Did you get the news?

LOL! That was wild! I just updated my website with the new Bead Box beads then sent out an email to you all. I lazily tried to update my blog thinking... "Bead Box beads always take a while to sell, I will just update my blog and then check email again..." It was a good thing I went back to my email before doing the blog because you gals bought me out in minutes. That has never happened to me before, it was wild! I couldn't update fast enough. Fine by me though, I am glad you like the colors so much. I will make you more. Because I really like these too. I made more of the rounds last night. I popped in that Weezer CD I mentioned yesterday and just went to town. I was on a roll... I only up a small set of 6 of the round in the bead box but I have about double that. I had to keep some to make stuff myself. That rubino oro is a bugger to work with, get it too hot and the oro (gold) comes to the surface, not good. And it is one of the more expensive rods of glass too, so I rearly use it.

Anyway... check these out.



These are what I made during yesterday's morning torch session. I love the raku on ivory with the brown wraps... just yummy! I am definately making an auction set of those for you all to fight over. Just look at all the colors in that raku!

This is another new piece of jewelry that has come out of this jewelry making frenzy I have been in. This is "Festival"! Loads of color huh? Let me know what you think.




I have lots of other jewelry to share too, but that is going to have to wait. I was weeding the garden with my Mom this morning and all that bending has my back in knots. I am squirming like a worm in this chair. I will have more to show you tomorrow.

A couple to share...

I have a few things to share, finally. Yesterday ended up being a pretty rough day after I updated the blog. I got in a terrible funk of a mood. I decided to take the evening off from torching. I think I was just over tired and when I am over tired that demon self doubting insecure artist in me comes out. I am feeling loads better today though. And I have two new necklaces to share!

Here is the first ~ for now I am calling it "the sun one" but I promise to come up with a better name for it soon, lol. The beads are simple but the necklace is bold when it is on. It is still a work in progress. The strand of seedbeads is too small for the scale of the beads. So I am thinking I will add another strand (or two).



This is "Threads" ~ who has heard the Weezer song "Sweater"... it goes something like this... if you want to destroy my sweater, pull this thread as I walk away, watch me unravel, I'll soon be naked, laying on the floor, I have come undone... I had that song in my head when I was making these beads. And the stringy design reminds me of the loose threads on sweaters so that's how it got it's name. I love this color combo for summer. Really light and crisp. The swarski bicones may be changed out for some amazonite or jade rounds.. but let me know what you think.



This morning was spent playing with raku frit ( I love me some raku frit!). I made some great ivory raku and brown nuggets that I am excided to have out of the kiln. I am still planning on have some bead box beads for you all tomorrow so stay tuned! Let me know your thoughts on these latest necklaces!

Wild Wednesday...

*sigh* have I mentioned lately that I could use a nap? lol! I feel like I am back in college cramming for mid terms. But I know all this hard work is going to pay off. I have made more beads in the past 3 days then I have all June. AND they are good! I was starting to worry that I was going for quantity over quality but making myself aware of that makes me slow down, be patient and make good beads. And so far there have only been a few bad bead jar sacrifices. I need to spend this afternoon organizing and cleaning my jewelry desk area. It is a tidal wave of beads, paperwork and tools. I can't find anythign let alone make anything so that is this afternoon's task. Once I get that squared away, I can work on starting to assemble some jewelry! YEAH! I really need to get cracking on putting things together. I can't just keep making beads. I need to know where I stand, ya know.

Bless my Mom's heart! How wonderful it has been having her come by the past few days for me to work. At the same time she is driving me insane but I love her dearly. Yesterday she came by and just a little background on my Mom, she is 47 (yes young!), she is a spitfire, she has OCD when it comes to cleaning, and unfortunately she has lot of medical concerns. Anyway, when she came by yesterday... she decided that my living room area rug smelled so she took it out and then rearranged the furniture. Then she didn't like where the china cabinet was that got moved too. With the china cabinet in a new spot the dinning room table had to be moved too. Not to mantion the 3 loads of laundry she got put away and the dishes she did and how she got the kids to clean their rooms! Way to make a daughter feel like she doesn't do enough! I just have to reassure myself that if she was living here everyday with all my kids and was tryign to do what I do, she wouldn't get nearly that much done in a few hours. Plus, she goes to bed at like 7pm most days because she is so tired. Today was the same... more laundry, she organized the kids dresser drawers, went grocery shopping and found more dishes to do. Tomorrow she will no doubt take on my family room. I know that has her on the verge of a panic attack, lol! Thanks MOM, I love you!

Just an update on Lauren. I ended up taking her back to the doctor's yesterday for a recheck. And her ear is still infected. She is on another antibiotic, poor thing. But she should be back to her old self in no time!

