The Bead Spot

Happy New Year's Eve! It's been years since I've made resolutions, because without fail, I will break at least one of them before the first day is up. But I've decided to make one this year: To learn to sew. There are lots of things I'd like to be able to make: clothes for my daughter, dolls, quilts. But I have yet to even fire up the sewing machine my mom gave me back in July. So I'm making a resolution this year to relearn how to sew and read patterns. My first project will be a bag my sister-in-law* gave me for my birthday. She also recommended Tilly and the Buttons as a great resource for learning. What craft-related resolutions do you have for this year? *My sister-in-law sews and knits everything from quilts to toys. Her website is Knottygnome.com .

Before I started sorting one of my bead boxes for the umpteenth time, I started a daisy chain with fall colors. I haven't decided what I'm making yet, a necklace, a bracelet, both? It's on hold until I get the sorting done; maybe by then I'll have decided.

I've had the worst luck keeping this bead box organized. I mentioned in an earlier post that my daughter had knocked the box off of the kitchen table when she first learned to walk. Thankfully, the lid was closed, but it still mixed up the beads quite a bit. So, I emptied the box and started sorting through the beads, adding them back to their respective sections. Several months ago, my daughter picked up the box and shook it, kind of like a rattle, because it made an interesting noise. I was a little too slow to realize what that noise was, so she got them mixed up pretty good, and once again, I had quite a mess in the box. While in the process of sorting it yet again, I left the box open on my desk and knocked it over as I was reaching for something else. Beads went everywhere into my living room carpet, so yet again, I started sorting them. I still had quite a ways to go when I knocked the box yet again, this time, it flipped just once and thankfully, the lid was on, but...