clearance sales

Artbeads has a wonderful clearance sale going on. Lots of half-prices on gemstones.

Hobby Lobby just finished opening with several things on 50% off, but they don't have much selection, so I hope they don't run other stores out of business. I noticed none of the nice art supplies were marked down, and they seemed higher priced than Michael's. I'd really like to do some painting this winter. Just water colors, but it's hard to do with Littles in the house, because they want to paint too. And have you ever noticed that art teachers don't do any of their own work while they're teaching?

Alphabet beads

I finally have some alphabet beads to remind myself of my goals. My mind is overfull, so I'm going to bead a reminder for my wrist. I can only take on one goal at a time these days...
Except that every time I take out the beads, my boys show up and beg to make bracelets too (the manly kind, of course). So when I'll actually finish a bracelet is unclear....

Clearance at artbeads.com

The clearance sale is winding down at Artbeads.com, but you can still find a few deals. You can take "melon" beads (or "rice" beads) and string them into squares for a bracelet. I used fishing line for this one, but it kinks, as you can see in the picture. Thread would work better. You can harden the end of the thread with clear nail polish to enable the stringing of beads.

A lot of the strands are on clearance for $2.72, and as always on artbeads, free shipping! I like the tiger eye tubes strand...but I'm trying not to buy right now!

I used to lie awake at night making up stories in my head to write. Lately, my mind moves in different patterns, and I make up jewelry patterns. Some of them work out in actuality, and others are annoyingly don't work out. There was a house on Center Street in the winter that had swag Christmas lights on the porch, and I thought it would make a nice design in gold bugle beads (which I don't have and local stores don't either) with maybe a counterpoint dangle in between swags. I started on it last night, in sea colors, since I have them. It takes a loooong time to string enough seed beads to make just two passes of a necklace. So, it's still in progress. I still like the idea of a clear, silver foil lined bugle bead necklace/bracelet with the theme of ice melt. By the time I finish it even Mount Timpanogas will be bare of snow though (except for the perpetual glacier). I also had an idea of barrel beads strung on a leather/suede strap with knots in between, but was blocked by the fact that most barrel beads have teeny holes which will only work with thread, and thus won't bulk up a design knot.

The sparkle of jewelry in the gloom of winter...like stained glass, it reflects light and beauty.