"When one door closes, another opens;
but we often look so long and so regretfully
upon the closed door that we do not see
the one which has opened for us." 
— Alexander Graham Bell

I've been thinking about the "one door closes, another opens" saying.  As you may have heard, Bead Trends will cease publication in July.  I had several projects published in that magazine, including the Pearl Posies necklace, the Southwest Style pin, beaded keychains, bird earrings, beaded napkin rings, and these Acorn Earrings.  I enjoyed the magazine's beautiful photographs and easy submission process.  I'm sad for the staff who are now out of work and for the many beaders who found their first published work in this magazine.  (They seemed to be exceptionally welcoming to new designers.)

The same week I heard about Bead Trends, the new acquisitions editor at Interweave tweeted about welcoming book proposals from jewelry makers.  I also heard about a new jewelry design contest sponsored by Beadalon.  And while browsing Barnes & Noble that same week, I learned about an upcoming Mixed Media Jewelry Swap hosted by Cloth Paper Scissors. 

Yes, none of them is the exact same as a beading/jewelry magazine, but they are all good opportunities to stretch your creativity in a new way. This is why I love Alexander Graham Bell's quote.  If you're looking for that exact mahogany door with the 3/4 arch and beveled glass windows that you lost, you're going to be disappointed.  Try opening that knotty alder wood door with the bronze doorknob or the oak double doors with the stained glass.  You never know where they might lead.

About the photo: I created this fairy door a couple of years ago in an adult ceramic class.  It's about 5-6 inches tall.  The teacher showed the class some examples as "good kid projects." Naturally, that's exactly what I chose to do, while the college kids all made "grown-up" projects such as serving platters and vases.  A friend sent me this article at Messy Nessy Chic with lots of photos of fairy doors.  (You'll want to see the one at Google!)

Quote Source:  BrainyQuote.

"Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird."
—Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
by Anne Lamott

If you're a writer, you may recognize this quote from a popular writing book.  (If you're a writer and you don't recognize it, you need to stop what you're doing right now and get a copy to read.)  The author Anne Lamott is talking about not getting overwhelmed by huge projects. 

Here's how she describes the origin of the "bird by bird" phrase:

“Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report written on birds that he'd had three months to write, which was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books about birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him put his arm around my brother's shoulder, and said, "Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.”

I've been thinking about this because I'm in the middle of a huge design project.  I have at least a dozen pieces of jewelry on my table right now in various stages.  I usually work on multiple projects at once—it keeps me from getting stuck or bored—but not this many.  In order to meet a deadline this month, I've trying to maximize my time and do a little work every day.  Unfortunately, I don't have all the beads and findings I need to finish, so my pile of unfinished jewelry projects keeps growing.  It's been a little overwhelming, so I finally resorted to the "boxes and bags" system that I used last year when preparing for a craft show.

Boxes and Bags

First, I set out some small kraft jewelry boxes. (Ziploc bags work, too, but I prefer the boxes for fragile items.) Then, I put whatever materials I have for a certain necklace or bracelet into the box and a note about what I still needed to buy or what I was waiting for the mail carrier to deliver.  For some I also included a tiny design sketch.  Now I can see at a glance that this bracelet's finished except for a clasp or I still need some red ceramic rounds to finish those earrings.  When I sit down to work, I can pick one of the boxes and start without wasting time figuring out what still needs to be done.

Online Order Annotations

I also printed my receipts for my online bead orders and annotated them so I knew exactly which beads I needed for which project and can quickly sort them into the right boxes when they arrive.  (It's amazing how quickly I can forget that crucial information when the beads arrive one or two weeks later.) 

Craft Show Displays

I know crafters who use their displays as a way to judge their progress.  That is, they place completed items on their display so they can easily see if they have enough products (and the right variety) to fill up the display and replace any sold items.  This works well for me even when preparing jewelry to send to galleries where they'll do the display themselves.  I can quickly see that I need to make more bracelets or I don't have enough variety in the types of necklaces I'm making.  It also ensures that you stay with a certain "look" or theme and that everything looks cohesive when placed together.

Detailed To Do List or Spreadsheets

This is how I keep on track with my Etsy shop, which is a huge project all by itself.  I list specific items and what is needed for each one:  description, keywords (tags), pricing, photographs, promotion.  Using "draft" mode for listings, I can add photos to several listings one day and all the keywords another.  Sometimes during especially busy periods I break my list down even further with specific types of photos needed (such as a photo of a necklace shown on a neck form).  It seems like you'd be able to remember which earrings need new ear wires before you take photos or which bracelet needs to be weighed so you can figure out the postage costs, but that's not always the case!

What tips do you have for organizing big projects?

Quotation source: Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott.

