!  That's ambitious!  But I really think I can accomplish it all this year.

I want to start the year with one of my favorite quotes ~ one that is on the wall of my studio as a daily reminder.

Go make 2013 EPIC!!

One Fish Two Fish

One Fish ~ Two Fish

Okay, I don't actually have any red fish or blue fish, but there is a whole school of them in my studio right now! 

So let's give one away!!

Go to my Facebook Page, like the page and guess how many fish are currently in my school.

This winner will recieve this fish:

If more than one person has the same guess we'll do a random drawing from among the right answers.

Winner will be announced Friday, November 9th.

 Happy Fishing!

A Pirate Looks At 40

40!?!

I can't believe I'm turning 40 this month ~ 

I can't do anything to stop it, so I'm going to celebrate with a sale!

For the entire month of November

40/4/40 

that second one isn't a 40 for a reason :)

So, what is the 40/4/40 sale?

40 cents off every item all month long!

Buy 4 items (see, aren't you glad it's not 40!)  and get 40% off 

the highest priced item.

To receive your discount just put Happy 40th in the note to seller and I'll send you a refund through paypal. 

Since I have to turn 40 anyway, I may as well be positive about it!

And a special Happy Birthday shout out to my sister who turns 38 this month ~ I love you Melly!

October

Apple harvest should only last a few more days, then it's back to full time bead making!

This morning we picked apples in the rain.

And it really made me want to be warm and cozy in my studio!

Okay, so I'll have to do a LOT of cleaning before it looks like that again. But first, more beads! 

The best part of being a beadmaker

Do you know what the best part of being a bead maker is?

Even if it's October, and raining, and 11pm ~ I can still pick a bouquet of flowers out of my kiln!

I LOVE MY JOB!!

Watch for some of them in my Etsy shop tomorrow :)

Artist Spotlight

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

SparkleJunkie

I have this customer.... 

okay she started as a customer, but she's turned into that fun, crazy friend that you know you'll eventually wind up in jail with!

Anyway ~ she makes some absolutely beautiful and incredibly affordable jewelry and I want to make sure everybody knows about her!

First, she makes these great barefoot sandals!  I have 2 pairs and they are a fun and flirty addition to any summer outfit!

Barefoot Sandals

She also has tons of fun bracelets:

Red Leather Sterling Silver Tube
This one I gave to a friend and she
loves it! Lightweight and goes with
everything!

November Birthstone

I bought one like this for myself, but
my 12 year old daughter promptly 
comandeered it because it was
"girl on fire". She wears it all the time!

And of course ~ she uses some lampwork in her designs :)

Black and Silver Necklace

Flowers for Rue

Old Glory

                                 

                                                     

So there you have it ~ quality, affordable, sparkly jewelry from a talented lady with a first rate shop! 

The Holidays are coming up fast, so get started now!

Also, check out FamilyManJewels for a great gift for the men in your life!

RINGS!

I've been wanting to make rings out of my beads for a long time, and I've also been looking for a new use for my square beads.

SUCCESS! 

SQUARE RINGS!

I'm so excited about these :)

Here's a close up

You know I'm going to be making more of these!

They really are fun to make, fun to wear, and way easier than I thought.

If I can get a friend to do some photography for me, I might just put up a quick free tutorial. Stay tuned!

Here's the song that's been stuck in my head all week ~ enjoy!

FALL

It's officially Fall!

So I'm working apple harvest

With my Grandpa

Making apple beads

And just generally busier than any other time of year!

New Tools!

ZOOZII'S BUBBLE PRESS

I was fortunate to be able to attend the International Society of Glass Beadmakers Gathering this year.  It was an amazing experience!  I learned so much and met so many great people.  And of course, I also did a LOT of shopping! Thankfully Dusty went with me and not only carried everything, but even encouraged me!  

One of the purchases I made was the Zoozii's Bubble Press. 

I was a little intimidated because it looks so difficult to use, but it made such fun beads I couldn't resist! Amy even showed me how to use it during one of the open torch sessions,

I've made about 15 of these so far, but I already only have these few left at the house.  

I swear the only thing happier than bubbles is bubbly beads!

More of these will be turning up in my Etsy shop in the days to come and of course you can always find them locally at The Sun Dog Bead Co.

Happy Beading!!

Just for fun ~ here's a little music that always makes me feel bubbly!

Richie Spice - Yap Yap

Scavenger Hunt!!

Let's have a little fun!  

My kiln is currently undergoing maintenance so I can't make beads for a couple days. 

So I thought we'd have a scavenger hunt!

There are 3 randomly chosen items currently for sale in my etsy shop with the number 50 in the listing.  If you find one of them send me a message either here, on etsy, or on facebook  and I'll give you

 50% off that listing!! (first one to contact me on each listing is the one who gets the discount)

Good luck and have fun!!

5 Social Networking Errors Businesses Should Avoid

 You are a small business. You sell products or services that I'm interested in and I'm ready to become your best customer!  And then I notice a few things and look for someone else in your field.  Even if you have customer service down to a science, there are things that make me walk away.

1.  Do not load your feed with political or religious posts.  It's okay to have an opinion, and even to share it occasionally in a respectful manner, but remember you are talking to your customers and many of them may not share your views.

2. Do not badmouth a customer.  Ever. Seriously, other customers are reading this and wondering what you are saying about them.  Is it worth a two sentence rant to lose even a small percentage of your business?

3.  Do not complain or whine or gripe about your lack of sales.  When I see that, I just assume that everyone else knows something I don't and join them in steering clear of you.  While we're on the subject, don't post sob stories about why I have to buy something from you because you need the money so badly.  We all need money to get by in this world. If your kid needs braces and you whine about how much you need to sell because of that, you may just remind me that my kid needs braces too, so I should save my money.

4.  Do not write a blog post about how to sell the stuff you don't like, at your top price, to a group of people that you consider less important than your real clients.  You think I'm joking?  I've seen this!  Some of us treat every single customer with the same respect and work hard to give them our top products. Customers do know the difference.

5.  Do not make me try to decipher what you are saying.   DO use proper English, and check your spelling and grammar. Also,  I don't want to see how many swear words you know, or how many creative ways you can use them.  If you can't shout it in a room full of grandmas, don't say it online.

Your name is inextricably connected to your business, so even if you post these things on your personal pages your customers know, and despite what you may think, they probably care.  Stay positive and respectful, it  makes the difference between success and failure.

Bead Inspiration ~ Tropics

Once again, I am dreaming of some tropical location and wishing I lived under a palm tree!  I think this week I will focus on all things tropical ~ palm trees, the ocean, sea creatures ~ you name it, I'll be trying it on a bead!

Here are a couple of things I'm going to use for inspiration this week:

And I think I have a really interesting idea for this:

This week I'll start posting pictures of what I made based on the inspiration.  I promise I'll share the good, the bad, and the ugly ~ as long as you understand there will probably be more ugly than anything!

Since it's on my mind again ~

Two Tickets to Paradise by Eddie Money



Have a productive week!

MONDAY?!

Ouch!  Looks like I fell off the blog again.  I think I may have skinned my knee this time ~ they ought to make training wheels for these things!! 

Okay, today's motivation ~  hmmm....  Flowers!  I've been working on improving my flowers lately, and I've come up with quite a few things I like.  But I think I'm ready to up my game!  Let's try something like this: 

Or this:

These might be wishful thinking, but I have to keep pushing myself!

I guess a little music about flowers is in order :)

Scarlet Begonias by Jimmy Buffett

Have a great week, and stay motivated!