Okay... I am off to get started on the desk reorganizing. Then I will snap some shots of all the stuff I have been working on the past few days!

Tuesday Tidings

Hey gang... I have been torching up a storm over here in my little NY studio. I don't know how much is usable but I am definately getting lots done. I was struck (it was like a bolt of lightening) with an idea for a necklace. I spent 3 hours making all the beads for it last night. I used every mandrel I had, all 48 of them. And this morning I am if-y about it. It maybe one of those things were it just looks weird on the rack. Are you thinking "What is she talking about?" Well, I will explain, I had this friend (who has since moved) that I used to go shopping with. Her favorite thing to do was pick really ugly things off the racks and she would alsways say "ugly on the rack, beautiful on the body". And she was almost always right. I found a lot of great things I wouldn't normally have even tried on by thinking that way. So I am hoping, as these beads are in a pile soaking waiting to be cleaned, that they will be better when the are all strung up. I will share a photo when the it's all ready!

I have also been working on focals for my wine bottle stoppers. I have 3 really really cool ones from last night! I am really excited about them. When I have a whole bunch done, I will take a big group shot for you to check out. Kinda like the group shot on my Wine Stopper page of my website. I have to round up all my toppers to see just how many I have blank in need of beads.

I have begged and pleeded with my Mom to get her to come by this week and play with the kids for me so I can have a couple hours of torch time each morning. Fingers crossed, I am thinking she will be by today. My plan (although it changes all the time) is to make as many beads as I can this week and weekend, then spend next week assembling jewelry, pricing, packing and otherwise organizing everything next week. I can't believe Cornhill is next weekend! I am so excited but petrified at the same time. So everyone, send my all your encouraging "you can do it, you'll be awesome" messages to keep me going :)

Now speaking of plans... my plan is also to have beads for you Thurs or Friday. It won't be a lot, probably only 4-5 sets but it will be something. Then once my show is over, I will devote the following week to making stuff just for you all! What do you all think of this big "organics" craze that seems to be going on in the bead world? Do you want be to go a little organic for you? Or keep doing what I have been doing? Let me know your thoughts.

Oh, before I go... the free beads winner is Lindsey L. Congrats Lindsey! I have more free beads to post, sorry I couldn't get to it yesterday. I will have them up later today :) As always, thank you so so much for all your support both with votes and the wonderful emails you gals send me. I know I can be lax sometimes in getting back to you, but I do read all your messages and I LOVE hearing from you! Thanks thanks thanks!

It's Electrifing!

Today should be an interesting one... my father-in-law is going to be here helping my husband install the electricity to the pool. Now my father in law knows what he is doing. He was an electrican for a good part of his life, but my husband on the other hand does not. SO today is going to be Electric 101 for him. And while they are at it, they are wiring me up some outlets in my studio and putting in a new over head light.

I will be spending the day keeping the kids out of their way, and hopefully get some jewelry made too. Once they get my part of their project done, I will, of course, be making beads :) I have an idea for a new color combo inspired by Lauren's bathing suit and new swimming towel!

I will post some photos when I have them!

The loot...

I have been trying for the past half hour to figure out an easy way to show you all the stuff I got at Rings n Things yesterday. I decided that the easiest thing to do was make a quick page on my website will all the photos... so check out my goodies HERE! (It's fixed!)

And I worte up little descriptions of every thing I got. All in all it was a great show... SOOO many people turned out. The line to check out was a 40 minute wait and that was with like 7 cashiers. My favorite thing to get at RNT is pearls. There are usually so many beauticul dyed fwp... but this time, almost none. I got one strand of (too expensive) coin pearls and a couple of other smaller pear strands... you'll see it all on the page in my website. I was thinking that I have way more then I will ever use and rather then having loads of half strands cluttering up my desk... I could offer extras up to you all. So if you see stuff you really really like... send me an email. I can give you a price... like the conglomerate jasper... $3 a bead. Or the pink magnesite... 10 for $2.50.

Todays pic here on the blog is of all those beads I made Wednesday night. Newspaper beads... black white and red all over, lol! I have an order to work on first but since all these colorrs are still on my desk, I will be making you guys some bead box beads like these... would you like that?


Gotta dash... things to do and teaching tonight :)

Rings-Things... you gotta go!

Morning everyone... I don't know why I am up so early on the first day of summer vacation. Well, no, I do know why... I have lots of exciting things happening today!

