Well it's been a long cold wet May here in the great Pacific Northwest, perfect weather for sitting inside and beading. With my trusty DVD player and a thermos of hot tea I've been keeping myself busy and making a mess at my table.



For the most part I've been making buttons, to either turn into pin or magnets. I like to keep a few on hand for last minuet gifts, but after all the birthdays this month and last I found my stock was running a little low. So I've challenged myself to make enough to fill this tray with, 50 to be exact.

  Here is a shot of one of my favorites, orange & green is such a springy color combo. If you want to see them all so far you can go to my Flickr page.

Goodbye Summer...

Well not officially, but around here you can feel fall coming on. The sun rises latter and goes down earlier every day, there is a crispness in the air and the leaves on the trees are starting to turn. The days of sleeping with the windows open are winding down for sure.

This summer has been particularly nice. I can't remember the last time we had such a long stretch of nice weather. This would explain my long absence from writing and beading. Being a native of the Pacific Northwest, I know to enjoy good weather while it lasts because there are at least 9 months of dreariness coming.

That being said, it has been all fun in the sun. I did find time to work in the studio. I finished the border on the hand quilt. I decided not to do to much just some out-lining on the border.

I also finished the block for my sister. Next will be the quilting. I just have to find some more pink fabric. This piece turned out a lot better than I thought it would. Hope Meg likes it.

I've spent this past weekend cleaning and reorganizing in the studio. This is always helped me to rediscover supplies and beads and in turn, lead to inspiration for new projects.

So in the midst of all the non-bead related activity going on the last couple of weeks, Jen happened to finish quilting "The Hand" and passed it back to me.

I don't think at the time I really expressed my delight at the work she had done. I love this. From the zig-zags to the shape to the texture on the the front and back, her design allows for more surface embellishment, which I find very inspiring.

Here is a closer look at the texture around the bead work. I plan to add some beads around the bead work it's self and some around fuchsia fabric to give it a pop. I may also add some sort of dangle. The possibilities are endless.

A Little Splurge

I finally went to the fabric store today to get stuff for "The Hand". I decided to pat myself on the back for paying off my car loan last month and letting myself go a little crazy. The brown and orange fall fabrics really called to me. Funny that we're entering into spring and all I wanted were the fall palettes. I also tried to pick up some colors I knew I didn't have, but mainly bought what ever tickled my fancy.

Then I headed over to one of my local bead stores, The Bead Garden, to see what was new. I ended up picking out some "vintage" beads. I tend to be sceptical when stores make the claim of vintage. It's also quite likely that these beads could be new, but made from molds that have been out of production for many years. Either way I love them and what does it matter when they were made? If you like them buy them. That has been my bead shopping motto for awhile now, because you never know if you'll see them again. I also found these adorable coral flowers and lovely cloisonne butterflies.

So that was my treat to myself. Tomorrow is my day to stay home, do laundry and bead. I have been working on something for someones birthday, but I don't want to show it just yet, in case that person happen to read this. I will just have to wait until it's given and post pictures latter.

Lovely Things

So, I sent $20 with my good friend Jennifer to the The Sew Expo in Puyallup, WA. She asked before she left if there was anything I needed. I told her "pink and turtles". Boy did she deliver. And she also picked up some gorgeous Autumn fabric that I absolutely love.

Jennifer is a dear old friend who just so happens to quilt. We have collaborated on one piece (that I have yet to post here) so far. I still need to go to the fabric store for fabric for the hand. Then it's off to Jen's to get quilted up. It's nice to have some one to bounce ideas off of and as a quilter, Jen sees things in a different way that opens up a whole other way of doing things. And shes a good little shopper!