OK, you guys remember how I recently mentioned in e-mail and on LJ that I was having trouble with one of the components for the May Beads of the Month package? Well, I was, and here's the dire situation that led to what I'm about to tell you. Oh, and what I'm about to tell you is good news, but it's a bit of a startlement, so I have a favor to ask: don't tell Katie, because she will be absolutely sure beyond any possibility of doubt that I have gone right round the bend for sure this time.

OK. Remember the so-called Seekrit Handshake* beads I was working to get us? The ones with a design that only we will have? The relevant text from the BotMo May description is this:

(This month will also be the debut of the special BotMo member beads, a.k.a. the Seekrit Handshake beads, which might be an add-on item, depending on what price point they come in at. They will be dichroic glass beads or pendants made exclusively for us by somebody who's been in the business for more than twenty years. The design will be kept on file, and we'll offer them at least once each year from now on, if all goes well.)

Well, after Amanda Downum drew a gorgeous magpie for us, the people who were going to do the beads told me that they can't do that sort of thing after all. I was deeply bummed. Also, I was scrambling to find somebody who could. I didn't find anyone, so I started thinking of fallbacks. It had to be dichroic, and I wanted it to have that magpie on it, or what was the point, after all?

One thing led to another, and while I was in a local glass-fusing studio, trying to find out if they could supply me with finished dichroic pendants that we could stencil-etch the magpies onto ourselves -- OK, you see why Katie will be sure I'm crazy? That's a lot of work! -- I found out there was another option. And this other option wasn't any more work than stencil-etching the finished pieces. It seems that the studio offers cutting services and kiln services....

Yup. We're hand-making each and every bead ourselves by doing the stencil-etching directly on the dichroic, which the fusing studio will then cover with clear glass and fuse into pendants. They'll be one-and-a-quarter-inch square pendants, or perhaps slightly larger due to the fusing process. We'll be putting pendant bails on them ourselves.

If this works, it is going to be so, so cool.

We did all the math, all the logistics, and took a deep breath and decided to gamble and do it.

OK, so, that said, they will indeed be an add-on item for two of the three categories of BotMo. The Mother of All Magpies will get them included in their packages for no extra charge. (If it doesn't work, we'll substitute an equivalent amount of incredibly cool other glass, or give you a refund on the package if you prefer.) The Big Magpies will be able to get one for $12 additional. The Basics will be able to get one for $14 additional, which includes the shipping upgrade, because these will want a box. I'm sorry about the priciness, but you'll understand why the costs are higher than expected, I hope -- and I'm still subsidizing them pretty heavily. I believe that as pendants, these would be between $25 and $35 each.

Oh, and the dichroic glass we're using? A gorgeous indescribable blue, on which the etched magpie will show up as a black silhouette. And the bird will be pecking at a tiny bead. Ooh, shiny!!

Like I said, if this works? Coolest. Thing. Ever.

Just don't tell Katie. She might hurt herself laughing at the crazy thing I've gotten myself into now.


*And I now think their actual name will be the Inner Magpie pendants.