Bead Cruise

It was wonderful....what's not to like. I sleep like a baby on a ship, I love the gentle motion and the ocean air. Together with my sweetie, beads and bead artists and so many wonderful folks wearing even more beads....it was a fun week.

First there were all the lovely desserts

And the blue blue waters...this was our lunch spot on Grand Cayman, peaceful

My sweet man, so photogenic

A windswept night under the stars for our cocktail party...Beki and Liz

The Beach in Cozumel

And the people who make it happen, Heather who puts together the Bead Cruise every year, Mom Beverly who teaches and is an accomplished designer, and Aunt Roseanne. It's nice to see a family travel together.

Next years cruise sails on the Oasis to the Carribean. Stay posted on BeadCruise.com for details.

The new JudiPatuti Spring beadmat collection!

It's here...... well it has been here for a little while. I took the first of the spring collection to Beading by the Bay with me, and now it's your turn! The exciting news is Judy has an official website now, no more emailing from the blog.

You will want to get your order in....the JudiPatuti beadmat is going to be featured in an upcoming Beadwork publication on cool new products and once that happens you just may lose out on your favorite. Although production has been geared up, fabrics are sometimes not repeatable, so if you have a favorite now is the time to place your order.

Mark and friend

in Galveston

oysters

in Galveston!

Twenty Seven Years

I met Mark 27 years ago today! I guess at the time I had no idea how fateful a meeting that would be. It's been a good 27 years, full of family, work, friendship and travel. This week being no exception as we fly to Galveston in the morning and board our Royal Caribbean cruise ship on Sunday morning.

Which brings me to the fact that you won't be hearing from me.....the phone will be off, the internet will be silent. I'm hoping to do some serious design work but we'll see what happens.

In the meantime, bead happy, be well and I'll be back in April!

Cruising

Caribbean cruise...that is what is in store this week. The getting ready always keeps me fully occupied and I forget to get excited until it's almost time, and since we leave Saturday, it's almost time!

The clothes are packed, the beads are packed, I'm off to get a haircut in the morning and then I will be fully ready.

I love the way the motion of a ship lulls me to sleep at night. I wish I could have some kind of ocean rocking installed in my home bed so that I could have that wonderful sensation more often. Back in our sailboat days I loved it when the wind blew and rocked me gently into slumber.

Here are a few memories from a previous beadcruise....looking forward to more of the same!

Wish I could have brought home these inviting chairs!

Birds of Paradise

This is a little bit of whimsical beadwork the at I'll be teaching on next weeks Bead Cruise. It turns out to be the most popular of the three classes, who knew? It is a nice doable little bit of beadwork, with the ndebele tube creating the bail which is suspended from a ball chain. I predict many finished pieces being worn, which is always nice for a seed bead project.

Now to predict the favorite colorway......

Silver and Copper?
Black and Purple, love that cyclamen opal crystal sequin....

Or with it be a more Caribbean lime and teal?

Let me know you're favorite and I'll report back on the choice the cruisers make.

I'm continuing on with preparations, pulling out bathing suits, beach hats, suntan lotion and the like....This is not my usual bead outing and requires slightly different prep work.

I've reserved Friday as a play day being the 28th anniversary of our first date I prefer not to be working. We have a date to have hair done by daughter Casey followed by a lunch out and a hopefully relaxing evening.