"A writer is someone who writes."
—Marge Piercy in "For the young who want to"

We love to complicate.  A writer is someone who writes [insert huge number] of [insert genre here] books, who has won [insert amazing prize], received a glowing review from [insert famous newspaper or journal], and has [insert another huge number] of fans.  Or maybe a writer is someone who writes.  

Awhile back I asked my friend Cat at Boo Beads Jewelry to create this special typewriter pendant for me.  The advantage of writing about and designing jewelry myself is that I know all the hard work that went into this pendant:  she found the perfect typewriter image in the size I wanted, etched it into the copper, cut out the shape (even around all those tiny typewriter knobs!), drilled the hole for the jump ring, added the antiquing (the patina) to darken the copper, stamped the Marge Piercy quote on the back in the cutest little font, and tumbled and polished the pendant to perfection. 

If you're looking for a special piece of jewelry, the kind you can't find at your typical mall store, I highly recommend her work. (Note: I added the chain and clasp myself, but I'm sure Cat would add one if you prefer to buy a finished necklace.)

Quotation source:  I found a copy of "For the young who want to by Marge Piercy at Poetry Foundation.  Also, I took the photo on this page, so any failings you find with it are all mine.

"We went through my game plan, which was none.  I only knew what I was making, how I made it, and that I'd have to know how to make lots of it, all at once, the minute the magazine hit the shelves."—Gesine Bullock-Prado, Confections of a Closet Master Baker

I've never worked in a bakery, although when I was in my 20s, I remember reading a job ad for one.  I enjoyed baking and it seemed like there were worse things in life than working in a place that smelled like freshly baked bread.  I nearly applied—the ad said they would train the right person so I wasn't worried about my lack of professional qualifications—but then I noticed the job hours.  The shift began at 3 a.m.!  Somehow it never occurred to me that if you were going to sell croissants at 6 or 7 in the morning that you'd need to make them in the wee hours before that.

While my bakery dream was short-lived, I couldn't resist picking up a copy of the memoir Confections of a Closet Master Baker at my local (and sadly, now defunct) used bookstore.  The author, the younger sister of actress Sandra Bullock, tells the true story of how she left her miserable Hollywood job to open a small bakery in Vermont.  She arranges her tales to mimic the hours at the bakery.  The first chapter begins with her waking up in the middle of the night to go to work and the penultimate chapter describes her evening run after closing the shop.  Baking disasters, childhood reminisces of her German mother, memorable sketches of employees and customers, snippets of her former career in a town that fervently hoped to one day outlaw carbohydrates, all spill out in her distinct voice: cranky, honest, hilarious, wise.

The book contains more than a dozen recipes for bakery favorites, both familiar ones such as apple pie and lesser known ones such as mandelhoernchen, a German almond cookie. The recipes are written in a frank, friendly tone that tell you not just which ingredients to mix together or how long to bake them, but also include advice which can easily be applied to other areas of your life.   She writes about her maple Pecan Sticky Buns: "Be brave but patient. If you screw up—and you really should a few times if you want to get good—keep trying."

Highly recommended for anyone who harbors bakery shop dreams or owns her own small business.

Quotation source: Confections of a Closet Master Baker by Gesine Bullock-Prado.  (Paperback title: My Life From Scratch)

"Winning doesn't always mean being first.
Winning means you're doing better
than you've ever done before."
—Bonnie Blair

Many athletes have something to say about winning, but this quote from Olympic speed skater Bonnie Blair struck a chord with me.  I like entering contests because it makes me stretch my creativity in a new way, working with new materials or themes that I might never have explored otherwise.  I also like being given a deadline, since it forces me to finish projects, not just start them.  I don't enter to win.  Don't get me wrong.  It's nice to win.  It's just not the only reason to enter contests.

If you're looking to stretch your skills this summer, here are a few beading and jewelry making contests currently accepting entries:

• Bead Star
  There are a few days left to enter (deadline is May 24, 2013).  The rules have changed from last year, so be sure to read them carefully.
  
  
• Fashion Colorworks
  This annual contest requires the use of a specific color palette. It is accepting entries until June 15, 2013.
  
  
• Fire Mountain Gems
  The Seed Bead contest is accepting entries until May 31, 2013.  They seem to be announcing their themed contests one at a time now, rather than all at once, so check their Jewelry-Making Contest page for the latest ones.
  
  
• The Halstead Grant
  You could win money to help start your silver jewelry business. Enter through June 9, 2013.
  
  
• My Patriotic Heart (Swarovski Crystals)
  Create a patriotic design. Entries due July 4, 2013.
  
  
• SLK Contest (Bead Design Studio)
  You can register until December 1, 2013, but you'll probably want to get started soon on this multi-part jewelry challenge.
  
  
• Vintaj Monthly Challenge
  There's a new theme each month for this monthly challenge.
  

Best of luck!  Let me know if you have any additional summer contests to add.

Quotation source: BrainyQuote.com