From June: It seems like no matter how much we try, we can’t seem to get ahead when getting ready for a big show. Originally we weren’t going to do a show at Tucson this year – Jill was just going to shop. But at pretty much the last minute, we decided to do the Best Bead Show again. So Jill’s been working long hours ordering beads and making kits for the last couple of weeks.

But it wasn’t enough. It’s never enough. We had our traditional Pre-Big Show Printer Meltdown, for one thing. And that’s a whole other story. I’m still working, so my help was limited in getting ready – Jill was pretty much on her own. A last minute push, and Jill delaying her departure twice, got it done. I was up until 3 a.m. on Saturday night (Sunday morning?) and was up again at 7 a.m. Last night, bedtime was after midnight and we were both up well before 5 a.m.

In our business, Jill designs most of the complex, special works. I’m not as good a beader as Jill, and I design a lot of the beginner stuff. We always take great care with our instructions, and never is that more important than with instructions for a beginner. We want to make sure a new beader can succeed and be sucked into Bead World with the rest of us. Here are two new beginner kits that I’ve recently done. I don’t have them on the website yet, because Jill has taken all the kits to Tucson, but I’ll pull the trigger on that as soon as she gets home.

The first one is called Center Stage, and we have it in several colorways, including an orange/pink combination.

The one below is a wide bracelet – it’s called Harmony. It comes with a fabulous button from Sonoran Beads. I’ll do another colorway on this one, too. What do you think? Red/orange/pink?