Book organization

Patterns & Graphing went out of print last year and I've finally gotten a printed republished edition up on Amazon.

You can also get an eBook copy from Bead-Patterns.  The nice thing about eBooks is that you can print out individual pages to scribble notes on.

And the prices have gone down also.





Urban Stripes has been an eBook for some time now, but I finally got the higher resolution photos together to do a POD edition on Amazon.

I personally still like paper copies of patterns, beading and other books.  
Amazon printed copy is here



When I did my first Bead Crochet book 14 years ago, I thought it might be just a 30 day wonder. Digital cameras were new and expensive, there were no Print-on-Demand services and downloads were scarce. I'm amazed (and grateful) that sales of all of my books continue as new beaders discover what they can do with bead crochet.

African Stripes

I don't move as fast as I once did, but it's still fun to dream up patterns in this technique.

Circus Bangles

Back to usefulness

A couple of years along now with a diagnosis of Rheumatoid Arthritis, I am back to being semi-useful, functional. Sixty eight years of a very active lifestyle changed to one where I have to carefully plan what and where I am going to do day by day.  Medications have helped enough so that I can enjoy my beads once again.  I won't bore you with any of the details, but my blog posts will probably be sporadic.


It's hard to believe that in 25 years I've gone from this.....

 to this ....






"The evolution of my bead hoarding"

Cleanup Distraction

 I almost got this written this afternoon except my Boyfriend yelled that he could see smoke and a possible fire across the wash from the house.  Right now it's so dry and brush fires in Arizona can quickly burn out of control.  Stay tuned for an update.....

As I was cleaning up the studio work table to host a couple of visiting bead people, I threw all larger loose beads onto a tray.


I kept thinking, "what a nice combination."

The idea bulb went on...... I'd clean a bit, string a few beads from the tray, put a few beads away and string a few more beads.   

A messy work surface does say creativity, doesn't it?  Grab the crochet hook and see what it looks like as a single crocheted chain.

Not bad....

I'll unravel this first attempt as I need to figure out how to even out the chain tension.  Some areas bunch up into over large picots and others have too much cord showing between beads.  

I think it's a quick, fun way to use up odds and ends of beads and add some fun to an outfit.  

It's about 10 days to leaving for New Hampshire for the summer.  Please tell me the snow and mud season has left the East Coast.

Given what needs to be done before packing the car, I've put the moth sculpture away for 6 months.  I did see an oriental running stitch quilting technique that might look great on these wings.

Well.... the moth project is  now packed away for after Thanksgiving when I get back to Arizona.  For the moment all of the pieces and odd other bits are in one box waiting.

I unearthed another project that needs more research.  I was playing with the possibility of paper jewelry and put it aside when I noticed that the edges of the paper were badly fraying. I need to find a sealant for the paper that leaves it still feeling like paper and not stiff wood.  This took me back to my summer camp days. Did you ever make lanyards as a child?

I'll have an idea, try it, reject it and put the project tray aside for another while. The potato starch was interesting, but what a mess it made.  I would have been better off making potato soup with it.  

You sure can find a lot of possibilities waiting to happen when you deep clean a studio.  Let's see... there are 2 sliced up billiard balls, a box of rusty flea market keys, Arizona Artifacts waiting to be made into a unique pendant, A bead crochet large cuff bracelet waiting for more pieces of rope,  and tubes of seed beads everywhere.

Waiting for Rain in Arizona

You can smell the rain in the dry desert air.  The wind is gusting, making things rattle, squeak and moan outside.   It isn't too often that the forecast says 100% chance of rain around here.  Yet, there is still a possibility that it won't rain at my house but will rain a quarter mile down the road.







Tombstone's historic courthouse waiting for rain as it looks from my back porch this morning.  The clouds are rolling by quite fast and the wind is pushing the winter bare tree branches around.  I can see some of the birds flapping like crazy against the wind but not going much of anywhere.

It's going to be a good afternoon to turn the space heater on and work on some beadwork.  I have some light ecru pearl 8/0's out for a background.  Now I need 5 spring flower colors.  I have a matte green for leaves and a good yellow.  I need to root around for 4 more colors that makes you think of specific flowers.

Sometimes I think the hardest part of any project  is deciding on what colors to use

I guess you could say that March is coming in like a lion here in Southern Arizona.