The Beading by the Bay retreat in San Francisco was a delight! (March 10, 11 and 12th) Three great projects by three fabulous teachers and 49 eager students from all over the country. I had not taken a class from any of the three teachers prior to this retreat and had been really looking forward to meeting them and learning from them. Marcia DeCoster's project was a bracelet named Carousel - I made pretty good progess on that one in class but have not yet finished it. Jean Campbell who is a senior editor at Beadwork magazine had also designed a bracelet called Sakura. I haven't made a lot of progress on that one so far. The third project was a choker by Maggie Meister. I love this one and so it will probably by the first one that I finish. The Beading by the Bay retreat is so well organized. It is held at the Crowne Plaza in Burlingame which is just minutes from the airport. Even though the weather was very nice for the Bay area, we hardly left the hotel as the food there was very good and the comaraderie was wonderful.

In the meantime, I've completed a few of my own designs. The first necklace above is shown with the extension attached. Without it, the necklace can be worn as a choker. It has a Swarovski crystal pendant. The second one is a Russian spiral choker with a pendant that uses Amethyst Sage Agate. I love those stones! The third necklace includes Condor Agate, Opalite and Polka Dot Agate. I'm attracted to agate as there is such a variety of color and pattern.