January is still here....

 ... but the days are getting longer and the darkness doesn't come to the end of the day until almost 5:00. It feels nice to end my day at 5 in the shop and still have some daylight lingering about. I moved some of my bead things into the dining room in the house when we had all the snowy weather and now I can not seem to see how I did without this work station before. No more traipsing out to the studio in the cold or rain after way dark. I can plug in my iPad and watch old television shows and bead at the dining table. It's a good thing because not only do I make jewelry but I also can string up and prepare the many new beads arriving into the shop. This little work area helps me get the new treasures into the shop so much faster. 

In other news, we are sometimes open on Wednesdays now so if you are heading into Port Townsend, give us a call to make sure we are in. Port Townsend is pretty sleepy this time of the year but you will still find lots of people downtown. 

I will be in the shop this weekend and working on catching up on repair work. I am so grateful that people are patient with me as my time to get repairs done is short. It is marvelous though, to restore a treasured piece and get it back to someone to see their face light up with delight in being able to once again wear a favorite earring or heirloom piece of jewelry. 

Now I do need to repair some of my own pieces and that is going to be happening soon. Very soon. See you soon too around the shop. 

PS - I may not be teaching classes during the pandemic but I am still very happy to help you at the shop's counter. You'd be shocked at what I can teach or demo between customers!

As always, keep your mask on in the shop so this @#$%^& pandemic can get all the help it needs to go away. Heart. Heart. Lois

Endings and Beginnings

  Today is the 27th of December, 2021 and in just a few more days this year goes away. Bye bye. I am choosing to look forward with optimism and hope for 2022. Hope that the pandemic is ending, hope that I can eat out on a restaurant and not fear getting sick, hope that I can hug people again, hope that we can gather to celebrate, rejoice in each other and in a few cases, mourn. 

I am writing this even as I try to figure out the brand new laptop my family gave me last Christmas. I keep it charged but this is only the third time I have had it opened and on. Hallelujah!

This extremely, unusually frozen, snow covered day has me stuck in the house. I am also stuck in the driveway. Don't get me wrong, I love snow but in the rush to wrap up Christmas business in my shop, we neglected to get out the snow shovel from the far back garden shed or purchase deicer. Oh, well. Sometimes nature says, take a break and I am responding whole heartedly to that nudge. 

I will get the bead shop open as soon as I can move about. Right now it is too icy with
snow covered ice at that, to even walk out to the studio. Hence, I was bored and decided to actually use this lap top. 

 Wishing you all a very happy, healthy, loving, joyful 2022. See you all soon whether it is in the shop or on line. Much love and gratitude to all of you for making my life exactly what I wanted it to be these last 30 years. Making things, selling things, spreading beauty and craftiness, encouragement and love to all of you while basking in the world of all things bead and yarn and fabric and... 

Chakra bells for harmony and peace. 

finally!

 For Christmas last year, Jacob and my husband got together and bought me a new laptop. I have charged it off and on this entire year but tonight, November 14th, 2021, I am trying to use it! There is much I do not understand and anyone who knows me will tell you that I do not like to learn new technology. I sense a bit of a long road ahead of me as I start to navigate this new laptop which of course had updates waiting for me. Sigh... eye roll.  

I want to post here more often and that is my end of year goal and one I will carry forward into 2022. In the meantime, I am grateful to be in the shop, working, and playing 5 days a week. I missed retail! Hopefully, the pandemic will evolve into an endemic and we can all get back to a more normal version of life without shutdowns. So dear reader, as was said on Bridgerton, I will get back to you, stay tuned and see you on line or in the shop. Much love and happy beading! 

Oops! Oops!

 I posted the bead shop's blog post on my yarn shop's blog page! ( diva yarn.blogspot.com ) and of course, I promptly deleted it. I am going to write another post soon and update you on all that is going on and there is a lot happening! Stay tuned! 

June - A Lovely Month

  It is a pretty June in the bead shop with new inventory arriving and lots of color blooming in store with the arrival of new beads. 

Just in are the MIYUKI size 15s in the matted glaze colors. I adore these colors! The first bunch sold out in a couple of days and now, we have all the colors! Of course, I always want ALL the colors in every bead. 

We are continuing to be open Thursday through Monday, 11-5, with Sundays being a short day, 12 -4. Check with me regularly and I will see if hours will extend as we move further into summer.

I am going to keep this brief as a tub of miscellaneous bamboo beads arrived last week and I am going to begin to string some up this afternoon in the studio on my day " off." Watch for their appearance in the shop and on FB and Instagram. 

In the meantime, here are a few pictures for your viewing pleasure. So long for now my beady friends! 

This little shore bird was out for a stroll on the sidewalk! 

Yesterday's beautiful sky with impressive clouds.

The shop counter across from the sales desk. 

A New Way

 It is nearly Memorial Day and I am thinking summer is soon to begin. I have potatoes planted in the garden, birds nesting low on the ground in my lusciously purple lavender plants and a dog who just loves to be outside all the time when the sun is shining. He likes to bake his black fur in the sun until it is so hot, you can not actually touch him! 

While we have not returned yet to an extension of the shop hours or the opening of our classroom gem room or the warehouse; I am thinking about it. I hope you will check back often and let me know what you are thinking. Of course, if two if us are working the shop, one can always take you upstairs to the classroom.

I do not have much more to say here. This is the laptop I received from my family for this past Christmas and I am just using it for the first time. I finally took it out of the box just this past Wednesday! I was driving everyone a bit to the edge having the box just sitting on a chair in the dining room. I did dust around it! 

Anyhow, I hope to get better at using it and keeping pictures here so I can post more often. Thanks for popping in. See you soon! xo