Friday, September 29, 2006

Artist Ghost Preview


EEEEKKKKKK!!! I am excited about these! I was able to make another set of beads today while Lauren was at school today. And they came out of the kiln just moments ago, literally. They spent more then 6 hours slowly cooling down. I was like a kid at Christmas waiting for them to be ready. I was sooo excited that I took them off the mandrels, cleaned them, strung and photographed them the second they got to room temperature. These beads are absoluttely amazing. I am going to keep working on the photos because I have yet to have one capture what they really look like. AAAAAHHHHH!! I am so excited!!

The beads were made with the silver R4 glass called Picasso Blue. You should see the rods, they start out a transparent cobalt blue and when you reduce the glass in the torches flame, out comes these amazing swampy blues and greens. I decided to call them "An Artist's Ghost". I think they have a raising mist quality to them, very eerie and very mysterious. Since the glass is named after an artist, the mist must be the ghost of Picasso. (Don't worry I haven't lost my mind, I am just using my imagination!) This set is BIG! There are 21 beads. A dozen small rounds, 3 large nuggets (larger then the ones you are used to seeing in the bead box) and 6 medium nuggets. If I saw these beads on Ebay by another artist, it would definately be an auction I would watch and bid on. I love these. I would keep them for myself if I thought I couldn't make them again. But I know I can, and I know I will. I am already thinking I need to make some in the spree shape.

PLEASE, let me know what you think of these!!! I wanna hear your thoughts.

Alright, enough playing on the computer. It is time to cook up some dinner and have some wine with Ron.

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Rainy Denim Days


You asked for them so you got them! The "Western Denim Days" beads have been loaded up into my "Bead Box"... go check them out!

I just sent out the group email letting everyone know and let me tell you, it was a pain. It seems that Yahoo!Mail thinks I have too many people on my mailing list. I have about 70 or so people on the list. And I had no trouble mailing you all two weeks ago but now there is a problem. I had to split you all up into two group and I had to remove some of the "extra" names like my Mom & sister. I am going to have to send customer service some emails to see what can be done about this. Weird huh? Oh well. You all know now so no harm done.

I do hope you all like the beads! But in case you don't, I came up with some "survey" questions for you all to answer to find out more about your likes & dislikes. I have seen "polls" on other website so I thought I could add one to mine! FUN huh? Go vote HERE!

I am going to hang out by the computer to update the Bead Box then I am heading out to teach tonight! See ya later!

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Just another Wednesday

I was thinking that I would post a "sneak peak" pic for you gals of tomorrow's bead box beads but decided I would make ya all suffer. You are gonna have to wait until tomorrow. LOL. Sorry. The kiln is still cooking and I have a quiet moment to update, if the timing had been better I probably would have snapped a pic for you. Oh well, what is another 24 hours wait? I will say, I think you are gonna like them! I am thinking I will have 6-8 sets. Yoo HOO! Is whole scheduling my time things really seems to be working well. The new thought in the back of my head is that bead box specials every week is over kill. You don't need that many beads. So I am going to try and have specials every other week and on the off weeks, I will make beads for me to use. Good plan huh? We'll see how long that lasts. lol.

Last nights coffee get together about the "Shop Til You Drop" Open House went really well. I was wrong about who would be there representing direct sale merchants. So here is the new list... Pampered Chef, Baby Splendor (it's new, google it, it's cool), Tastefully Simple, Stampin' Up (another cool craft thang), Mary Kay, a yet to be named handbag maker, and me. Should be GREAT! Last night was the first time everyone met and it was kinda quiet, kinda stiff, but I know by time the day rolls around everyone will be kicking back hanging out having fun. That is really important to me. I think these kinds of things should be FUN! Like, we are going to have PRIZES! What a great incentive to come! The more you spend, the more tickets you get to enter your name in the "Grand Prize" basket drawing. The basket will be filled with goodies from each vendor. I wanna win!

