Spoiled by my secret buddy!

The bead forum that I'm a member of has a great program called "Beads For Birthdays" where all participants are assigned to be someone else's secret birthday buddy. My birthday was on the 1st, so on the 30th I received a big priority box that said "No peeking til May 1st!" I patiently waited until the day and opened it up, to find all sorts of wonderful packages big and small, popper bottles, a card, and even a bag of treats for the girls. Topher was NOT in the box, he just likes to be the center of attention.

Hmmm... everything is wrapped in Scotty Dog paper. Could this be a hint as to my buddy's identity ;) I'll find out next January!

Topher says: "Baby, I'm all the present you need!"


A cute card, and an even cuter beaded wizard keychain! I attached him to my dice bag, much to the game master's amusement last night.

So many amazing goodies! Hmmm... Next time, books in back, beads up front! You really can't see what all is in this image, so in no particular order:

Mastering Beadwork. I've been eyeing this book for a while but hadn't purchased it, and now I'm glad I waited! It covers a lot of weaving techniques, including some I haven't learned yet (like Dutch Spiral and Diagonal Peyote), and its convenient spiral-bound format means I can leave it open to learn from. Very handy!

Bead Embroidery by Yukiko Ogura: I just saw this book on Amazon the other day. Bright, well-illustrated book which shows how to do a lot of decorative bead embroidery stitches. I can see using these techniques to embellish some dance clothes in the future.

A flip-latched box full of cube seed beads and pretty silver-edged glass teardrop beads in lots of colors. I think I might use this box to store and transport my BFAC project, it's just the right size for that sort of thing.

Red Velvet Cake 3-in-1 Body Wash/Bubble Bath/Shampoo. Smells amazing, lathers up nicely, and even has a recipe for cake on the front! And I'd just run out of body wash, too.

Surgeon's Hands lotion. If it's good enough for doctors, it has to be great for this beader's battered hands!

A Turbie-Twist. Clearly my buddy knows of my long hair. Can't wait to see if it really does work better than a towel. Have to wash it first, Mr. Self-Centered Topher Cat assumed it was a cat pillow and now it's covered in his fur. *sigh*

Two packages of sparkly green square-shaped sequins. I'll have fun with these!

A doll form. She reminds me of a dragonfly faerie, but without wings, so I think I'll make some polymer clay dragonfly wings, Christi Friesen style!

Pearls! Pretty silvery-grey ones, faceted ones, and bubbly-textured ones. All gorgeous!

Cabs! Lots of pretty earthy cabs and stone focal beads that could double as cabs.

Cinna-Bun Spiral Beads. Pretty enough to string, flat enough to use in embroidery.

Stone chips: Earthy ones and amethyst ones.

Stone beads: A strand of green tube beads, and a strand of green and white stripes overlapping dimes.

Mystery Thread: Clear Japanese thread. I shall have to experiment with it.

PowerZap: I think it's one of those cool thread burners, but it might also be a mini-taser for keeping the gamers in line.

Shell beads: tiny, pretty shells that can be worked into embroidery or jewelry. Oooh, maybe I'll work them into a tribal bra!

So, thank you very much to my ultra-generous and awesome birthday buddy. I love it all :) Oh yes, and the puppies love their treats, too!

Pretty Shiny Things!

A collection of pretty, shiny things! From left to right, a beautiful hair dangle by Elise Matthesen, my finally-completed faerie button pendant, and the two pairs of titanium/niobium earrings that I bought at the Street Fair.

So, this afternoon I put the bail on my faerie button necklace and slid her onto my standard black Ndebele cord. I'll eventually make a nice green necklace for her, but I do like how the black cord picks up the black accents on the button. I'll also eventually take a nicer picture of her, but it's cold tonight (by my standards), so I wasn't about to go out to the game room to take photos.

After Chris got off of a very frustrating day at work, we decided to go out for food instead of eating in, and while we were out, I had to stop in at the PO Box, because someone reminded me that I haven't been checking it ;) Inside, I found two surprise packages! One held the lovely hair dangle, similar to ones I've admired in the past, and the other held the silver ring from Creative Mode that I included in my T13 jewelry post (I was going to include it in the picture, but I don't have a ring display).

So, a big "thank you thank you thank you" to my anonymous reader(s) who sent me these wonderful gifts! The turquoise in the dangle is the perfect color to go with my faerie costume, not to mention a lot of my day-to-day clothing. And the ring is so wonderfully elegant, just right to go with my Goth and Steampunk clothes. You're too kind and really brightened my day! Also, I promise I'll check my PO Box more often.

I included the earrings because people asked for pictures back when I bought them. Aren't they cool? The blue ones remind me of lightning, and the purple ones are the same style as the aqua-green ones that I bought last year, and match the purple top I was wearing at the fair.