I love waking up here in Tucson with the sun beaming in the windows onto me, the chatter of exotic birds drifting in from the garden and the chatter of beaders drifting in from the rest of the house.

I am the late riser here (not too hard when the house starts getting up at 5am) but I lie in bed each day for quite a while taking the chance to soak in some sun and gird my loins before heading out and finding what the day will bring. With a house-full of inspiration, brains and talent who knows what crazy idea we could have and what the day will bring?

Lying there listening to the laughing tempts me out of bed soon enough and before I know it I am once again beading. I decide to bead another head (and no nagging from me of Teresa this time) and for this one I play around a lot more with the size and know I need to bead at least one more and turn them into a crazy necklace.

Before long Dustin Wedekind begins teaching us circular square stitch and how to make one of his colourful bracelets.

Dustin is someone whose work I have known and admired for years, so to get to see his work and work with him up close feels such an honour. You may know him best as 'Bead Boy' from the challenges which uses to appear in Beadwork magazine but, without wishing to increase the size of his head (though fortunately he has a hat big enough to cope), he is truly one of the greatest bead artists I have ever come across. He manages to make beads and beadwork move in ways that seem impossible and form shapes, curves, swirls, patterns and pictures that I find hard to believe are made of those glass beads we are all familiar with.

If you want to get a glimpse of some of that talent check out his website, buy his previous book or rush in and get a copy of the new book him and Kate McKinnon are working on.

Square stitch is not a stitch I have used much and when I have done so it has only been for beading basic, flat items. I am not convinced that it can be used to create curves and shapes easily and interestingly but am willing to learn and of course I am soon proved very wrong which pleases me! One main thing I learn is a different way to bead square stitch than one I have used before, which seems to be much more accomodating and helps me to shape my work much better than I imagine.

With my new love of square stitch I attempt to bead a cone but soon find myself wanting to bead a beaded bead and end up making two cones and joining them. At a loss of what to stuff it with I look around for what is near and end up using the foil and paper from a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup which explains the bit of black you can see in the photo.

Soon I decide to bead something more funnel or cone-shaped and really enjoy the method Dustin teaches but once again I'm not satisfied leaving it alone and end up decreasing as well as increasing which you can see in the small photo for this blog.

Overtaken with my love for square stitch I come up with an idea for a project I decide I MUST bead right away. All day I have been keeping my beads in small little piles, all nice and separate, and much prefer this than the way other are mixing theirs. But in deciding to create my new idea I end up adding more and more piles of beads to my mat. The first sign of trouble, overwhelming myself, is there...

I begin working on the project and it just doesn't want to work. I am simply using the wrong sized beads I think but am limited by the colours I have in front of me and my impatience. I try to relax and just see if the general method works but soon the second sign of trouble, frustration, appears...

I had decided on a nice green and grey colour combination but as I bead I am baffled as to why I seem to be suddenly using black beads? I look closely and the mottled grey coating on one of the beads is simply wiping off as I use them. When I examine the label they are clearly labelled 'bad lot' which is fine and they are a nice black, just not what I want for this project. This small set back is the third sign of trouble...

Looking at my mat with the beadwork going wrong, the beads changing colour and the overwhelming piles of beads staring back at me, I feel deflated and decide it is time to run away and go for a swim. Hopefully whilst I'm doing that some nice person will take pity on me and tidy them all away and sort out my project for me?

Of course this doesn't happen and I find myself procrastinating and delaying for a long time as the overwhelmingness of the piles of beads and frustration join the overwhelmingness of the week so far and I decide that I need to go easy on myself and run back to the safety of beadwork I know and can do.

I see a triangle made of Delicas on my near future...

You can see what Kate KcKinnon wrote about the day here (and yes, Teresa Sullivan is drugs) and yet another photo of me looking stupid here.