Meet Anuuk a fantastic mixed breed puppy that lives on Bowen Island! Isn't she great?

From tonight's class are beautiful Sidewinder bracelets done by(starting at the top of the photo) Cynthia, Alice, Pat, and Dell. What a great job you all did-Congratulations!

Here is my Russian Spiral out of #457 Bronze, my favorite color to work with, although it does not photograph that well. My Russian Spiral is done with size 8/0 hex and size 11/0 round seed beads. Adding three beads at a time is always a good thing, don't you think?

All you bead lovers out there...did you watch the Oscars last night? Did you notice the poscenium arch curtain framing the stage? If you didn't, you missed an eye-popping 60 feet tall, 100 feet wide, THREE ton Swarovski crystal curtain! It was comprised of approximately 100,000 Swarovski crystals--6,000 one-meter hand crafted strands!! (Oh, and a little something for the winners: they departed with a limited edition evening bag, adorned with the same Swarovski crystals as those of the Oscar Curtain.)

On This Day...

February 22, 1980: In one of the most dramatic upsets in Olympic history, the underdog U.S. hockey team, made up of college players, defeated the four-time defending gold-medal winning Soviet team at the XIII Olympic Winter Games in Lake Placid, New York. The Soviet squad, previously regarded as the finest in the world, fell to the youthful American team 4-3 before a frenzied crowd. Two days later, the Americans defeated Finland 4-2 to clinch the hockey gold.
The victory was later memorialized in a 2004 film, "Miracle", starring Kurt Russell.

I finished the above bracelet tonight. It is flat even-count peyote stitch done with 11/0 Miyuki Delicas & 15/0 seed beads. I like the interplay of the colors and finishes.

It was a change of pace for me tonight since I subbed during the day with 7th graders ...lovely.

I call this my "Bad-Hair-Day" Pin. The face is a bone carved cabochon which is smaller than a dime. I need to create another that screams "I-Didn't-Even Comb-My-Hair Day" Pin, don't you think?

Adorable defined: Introducing Dax, the puppy & big sister, Luna from today's Daily Puppy! The Daily Puppy always makes my day brighter and today was a double "Awwwww factor." These two are just beyond cute-- what personalities, what complete joy!

I designed and finished the above bracelet tonight. I'm calling it "Spring Vine." I'm wondering if people might be interested in a class on this weaving technique? I incorporated a freeform spiral stitch with lots of embellishments.

I finished stitching the above Cabled Herringbone bracelet very early this morning. Design credit must be given to Rae Reller-what a beautiful design for Herringbone stitch!

Charlie the Retriever in training!

Above is a finished Spiral Stitch Bracelet done by Dell from tonight's class. What a beautiful job she did! Click on the photo to zoom in. The beads Dell used are size 8 Miyuki and are stunning together. (The unfinished spiral is mine-it's a type of freeform spiral.)

Here is "Jake" from today's Daily Puppy. Jake is an Alaskan Klee Kai, which is derived from Alaskan Athabaskan words meaning "small dog". His breed (a mix between a Siberian Husky and a Schipperke) is relatively new, having originated in the early 1970's. What a sweet dog!

Wire-Wrapped Bead class today...wrapped with beautiful sterling silver! Starting on the right in the bottom picture: Kathy's, Cindy's, Holly's, Tina's, Alice's and Linda's. Girls, you did such a fantastic job! Hope you all love your bracelets and had fun! Make sure you click on the pictures to zoom-in on the stunning work...

Here is one of my new designs and a brand new class. Because it incorporates the Herringbone stitch (also known as Ndebele Stitch) I've named it "Herringbone Highway."

The above are Fibula Pins made in tonight's class. Tina, Sharla and Bonnie did a wonderful job on these beauties! I told the gals that the Pins are like making pancakes--they get better and better as you make more of them! Click on the picture to get a closer look. Nice job ladies!

Mr. Groundhog saw his shadow...yep, 6 more weeks of winter.