Book Round-up

 A Stroke of the Pen by Terry Pratchett: This collection of Pratchett's early stories (mostly published under pseudonyms) had all of his trademark wit and whimsy. A quick, fun read.

The Bullet that Missed by Richard Osman: The mystery in this, the third of Osman's delightful series, wasn't as strong or as interesting, but at this point I'm here for the wonderful relationships. I think there's one more to read.

Weight by Jeanette Winterson: Part of the Canongate Myth series, where modern authors reinterpret or retell a myth of their choice. Winterson's retelling of the Greek myth of Atlas and Heracles is a wonderful meditation on the weight (get it?) of expectations and responsibility.

Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz: The second in Horowitz's series about the editor of a cozy series who has to solve not-so-cozy mysteries in the "real" world. I enjoyed the dual stories in this one, but I'm not sure how long Horowitz can sustain this premise.

Dream Angus by Alexander McCall Smith: Another novella in the Canongate Myth series. McCall Smith tells some of the stories surrounding the Celtic god Aengus, alternating with stories -- vignettes, really -- about love and dreams set in modern Scotland. The stories are not particularly profound, but they nonetheless touch on universal truths.

Jewelry Round-Up: I Can't Stop Edition

Months and months ago I received a newsletter from a bead shop (no idea which) that featured a beautiful project.  I could not afford the kit but I loved the mix of colors and finishes, so I dug through my stash, put a bunch of beads together in a tin, and promptly forgot about it. When I pulled out the tin in late June, I realized I never saved the email and had no recollection of the original project; I needed to figure out my own thing. I've been on a knotting kick and I wanted to try a knotted necklace made with a wide range of bead types like Candie Cooper often makes, so that's what I did. I'm very pleased with it.

The jewelry designer Danielle Wickes designed these nifty circular discs with holes to create beaded fringe, and Kate Richbourg of the The Beadshop did a tutorial on how to make tassel earrings with them.  The seed bead mix I used, "Mardi Gras," came from the bead store I worked at part-time in college; I had originally made a daisy chain necklace with it, but the thread was showing it's age. These earrings are so much fun to wear.

I bought these beautiful, deep purple crystal rounds but I wasn't sure what to do with them. I also had a tiny jar of shimmery raspberry chalottes for which I had not yet found a pattern. By pure chance I put the two next to each other while I was sorting through my work area, and I fell in love with the combination. To make the earrings I basically reversed engineered the pattern from lunasulmare1's cipollotti earrings (she and her tutorials have vanished from the internet).

I'd been wanting to make earrings to commemorate one of my favorite shows, Pushing Daisies, for years. I finally put them together: pie charms, bee charms, and daisy flowers made by me.

The Bead Place came up with a cute decorative project, attaching beaded charms to chicken wire in an embroidery hoop (really). My first thought was to make the wire base myself because why buy a kit when I don't have to? But I quickly realized chicken wire is sold by the yard and super hard to work with. So the kit it was! I had fun using all sorts of flower beads from my stash.

And finally, a simple necklace with an inexpensive locket from Michaels strung with pink tourmaline and lepidolite in quartz (that's a mouthful).

I need to start selling some of my jewelry again.