Happy Anniversary, SandFibers!

Learn Your Shapes Peyote Cuff Bracelet (2364)
Originally uploaded by Sand Fibers, who asks that you not copy her work!

My friend Carol Dean of Sand Fibers fame, has been selling on etsy for 3 years as of today. The cuff in the photo is her new Learn Your Shapes peyote cuff- isn't it lovely? Her work is elegant, clean and often amusing.

Her shop is here: http://www.sandfibers.etsy.com and she is running a special anniversary sale, which she's blogged about here:
Sand Fibers Blog.

Do yourself a favor, check out her incredible work and save money too!

In Progress Beaded Piece

In Progress Beaded Piece
Originally uploaded by satyridae

Yeah, well, it keeps me off the streets.

My First Frog Bead

My First Frog Bead
Originally uploaded by satyridae

Here is my first little lampwork frog. I think he's adorable (she murmurs modestly). I might just sleep with him under my pillow tonight.

Bead Art Originals Items of the Week

Bead Art Originals Mosaic
Originally uploaded by Sand Fibers, who asks that you not copy her work!

BAO's items of the week are up, and as always, there are some real beauties.

Check 'em out here: BAO Blog.

Etsy BeadWeavers Challenge

Tropical Whale Tails Bracelet, originally uploaded by satyridae.

This month's Etsy BeadWeavers challenge post is up on our blog:

http://www.etsy-beadweavers.blogspot.com

My entry this month is #30, Tropical Whale Tails, a peyote bracelet with picot edging. There are a lot of breathtakingly beautiful entries- check 'em out and vote for your favorite!

Millie & John Murray, Beaded

My grandmother died last month. She was a fixture in my life, indomitable and dearly loved. She'd been ill for some months and her death was not exactly a surprise but it was still terribly sad for me. As my dad and my uncle sorted through the things she left behind, they kept sending me photos and jewelry. The jewelry I want to take apart and reconstruct into something wonderful, but that project is going to have to simmer a long time- maybe years. I needed to do something to honor Millie, to make the loss real to me here, thousands of miles from where she lived and died. I found a photo of her with my grandfather and decided to bead it.

The project was very involved, from plotting out as a graph through the laborious counting of each row. I found it meditative and full of memories and echoes. The finished piece is 4.5" x 3.25" and has 4488 individual beads woven together into a heavy, fabric-like picture. There are 8 colors in the piece. It is, of course, not for sale.

Bluebirds Bracelet

Bluebirds Bracelet
Originally uploaded by satyridae

My Bluebird bracelet pattern is the Free Pattern featured in the Bead & Button newsletter that came out today! I'm over the moon about it.

If you follow the link, you will need to scroll down almost to the bottom of the page. To get the actual pattern, you must be a registered B&B website user, but you needn't be a subscriber to the magazine.

There will be two more in the months to come- I think August & December.

Keepin' It Real

Working Bead Studio
Originally uploaded by satyridae

I said, when I got my studio all set up, that I would keep it neat and orderly and it would be a place of refuge. One of those things is true.