Ron is at school tonight. Me and the kids are just gonnna hang out and relax, do some homework, make some dinner, and what not until he gets home. I am going to torch again tonight before bed. I need to do a few more beads for tomorrow and I need to make beads for a class I am teaching tomorrow night. I had completely forgot I was teaching a "Sandy Lanterns" class. So I need to do some black capped raku beads. I need to do some anyway. I need to get the tutorial and finished piece to the magazine for photographing.

Ugh this blog sounds boring. Hmmmm... I wonder if there is anthing I can come up with to spice it up? Hmmm... any good gossip I should share? Bummer, I can't think of a thing. I will call my sister and make her take me out this weekend. That is always fun and leads to interesting tales.

See ya tomorrow with new beads!

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Tuesday Ramblings

My my what an eventful evening we had last night on the website. My stars! It all started yesterday afternoon when I tried to update my site with photos of the "Western Denim" auction. It was taking forever, it wouldn't load for some reason. After an hour of trying to get it to work on my own, I called Yahoo's free tech support. The first tech I spoke to determined it was my wireless connection. So I disconnected all the wires on our pc and direct connected the laptop to the cable modem. (anyone falling asleep reading this should skip to the next paragraph) Still the same. I called back (as I was instructed to) and I spoke to a cool guy named Dave for over an HOUR! In one attempt to get it working, he said he wanted to try to load a test page. He misstakenly turned my homepage into his test page. AAAHHHHH! And he couldn't get it back. He then found out the there seemed to be a universal problem with Time Warner, Comcast and some other provider dropping the connection to Yahoo. He had NO idea when it would be fixed. After another hour or two of stewing, trying to get it fixed with no connection, I had a light bulb moment. "I'll try my dial up service," I thought! It fixed the problem, almost. Somewhere in there for a short bit it got it back and took it out again then got it back again. Whatever the phantom loading problem was, it is fixed now, thank goodness. And the site is back to normal. I loaded the new free beads and I fixed the auction links... all is right in the cyber Kab's world.

Now on to more interesting things.... who knows this movie poster? Or rather, DVD jacket? I just about started jumping up and down when I was in Target today and saw this. This movie, The Last Unicorn (1982), is my hands down all time favorite ever cartoon from my childhood. I loved this movie when I was little. I can't believe they have re-released it on DVD (for only $9.44)! Of course I bought it, couldn't live with out it, and I am going to watch it later. Eeeekkk, I am excited to have it. And I know the kids are going to love it too. Come on now, unicorns, magic, wizards, the Red Bull, a castle... what's not to love? By show of hands, who has seen it? Who remember's it from when they were kids (or "young adults")?

I got a bit of bummer news this afternoon, my gallery piece that was supposed to be in the December 2006 issue of B&B has now been rescheduled for June 2007. And Bead & Button thanks me for my patience and understanding. Grrr... I was really excited about that. Oh well, next summer will be a blast with Bead & Button, BeadStyle and Step By Step Publications! So I won't complain.

Tonight should be fun, my friend Susan (aka Lauren's speech therapist & also book club member) is having a little coffee get together. Susan is a Pampered Chef consultant and had an idea to do an Open House with several home party companies this November. I am so happy she decided to ask me if I would represent jewelry in place of Sopata. It is a wonderful concept! There will be Pampered Chef, Party Lite, Mary Kay, Discovery Toys, Airrobone (I think) and me. Each "vendor" is going to have a room of her BIG BEAUTIFUL house to set up in. We are all combining our mailing lists to send out over 1000 invitations. It should be a great event. I will let you know more details as it gets closer. This maybe the gig that makes me venture into the "home party" side of the jewelry biz. We will see how it goes. I would definately need a plan ahead of time as to weither I am going to do selling parties, or teaching parties and that kind of thing. If any of you readers do home parties, let me know. I would love to pic your brain about it!

I am off to make enchiladas and then head out to coffee at Susan's. Everything is still on track for tomorrow's bead making and Thursday's bead box beads.

CONGRATS TO Mari Beth! This week's free beads winner! YOO HOO!

Monday, September 25, 2006

Issues Resolved

I think the home page is back up and running. And I was able to get the auction listed too. Click here to get your bid in on "Western Denim". I will do all the free beads stuff tomorrow. I dan't want to risk messing the site up again tonight.

Thanks for your patience!

IMPORTANT!

MAJOR TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES!

It seems that my homepage has gone missing. I have been on the phone with tech support at Yahoo Small Business Sevices for about an hour now. The guy I was talking tried to load a "test" page to see if the problems were on my end or yahoo's. In doing so he wiped out my index page! I will keep trying to get it back but I am told the problem is with my ISP dropping the connection to Yahoo for some reason.

I will let you know when I get it back!

Western Denim Days


Well, here they are... "Western Denim"! These are the beads I was so excited to see come out of the kiln. I think they turned out great! There is so much depth and detail to them. I know the winning bidder of these beads is going to love them. I wanna hear your thoughts on these! So, let me have it. Remember, you can click the photo to see the larger image. I am trying to get the autcio for these set up to start later tonight but there seems to be somethign going on with yahoo web hosting right now. Hopefully it is fixed soon. I will share the link to the auction as soon as I have it.


I did just like a said and worked on bead box beads all morning. I made all the focal beads today and I will work on the rounds Wednesday. So watch for the bead box update on Thursday! They are all the colors you see in these beads, just not as over the top as these are. I think you'll like them. I love the splattered spray paint look of those enamels! So there is a little of that in the bead box beads too.

So other then the new beads, there is nothing new to report from me. I have a terrible case of the blahs and I am working on trying to get rid of them. I'll keep you posted.

Sunday, September 24, 2006

Sunday Afternoon

Hey devoted blog followers...

Who noticed me post the "Speckled & Spooky" beads on Ebay last night? Well if you didn't see just click HERE to check them out! I started then at 99 cents. I start all my "holiday" beads that way. I did my valentine's beads that way too. I hope you all will go bid like crazy!

I just came in from the torch a few minutes ago and I can't wait to see the beads tomorrow. These are going ot be really cool... I think. LOL. You never really know until they come out how they will really be but they have me jazzed to pull them out in the morning. Have you noticed the big "twisy" bead trend going on in the Ebay bead world? For examples click HERE, HERE & HERE. Well, I suck at making twisties. I have tried (albeit a while ago) and just couldn't get a good twist. BUT!, Lynnie over at Artemis Beads can make awesome ones! So I bought a couple dozen to try my hand at the twisty bead craze. And that is what I spent today working on. I decided to go with my "Western Denim" color combo of transparent root beer brown with ivory and turquoise. You all know I had to find a way to be different so I added splashes of dusty brown enamels too. And then to top it off... I added some plaid!!! It took more then two hours to make 9 beads. That is a long time for just a few beads, but I am hoping it will be worth it.

I know you all have been chomping at the bit for new bead box beads. I have been reading the email requests. So tomorrow I am going to stick with the "Western Denim" colors and make bead box beads while Lauren is at school. Cross my heart. I was in the psycho show mode for so long in August and September that I couldn't make the switch back to my usual bead routine. I am hoping to find my groove this week. Hang in there with my while I look for it, okay, lol.

I am gonna go get some dinner started... who's watching Desparate Housewives tonight?

Friday, September 22, 2006

Speckled & Spooky


I know, I know... it's been ages since you have seen a set of beads from me. Well, the waiting is over. What do you think? This set is "Speckled & Spooky", my alternative Halloween set of beads. I decided that you have plenty of choices when it comes to glass candy corns, pumpkins, and other cutesy beads. I wanted to do something different. I made a base of black and added enamels in subtle yellow and bursting orange. The orange is definately the dominate of the two enamels. There is a kinda squashiness to the color. I really like it. But I want to hear from you all. What do you think? Will you bid when I put them up on Ebay? Or are they just too out there?



I feel exhausted right now. It was such a long day here. It started extra early with Ron watching the Ryder Cup "streaming" on the golf channel.com. Wonderful husband he is, he got up early, made cinnamon rolls then used the last of the cream for the coffee! Grrrr... I made beads while Lauren was at school (see above photo)then this afternoon we went to the farm where my cousin Charity keeps her two horses, Clover & Shamrock. Lauren loved Clover and even got to ride her! I wish I had my camera it was soo cute. Then Lauren and I planted some new flowers in the gardens. I spent the rest of the afternoon finally updating my "Bracelets" page on the website (go check it out!) and the "Sold Items" page. I was cropping and editing photos until I could see straight. But it is finally done! Ron then went golfing with a friend and I ordered pizza. See, I am tired!

Anyone catch Survivor last night? It was great. I loved seeing my man JP arguing in tribal council. GO JP! Then I balled watching Grey's Anatomy. Dang that show knows just what buttons to push to make me cry. Gotta love it. It is replaying right now, I can already feel my eyes stinging. I am sending the kids to bed soon and gonna read a little bit. I will let you know when I post the new beads on Ebay. I wanna hear your feedback first! So let me hear it!!!

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Blue Breeze

Look, I was finally productive this week! This first photo is of a set I worked on yesterday experimenting with my new enamels. Click on the picture and check it out up close. You'll see a sort of spray paint speckled looking texture to the beads. I am not sure what I'll do with these. I thought I would make a bracelet but the strand is too short. I will need to make a few more beads first. Unless one of you all have an idea in mind for them. If you want them, email me! There are 5 ovals, 6 disks and 1 lonely speckled round. I can't wait to get to play with these enamels more. I am working on an "alternative Halloween" set for y'all with enamels.

I also made these beads yesterday, along with the bead in the original colors of the first "Breeze" necklace. This is "Blue Breeze". I made the necklace today (actually 2 of them). I am going to send both to BeadStyle Magazine. That way they can use which ever one suits the season they want it in. Maybe that way they can use it in one of the Spring or Summer issues instead of waiting until Fall of next year. I'll just have to wait and see what they decide. When I know the publication date, I'll let you know.


I took a close up for you of this bead in particular. Look... it's STRIPED! I used that nailpolish trick from the plaid beads and painted on stripes. Then etched the beads. After they were in the solution for a while, I cleaned off the nailpolish. So the shiny parts are where the nailpolish was. Neat huh? I love this shade of teal blue.

So that is about it for today. We are going to Jacob's 4th grade OPen House tonight. Then my favorite show... SURVIVOR is on! Followed by my other favorite show... GREY'S ANATOMY! And it's the season premire tonight. I pretty much plan on being a couch potatoe this evening, lol. Then tomorrow I will see if I can finish the new Halloween beads... I will let you know who they turn out!

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

La-TEA-Da

I had this wonderful post all written up for y'all yesterday then stupid blogger wouldn't load it. So sorry about seeming so quiet. And unfortuately, you can't assume that just because I am quiet that I am getting loads done. I haven't done a thing in days! But this morning I am making beads... no ifs ands or buts about it. So until tomorrow enjoy what I wrote yesterday.

Tuesday September 19th 2006...


What until you see the pictures from today's adventure... we went to a tea party! It is my Mom's Birthday today! So to celebrate we decided to go out to afternoon tea at La-TEA-Da Tea Room here in Rochester. Tea parties are a special thing for Lauren & my Mom, they have them all the time. Needless to say, we were all giggling and pointing our pinkies.

The tea house is located inside an old Victorian house that are just everywhere in our city. It is painted with pink and purples, too cute. Inside, each room is lavishly decorated. Our table was in the Red Room. There was a HUGE mirror over an old fireplace and big huge windows. There was a bench full of hats under the window, in case you didn't bring your own, lol.

Everyone instantly adored Lauren! The owner said she has never seen a three year old sit for tea so nicely. LOL. They took her picture and said they are going to put it on their website. Anyway, we had the "afternoon tea" that was on the menu. We each had a bottomless cup of tea, scones with devonshire cream and jams, quesh (sp?), assorted finger sandwiches, chocolate covered strawberries and finger size desserts. We were all sighing with fullness by the end.