First of all, I could not wait to get my beads from last night out of the kiln! Ron didn't get home until almost 10pm from golf. I heard him mumble something about longest day of the year and extra holes... I didn't care... I took off to the torch the minute he came in. The kids were at each others throats all afternoon, so I really needed my queit time to blaze. Anyway... I had bought a small set of encased lentils from Shibumi Glass last week. Real cute encased black lentils with white dots. (I got them because A - the price was GREAT and B - I am not the best at encased lentils so I htought I could learn by seeing some great ones in person.) They came int he mail yesterday and was instantly thinking of the joke... "What's Black & White & Red all over?"... the newspaper. LOL! So I just had to work with the trio last night. I got a lot of beads made and I was out there until after midnight! I really cooked up some wild things. And once I assemble the jewelry, I will share the photos. Fun fun fun!

I was reeling last night after I finished my beads and just could not sleep... so I stayed up until after 2am reading my book. I have only 20 pages left so I will definately be ready for tonight;s meeting. Ironic... the book is about a book club and their meetings... and we are a book club having a meeting, LOL. Okay, it is not that funny. But it's cute. I can't wait for our get together. Tami is hosting tonight. I know the food and wine and chitchat will be awesome!

But before the meeting... the highlight of my summer happens today! The Rings N Things Trunk Show is coming to town!! The come to Rochester twice a year. And I have been waiting since last September for all those beading goodies to be back in town. The room is just loaded from end to end with table upon table of strands of beads. It's were I get all my pearls and lots of really good silver. Here is how it works... you walk up to a strand of beads... you take the price on the tag and cut it in HALF... and then you take and extra 10% off that! I am already counting the minutes until Ron gets home fomr work. I am making him take a half day so I can go. No chilren allowed! You know I am going to take a big 'ol photo of my loot for you gals! And if they come in your neck of the woods... GO!

So that is about it... awesome beads... book club... and a trunk show... that's enough to make a girl not able to sleep on the first day of summer :) I will be back this afternoon!

*sigh* my last quiet day...

Well, its official... today is my last day without the boys home. It's the last day of school for this year. I am already getting lots of shaking heads and comments like "I don't know how you are gonna do it" from family and friends. No one knows how I am NOT going to drive myself nuts home all day with three kids and try to run my business. But we will figure things out. Evenings will be MY time. I can't torch in the heat of the day anyway...

So check out the corkscrew earrings I made Monday night. I first saw the corkscrew design at www.deepwoodart.com . Fran's beads are just stunning! So I give her total credit for this design. I am pretty sure you can order them from her through her catalog. She has so many wild original things on her site, so go check her out!

As a "newbie" (yes I still consider myself very new to what I do)... there is so much for me to learn out there. I love looking at all the beads that are out there. Being that I am learning all the time, I like trying out what others have done and learn from that. For example... I tried making some solid color corkscrews at my first attempt. Then from there I have tried to change things up and make them my own. I added spots and dots, swirls... and then, even made them two tone. Which I haven't seen from anyone anywhere else. Isn't that how all new ideas get started? You see something you like and admire, then you are jumpstarted with ideas of your own... what if I did this, what if I did that...

I am off to try and read a few more pages of my book club book... our meeting is tomorrow night!

Highspeed Update

I am back :) Eeeekkkk... I am so excited. First of all, this weeks free beads winner is Penny R. Congrats Penny! Thanks so much for your votes everyone... you are keeping me up in the top 10 every week and that is so awesome! I really really appreicate that! I can't tell you how much my little bead and jewelry business has grown in the past few months, and it is all thanks to you all letting others know about me :) The new free beads are just a couple I had left from the "Copper Courtyard" set... hope you like 'em.

Now to my exciting news... Kab's Creative Concepts is now at Blueground Jewelry in Pittsford NY! Blueground is a very trendy unique high end jewelry store. Mark has been awesome to work with, even though he teases me, lol! And I can't wait to see how my jewelry is received. (This was the important appointment earlier that I didn't want to be late for, Mark was choosing jewelry for the shop.) There are now more then a dozen pieces on show! If you are ever in the area... go check it out! I really wanted to be in a shop locally before Cornhill, so I would have someplace to send everone who askes "are you local?". Now I have the perfect spot!

In light of today's meeting, I spent hours yesterday cleaning organizing and making jewelry. It was a yucky raining day so it was perfect. Lauren got to watch movies and I got a lot of work done. I have some new jewelry to share "Blue Moon Too" and new "Whirl Wind Bangle" and great colorful, corkscrew glass earrings. I will share photos tomorrow. For now, I need to go sit with my feet up and finish my book club book. I worked my tail off the past two days and I deserve a break, lol! I will check in with ya'll tomorrow!


