Still sucks

Still on the knitting/beading ban. It sucks. It may end up being a 2 week ban. That really sucks.

My hands f-ing hurt

And I'm looking for ways to amuse myself that does not involve gripping needles. Obviously, that means no knitting or beading. Boo! But I do have a few pretty things to show you all.

First up is one of my happiest and most favorite purchases. The first time I heard of Leah Fairbanks was reading an article about her in Bead & Button. I fell in love with her beads. She has a garden theme running throughout and her use of color is amazing! I walked past her booth on my last rounds at Bead&Button on Sunday and I had to stop and admire...and buy. She had a necklace around her neck with one of her beads as the focal bead and strung with gemstones and that became my inspiration. I had bought a few strands of faceted amethysts on the first day of B&B and I knew that's what I was going to use them for. All I was missing were the crystal squaredells and I set off on a last minute hunt for them! The last thing I did before I went to bed after I got back was put this necklace together. I absolutely love it! The price is high since the bead was expensive, but also it's going to take that much for me to part with it :) Sorry all!



Next up...and why my hands are currently hurting a lot...I started working on this almost immediately after I returned from Bead&Button. Laura McCabe had one of these in class and I loved it! I was inspired for the color and in trying to bead from my stash, I realized that I had the perfect beads to make the spiral ndebele strap. The ball is Laura McCabe's "Crown Jewel" design with Swarovski rivolis and bicones. Yum.


This is probably my second favorite necklace right now, right after the Leah Fairbanks bead one. There are probably more of these to come. It's also over on etsy.

A preview and some pictures

First the pictures from Bead & Button. I finally pulled the memory card out of the camera and uploaded the pictures.

Second, a preview. I started this inspired by the Crystal Burst Bracelet class. I also am having a difficult time getting the last row of crystals on that bracelet so this is a diversion. Progress is slow cuz my wrist hurts.

Bead & Button continued

I spent most of Saturday in class. I was taking Laura McCabe's Crystal Burst Bracelet class. It was wonderful! Laura was a great teacher. She was very knowledgeable and gave us many hints and tips. It left me wanting to bezel rivolis left and right. I continued with the shopping at lunch and after class. We had another tornado warning and they even herded everyone who was in the hall into the market place. Physically, yes, it was the safest place. I ended up ordering take out for dinner from one of the hotel restaurants. It was pouring outside, I was not going outside. I ate my dinner and wandered over to the convention center where there was the bead social and auction. The woman who was doing the auction...okay, I understand we have a limited amount of time, but geez, how freakin' rude can you be? She seemed to have taken the social out of the social. I didn't stay long since you basically couldn't talk or auction lady couldn't hear you so I just went back to the room to watch some tv and stare at my loot and sleep.

Sunday was Jeanette Cook's Mastering the Curl class. Having taking Paulette's Totally Twisted class, this was a repeat. Jeanette was an interesting lady and I bought a kit from her. I wandered back to the market place after class, and I didn't intend to spend a lot of money. Well...I bought a Leah Fairbanks lampwork bead. It was beautiful. I had faceted amythests I had bought that I knew I could use for the necklace and went on a last minute hunt for some crystal rondelle spacers. Had the components and it was time to head back to the Hilton to get my bags and go to the airport. Well, my first flight was delayed half an hour. That sucks when you only have 1 hour between planes! The plane landed in Minneapolis and I had 10 minutes to get to my other flight. And I got home.

At some point, I have to get the pictures off of my camera and post them. I did start off with the pictures I took by the Milwaukee River on the phone.

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It was a very good weekend for me. I was able to recharge before the start of a crazy week at work. I was greatly inspired in my beading. Beading is my passion. The knitting and fibers is a hobby. I love the sparkles of the beads.

Bead & Button

Yes, I'm behind the times.

I'm referencing emails I sent to Patricia and Helena to help my memory

Friday

So, I took off for Milwaukee on Friday. The trip there was overall smooth. I took the bus from the airport to the downtown Hilton and got off a block too early. That was also when it decided to start pouring! Of course, I was on the opposite side of the building from where the entrance was so I was a bit wet. Good thing I pulled out the umbrella on the bus. But I was able to check in, get to my room, check in at work and wander to the market place to do some SHOPPING! When I got to the market place, I found out that the tornado warning was over (so that's what the rain was!). I found that lots of the teacher kits were on sale on their websites. I found cabochons and crystals and I met Cynthia Rutledge. I bought her Alyeska's Jewel bracelet kit and held off on anything else. The only thing that kept me from buying her Monet's Garden Kit was that she was out of the color scheme I wanted. I also met the guy at Urban Beader who has been in touch with Patricia. Patricia is still waiting for her bags but I was short on patience and bought one. I finally made myself stop and go back to the room for dinner and otherwise, stop spending money.

I had dinner at a place called Mo's Irish Pub that was down by the river and a couple of blocks from the hotel. I had some clams steamed in Bass Ale. I don't like drinking beer but I'm finding that I like stuff cooked in beer. I also had some steak and garlic mashed potatoes. After dinner, I walked a few blocks by the river, took some pictures and wandered up to Old World Third Street and the sausage factory. The buildings are definitely unique with old world character but it was getting dark. I wandered back by way of the Hyatt to see what beady goings on there were and I think I walked by Sherry Serafini. She was tiny with long blond hair. But even more characteristic of her, there was a huge but BEAUTIFUL beaded collar around her neck. From there, I wandered back to the room to watch Law & Order and rest up for the next full day of class.

Spinning spinning

I spent a few hours this past Saturday at Stitch DC Georgetown while Amber was working. They FINALLY got a new computer in the shop but with Vista, hadn't been able to look Quickbooks so I went in to take a look. I knitted for a bit on the silk nightie and now I must stop knitting for a bit. Knitting a row and I can feel my wrist hurting again. boo! But my progress:



That's the lower edge. I hope I can finish this before September.


So, instead of knitting, I spun this weekend. I was able to ply the first skein:


I have another half bobbin full of plied yarn. Must keep spinning. I didn't bother with the navajo ply and instead spun up 3 bobbins full of singles and started plying.


Friday, I head off to Bead & Button. Whee!!!