For the Beady-Eyed Bunch

I spent the day straightening up my little beading area and quickly took pictures before it imploded again. I saw the show 'Hoarders' and think I had better mend my messy ways! Do I really need to keep Rocky's collar from when he was a puppy and we visited Karen and Chuck in Barstow, CA? Rocky chewed through it and Chuck fixed it with glue. I'm thinking I can throw that away now! And the patches from my Judo gi? And much, much, more! My habit of saving every box I get in the mail is just simply over - although....you never know when you will need just the right sized box..... If I take them to the recycle center I'll bet I will need one right away!

This is my 'spot'. I have beads stored in the book shelves behind me and I usually use my bench to sort things out but this is my 'spot' for beading. Complete with doggie beds under the table. They were using them a lot in the winter but not so much now. Mini was a good footwarmer, Rocky just growls.



A bit more of a close up - I am watching www.ustream.tv/theowlbox from San Marcos, CA, on my little 10" laptop. So cool - I have seen the eggs hatch and now they are are white balls of fluff. Papa Owl (named McGee) brings in the food at night to Mama Owl (Molly) to feed the 4 owlettes. A cam on the outside of the owl box is what is on my screen in this picture. The best cam is the one on the inside of the box.

And a picture of what I am working on now....above the pink light is a pile of projects to join/fix/join & fix. I have a few bead crochet bracelets going and still working on the cellini spiral bracelet. That spiral bracelet takes a long long time. It's very pretty but I'm not sure there will be another. Maybe one or two more - if you could only take one beading project on a trip this would be it. Once you get it started and get through the beginning rounds, it is very very simple.


And a close up of the spiral - just a round peyote with different sized beads - the smallest are size 15 and the largest are size 6.



A new project - I am stringing a crocheted bracelet with a silver line running through it. When I make patterns I have to string the beads in a certain order by hand, one at a time. This is 5 blue and 1 silver. It's a very simple pattern so doesn't take long. A complicated pattern can take a long time to string. If I am using a bead 'mix' I can use my trusty bead spinner and have it strung in a few minutes.
I am working on a piece of leather I have cut to the size of a salad plate - I love Corelle!


If any of the Beady-Eyed Bunch want to send me a picture of their workspace I will post it here!

Boo & Daisy Anderson

Patty hit the road and left her marvelous puppy dogs, Boo and Daisy, behind, all lonesome and pining for their family (which numbers 2 humans and 4 dogs now). I visited, handed out treats so I could be their most favorite person, played outside, then back inside for their dinner. Meanwhile I got one picture of them that wasn't a blur of activity.

And a nice shot of a beautiful, and very old, Bradford Pear out by the barn

I think we are all ready for Spring! My lawn already needs to be mowed - I am losing Mini in the grass!

Spring has sprung

This is what it looked like this evening on my street, standing on my porch....



It sure beats the heck out of this!!!!!

Beady-Eyed Bunch - 3/20/10 Equinox Celebration, continued

Finally! Putting up pictures of our Vernal Equinox gathering. The next one is planned for June 20th or 21st or maybe the weekend after that one (can't remember - but it is near the Solstice!). I believe this one will be at Vicki or Madeleine's house.

Meanwhile.....Riley was the Master of Ceremonies and kept a watchful eye on us. I got a sense of disapproval of the disruption in his domain.



Since it was the Equinox the first thing we did was raid Peggy's refridgerator for her eggs and stand them on end. As we are very easily amused, everyone was excited that Bonani and Phyllis were successful:



Peggy even took a picture on her cell phone! She sent me the picture but I have now lost it - maybe she will send it again.

Yes!


Now for a fuzzy picture of the place Peggy prepared for us to bead. I don't have any clear pictures of the group so I will just post a couple here. It was a wonderful place to bead - very open, very light. Very good hostess!







Vicki's Bumps in the Road bracelet - very nice!


Madeleine's spiral project:


Peggy was working on a free form flat peytote bracelet. I can't wait to see how this comes out.


Madeleine playing 'Smash the Cat'.

Madeleine and Vicki admiring a very nice scrapbook Peggy created.


Vicki learning how to use the jig to make ...well....'stuff'...and now flattening that same 'stuff'. We often make sure most weapon-like objects are not near Vicki but we all supervised her use of the hammer. No one was harmed in the production of this picture:


Bonani was working on a type of beaded 'sandle' that Mary would like to wear at her wedding on the beach. We hav been looking at the picture of a very expensive one and finally I believe we have figured out how to begin it and make the part that goes on top of the foot. Bonani probably has the anklet part finished by now. Mary is a lucky lady to have Bonani on the job!




Bonani's 5 inch heels on my feet. Why? Well, I have never worn heels that high and there were plenty of people to hold me up and/or pick me up when I fell....just seemed like the thing to do.


I worked on my Cellini spiral - tubular peyote with beads of differing sizes:


But then it was time to go.....Bonani got her shoes back


Madeleine starts limbering up for her run to Illinois...


