Rhapsody in Blue by Denise Trudel of St-Jean sur Richelieu, Québec, Canada.   
Denise designed this little purse necklace using 100 % cotton, size 12° Czech beads and just a few transparent iris beads to add sparkle.  Denise wanted to just "try something out of my regular color scheme" but as soon as it was done, she knew the piece was destined to be given to a friend in Japan.  The inspiration for this piece... "I wanted a piece that looked soft, and very feminine.  My usual color scheme is much darker so it was a bit of a challenge to use materials and beads that light.".  Also, this was the first project Denise did when she came back home after an ice storm that left her without electricity for over a month!  She couldn't help but relate the blues to the color of the ice...I'm sure we all agree! ;) 

Morning Glorious by Marylyn Letson of Memphis, Tennessee, USA.  The beads used were size 11°, Japanese seed beads.  Delica teardrops were used for the fringe beads and Marylyn used India cube beads for the accents in the strap.  Marylyn experimented with slanting the fringe and carrying the pattern over into the fringe.  She especially loves the way the Delica teardrops make the fringe move so fluidly.  This lovely bag was created for a "Secret Pal Swap".  The piece was designed for Marylyn's secret pal, Janie Warnick.  The inspiration..."I love to wake up to the beauty of morning glories in my garden and just had to try and put them into my beadwork." 

Historic Native Wearable Art by TUTUIT Jewellery of Newfoundland, Canada. 
Necklaces and earrings, highlighted to the left, are made in traditional manner from naturally occurring Caribou bone gathered near the Trepassey Reserve in our province of Newfoundland.  Many generations ago, First Nations people would collect the clay pipe broken ends or "clippings", from early European settlers here and string them along with the caribou bone pieces. They are still known as "pipebeads", by many beaders even today.  The inspiration...Blue Lapis represents the sky, Red Jasper the earth, Caribou bone the spirit of life. 

Green Diamonds by Sally Morgan of Hemet, California, USA. 
Sally created this "Secret Pal Gift" using 11° seed beads in green silver lined, pearl mint green, and lustre celery green for this set.  While creating this set, Sally had "Spring has Sprung" on her mind which is easy to understand when we look out our windows these days!   This lightweight necklace and earrings "is a whisper to wear around your neck and the earrings can be worn with posts or wires.". 

Do you collect coins?  How do you keep track of them or store them?  Coin rubbings are a fun way to keep track of the coins in your collection, or just create some fun! 

To do a really good coin rubbing, start by placing a small piece of tape on the back of your coin and attach it to the table you are working on.  Next, get some thin white or colored paper (computer paper works great for this).  Hold your paper very still on top of the coin and rub over the coin with a crayon.  Pencils work good too but both crayons and pencils take a little practice. 
 
What if you don't collect coins?  How about making some "funny money"!  Do a coin rubbing of American money and then use it to play with!  Teachers can use "funny money" to teach young kids about counting money!  Maybe you know a teacher you could suggest this idea to! 

Hey teachers, parents and kids!  Do you have an idea for the Kid's Korner at Etcetera?  Please send us an email and let us know!