Already the trip to Japan is cutting into my beading time. By the time I get off the computer I am too tired to bead. I never thought I would hear me think that!
Today I packed up some of the beaded necklaces to take as gifts in those little organza bags. I hope this is fancy enough. How grateful I am to have made those necklaces in July. I see that if I had left the job until now it probably would not have gotten done.
I picked up the beaded branch at GAC on Tuesday. Naturally it did not sell so I am now trying to find a place to hang it. They took very good care of it so it came home with all the twigs intact. I was prepared with my glue bottle but they did such a good job of hanging it high and out of the traffic patterns that I did not get the disaster I was expecting.

I make a lot of jewelry but wear very little of it. When I do wear a piece, I then keep it as 'mine' and never offer it for sale. Last night, when the Readers Theater Group, at Gualalal Arts Center, read my play "Banana Skies" I wore this piece and it felt very special and very good. I am thinking of taking it to Japan with the hope that the big hollow silver bead will encapsule the good feelings of last night and carry me through whatever awaits me across the waters.

In my suitcase I think the weight of beaded jewelry will just about balance out the many books and papers that need to be crowded in with the clothes. We will see, when push comes to shove, if there is room for it. But this morning I am feeling happy and relaxed and very gratified and I want to hang on to that attitude!

This is a necklace that started out as a bracelet. Friday afternoon, on the way to the dentist's office to see why my cheek was hurting so much after the temporary crown work yesterday, I had a vision of the big silver bead (from Debbe -THANKS) and the lampwork beads as a bracelet. I did the spiral stitch as 'chain' but the big bead and lampwork beads were too wide to lie properly on the wrist.

Yesterday, after baking a batch of brownies, I got this idea for making the bracelet into a necklace. Today I finished up the connections and right now am feeling fairly happy with the results.

Am thinking of the several jewelers in the area having Studio Tours today and would like to go but still have too much pain in my face. It seems to get worse when I get warm or bounce around. Maybe next weekend!

The first thing I ever beaded!

The other day while curling frosted 11s into a beard on Santa Claus I got the idea that I should take a portfolio of my bead work to Japan. Who knows who I will meet? Maybe someone to sell my 'creations'- or at least find a new audience. Out in the studio I looked through the stack of old photo albums trying to find one that would fit into my suitcase. They all looked so big and bulky. I hated printing out all those photos.

Only when I had gone back to beading did I realize that it was easier to carry them on the web! So I stopped beading and started to make a website for my beads alone. Well, that did not work. Somehow working on the computer in the afternoon does not go well; probably because my inner child would rather bead.

However, by evening and several more Santas, I saw how to make the site using the template I use for my other pages. Then it began to work. There were a few fistfights with Dreamweaver but when I gave up trying to import photos and first ran them through Photoshop the cussing was quieter.

So now I have a section just for my beadwork. You can go to AHApoetry.com and scroll down on the left side to 'Bead Art' or go directly to http://www.ahapoetry.com/jrart/beadhmpg.html I hope you will take a look and be inspired to get your beaded creations out there in bytes and lights.

The greater good of this job was finding things I had made that I had forgotten about!

A beader's autumn starts with Christmas! Yesterday I moved on to the Santa earrings. I had no pattern so I simply started. Used 6s instead of 8s for the hat and wondered why they looked so wrong. They do not look half-bad here but in real-life, if there is such a thing, the 6s seemed too big. I was surprised at the feelings of peace that came over me as I worked on these. It was like a visit with old friends. Very companionable day.

I got tired of making green trees, in spite of loving that olive color! So I began doing snow covered trees which moved into Valentine's Day with hearts on the top. I think the series is done. Last night, instead of beading, I worked on the computer with my new netbook. It was the wrong way for me to wind down my day. Had huge light clouds in my night vision. So I need to find a new project for today.

Maybe if I clean up the studio I will stumble over some forgotten bunch of beads that will spell out the new project. I feel beads cast spells over me. I seem to get possessed by a bead, or an idea that I cannot let go of until it lets go of me.

The back cover of

Had such a lovely surprise on Friday. Melody at Fire Mountain sent me a copy of Christmas 365. I loved reading the magazine with its refreshing layouts and super ideas. I think the idea of keeping Christmas throughout the year is a marvelous idea. Of course I have just spent the last week making Christmas tree earrings! Am ordering the magazine for my granddaughter who is really into Christmas - evidently we share a gene pool. . .

What a marvelous pick-me-up to see my beaded work on the beautifully done ad on the back cover! Thanks to Arbel and Melody and probably many others I do not even know about, I had such a joyful day then and the shine continues even yet today. What a great reason for beading. Now I need a new idea for next year's bead contest! Hm. . .