A mishap.

Last night N. was at the neighbors' climbing the rock wall on their playset when he slipped and cut the very bottom of his toe, where it meets the foot. It looked deep, so we took him to the ER. Good thing we did; he needed five stitches!

It seems to still be quite painful for him, so a pajama day is in order.

Crystal Burst Bracelet.

At long last, this bracelet finished! I think anyone who knows me will look at the color palette and agree that these are my colors.

I thought the rose satin 3mm crystals would stand out more against the 4mm crystal copper bicones than they do.

The seven tabac rivolis are all 16mm. Laura McCabe's kits have different sizes of crystals in the bracelet. I think it looks great both ways.

Instead of digging out the class instructions, I used her book and the instructions were great.

I think I'll keep the Laura McCabe vibe going with my next project...

A peek inside the Japanese beading book.

I could not get the scans to turn out well, so I took some photos. They aren't the greatest photos ever, but you'll get an idea of the projects in the book. The techniques vary, which is nice. Here are just a few...

I'd like one or two of each, please.

Coming along.

The Crystal Burst Bracelet is coming along nicely. Before embellishing with bicones, I had to complete the clasp. Laura suggests using a Margarita bead as a button type of closure. I used the Colorado Topaz color, which is fine, but I almost wish I'd used something else. It blends in a lot with the bracelet. But then, the entire thing is going to stand out, so maybe a quieter clasp is in order.

Here you can see the loop part of the closure. I like when bracelets have clasps that are as pretty as the bracelets themselves.

I've begun adding the bicones. The first layer is 4 mm Crystal Copper.

Yes, I said the first layer of bicone crystals.

Books.

I am often drawn to books with pretty covers. I found this one in an antique shop. I don't know if I'll ever read it, but I have it out where I can admire its cover often.

I signed up for the summer reading club at my library. While browsing the stacks I picked up this one because of the lovely cover. It was a great summer read.

And I've recently discovered a Japanese market that also includes a book store. Oh no! That's dangerous! This was my first purchase.

Lots of crystals and beadweaving. Can't wait to try some patterns in it.

What's on your summer reading list?

Working on a project started long, long ago.

I am not sure when I took Laura McCabe's Crystal Burst Bracelet class, but it was a long time ago. In fact, the one I started in the class is still in my unfinished projects from classes pile somewhere.

I abandoned that color palette in favor of creating a new one. Here and there for the past year or more I've been bezeling crystal rivolis when the mood struck. Last weekend I had six of them done and thought I had enough to put the bracelet together. Wrong.

I need one more! Once that's attached I can start really blinging it out. I like it like this and have considered stopping here, but really, I need to see it through to the end.

Bead & Button Show 2009: Susan Lenart Kazmer

This purchase has nothing to do with beads... unless I put some beads inside it! I bought this little antique tin from Susan Lenart Kazmer. It's small enough to be incorporated in a jewelry piece, but for now I'm going to keep it as is.

You can see how Susan incorporates found elements into her jewelry pieces on her blog. She's another instructor I'd like to take a class from.

I've now shown you my most interesting purchases. Other than the beads from Green Girl, I didn't really buy any beads, which is sort of surprising for me. I did buy some kits that I'll show when I actually work on them.

I should really commit to only using what I have on hand for the next several months.

Bead & Button Show 2009: Kate McKinnon.

I finally bought a Kate McKinnon piece. Every year I look at her necklaces, but this was the year that one spoke to me. She was so friendly and fun and enthusiastic about her work. I'll always think of that excitement when I wear it.

It's a very tactile piece. I find myself playing with the interlocking pieces as I'm wearing it.

Bead & Button Show 2009: Green Girl Studios.

I debated about whether or not to go to the Bead & Button Show this year. In the end, I decided to go. My mom and I went together and had a good time.

Green Girl Studios was our first stop. Cynthia and Andrew are very friendly. My mom was surprised that Andrew remembered her from last year, along with the resin pendant she'd purchased.

It's funny that--although we were picking out items separately--my mom and I have several of the same pieces!

Thanks.

Thanks so much for your kind thoughts regarding the loss of Mark's grandma. She was a sweet lady and we were sad to lose her.

We spent a lot of time with family this weekend remembering her. There were tears, but there was a lot of laughter as well. She would have liked seeing everyone together.

Now the healing begins.

Saying goodbye.

Tonight Mark's grandma passed away peacefully. She was a small woman who turned out to be tougher than anyone thought.

I will miss her immensely.

More yellow.

It's been dreary here again, so I thought I'd share some yellow Etsy purchases, both recent and not-so-recent. Photos are from sellers' shops.

A yellow daisy necklace from Lulu Bug Jewelry...

Yellow Jade from Uncommon Beads...

A copper locket with a chamomile flower embroidery from tiny happy...

A vintage painting of goldfinches from Sweet Love Vintage...

And a tiny world pincushion from Mimi Kirchner (she sells the patterns for these now; that could be a fun project to do with my mom)...

I hope there's sunshine where you are.