Moving right along.

Image: Baby Bat

My current bead project is moving right along, and will definitely be done in time for next week's update. It's all light colors, as opposed to the dark hues I've been working on so much lately. It's good to change things up every now and then. Not sure what I'll do next after this, except that I need to string a necklace to go with a specific cool-weather top. I've had the beads picked out for a while and just haven't taken the time to put it together. I also want to come up with one or two more things for the Art Bead Scene contest. Naturally, I've already entered Baby Bat and Night Shift.

Chris came home sick from work today, so naturally our Wednesday night game is off, but I'll probably bead just as much if not more than I would have if I was gaming tonight. Chris is very low-maintenance when he's sick, mostly he just sleeps. It's so much easier for me to take care of him than for him to take care of me; I always have him going to the store for cold meds, more Kleenex, and foods that are easy on my pooooor ravaged throat. Heaven only knows why he puts up with me!

I've gone a little batty!

Image: Night Shift

In the spirit of the season, I've made a couple of bat necklaces. The first is Night Shift, pictured above. It features a pewter bat by Green Girl as the focal. The second is Baby Bat, which has a lampworked bat and accent beads made by Joan "Mothwoman" Eckard. In both cases my goal was to make a nice, Gothy bat necklace that wasn't in stereotypical Halloween colors. After all, loving bats doesn't mean that you also automatically love orange! I'm very happy with both necklaces and feel a strong desire to wear them all over the town for the rest of the month. I think I'll have to make myself a bat necklace now!

I tried something new with the pictures, zooming in so that only part of the necklace stand is in the image. It seemed like a better idea in my head than it turned out to be in actuality. I'm starting to develop a strong loathing for that particular necklace board. I like the black velvet-y one much better, but neither of these necklaces would have looked good on it.

In honor of today's batty necklaces, I have to share these socks. Knee highs with bats on them! How cool is that? I plan to make a Sock Dreams order sometime this month, now that it's about time to put the sandals away for the year... The hard part is going to be not going overboard.

Autumn Musings.

Ahhh, I'm loving this beautiful Autumn weather! Last night I actually had to break out a blanket for the bed. My girl cat Lira likes to get under blankets; when I still lived with my parents, I had a waterbed, which was of course nice and warm. During the Winter, Lira would spend pretty much every night under the covers with me, curled up right between my knees. Now she contents herself to spend a few minutes snuggled up against my chest before moving on to her usual nighttime haunts; but for those few minutes, she purrs like a motor-boat! So sure enough, last night I wasn't in bed for more than 10 minutes when there she was, pawing at the blanket to get me to let her in.

Another great thing about cool weather is that it's perfect for hot drinks. We had some delicious tea last night, and I'm sure we'll have more tonight. It's also about time to buy hot chocolate again! Mmmm. Chris makes coconut rice for me sometimes, and it doesn't quite use a whole can of coconut milk, so I love to mix the remainder into hot cocoa for a creamy treat.

The other great thing is that when it's not too hot in the kitchen, Chris cooks his delicious marinara sauce. Just tonight he made a huge batch of it and we had our neighbor over for a big pasta dinner. I am SO stuffed.

I tell you these things now, because in a couple of months I'll just be grousing about the cold and how much I hate it. This is my proof that I'm not always negative!

Yesterday's take-along project turned out to be a lovely new spiral lariat. I don't know if I'll finish it in time for tomorrow's update, but it's unlikely. It will definitely be ready for next week, though!

Beautiful Weekend

Wow, I woke up today and found out that it is gorgeous outside! Makes me want to ditch gaming and go hang out in the park with my beads. I mean, gaming is fun and all, but we play in a CAVE. There's not a single window in that back room. It's supposed to go back into the 90s during the week, so hopefully I'll be able to enjoy this beautiful weather a bit tomorrow.

Last night the laws of physics and I had a disagreement as to how the beads should hang in the pendant I was working on. Since physics won again (I'm pretty sure they cheat!), I'm setting the pendant aside and working on something else for the weekend. I just haven't decided what that is yet, so I need to go into the beadroom and cook up something cool.

Various and Sundry Things

Today I finally get to all of the things that I've wanted to post about, but have been too busy to collect my thoughts on.

First! Isn't the above Greenman awesome? My equally awesome mother made him for me a couple of weeks ago, and I keep forgetting to post a picture. He's made out of polymer clay, with a dusting of mica powder on the face. Eventually I'm going to hang him on the wall, but for now he's sitting on my desk, guarding one of the many stacks of books.

