Sarah Moran Bead News and Notes!

I finally got my shtuff together and listed some pretty darned cool boro beads on ebay this evening. I've been working on the auction and cleaning workroom #2 (where all the non lampwork beads live) all day, and now I'm starved. Maybe I'll post another update later after I've answered all my emails...

Okay, I'm going to be a total loser again (and go against my own advice about keeping a constant presence in one of my biggest selling venues) and not list anything on ebay this evening. Bleh, I just didn't feel like it. What's my problem lately? Well, for one thing, I have been trying to take a little more time for myself. As a result, I lose my momentum - having that much time for myself gets too comfortable. And when I take weekends off, I don't have the weekend to focus on what I'm going to put on ebay the next week. I've also been working on getting completely caught up on soda lime orders, just to be able to say I did... oh, and to make my bead ladies happy. But the good news is: SUPERSTARS are a definite thing for THIS Thursday evening! Good stuff, people. Sets, focals (and something new if it works out). In fact, I'm going to send a mailing list notification this evening to help everyone gear up for it.

ALSO! Even if you have done absolutely nothing else today, if you check out seed beadist Jan Huling your day will be complete and purposeful. She will blow your mind. I just can't even believe how awesome it all is. Here are a few selections from her etsy store (and please do visit for more photos and close-ups):

I can't believe what a week away from ebay can do! I actually had people emailing me and asking me when I'm coming back. I really don't like to take any time off of ebay, but sometimes, I gotta. I lose touch when I don't have auctions to obsess over, I just don't get online as much. Plus, I've been having WAY too much fun with the Bebeadeds... and LOOK, I just listed some on ebay! The Disco Ball is my new favorite. Our friend Chad told me one time that I should make a disco ball bead. I think he meant purely out of glass, but I think the Bebeaded kind conveys the whole disco ball thing much more eloquently.

Also, not to brag or anything, I promise, but I seem to be attracting the attention of various bloggers around the globe. I'm not sure what the deal is ... I suppose I don't grasp the blog thing. It's like a separate universe with it's own language and standards of etiquette and function, and since I'm trying to understand and keep up with my own little universe, I tend to not venture out. But I've been noted on several blogs, which is always a treat, and I've even been interviewed (by Lori Greenberg, if you want to check it out, there's a link further down the page.) Another online interview is in the works, and when it's live, I'll add the link here.

I will say that I think it's really nice when someone asks my permission to use images from my site. Truth be told, I don't mind if they don't, as long as it's complimentary and I'm given proper credit... but when it isn't and I'm not (and you hot link to my images) watch out. You might end up bashing a photo of dead bugs or mad toejam instead of my weird-ass beads, and your little imaginary vodka tart friends will be all like "what's this, then??? have you gone bloody raving mad, poodle?" Go ahead, make my day. I'm totally kidding, but only about the make my day thing.

I know. THAT was cryptic. And from a long time ago. Whatever. I'm in that kinda mood. Think nothing of it. This is the type of thing you would be reading if I had a REAL blog, and it would be worth far less than what you paid for it. This (news page) is NOT a blog, and I won't be treating it as such until the weird mood hits again, likely some time next year.

You've probably figured out by now that there is nothing on ebay this week... but there will be Superstars this Thursday... even better!

AND - I've added 4 more pages to the 2008 Gallery! Start here. Lots of new things to pick from if you're in the mood to place a Made To Order. And speaking of which - the completion time really is mid-September. For the first time in... I don't know... a couple of years, the completion time is semi-reasonable. (It's because I don't have the boro list to worry about, and it's been a huge relief not to have to cram it into my bead schedule.) If Superstars go too fast for you and ebay just isn't your thing, consider placing an order for something in my Gallery. If it isn't RETIRED, it's available for order.

August. Or should I say BLAH-gust. I HATE summer. I just hate it. Actually, I don't mind it until it gets over 100 degrees, and that's when I start to get a little mad. But at least I have some pretty beads to obsess over all week - there are TWO excellent auctions on ebay! One for some gorgeous Lilac Bebeadeds, and the other for some of the best boro beads ever! Please do have a look. It's hot in here. I'm gonna go eat some food and relax in the east side of the house.

As you can see, the Bebeadeds are still coming along... check out the Rococo Ribbit on ebay this week! I may stop by later to chat some more, but don't hold your breath. I have lots of beady stuff to work on!

