I've been working mornings on the magazine Lynx for all my computer time until today when I had to stop long enough to clean the house. Each evening I would bead on the tree project, which was nothing to report so I avoided the guilt trip of not being here.

Last night I finally forced myself to work on Kathy's necklace. Kathy Dillman is a beader friend who also is one of my best customers. Imagine my chagrin as she was trying on a necklace at the Point Arena Holiday when I heard the horrible clatter of single beads falling to the floor!

Somehow, and for the first time in my life, the crimp beads on BOTH sides let go at once!

What was even more embarrassing was the focal bead was made by Kathy. She had come by the house last summer to learn how to make beaded beads on a wooden bead center. She made one which I really liked but she did not like it and had no idea of how to use it.

So she gave it to Marianne Baxter as a donation to the Traveling Bead Exhibit (through which Marianne raised over $10,000 last year for the local medical center and other causes - hooray for Marianne!). I immediately wanted it so I gave Marianne a donation and took the bead home.

Only after getting the glass beads from Debbe Hull I knew what I wanted to do with Kathy's bead.

And here it was skittering across the gallery floor.

Kathy was very gracious. She said she still wanted to buy the necklace but the original length was far too long. So I agreed to shorten it to her dimensions and to use the rest for a bracelet. "And matching earrings!" she laughingly called to me as we shared again the joke about her appreciation for matching jewelry and my idea that no two pieces can or should be alike.

So last night I did this for Kathy.

If you look closely you can see that I made a much better transition from the focal bead this time around. Also I softened the changes from the heishi to the glass beads by using other larger turquoise disks which also better covered the rough holes some of the recycled glass beads have. So having the necklace destroy itself was a good thing! And I am thankful for a friend like Kathy who is so understanding! May you wear this in joy and happiness!