Rain, Rain, Rain, Rain, Rain

Of course it's raining. Duh. We gave Bella a bath last night. Now she can go out and get her pretty blond hair muddy. Sheesh. We have had a lot of rain overnight. Taking the girls to school this morning I drove over a low water crossing that the water was just starting to cover. Fortunately it's not a running stream with any force. It's just a dip in the road, but I'm thinking we may have to use a different route tomorrow morning.

Here is a very cool link that I came across thanks to Suzanne Cooper. I agree with Suzanne's observation that beaders have been doing all of these for years, so we're a step ahead of the trend.

Lorelei is hosting the FIFTH Green Girl Studios giveaway. Hurry over and leave your comment to be entered.

And now I must be off. I'm moving on to the next teaching sample. Yes, pictures will be posted as soon as allowed. I had a bit of frustration yesterday. I thought I had the perfect ending for a piece I had been working on. I originally designed it as a bracelet and had just the right amount of supplies, but it would have been too similar to something that Kim Stathis had designed and I really hate stepping on the toes of other designers and teachers so it became a necklace. Unfortunately, I was eight little beads short of finishing the embellishment. On the upside, this one is not due until January so I have time to get to my favorite area Swarovsk pusher, Mica Jewelry and Beads in San Antonio. Today is a gemstone and seed bead kind of day in red, rosy red fading to paler shades. I know. It's totally unlike me, right? It's almost as unusual as orange! And on that note I leave you. Keep on beading on, beadlings!

I'm Not Typing

Okay, I am typing. I'm just not typing what I should be typing. This is what I did instead:This is my Laura McCabe Dahlia Locket. I bought the kit last summer and finally put it together a couple of weeks ago. All I had left to do was attached the loop and toggle today. Let me just say as a project designer, kit builder and beadwork technique teacher that I absolutely love Laura and her projects. I have never done so much with just one stitch. The instructions were clear and, oh my stars, if I could do hand rendered graphics like she does, I'd be in seventh heaven. I hate struggling with computer rendered graphics. The kit is generous in the amount of beads and thread, and she sent FIVE needles in two different sizes. I'm not going to lie to you and tell you that a beginner could do this (knowledge of peyote stitch is definitely needed), but it was not a difficult project and I am just pleased as punch with it! And I happen to have a pink blouse that needed a spark. Yowza, this sucker sparkles! Swarovski crystals and cubic zirconium abound (you just can't quite see the spark with the scanner). I can't wait to do my other LM kit and, by golly, this summer I'm buying more of her kits!

So, what have I done today? Well, I've been corresponding with my gal pal Gaye. As her daughter gets older, Gaye gets busier. We just haven't been able to get together this year the way we have in the past. Of course, I don't have a bead shop down the street from TSU (where she works) like I used to! Hah! Do you think that has anything to do with it? She is now the proud mother of a new driver (snicker). They'll get through it okay. Their insurance rates may go up, but they'll get through it. My problem is that I remember this girl as a small child who used to come to my store with her mom, and she always got to pick out beads. I have a bracelet that I made based on a palette that Victoria picked out, and I never fail to get compliments on the color. Now she's a grown up, gorgeous young woman. She really needs to stop making me feel old!

I've also been in touch with Pam Way today. She is also putting things together for the San Antonio Bead & Ornament Society's bead bazaar. Hopefully we will have booths next to each other. I happen to know that she has a whole bunch of new sets ready. Maybe I can shop before the bazaar begins! Hee, hee, hee!

I also stayed in bed sleeping until 10:30 this morning. The insomnia has been hellish this week. I have another appointment next week regarding the sleep study, so we'll just have to wait and see what happens. In the meantime, I'll just deal with feeling like a lazy slug.

It's obvious to me that I'm not going to get any typing done today, so I'm off to finish beading another project and I will definitely take pictures when it's finished. You just might not see them until right before the bead bazaar (I want you to purchase a kit or pattern, you see). We're off to get our little chickies tomorrow, so I'll have lots of pictures of them for you, plus wildflowers in my back yard and T-man's little garden (our lettuce is an inch tall now). Ariel is at her weekly chess club meeting today. I hate to say it, but my little girl is going to be a nerd just like mom was. And Natalie has things to do for Relay for Life tonight. I am very proud of her for getting involved in this. Please go visit her team page and consider making a donation. Natalie will be putting her info up there sometime this week. "We Hate Cancer" is the number two team in the amount of donations so far. It is such a worthy cause, and such a personal cause to us, and it would mean so very much to everyone involved to receive donations from you. Okay, I'm off the soapbox for now. Remember, don't worry -- bead happy! (groan)

Proof of Beading

Okay, this is supposed to be a blog about beading (among other topics). You've all read my rants about not being able to do anything beady. Well, here you are.

This is one of my newest patterns, which will also be a kit come February. It is a bracelet, and now I must come up with some sort of clasp, else it will fall off the wrist! HAH! I've also picked out the next palette for the next new thingie, and my angels will be happy to know that their projects will be put in the mail tomorrow. Yes, dear readers, it has finally happened -- my ass is on fire!

I love my husband, but you all know that. One of the reasons I love him is that he supports me in my endeavors. Now, the bad news is I am going to need some outside work (and that is because we had to buy a car the month before T-man got laid off), and I've signed up for substitute teaching in A's school district. The good news is, T-man does not want it to interfere with the other things I do, so it's not something I must do every day. There is more to this story, of course.

We were driving home from the grocery store last night, and I started talking to my ADHD hubby about my seemingly ADHD tendencies. I think I've finally got this figured out -- it may not be the meds, it may just be me. You see, what I do with the beads was starting to feel too much like work again, and I don't like that feeling. I truly believe you should love your job, whatever it is, but when mine starts feeling like work, I dig my heels in and I just don't want to do it anymore. Soooo, T-man agrees with me. Then he points out that I've fallen back into that hole where I'm too concerned with making what I think the general public wants instead of making what I know to be creative and artistic. Are you with me? Once I got my mind around this idea, I got up off my duff and became productive again. And yes, it was pretty much overnight. No, the beading was not done overnight -- I picked this particular piece up and put it down so many times it would make your head spin. What occurred overnight was the change in attitude, the desire to create art and not just beaded stuff. T-man also pointed out that when I do what the universe has been trying to direct me to do for years, everything else around me falls into place in the best possible way.

Crap, it's Monday. I'm still hoping for those three day weekends. Plus there was the time change. Try explaining the why's of this to a 10-year old, and then explain why Arizona doesn't play along. *sigh* And this coming weekend I'm in Houston at the Houston Bead Society's Bead Bazaar as an employee of Yellow Dog Beads. I've got to get my hair cut, get some more groceries, figure out what clothes to pack because you never know what the weather in Houston will do. And of course, I must figure out (1) what beads to take and (2) what beads to shop for! And I understand that Beyond Beadery will be there this year!! Oh my stars, I've heard that you need sunglasses as you near the booth because of all the Swarovski sparkling in the light! More tomorrow, beady buds!