So, what's next?

I told Tony on Tuesday night, as I was placing the last price tag on the last focal bead, that I was pretty sure I never wanted to hear about / talk about / think about beads again. Ever. Of course I say that the day or two before EVERY show!

I do plan, however, on re-visiting my seed bead roots. Especially after the arrival of these little juicy gems:



The latest and greatest from Miyuki, called Tila beads. The picture doesn't do them justice, as they're still living in their little plastic bags, but you can see the promise....right? At this point I don't have anything in particular in mind; guess it's time to get out the old sketch pad.

Hope to see a lot of you over the weekend!

My new favorite thing to make!

As you can tell from the picture, they're not much to look at on their own. But, string them together, and wowser! Well, at least I think so, and after the trunk show I'll be making some for ME! I thought about making more (what you see is it) but I'm not sure everyone will be as enamored with them as I am. Another nice thing about these - every beginning bead-making kit in the WORLD includes a little baggie of murrini (or, alternately, they're called millifiori, although the two are technically a bit different) but you're never really told how to use them. (A murrini is the little patterned piece of glass you see in these beads.) And, in fact, most bead makers look down their noses a bit at commercial murrini, preferring to make their own.

New equipment goodies

The concentrator:


I know, I know - a bit like watching paint dry. It doesn't seem like much for $700, does it? Plus - bottom line - I really LIKE the idea of tanked oxygen. It just burns so clean and is so powerful. But, it's dangerous. And good god heavy! The tanks are as tall as I am, and weigh a bunch. And, expensive first and last. I have to rent the tanks (and I rent two so I always have one available), then there's the cost to refill. There didn't used to be a delivery charge, but two summers ago when gas went so high they started charging a small delivery fee. So, all in all. I will say I'll miss talking to the guys (and yes, they're all guys) at Alamo Welding. I never felt like I was anything but their biggest customer every time I called and said, "Can you bring a tank of oxygen out?"

And here's the lap grinder, more or less:


It will probably live happily in its box until September. I need time to deal with it, and I'll most likely have to use it in the garage, which in Texas in August is pretty much unbearable.

The storm before the calm

Last minute beads, and a parting shot of my work desk, so to speak. It looks a LOT different now; realized as I was uploading the messy version that you should see the desk in its incarnated state. Everything is packed up for the truck show - tools, glass, annealing bubble, and...what am I forgetting? Oh, yeah - beads!