Rocks. I love rocks. Ever since I was a child, I've loved searching for rocks. When I was little, I would crouch down next to our gravel driveway for hours on end and hunt for the prettiest rocks. Whenever I found a good one, I stuffed it into my pocket and took my newfound treasure into the house. Unbeknownst to me, my Mom was retrieving my treasures from my pockets when laundry day came around and returning them to the driveway. I probably found some of those pretty rocks several times...

Now, many years later, my quest for pretty rocks continues. Just yesterday, I visited a beach on Long Island and found myself in Rock Heaven. After only a couple of hours of hunting, I came away with a gallon-sized ziploc bag filled with beautiful rocks. Anyone else would be satisfied with this haul, but I'd happily go back to that same beach to continue the search.

That picture doesn't do justice to the beauty of these rocks. There are some of the brightest white quartz stones in here, and they're perfectly shaped by having been tossed in the sand for years on end. There are also a few pieces of beach glass in there, but it's mostly rocks. How could I possibly leave those beautiful rocks just lying there in the sand?!?!

So today, having sat and stared at this bag filled with beauty, I decided to try my hand at beading around one of the prettier white ones. This is my first attempt at this type of beading, and I'm pretty happy with the result. After I finished beading around the stone, I used some of the same beads to create the netted necklace. These are going to keep me busy for a looooooooooooooong time!

Beadweaving is such fun because I get to try out all different types of designs and patterns. Now that I have some software (BeadTool and BeadCreatorPro) to create the patterns, I'm going crazy with them!

It's not my first pattern by any means, but I really love the way this zebra pattern turned out. Not content with just black and white (you know, that's been done!), I decided that my zebra would have some wild colors. I fully intended to list this in my Etsy shop, but a close friend of mine saw it and wanted to purchase it. I just couldn't let her buy it, but I did give it to her as a gift. She loves it, and it went perfectly with the outfit she chose to wear with it!

There will be more... I have all sorts of ideas for animal patterns, and I can't wait to get started. But first, I have to place a big bead order. :-)

I was all set to take in-progress shots of the bracelet I intended to make with these new ceramic beads, but then I got carried away in the making and didn't do it!

Okay, so I've really only used one strand of the beads so far, those beautiful twisted ones in the neutral tones. I really love the way these look in the Oglala-style bracelet I just listed:

The International Quilt Festival came to Chicago on Friday, and a friend of mine asked if I wanted to go with her today to look around. Although I've made a couple of attempts at quilts, mine were utilitarian in nature and not particularly artistic. The ones in this show, however, are absolutely amazing!

I took lots and lots and lots of photos...


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Voting is underway at the Etsy BeadWeavers blog for the April challenge, Fire and Flowers. I didn't create an entry this month, but lots of the other members of the team did. Just check out this mosaic:

It's really hard to tell just how gorgeous those are when you're only seeing them in that mosaic, so go visit the EBW blog so you can get a better look.

And while you're visiting blogs, check out Carol Dean's blog (after you've voted in the challenge, of course). She's doing another drawing! :-)

I'm Completely Puzzled is the name I gave to my newest bracelet design. Perhaps you can see why I chose that name...

I was digging through a closet, finding things to be packed away, donated to charity, reorganized, etc., and I came across a big pile of jigsaw puzzles. I've loved doing puzzles for as long as I can remember, and I have LOTS of them. Cartoons, fantasy art, photomosaics, the world's most difficult (where there's no pattern at all, and all the pieces are the same color)... it just doesn't matter. They're fun!!!

With thoughts of jigsaw puzzles in my head, I hopped on the computer and created the pattern for this cuff. As soon as I had this one made, I thought of a few variations on the theme. Expect to see more in the near future!

The Bead and Button Magazine e-newsletter always includes interesting pictures and information, and the April 1 version included a VERY interesting picture -- at least for me!

I had uploaded a picture of my Champagne Fire beadwoven cuff to the Bead and Button website (you can do that if you're a subscriber to the magazine), and they chose my picture for the newsletter! Woo hoo!!! :-)

Click here to see the newsletter. And if you haven't already signed up for it, add yourself to the mailing list.