I never know what goodies I’ll come home with from Bead & Button! Besides purchasing a new Fretz hammer with interchangeable heads, this was the year for buying staples such as Charlotte, peanut, and O beads. I was also interested in seeking out curiosities and found objects. Two black cigar boxes were my first purchase and they will be used as storage containers. I have no idea what the brass parts in the center basket were used for originally, but I think they will be marvelous as components in mixed-media works! I found a gross of quality itsy-bitsy dice from Japan that will be used as inclusions in resin works. An assortment of game pieces came next, including a Rook from a chess game, which will give wonderful impressions in mold-making. Several stamped brass forms that can be colored with ink dyes or cold enameled came next, then a Plexiglas™ flower, Swarovski Crystal Pearls, colorful faceted glass beads, and rough glass beads from West Africa. I also bought several kits for polymer clay play and a powder coating kit for metals. I think there is enough here to keep me busy for some time to come! These will prove to become distractions from beading, but I’ve always felt that variety is the spice of life!