DIG MY ACTION ON BEADNERD.COM! Lori Greenberg contacted me last week about an online interview for the Beadnerd Blog. I don't think people talk about the business end of beads nearly enough, so I was more than happy to oblige.

Yes, Bead Freaks and Geeks! There is going to be a really good Superstars Sale on Thursday! I've been so good over the last several weeks, I've gotten mostly caught up... and evidently, I had a little play time in between orders, which will be presented for sale on the Superstars page on Thursday evening at 8pm Central time, like always. I'm nothing if not predictable.... And going by the looks of things, before August is over, the completion time can be bumped back considerably, maybe even to a month or less. (Wow, it's been a long time since the completion time was that reasonable.) This is excellent news for everyone, because that means Superstars should be more consistent and orders should be completed more quickly. But as soon as I upload this, watch me get a bunch of orders. Bring them on!

The Bebeadeds are going swimmingly. Like I mentioned, I've been making these off and on for many years, but never took the time to seriously focus on the technique. The weave on a spherical object isn't as straight forward as flat and regular tube stitches. As you can imagine, these involve math, particularly the round beaded beads - and math has never been my strong point. (In fact, I avoided Algebra 2 altogether just so I could make sure I made it out of high school. Believe me, if Algebra 2 were required, I'd still be sitting in high school math class at the age of 30.) The decreasing is what I always got hung up on, no matter what type of stitch I used, and I think I'm well on my way to sorting it all out. See, I don't have a pattern for these Bebeadeds - like with everything else I make, I fly by the seat of my pants. But I gained my basic knowledge of the stitches from Creative Bead Weaving by Carol Wilcox Wells. There are many projects in that book, but just like any step-by-step project, I ignored those and experimented with my own ideas with guidance from the basic instructions. Which means constant unraveling and re-weaving, screaming obscenities and always being just one missed stitch away from throwing the little buggers on the floor and stomping on them. As much as I love the instant gratification of lampwork, I think the REAL deal here is that I've been in need of a challenge. I've never cared much for challenging people, so finding some obnoxious new friends is off the table... and my marriage is happy and dandy, so I'm not going to stir that up... so what's left? BEADS! I dunno, I guess I have a compulsion to figure stuff out on my own, and I have such a long stretch of limited experience with seed beads that there is still much to discover. Not to mention all the new colors that have come out since I last messed with seed beads... And they are beads, after all - they're even glass! What could be better!?

I've rattled on long enough - be sure to check out the Flaming Fronds on ebay this week - they are TDF... and be sure to catch Superstars!

7/15/08 - WHERE HAVE I BEEN???

When I get bored and stale and a little sick of the torch, I enjoy organizing my beads. I'm baffled when people tell me that they don't like organizing their beads. (Like MOM for example - so guess who enthusiastically does the organizing for her?) Looking at the pretty colors and shapes is inspiring and exciting, so I tend to use any excuse to re-organize them. Anyway, at some point in the latest re-organization of my own bead stash, I was hit just right by these beaded beads I made many, many years ago. I've used different types of stitches, including peyote - regular, circular and multiple drop, and brick stitch. I also found a couple of bead tubes made out of beads using peyote and square stitch. I like to use size 11/0 and size 15/0 seed beads, and the BIG beaded bead covered in size 15 seed beads blew my mind - see if you can spot it in the picture below - I wondered at how I ever had the time and patience to do something like that. Anyway, I found myself very inspired (maybe obsessed would be a more fitting term) to give it another go over the last week. It's been so weird, like a time warp. Like I've gone back to my seed bead heyday of 1997, which consisted of beading and watching TV with no internet or lampwork distractions. (that explains my slowness to respond over the last week... sorry again.) The last time I made beaded beads was in 2002, and one of the first sets I ever sold on ebay was a combination of lampwork and beaded beads in an easter color theme. I think that set sold for about $25 - which would be devastating to me if that happened now, but back then, I was just happy to be selling something, anything at all. I wish I still had the photo, but I lost it in one of the various hard drive crashes over the years, along with several other bead photos I would love to have kept. Anyway, here are some of the ones I've made over the last 10 years...

... And I have even better ones up my sleeve, but I'll let those be a surprise. Check out the ebay auction I have running this week for a taste of what's (hopefully) to come... these beads are incredibly time consuming, and with a little more practice I could be more efficient. But if for some reason you guys don't like these, I may just limit them to using them in my own jewelry. We shall see... I sure do enjoy them, so I hope you guys like them too!

Thanks for checking in...

