BOO!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

What a wild and crazy day we are having here. We have been running around like the gouhls we are. The kids had a half day today with parties filling what little time they were there at school. We were partied, we paraded then we had to do loads of errands. Lauren needed to be run to the doctor's, yep she has another ear infection. Then we went to get my fuel tank refilled for the torch, grapped some lunch, trick-or-treated to my sister's... finishing with a quick stop at Blockbuster for the last copy of Monster House! Pphheww.

I just snuck in a little torch time while the kids were watching the movie. I worked on focals today for wine stoppers. I think they make most excellent holiday gifts so I want to have a bunch next weekend. I have been drooling over the GORGEOUS focals by the artist Anastasia (her website). Check them out (her auctions). I used her idea of making them primarily transparent but then did some wild and crazy wiggles and squiggles in my own style. I think they are going to be SWEET! I love the glow that etching gives her beads too, so I will have to see if mine will cool good etched. Did you know, if you want to see how beads will look etched you can put them in the freezer then on the counter. They will look frosted for a little while before warming up and that it how they would be if they were etched. Cool!

So yesterday's Bead Box Beads seem to have been a hit. I am sorry I didn't have more for you. I will work on getting bigger batches made for next time. I just need the next few weeks to get ready for the up coming shows. You all seem to be going after the same sets with the Purple Mod Dots being a favorite. Maybe I can squeeze in a Purple Mod Dots Auction set... we'll see. I know the Focals setis priced a little higher but it still only $8 a bead for the focals. Which really isn't a lot per bead. If someone doesn't snatch them up, I will find a way to use them.

Today's photos are of the kids pumpkins. We carved them Sunday afternoon. Lauren's pumpkin was rotted so we had to carve two faces in Andrew's. We will be heading out to trick or treat in a few hours. The kids can't wait! I will get pics for you of their costumes. Lauren is a fairy, Andrew is a black knight and Jacob went for Harry Potter this year. We go to my parent's neighborhood because there are loads of houses in one area. We can fill a pillowcase with candy in about an hour! And that'll last until at least Christmas, lol. The kids are going to have a blast. My Mom's neighbors go nuts decorating, it is such a kid friendly place.

I will be back tomorrow with Halloween pics and focal beads too!

Very Blustery Day

Who has seen Winnie The Pooh's The Very Blustery Day? It's an extra windy day in the 100 Arce Woods and Gofer says it's Windsday. The kids watched it this week and we seem to have life imitating art now. We are in the midst of a very very windy day here. Fifty-five plus mile per hour gusts, not a leaf on a tree now! YIKES! Hopefully it is passes in the next few days so the kids will have a clear night Tuesday for Trick-or-Treating. We'll see.

Anyway, I got loads to show you. Friday I snuck in some afternoon torch time while Lauren was resting. Before I knew it my kiln was LOADED with beads. I didn't know just how much time I would have to make beads, so rather then frustrate myself during the little time I had with the colors I had been using all week, I switched things up. I grapped some black, avacodo, transparent brown along with my jar of Raku frit. The avacodo is a very sandy yellowish brownish beige color. It can be a little tempermental sometimes though Friday it was behaving very very well.

This first bracelet is my favorite!!! I love it! It is in my "chunky funky" style with loads of beads in all different shapes. Oh did I have fun playing at the torch!

This next has beads just like my "Copper Lantern" beads, only now they were made on a base of transparent light brown then rolled in Raku. This one is soooo eathy and very very fall. But I am sure it will work in winter and summer too. Black and browns seem to be a year round combo.

Alrighty... this one is a "Flings". It is very hard to see in the photo but those raku beads aren't just plain black. They are encased black. So that raku is floating on clear with the black inside. I think it gives the beads awesome depth. And much simplier look and design but I still think it is fabulous.


Next are a few new lariats. I love making lariats. They are so easy to do and very easy to wear. I will, hopefully, have a bunch of different style lariats for the Open House in 2 weeks. AAAAHHH only two weeks!!! I gotta get cracking!! I love the mod dot bead in the first one with the pinched corners. Reminds me of a fluffed up pillow. I like doing asymetrical things too. Everything doesn't always have to match and be in a pattern right? The second lariat is my favorite of the two. I was playing with my shears again and I think these turned out very "leafy" looking. I could see this with a beautiful ivory v-neck sweater on Thanksgiving, couldn't you?

