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Tip: Don’t be late to a bead retreat

So a lady walks into a bead retreat….okay, it was a little later than she thought she’d be there…it wasn’t really her fault…okay, really it was. But she had good intentions. And she was THERE after all. And she sees some of her very best beady friends and is so happy and starts giving hugs and catching up.… Read More

Texas Bead Retreat, here I come

Ah, best laid plans. I had scheduled myself to leave the house today at 10am for the quick, 1 hour drive up to Temple, but then the alarm went off, and I’d only gone to bed at 6am, and I was so comfy, and zzzzzzzzzzzz….… Read More

Another sneek peek

Ladies, I present to you, another peek at one of the new kits we’ll be debuting shortly: Ramblin’ Roses. Gorgeous, isn’t it? Mom’s been doing a great job all of a sudden, cranking out new things that have been percolating in her mind over the last year.… Read More

Surviving Saturday

It took 19 hours of sleep, but I’m finally recovered from the preparations for my Kumihimo classes, and my first ever two classes in one day on Saturday. It was both harder and better than I thought it would be.

Harder because I had to work much more than usual on class prep.… Read More

I have been one upped


Peggy tells me that I am not sufficiently blinged out until I have these and I think she’s right. I’m jealous!

I have been off and on with being focused and working the last few days. One day I’ll get absolutely nothing accomplished, and the next I’m a whirling dervish.… Read More

A few photos for fun


First, let me show you how super duper tricked out I am in my car these days! I mentioned a few months ago on the blog that I’d gotten my very own personalized license plates – BEADS, of course! Well, one of my Christmas gifts this year was a Swarovski studded license plate holder!!… Read More

Bead by bead

I got to check two whole things off my immediate to-do list. Yes, I have different levels of to-do. Something along the lines of:

  • To-do before I die
  • To-do before someone else yells at me
  • To-do or I have to go back to having a day job
  • To-do when I’m trying to avoid other to-dos

That Day Job threat one is the one I’m focused on for the short-term.… Read More

Speaking of Tucson…


Who’s going to the Gem Shows in February? Did you know that you have an incredible opportunity to take a full-day class from the combined brilliance of Gail Crosman Moore and Anne Mitchell? It’s a special workshop they’ve put together just for the Tucson shows and it will cover techniques to apply color patina(!)… Read More

New Year’s Eve Day

I haven’t left the house in days, and I love it. I think Mom’s starting to get worried that my butt might grow into the sofa or the desk chair. Alas, I’ll have to venture out on Wednesday – to the Post Office, the bead store, and I think I’ll treat myself to a Chinese food lunch which I’m craving mightily.… Read More

Jill Taking Photos

(From June)
What’s funny about Jill taking photos on Christmas was that Rich’s camera is a pretty high-powered one, and the shutter is very sensitive. Jill couldn’t take just one picture – everytime she took one, it took a second one before she could get her finger off the button.… Read More

Photos from our Christmas


Alexis, running for the tree when we finally let her loose. All the presents were for her. Mom and I exchanged gifts on Christmas Eve, and the rest of us agreed to forgo gifts this year. Rich & Becky got an amazing full kitchen renovation instead.… Read More

Back to freezing again

I had such high hopes of what I’d get done today. Working in the bead room on the reorganization project, a bunch of laundry, and finishing up a bangle for myself. Sadly, it was not to be. Instead I spent a good portion of the day huddled under blankets.… Read More

This, and that, and the other thing

So much to cover tonight! Hold on – it’s gonna be a long blog! We’ll start with a pretty picture… These cases hold 4 hours of my life. My Size 15 seed bead drawer was out of control. OUT OF CONTROL!… Read More

I’m the boss!

Everyone can breathe easy again – the big ol’ honkin’ pile of Failures is now a distant and picked apart memory. Today, I regained control of the beads – the herringbone necklace has been tamed and is totally gorgeous. I’m still gonna tweak a little on the embellishment, so it’s not quite ready for an official unveiling yet, but the basic structure and lovely soft drape is there, and that’s what was elluding me the last eleventy billion hours.… Read More

When Beads Misbehave


I sometimes tell my students that you’ve got to let the beads know who’s in charge when you’re working. And sometimes it’s the beads. That’s the little battle of wills that’s been going on in my home the last two solid days!… Read More

Beading comes back

Ah, what a wonderful and productive day, despite a good 3 hour nap in there. Mom and I spent time reviewing our current kits and figuring out which ones to discontinue for our new goodies. Making sure we had a good mix of beginner to more advanced, bracelets to necklaces, etc.… Read More

Isn’t Christmas over already?

I confessed to Mom today that more than once this week, I’ve found myself confused in a store because all the Christmas merchandise wasn’t on clearance. After all, MY big party is over – and that was the big Holiday event happening around the Wiseman household, so the same is true for everyone else, right?… Read More

Post Open House Report

I know ya’ll have been waiting, breathlessly, for a report on the Open House. I’m sorry it took me so long to post – I had to sleep ALL DAY Monday to recover!

We had so much fun and I can’t wait to do it all again.… Read More

Holiday Open House on Sunday!

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care…and they really are!

We’ve decorated. And we’ve cleaned. And we’ve baked. (Yes, I mean Mom’s baked.) And we’ve organized. And we’re near collapse. But we’re finally ready for tomorrow’s Open House. Wheee!… Read More

Beads, beads, and more beads!

Ah, I do love my UPS man. Today I came home from a hair appt to find 20 pounds of beads on my doorstep. And 40 pounds of bags. Yup. Plain ol’ bags. 2×2 baggies, 2×3 baggies, 6×9 baggies, and on and on.… Read More