--------------------------------------

Heya Superstars! I skrood myself on my Made To Order completion time. I got a little confused (and maybe over-confident) and didn't adjust my completion time accordingly and the orders kept coming. I looked at my order queue the other day and realized that I must complete 8 orders during the next 4 weeks, so Made To Orders are riding shotgun until August. I usually prefer to work on just Superstars through the week, but I'm sure I will want to piddle a bit between orders... so the good news is, I *might* able to sneak some Superstars in at some point between now and then. As usual, the mailing list people will get a notification before the sale.

Wow, June already? Summer's nearly 1/3 over with, and that's worth celebrating. Blech. I guess it could be worse... nothing new to report besides the beautiful boro beads I just listed on ebay this evening! And if you have an order pending with me and were quoted a completion time of late July, you will be hearing from me by the end of the month.

HEY! Check out the SPECTACULAR beads on ebay this week! Definitely droolsome, if the cook do say so herself.

There will be no Superstars on Thursday - I will update that page when I return from the PO and my tex-mex dinner. Or maybe tomorrow, who knows. Anyway, I will be working diligently on orders all week long. However, I am contemplating a late night superstars sale at some point in the not-too-distant future. This is mainly to accommodate my overseas bead friends who are at work or possibly asleep at 8PM Central time. Of course, those of you die hard night owls in the States might enjoy this too. I'm not talking about the "OMG, I can believe I stayed up until midnight" kinda night owls - I mean wide awake at 3am with no hope of getting to sleep until at least 7am kinda folk. That's me 75% of the time, so it won't be nuthin but a thaing. It might be kind of nice to do this once in a while because I won't have to scramble to put the Superstars together before 8pm. Sometimes that's quite a chore for someone who may not get up until 4pm. I'll have to figure out the best time to do this, but it probably won't be possible to please everyone all over the planet - so please don't be angry if your optimum shopping time gets missed. More about this later, but meanwhile, I'll be comparing time zones.

PLEASE READ: I have made a change to my SUPERSTARS payment policy!

I AM NO LONGER ACCEPTING eCHECKS (through Paypal) OR MONEY ORDERS AS PAYMENT FOR SUPERSTARS.

If for some reason an eCheck is your only option, I will offer your selection to someone else. Thing is, eChecks are taking longer and longer to clear - they should only take 3-4 days tops, but even the domestic eChecks I've been getting lately are taking well over a week to clear. (I don't accept paper checks for this very reason.) To be completely honest, I want to get paid in full and mail the beads immediately, and everyone can get on with it. Because I receive multiple requests for each Superstars bead/set, this seems to be the most fair and efficient arrangement for myself and my shoppers.

To help you find this new policy a bit more agreeable, I am extending my payment window from 3 days to 5 days. Please take advantage of this time to add funds to your Paypal account balance. You may also use a credit card through Paypal. If I have not received payment or communication within 5 days, your selection will be offered to someone else.

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5/6/08 - I was recently gifted a copy of Stephanie Sersich's new book, Designing Jewelry with Glass Beads. If you are sometimes not so sure what to do with my beads (or anyone else's beads, for that matter), you might want to think about getting this book. I haven't had a chance to read it cover to cover, but I can say that it could be a perfect fit if you prefer fiber and string to tigertail and wire. (I have a love/hate relationship with wire - I would LOVE to be able to make something with it, but it HATES me.) The projects range from simple to complex, and can also function as an excellent guide to making your favorite rare lampwork or other beads go a little further by plentifully embellishing it with scores of smaller coordinating beads... beads you may already have on hand. (and imagine the bead hunting adventures you will have while procuring new beads you may need!) I particularly like her projects for beads with large holes. I know what *I* would do with them, but it probably wouldn't be as interesting as what she came up with. I'm not going to spoil the surprise... just go get one!

Look for me (and other great artists) in the 2008 Glass Art Calendar! Click on the pic to find out more! This is a beautiful calendar, the layout is clean and the presentation is wonderful. Get one!





	Click on the This Week On Ebay button to get to my seller's page, or click on the picture(s) above to visit the individual auction(s).

	THURSDAY EVENINGS AT 8PM CENTRAL TIME!!! Click on the button above to get there!!!

			If you like my beads and aren't on my mailing list, perhaps you should be! Click the Mailing List button to the left and read about it.

