Whilst tidying up yesterday I found many pieces of beadwork I had forgotten all about, and even more excitingly, lots of unfinished items that I had packed away and then wiped from my memory banks.

One of the items was this turquoise bead based cuff which I last worked on back in October 2007. Wow, doesn't time fly! The poor thing has sat neglected ever since then.

Another item was a cuff I packed away back in June 2007 when I wasn't sure what to do colour-wise. I'm still stumped on this one so it may sit unfinished for a while longer...

I also found some other bead embroidery pieces where I'd only got so far as to glue on the stones I was going to bead around, and these great eye 'cabs' which I bought a couple of years ago also meaning to make a cuff with.

I enjoyed finding the pieces partly to be reminded that I can do work without corners and Delica beads, partly as they brought back strong memories of the time I was making them and partly because it was a good excuse to read through old blog entries looking for when I wrote about them and then click on some links and see what other people have been up to since then.

Finding these was the spur for me to immediately sit and re-start one of them. Leaving aside all my 'work' beading and picking something up for the sheer fun of it for the first time in a long time.

Of course I immediately panicked when I remembered that the beading I had to do was 'freeform' and I wasn't sure I even remembered how to do that, or could be so free once again, but I few deep breaths and the cuff is not looking quite so neglected. I may even finish it this time...

Another delight yesterday was discovering the artist who made the wonderful children beads you can see in the photos. I bought mine over the past couple of years from The Bead Merchant (you can just about make some out at the top of my bead mat on the bottom photo on this page) but never knew who made them. Yesterday, whilst browsing Facebook, I came across Marsha Hendrick and realised it was her who made them. Sure enough, when I looked at the bottom of them I could see her initials and the year she made them. After talking with Marsha I now know I am missing two from the set (a situation I will surely have to rectify) and that she makes them even smaller!

You can watch a video of Marsha adding their fine detail here. If you want to buy any of her work then visit here and do contact her about sizes and out of stock items etc.

On a completely different note, this year for the first time you can vote for your favourite piece in Bead Dreams so make sure you have a look at the 66 finalists and choose your favourite. Not an easy decision with all the wonderful work on display.

Also this year you get to vote in Perlen Poesie's new competition. By my count there are 326 entries to choose from, so you might want to set aside a few hours to go through and choose your favourites! Just to let you know I do have 3 pieces in this competition, but don't let that sway you. I'm not touting for votes, I just think all the hard work people put into their entries deserves a look. There really are some amazing pieces on there in all different categories so make sure you check it out.