The Road to Tucson

Today is all about getting ready for Tucson! So was yesterday, and so will the rest of this week, in fact... I have a to-do list as long as my arm, but I am so excited to get on that plane on February 1 and jet off to sunny Tucson, Arizona for the bead shows!

Yesterday, in a fit of optimism, I went to Target and bought a couple of new shirts and a new pair of pants that actually fit me. In trying to plan my wardrobe for the trip, I discovered that I do not own a single pair of nice-looking pants that actually fit me anymore.

I've already picked out what jewelry I'm going to wear - at least I've got my priorities straight, right? I've been stitching away on this bead embroidered collar, and I'm down to the last 2 inches or so!

While I was shopping at Target, I found a lovely, warm, oversize lavender sweater wrap that will look just perfect with this!

This is a piece that I started years ago, back before I got pregnant with Colden. I think I may have actually started it during the early part of the pregnancy after the exhaustion went away but before the nausea stopped. I put it down and then just couldn't find the "oomph" to pick it up again until just recently. Now it's part of my goal for 2012 to finish beading all six brass embroidery collar blanks in my stash.

I had no idea where to start with the bead embroidery between the vintage Lucite cabs, which is probably why it sat in my UFO drawer for so very long. But since I've been having so much fun making those beaded mandalas lately, I decide to make "mini mandalas" between each of the cabs.

So far, so good, although I'm not 100% pleased with the color palette. It's a little more monochromatic than I had originally planned.

Once I get the embroidery done, I get to do the yummy part: glue it to the brass embroidery blank and stitch it to the Ultrasuede backing. Then the fringing, and I should be good to go before February 1! One collar down, one killer piece of beaded jewelry to wear in Tucson!