		Click the Made To Order button above to find out everything you need to know about placing an order from my Gallery.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9/02/08 I finally got my shtuff together and listed some pretty darned cool boro beads on ebay this evening. I've been working on the auction and cleaning workroom #2 (where all the non lampwork beads live) all day, and now I'm starved. Maybe I'll post another update later after I've answered all my emails... 8/26/08 Okay, I'm going to be a total loser again (and go against my own advice about keeping a constant presence in one of my biggest selling venues) and not list anything on ebay this evening. Bleh, I just didn't feel like it. What's my problem lately? Well, for one thing, I have been trying to take a little more time for myself. As a result, I lose my momentum - having that much time for myself gets too comfortable. And when I take weekends off, I don't have the weekend to focus on what I'm going to put on ebay the next week. I've also been working on getting completely caught up on soda lime orders, just to be able to say I did... oh, and to make my bead ladies happy. But the good news is: SUPERSTARS are a definite thing for THIS Thursday evening! Good stuff, people. Sets, focals (and something new if it works out). In fact, I'm going to send a mailing list notification this evening to help everyone gear up for it. ALSO! Even if you have done absolutely nothing else today, if you check out seed beadist Jan Huling your day will be complete and purposeful. She will blow your mind. I just can't even believe how awesome it all is. Here are a few selections from her etsy store (and please do visit for more photos and close-ups): Beaded Guitar Beaded Dunny Box See you Thursday... thanks for stopping by! 8/19/08 I can't believe what a week away from ebay can do! I actually had people emailing me and asking me when I'm coming back. I really don't like to take any time off of ebay, but sometimes, I gotta. I lose touch when I don't have auctions to obsess over, I just don't get online as much. Plus, I've been having WAY too much fun with the Bebeadeds... and LOOK, I just listed some on ebay! The Disco Ball is my new favorite. Our friend Chad told me one time that I should make a disco ball bead. I think he meant purely out of glass, but I think the Bebeaded kind conveys the whole disco ball thing much more eloquently. Also, not to brag or anything, I promise, but I seem to be attracting the attention of various bloggers around the globe. I'm not sure what the deal is ... I suppose I don't grasp the blog thing. It's like a separate universe with it's own language and standards of etiquette and function, and since I'm trying to understand and keep up with my own little universe, I tend to not venture out. But I've been noted on several blogs, which is always a treat, and I've even been interviewed (by Lori Greenberg, if you want to check it out, there's a link further down the page.) Another online interview is in the works, and when it's live, I'll add the link here. I will say that I think it's really nice when someone asks my permission to use images from my site. Truth be told, I don't mind if they don't, as long as it's complimentary and I'm given proper credit... but when it isn't and I'm not (and you hot link to my images) watch out. You might end up bashing a photo of dead bugs or mad toejam instead of my weird-ass beads, and your little imaginary vodka tart friends will be all like "what's this, then??? have you gone bloody raving mad, poodle?" Go ahead, make my day. I'm totally kidding, but only about the make my day thing. I know. THAT was cryptic. And from a long time ago. Whatever. I'm in that kinda mood. Think nothing of it. This is the type of thing you would be reading if I had a REAL blog, and it would be worth far less than what you paid for it. This (news page) is NOT a blog, and I won't be treating it as such until the weird mood hits again, likely some time next year. Thanks for stopping in! 8/12/08 You've probably figured out by now that there is nothing on ebay this week... but there will be Superstars this Thursday... even better! AND - I've added 4 more pages to the 2008 Gallery! Start here. Lots of new things to pick from if you're in the mood to place a Made To Order. And speaking of which - the completion time really is mid-September. For the first time in... I don't know... a couple of years, the completion time is semi-reasonable. (It's because I don't have the boro list to worry about, and it's been a huge relief not to have to cram it into my bead schedule.) If Superstars go too fast for you and ebay just isn't your thing, consider placing an order for something in my Gallery. If it isn't RETIRED, it's available for order. Thanks for checking in - see you Thursday. 8/5/08 August. Or should I say BLAH-gust. I HATE summer. I just hate it. Actually, I don't mind it until it gets over 100 degrees, and that's when I start to get a little mad. But at least I have some pretty beads to obsess over all week - there are TWO excellent auctions on ebay! One for some gorgeous Lilac Bebeadeds, and the other for some of the best boro beads ever! Please do have a look. It's hot in here. I'm gonna go eat some food and relax in the east side of the house. BTW - Superstars are a remote possibility next week. I'll keep you posted. 