Ron and I had a blast at last night's Halloween party. And I'm very very happy to report that everyone is on the mend and almost 100% healthy. The boys went to stay with Ron's parents last night and Lauren went with my parents. I wouldn't wish on three of them on anyone, lol. Ron and I ended up going all 80's for the party. I was going for Cindy Lauper but ended up more Madonna-ish. I took an old bridesmaids dress and cut it up so it was a short skirt, and I left the full length tooleing out under it. Then I layered a bunch of strapy tank tops, put on fingerless satin gloves, purple eyeshadow and had my hair all plastered over to one side. Did you know you can still buy aqua net hairspray at the Dollar store? LOL! It was hilarious. Ron wore a big hair band wig with tight acid washed white jeans and an old rock band tee shirt. I know pictures were being snapped left and right so as soon as someone emails me one of us, I'll post it. We took our camera but forgot to have someone get our picture. Our camera is big and bulky, I hate taking it places, I am always afraid I will lose it or it will break. We need to look into getting a smaller compact digital camera for things like this.

The whole time change thing threw me for a loop this morning. I was up at my usualy 7:30 which now is 6:30. I had some coffee and ended up making beads for a few hours while Ron worked on homework. It was so nice and quiet!! No agruing over which cartoons to watch, no fighting to get rooms cleaned, I ate breakfast when I wanted, it is fun to be kidless sometimes. I got the kiln loaded again with beads, all for tomorrow's Bead Box. I don't have as many beads as I would like to have but it'll work for now. I decided to take a quick pic of the rods that I was using today. It's not the best photo but you get the idea... PUPRLE!!! I'll see ya'll tomorrow with new beads!

Medicine Stock

LOL, had I known last week how sick everyone was going to be this week, I would have bought some stock in cold medicine.

Dang are we going through a lot of meds and boy, is everyone grumpy. Lauren seems to have things the worst. Her poor little nose is just raw from tissue rubbings. Andrew ended up staying home from school yesterday. He started with a barking seal cough and a little fever on Wednesday night. It was still going strong yesterday but amazingly enough it is completely gone today. And he is feeling near 100%, he begged to go to school this morning. I told him okay, but I have a call into the school nurse to call me if he starts to get too tired out, I'll go pick him up. Jacob tells me he feels okay but Ron was blowing his noise really loud this morning, lol. My cold from last weekend was actaully pretty minor, just tiring. But this morning, that darn tickle is back again! Whatever I had is probably gone, but whatever Lauren has is coming my way now.

I HATE GERMS!!! We will kick this though! I have lots of Lysol Disinfectant. I will be scrubbing any surface I can get my hands on.

On to better topics... today's photo is one from earlier this summer. These are Out House Flowers. I don't know their "fancy" latin name but I love this flower. They grow about 7-8 FEET tall. I have them in my back garden and I love when they get so full that they flop onto my arbor. We have had rain here for 14 of the past 15 days, with more coming tonight and this weekend. I thought I would post the garden photo to brighten things up a bit.

I snuck in a tiny bit of bead time yesterday when Ron got home from work. But I was so tired, I was just wasting glass. I have a few sets ready for the bead box, but I really wanted to wait and do a big group. I will have time to get more done this weekend so I am still sure I'll have beads Monday! MONDAY MONDAY! And, in case you forgot, I am working on wintery colors. Metallic Silver Plum, Dark Lavendar and Amethyst. LOVELY!

I have gotten a request for some red Christmasy/Valentinezie beads. I will see what I can come up with for that in the next few weeks. I have just two weeks to get ready for the "Shop Til You Drop" Open House on November 11th. So lets see... (just hinking out loud her)... bead box beads Monday... manic prep for open house... Halloween, Jacob's Birthday and then Thanksgiving... earrings class on Nov 16th... oh and "Deck The Halls" too (I haven't told you about that one yet).

I told my Mom the other day, it is already mid December in my head, lol. There is just so much going on. Anyone else ever feel over scheduled for the holidays? I haven't in the past, in fact I usually feel the opposite. It seems like the holidays will never come and then they are gone. But since my business, it just sneaks up on me. I get so busy making things that you all end up buying for gifts that I forget to get my own, lol. I should start thinking about Christmas, shouldn't I? Hmmmm.... I know what I WANT! I want a new, bigger, better torch and an oxygen concentrator. LOL!

