My Southern Accent's Back

Thanks for all the birthday well wishes! This one came and went with no aluminum foil or balloons (of course, I don't work in an office any more, and it would be kind of silly for my husband to do that to our house!). Actually, my whole birthday was spent on the road -- we drove 700 miles, from Illinois to North Carolina, to visit the site of our future home. The only bad parts of the birthday were when we stopped at a Waffle House for breakfast, not realizing that smoking was allowed (Pew. We walked out of there smelling of cigarette smoke.); and when we hit the Smoky Mountains and had to drive through fog while navigating the twisty, windy roads.

All in all, it was a great trip. We met Dan and Marcella, who are building a house across the road from us and will be our new neighbors. We got to explore the area more, since we asked a local realtor to show us some houses (thinking we might be able to find something we liked that's already built rather than spending the year or more it will take to build our own house). And best of all, my husband finally agreed that we couldn't do better than to build on the land we already have. So now we're back home, finalizing the house plans and making lists of the things we need to do to prepare for the move. That picture up there is the view from what will be our front yard. If you want to see more of this beautiful countryside, click here.

The southern accent thing? Honestly, all it took was about five minutes before it came back full force. Maybe it's a good thing. Since my husband grew up in Illinois, I have to be able to translate for him. :-)

Since I didn't have very much internet access while we were gone, I wasn't able to show off one of my newest beadweaving designs. I created this piece (Maelstrom in Mauve and Plum) and listed it in my Etsy shop before I left. I haven't made it in any other color combinations yet, but I know I'm going to be making more of these. I just have to figure out how to fit all my packing into my beadweaving schedule. :-)


If you feel like checking out some other beadwoven goodies, as well as some gorgeous bead art (maybe for your own jewelry-making activities), check out the Bead Art Originals Items of the Week! Every week there are new specials offered by some of our members, so in addition to being able to find some beautiful pieces you can pick up some great deals along the way. The mosaic of this week's listings is shown below, and you can visit the BAO Blog to find out the details of the specials.


That's my Copper Vine bracelet in the upper left corner of the mosaic. This week I'm offering coordinating pendant AND free shipping on the entire order with the purchase of that bracelet!