_________________________________________

I have to make this short because I am on my way out the door for a very very important meeting, which I will hopefully wanna tell you all about when I get back. But, my lips are sealed for now.

I just wanted to let you know I have been internet less the past 24 hours. But we just got set up with highspeed access (no more dial up YAHOOOOOO!). SO I have a free beads winner and new free beads... but if I take the time to update right now, I will be late for that very very important appointment so I will be back in a few hours with all the details!

Suddenly on Saturday...

Ugh... you know, yesterday morning Lauren woke up with a runny nose. I didn't think much of it, we had spent most of the day outside on Thusday and there is LOTS of cottonwood floating in the air right now. I just figured it was allergies. I gave her some childrens benydrel and thought she would be fine. I thought nothing of it as I was leaving for class last night, wasn't even thinking she had a full blown cold. Then.... last night.... SHE WAS UP ALL NIGHT! If she wasn't coughing, she was crying that she had "budders". If she was complaning about her congestion, she was restless and crying. It was like we had a newborn in the house again with the number of times we got up. So, needless to say, she was pretty miserable all day today. But as the day went on, things just seemed to escalate with her. She starting complaining that her ear hurt, and then she got a fever all of a sudden. Take a wild guess where I was at 2:30 this afternoon when we were about to have company over at 3:00... I was at the Urgent Care Center. Yep.. you guessed it... she has ANOTHER ear infection! I am rather peeved about the whole thing. Mostly due to the fact that in 8 year of being a mother and so many ear infections I can't count how many I have had to take them in for... NO ONE EVER TOLD ME THERE ARE NUMBING DROPS FOR EARS! Yeah.. really. You need a perscription, but two drops every couple of hours and it numbs the ear drum so it doesn't hurt as much. Next time one of you Moms are up all night with an ear infectioned baby... ask for the drops! The phamasist at Target said most doctors just don't think to perscribe them. Force of habit they send you home with amoxicillian and motrin.

Thanks for letting me get that over tired rant out....

Now about class last night. We had so much fun! Two of the students ended up missing class but hopefully I can catch them up next week or then can catch it in July. Andrea, Jackie and Jackie's daughter Alley took to things really quickly. Andrea and Jackie might tell you different, but I know they will have things down great in no time. Alley just took right off. She was experimenting, trying stuff out, just doing her own thing. She is 12 and it is so great to see that creativity in someone her age. Instead of see a snotty face and headphones like I get from a lot of my cousins that age. I was telling the ladies about my friend Lindsey's "Stitch n' Bitch" knitting group and how I want to make a "Wire N Whine" class... they said lets make it "Wire, Whine & Wine" group! So I think Jackie is bringing a bottle of wine to our second half of class on Friday. Should be really fun!

Like I said, things went downhill when I got home..but in more ways then just Lauren. I had planned on having my parents over for dinner this afternoon to celebrat father's day with my Dad. When I go tin the door I was informed that my husband had invited his parents too! Now all of you with in-laws know, you have to do a totally differnt kind of cleaning to have your in-laws over. I was so mad! I was on my knees washing the baseboards behind the toliet, and the dustbunnies under the bed, the wall behindthe garbage can first thing this morning... I even had to organize the tupperwear cabinet. Between the heavy cleaning, the 90 degree heat and carring Lauren around at the doctors, my back is sore again. It isn't as bad as it was... just sore. So no beading in tonight. I still need to baby it a little longer. But I have some ideas working that I NEED to work on so definately this week!

On to my new jewelry creations....

These are the newbies I created Thursday afternoon:

"Antiques" ~ the bracelets ~ I love love love these beads especially when paired with an olive green shirt! They just roll so nicely on your wrist. I made my own jumprings too on this, a first for me. I think the rings turned out good :) I made matching earrings too.

"Follow Your Heart" ~ bracelet ~ gotta love raku! and another "say it on your wrist" sterling disc. Raku tile earrings to match.

"Carousel" ~ work in progress ~ this is the one I am not so sure about. It looks great in the photo and it looks great on your wrist but terrible just sitting on the counter. I think it is the clasp that I am not happy with. I will keep working on it. I had seen a class offering on the "Bead Fest Philli" website by Lisa Nivin Kelly that was a similar style. I loved the design and tried to see what I could do to change things up with lampwork. Let me know your thoughts!

Sorry about all the links... blogger photos is down, yet again!

I haven't had a chance to add them to the site yet, but I hope to have them up by Monday.
SO that's about it... a long update tonight huh? Anyway.. I am really really behind on replying and letting you all know that i have received your votes. SO I promise to catch that up tonight!

Class Tonight!

