Long Weekend In The Workroom

Happy Labor Day, everyone!  I hope you've had a chance to relax a bit, doing whatever makes you happy for a while.

My workroom looks a bit like a bead bin exploded, but that's just a sign that I've been having some fun.  I'd show you a picture of the room, but seriously, I don't know how strong your stomach may be, and I don't want to cause anyone unanticipated visual trauma.

So here's something that I hope will be a little less visually jarring:

The agate donut had been sitting in my UFO pile forever, attached to a piece of backing in prep for a bead embroidery class I was going to teach, um, over eight years ago.  Class didn't happen, and so little donut sat there, forgotten and unloved and unembroidered, for a long time.

She's strung simply, on lustrous mother of pearl rounds, with some rich aventurine fan slices as dangles.

What else is working on the table?  I'll be posting those in the next couple of days!

Beach Dreaming and Show Prep

It's raining here.

I mean really raining. Biblical, epic, tie-down-anything-that-might-float-away rain.

So, naturally, I am dreaming of the beach.

I mean, who wouldn't want to be somewhere like this?

Destin. Myrtle Beach. Orange Beach. Gulf Shores. Isle of Palms. Aaah...

Okay, so that's not happening any day soon, so I had to do the next best thing and go play in the bead room to create some sunny, beach vibe.

Here's the result of a little beady, beachy therapy. These great mother of pearl teardrops swing and sway, and the clasp can hook anywhere in the chain, adjusting the length of the necklace from a choker with a long drop to a 22" necklace with just the teardrop cluster as a pendant. I know it'll look great with a cute little sundress, against sun-kissed skin.


I also spent some time working up some fun memory wire bracelets for an upcoming show on Mother's Day weekend. They use up lots of orphan and leftover beads that I won't use anywhere else.


They'll be in a big basket at the front of my booth to be a quick impulse purchase (fingers crossed!!). And they worked up super fast, and who doesn't love a little nearly-instant gratification? All in all, it's been a good weekend. Take that, rainclouds!