After tweeting a link on Twitter tagged “autismpride” I was asked if I was autistic. It felt really funny actually acknowledging it so boldly and “out loud”, but I simply replied, “YES I AM”.

There. It’s out there. I did it. Score one for me! But wait…there’s more…

I replied that I was a little bit “weird”. The conversation did not end there. I was then asked what makes me “weird”.

How can I answer that? I said that I really couldn’t describe the “weird” in 140 characters-or-less! Truth is, I can’t. I really can’t. It isn’t any one trait or attribute that I can pinpoint in such a short conversation. I realized at that moment that being on the Spectrum had way less to do with the parts than it does with the whole. None of the parts that I could think of would, on their own, define my place on the Autistic Spectrum.

First I’ll say that I have no particular “savant skill” or obvious “superpower” that is often associated with someone who has high-functioning Autism or Asperger’s Syndrome. I did have an early ability to read (hyperlexia), amazing and entertaining the fine folk at Montessori School with my beyond-my-age ability to read flash cards and even random words pointed out in the newspaper by the age of three.

I do have a higher-than-average IQ but have found absolutely no way to put it to good use in everyday life.

Most of what I know I have self-taught. Of course I would sit in class and take copious notes but would ultimately look for supplemental information in other places; textbooks, reference books, articles, etc., as I felt the need to fully understand what I was trying to learn. This was all fine and dandy, but it it wasn’t information I was going to use on a regular basis, or if I wasn’t particularly interested in it, it would soon be lost.

I lean more toward the artsy-craftsy side of things preferring to make things by hand. With the right tools and equipment I found that my only limitation is how well I can get my fine-motor skills to work. I learned to crochet at age six, and to knit, sew, and embroider shortly thereafter, so I might have some interesting skills there, but I’m far from being a “domestic goddess”. Martha Stewart I am not!

I suck at fine art. Drawing, painting, sculpture, you name it…if I have to come up with an original idea or something from memory. I can accurately reproduce a still life or anything that isn’t moving onto paper, but I really don’t like to do it. It seems…pointless. Photography? Got an ‘A’ in college. Have no idea how to work the camera now.

That’s just a few insights for now. I still can’t say how any of these aforementioned things make me either “weird” or “different” when compared to anybody else. There are lots of people out there that are perfectly “normal” that share these same traits, right?

This page is not quite ready yet. I still have to edit and add the photos, but it’s live because I began the edits on my iPhone and there was no way to edit other than “publish”. Apologies all around for a sucky post. There will be an update with pic’s—promise.

Necessity is the mother of invention. Well, a shank-type button is a necessity for this design to work correctly. In order for the button clasp to sit just right above the bracelet base it needs to have a loop or “shank” on the bottom.

In order for me to use a ladybug as a button, I need to build a “shank”. But how? I thought about building one out of thread and beads—running 11° beads through the stringing hole and building the shank loop with 15° beads. It could be done, but is that the best way?

Over time Nymo thread (and most beading threads) tends to stretch out a bit. Also, the shank loop would have no rigid structure and would essentially “collapse” and elongate once any tension is applied—read: during normal wear.

So I’m going to make my shank loop from wire. I don’t want to use wire that is too soft (like a copper or base metal wire) or a wire that is too thick because I really want the wire to appear as discreet as possible. I want to show off the ladybug, not the wire.

For those of you playing along at home, I’m using 24-gauge half-hard sterling silver round wire—mostly because that’s what I have handy at the moment.

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Step 1: Clean and polish the wire with a silver cleaning cloth. I pinch-fold the cloth and run the wire through my fingers (fig. 1). This also helps to “harden” the wire a little bit more, especially if you begin with dead-soft wire.

Step 2: Get yourself a fine handmade LadyBug bead, (fig. 2) or any other bead you would like to make into a shank button. Make sure the hole is large enough for the wire to pass through twice.

Step 3: Run the wire through the bead hole. Make sure the bottom of the bead (the side where you want the shank to go) is facing up/toward you. Cross the wire ends over along the bottom of the bead. Snug the wires down gently. It should look like you have two wires running in parallel to each other (fig. 3).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 4: Take one of the wire ends (or the free wire end if you are working off the spool) and run it through the bead again (fig. 4). Just like sewing!

Step 5: Bring the wire that you just passed through the bead across the bottom and snug it nice and tight (fig. 5).

I would highly recommend you leave at least an inch or more than I did to the “free end”. I was a cheapskate with my sterling silver wire and tried to minimize the waste. I succeeded but it made some of future steps more difficult, and I didn’t get the perfect “clean” finish I was after. Note how short the wire is in (fig. 5)—leave a longer end than I did.

Step 6: Bend each end of the wire at a 90-degree angle across the center of the bead in a kind of “pinwheel” or “whirligig” fashion. If you’ve done this step correctly, the two end wires will naturally wrap around each other (fig. 6).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 7: Now continue rotating each wire in the same direction another 180-degrees. Basically the wire that was pointing left will now be pointing to the right and the right wire will now be pointing left (fig. 7). Make sure the wires all stay snugly in place. You might need to squish them with a pair of flat-nosed pliers to coax them back into alignment.

Step 8: Bend the wires vertically up from the center of the bead. The two wires should now be perpendicular to the surface of the bead (fig. 8). (Apologies all around for that pic—yipes!)

Step 9: Using round-nose pliers, form a loop at the base of the vertical wires. Keep in mind the direction of the loop (fig. 9). You can either make the loop run front-to-back or side-to-side. That’s totally up to you, it works either way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 10: (coming soon)

I felt the urge to make something—which happens frequently—and actually finish something—which happens not-so-frequently (this post included).

For some reason I felt it fairly important to use some of my own handcrafted beads for a project, especially one I might blog about. So I decided to find a use for one of my “handmade lampwork ladybug beads”—mostly because it was suggested that I publish some of the different uses for these beads to help spark people’s imaginations on how they might be used.

My finished bracelet is a combination of basic beginner-level bead weaving and wirework. I like things that have repeated patterns whether they are simple or complex as long as the pattern repeats itself. I’m sure that has something to do with Asperger’s or OCD, but I digress…

So, I have what seems like millions of seed beads in all colors, shapes, and sizes…yet interestingly enough, I never seem to have the right size/shape/color I want for whatever project I want to work on. Luckily, I can dig up and match a few different sizes and shapes of beads that are in my existing supply.

I found the pattern/tutorial for the bracelet base in the October 2006 issue of Bead & Button magazine, page 46, “Pearl Windows”. I liked the looks of it and I also like the fact that it looks more complex than a daisy chain, but is just as easy, if not easier to work up. I can do beadwork much more complex than a daisy chain, but I want something quick and more “instantly gratifying”. The “Pearl Windows” pattern/tutorial works for me. Unfortunately it isn’t available as a separate project for purchase from the publisher so you have to buy the whole back issue if you don’t already have it. Purchase it from the link above or check eBay, Artfire, or Etsy, for someone selling a back issue.

Actually, any narrow bracelet base will do. Use a daisy chain, brick or peyote stitch band, a small beaded rope, or any base that has a button-and-loop style closure. There are plenty of designs for beaded bands out there so I’m really not going to put an actual beadweaving tutorial here.

I used a great slightly “bling-y” combination of shiny whites:

• Silver-lined silver bugle beads
• Size 11 Japanese seed beads in translucent rainbow clear
• Size 15 Japanese seed beads in ceylon silver
• 6mm Swarovski pearls in white
• One of my handcrafted ladybug beads in a delicate translucent  “Rose Quartz” pink color .

I made up the bracelet base per instructions in the magazine but used bugle beads that were closer to 6mm in length rather than the 3mm length the project calls for because that’s what I had on hand. I like the more square-ish look of having the bugle beads the same as the diameter of the Swarovski® pearls anyway.

Continue to Part II: Wire Wrap “Shank Button” Tutorial …

So you have a business and you’re too cheap to create an ad in the “Sponsored Links” section of Facebook, and nobody is pressing the “Like” button for your page. What to do? How will you connect with people and get right in their face all of the time? After all, that’s what Facebook is designed for isn’t it?

The answer is really simple—and any bungling attention whore can do it!

First you need to create a Facebook group. For your group name, go with, say, your business name—especially if it’s a foreign name that 95% of the people in your “friends” list couldn’t pronounce anyway. Your own name is good for that too. Set up your information and photos just as you would on your own business “Page”.

Next ”Add Members to Group”. Pull out all the stops here. Go wild—add your entire “friends” list. Don’t worry, most of them will be glad to be a part of your group and will not object…for now. For all intents and purposes you will now have a plethora of forced “Likes” for your new group. The people in your friends list can’t keep you from adding them to your group any more than they can prevent you from tagging them in a photo…so it’s a free-for-all!

Start posting to your new group. Start posting links to your stuff, your online store, your Etsy listings, etc. Create photo albums jam-packed with your favorite merchandise for sale. Talk about your stuff, your business, your promotions—again, pull out all the stops and post to your heart’s content. Unlike a Facebook “Page” whatever you post will have an automatic notification emailed to everybody in your group by default. How’s that for free publicity?

All day, every day, your group members will get instant notifications in their personal email box each and every time you post a comment or add a new photo to your group. Your group members have to change their own notification preferences to make your emails stop. Lucky for you, the great majority of them don’t even know how and can’t figure out how it’s done! Oh, and they’ll complain…yes they will. They will post to the group pleading, “Stop sending me emails!” and, “Take me off your list!”, but until they manually change the setting or leave the group on their own, they’re a captive audience—and they’re all yours!

So sit back in your evil swivel chair, chortle with glee while stroking your evil kitty cat, and know that at least temporarily, Facebook world domination is yours! Mua…mua…muahahahahaaaaa…!

FYI: Do this to me again and you will be unfriended and blocked forever. This has to be one of the lowest forms of self-promotion I have seen to date.