Summer's Wrapping Up

This was maybe a 15 pound turtle at the fair. I loved him!

Like the turtle at the Jefferson County Fair this month, as he slowly moved around in his outdoor pen with his much bigger buddy turtles, I feel the slower days of August are moving on and I am thinking of settling down to work on my winter projects. You know, the dark early evenings that make me want to turn on television and knit or needlepoint or draw or whatever, as the sound keeps me company. This might be the winter I finish the big needlepoint project I have started or finish that afghan before climate change makes wool afghans obsolete. I could accomplish a lot and really stretch those wings of creativity so we, and you, will just have to wait to see what I come up with. Stay tuned!


I am not having any luck right now with posting more pictures here so I am going to quickly list our upcoming classes for the early fall with more to be added as we hear about what you would like to learn. As always, private instruction is available at $ 30 an hour. Just call or email.

September 24th - Basic Bead Stringing.

October 8th - Rosary Making Workshop

October 15th - Beaded Leather Bracelet Cuff

All details are on our home page at our website - www.wynwoods.com

Samples are made and in the shop so come on in and talk class, as in take a class this fall!

Gazooks and Yegads Doodads!!

How did it happen that today is already the 11th of August?  Summer has taken a leap forward and is just plain old rushing by. The business part of me wants it to continue forever because visitors are in town and the shop is hopping. The other part of me longs for fall and cooler days, late afternoon sun and cozy evenings to do craft work, whether it be beading, drawing or knitting.

This week my new metal room should be getting finished up inside. Karston is coming to finish framing out the windows and doing a little touch up painting. I will have it set up to be able to cut, polish, fire, solder and do just about anything else I want with metal. Pictures will just have to come later.

I will say that the brief few hours of rain yesterday felt good and I think everything is recharged. No more dog days of August for at least a couple of afternoons! I swear, within minutes of the rain really coming down; my yarn perked up and began to turn green! I see mowing in my future.

A friend sent this to me and I love it! Collect Shiny Things! That's me!!

My honey bunny and me. Still smiling after nearly 25 years of selling beads, yarn & jewelry! 

So as summer draws to an end and September is just around the corner, I leave you with one of my favorite recent adventures. Watching, studying and photographing the small and giant tortoises at the Jefferson County Fair. They were incredibly smarter than I ever gave them credit for and moved pretty quickly. This was a little guy. The biggest one weighed 215 pounds!

Fell in adoration with the big turtles at the local country fair. I could have watched them for hours!

On that happy turtle note, I will say have a great rest of summer and see you all soon in the shop. Bead on, collect shiny things, make stuff and be creative most of all!

Almost July

Here it is almost July and we are getting ready to turn up the heat not only outside but in the bead shop too. Our inventory is exploding like fireworks as we add so many new items. Everything seems to inspire me these days and I feel as if there are not enough hours to even try to get things done. I am even thinking of moving my sewing machine home so I can begin to sew the bases of fabric paintings in wool, of course, that I want to embellish. You will just have to stay tuned for that adventure!

Our website is being updated at the moment so if you want to place an order just call the shop. We are also open daily 11 - 5:30 although, truth be told,  I am often there longer than then. ( I know this previous sentence reads a wee bit weird but I like it. )

I am just going to post a few pictures and then sign off for tonight. A quick reminder though that we do have a bead stringing class set up for July 30th, if you want to attend, just give us a call.

Beach time!

Turquoise & carnelian. 

Loving this color mix today.

Just cause I love crows. 

Here we go! Summer!!

Days are longer. Warmer. We in the northwest get way too much sun as we seek to soak up enough for the winter. The long, wet winters. I have two blue rockers on my front porch which make a nice outdoor nesting area where I can read or knit after a day at the shop. On my studio days, I can leave the door open and Lucas can run in and out and bake himself on the white concrete sidewalk outside the studio door while I make beady things.

Today in the studio I stuffed treasure tubes and filled even more tubes with locally found beach glass. I love the glass that has been tumbled and roughed up in the waters and surf of the Salish Sea that borders my downtown street. I like thinking of customers taking home the tubes of glass that I have carefully sorted and even hunted on the local beaches and think of Port Townsend and this local treasure found in my bead shop. I think when you open the tubes you might even smell sand, surf and hear a seagull or six.

I will be selling at the Lavender Festival coming up next month in Sequim so I am preparing for that. My own lavender beds are in full bloom and buzz with tons of bees. The sound makes me happy, the scent wafting up to my blue rockers even happier. I don't usually harvest the stems but keep them in the garden for the birds to feed on and fly in and out of their sheltering bushes.

Anyhow, this was just a quick stop by........

