Half Of A Good Idea

A lovely strand of faceted Czech firepolished glass in variegated soft colors called my name at a bead show.  So like any beader worth her salt, I bought that strand. And two of its identical twins.

We won't dwell on the fact that I just admitted to hearing beads talk to me.

The thought was to use them to make a netted rope necklace, kind of like this one.  Hopefully I had enough beads that I wouldn't run out halfway through (again...)

That was all well and good, until I actually started making the necklace. It was obvious that the beads were a little too big to let the necklace flow softly. Instead, it was going to make a rope about as big around as your thumb - a little chunky if it's solid around the neck.

So, plan B! Instead of a whole necklace, I made beaded beads.  

Oh, and it turns out it wouldn't have been enough to make a whole 16" or 18" necklace anyway. Gotta stop trying to eyeball bead quantities in the midst of the bead show floor.

But now I have an assortment of lovely sparkly beaded beads, and no clear idea of what to do with them. It's not the first time I've discovered that my great idea was actually only half of a great idea. Any suggestions for what might work with these?

The Voice From the Bead Display

So I'm walking through a bead show recently, when I hear this little voice saying, "Psst, hey lady, look over here!"

It was coming from these luscious little purple glass drops with impressionistic blooms of color on them.  They were sitting, inconspicuously waiting to lure me into dropping some dollars in their direction.

What? The beads never speak to you? I see you nodding your head, so don't even try to deny it.

Yes, they came home with me, and we had a lovely play date.  And this is what they told me they wanted to be when they grew up.

Thanks, Nancy, for the clasp, which was left over from the awesome bead soup you sent me!

Sourcing Materials

blurry photo, taken before the vendor could give me the stinkeye

Did I ever tell y'all that my day job involves persuasive writing?  One of the results of this professional reality is that I can find ways to sling the BS rephrase things to sound as attractive or positive as possible.

So this weekend, I went sourcing materials, which was really a thinly veiled way of saying that I went to a bead show to shop.  Which, since the show was in the same city that my son lives in, was really a thinly veiled excuse to visit my son.  And since my daughter lives relatively close by, it was a great excuse (not even thinly disguised) for her to come over.  And for the superfecta, since my husband had the weekend off, we all gathered in one city.  Because Mom needed to source materials.

See?  Win, win, win!

Turns out my daughter is a great enabler when bead shopping.  Here, she modeled some golden agates.

And she learned the bead show truism that, if the crowds at the front of the table are too deep, go to the side of the table and reach over...politely. So much better than throwing an elbow or wedging in by using your freakishly oversized shopping tote.

I got some really good stuff...some of it that I picked out myself.  And I hope you all had as good and fun a weekend as I did. (Photos of the weekend's haul to come in the next few days!)

It's My Blogday, and I Have Gifts for You!

This is the 100th post this blog!  You have no idea how grateful, gobsmacked, and downright tickled I am by the friendships, fun, and support everyone who has come by has added to my life.  When this started, I could not have guessed what a kick this would be!

And to celebrate, I have goodies to share from the loot I  liberated from bought at a bead show in Cincinnati this weekend.  

The show was a great trifecta -- it gave me a chance to shop for beads (my credit card only smoked from overuse a little bit), an opportunity to pick out some goodies to give away to some of the wonderful people who are patient enough to read these wacky rambles (bless your hearts!), and a chance to see my son, who goes to college in Cincinnati.  He indulged me and let me buy him lunch and groceries.

Oh, yeah, I said gifts, right?  Here are closeups of the four tidy little bundles (I apologize for the quality of the photos of the owl beads -- they have a beautiful luster glaze that was completely beyond my photographic abilities):

Cute little earring pair by Susan Barnes of Fire Goddess

Cool lampwork swirl discs from Nikki Thornburg-Lanigan
of Thornburg Bead Studio

A cute little daytime owl (who apparently didn't want his photo to be upright),
a handpainted ceramic from Forever Young Creations

A night owl, also a handpainted ceramic from Forever Young Creations

Would you like one of them?  Join the fun (you probably know the routine) -- leave a comment and get your name in the drawing once.  If you already follow this blog, or if you join as a new follower, let me know and your name is entered again.  Finally, if you share the news about this giveaway and tell me about it, that's another time your name goes into the hat.

If you have a preference of which package you might win, let me know -- I'll do my best to match the winners with their wish.  You guys ROCK!

Bead Lust-ette, and a Pay It Forward Invitation

In my last post, I mentioned that I had gotten five, count them, five postcard notifications about a bead show last weekend.

Not being one to ignore what was obviously a message from the bead gods, I went.

And oddly, I behaved myself, purchasing only a few things. Not that the lovely lampwork on display didn't sing a siren song. And there were enough seed beads to make a rainbow blush by comparison. But I behaved. Thus, we have not a full-fledged, all-out, unbridled bead lust moment, but more a lust-ette.


So allow me to introduce the lovelies that came home with me -- lovely faceted fire agate, smoky quartz, and some fun crystals, luscious and delicate coral roses and zinnias, and ooh shiny silver.

And there's still a chance to Pay It Forward -- make a comment on my blog post that's here, and I'll send you something handmade by me (fun!)

All you have to do is post information about the Pay It Forward idea on your blog and promise to pass along treasures that you've handcrafted to the first five people who post to your blog.

Come on - play along!

Wherein I Commune With Fleas, Fall in Love, Heed a Call From the Universe, and Pay It Forward

First, you should know that I don't go to flea markets too often. I enjoy them and I absolutely love antique stores, but the time needed to pore through the mounds of treasures (while avoiding the less than fabulous junk that really may carry fleas), is not usually abundant in my weekends.

Today, though, the time was right, and there was a flea market at the fair grounds. I casually mentioned it to my husband, and he agreed to go with me.

Okay, this was a sign from heaven. The fact that my husband was willing to give up a portion of a rare free weekend to go digging through flea market goodies was either a sign that hell was freezing over or that I might, just might, find something wonderful.

So we went. We browsed. We communed with the fleas and their marketers. It was all pretty disappointing, frankly. Until on our way out to the parking lot when I glanced over and noticed a table that seemed to call my name.

And I fell in love. With a lovely, lovely face. A watch face. And here she is.

Squeee!! Can you see the beautiful little garland of flowers where the hands were? And the tiny, tiny, dots of silver that look like dew drops? I didn't even bother to haggle too hard with the vendor. Seriously, I flunked Haggle 101 on this transaction.

I've been doing some work with watch faces recently (and I'll post some pictures of a work in progress soon), so I was kind of keeping an eye out for more. This is so delicate, so ladylike, such a breath of spring -- she'll have to live on my bead table for a while until she tells me how she wants to be dressed.

When I came home, I found not one, not two, but FIVE postcards, reminding me about a bead show in town this weekend. I figured this was a sign from the universe that I needed to heed. So tomorrow, I'm going SHOPPING.

After all, who am I to ignore a sign from the Universe like that?!?

And while you're here, check out my last post and find out how you can Pay It Forward and get a handmade goodie from me! (If I knew html coding, I'd have a nifty link to take you right to the post. That's next on my bucket list....until then, just scroll to the next post down and don't forget to leave a comment so that you can play along!)