A few new toys

My co-worker and friend Heather came across an old cigar box filled with all sorts of buttons which she gifted over to me. :)

Most of them were your typical run-of-the-mill plastic, but a few gems were hidden amongst the everyday:
I really love that long toggle button - its actually got a metallic sheen to it. Really neat! There are a few old leather shoe buttons that I love and that tiny oval glass button is really fun too. And those flat backed black hexagons and the faceted rectangle have lots of potential too! Such history, I wish they could talk. Well, not really - that would be just plain weird...

At the end of March, the Gem and Fossil Show came to town. A dizzying selection of beads, fossils, crystals - ah! it was heaven. But in the end I only came home with these:

I think my head just couldn't absorb anything - it was right after the "Hannah Incident" and I was still numb from that.

Wondrousstrange had these cool raku pieces available in her etsy store:

When I ordered them, I had a collar piece in mind - something I've been wanting to do forever. (I don't know why I have such a fascination with those gigantic over-the-top bib-type collar pieces, I would never actually wear it. ) But now that I have them, I don't know if that's where they'll end up or not. Until I get my niece's wedding jewelry made, the mother-of-the-bride earrings done for my sister and the Haute Couture beading challenge done, I'm not even going to start pawing through my stash to find more components to match. Well, at least that's the plan, anyway!

Bead Happy and Often :)