For tea, Mom started with Berry Berry, my sister had Cinnamon and I had the Cranberry Apple, all Herbal teas. Then for the second batch I had Blueberry Bingo and Mom & Bonnie both wanted my Cranberry Apple. Lauren put honey and sugar cubes in everyones drinks for them. And of course she was wearing her white Alice in Wonderland style gloves while she did.

As soon as the boys get home we are heading back over to my parents house for cake and ice cream! Then later I have book club. I haven't made any beads lately, and I am dyeing to so hopefully I can get some great ones tomorrow while Lauren is at school.


This week's free beads winner is CAROLE! YOO HOO! New beads are posted. Thanks again for all the support everyone!

Sunday, September 17, 2006

Last step... sweep

That wasn't so bad... I thought I was going to be working on that mess ALL day but was woken up early by my Dad calling Ron to go golfing so I was about to get an early start. I spent about 5 hours and I think it is dang near done. Check it out! Look at that sunlight I got coming in that window! You can't see it is this photo but my front garden is right outside that window so in the summer I will have a beautiful view of purple cone flowers and mums. The basket on top of the small shelf thing next to the computer is one I made and it is now full of all my packaging stuff. Lots of gift boxes and tissue paper with packaging envelopes. The computer is actually the grotesquely slow one you hear me complain about. The kids use it for games since I got my laptop, and I tend to keep that upstairs. When I get another second, I will get out a few of my display busts and put them on the top shelf of the computer table by those earrings.


Here is that view from the deck doorway again. Told you I would clean it all up! Ron still has a little bit to do. He has a pile of paperwork to organize and he needs to figure out what is going to happen to the electronics but that shouldn't take long at all. See the empty table there to the right... that is where my photo set up will go. I am going to order a photo light box and set it up there. For now, I am going to keep the torch outside but if I find I can't take the cold in the winter, I may bring it in.


These shelves got cleared of the dozens of disney movies filling them to store my books, magazines, bills, officey stuff and seed beads (see they are on the bottom self to the right.) Another couple of my handmade baskets (I took basket weaving classes before I got into jewelry making) it is full of bills I have paid, paper for the computer and that kinda thing. I got a great tip off of Eni Oken's website. She said she keeps her wire in large envelopes marked with the guage and shape. So I got my wire all sorted, wound up and in clear envelopes. Works out great!


I just love how much light I have coming in this window. I think even on a cloudy day I will have a lot of light, even if it isn't sunlight. I took a bunch of plastic baskets I had to sort some of my most frequenly used findings. There is one for my silver scraps, one for bali beads, one for accuflex and one for all the rounds. I think this will get me to put stuff back, lol. Trying to get it into all those little drawers just wasn't cutting it for me. Gotta love my Ott Light too. You can't tell it is on when the window is open but when I was down there last night it lit the whole table up great! And of course, when you get to meet as many other artist as I do, you gotta have a cork board for business cards, send me yours, I'll stick it up there.


Having everything all sorted, organized and in it's proper place... I am really excited to make something! But I gotta make beads first, lol. Lauren has school tomorrow so I will get to make some beads then. I really can't wait. Now, who wants to make a bet that this picture looks like the one from yesterday of my desk by Christmas, lol.

For lunch today we decided to pack a quick picnic and took off to our favorite park at the lake. I will share some of those photos tomorrow. For now, I gotta get outside and do some weeding. Oh and Ron wants to close the pool... definately time for that. I don't see anymore swimming in our near future.

Anyway.. let me know what you think of the changes!

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Step One... move furniture

I am totally making up for this week's major laziness with the work that I did today and have left to do tomorrow. Now, I must say... I am extremely embrassed by the clutter and just plain mess that is my downstairs family room. However, I promised I would show you photos so I am sucking it up and sharing it. But I assure you, I am somewhat of a neat freak (at least compared to others I know although not nearly as much as my MOM) and tend to just avoid this area most of the time because it is just so hard to keep clean.

In case you have no clue what I am babbling on about... I started the studio remodel today! Check it out... This is how the room looked when I started around noon today. Look close and you will see my jewelry desk in the foreground to the left and my computer table to the right. I am standing in a doorway out to our deck. Missing from the photo is the blue denim couch that was between the two end tables on the left. The room is about 12 feet wide and 20 feet deep. So long and narrow, kinda hard to deal with.


