Season Changes

The ferns are already taking on their Fall colors.

The roosters were crowing when a cement truck arrived outside my apartment. My Son was having a shed floor poured..... so no sleeping in this morning. It was 7 am and 30 degrees outside. Everything was covered with frost and the early sun made the landscape sparkle. It reminded me that Summer is over and fall is really here.




The trees are turning colors and the prediction is for a lot of color this fall. This is what it looked like outside my windows early this morning.

It's time to put away the bright colors of Summer and get out the rich, muted Fall colors. I changed over my wardrobe earlier this week and it feels good to be back in jeans and long sleeved shirts again. Now I need to clean the bright colored beads off of my work table and get out the bronzes, dark reds, gold, and the more subdued, richer colors.

Broad Collar

I've long admired Broad collars and often thought I'd like one of my own to wear. However, none of the colors caught my eye and I haven't had the patience to sit down and make a complicated one of my own. During the Tucson Gem shows this year I found one that I liked; a very crude African piece, but it was in my color - yellow-green. The thing that appealed to me was that it was done in size 6/0 and 8/0 beads. Bev, from No Easy Beads, was with me and we bought as good a selection of 6/0 beads colors as we could find. We actually got carried away and bought partial kilos of way too many 6/0 beads. We had big plans as we looked at the purchased collar, discussed design possibilities and refined what we would do with a similar design in larger beads. I had visions of walking around in a Broad collars made in own color scheme. Time passed, we both got busy doing other things. The spark of an idea to design and make my own broad collar floated to the back of my mind

Six months later, last Friday, I got the beads back out and decided I needed something different to wear out to dinner on Monday night. At that point I started diagramming thread paths, refining, making changes, picking out color combinations and getting antsy to start the actual necklace. Big beads... easy, quick project. From start to finish it really only took parts of two days to finish.

while I was making the collar, it occurred to me that if I wanted a big bold necklace that was that quick to make, perhaps other beaders would also. So, part of the construction time was taken up with photographs and writing out an instruction set for Bead Patterns. I have been a designer with Bead Patterns almost from the beginning of Rita's site. If you want a beading pattern right now, even if it's the middle of the night, P-B is the place to get it.

Dressed and ready to go out the door.

I felt elegant, dinner out was chaotic but, a good time.

Bead Crochet Kits & DVD

Bead Crochet Kits For Sale

I have finally added a selection of bead crochet kits to my Bead Line Press website. If you don't want to invest in a lot of beads and spools of thread, these kits will suit perfectly. They contain everything you will need (except a hook) to make a bracelet.

.

The fun kits are the "Rainbow" series. These bracelets always amaze other beaders as it's the thread showing through clear beads that produces parallel bands of color. They are like Magic! The nice thing is that you can order them in either 11/0 or 8/0 beads.

.

.

ANNOUNCING

A New "How-To" Bead Crochet DVD

In November I'll have the starring role in an Abba Dabba Production DVD. Watch for it to be on sale by the end of this year or early 2007.

.

Leave it to my youngest sister to put things into perspective!!!

she said, "So my sister is a DVD Queen... are ya gonna Dance and sing in SPANDEX while you bead? you know "POWER BEADING!!! "

.

Now that image of myself is very hard to see in my head. I'll be content if the DVD clearly unravels some of the mysteries of how to achieve a good slip-stitch bead crochet rope.

Bead Retreat - take II

My Son-In-Law saved me by pointing out that if I'd lost my photos more than once I should have file recover software beyond what Windows gives you. - sigh, after three camera card deletes it was cheap at $70 bucks. I now have the photos back to share with you

.

I knew I was in the right place when I drove in and saw the two "Beads" license plates and Ellen walking down the lane in front of our cabin.

.

We had a beautiful setting for the retreat. It was hard to stay inside and bead.

.

A bunch of people took every advantage to be outside and bead on the porch during the day.

.

.

Those who stayed inside had plenty of room to spread out and work on their projects.

.

.

Here is our Birthday girl in her crown. I think if there had been an award to the most hours staying up to bead, Pam would have won it hands down.

.

.

.

Pat and her wire wrapped coke can... Would you have bid on this item on eBay?

.

.