I am just doing a drive by quick update... I am on my way out to teach my Totally Twisted class. There are 5 people signed up tonight so I will have my hands full! I can't wait to meet everyone and show them all my new goodies. New goodies you say? Yeah... I made 3 new braclets yesterday afternoon while I was taking it easy resting my back. I haven't had a chance to photograph them yet, but you'll know when I do. I love 2 of them and I am if-y on 1. The one may need some tweaking. We'll see.

Anyway... THE POOL IS DONE! All done. Ron will be doing the electrical set up with my father-in-law probably next weekend. So, we can't swim in it yet, it still needs to be inspected first. But it will be so hard to resist tomorrow when it's 90 degrees!

I am still eagerly awaiting my new Zoozii tool. I ended up getting the rectangle. I wanted to try something totally different, but then thought I would make a few then it would just sit there. So I got one I know I will use, a lot.

Gotta run... I will tell ya all about class tomorrow!

Oh, and I am still babying my back. I can't touch my chin to my chest yet, I feel a stab in my lower back when I do, but I can walk and move okay right now. Thanks for all your well wishes and for keeping me in you thoughts!

Thursday ~

Were you wondering where I was after my lunch break update the other day? Well, after lunch I went out and made a few more beads. In between beads, I went in the pool to work on getting the wrinkles out of the liner along the wall. What a BAD idea that was! It was too soon to be bending and lift with my back still sore. I ended up throwing my back out again, really bad this time. I spent all of Tuesday and most of yesterday alternating Tylenol & Motrin, and heat and cold on my back. I didn't sleep much either night, but this morning, things are definately looser and I am moving easier. I am really going ot baby it for a while, and take it easy. I tend to really over do it sometimes, obviously. There is no way I am going to be lame for Corn Hill!

Check out what I added to my website... "Knob Commission". I thought it would be a good idea for everyone to see all the knobs together in one place. Check out Knob 20 ~ Blue China. It is the latest one in the collection. I would love to hear which knob is your favorite! I also added a "Site Visits" counter to the bottom of my homepage. I went to Yahoo! Small Business to get the starting count. I was shocked to see that I have had more then 11,000 visits! And more the 40,000 page views through out the whole site. YIKES!

Anyway, I am going to make a run to the post office today, and then it is a lawn chair for me. I am going to take this little bit of down time to get my book club book read. We are reading "Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons" by Lorna Landvik. It is available at Target, you should pick it up the next time you are in there. It is a great read so far. It is following the lives of 5 women in a book club through 30 years of friendship. It starts in the late 60's through the early 90's.

I am teaching "Totally Twisted" tomorrow night at Studio 34. I am not sure but I think this time it might be full! FUN! I will let you know how this round goes.

Lunch Break Update

I am at it again... spending a WHOLE day making beads! I dropped Lauren off first thing this morning and I am just takinga quick lunch break before I head back out. I had a few orders come in over the weekend so, I spent the mornign working on those. I have 2 out of 3 of them done! I made great progress. Now I will take the afternoon time for myself. I have ideas for a new color scheme for the tutorial necklace... I want to experiment with a little "Silver Plum" (I have been seeig some gorgeous beads made with those lately)... and EARRINGS! I need to work on earring pairs!

I will be back in the morning to share today's goodies... I did a "blue china" knob today you are gonna love!

I tried...

This will be my third attempt at updating this blog today! Needless to say, I am getting rather frustrated. Bare with me...

I first tried to let you know about all the happenings in the Bead Box. Did you check them out already? Well anyway... I ended up having more to share then I realized. First of all I made way way too many beads for the "Harvest Moon" necklace. So, you have a bunch of those in a set. They are dark ink blue purple, lavender, transparent lavender and golden amber. Then a set of Kaleidescope beads (which have since been scooped up)... these are the only good thing that Evil Dark Purple can do. Then some new things from me that I worked on this weekend. I called them "Antiques", they are a lot different then what you usually see from me, but I hope you like them... I love them, let me know what you think! Also, I made some more raku pebbles... then some wicked space beads! All together like that and it looks like I had a busy weekend! I guess I did.

I was also going to let you know that "Copper Courtyard" ended tonight. But it ended about 40mins ago so no point updating that, lol.

I wanted to let you all know my back is doing loads better. I am sure it will be 100% by the end of the week, which is good because I am teaching on Friday.

It's late... and I am so tired... I will have a better update for you tomorrow.

But before I go... CONGRATS goes to DEEDEE H. This weeks free beads winner... go check out the new beads, tell me how you like them. They have a story behind them that is just going to have to wait until tomorrow. Oh, and today's photo is my "Fiesta" knob... don't let me forget to tell you my exciting knob news.... til tomorrow! *yawn*

OUCH....