Second! As you may already know, I love to write. My work to date includes assorted novels and short stories (all of them unpublished, sadly); roleplaying gaming columns; reviews of movies, comic books, books, and whatever else that I feel I can get away with reviewing; some of the text on the LL-BFAC site; bios and artist statements for several of my beading pals; and of course, all of the text on my site and this blog. Armed with all of that experience, I've branched out into the world of writing website text and such for others. My first client is Hollyrose Aromatherapy! I had a lot of fun re-writing her product descriptions. Oh, and by the way, I highly recommend the Patchouli Woods scent if you decide to order anything.

Third! Art Bead Scene's challenge theme this month is "Gothic Queen." Needless to say, this theme appeals to me a lot, and of course, it's perfect for October. I am all kinds of jazzed. So far I've entered Dark Lady of the Depths and Devil Duckies! Be sure to look at the other entries, there's some great stuff up already and the month has only just begun.

Fourth! I am working on two other exciting things that I will post about as they develop.

Cruisin' Right Along.

Things are going well in my world right now. I'm keeping very busy with beading, side projects, and class. I haven't had much time for writing, but that's okay, if the inspiration gets too strong, I'll make time. There are a few things I'd like to talk about here on the blog, but they involve hunting down links and writing long paragraphs, and I only have a couple of minutes... So I'll get to them tomorrow, when my evening is pretty much open.

For now I'd just like to say that I have one awesome necklace ready for Monday's update, and one more in the works, and other ideas percolating in the back of my head. Percolating is a fun word, by the way. I don't drink coffee, but I still like to say "percolating."

About The Gallery.

As I mentioned yesterday, it's high time that I turned some attention to the Gallery section of my website. For the longest time, it was empty. Then I put my 2007 LL-BFAC project in there. And ever since then, it's been untouched. Well, no longer! My new goal is to add at least one item a week to the Gallery, whether it's something new that I've beaded, or an old treasure that deserves to be shown off.

Today's additions are things that you may have already seen, if you've been reading the blog for a while. My 2008 LL-BFAC project, Flaming Teeth; Beautiful Brown Birthday Bauble; Lady Aerelin's Prize-Winning Flower Garden. Next week I plan to photograph some more of my collection to share, unless I've made something new and cool. You just never know!

That's all for today! Right now I've got to go finish the necklace I've been working on, and study for Chinese class tonight.

October Already?

It's hard to believe that it's October. I can't exactly say that time is flying, because honestly, now that I've been busy with homework and side projects and ad tracking and whatnot, the weeks have felt a lot longer. But it still doesn't feel like it should be October already. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. I love October! The weather cools down a bit, which means I can start to bake again. The stores are full of candy. And at the end of the month, I'll have another convenient excuse to wear a costume. All in all, it's a great month.

And today certainly feels like the start of October. Outside it's grey, with sporadic drizzles of rain. It's that perfect temperature where you can walk outside in a t-shirt and not feel hot or cold (that's Fall weather for a desert dweller like me). Of course, all of our trees are still green. My neighborhood is full of palm trees, pines of various types, eucalyptus, mesquite and palo verde, none of which lose their leaves. There are a few varieties of tree in Tucson that shed their leaves, but most of them turn yellow and drop rather quickly. We have none of the beautiful, dramatic colors of the Eastern states. But hey, did I mention... t-shirt weather?!?

In other news, my site and e-mail are once again behaving as they should, and all is right in the world. I don't have any new jewelry for today, so I think I'll update the sadly neglected Gallery instead. Tune in tomorrow for more on that.

Site down again.

Not sure what is up this time, but I haven't been able to get into my e-mail for at least the past couple hours, and my website also seems to be down. If it's not up when I get up in the morning, I'll definitely be rattling my host's cage. In the meantime, I guess I can be glad that all the ads I had running expired today, so it's not like I'm missing out on any click-throughs from them ;)

Sorry to have been so quiet lately, been kind of busy. More about that throughout the week. Right now I'm pretty tired.

Class 'n' stuff.

So, Chinese class was pretty small tonight. I'm not sure if a lot of people just happened to not show up, or if they all decided it was a rough class and quit. Most of the cool people were still there, though, so it's all good. We had our second test and other than not remembering the character for the name Yu, I think I aced it. And even though I knew most of the words in the chapter that we started tonight, I learned some new things about grammar, which was great.

