Butterscotch Blues

I’m just beginning to explore the design possibilities of this beautiful focal bead I received from my Bead Soup Double Up partner. Lots of blue and amber hues swirling around.

The romantic in me is considering a marriage of creamy caramel and striking cobalt, but the free spirit in me is flirting with deep butterscotch, sage and turquoise. I’m no closer to a decision after curating these mouth-watering examples from Etsy artists…warning – this collection will have you drooling!

Blue-Sky Dreaming

After a beautiful, sun swept day in Pittsburgh with Dani, I set out at the crack of dawn on Saturday morning for the return drive to Atlanta. The first 7 hours of my solo trek home, I was treated to darkening skies, thick fog, torrents of rain and gusty crosswinds that made it a real challenge just to keep my car on the road!

Somewhere between Hickory and Charlotte, I rounded a bend and caught the butterscotch glow of a clearing sky. I could finally relax my grip on the steering wheel and turn my mind from the furious weather to fairer thoughts, like beading. I made a mental note to design something with the colors of this amazing sky – a soft, radiant blue with swirls of ivory, amber and caramel.

I literally flew through the rest of the Carolinas and north Georgia, and ran up my back steps just in time to settle in on the couch with Dan to watch the first episode of the final season of one of our favorite shows – Friday Night Lights. But not before I breezed past the kitchen table and caught sight of a Priority Mail box with a handwritten label that I just knew held the contents of my bead soup for the Bead Mavens Bead Soup Double Up.

At the first commercial break, I ripped open the box and was astonished as I tipped out into my hand the very colors of that North Carolina sky.

Mandy D, my bead challenge partner, could not have chosen a more inspiring, perfect palette of beads. The design potential is unlimited! Not a cloud in sight. Time for some blue-sky dreaming!

BTW - Gifts, Wrapped

Since my last BTW posting, the taxes have been finished (no small cause for celebration), the house has been spring cleaned (even greater cause for jubilation!) and I’ve finally managed to spend a few hours at the bead table (in my now impressively organized workroom!)

Leather was acquired, and a new-to-me thread, SuperLon, was purchased for the making of these fun and oh-so-trendy wrap bracelets. If inspired to make your own, an excellent tutorial can be found at Rings & Things. The wood and silver trade-bead wrap is for my son, Chase. The chrysocolla version is a birthday present for granddaughter Abi, in her favorite shade of green; and waiting in the wings is an African turquoise and wood variation with sun button, which I will finish tonight for Dani.

Tomorrow, after a nice, week long visit from Dani, the two of us head back to Pittsburgh, her new home, the car piled high with the rest of her belongings, her childhood bedroom now officially transformed into my workroom. This weekend I will drive 1500 miles, but, with luck, will be back at my bead table come Monday morning!