It's not spring, it feels like summer!

It's been a crazy weekend here, with temperatures up in the 90s. Yes, you read that correctly - the 90s!!! But as I sit here, I am watching the clouds rolling in over the mountains a few miles west of here, so with any luck, things will cool off after the storms they are predicting this afternoon.

Anyway, I think I mentioned before that I am now involved with a program thought Artbeads.com that they call "Blogging for Beads". They send me great new products to test, and I blog about them! I think it's a pretty cool deal. I received my first package of beads from them a little over a week ago, and finally had a chance to sit down with them this past weekend.

These little beauties are made by Toho. They are called hybrid beads, because after the glass seed bead was made by Toho, they were sent to the Czech Republic where traditional bead finishes were applied. The colors I recieved were stunning! Everything from a marbled hematite to a gorgeous transparent pink and gold luster. I came up with the perfect project for them, which I am finishing up after I finish this blog post, and I will post the directions and the supply list later. They really are incredibly consistent in size and color. I think I'm going to have to order a larger quantity of one color, as it's going to work out perfectly for another larger-scale project I have going on right now.










They are incredible for beadweaving. I used them to make a sample for another project I'm working on right now, and they click together almost as nicely as the Toho cylinder beads, but because they are slightly rounder, they give the work a more organic feel. And those colors - wow! The finishes are just beautiful.

Once I complete the project later this weekend, I'll make sure I post full directions and a printer-friendly file for you to download and share.

Tom is in the kitchen making dinner for us tonight. We're having Breakfast For Dinner - omelet made with our fresh eggs, Tom's killer homemade pancakes, oven-fried potatoes, and of course, our homemade maple syrup!