One thing that I like about class is being able to see what other people are wearing. Lets face it, most of my socializing is with gamers, and most of them wear shorts and t-shirts, which is fine, but not very inspiring. My Chinese teacher, though, has a very good sense of style. Her outfits are always well put-together and the colors and styles that she picks are good for her complexion and build. My classmates have a pretty wide variety of fashions, and tattoos, too, so there's always something visually interesting to look at. I just hope they don't think I'm staring at them for weird reasons!

At this point, I'm trying to decide whether I want to work on jewelry right now, or write some, or just goof off and play video games. I had a very busy day, with homework and housework and class, and now I'm ready to relax.

Dark Lady of the Depths

Here's the one necklace that I managed to make last week, Dark Lady of the Depths. I really love how she turned out. She looks even better against a black background, but doesn't photograph well that way.

There are a couple of elements at play in this necklace. One was my desire to make a Goth mermaid necklace. Something about the focal bead seemed rather Gothic, and I don't know if it's the dark pewter, or the aloof expression on her face. I'm very happy with how I achieved a darkly elegant look without using much pure black.

The other element is the silver teardrop pearls. I acquired them some time back. They were part of a traveling bead box that was making the rounds of members of my bead forum. I want to say that they were added by my late friend Helen from FL (not to be confused with my local friend Helen, who is thankfully still very much alive. Apparently people named Helen have a tendency to be awesome. Keep this in mind when naming your daughters!), but I can't be sure of that. Anyway, I liked the color and smooth shape, so I kept them for my own. I've tried to use them in several projects since, and they never quite fit. The shape didn't line up with the beads I wanted them next to, or the shade of grey wasn't quite right. I grew very frustrated, because they were beautiful and I wanted to use them. After my most recent failure to work them into a project, I thought about these blackish Swarovski pearls, and how pretty they'd look with the stubborn drops. When I brought home the mermaid, that settled it. They had to all be together. I added the shadow crystal Swarovski bicones and black mother of pearl chips for extra interest. The result is a very harmonious blend of silvers and black.

I'm over halfway done with a woven necklace that utilizes another Green Girl bead, and I also have plans for a necklace with a cool faux jade vintage glass cab that I picked up in NY. Plus I've been working on my book, and tonight I danced for the first time in a while. It feels good to be doing all of these fun, creative things. Of course, I should have been doing my homework.... I guess I know what tomorrow holds for me!

Class and things.

Tuesday through Thursday is turning into a rough time for me! Chinese class itself is very easy right now; I already know all the words and grammar rules that we're learning, so it's just a matter of practicing how to say and write them properly. Honestly, I get pretty bored in class. But there's so much homework! I feel sorry for anyone who has made this class part of a full workload. The homework isn't even that difficult, it's just very time-consuming to write all those characters. As such, a good chunk of my daytime on Weds and Thurs is spent doing the homework that was assigned Tuesday night. It doesn't help that we have a game on Wednesday nights, which really can't be moved because everyone already planned their work and class schedules around it (yes, it's that good).

In other news, I had a lot of fun on Talk Like A Pirate Day. I indulged in a little pirate speak, and cobbled together a makeshift pirate costume, which of course involved a lot of jewelry. I really do enjoy any excuse to dress up in a costume. Was it just me, or was there less of a big deal made about Talk Like A Pirate Day this year than there was last year? Are most people pirated out after three Pirates of the Carribean movies? Is the trend slowly dying out? Are the ninjas winning?

On the bead front, I've only made one necklace this week. I got distracted by aforementioned homework, and working on my book. I think I'll spend some time in the beadroom this weekend, looking for new inspiration.

What I made for myself.

Image: Lady Aerelin's Prize-Winning Flower Garden

I simply had to make this necklace for myself! Actually, it all started with an idea that involved a faerie pendant from Green Girl Studios, and I couldn't decide whether to make the necklace for myself, using colors that would match the faerie outfit that I got at the NY Ren Faire, or if I should make it in other colors to sell, or if I should buy another pendant and make two. Then I realized that this beautiful faerie, by Mavis Smith, went really well with the colors of the outfit, and that decided it. Now I can use the Green Girl pendant to make another one to sell, and I have this one for me!

