The Bead Spot

Earlier this week, I bought this handy little gadget at Big Lots . My aunt, who also does beadwork, was using one when my daughter and I dropped by for a visit a few days earlier. I've tried several types of lamps to get decent lighting for beadwork and other craft projects, but each had its own shortcoming. Moving the living room lamp, for instance, left the rest of the room too dark. A lamp I had that could be clamped to a table came apart, and the flexible flashlight I bought worked great but was too easy to knock over. This headlamp, though, gives off enough light and can be adjusted to shine just where I need it without making the rest of the room dark or running the risk of knocking it over into a pile of beads. I love it. I don't know why it never occurred to me to look for something like this sooner.

I'm still working on sorting my beads . With the holidays and craziness at work, I haven't been able to work on it as much as I'd like, but I can just about see the bottom of the bowl. Ahh, I'm so ready to move on to the next project. :) I just hope I don't trip when I'm carrying the box.

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...

Anyone know where I can buy some more of these bead trays, or something similar? I got this one at Walmart several years ago. What I like about them is that you can seal them closed, making transporting a project in progress rather simple. However, the two trays I have are aging and just don't seal as well as they used to. I'd like to get some more, but I haven't been able to find them.

I spent the past week making more feather earrings like the one I did a few weeks ago -- another blue and white pair just like what I had before and one in Sooner red and white. Once I finish the red one, I want to make more earrings, I'm just not sure whether I'll keep with the same style, do some more round ones or start from scratch on the pattern. At this rate, I'll need to buy earring posts before too long, so that will be on my next bead order for  Fire Mountain Gems ,  Fusion Beads  or  Shipwreck Beads .