What I did on my summer vacation...

We escaped the Kansas City summer heat for a couple weeks by DRIVING to San Diego, going thru Kansas, Colorado and Nevada on the way out and through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri on the way home. It was nearly 100º most days - except for our stay in San Diego, which was heavenly at 75º and breezy. I shop for beads when I can and spent half a day in Gallup, NM, buying beads and tools.

In the air-conditioned car, we listened to "The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo" on cd and watched our enormous and diverse American landscape speed by. And as always, my beading tray was on my lap every day.

Alpha Beta Fish

Here's what I completed this trip....

Alpha Beta

I always bring a huge (like 2 of those plastic storage boxes full) stash of seed beads when we travel. You never know what color scheme will inspire me, so I come prepared.

Zebra Fish

But I didn't bring any dagger beads - those longish little paddle beads with the hole at one end - so I was shopping for them everywhere.

Zebra Fish Tail

Daggers make great fringe and fins and tails for fishies.

Carl Carp

This black and yellow guy was the first one - see, no daggers on him at all.

Carl Carp

I think he's a carp or goldfish, like the kind who live in Japanese garden pools.

Neo Neon

I soon found a bead shop in western Kansas and started buying dagger beads, chippies and potential fish eyes.

Neo Neon 

Some of these guys had to wait till we got home to get their eyes.

Scary blond with eye makeup!

And this guy has movable eyes - they can look in any direction.

Blondie

Actually with those black eye lashes and pink fins, I'm pretty sure this blondie is a girl.

For the record, the fish idea is NOT mine. But my fish do not look like those from the Bead and Button Mag. article in 2001 by Georgia McMillan. The idea came from her - I try not to forget a good idea - and I have several much cruder fish I made that year who live with my Christmas tree decorations.

I hope to come up with a great way to wear a fish as a pendant or pin. They are so 3 dimensional it seems wrong to pin them flat....maybe a mobile with several, although that may price it too high for "afishianados" who visit Eclectics Gallery, where these will be for sale.

We are back home in Missouri, and it's going to be 95º plus all week. Our first day back was the hottest day of the summer and I spent it helping Laura (lovely daughter) and Aaron (super son-in-law) move across town. Schlepping boxes is a crazy job in this heat and humidity, but hey - she's my daughter. Try to Keep cool.