Obstacles

Well, maybe Ganesh knows something that I don't.

This morning, I got my latest order from Sparkle Spot Bead Shop down in Florida, which included three spools of their marvelous colored Fireline (squee!) and a sheet of Lacy's self-adhesive design paper.

The self-adhesive design paper is really quite something. You can draw on it or put it in a copier or put it in a printer and print your designs directly onto it, then remove the backing and adhere it to a piece of Lacy's Stiff Stuff. (Or, in my case, a piece of Nicole's BeadBacking, which I much prefer to the Stiff Stuff any day!)

My idea for the self-adhesive design paper was to take some of the amazing and awesome artwork of my friend Susan Tompkins and turn it into bead embroidered pendants.

I printed a test page just to make sure that I knew which way my printer was oriented, and discovered that my printer was not printing any of the vibrant reds in the pictures!

So I cleaned the print heads. I replaced the magenta cartridge. I cleaned the print heads again. I contacted Brother customer service and was told that I need to take my printer to a service center. Of course, the nearest service center is Williston, Vermont.

I don't think traveling to Vermont, paying $28 for a ferry ride and then shelling out x number of dollars to have a $50 printer repaired is a wise move at this time. I hate to say it, but I think this printer is bound for the thrift shop, and I'll shell out $60 for a new one at Staples next week.

I'm frustrated, to say the least, that I'll have to put off this particular project, but maybe that's a good thing. I've got three more projects sitting on my table right now: my challenge piece for the Oct/Nov issue of Beadwork magazine (which needs to find its merry way to the Loveland office before June 12); a piece I've been tossing around in my head made from Twins and two-holed freshwater pearls that I picked up in Tucson; and not least of all, my piece for the Battle of the BeadSmith!

I did a little experiment for my Battle piece, and I'm pleased to say that with a bit of tinkering, I should be able to pull this one off. My technique for this needs to be flawless, so I'm a little nervous about that. I've never been particularly good at this technique, but I'm determined. Even if it means having to wear Band-Aids on my fingers for the next few weeks because of all the cuts I'll give myself by tugging on the Fireline, I'm going to do it.

That said, I took a few minutes last night before dinner to finish assembling this piece:

There are all those Czech glass stones that I've bezeled! Connected with vintage Czech glass pearls and finished with a vintage Vermeil clasp from A Grain of Sand. I have absolutely no idea where I'm going to be able to wear this, but a friend on Facebook suggested to a potluck dinner and bonfire tomorrow night. Ha!

Tom and his friend Claude have taken Colden fishing for a little while, so I am enjoying some veg-out time on the computer and catching up with things.