It's a Beadiful World!

Welcome to My Beady Little Eyes.  Not only do I love to bead, I love color, and shape and anything to do with color.
I have started this blog to give an accounting of my foray into the wonderful world of beads and all things pretty.  I love to make pretty things, and besides making jewelry I am also a painter, knitter, crocheter, woodworker, and crafter.  Let me see, have I forgotten anything?  Oh yes, I LOVE to learn!  I want to learn everything and anything I can.  For example, I am currently in the process of taking courses to complete my Early Childhood Education Diploma, even though I already have my Human Resource Professional Certificate.  And for fun?   Well, that includes many creative things as well as dying arts.  I recently found a friend who has an old shorthand textbook.  Hee hee, I am so excited!
Oh, one more thing, my family is very musical.  So, I also tend to enjoy learning new instruments.
So, now that you know a little about me...lets discuss the beginning of my beaddiction and how I got to where I am today.
After being under the weather for about 8 years, I discovered beads through a long time friend.  On a beautiful (and typical) northwestern Ontario May long weekend, she taught me how to make my first beaded bracelet using pearls, seed beads, and a circular Russian netting pattern.  Well, I was hooked!  To this day pearls remain my favorite beads to work with...thanks Di!
After the long weekend, I couldn't wait to find a beading store and get started.  The only store around is in the city an hour away.  So, I called up the owner of this store, Jangles in Thunder Bay, Ontario and asked the owner if I described a few things to her if she could put an order together and I would have a friend pick it up for me.  Sure, she said!  Well, I described the book that my friend had and what colors and sizes I was hoping for.  She was great!  She sent me everything I needed to get started, including her very own (and last) copy of the book I had described her.  For the first few visits/orders, she even sent me some surprises, and that lent to my venturing into different kinds of beads and techniques.  Oh, what fun!
So, here I am, two years and many patterns, beads and techniques later, and I still love to make pretty things!