7/29/08 As you can see, the Bebeadeds are still coming along... check out the Rococo Ribbit on ebay this week! I may stop by later to chat some more, but don't hold your breath. I have lots of beady stuff to work on! 7/22/08 DIG MY ACTION ON BEADNERD.COM! Lori Greenberg contacted me last week about an online interview for the Beadnerd Blog. I don't think people talk about the business end of beads nearly enough, so I was more than happy to oblige. Yes, Bead Freaks and Geeks! There is going to be a really good Superstars Sale on Thursday! I've been so good over the last several weeks, I've gotten mostly caught up... and evidently, I had a little play time in between orders, which will be presented for sale on the Superstars page on Thursday evening at 8pm Central time, like always. I'm nothing if not predictable.... And going by the looks of things, before August is over, the completion time can be bumped back considerably, maybe even to a month or less. (Wow, it's been a long time since the completion time was that reasonable.) This is excellent news for everyone, because that means Superstars should be more consistent and orders should be completed more quickly. But as soon as I upload this, watch me get a bunch of orders. Bring them on! The Bebeadeds are going swimmingly. Like I mentioned, I've been making these off and on for many years, but never took the time to seriously focus on the technique. The weave on a spherical object isn't as straight forward as flat and regular tube stitches. As you can imagine, these involve math, particularly the round beaded beads - and math has never been my strong point. (In fact, I avoided Algebra 2 altogether just so I could make sure I made it out of high school. Believe me, if Algebra 2 were required, I'd still be sitting in high school math class at the age of 30.) The decreasing is what I always got hung up on, no matter what type of stitch I used, and I think I'm well on my way to sorting it all out. See, I don't have a pattern for these Bebeadeds - like with everything else I make, I fly by the seat of my pants. But I gained my basic knowledge of the stitches from Creative Bead Weaving by Carol Wilcox Wells. There are many projects in that book, but just like any step-by-step project, I ignored those and experimented with my own ideas with guidance from the basic instructions. Which means constant unraveling and re-weaving, screaming obscenities and always being just one missed stitch away from throwing the little buggers on the floor and stomping on them. As much as I love the instant gratification of lampwork, I think the REAL deal here is that I've been in need of a challenge. I've never cared much for challenging people, so finding some obnoxious new friends is off the table... and my marriage is happy and dandy, so I'm not going to stir that up... so what's left? BEADS! I dunno, I guess I have a compulsion to figure stuff out on my own, and I have such a long stretch of limited experience with seed beads that there is still much to discover. Not to mention all the new colors that have come out since I last messed with seed beads... And they are beads, after all - they're even glass! What could be better!? I've rattled on long enough - be sure to check out the Flaming Fronds on ebay this week - they are TDF... and be sure to catch Superstars! 7/15/08 - WHERE HAVE I BEEN??? When I get bored and stale and a little sick of the torch, I enjoy organizing my beads. I'm baffled when people tell me that they don't like organizing their beads. (Like MOM for example - so guess who enthusiastically does the organizing for her?) Looking at the pretty colors and shapes is inspiring and exciting, so I tend to use any excuse to re-organize them. Anyway, at some point in the latest re-organization of my own bead stash, I was hit just right by these beaded beads I made many, many years ago. I've used different types of stitches, including peyote - regular, circular and multiple drop, and brick stitch. I also found a couple of bead tubes made out of beads using peyote and square stitch. I like to use size 11/0 and size 15/0 seed beads, and the BIG beaded bead covered in size 15 seed beads blew my mind - see if you can spot it in the picture below - I wondered at how I ever had the time and patience to do something like that. Anyway, I found myself very inspired (maybe obsessed would be a more fitting term) to give it another go over the last week. It's been so weird, like a time warp. Like I've gone back to my seed bead heyday of 1997, which consisted of beading and watching TV with no internet or lampwork distractions. (that explains my slowness to respond over the last week... sorry again.) The last time I made beaded beads was in 2002, and one of the first sets I ever sold on ebay was a combination of lampwork and beaded beads in an easter color theme. I think that set sold for about $25 - which would be devastating to me if that happened now, but back then, I was just happy to be selling something, anything at all. I wish I still had the photo, but I lost it in one of the various hard drive crashes over the years, along with several other bead photos I would love to have kept. Anyway, here are some of the ones I've made over the last 10 years... ... And I have even better ones up my sleeve, but I'll let those be a surprise. Check out the ebay auction I have running this week for a taste of what's (hopefully) to come... these beads are incredibly time consuming, and with a little more practice I could be more efficient. But if for some reason you guys don't like these, I may just limit them to using them in my own jewelry. We shall see... I sure do enjoy them, so I hope you guys like them too! Thanks for checking in... -------------------------------------- SUPERSTARS NOTE! Heya Superstars! I skrood myself on my Made To Order completion time. I got a little confused (and maybe over-confident) and didn't adjust my completion time accordingly and the orders kept coming. I looked at my order queue the other day and realized that I must complete 8 orders during the next 4 weeks, so Made To Orders are riding shotgun until August. I usually prefer to work on just Superstars through the week, but I'm sure I will want to piddle a bit between orders... so the good news is, I might able to sneak some Superstars in at some point between now and then. As usual, the mailing list people will get a notification before the sale. Thanks for reading! ------------------------ 7/8/08 EXCELLENT grrrly beads on ebay this week! Check them out! 7/1/08 Wow, June already? Summer's nearly 1/3 over with, and that's worth celebrating. Blech. I guess it could be worse... nothing new to report besides the beautiful boro beads I just listed on ebay this evening! And if you have an order pending with me and were quoted a completion time of late July, you will be hearing from me by the end of the month. thanks for stopping by! 6/24/08 HEY! Check out the SPECTACULAR beads on ebay this week! Definitely droolsome, if the cook do say so herself. There will be no Superstars on Thursday - I will update that page when I return from the PO and my tex-mex dinner. Or maybe tomorrow, who knows. Anyway, I will be working diligently on orders all week long. However, I am contemplating a late night superstars sale at some point in the not-too-distant future. This is mainly to accommodate my overseas bead friends who are at work or possibly asleep at 8PM Central time. Of course, those of you die hard night owls in the States might enjoy this too. I'm not talking about the "OMG, I can believe I stayed up until midnight" kinda night owls - I mean wide awake at 3am with no hope of getting to sleep until at least 7am kinda folk. That's me 75% of the time, so it won't be nuthin but a thaing. It might be kind of nice to do this once in a while because I won't have to scramble to put the Superstars together before 8pm. Sometimes that's quite a chore for someone who may not get up until 4pm. I'll have to figure out the best time to do this, but it probably won't be possible to please everyone all over the planet - so please don't be angry if your optimum shopping time gets missed. More about this later, but meanwhile, I'll be comparing time zones. Until next time... ----------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE READ: I have made a change to my SUPERSTARS payment policy! I AM NO LONGER ACCEPTING eCHECKS (through Paypal) OR MONEY ORDERS AS PAYMENT FOR SUPERSTARS. If for some reason an eCheck is your only option, I will offer your selection to someone else. Thing is, eChecks are taking longer and longer to clear - they should only take 3-4 days tops, but even the domestic eChecks I've been getting lately are taking well over a week to clear. (I don't accept paper checks for this very reason.) To be completely honest, I want to get paid in full and mail the beads immediately, and everyone can get on with it. Because I receive multiple requests for each Superstars bead/set, this seems to be the most fair and efficient arrangement for myself and my shoppers. To help you find this new policy a bit more agreeable, I am extending my payment window from 3 days to 5 days. Please take advantage of this time to add funds to your Paypal account balance. You may also use a credit card through Paypal. If I have not received payment or communication within 5 days, your selection will be offered to someone else. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5/6/08 - I was recently gifted a copy of Stephanie Sersich's new book, Designing Jewelry with Glass Beads. If you are sometimes not so sure what to do with my beads (or anyone else's beads, for that matter), you might want to think about getting this book. I haven't had a chance to read it cover to cover, but I can say that it could be a perfect fit if you prefer fiber and string to tigertail and wire. (I have a love/hate relationship with wire - I would LOVE to be able to make something with it, but it HATES me.) The projects range from simple to complex, and can also function as an excellent guide to making your favorite rare lampwork or other beads go a little further by plentifully embellishing it with scores of smaller coordinating beads... beads you may already have on hand. (and imagine the bead hunting adventures you will have while procuring new beads you may need!) I particularly like her projects for beads with large holes. I know what I would do with them, but it probably wouldn't be as interesting as what she came up with. I'm not going to spoil the surprise... just go get one! http://stephaniesersich.bigcartel.com/product/designing-jewelry-with-glass-beads Thanks for checking in! Sarah --------- Look for me (and other great artists) in the 2008 Glass Art Calendar! Click on the pic to find out more! This is a beautiful calendar, the layout is clean and the presentation is wonderful. Get one!