I’m Alive…Kinda…Sorta…8/15/21

Whelp, I’m back at the beadboard and glad for it! Last week’s pen wrap project was a fun custom design for a gal whose granddaughter loves The Beatles. Here’s the WIP from the beta tester’s pics:

Pretty awesome, right? I want to give a shout-out to my beta gal Tina whose work has been both quickly turned around and very well done. She has impeccable thread tension – something all-important in this type of craft. With her invaluable help, I am planning to be more productive by putting out new patterns more quickly in the future. I already have a new, original pattern drafted out and going into production today as I watch my weekend cartoons.

It has been a GRUELING past two months, lemme tell ya. After a disastrous two caregiving jobs in a row and a week-long stretch of unemployment with only sporadic jobs to keep us alive, I nearly had a nervous breakdown. The only thing that has kept me out of the funny farm has been a rock-solid, supportive husband, probiotics that have a wonderful calming effect (for some weird reason), and the afore-mentioned, half-day job and new client case for a dear, long-time friend. And it hasn’t helped that job-hunting and catching up on doctor’s appointments and overdue errands have kept me from doing what I truly love – writing and beadwork. Such chaos kept me off-kilter and scattered until yesterday when a writing-industry marketing specialist reminded me of the importance of having an effective marketing campaign. The discipline and focus to pull off such a feat is also what allows a crafter to keep their audience entertained with new goodies on a regular, consistent basis when applied as the benchmark for their production schedule.

This is my new goal in my business – to be more consistent and disciplined in both creating and marketing from now on.

And speaking of such, I’m off to bead. The first time in way too long. Wish me luck!

Kristine, the Getting Back Into It Bead Whore

End note – if you like this style of “I Love” pen wrap pattern, email me with your custom request idea for your own personalized pattern through the Contact Me form. The basic color palette is as pictured below, using a flat black, a gloss/shiny white, and a shiny metallic red for the heart. This template typically has a seven-character limit, though it is possible to add more words/characters by shrinking the text, so don’t be shy. I might be able to make it work for you!

Here’s another example of an “I Love” pen wrap pattern using the above colors: