We celebrated Christmas only about 3 weeks ago but with the pandemic still being a threat I managed to post three (3) new patterns. That is quite satisfying to me. I have seen that a number of people have already looked at them but ... no comments. You know I would welcome comments. I am not fishing for praise. Only God needs to be praised. Input from fellow Chrismon makers could be helpful. There might also be thoughts about the meaning of each symbol I have not thought of myself. With other words ... feel free to criticize too.
And ... I am slowly running out of ideas. What symbol did I not design yet?
Designing the new patterns and also starting this year's Chrismon project for my church and my friends has also made me think about material sources.
I desperately needed wire. I found some time ago that the best wire to work with is Zebra wire. I found that I don't have issues with it breaking any more like I used to. That was often so frustrating. I also found that the best source to buy it is Fire Mountain Gems and Beads. They have 1/4 pound spools (which for a 26 gauge wire is about 115 yards). They have lots of different gauges and even colors. I take inventory and try to buy what I need in one order to cut down on postage.
Unfortunately Fire Mountain does not have the beads I usually need. For many years I bought those at Rufty's and I have shared this before.
But I found the same quality beads and pearls now also at DonnaKayBeads on etsy.com but for a much better price. Very recently I made a large order and could not believe how much I saved. Donna was most helpful and there was no postage since the order was large enough. I found it a bit difficult to find the kind/size of beads or pearls I needed but with the order came a sheet with all the different sizes and prices. Most helpful. There is a button to click "Message Donna" and you could probably ask for that list to be emailed to you. As I said, she is most helpful. If you order from her, you might tell her that Christa is a happy customer.
Most of my patterns use beads and/or pearls from either of these suppliers. A few patterns have special beads and I indicate on those patterns exactly where I got them. But of course you could substitute if you find similar ones (like the glass beads for the rainbow for example).
I hope you find this helpful!!! May be you have a helpful tip?
1 comment:
Thank you so much for your advice on wire and beads. I just found this site as our church is making Chrismons in July. Your patterns are truly inspiring, even down to the simplest shell that just needs a drill hole to hang it and 3 beads to symbolize water. I hope I have permission to share with the church ladies the designs and meanings.
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