My back has been sore for the past week or so. I couldn't figure out why. Then it hit me... with the new laptop, I have been sitting on the hardwood chairs at the dinning room table. I need to get cushions or something... or go back to sitting downstairs in my big comfy office chair. Anyway, Lauren needed a bath this afternoon (been playing in all that sand!!) and I had to clean the tub first (clean out all that sand!!). I did something while I was cleaning... and now, I am very carefully propped up in my bed with pillows and heating pad. I pulled something in my back. I can move about an inch form side to side before screaming. LOL! Hopefully whatever got pulled will warm up and get back in gear... I can't be like this long.

So today's photo is of one of the knobs I made last night... pretty cool huh? Not a great photo, sorry. But you get the idea. I did a little experimenting last night and got ideas for what I wanted to do at the torch this morning. I got a few things done. I am thinking I will have 3-4 goodies in the bead box tomorrow. Come back and check them out :)

Oh... I finally took a photo of my "Glass Studio" (aka... the "no kids allowed" zone of the garage)

Saturday Fundraiser

Hey gals... today turned into such a busy one. I had hoped to make beads first thing, but I over slept. Then Bitty Kitty had to go and get a rabies shot. After that... a few errands. I had completely forgot to let you know... today at Studio 34 there was a Breast Cancer fundraiser. A walk in jewelry repair day. All the teachers volunteered their time & tools to do the repairs and all the repair costs were donated. It was from 12-3 and I took Jacob along. I think he is finally getting to the age where he is more helpful then a handful being taken along. He made a few memory wire bracelets with some other kids there that were donated to raise funds. I fixed a pearl illusion necklace and some earrings. I also learned to do the byzentine chain maille while I was there. Pretty cool huh?

You should be in my living roon right now, you would be holding back giggling. Jacob just got a hair cut, and he hates it... he is furious. He is soooo mad at Ron. He is covered in little hair bits and should be taking a shower but he is refusing. Ron is teasing him and making it even worse, I shouldn't be laughing, but it really is funny.

The kiln is warming up right now... I am heading out to make some knobs and beads right now. So I may have some goodies for you tomorrow or Monday... something different... wait and see.

*sigh*... I need a nap

It has been a busy couple of days around here. You might even say... eventful! Nothing all that thrilling to most people but in our family, it's been a lot.

First, I finished my tutorial, that took all of Wednesday evening and most of yesterday to finishing editing and photographing. I sent copies of just the text out to two of my advid wire working lampwork lovers. And both were able to make the links using just the instructions and a photo of the finished necklace. Thanks so much for your help Cindy & Holly! You girls are the best. Anyone else love wire? Make sure I know you really really like wire and I will have you be an editor on the next tutorial. Today's photo is of the finished necklace in the "Fall" colors. Denise Peck over at Step by Step Wire Jewelry Magazine loves it. She was on the fence about having this be an "online" project or in the magazine... now for sure, it is going to be in the magazine! So that means I will have 2 projects in one issue! For the colors I went with three shades of purple (pale ink blue, new lavander, and transparent lavander) and to set those off, a warm golden amber. To make it a bit more interesting, I etched some of the beads. Let me know if you liked how it turned out. (I know some of you have been trying to comment... I don't know what is up with blogger or my settings... I will try and figure it out :))

In other news, we had 8 TONS of sand delivered today for the pool! My parents are back from their trip to Cape Cod so they were just here helping us rake it all out. Several dozen wheelbarrels full had to be moved to other parts of the yard. There was way more then expected. But with the sand all leveled and the blocks all laided... we are ready to put up the walls and fill this bad boy up! Only problem... it probably won't hit 70 this weekend so... either we put it up when the weather warms up a bit, or we stand in knee deep freezing cold water for hours. It is a tough call... lol!

My friend Lindsey came by this afternoon for a visit. HI LINDSEY! It is always so nice to have her visit. She is knitter and finds all this wonderfull knitting/craft/sewing blogs and sends me emails when there are good posts I should read. She shared two really great ones recently... both on the same blog... check these out:

Amazing Studio( This is what my studio will look like someday!)
Blog about Balancing Life (I feel like this all the time and I love her "take a day off" way of stepping back.)

Ron just ran to get some Chinesee take out... I am pretty dead on my feet, but I have been dying to make beads all week. I may go out to the torch and just play later... or definately for a few hours tomorrow. I will let you all know how it goes!

OH... and by the way... "Copper Courtyard" still hasn't gotten it's first bid... what are you gals doing? And you all waiting til the last minute to bid? Or did you really not like them as much as you let on?

