So much for crafting . . .

Usually each week I get at least one or two chunks of time when I can go hide up on the third floor surrounded by all my craft crap and play for a while; it is a necessary thing to recharge my batteries and brighten my mood. So far this year I had actually made some progress on my stack of unfinished projects plus worked on some new ones, both practical and decorative.

Sometimes, though, I get weeks like this one. Between babysitter cancellations, appointments, errands, and unexpected delays, I'll go the entire week without picking up a single needle or bead. I hate that, it makes me grumpy. I hope next week is better.

In the meantime, since I have nothing new to show, I'll talk about my recent obsession with beaded flowers. A few weeks ago I pulled out my copy of The Beaded Garden to make some tiny little flowers for a pair of earrings I had been thinking about. The inspiration was a trip to the botanical gardens in Pittsburgh I took while visiting my mom. We walked into one room and I was immediately stunned by gardens overflowing with deep purple (almost black) pansies and dark magenta, orangey-red, and yellow tulips. (the Beadboys' reaction -- "Oh, wow!") I made a note of the colors to use in some future project, then eventually settled on earrings. I chose the tiny tulip, five-petaled rose (the official pansy pattern was too big), and daffodil (for variety) patterns and made these:

I couldn't stop there, though, so I also made these:
Then I thought I really needed to make more daffodils:
Whenever I make it back to the third floor I think I'll make some of these flowers into earrings and put them in the shop.