Catching Up

I spent the last few days trying to catch up, or at least get started, on some beading projects that have been sitting around for a year. Or more.














These delicious little plum blossom beads were designed by Chris Prussing - I think they are actually icosahedron beads, or something along those lines. (It's early in the morning, and my brain is still a little fuzzy.) Chris used to sell them as a kit in her Etsy shop, but her shop has been in vacation mode for some time now, and the message says that she is undergoing medical treatment. I certainly hope that she is feeling well and that she can get back to her beads soon! The directions are available at Bead-Patterns.com as Item 9296. I love the way Chris writes and illustrates her directions - you have to concentrate on what you're doing, but you also have to disconnect in a weird sort of Zen way. I love stitching up her beads because they allow me to do that Zen disconnecting thing.














This here is "Old Blue". I found this gorgeous 27mm Swarovski stone while shopping at Beyond Beadery at Bead Fest Philadelphia last summer. I bought this one and one other stone, which was a beautiful yellow/green/turquoise color. But this one - I've got plans for this one. I've had an idea for a necklace for the longest time called "Lady Sings the Blues", and I think I have FINALLY found the centerpiece for it. I've got a huge bag of 30mm blue iris bugle beads, a couple of tubes of silver lined purple and navy blue seed beads, and a huge Swarovski teardrop in the same shade as the stone. And that's all I'm sayin' for now!














And then, there is my latest stash from my first session of Retail Therapy. (Thanks to my sister for helping to fund this session, ha ha ha!) I kind of went nuts in Laura McCabe's eBay store, HighEndBeads. And the nice thing is, I got a ton of beads - including some gorgeous Swarovski Margaritas, Czech glass tulips, Czech glass fire polished, matte grey daggers, and faceted Calcite beads, all for around $40. Those Calcite beads and the grey daggers already have a design waiting for them - something that I dreamed up on one of those nights when I just could not get my mind calmed down enough to actually sleep. I'm looking forward to playing with the design today while I have some time. It's a variation of square stitch that I started playing with two years ago, and I have combined it with the flat spiral stitch I've become so fond of lately. I think this is going to be an awesome finished piece. Maybe worthy of Bead Dreams in the spring...

So, that said, everyone has gone off to the Paul Smiths Visitor Interpretive Center for the day, leaving me some peace and quiet to get my work done for this week and next. Tom and I decided today that I shouldn't try to get to the farmers' market until August - I am just still not myself, still having wicked headaches in the mornings and evenings, and pushing myself in this heat and humidity is probably not a smart thing to do.

Aaaaand, I am going to do another giveaway next week. This time, it will be for a pair of earrings made from those yummy plum blossom beads pictured above! Stay tuned for details! (This one will be a little harder than the last one!)