Just Wednesday

Off Manrel Heart - Click to see

(Bloggers seems to be having trouble loading photos, sorry)

Well, here it is... my very first off mandrel bead. I know, I know... it is a little wonky and weird, but it was a first attempt... I know the next one will be even better. And I don't know what I was thinking when I chose the colors. Black is a firm color glass, not like white which flows everywhere when hot. So I knew I could hold the shape better with it durning a first try. It is small, smaller then I will do in the future. I added a "shank" or small round bead to the back so it could hang like a pendant or be used as a button. I need to work on balancing and where to put the shank on the back. I liked the "wings" because they helped better define the heart shape. All in all, a good first attempt :) Let me know your thoughts! Oh, go ahead and comment right here on my blog. It is easy and you don't have to register or anything. Just comment.

I was able to get all the beads made for the tutorial I am writing. I will make that necklace today, all the parts but the ones to photograph "in process". I told Ron he couldn't go golfing tonight and that he had to take all the pictures this evening. I need to get it in the mail by Friday to meet the mid-June deadline. I think I will be able to get it done :)

Once the tutorial is finished I will be making beads like crazy. Cornhill Arts Fest is just one month away! I need earrings, more braclets, cool necklaces and other goodies to get done. As I make beads over the next 4 weeks, whatever I make, I will do extra of for my Bead Box. I probably won't have any huge 7-8 set offering but I will be sure to have a set or two here and there. Watch for those green arrows on the home page because, I won't send out emails everytime I post new ones. I like to save emails for when I have a lot to offer, I hate spamming you gals.

Oh... I fixed the link for the kaleidescope bracelet. So if it didn't work for you before, it should now. Let me know how you like those beads :)

I have to go water the garden...

Oh so much to share...

I tried several times to post the photos... it isn't working... here are the links instead:

Citrus Neckwire
New Citrus Bangle
Kaleidescope Bangle
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I have so much to share with you and I know I am going to forget things... lets see what I can remember...

First, the photos above are of the bangles and neckwires I made this past weekend. I finially got the photos taken yesterday! I love the purple kaleidescope ones made with evil purple, and I was surprised how my I liked the green & orange combination too.

Oh... the auction started up last night. I was going to send out a group email to the mailing list but I think I will wait until we are closer to the auction end, sort of a reminder email. But here is the link for you to book mark it now... "Copper Courtyard". Speaking of bookmarking... have any of you seen this "Ebay Pulse Page". This is a listing of the Top-10 most watched lampwork auctions. Pretty cool, huh! I wanna be on the list someday. So everyone watch my item, if I get enough watchers, I make the list.

I am so excited about what is cooking in the kiln this morning... I made my very very first "off mandrel" bead. All the beads I make are wound on steel mandrels that have been dipped in bead release (a clay like substance that makes it so the beads come off the mandrels). When you spin the beads off the mandrels, the empty space is the hole you use to string the beads. I have never really understood the process of making off mandrel beads before. Then again, I never asked either, lol! Yesterday while trying to decide which Zoozii's tool I wanted, I looked at her off mandrel presses. I checked out her tutorial on how to use the tool, and had an "AH HA" moment... "so that's how it is done" flashed through my head! The bead is created on the end of the rod of glass and then separated from the rod at the very end before being put in the kiln. So, I didn't order the tool, it is kinda large for the strength of my torch, but I did have to give the technique a try. I made a very very cool black winged heart. I will share the results tomorrow... I know you are going to love it.

See... I knew I was going to forget things... I can't remember whatelse I wanted to say. Oh well, I can come back and update if I remember. I will be working on laundry, garden watering, and the "Blue Moon" tutorial today. My parents are out of town this week too so we'll be running over there to take care of their three basset hounds, Gracie, Willamina, & Ellie. Big ol' fat hound dogs with ears longer then they are need some visits from wild and crazy playfull kids.

I am the giveaway winner!

The Zoozii's Tool Of The Month Giveaway Winner that is! I get a free Zoozii's tool! Anyone I want. I can't decide! Go over to Zooziis.com and tell me which shape I should get. I already have the Lentil Trio, Nugget Trio, Tab & Tile Duo, Pillow, Drawer Pull, and Crystal Trio. I was thinking rectangles or ovals? Since you all buy my beads, I figured I should ask what you would like to see me making!

Now, the winner of my free bead giveaway is Heather H. THANK YOU HEATHER & everyone who keeps coming back to vote for me. I appreciate your support and love of my beads. Thanks thanks thanks! I posted the new free beads... I forgot I had these ones, I think you'll love 'em. Let me know!