Little things

I am here, lol. Don't worry about me. I just have my hands full to overflowing. I am not the only one with a cold now! Andrew and Lauren are both in their snotty glory, lol. Poor things. Lauren was so-so yesterday but today... she keeps running from the other room whaling "Mommmmmm I got budders!" Which is leading to some bad news.... with everyone sick, I have had no time to torch, so I probably won't have beads until Monday.

Yesterday was extra busy too. Lauren and I went to check out her new preschool. There are two 3yr old classes so we went to one yesterday and later (if she feels a little better) we'll go to the second one. I need to pick which class we would like to put her in. After that we went to visit a friend of ours, Julie & her sons (Lou & Joey). Ron & I have been invited to a Halloween Party! JUST FOR ADULTS!!! So we went to do a little costume hunting. Julie is thinking her and her husband will go as "Surf & Turf", she'll dress up like a surfer and she is going to glue some grass on her husband's shirt, lol. I am thinking Ron and I will do something like "Hippie & Suit". I'll wear a suit and tie with a mustash and Ron will have long hair and bellbottoms. Still working on ideas though. So feel free to send me suggestions!

Then to top off my busy day... last night was Book Club! Oh did we have a good time. I didn't get home until after 11pm. So I am feeling it today. We were discussing To Kill A Mockingbird among other things. And next month we are reading The Bookseller of Kabul. I have my doubts about the new book (my vote was for The Red Tent) but I'll still do my best to get it done before the 28th of November. One of the best things about book club is the range of women that are there. There are 14 official members and usually at least 10 can make it. I am the baby of the group with a big cluster of mid 30's, then a couple 40+. Everyone has something to contribute.

Now, the reason for my post title. It is little things that just get me so gitty. I can home from book club to a pile of dirty dishes, toys every where, Andrew with a fever, Lauren needing a night time dose of Motrin and a little note on the counter from my husband that said "I love you Kerry!" It but the biggest smile on my face and made the dishes and stress and kids' troubles just disappear. So, I think everyone who reads this today should find a way to do something little to give a big smile. Write your own love note, or send a girlfriend flowers... whatever you can think of!

Finally... FREE BEADS! (Yes I forgot again, sorry, lol) This week's winner is KATHY H! YOO HOO KATHY!! Thanks so much for all the support you guys. I am sure you all noticed I cut back to just two votes again. I decided I didn't like the pop ups all the time on Top-25 & my rank was never very high there anyway. I like artzee & My Oh My, so I am sticking with them :) Keep up the VOTING! THANKS SO MUCH!!

Time to curl up with Lauren & a movie.

Ch ch cha changes...

What a weekend! I have to say, I am so relieved it is over! LOL. Now I can destress and get back into my usual groove. Saturday's fall walk was lovely and we all had a frigidly fun time. The water was raging at the falls from all the rain. It was amazing. We were too late to see any good foliage but it was still a great trip just that same.

I have lots of photos to show you from the walk. So I made it is easy and put them all on one page for you. Check out "Fall Walk" to see how our day went. You'll see photos of the two waterfalls on the trail, our new family photo (Lauren wouldn't cooperate for), a cool old flour mill (one of several on the trail), pics of the kids, Ron in my sister's coat and a neat log that looked like an animal. After our lunch and walk, we stopped at several wineries. It was great! While at Miles, someone bought one of my necklaces. I was dying to go and talk to her, tell her "hey, I am the artist!" but stayed with my family. I just grinned happily the whole time.

The only downer of the trip was the kids and the car ride. The boys have been having a heck of a time behaving lately. They seem to be testing us every chance they get the past few weeks. They were just wild in the car... fighting, bickering, talking back... it was just rotten. That is why I say that I am relieved the weekend is over. Sunday was really no better with those boys. Ron and I ended up having a "military" school style day, for lack of a better term. We went and pulled all the toys out of their room, PS2 is away for a while and no dessert is happening anytime soon in our house. All things the boys are going to need to earn back with some good behavior. I hate being so hard on them but we can't keep having the kinds of days we have been having lately. And they seem to understand, a little. I will let you know how things go.

In the meantime, I have been working on beads. I have some cool experiments working in the kiln now. I decided to stick with the amethyst, dark lavendar and silver plum combo. I think it is perfect for winter. They'll be some mod dots, some plaids, cool shapes and all sorts of stuff. I am thinking I will have everything ready for the Bead Box on Friday. So stay tuned! Oh, lol, I bought another zoozii tool! (don't shake your head at me, lol) I got the "Kalera Long & Lean"... it makes "squeeze" beads. I have been trying to make them with my nugget press and they don't come out as nice as I would like them to. So I can't wait for it to get here! Yoo HOOOO!!!

