Beads and some skin.

One of my chores over the weekend was to rearrange my beading drawers as I had more beads then drawers.  While moving things around to make more room, I came across pieces I had made in the middle 1990s.  I was living in Flagstaff, Arizona and had taught myself to bead using the brick and the peyote stitch.  Beaded necklaces were all the rage and and I always had a small amount of beads left from a project that weren't enough to produce another necklace so I found another use for them by creating tiny beaded baskets.  These were fun to make because they made up quickly and was a great way to utilize left over beads. (all pictures enlarge when you click on them)

Three baskets about the size of a half dollar.

A didn't have a half dollar handy so I placed a quarter next to them to show scale.

My first three beaded bag necklaces.  I made these around 1997 when I was first learning how to work the peyote stitch.

My first beaded bag necklace.  I fell in love with these matt and iridescent muted purple beads and thought they would be a nice way to learn peyote stitch.  I then married them up with brass accents and bugles for the fringe.  I made the stitches so tight that the bag is as stiff as matt board and the size is big enough to hold only a condom.  LOL  I have to admit, I am enjoying this trip down early beading memory lane. I see the early mistakes of a new beader and how I learned to eventually stitch the beads with a softer touch and let them work their magic as each one would fall gently into place.

My second bag was made while I was visiting my grandmother in Florida.  I was given a tube of these brilliant orange beads and didn't know how I was going to use them.  A news item came on the television about a discovery made on a construction site in Miami that was an ancient medicine circle dedicated to the sun.  After watching the news story about this historical find, a pattern began to form in my head and the above was the end product.

I called this bag, Fire and Ice, and it was my third piece.  I began to exhaust the beading technique by working a triangular shape at the base of the bag.  I utilized pearlescent matt and opalescent seeds along with a gold washed seed bead.  Added pearls and long matt bugles and this was the end result.

This was a bag that I had made for myself after learning how to do the brick stitch.  I utilized a double brick technique and used the colors of the sea. 

I liked the seaweed technique I used in the double layer of fringe.  The bag is no more than 2 inches by 2 1/2 inches.   The perfect beaded bag for a sea witch which make this a nice segue into my new skin.  My laptop has a flat, matt finish that shows every little fingerprint and scratch. I decided to put a skin on it (those removable decals) that protect your laptop and other electronics.  Lots of great sites out there but not one had the right skin for me.  I found a company that will let you upload your own picture so I took John Waterhouse's painting, The Mermaid, and then cloned some of the background to expand the width to fit my laptop.  I am crazy about how this turned out.

If you want to create your own skin to protect your laptop, you can visit "Schtickers" at this link  http://www.schtickers.com/.  Go ahead, you can say it...this skin is so perfect for a Sea Witch.