I wore the necklace to the Sept Best Bead, and I got a lot of compliments. The necklace wasn't even done yet, I still had to add the final strand. Each strand is wrapped around the previous ones. There are four strands total, a plain one to form the core and three embellished ones. I used three colors of Japanese seed beads in size 11 and 15, numerous pressed glass leaves -- vintage and modern -- one style of pressed glass flower, Swarovski crystal butterflies, and two different colors of lampworked leaves by Joan Eckard. It's much more free-form than my usual work, and it was a little hard for me to get used to the chaotic array of leaves, but the look really suits the nature of a faerie, don't you think?

Lady Aerelin's Prize-Winning Flower Garden is one of my entries in Art Bead Scene's September contest. This month's theme is "When Beads Collide!" and the challenge is to use beads created by two or more artists. I also entered Faerie Bride, and an older necklace of mine, Purple Dawn. I hope to manage one or two more submissions before the end of the month, if my muse cooperates.

Oh, and by the way? YARH! I can't wait for tomorrow :D

This week's new lovelies!

Image: Lost Tribe, necklace of lapis, jasper, bone and glass.

Have you ever done something which you were proud of, for reasons you can't quite put your finger on? This necklace is one such thing for me. It was an inspiration that grabbed hold of me a couple of weeks ago, and kept hanging on until I went to the bead show and bought the cord I needed to tie the pendant together. It all came from me wondering what to do with those jasper beads, and thinking that I ought to put them with something blue, because brown and blue is rather popular right now, and then I remembered the lapis donut, and then it all fell into place in my mind.

And I just love it!

I mean, I'm thrilled with the necklace, how different it is from much of my other jewelry, and I'm thrilled with the picture, because it came out so sharp, even if there are some weird reflections. I'm also thrilled that my idea to tie beads together to make a pendant worked, because sometimes things that make a lot of sense in my mind don't work out as well in the real world.

So mosey on over to my website and have a look at Lost Tribe! And while you're at it, you can also see Faerie Bride, which I'm also happy with even though it photographed very poorly. And Shamanistic, a pair of earrings which just happens to match Lost Tribe.

Caught up on an idea...

Any of you out there who are also creative types (and I have a feeling that's most of my readers!) have probably come across the same problem I'm having right now. You see, I have this nice idea for a necklace, using one of the pendants I bought at the bead show this past weekend. The only problem is, I need a specific shade of orange seed bead, and I don't have it! I can see it in my mind, and I somehow convinced myself that I do own it, but I've checked, and I don't. I tried an orange that I do have, and to be honest, it looked awful. So I'm stuck, unable to act upon this inspiration until the next time I order seed beads.

The problem is, now that I've been denied the chance to fulfill this inspiration, I'm totally caught up on the idea. The necklace is what I must make. And it's not like it's even the best idea that I've ever had, I'm just being stubborn. All the beads I have, all the techniques at my disposal, and yet I can't move past this one silly idea. Hopefully I'll get past it tomorrow, otherwise I won't be able to take something to work on during the game tomorrow.

Since beads are frustrating me, I've been working on my book tonight. Book 4 is plodding along slowly, because I'm not quite sure what I'm doing with it, I just missed my characters. It is going to be a fun experience to write about NY, though, drawing upon all my visits there and my feelings about the place. I just wish I had an excuse to send my characters to The Planting Fields; now that was a magical place. Just this week we received a package from my MIL with pictures from the trip, including one of Chris and I standing on a rock with a copse of trees behind us. Sure wish we'd taken a picture of the gateway to the faerie realm, though. Maybe Chris has one on his phone. Next time I'm bringing my camera, darn it.

Back to the book for me. I'm going to take pictures tomorrow before the game, or sometime Sunday afternoon, if I'm not at a party all day.

Busy Bee!

My muse continues to work overtime. Last night I finished the very lavish necklace that I was making for myself, and today I strung two necklaces, both of which have beads that I bought this weekend and dual focals. I'll probably do some photography tomorrow, unless, of course, I get caught up in homework. This week should be a nicely varied update. Tonight I'm going to work on an ivory and orange floral necklace, if I can find all the right colors in my seed bead collection. Better start looking, it's almost time to leave!

Musing on Inspiration.

Image: Contemplation, spiral rope necklace with double focal

When developing a specific product line, such as a seasonal collection, it's important to have some sort of unifying theme. I could never limit myself to a single theme, so for my Fall Line I decided to have a few specific color ways and elements that I would focus on, for a look that is coordinated while still allowing each piece to stand on its own as a little work of art.

The three main trends that I homed in on while observing well-dressed people and store displays were earthy browns, sharp black and whites, and variegated grape tones. All of these held their own appeal for me, so I decided those would be the palette for my Fall Line. You've already seen some great browns and black-and-white pieces; I'm having a bit of trouble finding the perfect purple beads, however.

With colors out of the way, I turned to styles. Spirals are always an element in my work, hence necklaces like Contemplation (above), and bracelets like Organic Treasure. As for leaves, they pretty much go without saying, as they're a part of my work no matter the season, and are extra-appropriate for Fall. This means I've gone a little wild with leaves lately. You can see them as a focal in Medeine, dangles in Faerie Gold, and a main element in Moonlit Garden. Dangles and movement are favorites of mine, too, as seen again in Moonlit Garden and Faerie Gold, and also in Pan's Grove and Forest Singers.

Just creating new jewelry utilizing old favorites isn't enough, though. Luckily my muse came through with a new fascination: dual and multi-segmented focals. I first became captivated by the possibilities of this technique when I made the Beautiful Brown Birthday Bauble way back in May. I explored a different possibility with Dragonfly Pond. That settled it: stacking various beads to form a focal point was addictive. I could coordinate different colors and media for an even more unique look than usual, and give myself an excuse to buy even more lampwork, carved beads, and cute pendants. Life is good! You can see this concept illustrated in Medeine, with the lampwork and accompanying leaf dangle, and Contemplation, where a lampworked bead accents the bone pendant, and in Pixie At Rest, where a lampworked flower and silver pixie combine for a very illustrative focal. Next week's update should contain two variations of this exciting new theme.

I have to say, I'm always at my happiest when I'm inspired, and this last month and a half has been downright blissful. I look forward to sharing the fruits of my muse's whisperings with you in future days!

The Latest From Erthe Fae Designs!

Today marks my return to weekly updates, which will be on Mondays for now. There are four beautiful new items up on my site.

Moonlit Garden -- Pictured above. Black and white leafy-floral necklace strung on chain. I find the design to be very classic, and I cannot count the number of things I've seen in the stores and on-line that would match it perfectly.

Contemplation -- A beautiful spiral rope with a mermaid pendant, accented by a small lampworked bead. Worked in earthy colors instead of the aquatic hues most commonly associated with merfolk.

Faded Light -- Crystal bracelet in a light golden hue. Very subdued, and a nice compliment for several other items already on my site.

Forest Singers -- Earrings with lampwork beads, crystals, and the cutest little bird charms.

Tomorrow I'll discuss the inspiration behind my recent work.

Show Report: 2nd Annual Fall Best Bead.

If I had to pick a slogan for the Fall Best Bead show here in Tucson, it would be, "Great For Shoppers, Not For Vendors." Of course, Crystal Myths would never accept that tagline, as it would scare away the potential sellers, but that's what I'll always think when the show comes up.

I had a fun time at the show on Saturday. Chris and I got there sometime between 11:30-12 and found the wholesale registration table. My favorite local beadmaker (and to be honest, one of my favorite beadmakers in general), Margaret Zinser was right across from there, so my first stop was her booth for hugs, catching up, and seeing what she had that was new. One of the things that I really like about Margaret is that she is always trying new things. What really captured my eye this time was the black double-sided beetle bead with all the accents done in silver Precious Metal Clay, but that was out of my budget. I'll be saving up to treat myself to one in the future, though! As much as I loved the new beads, I decided to buy one of the first beads of hers that I saw on-line and loved, back in 2004... The spiral teardrop. It's a good thing that I did, too, because she's probably discontinuing them. You can see the one that I picked in the center of the above image.

There were a lot of great vendors at the show, and we had a few hours until gaming, so Chris suggested that we do the tried-and-true "walk through first, decide what we want, then go back and get it." Of course, it was hard to exercise any self-control, due to the table full of the work of what must have been about 20 super-talented Japanese beadmakers. The lampworkers in Japan have such a different style from the ones here in America, and I am always captivated by their work. However, budget once again prevailed, and I did not buy anything there. They tend to have an even bigger selection in February, so I'll probably treat myself then. Even Chris saw some beads that he would wear, so he may also indulge next show.

