With the electricity off so much, blogging beads slipped down my list of things I could do. So here is a catch-up of the necklace I did last week waiting for my Fire Mountain order. I was surprised how good these crystals worked when they were not what I had planned to use. Their colors were much better than the ordered ones of the zirconia drops. It pleases me when I find I have on hand just what I need. I feel taken care of - that all I need is what I have. Also the gentle colors please me. This is one necklace I will be keeping for myself just because of the lesson it gave me.

I had started the lizards, in 15s back in November. I ordered the turquoise donuts and was really excited about them, but the hole is so small. I then ordered the gemstone toggle clasps but those holes were too large. There are moments when I wish I could walk into a store and pick up the stone, see the proper colors, appreciate its size.

But see how the lizard gets lost? I want it to jump off the stone! Back to the drawing board for this one, also. Seeing the photo helps me to figure out what went wrong. Maybe the lizard should be done in bright gold? Hmmmm. . .

Oops, the images loaded in here backwards so you get to see the final piece first. On this tube I decreased the end to a point. Am not sure I am happy with this solution of how to relate the tube to a hook. I like the flat end of a tube and feel a small bead to cover the top would be better.

Since I only had one of the wire necklaces I moved on to one of these macrame ready-made necklaces from Fire Mountain that Debbe gave me. I rarely find a use for these, but here they work. On this one the tube is flat on top but it relates poorly to the shell and I suspect that soon I will cut it off and redo it. This tube was left over from the earliest set of green ones. Glad to find a use for it. I really like the look of showing off the beads in a simple way and the tube has an elegance about it that I want to emphasize.

This was the left over from "Chinese New Year" and I feel that here I got the top of the bead to have the proper relationship to the hook (it has one of the gold ball and elastic thingies used for holding eyeglasses on the chains) and I like the two small wooden pink beads that close up the space between the gold loop and the pink cylinders. I love the feel of this necklace. There is a serenity to it and the 8s really come into their own beauty. The 8s, with the same bead count as the 6s was only about 4 inches long. For a small person this would be about right.

My second attempt at making the tubes ended up with the name "Chinese New Year" because of the colors I had on hand. These I did with 8s and they are all the same length. For a hook I used the gold ball and elastic jobies for glasses and I like the ball but the black elastic shows up darkly through the transparent tubes. By this time I found out that the bead tubes had a tendency to not be straight so I stuck plastic straws up them. Next time I will make the tubes the size of the clear plastic tubing I have so the inner structure is of a better quality material.

At the bead meeting Saturday Vicki told about meeting a woman in the grocery store wearing a necklace made of tubes of felt. I immediately thought of tubes made of beads! The woman's necklace had wires, with small beads on them, between the tubes and this is something I want to explore but so far the tubes have kept me entertained enough. These tubes I made with 6s and they are about 6 inches long. I do not like how they 'hang' on this metal circle and the little tubes made of 11s between the hooks do not drape right. The hooks here are those simple silver plated hooks I use so much. In sewing the flat hook to the tube, the tube got flattened and that looks crappy.

This project was a good one because we were losing electricity each day and the doing the peyote stitch with 6s and 8s was easier to sew in the weak light from storm clouds.

Tonight is the opening of the "You Be the Judge" show at Gualala Arts Center and I am nervous as beads on a slick floor. Cannot settle down to any work.

Yesterday Barry called to say they wanted to put a pedestal under the pillar and did I approve? I wanted to get over to see if they had a good idea or not, and lacked the time, so had to call and asked them to remove it. Scott said he would. Werner thinks I should make a "do not touch" sign for the hanging committee! I am still shaking my head that they put a Christmas tree under it last month. It is amazing how many people loved the idea and how many artists were horrified! I was relieved that they only damaged one strand getting the tree out and away from the work. Off to do more nail-biting. . .

It is not the judging that bothers me. That is outside and beyond and not applicable to me or the work. I guess it is completely the idea that strangers, and even worse! friends and neighbors will be looking at something I have made. Ouch!

The work on the new Christmas scene is going well - until yesterday. Was trying to make the title into a banner for the back of the fireplace and was trying to make it look like a child's writing (to match the letter to Santa idea), but today it just looks sloppy. Suspect I may have to make another attempt with the letters all proper just to keep me happy.

The scanner picked up a small gap under 'stockings' that I had not seen before. Something else to fix.

Want to add a cat and a dog to the scene and cannot decide the position for the dog. Spraddled out or curled up? Will try to make the cat like I did last year. Am eager to try!

Finally stopped making the lizards and started on my Fire Mountain beading contest entry for this year. True it does not make much sense at this stage, but you cannot say I am working in secret! I am using square beads and love the colors of the, what looks here to be, brown. It is a transparent frost rainbow dark amber (2622SB) that has glorious golds, blues and amber. Actually had to stop and make another lizard bracelet when I saw them.
Eager to get back to this today, even though it is too sunny and beautiful to stay indoors and bead! I think I am going to run out of the white ones anyhow.

My idea of a holiday is to sit and bead all day. Before I shut down the computer I did want to get a greeting all four of my 'followers' as thanks for checking in. Some days the brush is kinder to me than the beads!
Am back to lizards in 15s and delicas. . .
I hope none of you beaders try to interpret this!
Have a marvelous new year! \o/