Squeaker went to the vet on Monday so he could get vaccinated before going to Operation Kindness in two weeks.  When the vet tech took him out of the carrier, it was love at first sight!  He held Squeaker up to his face, Squeaks purred and touched Rob’s nose with his paw, and it was all over for both of them.  Rob had been looking for a kitty, and Squeaker latched onto him and wasn’t letting go.  Squeaker took his blankie and his NemoFishy toy and didn’t look back. 

Rob said we can come visit sometimes, and that he’d try to send pictures.

So that’s a happy ending, and the Cutest Kitten in the universe has a wonderful forever home!

AND, to celebrate, we’re putting seed beads on sale 35% off in both stores!  But because not everybody has a seed bead addiction, loves seed beads, needs more seed beads, we’re also giving you 35% off of any single item (except books) in the store.  So come see us soon, before the good colors are gone!

It’s time to think about all those gifts you have on your list!  We’ve been working hard to come up with some fast, relatively inexpensive gifts for you to give teachers, co-workers, friends, and relatives.  But these are all nice looking, useful gifts that you’ll be proud to give and the recipients will be glad to get.

Like a bookmark.  You can make angel bookmarks in gold or silver for just over $5.  Or bookmarks with beads for even less.  Or make the angels into earrings, for less than $10!

Crystal cube earrings that take less time to make than to choose the beads for less than $20

Or a fabulous memory wire bracelet!

We have several bead weaving patterns for beginners that we’re giving away free if you buy the beads to make them.  These are some the great patterns from Mary’s books, and some of Valarie’s.   And of course, we’re always ready to help if you need it.

And check out our displays of “ours vs theirs” where we’ve made items similar to those we found in fancy catalogs and advertisements, for half the price or less! 

Don’t forget gift certificates, tools, and books – they make easy gifts for your family and friends to give you!   

Squeaker is now 6 weeks old, and in full Furry Commando mode.  He seems to be completely fearless, climbing to the top of the 8 foot tall scratching post, jumping off the back of the couch, chasing the resident 50-pound-black-panther-trapped-in-a-housecat-body around the house, and trying to ride on shoulders.

 Squeaker in the single motionless moment of the day.  I think he’s plotting.

Trying out the couch – not impressed.

Near the top of the 8 foot tall scratching post.  Note that he’s not really concerned at all, not even worried.  Instead, he’s watching a cat on the floor.  Five minutes later he tried to jump off.

He’s watching a piece of turkey lunchmeat – time to come back to earth!

Squeaker has asked us to help him find a forever home.  He will be ready to move the weekend before Christmas.  He has excellent grooming and personal habits, (except for a slight tendency to bite everything at least once, just to see if it’s edible.)  

Interested parties please email info at artfulbead dot com, or in a comment to this entry. 

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! 

I was supposed to fix the catalog entry for Viking Knit this weekend.  I really meant to, unfortunately I spent Sunday afternoon on the couch with a rather elderly cat purring on me.  He finally feels better after being poorly for a couple of months, and it seemed crass to shove him off so the laptop could be on my lap.  I’ll do it tonight, I PROMISE!

OK, it’s probably cheezy to call it a “Spook-tacular Stone Sale” but we just love Halloween!!  We have been decorating for our favorite holiday, and we want everyone to have as much fun as we are.  So pearls and stone strands on the wall and in the case are 20% off through November 1st.  Isn’t that fun??!!!??  (insert “WHEEE!!! here) 

Yes, we’re including the stone strands in the “good stuff” cases!  But they won’t last long, so if you’ve been lusting over those sapphires, turquoises, tourmalines, or green amethysts, better come and get ’em before they go home with someone else!

And of course we have chocolate, as always!

I need opinions – are rubies too dressy for trick-or-treating?  Should I stick to citrine?

A customer in the Fort Worth store shared this idea with us:

Using pewter number beads, make an elastic bracelet for a child with an important phone number!  She was making one with her number for her grandchild, but this is obviously cool and perfect for nearly anyone.  I’m going to give one to Mary with my home phone number, since she keeps forgetting!

Well, maybe more than a little bit crazy.  Maybe a sort of 1957-Caddilac sized crazy.  Silver and vermeil arrived. Like this: 

 And this:

And those really big looking gold and silver ball beads?  Those puppies are about an inch tall.  Really huge.  And there are other wonderful big beads, clasps, and some of the funniest earwires we’ve seen.  (Ask for the “wardrobe malfunction” earwires.  Even Lucas laughed at them.  And he didn’t blush, either!)

And tomorrow, I’ll post pictures of the Wonderful New Stones (yes, they deserve capital letters, they are all really cool), including Swiss Blue topaz, some truly cool rutilated quartz, some Dallas Cowboy sapphires (Carrollton only), and black spinel in three shapes!  Of course, you could come to the stores on Saturday and check it out…