My schedule is going to be thrown for a loop starting next week. I have decided to pull Lauren out of the preschool she is in. The program is just not working out and I am concerned for Lauren's safety. She came home today and told me a little boy was hitting her in the back. I spoke to the teachers and no one knows anything. Someone broke the necklace she wears off her neck and no one saw that either. I few weeks ago she was bit on the arm, the boy broke the skin and left a mark so deep you can still see it. She was in the nurse's office for being hit in the face with blocks too. It is just not a good environment for her. They have also changed teachers 3 times since September. I called the preschool where the boys went and thankfully, there is still openings! I am so relieved. But Lauren will be going just two afternoons a week instead of three mornings. So my time at the torch is going to get cut back. I will just have to work more in the evenings. We'll figure it out.

Gosh, what a bummer of a post. I hope you aren't miserable after reading this, lol. Just think... pretty beads coming on Friday! YOO HOOO!!!!

The Tickle

A tiny little tickle, that's how they all start. Those colds that knock you on your backside for a week. You are just going about your daily doing when you notice that little tickle twitch inside your nose. It is subtle at first, you don't think anything of it. Then by dinner it is actually getting annoying. You rub your nose, try to blow it, but nothing changes. It's just a tickle so nothing comes out when you blow. Then the next morning arrives! You wake up to flem on the insides of your teeth and enough snot to fill three tissues on the way to the bathroom. UGH! I hate colds! The first day is always nothing, just a nagging sniffle here and there, maybe a random cough until you are sturing the noodles to make lunch and you swallow. You know the swallow, that one with the tiny hint of a knot. You swallow again and it is gone but you know it'll be back in the morning. YEP THAT'S ME!!! I am getting my first cold of the season. I will dopeing up on Dayquil in no time, lol.

I can't complain through, other then my class tonight, and the walk tomorrow, I can take it easy for a few days. Not too many though, I got to get ready of the big holiday season that is oh-so-fastly approaching. Enough moaning though... on to bead stuff. The first pile o'beads are "pink ROCKS". I thought it would be nice to make beads that honor October's Breast Cancer Awareness. So I made them to use in a "Berry Wine" bracelet that I will make in class tonight and then donate after class. I decided to make enough for everyone to use them if they wanted to. Otherwise, they'll use these ones below. "Blackberry Wine" beads. Can you see the oil slick looking colors in the stringer designs. Really cool, huh, slightly metallic. I love 'em.

I don't think I have really told you what tomorrow is all about. You know we are going to the wineris and on a walk but you don't know the half of it. For as long as I can remember, my dad, mom sister and I have gone on a fall walk with my Uncle Pat, Aunt Heidi and their daughters. I am talking at least 20 years now. Then when Ron and I started dating and eventually our family, the tradion kept going. We have a big group these days with our 5, my aunt's 5 plus my parent's and sister and my other Uncle Danny, we are at least a 3 car parade of people. We start with a walk on the Outlet Trail in PennYan NY. We eat lunch a walk for an hour or so then we had over to Route 14 that runs along Seneca Lake. There are around a dozen wineries on Route 14. We stop at a few along the way. And then on the way home we hit a great pumpkin patch. # pumpkins for $10! And they are HUGE! We finish the night with a bonfire, pizza and wine in the backyard. This year it'll be in our backyard. The kids look forward to it all year. It is so much fun! I will have loads of pics for you on Sunday. But for now, a walk down photo memory lane. Here is our "Family Photo" from the walk for the past few years (as many years as I have had a digital camera, lol). And yes, Lauren is in all the photos, I was pregnant with her in the 2002 photo :)

2005

2004

2003

2002

Results

I am starting with the photo of my least favorite beads from the past 24 hours. These are "Island Greens". I was hoping for a different effect on the surface of the ivory using mosaic green (a color that "bleeds" when melted and looks like its crackled). They aren't aweful, but definately not my favorite. I don't know what I am going to do with them yet but for now, they are in a pile on my desk. LOL. Poor little beads.

