Living Vicariously

I only live about five hours from Tucson, so it may surprise many of you that I have never attended the Tucson Bead Show. Alas, there are so many reasons/excuses: 1. long drives (anything over an hour) are hard on me, 2. hotel rooms can be hard to come by, 3. I can get rather claustrophobic/anxious in large, tight crowds, 4. I lack the self-control not to go into life-long debt. Pretty pathetic, eh?

This year, however, I will attend, vicariously. This little piece is going to be at booth GP305 with my BAO buddy Marianne Kasparian ... who may be better known to you as the wonderful Mak of MAKUstudio.

Mak sent me the center bead a while ago, but (as usual, I'm afraid) it's been in my "I love this, let me just drool" pile until a few days ago when I finally had a "vision" of what I wanted to create. I finished all the beading, went to my fiber stash, and found, to my dismay, that the beautiful satiny white ribbon I knew I had was the same beautiful satiny white ribbon I gave to my mother in the fall. Well, Mak saved the day because she has some exquisite silk ribbons she will add to finish this off as a choker (or, if the ribbons are tied right, it could be a bracelet).

If you are going to be in Tucson, please stop by and visit with her and her gorgeous raku creations. If you aren't going to be in Tucson, even vicariously, stop by her store and enjoy yourself! Here's just a small sampling of her goodies: