Have you started your holiday beading yet? Don't worry, neither have I! The holidays can really sneak up on you, especially if you have a family with small children like I do. I've got a few great patterns in the works for next week, but until then, if you want to get started, here are some great free beading patterns for the holidays:

Tiny Beaded Candy Canes - These little candy canes work up super quick and are great for earrings or to add as a final touch to gift wrap.

Christmoose - This is a free beading pattern from Jeanette Shannigan, author of "Beaded Adornment".

Holiday Earring Patterns - These patterns cover Christmas, Chanukah and Kwanza with angels, santas, candles and a Dreidel.

Beaded Pointsetta Ornament - This lovely ornament will also make a wonderful holiday pendant.

Winter Steeples - A beautiful charted peyote stitch pattern by Suzanne Cooper to get you into winter.

Winter Storm Necklace - A simple strung necklace that sparkles like a winter storm.

For me, the holidays mean the start of my favorite season - winter - when snuggling up with my beads and my family next to a roaring fire is just about as good as it gets. Happy beading!

Bead Star 2009 is the second year of this unique publication which is made up entirely of prize-winning designs. This year, the cover piece, "Silver Icicles", was designed and created by Sue Sater. Sue's prize package included a $1,000 gift certificate to Fire Mountain Gems and Beads and an all-expense paid three-day trip to Bead Fest Santa Fe. Congratulations, Sue!

Bead Star will be on sale at newsstands everywhere on December 8, or you can order your own copy directly from the publisher's website, Interweave Press. Bead Star projects are made with simple stringing, crimping and wire work techniques, and the projects appeal to beaders of all skill levels.

Check back on the Bead Star website around December 16 - they will be announcing the contest guidelines for the 2010 Bead Star Contest.

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.