If you're not the type to brave the crazy crowds at the malls and the department stores, what better way than to spend the weekend reading through some great beadweaving blogs?

BeadedBear's Nonsense and Complete Waste of Time - Sig Wynne-Evans talks about what's really important during the holiday season.

Mad Designs - Marcia DeCoster shows us some incredible earrings and some itty bitty beaded knitting.

Etsy Beadweaver's Team - the November Challenge has a winner!

Good River Gallery - Hanna Rosner is offering some new peyote stitch bracelet tutorials on her website.

Beadlust - Robin Atkins shows us photos of her brother's newly finished Global Warming Quilt.

Tapestry Beads - Jill Wiseman has some gorgeous new "glamor shots" of her beadwork on her blog as well as some musing about Thanksgiving.

Artisan Clay - Kristie Roeder is promoting her annual holiday sale with some great new pendants, donuts and beads.

Ramblings on Jewelry-Making and Life - Jean Campbell has some great new steampunk jewelry to share with us.

Contemporary Beadwork by Kerrie Slade - Kerrie has a beautiful new piece of beaded jewelry for us to see called "Dark Faerie".

Color for Bead Artists - Margie Deeb had a great class in Toronto with the Toronto Bead Society.

Happy beading and reading, and to all the U.S. readers, happy Thanksgiving!

These incredible ceramic donuts by Olivia Dowdy caught my eye at Bead Fest Philadelphia this past August. Each one is incredibly unique in the way that the light catches the colors of the raku finish and the textures of each one. Many of the pieces have nature themes - trees, leaves, dragonflies and flowers. They come in both a matte, satiny finish as well as a glossy finish. Both types are stunning.

This large donut was a splurge for me, and I have absolutely no idea what to do with it yet. For now, I enjoy just taking it out of it's wrapping and looking at different colors of seed beads to see which pick up the subtle hues of purple, maroon and blue. It's fun to simply hold it in my hand and feel the textures under my fingertips. And each time I tilt it back and forth in the light, the colors shift and make me want to choose a brand new set of seed beads to go with it.

If you'd like to see more of these incredible pieces and purchase your own fabulous focal from Olivia, go to her Etsy shop, Odddesignsnc. You'll also find a wonderful selection of finished jewelry made with her wonderful raku pieces - earrings, bracelets, shawl pins, brooches and more.

One of the things that I most enjoy about being a beadwork artist, and being an artist in general, is the seemingly endless supply of inspiration that surrounds me. Once I was able to tap into that part of my mind that I refer to as my "artist brain", I found it easy to find inspiration for beadwork in pretty much anything that I see.

The bracelet and earring set in this photo is a recent creation of mine, inspired by one of my many sessions perusing the online catalogs for the big auction houses like Christie's and Sotheby's. Many of the jewelry collections include works by well-known jewelers as well as wonderful folk and antique jewelry. The challenge in using these pieces as inspiration for my own beaded creations comes when I see a piece of jewelry that makes me think, "How can I recreate that using just seed beads?"

My favorite source, which I don't get to tap into too often, are museums and art galleries. While I love living in the mountains, my distance from major art museums and collections means that a visit is something that happens only once or twice a year. But when I'm there, I've got my camera, sketchbook and colored pencils handy. I've found ideas for beadwork in the illuminated manuscripts of a 14th-century European family at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles as well as the baroque style furniture on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. An exhibit of ancient glass from Greece and Rome at the Getty Villa in Malibu, California still inspires me when I am at my lampwork torch as well as when I am looking for a new beading project.

Of course, one of the greatest inspirations for my work is the view out my studio window. There is nothing quite like a mountain range through the four seasons to provide me with ideas for color, shape and texture as I watch the sun rise and set, the trees turn green and then lose their leaves, and the snowstorms and spring rains that come over the ridge. These colors, shapes and textures weave their way into my little beads and result in some surprising and beautiful beaded art.

Where do you find inspiration? Is it in a particular style of jewelry? An era in history? Nature? A color? Share your ideas here!

Ever since I started learning the art of making glass beads, there are a few lampwork artists whose work has fascinated me. Ofilia Cinta is one of those lampwork artists, and this past summer, I got to meet her and purchase one of her incredible glass fish beads.

Ofilia's glasswork is inspired by her rich heritage and her memories of childhood trips to Mexico and Texas. When you look at her richly colored hollow glass fish, her signature creation, you find unexpected depth in the layers of glass and light. Sometimes she includes small patches of dichroic glass or copper mesh to give texture and sparkle. Each fish is one-of-a-kind, and in choosing one for myself, I had to look at them closely to figure out their unique personalities.

You can see more of Ofilia's work and read her complete bio on her website, Ofilia Art Glass.