These are just the opposite of the ones above. They turned out just how I hoped they would. I managed to run out of black glass (again) so I was force spread out what little I had over over several beads. So I made "squeese" beads instead of using enough glass to fill the whole space in my press. Those blue bands around the middles are "Picasso Blue", getting the color to strike is getting easier and easier. I get some great blues and misty greens this time. These will be a great bracelet in no time.

This is now my favorite of all the lariats. I LOVE this frit! There is just a hint of blue & green with lots of pink in it. I had fun snipping the glass into these cool abstract shapes. They are flat too so they lay just right. I used the same frit to make these beads too...

They got transformed into a simple link bracelet with sterling spacers. And I called it "Floral Meadow". There were even a few left over so it'll have matching earrings.

Finally, the big ol' buncha bangles that is heading down to the wineries this weekend. I did 3 with purles (grapey) and a couple of just fun ones! I am sure they'll love them. I had fun with the black/white & turquoise one, all the beads are cubes. I wanted to do something different.

So, all the wineries stuff is done and I spent the day making all the beads for tomorrow's "Berry Wine" class. My Mom was very helpful and made a surprise appearance this morning to play with Lauren so I could make them. To mix things up, I used metallic silver plum to do all the decorations on the surface of the beads. It gave them a cool filligree look to them. When they are done in the kiln, I will get a pic for ya'll. There are dozens of beads so picture of them all in a big pile will be cool. It was rough though, I have never sat and made 21 of the exact same bead, then stop and make 21 more of a different bead. I know there are bead makers that will "take orders" on beads having to make loads of the same one. I thought I might want to give that a try, lol. Not anymore! I like my one-of-a-kinders much better!

We are off to Andrew's open house at school tonight.

Imagination

I have a very imaginative 7 year old in my house! Last night , Andrew was playing with Lauren and he made her this Bionicle bracelet. Then he came up with these cool Kinnex ones.
I think they came out pretty great. It was so nice last night having him playing with his sister rather then antagonizing her and making her scream, lol.

Here is a peak at what I made today. These are all with beads you have seen before, tomorrow I will have stuff to show you with new beads. Yesterday was a long day and I never found time to get to the torch. I ended up cancelling that dentist appointment I thougth I would have this morning so I could make beads. I played with frits! I think they'll be pretty fresh. I also did a little with mosaic green and ivory. I am thinking those are going to turn out really earthy. We'll see.

But first up, old beads, new jewelry. Miles Wine Cellars requested some lariats, I made this one and the matching bracelet with the "Fallen Foliage" beads from last weekend.


I am very happy with how these turned out. These will highlight the beautiful colors of the landscape down state.

The next pair were made with the "Warm Holidays" from my Bead Box. I love the lariat, but the bracelet still needs work.

The chain is from Shiana LLC, and I thought it let itself to having dangles & being doubled up. I can't decide if I did the dangles wrong or if I doubled it up weird. I will figure it out though.

My plan is to make all the beads for the bangles tonight after I watch LOST! Gotta get in my Must-See-TV, lol. Then tomorrow I will finish assembling jewelry and in the evening make the beads for Friday's "Berry Wine" class. I think it's a good plan and I am sticking to it.

Hopefully I will have some more great pics for you tomorrow!

Glass Flowers

Well, here it is, the new bracelet I made yesterday with the cool Deepwood style beads. I love the colors and the little flowers turned out sweet. My favorite one is the transparent teal one. A couple years ago I did a lot of basket weaving and I had some really pointy super sharp shears. I pulled those snippers out of their dusty home and had a blast cutting hot glass. I can't tell you how cool it is to get a little area really hot then.... snip.... it is so cool! Who woulda thunk that you could cut molten glass with scissors? Really now, you can't cut cold glass with scissors, that's for sure!

I sent an email off to Fran at Deepwood to show her how the beads turned out. I didn't have any of her gorgeous silk cording to string them on so I just straight stung them. I used a loop of seed beads for the clasp. I think it turned out great but still looks too much like one of her designs so I think I will need to keep it for myself, bummer huh. I need to work out how I can use the technique but still keep my style in there. I know I will figure something out!

Another crazy day on my plate... I gotta get. I know I need to do the free beads drawing again. Don't worry, it'll get done by the end of the day! I'll let you know!

Funday

Happy Monday Beady Buddies!

