In case you have a Bead Emergency on Wednesday Jan. 28th, we’ll be opening around 11:00AM (at both stores), if the roads don’t absolutely forbid it.  We plan to close at the usual time, so far. 

Be careful out there.

And we leave for Tucson in 3 days!!!  Saturday morning bright and early…  OK, let’s be honest, bright and 10-ish.

Wow, we leave in 10 days.  Really, 10 days.  We’ll be in Tucson in less than 2 weeks, shopping our tiny minds out.  Or something like that, it’s all getting a bit fuzzy.

Preview Night in Fort Worth will be Friday February 13th, and Carrollton’s will be the next Friday, the 20th.   

And while we’re in Tucson, we’ll be updating this, telling you what we’re buying, showing you sneak peeks of all that’s amazing, and even share all the fun we’re having!  Or at least the hysteria of shopping and the Agony of de feets.

And it’s less than 250 hous away!!  Well, the start of 16 hours in the truck before we get there is less than 250 hours away, at least.

On Sunday January 4th, at 11:00AM, this was the scene in the Artful Bead Carrollton store:

See, we’re counting everything in the store, a big team of people from the Fort Worth store and the Carrollton store, united and busy.  Very busy, counting every bead and strand in the store. 

Brenda and Carol count Swarovski crystals…

Lucas wastes time while others work…  (OK, he worked hard too.)

And Amy holds her Scepter of Inventory Supremacy, AKA The Spoon of Doom!  Amy organized the entire process, assigned teams, and kept the whole thing running and on track.  The Spoon is applied (briskly and swiftly) to any slacker, anyone who fails to count diligently and constantly, and thus Lets The Team Down.  Or anyone who makes bad puns.   Or says numbers really loud to throw the rest of us off when we’re counting.

This worked nicely for most of the day, we finished counting before 4:00 in the afternoon.  An amazing feat, we never expected to finish so early!

But in a power struggle over control of The Spoon, tragedy struck!

We don’t know if we will be able to repair the spoon by next year’s inventory.  Power struggles are inevitable, I guess, and Amy did end up with the biggest share of the broken spoon, but it was shocking to witness, hostilities immediately ceased.  Just goes to show you how close we are to anarchy, even in the midst of beads.  Maybe next year we’ll have to have a two-by-four of doom instead.

Wow.  How did that happen?  One day we’re throwing out the last of the turkey tetrazinni and getting ready for Christmas, then it’s New Years Day, then counting inventory, and all of a sudden, just like that, it’s Time to Consider Tucson!

So we’ve got the reservations, figured out who we’re going to see, and started getting ready.  Working out the game plan, plotting how to reach the goal line, and all those other sports metaphors that I don’t know.

We’ll be in Tucson the first week in February, shopping our little feet off (OK, our middle-to-large feet) buying the most fabulous, unique, wonderful, most perfect beads, findings, and pendants to bring back.  And you get to see them on Preview Nights.  Yep, two stores requires two separate Preview Nights, we won’t be buying all the same stuff, because “unique” doesn’t usually come in duplicates.  More details on the dates for Preview Nights later.

If you have special requests, come by soon and tell us all about it.  We can’t guarantee to find what you want, but we’ll look for that special huge amethyst pendant, or those really nice lapis 18mm rounds.

But hurry, we have less than 30 days!!!  What???  Less than 30 days???  EEEK!!!  I have to make lists! 

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.