Tiny Flapper Bags.

One year my mom and my cousin Amy got together and made everyone these small bags for Christmas gifts. Everyone had different colors. This one is mine...

...and this one is my mom's. I don't use bugle beads very often. I like how they were used in these pieces. They took a class, but I don't know who the original designer is. They look like miniature versions of bags flappers would have carried.

Hopefully this weekend I will be going to visit my newest nephew, who was born early and is in the NICU. The night he was born was a harrowing experience, but thankfully both mom and baby are doing well.

We're also thinking about going to see G-Force. N. has been looking forward to seeing it. Before we know it, it will be Monday again.

Another beaded flower.

My dear friend Jenn just celebrated a birthday and I sent her this beaded flower picture as part of her birthday gift. You can see the rest of the birthday goodness on her blog. Jenn has a wonderful Etsy store that I've been known to visit on more than one occasion!

When I doodled this design, I certainly didn't realize how many times I would stitch it. The problem is that I forget to take a photo before giving them away! Thanks to Jenn for letting me borrow this one.

Evening walk.

I know I said there would be something beaded this time, but N. and I had an eventful walk this evening. We found a bird's nest that had blown out of a tree. N. was enthralled by trying to figure out how the bird made it and also surprised at how soft the inside of the nest is. We spent a lot of time wondering what type of bird it had belonged to.

We found another little friend on our walk. He seemed to enjoy sitting in the nest during our walk; he never even tried to jump out.

But then, why would he? It looks so soft and cozy in there!

He stopped to pose for a photo in the "frog pictures" area.

Then N. decided to get busy making more roads for him to travel.

It was a nice way to end our day.

Painting.

Just as I was getting ready to leave the flea market I saw this sweet little oil painting from afar.

It's painted on wood and is currently sitting in my kitchen with a small pottery bowl made by N.

Next time, something beaded!

Planter.

Here's another of my finds at the flea market. I love old, chippy garden things. This planter weighs a ton! I love the Art Deco look about it and the green color goes well in our bedroom. I probably won't plant anything in it, seeing as how I have a brown thumb when it comes to indoor plants.

At the market, I generally avoided going into the booths. I just looked from the aisle to see if there was anything I needed to inspect more closely. I'm new at this, so any pushing from the seller puts me off. I don't like to go into a booth and have someone breathing down my neck asking me to make an offer.

Anyway, this planter was on the outside of the booth and I kept walking past it. The seller complimented my Keens and we got into a nice conversation. As you can see, I left with the planter. Very smart of her; perhaps she's seen nervous buyers before.

Mermaid.

This weekend on a whim I went to a flea market/antique fair held at the local fairgrounds once a month. I didn't find much of anything until I was near the end. I thought I'd show you my finds this week, starting with this mermaid.

I saw her from afar and thought she was rather unusual and needed to come home with me. "R" carved his or her initial in the back. The tail has been repaired a few times.

I planned to hang it in a spot in our kitchen, but then discovered that the decorative iron piece I'd have to take down was hung with more than one nail and none are in the spot I need. So I'm debating about whether or not to take it down and repair the holes when Mark's not around. He has a pet peeve about too many holes in the wall.

So for now she's in our powder room on top of the cabinet. N. said he feels like someone is looking at him when he's in there. I'm not sure why, as her eyes aren't painted in.

There were a few booths with carnival relics, many of which were very neat. In my mind I could hear Mark complaining about the holes in the walls as I looked at the carnival signs, which was a good deterrent.

One thing that surprised me about this market was the number of people who would walk up and grab something I was inspecting. A lady walked up and grabbed this mermaid as I was reaching for it. When she set it down, I picked it up and then she was annoyed. Is it always like that at these things?

Why seeds.

Marcia DeCoster posted a question on her blog:

"To my fellow seed beaders I'm curious about your attraction, why seeds?"

I'm continuing the Laura McCabe love with my next project.

I find working with needle and thread (or needle and Fireline as the case may be) to be very relaxing. It's can get lost in the repetitive quality of stitching with beads. It's amazing to me that that these tiny little beads can be woven into so many extraordinary things. Sometimes the challenge of trying to figure out a pattern is half the fun.

The color, texture, and sparkle keep me intrigued and coming back for more.

Framed.

I framed the unicorn stitching. I purchased the vintage frame from Made by Mavis on Etsy. She had already painted it the color I wanted - perfect! I knew I wanted it for this piece before I'd even begun stitching. I didn't measure anything or figure out sizing. (I'm picturing my mom shaking her head here; I do not take after her when it comes to this sort of thing.)

I was very lucky that it fit in the frame just as I'd pictured in my mind.

I hung it on the wall and thought I was done until last night, when I was once again pondering whether or not I wanted to do something with this frame or leave it as is.

I leaned it against the wall with the Fern painting and noticed how well all the colors went together. That's when I decided to rearrange a few things and put this frame around the Fern painting and the unicorn stitching.

I could not get a decent photo of the entire corner, but this one gives a good sense of things. (Sorry about the glare.) I don't know why I seem to think vintage unicorns go well with Fern, but I do.

Also on the table is a French beaded flower, which arrived here from France not long ago.

My original plan for the frame was to either put a screen in it or some fabric to make it into a jewelry holder. Now I'll be on the lookout for a frame for that project.

The bag that started the obsession.

This is the first crocheted beaded bag we saw that Kris made. It belongs to my mom.

The pattern on it reminds me of a quilt square.

Maybe she'll forget I have this one.

Say hello to Nate.

Nate is our second Betta Fish in as many days. I'm not sure what happened to Batey the Betta Fish, but he wasn't even with us for 24 hours.

Nate is a brilliant blue color and seems to have a lot of energy.

He is still in his water from the pet store because I'm afraid to change anything. Keep your fingers crossed for me; I don't want to conduct another fish funeral.

Flag.

I cannot believe I've never shown you this crocheted beaded bag. I've shown you others that my brother Randy's mother-in-law Kris has made, but I think this is the largest she's done... and will ever do!

While living in our old house, I was into flags for a while. I had a cross stitch pattern I'd never stitched and I knew the chances of me completing it at any time were slim. Kris agreed to make it up into a crocheted beaded bag for me.

She strings on all the beads according to the pattern before crocheting! She has to be meticulous in following the count of the stitches. And did I mention that she did the pattern on both sides of the bag?

The majority of the beads are clear, which I think would drive me crazy.

I was so pleased with how it turned out. To help give you an idea of the size of this bag, there are two rolls of toilet paper inside of it to make it stand upright. I tried stuffing it with many different things, but that worked best.

After seeing the bag while I was taking photos, N. decided that it should go in his room, so he's taken off with it. He loves flags; we have them all over the place outside right now for July 4th. He was a little put off by it having two rolls of toilet paper inside, so he said he would put something else in it. It will be interesting to see what he decides on. My guess would be some small stuffed animals.

This bag has over 10,000 beads in it. Can you imagine if the order was messed up at around bead number 102?