Check out the wild beads I made for the Survivor Pool I am in. It was a glass artist pool so there are 20 participants (one for each survivor) and each person makes 3 beads. You mail the beads to the pool hostess and she mails them out to the top 3 winners. I made these yesterday morning before my Totally Twisted class. I played with red and blue because those are the colors of the buffs the survivors wear on the show. I had fun pulling and twisting, cutting and shaping the beads. It is really fun to just let loose sometimes. They definately aren't your average jewelry making beads. I wanted to pool winners to get beads that would definately remind them of where the got them, lol. If you found one of these laying on your desk a year from now you would surely remember, those are ones I got from the survivor pool!

My playful mood from yesterday was still with me today. I made beads for a few hours this morning and I can't wait for the kiln to ding that they are ready! I couple weeks ago I bought myself a bracelet from Deepwood Art, called "Brandied Red". I had asked Fran how she makes her flower shaped beads. She was nice enough to tell me how she does them and told me to give it a try. For some strange reason, today was the day that I was in the mood to try making them. I think they are going to be really cool. I made mine transparent teal with turquoise, I love those colors together! I will show you those photos tomorrow, FOR SURE!

I have a rather anxious feeling this week. I all a sudden have a lot on my plate at the moment. Miles Wine Cellars called with awesome news on Friday that she is out of almost everything she bought in August. And she wants to order loads more for the end of the season. Which is all fine and dandy. I am excited to make them new things, but she is hoping I can bring it down with me on Saturday when we are there for our annual Fall Walk. Eeeeekkkkk! Plus yesterday I found out that my "Berry Wine" class for Friday is full, that means I need to make 40 beads for the students! Double EEEEkkkkkk! Also up this week is Andrew's open house at school, a Wednesday dentist appointment, and Friday volunteer time at Jacob's school. I know I will get it all done, I always do, but until it is done, I am have a sick feeling in my stomach, lol. Anytime you all wanna shower me with reassurance, it would be wonderful, lol.

So... next few days, you are goona see loads of jewelry from me. Then next week, hopefully, you'll see loads of beads. Come back tomorrow to see what I cooked up today.

I see SPOTS!

Ultra Retro, Major Mod, So Cool... that is the tag line for the new "Mod Dot" beads I made last night. What do you think? I was working on a different idea for another set of beads and was getting incredibly frustrated. I put everything down and decided to try some "Mod Dot" nuggets. I loved the first one and just kept going, two hours and 5 rods of glass later, these where baking in the kiln. I think you all are going to see these and think... "Those are so coll but what would I wear them with?" Well, let me tell you exactly what I see you wearing them with! I see a great pair of khakis with a crips white button up shirt and a fabulous bracelet with these beads. I can also picture them in a bracelet with a fabulous little black dress too. I think that happens to most poor little bead sets... they are admired and adored... then pasted over thinking "what would I wear it with"? I will make a personal effort to give outfit idea with beads if you are having any trouble coming up with your own ideas, lol.

You'll see these beads in a new auction starting tonight. And I started them LOW so I hope you'll be bidding on them! Unlike the "Fallen Foliage" set which have yet to get a bid. Oh well, if no one wants them I guess I'll have to come up with something for them. I don't mind. I am going to need to get back into "Show Mode" soon. There is an open house in a few weeks and I got a call from the wineries yesterday. Everything is selling great and they are out of a ton! So they placed orders for more jewelry. We are planing a fall walk/wine tour next weekend, so I'll need to bring it down then.

Back to the auctions... you are also gonna see an auction for one of my Zoozii tools. I decided that since I have 10 and that there are at least 3 that I haven't used in months... that I could put them up on Ebay for some other lampworker to play with.(And maybe I can get that "long & lean" tool to replace them, lol) The one I put up first is the 15mm Pillow Press. It was my first Zoozii press and it isn't sold like this anymore. If you want this size these days, you have to purchase a trio. It is a very popular shape, but personally, I have fallen in love with the nugget so it is just gathering dust. If you are a lampworker... go check out the auction HERE!

For those of you sending me emails about the snow, although there were many schools in the area closed for the snow on Friday, we didn't see a single flake! About 50miles west of here got 2 feet. That is the thing about lake effect, you never know who will get dumped on! Today it is about 36 degrees and very very windy with big billowy clouds. It was raining most of the morning but nope, no snow yet. I'll let you know when the first flakes fly. Maybe we need a snowy set of beads? LOL, white and clear enamels on sky blue beads, hmmmm....

