The Birds and the Beads

It is a stunningly gorgeous Autumn day here in Virginia. It began with a crisp, cool morning, which warmed up to a moderate 70 degree day with sunshine like you wouldn’t believe. Lady Indira the peahen, who celebrated her first birthday about a month and a half ago, is perched in a shady corner of the yard with her best friend, Sunny the dog.

Peacocks are known to be domineering and sometimes downright mean to people, animals, and anybody else they can torment. Maybe it is because Lady Indira was hand-raised since she was just a few days old, but she is a good companion to us, and to our furry friends. She and Sunny spend most of the day together in the fenced yard outside our door. Now, the fence is only four feet high, and Indira sometimes hops up onto the edge for a better look at the outside world, but she never jumps over the edge unless Sunny is outside of the gate. And then – she goes where Sunny goes. Eric took a camera and followed Sunny and Indira on one such ramble today. There is a lovely series of photos of the two friends on this beautiful autumn afternoon posted to the blog.
http://lythastudios.com/blog

I hope you enjoy the new Lady Indira pictures (and thank you to those of you that have requested them). And I’m wishing you all the best, and hoping you’re weathering the (economic) storm.

Happy Autumn! — Erin
http://www.123bead.com

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Lady Indira (the peahen) and Sunny (the dog) spend a lot of time together each day.  Lately I think Indira has decided that Sunny is truly a member of her flock.

When we went for a walk this morning around and through the fields surrounding our house, Indira went everywhere that Sunny went.

[More photos after the jump.]

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One of our most popular annual sales is on! All of our gorgeous, versatile TierraCast Bead Caps are currently on 15% off. I love these fantastic caps, and use them in just about every project I make.

• Small Bead Caps
• Large Bead Caps
• Flat & Cone Bead Caps

Prices are good for orders placed through November 7th, 2008.

It’s a good thing that everyone in my family loves to read, because this Christmas – they’re all getting bookmarks!

These lovely, beaded bookmarks are easy and quick to make, and each one will be unique. They’re a great way to use mismatched and odds-n-ends beads from your bead box, and as gifts – each can be customized for the intended recipient.

Details for this project are posted here:

• Beaded Bookmark Project

We’ve always read that Maine Coons love the water.  To be fair, there was very little water left in this bowl, but I still think it would have been enough to stop most cats.

For next week I’ll try to get a picture of Hobie with his head in the watering can – his other favorite water toy.

Anyhow, two more photos after the jump.

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Karen Kerney’s beautiful “Wonder” design has been our most popular solstice card for seven or eight years now. The manufacturer does not produce them as part of their catalog anymore, but they do a massive print run exclusively for Lytha Studios every year so that we can continue to offer these beautiful cards! We’ve always sold them with a holiday greeting inside, and this year, we’re proud and happy to offer them blank inside, too.

• Lytha Studios Solstice Card Collection.

This week we’ve added over a dozen new colors of our 8mm Faceted Round Chinese Cut Glass. These beautiful beads are an economical alternative to Swarovski crystal or czech glass, and we have them now in over twenty brilliant colors.

All of TierraCast’s beautiful Hammertone toggles are now on the website in copper (as well as silver and gold), and we’ve added a new mix containing all four toggles sold as a set.

• 8mm Faceted Round Chinese Cut Glass
• TierraCast® Hammertone Toggles

The Goban (Go board): a battlefield on which players have danced an intricate dance for thousands of years, continually expanding human understanding of a game of unparallelled complexity.  A game that is considered a martial art (rather than a game) in some cultures.  Or its a nice place to take a nap….  Sheesh.