Penny will be very relieved to hear this, as I have been whining to her incessantly about how good she is at putting beads together, and how hard it is for me, and blah blah blah, wah it's not fair.

Once I had sat in front of this giant pile of beads for a few hours, though, things started to go together pretty smoothly, thank goodness. I'm especially happy with the bracelets:



That pink heart with raku turned out especially nice, I think I must have been channelling Penny to come up with that combination! Um, I might have to keep it....

Since I brought home a couple dozen of these fun silk ribbons, I've naturally been experimenting with them, too. The ladies we got them from wore them like lassos, with beads dangling on the ends, like this:



So I made a few like that, and some with hanging pendants, and I've got a couple other ideas up my sleeve, now I have to make the beads to go with them!

I gave my tired tendons a rest yesterday, and worked on some more finished jewelry instead of making beads. Here's what I did with one of Olive Glass' beautiful 'twisties':



It's asymmetrical. Artsy, huh?

This was one of my all-time favorite koi beads. I had the hardest time making up my mind to use it, but in the end I thought the twistie deserved something special. So today I'll probably spend all my torch time trying to make another bead just like it!

Actually, I guess I had better make a couple more octopus beads. They have proven unexpectedly popular! I am just the worst at predicting what people will like, LOL.
In planning my display and considering finished pieces, I also realize that all the beads I make seem to have a face. Either the bead has a critter on it or is shaped like one. I wonder if that's going to be a problem. I'll try and get into a floral mode before next week...Wish I had time to do some experimenting with color before then, but springtime brights are going to have to do the trick. I have some of Penny's beautiful butterfly wraps to use them with.

The other thing I'll be working on today is some dolls. I already have a few ready for Cinco de Mayo (the show is in San Antonio, after all), and I've got a few other fun ideas in mind. So it's time to quit yakking and start torching!

I'm trying to get some nice finished pieces done for my show next weekend. Here are some bracelets I made with the curves from Olive Glass. They are delicious! It took me a couple of tries to get the size right; at first I had used some nice big spacers but they turned out to be too big, so I just used some flat ones to get a nice finished look.



I have some more bangle curves and some for necklaces too. Can't wait to make these pieces. Well, I can't wait to lay them all out and look at them, anyway. It is so difficult for me to decide what to put together. I think it is a fear of commitment! Although I know in my mind that I can just take something apart if I'm not happy with it, there is something inside me that just doesn't want to use up my pretty beads! I am a hoarder! LOL Oh well, I usually can bite the bullet and share a few beads with the world.
I'll just set some aside for myself .

Then again, maybe I'm just being hard on myself. Maybe I am just a perfectionist, waiting for that moment of serendipity when something I've been holding on to meshes perfectly with something I just brought home. For example, I have had several of these W-shaped findings in my stash for at least 2 years. And that silver tube bead is from, oh I don't know, 1998?



They just happen to work perfectly with the silk ties I got at the Bead Expo. They come in wonderful colors and are so much more fun than a chain. You can pull on those cube beads to adjust the necklace longer or shorter. I'm debating whether to add a dangle to the ends...you can wear the ends to the front or back, depending on your daily funkiness level.

Stay tuned for more Tales From the Stash!

So much to do, so much to make, so many fun new beads to play with that I got in Oakland!!!!

The work of Lark Dalton at Olive Glass has long been among my favorites, and Penny's as well. Lark and his wife Corrie are two of the nicest, neatest people you could hope to meet. I think Lark could carry on an informed conversation on ANY topic! He's a master of color and form as well, and has blown glass with some of the biggest names in the business!
Anyway, we had a real brainstorm moment and both brought home several pieces for new designs using Lark's work and our own. Can't wait to put these things together, but I had to order some findings to finish them up. Stay tuned, it will be worth the wait.

I will be showing at the SanAntonio Bead and Ornament Society's Bead Bazaar May 5 and 6, and am excited to say that I'll have lots of new bead designs to show. Driving to and from Oakland was a great chance for Penny and me to brainstorm and we came up with some very fun ideas. Stay tuned, I'll blog them as they are finished.

Now, about that iguana. I think he enjoyed the bead show very much. He got lots of attention, as Penny and I took turns leading people down to Wayne's booth to show him off . Wayne and I are talking about our next project together, and I'm thinking of making a few pieces for myself, to liven up my booth and possibly sell...heh, any excuse to bring home some of Wayne's beads, right?!

So now we wait and see if he will be accepted into the Bead and Button exhibition.
Or if he'll just have to steal the show from his perch in Wayne's booth!

As you may have seen on the PennyMichelle home page, Penny and I are on our way to Oakland for the big Bead Expo, put on by Beadwork Magazine. It promises to be an exciting event, with plenty of classes and demos, and of course the Collector will be making his public debut, hence the magic word, "iguana"!
Whoops, looks like the truck is loaded, time to roll!
See you there!

Hmm, I was talking to Penny last night and telling her some story, which she said sounded bloggable, which is perfectly true. I thought, 'cool, I can blog it in the morning', and well now it has completely left my mind...eh, no big surprise there.

Maybe it was the gruesome tale of The Snake Who Tried to Eat a Big Frog But Choked On It So They Both Had to Be Chucked Over the Fence. That was pretty gross, and I didn't really see it go down, I just did the chucking over the fence part.

Could it be the fact that I am nearly done with the main part of the Circle Jacket (see below)? Eh, 'nearly done' isn't so interesting, I'll save that blog for when it's 'actually done'...

It's Round Top time again, but we didn't see anything super exciting Saturday, except a set of glass antlers that we will have to revisit when we go back.

Oh! Now I think I remember. We stopped at a produce stand Saturday and brought home a few jars of picante sauce and homemade pickles. I came inside Sunday morning to find the husband irate, trying to hustle the dogs outside. It also smelled like a Taco Cabana.
Sammy, the new foster dog,



Is also what they call a countertop surfer. He had pulled the bag of goodies off of the BACK of the stove, breaking one of the jars of salsa. here's the crazy part. The dogs ate it. All of it. Wow, we thought we were in for a couple of rough nights with that stuff rolling around in their systems, not to mention the scary possibility that somebody had eaten glass. But everybody is fine, and nobody showed signs of so much as a tummy ache.

In his short stay with us (I guess we've had him about a month), Super Sammy has stolen and devoured an entire loaf of bread, 3 tubes of toothpaste, lip balm, mascara, and deodorant. Basically anything he can find on a countertop or bedside table. He is a madman!

But look at that puppy face. I'm helpless.

**UPDATE***
Sammy isn't nuts, he's officially bananas. 3 of them, to be exact.