Ron has a big huge pot of sauce on the stove and my in-laws are coming by for dinner. Should be an excellent supper! I love Ron's from scratch sauce, it is outta this world! Depending on how dinner goes, I may try and get some more beads made tonight, if not, it'll be tomorrow or Monday. I know I know, you want new bead box beads... you didn't like those last ones, lol. I am working on it! I promise! I wanna come up with GOOD ones.

I am teaching the first Totally Twisted class of the Fall tomorrow afternoon. And guess what... THE CLASS IS FULL! And there is a waiting list for the next class. We are gonna have fun tomorrow. Maybe this time I might actually remember to take some pics at class!

sur-PIE-zing

bbbrrrrrrrrrr.... right now just one county away from here there is 4 inches of snow on the gound!! The lack effect band of snow off Lake Erie didn't hit East of Rochester, where I am, but the freezing temps are here. It is around 38 right now. Brrrrrr......

Lauren and I kept warm today with a visit from my Mom. I had called this morning and invited her for lunch & chicken soup. Once she got here she had something else in mind. She brought Lauren some new Shirley Temple movies (Mom has the entire collection on VHS) and decided we should make jelly tarts (roll ups). Mom is masterfully with pie dough. There is actually a secret family recipe that I am sorry, if I told you I would have to kill you.

My Mom and Lauren really have a very special relationship. My Mom loves spending time with Lauren and introducing her to new tradions. So today, Lauren learned Gee's (what she calls my Mom) secret recipe! She rolled all the tarts too. I made a Cherry Pie with some of the dough to surpise the kids for dessert. I also decided to go all out and do a special dinner. I did a big pot roast with potatoes and carrots, it was like butter, it just melted in your mouth. Yummmmmmmm!

With everyone's belly nice and full we are relaxing watching Survivor. No new beads yet, but soon! Check ya later.

The other after

Here is the missing "After" to yesterday's beads! What do you think? Pretty wild huh? The photo needs work. I can't seem to get a good shot of it. It is too yucky outside. But this will do for now. It isn't exactly what I was thinking last week, it turned out a little different but it is very close. I like it. It is going to take a special person to pull it off with just the right outfit. I will try and get a photo later today with it on my neck so you can see how it lays, it looks really cool. I think is definately an "Art" piece, don't you?

We woke to booming thunderstorms this morning, its very cold and gray out. I don't mind one bit, I could use the break. This kind of weather always has me curling up wanting to snuggle & relax. Between Monday night's torch session and yesterday's long day of cleaning & beading, I am whipped. While Lauren was at school I really wanted to make some Mod Dot beads but found I wasn't in the mood so I assembled this new necklace instead. I still used my torch though, lol. I made those links as double ended headpins out of pure silver so the beads are trapped on. I used the torch to melt the silver and make the pinballs. I really didn't have the energy to do a whole lot else. But maybe I will get a second wind. I can make Mod Dots tonight after LOST or there is always this weekend.

It is school picture day today! The boys woke up extra early to take showers before school. I trimmed the hair around their ears so they don't have weird wispy wings, lol. The both picked out handsome sweaters and Jacob begged to have the "indigo" colored background instead of the standard "slate". $4 extra just to change from gray to blue, I think it is rediculous! But I gave in. It was Lauren's very first time getting a portrait done. She was sooo cute. She wore a very pretty purple dress and I tamed her curls with detangler a little bit before school too. I hate waiting 2 months for them to come back :( I want to see them NOW! LOL. Oh well, hopefully they will be here in time for Christmas cards.

Anyway, that is about it for the day. I will see what I can come up with for tomorrow.

Befores & Afters

I ended up making beads last night until after midnight after everyone went to bed. I thought it would be fun to show beads before and after I made things with them. I love home decor before and afters so why not jewelry ones?

First up my new "Bursting Berry" bracelet ~

Before:

I made these last night. They are some of my favorite colors. I am always wearing purple. Mix in some enamels, evil purple disks and clear cubes and you have a fabulous puprle berry explosion!

After:


Next is a set of five beads that I am sure will have you saying "I never know what you are going to do next!" They are ultra retro, major mod dots!

Before:

These got turned in to a fun and funky link bracelet out of sterling silver.

After:

It is kinda on the short side so I'll need to add one more bead.

The next bunch of beads doesn't have it's after yet, but hopefully soon. I am going to use them in that design I told you about last week. I was up in the air for a while on what colors to use and what shape I wanted. I can't really explain why I went with transparent gray. I do know I used dustings of white enamel because I wanted it to have a soft snowy feel.