Riley gave a sigh of relief:


Peggy performed the closing ceremonies:



And the Olympic Beading flame was extinguished until the Solstice....

Cactus from Quartzsite AZ are doing well

Beading with the Beady-Eyed Bunch was wonderful today. It was wonderful of Peggy to host the Vernal Equinox beading group. Very very good to see everyone and laugh and enjoy each other's company. Very good. It has been too long.

It is going to take me some time to sort out the pictures to post here but I wanted to post these this evening. Last year in June Deb, Bob, and I harvested cactus off of the AZ desert. We planted them in the window at work in July and I hadn't seen them since I left the unit in the middle of August. Today I found two of the pots at Peggy's - they were all grown up and having babies of their own!

This picture is from last July when we were planting - these are all Paper Cactus and Pine Cone Cactus:


And a close up:


Here they are all moved into Peggy's home and growing happily:



Safe travels and safety to Drew - he is off to Haiti tomorrow as a pastor.
Best wishes and prayers to Phyllis as she will have surgery on Monday.
Safe travels to Madeleine as she left from our beading group to travel to IL to take care of family business.

Preparing for the Beady-Eyed Bunch Celebration of the Vernal Equinox

We are all heading to Peggy's house in Indianapolis tomorrow for the first annual celebration of the vernal equinox that occurs at 13:32 tomorrow! Beads will be beaded, gossip will be shared, food will be consumed...and - yes - pictures will be taken! I am taking 2 batteries with me just in case.
I will take this necklace with me for 'show and tell' - there will be a lot of show and tell! I did this just for the Beady-Eyed Bunch gathering. It is another very easy one but only really looks good in size 8's. I tried it in size 11's and it was just.....'wonky' is the only word that comes to mind.


A heart for my Beady-Eyed Friends!
And some close ups in case someone wants a better look:



Now for the really new design! I finally broke down and have started a Cellini spiral - it is just a variation of a peyote tube, even count, but with different sized beads. I have wanted to learn this for quite some time but never had the motivation - so I started it now so I could show off! No - I didn't put the colors and beads together - puhlease, that's not my talent at all! I bought a kit from FusionBeads.com - it would take me years to put all of this together. I started it last night, not sure if I have done it correctly, only time and more beads will tell. Here is everything on the little traveling beading tray I will be taking with me tomorrow:

And here is a close up of the critter itself - I have about 11 rounds done at this point:

Peggy is making Tiramisu and Vicki is bringing Buffalo Wing Dip...Awesome!

Mom and Sydney's new pal, Tinkerbelle

Tinker seems to be settling right in. A few skirmishes as she and Sydney sort out who does what in the pack. Tinker has taken to remaining on the 'high ground'! It is safer that way when she has finally gotten on Sydney's last nerve.



Mom said Tinker was sharing a secret with her! I wonder what it was?!


Hmmmm, I guess it was the day for secrets but I was the only one who wasn't in on it. Tinker - you are a little troublemaker!


Tink likes to hang out in the ivy for some reason - maybe it slows Sydney down.


Sydney is taking a bit of a breather....it's hard work keeping up with a one-year old puppy!


Most of my pictures look like this - the two dogs speeding by. One chases the other then the game reverses and all I get is noses and tails!


Once again - thank you, Judy! All is going well. You done good.

Beady-Eyed Bunch! Simple peyote stitch bracelet

Yet more beading....


A very very simple peyote bracelet. It was a free pattern from FusionBeads.com at one point. It is very very simple and uses size 8 Delica beads which are very big. At least much bigger than we are used to working with.

Did I mention how simple this one is? I bought several colors of the size 8 Delicas and when those are gone I don't think there will be another one of these from me! If you are looking for a simple bracelet that looks very good - this is the one.

The clasp is just a button from Joann Frabrics and a loop. Getting the button to mesh with the loop on the uneven end can be a little tricky so I am showing how I put it on.

For the Beady-Eyed Bunch

Back to beading!

I became fascinated with tourquoise/gray and making minor changes in thread and beads each time. Could I get more boring?!

Happy Hatch-day, Bubba!

Bubba the Bird is 17 years old this month! He has been munching on cantelope, honey-dew melon, red grapes, and pineapple this evening.
For those of you who have never had the opportunity to meet him (and give him belly scratches like his friend, Cecily, does) - Bubba is a Dusky Conure. His ancesters were from the Amazon Basin. Bubba, however, is from Indianapolis. He is as well-traveled as any bird and has lived in Indiana, Montana, Nevada, and Georgia, and visited all of the states inbetween! He has a travel cage and a spot up high in the extended cab of my pick up truck where he can see out and greet everyone. Bandit, a Parrotlet, r.i.p., had the other side. If left alone, even for a few minutes, they found that they could whistle over some visitors to talk to them until I came back! Parrots love an audience!

Why is he peeping out from between two pieces of paper? Dusky Conures like to 'burrow' - in their natural habitat some of them live inside abandoned termite mounds. I put down two sheets of unprinted newspaper so he can have his own little domain inside a paper termite mound!