"Copper Courtyard"... that's what I decided to name the new beads that will be posted on Ebay tonight. As my loyal blog readers you are getting sneak peek at them. I love these beads. You have already seen what I can do with them, I can't wait to see what someone else comes up with. They were made with Copper Green and you can see the places near the edges where the copper has come up to the surface of the glass giving them a wonderful weathered look. They make the blue/green hues in the Jitterbug Raku on the black tiles just pop. I was surprise just how well they go together. I added a couple of smaller pairs that are just the right size for earrings or dangles.

Tonight I will be making the beads for a Fall version of "Blue Moon" and I will hopefully be finishing the tutorial on that by the end of the week. I will keep you posted and share how it turns out. In the meantime... remember, check out Zooziis and tell me which shape I should get, watch for my auction to start later tonight, and go see what you think of the new free beads. I took photos of those cool bangles from this weekend, but I will save those for tomorrow :)

Open House Summary

The Open House went fine... thanks for all the support everyone! For the most part the weather was miserable, pouring rain and low 60's. We thought that would work to our advantage, figuring at least people won't be out working on their lawns and forget about us. But I think what it ended up doing was keep everyone in their homes curled up watching movies, LOL! I know that's what I would have wanted to be doing. Anyway, we had a few dozen people come through, and it was great. Lots of wonderful feedback. My "Rustic Pebbles" bracelet sold, I was very excited about that! Thanks Carol! As well as a few of my other "beaded" things (those less then $30 items I told you about.) It was great to get an idea of just what I have... seeing everythign out on the tables let me see that, Oh - I need more colors! and I think I want to get this for the display or that for the display. We decided that for next year we will have the Open House a little earlier in the year, more like end of April, right before Mother's Day.

In beading news... I will be making that Ebay set today! I made a bunch of beads Friday night, that I used in bangles that I am just dying to share with you all. Unfortunately I left my camera at Heidi's so I need to go pick it up, then I can share.

We are going to try and plant our vegetable garden today... it is still pouring and cold, so we may just buy the plants for the garden and plant them later, lol!

I will check back with photos later!

Behind the scenes

Well, today is gonna be spent running errands and packing up the van for tomorrow. I need to get all my jewelry priced and packaged... the tables and "extras" loaded up too. I will pop in tomorrow evening and let you know how everything goes at the Open House. Honestly, I am not expecting great things. The mailing list used for invites was last years. And everyone last year saw my beaded jewelry. They got little glimpes of my glass but for the most part everything I offered was under $30. I am thinking most of this crowd will have sticker shock and go for Heidi's jewelry. But I am okay with that. I know my stuff is good and this summer as I do shows solo with just my glass, a whole new crowd will discover me. I am really looking forward to it, getting rediscovered with my glass jewelry.

I wanted to get out to the torch so bad last night, but it just didn't happen. Hopefully I can get some last minute beads in tonight. If I am good and I am all packed up by this afternoon then I will have time to clean beads and make a few more things in the morning.

Lauren and I are off to her playgroup...

Oh, I almost forgot... my hearing is slowly popping in and out so I think it is on the mend. I am feeling loads better!

Creative Drum Roll...

WOW! I got a lot done today. I am in "Show Mode", there is now way else to describe it. Saturday is mine and Heidi's (Woodland Wisp Jewelry Creations) Spring Open House. To be completely honest, I am no where near where I should be to be ready for it. But I have been working my tail off the past two days playing catch up.

Here is what I was able to make so far:
"Whirl Wind"
"Industrial"
"Reach for Stars"
"Rustic Pebbles"
"Sandy Tiles"
"Raku Bangle"

The blog photo (sorry it's a bad photo, click it, it gets bigger) today is of beads I made last night. I used them in "Reach for Stars" & "Sandy Tile" but the beads went so well together... I decided I will make another full set of these as a Ebay Auction. I haven't had one up in over a month and I think these will make a great set. The green beads with the black bands are done with Dirty Copper Green. I don't know if you can see it in the photo or not but the copper came to the surface of the glass in some of the beads and gives them a "dirty" look. I don' t know about you, but I really like it. Let me know what you think of them :) And I will let you know when the auction is ready, probably Monday or Tuesday.

The boys have a baseball game tonight that I am thinking I will skip so I can work on earring beads. I already have another color scheme in mind for new Bead Box beads... Maybe sometime next week? I don't know. Just to give you all a little heads up... I am not sure if I have mentioned it before or not but my first solo show is July 8-9. It is the Cornhill Arts Festival. One of the largest arts festivals in the country! Beads might be a little scarce the next couple of weeks as I get ready for the show, but hang in there with me. I will be sneaking sets in here and there.

Send me your thoughts on the new jewelry pieces!