Howdy!

I had a great aunt when I was younger who was wheelchair bound. She was my Aunt Edie and she lived in the back hills of West Virginia. Farther than that...little father...there you go, around there...She was this little old lady who was just as sweet as could be, unless you tried sneaking up on her, in which case, she would pull a shotgun on you. Or the pistol under her rubber seat ring.

Every winter my granddad would drive from Ohio of WV to pick her up, and she would stay with them for the winter. She liked to do arts and craft projects with us kids. Well, we liked to do arts and crafts projects with her in any event :)

One of my personal favorites was when we would make Minnie Pearl hats out of styrofoam bowls and we always made sure to add a tag :)

My in-laws came to visit us in SC this past weekend, and we took in the Aiken Historical Museum. Down in the basement I found this hat:


and this plaque:


"In March of 1939 Sara Ophelia Colley purchased this hat, a yellow organdy dress with a rounded collar and grosgrain bow, white sandals, and white cotton stockings at Surasky's Department Store from Miss Ola Hitt.

That night as Sara performed in her new outfit for the Pilot Club convention at the Highland Park Hotel, "Minnie Pearl" was born."

The latest

I've been pretty busy lately, being home from our latest road adventure has left me unlimited time to sit and create!

With no more ado, I give you stuff!

First up, a bracelet. This came from a project in the latest Bead and Button. I substituted freshwater pearls for the crystals, and changed up the clasp.

I am super proud of the clasp.

This was the first project in a long time that I sat and worked on start to finish.

This next one, I am calling the tube sock twist...

It started out prettily enough, with japanese seed beads in sizes 11 and 8, and black bugles. (The beads aren't really blurry, they're quite nice in real life.) They were worked up in a russian spiral, alternating 8s and bugles as the "big bead"

I initially intended to add a drop to the center, but the necklace decided otherwise. I hate when they start givig advice. I may add a few purple Swarovskis to the clear netting just for a focal.

Then it got...interesting. Trying to figure out how to end it all, I started some herringbone stitching then some peyote stitching in a few different sizes. I ended up with a beaded tube sock cuff and a magnetic clasp.

Last one for today is my newest obsession.

Laura McCabe's "Crown Jewels". I purchased the pattern from Bead Pattern Central and set to work on making one of my own. Well, I had to go to the bead store first, I had to pick up Rivolis.

The pattern is pretty easy, set the Rivolis in peyote then connect. The bear is in the connecting. I am actually working on making another, using 15mm Paua Shell cabs, except, during the final embellishment, a flinging flanging cab popped out of its setting. I almost got it back in, and its neighbor popped out. My beads are now grounded to the craft room until they can learn to behave themselves