Stash Enhancement eXperience

Yesterday I had a fun day. A very fun day. After the past few weeks, I needed a fun day, and boy did it deliver. First of all, it was a gorgeous day. Blue sky, fluffy white clouds, warm spicy autumn air, and cash in my purse. It doesn't get much better than that.

First I took my daughter out to lunch. We wanted to try the brand new Burger King that just opened in Post Falls. Gourmet eaters, that's us. It was typical Burger King fare. Full of fat, flavor, and calories. I enjoyed it. All hail the Whopper!

I get paid a small sum for working at the North Idaho Fair as the Knitting Superintendent. When the check arrived in the mail, I cashed it and put the cash in my purse where it's been ever since while I thought about what I was going to spend it on. I wanted it to be on something special because I so very seldom get to 'earn' money these days. After careful consideration and a bit of research, I decided to spend it on beads. So, yesterday, Sweet Daughter and I took a trip into Spokane Valley and visited Beyond Beads Gallery. I had a specific project in mind plus specific colors and types of beads I wanted to add to the stash rather than just a willynilly impulse buying spree. In other words, I had a very carefully thought out list. Oh boy, did I have a good time filling that list.

First of all, the project I had in mind. The necklace on the cover of Laura McCabe's book, Embellished Beadweaving.

I'm doing a different color scheme. Here are the beads I bought for it:

The pattern is an embellished spiral rope. The upper parts are embellished with Keisha pearls that are shown in the picture as being flat and drilled front to back. I could not find any pearls drilled that way. They were all drilled through the side, so I settled for these sort of slightly flattened fresh water pearls. They're about 5-6mm wide. It will look very different, but that will make it uniquely mine. I also got a strand of Swarovski 3mm glass pearls just cuz I wanted it.

I got an assortment of drops, flowers, lentils, and whatnot for the center part which is covered in fringes.

I've also got beads in the stash that are slated for this project. I'm aiming for gold, purple, pine green, and burgundy as my color scheme. We'll see how it goes.

I acquired some seed beads I've been wanting in my stash. Mostly size 15's.

Some of these are for the project, some are just for the stash.

I also purchased a book. I've been looking for a really good book on bead embroidery. I found one, Dimensional Bead Embroidery by Jamie Cloud Eakin.

I've had her first book, Beading With Cabochons, since it first came out. I consider it THE book on that subject. Her new book is just as good. In fact, it's absolutely FANTASTIC!!! It's chock full of wonderful techniques and tips with detailed graphics, and the pictures! Oh my, they are stunning and get the creative juices flowing like crazy. I would consider this almost a sequel to the Cabochon book, but not quite because she goes into much more detail of bead embroidery itself, not just decorating cabs. It belongs in every serious beaders library. I am so so very happy with this book.

When we got home from our shopping trip, there was a package waiting for me from Firemountain Gems. Hurray! The 3mm crystals I ordered!

The crystals I bought specifically for Luis are in this pic, rather than the one above, even though they came in the same order.

 Needless to say, as soon as I could I got busy on starting Luis.

First thing, I make a Right Angle Weave cube. Then I need to add 22 more cubes to it in a row.  I was having trouble keeping the tension tight, but I found a very helpful article in the current issue of Bead & Button Magazine. The tension improved immediately.

I knit about an inch on the second Wheat Rib sock.