..... to check in this evening and say hello. I will leave you with a few recent photos and hope to see you soon around the shop!
xo, Lois

A Long Time Ago

When I was much younger, I would travel almost anywhere to buy unique beads. I could happily live out of a tiny suitcase as long as I was on the hunt. These days I am taping into some of the treasures I found; many of them in boxes sent home that I just never opened. Their lovelies contained in them until now, years later I popped the boxes open. This bead then, is one of those hidden bead treasures. Japanese glass ruffled 1930’s ruffled dagger beads. Anyhow, here is a picture  I am slowly drifting off to sleep so really, this is all I can leave you with this late nifht.

BEAD TRUNLS SHOW & SALE!!!

The show will remain on display for a couple of more weeks so, if you can not make it, give us a call or drop in. If two of us are working, one of us can take you up to see and shop the show! XO

Around the Shop

We have had so many gloriously sunny days that I forget March was the driest month on record for our little corner of Washington state. I love both the rain and sun. I secretly adore snow, but that is a story for another day.

With the rain comes a bit of time this late evening when I can post a few updates on our blog. Thai food for lunch, a yogurt at Costco for dinner and I am raring to go.

We are preparing for the upcoming trunk show, date to be announced, and just yesterday I finished all the pricing. We are lucky that we have so many new beads to show you during the trunk show. As usual, we will leave it on display in our classroom for several weeks and if you pop in and two of us are working...well, we will give you a private showing! Just ask in the shop.

Also coming up on Saturday, April 20th is our spring pop up chocolate event. Local chocolatier, Megan of Midnight Confections will once again be displaying, selling and sampling ( !!! ) her handmade chocolates from 1:00 to 4:00. Come early because she sells out quickly!

Next up on our special event list is to invite you to visit our website at wynwoods.com because we are adding, adding, adding new inventory to the site. Phil ships everything out quickly and I am made especially happy when my charms are off to new homes. Order now because I am heading to etsy soon and we all know how fast the charms disappear there. I will keep you posted. 

Now around the shop.......

Beach glass right from Port Townsend's beaches. $ 5.95

Teething necklaces of Baltic Amber $ 16.
( I like to take two of these, re-knotting them for my own slip on necklace. )

Just Joking

Good morning and yes, this is March and what greeted me upon waking this morning. Know what I am still gonna do? Go to the shop, open up by noon and play with the first shipment of new Czech glass beads that I am bringing into work today! If you are out and about stop in for some of these beauties. They will go fast! See you soon, I hear spring will be in effect on Saturday! XO

Winter

After a couple of delightful sunny days in Tucson while shopping for the bead store; I am home to the deepening shades of white a snowstorm brings. The biggest and most snows this Seattle area has had in 70 years. We are house bound, stuck under 12 inches of snow and unable to venture far from the driveway. The snow had the discourtesy of laying itself down on solid sheets of ice. The shop has been closed 4 of the last seven days and tomorrow’s opening seems doubtful. I am not complaining, really, because I do love snow. I have knitted, beaded, painted, drew, read, cleaned up my office paperwork and baked. Baked! Cinnamon raisin bread from scratch. I don’t think I have baked bread in at least 10 years!

I have been busy though, thinking a lot of warmer summer days and the colors of that upcoming season. I made mermaid bracelets. Rather, stretchy bracelets in Colors of the Salish Sea that in my imagination I see mermaids wearing.

I also keep thinking of all the gems and beads, an abundance of treasure, that  I came across in Tucson. I am busy planning and pricing for the upcoming, soon to be happening trunk show. The weather will clear, roads and driveways will be passable, treats will be bought and all will be displayed in a wonderment of adornment and jewels.

N

Hellooo January!

So we all know this month- the long dark nights, the stormy days, the suddenness of sunlight splitting the gloom of a murky afternoon. The perfect month to nest inside and work on your craft while dreaming of summer's play to come. Of gardens in bedtime moonlight, of afternoons filled with saltwater breezes, walking the beach searching for bits of shell and glass. All winter long, I collect places in my mind; places that on summer afternoons, warm from the days's sun; I can sit and craft.  I I watched for benches and lawn chairs, porches and swing sets, picnic tables and stone walls- all with which to perch myself upon and craft or knit. I can see it all now as I think of summer. Lucas will run and run and finally collapse at my feet while I smile and bead,  enjoying every moment. What beadwork will I do outside? I like to embroider tiny pieces. I carry all the supplies in a sandwich bag and work in my lap. Losing a seed bead or twelve is not bothersome. It is my gift to all that is around me...the earth. The ground. The grass. A bit of color, a splash of sparkle. What a trail I can leave!

For this evening though, as I grow sleepier and hear what I think are mousey noises in my garage office; I will post a picture of some of our newest beads. Acid etched, two hole glass beads in a stunning collection of earthy and rich colors. Good night.