OK, I know a lot of you aren’t into baby cats, but there are some people who’ve asked how Squeaker is, so here it is, quick and short.

Squeaker kitty (aka “The Squeakster” aka ”Squeakitude” aka “Squeak-o-normous”) is now around 4 and a half weeks old.  He weighs over a pound and a quarter, and is using his litterbox with extreme regularity.  He is still Very Fond of his bottle, but will eat turkey lunch meat if there isn’t kittenmilk available.  He has teensy teeth, very sharp claws, and a pot belly that nearly grazes the floor when he waddles out to explore.

And he still squeaks when the world isn’t Perfect for Kittens.

Wow!  We’ve been really busy!  We have more of those fabulous $5 stone strands in, like these:

Lovely rose quartz, jade, smoky quartz, agates and jaspers, great chips of several stones, all kinds of great buys! 

And we have new Chinese lampwork pendants, at such fantastic prices (shhhh $7 don’t tell) you won’t believe it.  In beautiful copper swirls, or fabulous flowers! 

And then there’s the new German Vintage Glass!!!  Mounds of it!!!  (sorry for the capital letters - it’s so pretty it seemed to demand them.) 

And if that’s not enough, new seed colors and sizes in Carrollton!!!  New colors of 11’s, 8’s, 15’s, and bugles.  New 3mm cubes!!!  Whee!!

Come see us!

ps – for everyone who has been in the Carrolllton store and met our Orphan Kitten, here’s a progress report:  Squeakers (only a temporary name, until he gets old enough to stop squeaking) is very much a male, 3 weeks old as of today.  He is still getting a bottle, but is starting to investigate the joys of canned catfood.  He has a habit of “humming” to himself when he’s bumbling across the floor - he kind of sounds like R2-D2 in Star Wars, making “mmmhm? hmhmhm. ik rrmmmm.  Eep!!!” noises.  Of course, he still falls over when he shakes his head too hard.  He’ll visit the store on Friday, and then next week we’re hoping he’s old enough to stay home with a babysitter.

Exciting things happened on November 1st at the Artful Bead in Carrollton!  Sherry Serafini came to see us!!!  Yes - the internationally recognized bead artist, teacher, and author!  (http://www.Serafinibeadedjewelry.com - fabulous!)  She said some very nice things about the store, and our beads, and bought quite a few.  She also made our Brenda the happiest 15-year-old girl in Texas.  Possibly the happiest girl in the entire continent for a few hours.

Backstory: 

A couple of months ago, Brenda was looking through Beadweaving Masters, occasionally saying “hm…” or very rarely, “That’s interesting.”  Until she saw Sherry Serafini’s My Dark Side, and exploded with “OhMyGosh-OhMYGOSHOHMYGOSH!!!   THAT’S THE MOST AMAZING…  THAT’S SO WONDERFUL!!”  And more of that, that went on quite awhile.  Eventually she calmed down.

Then a few weeks ago, Denise (President of Dallas Bead Society, and one of our wonderful teachers) mentioned in Brenda’s hearing that we would need more bugle beads in stock for the class that Sherry Serafini would be teaching in Dallas.  Slight vapors over the creator of  My Dark Side being in the SAME TOWN!!!   

And then Saturday November 1st arrived!

And then on Saturday afternoon, we get a call saying that the class is over and they’re on their way to buy more beads (you can never have enough) and Sherry was coming with!

We did a quick tidy, some quiet breathing, and then they arrived.  Brenda was introduced, and only gushed a little bit.  (I gushed some too, I admit.  OK, more than just some.) She called her ”Ms Serafini” and was told ”Please call me Sherry!” which made Brens a bit wobbly for a few minutes.  And then Sherry signed a copy of The Art of Bead Embroidery to Brenda!  And she bought the beads Brenda picked out on her first market trip – all of them! 

After we closed, I drove Brenda home, listening to her phone conversations with her friends about it all, and her book, and how nice She is, until her voice got so high that only dogs and 15-year-old girls could hear.  I think she went to sleep hugging her book!

Thank you to Denise and all the other members of the Dallas Bead Society (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dallasbeadsociety) for coming by, and shopping with us, and for letting us meet Sherry.  And thank you Sherry, for visiting us and being so kind, wonderful and inspiring.   

We have one signed copy of The Art of Bead Embroidery, if you’ve been wanting this beautiful book, hurry in!