I really wanted some small but attractive focals, so my first stop after the walk-through was Green Girl Studios. I'm a big fan of Green Girl, and in fact, I already have a lot of her pendants, but I wanted to pick up some more. You can't make them out too well in the photo (they're the pretty pewter pieces), but don't despair: you'll be seeing a couple of them in new necklaces within the next couple of weeks. I really like the tree pendant, and I might try to make it into a more masculine necklace. We'll see what the muse decides.

For more nice focals, I walked across the aisle to Lillypilly Designs. Heidi does great work engraving shells and various other materials. I picked out half a dozen pretty shell pendants, in various colors. I might keep the blue and brown one for myself, because it would go perfect with this skirt I bought in NY, but the rest are strictly business! I already have inspiration for the orange and ivory one, and the green and white. I know what beads I want to put them them, so now I just have to figure out the perfect design.

The other thing I really wanted was some pretty pressed glass. I'd picked up some nice things in NY, but I'd noted that I was running out of good blacks and whites. Bokamo Designs came through with some unusual Czech beads for decent prices. The black and white ones filled my need for medium-large interesting shapes in those colors, the mottled ivory is very versatile (looks great with bronze!), the green ones are just fun, and the agate-y looking ones at the top are what convinced me to stop and shop. They're gorgeous in person. I think I'm going to split them up, use half with the orange and ivory Lillypilly drop, and half with this carved carnelian dragon that I bought back in February.

Although I'd originally intended for my only present to myself to be the teardrop from Margaret, I simply could not resist the green faerie from Bickley Studios. I mean, come on! It's a green faerie! And I'm me. It's not like my logo is a green faerie, or like I was wearing a necklace with a green faerie pendant. She really is irresistibly beautiful, and she was just one of the lovely faeries and mermaids that were displayed on the table. The decision was easy for me to make, however, as she was the greenest, and I think I have some crystals and vintage leaves that will coordinate nicely with her.

Now, as for my reasoning for my personal slogan for the Best Bead: the items that you see above are just the tip of the gorgeous bead iceberg. There were a lot of very talented beadmakers at the show, with simply incredible beads. I didn't even mention the black glass bead with the silver metal dragonfly on it (now I did!), nor did I mention all of the big-name artists, nor did I buy any stones or seed beads or vintage, though I had opportunities to get all of those. There was a great selection. What there wasn't was a great crowd. Despite it being a Saturday afternoon, there were few shoppers, and even the really popular vendors who are swamped in Feb had space in front of their booths. A couple of sellers seemed decidedly unhappy, and I feel bad for anyone who traveled really far for what seemed like a dud of a show. I really do think that it's nice for Tucson to have a show sometime other than February, but I think they're trying too hard to make it a second February show. I honestly believe that the show must only be good for those who live in or near Tucson, or who can score cheap airfare and then crash with a local friend. For anyone else, it has to be too much cost for the amount of sales that they make.

I, of course, had a wonderful time. I didn't buy anywhere near what I do during the main gem show season, but I did pick up enough great things to spice up my Fall Line and keep my muse entertained until the big February stock up.

The week of updates is complete!

I hope you've enjoyed this week of daily updates. I had fun doing it and may have another one in the future. To wrap it up today, I added three more items:

Organic Treasure -- A spiral rope bracelet with a carved stone focal.

Growing Things -- A crystal bracelet in one of my favorite combinations, olivine and bronze.

Harlequin -- A classy black and white crystal bracelet.

Yes, I'm finally listening to the rest of the world and making black and white jewelry. I'm not a huge fan of the color white (probably because I look terrible in it) and I usually only use it with bright colors. But I've seen so much great black and white clothing lately, that I just had to make jewelry that would go well with it. I have a great necklace for next week's update, in black, white, and silver.

Tonight I'm working on a present for myself, a reward for all of my hard work on my website and classwork this week. Not that I really need to rationalize making a necklace ;) I had hoped to maybe complete it in time to wear to the Best Bead Show tomorrow, but it's turning out to be more time consuming than I thought. I might be able to get it partially done and wear it anyway.

As referenced above, I'm going to the Second Annual Fall Best Bead Show here in Tucson tomorrow before D&D. I plan to pick up some focals, maybe some seed beads, maybe some pressed glass -- I'm really running low on larger black beads, and I'd like to stock up on some more browns. We'll see what I find. Expect a show report on Sunday!