Before:


I can't wait to get the "After" done to show you for these. Soon.

Anyway, in other news... I got word from BeadStyle yesterday that my article is scheduled for March 2007. Which means it will ship in February 2007, just in time for my birthday! YOO HOO! I also realized that I was wrong about the date of my dentist appointment, so I will be making beads tomorrow too! Yoo HOO! I am thinking of a "Mod Dot" day for the Bead Box... what do you think?

This week's free beads winner is Elida K! CONGRATS ELIDA! I will post the new beads in just a few... I great focal... hope you like it. And thanks again for your wonderful support. :)

Today in the backyard...

I apologize up front for those of you on dial up... these are going to take a while to load. The kids and I spent the afternoon playing in the backyard. I filled my camera with our antics. I haven't taken the time to crop them yet, these are just as they were taken only made a hair smaller. So if you click them, they'll be normal size! I am not even sure if blogger is going to be able to load them even on my dsl connection. We'll see. Hopefully by the time I am done posting the photos, the batteries in the camera will have recharged and we can take lots more!

Check them out...
This is one corner of our backyard. We raked a lot of leaves but not nearly as many as we will be able to rake once that big maple sheds all those gorgeous red leaves!

These colors are just what I was thinking when I made the new set of beads "Fallen Foliage". I love LEAVES!

Here is the wreath on our front door. I made it! It is a couple years old now and it could use some sprucing up but it'll work one more season.

Now the kids... Jacob & The Rake, Lauren's Splash in the Leaves and Andrew with Bitty Kitty.

Last but not least... the view from my hammock. Lay back and look up... this is what you'll see. These trees all turned yellow. I love the sun filtering threw the trees.


So that is how we spent the afternoon. I haven't done the free bead drawing yet. I will wait and do it later this evening. I am not sure yet what the new beads will be. I will see what I can come up with :) We have to take advantage of the weather while we can. The forcast for the rest of the week is going down hill fast. They are even saying wet snow on Friday... it's early, but we can't stop it. Winter will be here before we know it. I made a prediction a few weeks ago that there would be snow on Halloween this year. Looks like I might be right :)

I also got a great delivery today from Thailand with goodies from Shiana LLC. I have lots of ideas for this stuff! I can't wait to get to the torch. Stupid baseball playoffs are on tonight instead of Prison Break so maybe I can do new beads tonight! I can't seem to pin down a color combo to work with though. I think I need to go threw my drawers and see what I would want to wear. I am hearing neutrals are really big this season. Hmmm... maybe ivory on ivory?

Foliage

The idea for these beads started to form in my head early last week. I thought it would be a while before I actually get to make them. But I couldn't get them out of my head last night so I woke up extra early this morning to make them. My only torch time in the coming days is going to be when everyone else is sleeping, lol. I LOVE how they turned out. Collecting brightly colored leaves and saving them on my window sill in the kitchen is one of my favorite things to do in the fall. The kids help too bringing in the best ones they can find.

I am calling them "Fallen Foliage". I used those new enamels again on these ones. I started with a clear base lentil then lightly sprinkled on a transparent gem green. Then on top of that I sifted my own personal blend of dark red, bright orange and butter yellow. Each is decorated with a simple black leaf. The leaf is only on one side of the bead, the other side is just the blended colors. To top them off, I made a dozen solid simple pebbles in topaz, ameythst and honey. They are just prefect compliments to the leaves.

I don't think I have seen another set of beads that have better captured the look of fall. These beads just scream FALL! Don't they? I want to hear what you think!

My faith in Ebay was restored yesterday with the end of my "An Artist's Ghost" auction. So I decided to list these ones later tonight. Even though I said I would be taking a break from Ebay. A girl can change her mind, can't she? I will give you all the link as soon as I have it. :) For now, enjoy the sneak peak!

After making beads durning the wee frosty hours this morning, I cleaned up the house (it was filthy, again) and then Ron & I packed up the kids for a picnic at the lake. So we grilled burgers and threw rocks in the water, just relaxed. Ron is working his tail off on this project for school. He only takes breaks to watch a few holes of golf on TV or to cook something. I really hope his "team mates" are working just as hard.

Now we have a pot of chili on the stove and the windows are letting the crisp fall breeze in.... aaahhhh.... I love FALL! I will see how early I get up tomorrow... maybe I can make another set this week :)