A change.

I didn't know I was looking for for a tray, but when I found this it seemed obvious.

I cut a bead mat to fit and it became my new beading tray. It's bigger than my others - and prettier, too! I love it.

I did some beading today. Mark and N went out for a while. The house was quiet. A very nice afternoon.

Turkey day.

I've been wearing this necklace all week. N made the pendant for me at school. I added a jumpring and chain.

It's the cutest turkey I've ever seen.

He's been drawing turkeys like crazy, too.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Felted.

I enjoy reading the Resurrection Fern blog. Margie makes some imaginative things -- like sweaters for snails! -- and often has beautiful photos of nature.

I told my mom about the little felted bowls and acorns Margie had made and she asked me to send her the tutorial. The next thing I knew, I had some of my very own.

Thanks, Mom!

The girl in the painting.

Lately I've been paying attention to paintings and sketches in antique malls. I found this girl a few months ago for a mere $14. I liked the shape of the frame, but not the color. It was a dark stain, which really made the whole thing very dark. I painted the frame a very light pink and put the painting in our office. The signature at the bottom indicates it was painted in 1963.

Something about her reminded me of myself as a young girl. When my mom saw it that was also the first thing she thought. The woman at the register said the girl looked mischievous, but I don't agree. To me, she looks quiet and a little sad. I wonder who she is waiting for?

How interesting that two people can look at the same painting and see such very different things.

What do you see?

The chain gang.

The last store I visited in New York was Metalliferous. Wow! I could have spent hours there. I boosted my supply of chain and chandelier findings.

Have a nice weekend.

Of wood and sequins.

After being overcome by the sparkly wall at M & J Trimmings, I visited several stores, but only bought this wooden pendant and some greenish sequins. I'm not sure what it is about bead stores in New York that makes me want to buy sequins.

See you Friday.

And the angels sang.

After Toho Shoji, I stopped at M & J Trimming. Not necessarily a bead store, but they did have some beads. This store was beautiful.

I wish I had a better picture to depict the insane sparkliness (Is that even a word?) of this wall. I had to stand in front of it for a long, long time.

I swear I heard angels sing. :)

Bead Store: Toho Shoji

While we were in New York I had the chance to visit several bead stores, which I'll share with you over the next few posts. The first one I went to -- and my favorite one -- was Toho Shoji NY. I wish I could share with you everything I bought there, but some things are intended to be made into gifts. I'll be sure to show you the finished products after the holidays.

I loved these Japenese Tensha Beads.

And I found a little sparkle, too.

The shop was easy to find and everyone was very nice. It was fun flipping through the Japanese beading magazines, too.

Look at the ornaments beaded from crystals on this wreath. This was displayed in the window.

Have a good weekend!

What does it take?

To run a marathon? Endurance. Motivation. Support. Determination.

What does it take to stand out in the cold for 2-1/2 hours being pushed around by the crowd while waiting to cheer on your runner? Endurance. Motivation. Determination.

Ha.

Mark finally reached his goal of running in the New York City Marathon this past weekend. It was his 10th marathon in four years. His first one was in Chicago in 2004. His most grueling marathon was last year in Chicago in unseasonably hot 90+ degree weather.

After all that, I missed Mark when he ran past me. I was concentrating so hard on looking at the runners trying to see him that I gave myself a headache. I'm still upset that I missed him.

I got a few pictures of some other characters, like Marily Monroe...

A bunny man...

and Minnie Mouse.

Later I learned that Mark had made friends with Minnie Mouse while waiting for the marathon to begin in the morning.

Here's Mark with his running friends Deirdre and Jeremy.

It was cold and windy for the NYC marathon. He said the bridges were killers. He wanted to run it in 3:50. Because of the conditions he ran it in 4:05:18. I think that's awesome.

I wanted to take a cab back to the hotel after standing outside for 2-1/2 hours. Instead, I walked 19 blocks. And I stopped at Barnes & Noble for a hot drink along the way. That was awesome.

He's not hanging up his marathon shoes just yet. He still has plenty of endurance, motivation, and determination to keep running marathons. And I'll be supporting him all the way.

I like polka dots quite a lot.

It's fun to look at the vintage beads available on Etsy. I've seen polka dot beads in blue, orange, and yellow and thought they were cute. These deep red beads appealed to me right away. I hadn't seen them in this color previously. I found them at Original Bead.

Aren't they fun? In a way they remind me of red toadstools.