spring on fast forward

branches of the maple tree outside the kitchen window

We've been having June and July weather before the first day of Spring. It's fascinating to watch Spring things happen in a day instead of over the course of a few days or more. The other day, if a person stood outside long enough, I think one could actually watch the grass turn green. The crocuses were up one day, and two days later many were wilted from the warm weather.

On my lunch break yesterday, I pulled up the dead grass spots in the area where the dogs go outside. I resisted the temptation to plant grass seed.....mostly because I haven't drug the hoses out of the shed yet and didn't want to lug a watering can from the kitchen sink to the yard. Who gets the garden hoses out in Michigan in mid-March? If the current weather pattern holds, the answer to that question might be me.

The forsythia bush on the vacant lot behind our yard seems to be progressing through its stage of bloom as if being played on fast forward. The usually fur-clad buds on the magnolia tree are already revealing the tips of blossoms. "Be careful! It's too early," I hollered to the magnolia tree on the other side of the yard. It hasn't listened. The tree continues on a fast forward path on a sunny, 80-degree day in a time of year that is usually gray and slushy. While I'm enjoying the views through open screen doors and warm breezes blowing the white curtain sheers, I'm quite curious to see what the rest of springtime will be like.  Yes, quite curious.

wish

Here's a wish for an awesome Friday and a wonderful weekend.

See you back here next week.

beady idea: summer sands bracelet

The day I designed this bracelet, I was daydreaming of a summer evening. The kind of evening where the day was spent lazing on a sunny beach. The kind of evening where the dress code is a favorite t-shirt, shorts and flip flops. The kind of evening that includes a long walk at sunset and maybe an ice cream cone.

The largest beads in the design are 9x10mm ovals. The smallest beads are 4mm.

To make the bracelet, I began by making 15 beaded drops, 4mm beads on 22 gauge brass tone headpins. I used the beaded drops in groups of five.

Materials*
15 headpins, ball tip, 22 gauge, 2 inches long
8mm Crystal Aqua Seafoam coin shape beads (3)
4mm Soft Aqua Stone round fire polish beads (15)
6mm Milky Topaz Renaissance Cathedral beads (15)
6x9mm Beige Picasso rondelle fire polish beads (9)
10x9mm  Opaque Pink and Caramel Brown Beveled Oval (3)
.8mm Stretch Magic, 12 inch piece

* this quantity makes an eight-inch stretch bracelet.

There are limited edition kits available in the Etsy shop.

new

These are a few of the new beads that were added to the shop yesterday. The beads in the top photo are 10mm in size, a nice size for earrings....not too small, not too large, just right. The blue spindles below would make such a pretty bracelet on their own. I've recently seen that color blue combined with bright yellow and white for a fresh, crisp look. The rectangles in the bottom photo are a cornflower blue and allow lots of light to pass through. A garden-theme design may be in the works for those, maybe combined with other shades of blue, soft yellow, a little lavendar, and sagey- or muted-turquoise greens.  

flowers and butterflies

My sister K is visiting us this weekend, and J had a Sunday off from work, so we took the opportunity to visit the botanical and sculpture gardens in our nearest big city. This time of year, the tropical conservatory holds a butterfly incubator, where dozens upon dozens of new butterflies emerge from cocoons every day. They then fly free among the tropical flowers and trees. Today, one of the little creatures stopped on the back of my hand and spent a few moments visiting with me. He landed so lightly, had I not seen him, I would not have known he was there. It was awesome.