The end result was worth the struggle.

I painted N's bathroom this week. In our marriage, there is a silent agreement that Mark paints rooms and I paint objects. Sometimes I will half-heartedly help him for a little while until he shoos me away. Then I'm in charge of lunch and snacks. This has worked well for us.

Painting N's bath has been on Mark's list for a few years, so I decided to surprise him by taking care of it myself. N chose Martha Stewart's paint in Sunken Pool. It's a lovely color.

There isn't a lot of room to maneuver around in the room with the bathtub. I had to stand on the tub or on the toilet and stretch to reach the top of the wall. At one point, as I was holding the paint roller pan and painting, I felt something cold and wet all down the front of me. Good thing Mark wasn't home to see that. Trying to change shirts without getting paint in my hair was quite a feat. Mark never seems to have issues like that when he paints.

There are paint chips hanging all over my studio, but so far no paint has been purchased.

A bracelet.

I had to rethink the spacer beads in the first design because they were scratching me. This bracelet was designed around the Green Girl Studios clasp and is made with pink topaz, honey topaz, pyrite, clear quartz, and sterling silver.

I'm very happy with it and have been wearing it constantly.

Pin cushion.

Every once in a while, I like to look at vintage crewel pieces on Etsy. Today I found this sweet pin cushion.

Happiest of weekends to you!

Bead & Button Show finds.

There's no saving the best for last in this post! I'm going to start right out with my favorite find of the day, made by Cynthia Thornton of Green Girl Studios. I love it! If you have her book, you'll recognize the hollow glass bead used in one of the book projects. She drew a rose on a piece of parchment...

... and filled it with all sorts of lovely treasures. Look at that tiny red-topped mushroom! So cute. It also has various beads and crystals, metallic thread, shells, and glitter inside. I put the pendant on at lunch and for the rest of the day ladies stopped me in the aisles to ask about it.

I never leave a show without some Green Girl charms and pendants. This is the Shibuichi Rumi Bird Pendant.

"Let the beauty of what you love be what you do." - Rumi

Two more charms. Their booth is situated in the first aisle I walk through. I usually spend the bulk of my budget in that aisle! One of these charms was free because I was wearing a Green Girl piece at the show.

A tiny, tiny poppy jasper stone from Gary Wilson.

The pattern for this pair of earrings is in Beadwork. I'd been planning to buy the supplies, so it was great to run across a kit in colors I liked. The photo on the kit is a little brighter than the actual piece will be.

And finally, a lesson learned: examine bulk chain before handing over cash. Wish I'd noticed this at the show.

My mom bought some wonderful things as well. I will try to share her purchases soon. She bought several gorgeous antique buttons. Now we want to go to a button show!

It was a fun day. I am already looking forward to next year's event.

Excitement.

I'm off to Bead & Button!

Green Girl Studios clasp.

I'm toying with ideas for using this Green Girls Studio clasp in a bracelet. I bought the clasp last year at Bead & Button.

I started a kit.

This is Antonia's Adornment by Cynthia Rutledge. I made this colorway for my mom a long time ago. I still liked it, so I put the kit on my Christmas wish list.

It's a fun pattern with great instructions. It also works up rather quickly, which is a nice change of pace for me.

A find.

I recently fell in love with this vintage cabinet. I thought it would be a nice place to put some beaded treasures. I'd been looking for something like this for a very long time.

It has some nice details.

But, I feel like the scale of this arrangement is off. I like the cabinet on the dresser, but the pictures need to be rearranged, larger ones need to be added, or... something. The cabinet is just a little too tall.

I'm going to leave it for now while I mull it over. Suggestions welcome.

A work in progress.

I came across an unfinished project that I would like to finish. This dragonfly is from a Nancy Cain class I attended about five years ago.

This is the underside view.

The body is hollow. The dragonfly is made from mostly size 15 beads.

This wing has some sort of mistake in it that made it unusable. I can't remember what the error was, but I remember being annoyed enough with whatever I did that I set the project aside.

I can't decide if I want to finish the body or work on the wings.

Wish list.

Midnight Flower Necklace
Kira Ferrer