These were made by Judy Carr. The nutcrackers are her own design and I loved them! Also I think she did a great job on the angels! Her wire work is so much neater than mine. We did a trade so evidently she found two items from me that she liked.

Yesterday I unloaded the car and put away the stuff from the Festival of Trees. I had planned to take the trees on to Point Arena, but they were so messy it would have meant taking most of the items on them off and rehanging them. It was easier just to take them off and put them into the trays. I did not want to get to PA and find that I should have brought a table. Later Ling-Yen called wondering where I was. She had the table for me. It is still an option to put something on the trees and take them in next weekend. Depends on how much work I have to do this week and if I can get over the voice in my head saying the trees were not a good way to display jewelry.

In the afternoon, instead of beading, I went through all the old magazines marking projects I wanted to try out. Then I went through my beads removing all the silver-lined ones. They tarnish in our salty air and I have decided to clear my palette of them. In the process I found the square beads I had been looking for to do the Pendragon Cuff. In addition, in the odd ends box I found a bracelet with more square beads. So I had the pleasure of recycling that. The capricorn in me really enjoys picking through the beads and getting them into new vials.

In the evening when I sat down to bead, my hand (as if guided by a chocolate impulse) went to the netbook and I played Scabble and watched "Wives and Daughters" instead of beading. This could be serious. . .

Back again yet today because I forgot to include a shot of Judy's table. I had photographed it the day before and missed it when I did the previous upload. She got the wall and that adds a lot of quiet to the display.

Here are Bruce Jones and his wife looking at Marianne's pendents. Showing them in their boxes certainly made it easy to see them.

Here is a better photo of Vicki still working with the same couple! Here you can see her bead trays - also a good way of showing the work. Because of the changes in the tables, she invited me to put one of my trees on her space.

This is Susan Shaddick, a new member of the group. We really loved her idea of putting her pieces on stones. Laughingly we imagined next year's booth looking like a beach as we all would imitate her! I love her big hammered metal earrings that look like shovels. That is what I want!

This is Debbe's display of her lampwork on necklaces. Next to her, on the wooden rounds, is Lorenzo's earrings. He is very adept with wire and if someone did not buy the C-clef pair of earrings, I will today.

Here is Vicki showing her necklace to someone. Notice how she covered the neck stand displays with fabric to add to the Christmas theme. I heard her taking an order for one of her Tudor bracelets. She had a whole tray full but this woman wanted one special one just to fit her wrist.

I caught Lorenzo admiring my Christmas scene. He was so cute and so hard-working. He actually took over the selling of Marianne's diachronic glass pendants because she was not there.
About noon Sus came to tell me that the bonsai tree Sharon and I made had already reached it's sell-price - $200. in the silent auction. That started a flurry of activity of people wanting fish and in 1/2 hour five of them swam away

Was able to get back to The Dolphin to photograph the Big Bead Bird and see that already several items have sold! I guess it was good Carrie made me do a paper inventory since my photo inventory was already out-of-date.

Officially the gift shop opened on Tuesday but the team decorating the room who did a fantastic job this year were still adding touches when I was there.

Here is the set up in the Burnett Gallery at Gualala Arts. I left before Sus got the lights set up so the photo looks a bit dreary. However, in real life the room was glowing. Nearly everyone had brought their work by the time I got there. I was glad I got the extra space for the pedestal for the Christmas scene. Even before I left people were coming into the gallery asking to see it, saying others were saying they had to see it, etc. Very nice!

Well everything is out of the studio, in the right places, looking as good as I can make them and I am very thankful. Much to be thankful for today. I hope you can add me to your list!

Yesterday Ling-Yen had the gallery open in the afternoon in Point Arena so I went in thinking I would only get the net and the lights up, but the work went really well and I finished at 5:02. It was such a joy to see the empty gallery filling up with the colors and shapes of things my friends and neighbors had made. Having people there again, felt so good and hopeful. Again babies and dogs added their excitement. A marvelous afternoon. The other good thing is the fact that I do not have to go back today so I get an extra day in this too-short week.

Ling-Yen is saving me a trip by picking up the light bulb one of my lamps needed.

PS

This is not a shot of the full display. Only about half. Need to go back in the daytime for a better photo.

On Saturday we had our bead meeting and I thought the meeting would all be about the Festival of Trees, but we are a much richer and diverse group than that. Vicki delivered the orders from Fire Mountain. It is so much fun when we have and take the time to look over each person's shipment. We get to see things we never thought of ordering. That's all we need; more ideas of what to buy!
Rhoda actually worked on a necklace during the hubbub and picked up the bags and boxes of beads and findings we all donated to her 4-H group.
Sharon Nickodem had brought the bonsai tree she made with my embellished fish. I am sorry I did not get a photo of it but it was sitting on a table with a bunch of weird stuff behind it. I will try to get a better one when it is on actual display.
The Show N' Tell table was crowded with all the new things we had been making. Lorenzo is moving beyond earrings into bracelets and showed us his first efforts. Rhoda brought not only her newest (she is making her own glazed beads with a marvelous gold on them - you can see your face in them) but also a marvelous necklace made in the sixties that I wish I had photographed.
While Vicki and Judy discussed how to manage the money end of the booth, Debbe, Lorenzo and I went to the gallery and set up the tables, covered them with green tableclothes (thanks Gualala Arts!) and added pedestals on the corners. It worked great because back in the meeting they had been trying to assign table space according to a drawing. By seeing the space in the real it was so much easier to find our places.
I had planned to booth-sit the first session so I could take my trees and be there to save a trip to Gualala, but now I am thinking I will go on Wednesday to set up my stuff. Maybe I can get some photos for you.

I finished up all the UFOs, got the last of the things ready for the Christmas craft shows, cleaned up all the trays and then had nothing to do. Even worse, there was nothing I wanted to do. All those lovely beads and there was nothing that interested me enough to start a new project! I truly wondered if I had outgrown beading or if having so much unsold work simply acted as a dam to stop me from adding to the sins of my disasters. I even wondered if my recent sleepless nights meant I was skidding into a holidays depression a bit early.

Not wanting to do that I forced myself to find a little project. Then I remembered these marvelous wire combs I had found in Japan. So I made these. Not very exciting and just too sweet and ho-hum. I thought of embellishing them, but felt those could get too heavy.

I want to make something big! Beads that fill a room! or at least a small box. I did order an acrylic lock box so I can have my own box to display the beaded Christmas scene at the Festival of Trees. Another $70 into my hopeless addiction to beads.