The Bead Spot

It's tough when trends change before you're ready. The problem has affected both my mom and me. First, the local stores stopped carrying the starburst beads Mom likes, and now she cannot find the  spaghetti and rondelles she uses to make headdresses. In the case of the starbursts, she wound up substituting a different bead. For the spaghetti and rondelles, I'm still hoping to find them somewhere online. For me, the issue is mostly about convenience. Not too long ago, I could find Delicas at local retailers. Not anymore. Now if I need a specific color, I have to order it online and wait for it to show up. By then, I may or may not remember the project I had in mind.  I've also had trouble finding items I want, like trays that make toting beadwork easy, and a particular type of big-eye needle. I've found other (though inferior, in my opinion) needles, but no substitute -- good or bad -- for the trays. Should I ever find any of the supplies on M

Kids seed bead rings, made in ladder stitch It took her nearly a month, but my daughter finally finished the ring she began working on back in mid-April. Her beading sessions were short, maybe 20 minutes at a time. And she insisted on having YouTube Kids playing on a smartphone as she worked on it, so because her focus was divided, she managed to complete two to five rows each time she sat down to work on it. But she stuck with it, and got it done. The wires got rumpled, which happened to me when I first started making them, but with more practice, she'll be able to keep that from happening. She also used colors -- a dark blue and dark green -- that were a little too similar. In bright lights, you can tell the differences in the colors, but in lower light, not so much. But to me, it was the most beautiful beaded ring I've ever seen. I just wish I'd taken a photo of it, but now it's too late. I wanted my little girl to feel proud of the work she did, so I to

My latest project is another pair of feather earrings . I really like this pattern, but I'd like to create another one that doesn't look so simplistic. Feather earrings in progress. I've seen some gorgeous ones on Etsy (like these ), and I just think, "Wow! Maybe one day I'll be that creative, too." In the meantime, I've been playing with my new toy -- a Kodak PixPro camera. After six or seven years of solid service, my old camera was on its last leg. My husband, who takes photos of the comic books and action figures, et al, that he sells on eBay , said the old camera still works fine for him, so now its his, and I've moved on. I had a lot of fun testing the new camera's macro function as I took the shot above. I still could use a lot of practice with it, but new toys are always fun.