See our house isn't huge so we had the couch downstairs and the love seat upstairs in the small living room we have. Now that love seat is out to the curb and the couch is upstairs. Okay, cover your eyes, don't look at the next photo... it is my jewelry desk! AAAHHHH! See what preshow frenzy does to my workspace! I spent more then an hour just packing all this up! And will no doubt spend at least three tomorrow UNpacking it. I need to take a trip over to Loews and pick up some new hardware organizers. My two are FULL! Look at the tilting pile in the back, lol... it could really do some damage!



So slowly, and all by my lonesome (hmmmm.... Ron's idea yet he had to "mow the lawn" for hours instead of helping), I moved that park bench, the end tables, the rug, packed the desk and started deciding on the new layout. I knew I wanted my desk under the window, but clueless about where I wanted to put everything else. Ron did come through a few times with "suggestions"... I don't know about you all's experiences with these "suggestions" but I have found if I don't do the "suggestion" then I usually get told that I shouldn't ask for help if I am going to do it my way anyway then he storms off and pouts for awhile. UGH, MEN!


There is still lots more to do tomorrow. But most of the major moving is done. Except for that TV on the right side there, it needs to find a new home tomorrow. And that disney table too, oh and that big stupid broken fax machine on top of it... those bookshelves need moving and the two end tables are not staying there. ALL the stuff on the top of my desk need organizing and putting away, too. SEE I TOLD YOU I WAS MAKING UP FOR MY LAZINESS! Look at how hard I am working!

Come back tomorrow and I promise it will be totally put together!

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Another lazy day

So what did y'all think of the Trunk Show yesterday? Was it a good idea? Should I do it again somtime? All the beads are gone and in the mail on the way to their new homes. Since everthing went so fast, I am assuming you liked it, lol. Maybe we can make this a new post art show tradition? Hmmm....

Anyway, Lauren and I are having a really lazy day. We ran some errands this morning and stopped at Old Navy. I love Old Navy... trendy clothes... cheap prices... who cares if their quality makes them only last one season when you aren't spending a ton on them? I got a couple sweaters for myself and Lauren needed a couple long sleeve shirts. She seems to think that you can still wear a tank top when it is raining and 60 degrees. We are really going to need to work on that! My Mom went along for the little shopping outing and we stopped by my sister's apartment to drop her off some of my Mom's homemade chicken noodle soup. With these cool rainy days we have had this week, I could really go for a bowl myself. Fall is totally in the air! I love it. Makes me want to curl up with some fuzzy socks, a cup of coffee and a good book. My absolute favorite thing to do! Lauren has been asleep since we got home and I have just been reading emails and running laundry. See... lazy day, I told ya.

Oh, I almost forgot... did anyone notice whatelse I added to the website yesterday?!? There is a HUGE new selection of EARRINGS! Go check them out, let me know what you think. And there is a new necklace on the Glass Necklace page. It's one that I made last week before the show but never got around to photographing it. Now it is up there.

So... anyone as excited as I am for Survivor to start tonight? I am in a Survivor pool and I have "JP". You know what the top three people win? BEADS! Everyone in the pool makes 3 lampwork beads and mails them into the organizer. So first second & third place gets one bead from everyone in the pool. Can you ask for a better prize? I know most people can't stand Survivor anymore but I am still addicted. My Fall Must See TV line up is Survivor, Gray's Anatomy, Prison Break, Lost and eventually 24 when it starts in January. Otherwise, I could care less what is on. I tend to watch movies more then TV. I used to watch the Today Show but now that Merideth is on, I can't watch it. I saw it this morning and her voice was making my skin crawl. She was better on the View.

My my, I am babbling today. See what boredum does to me, lol. Turns me all chatty. I thought I would let you know, I plan on focusing on finishing the knob commission over the next few days. I have just 5 knobs left. Then I will see what I can do about some new beads. I saw some fabric on tv that was maroon, gray & white... I think it would make some sweet beads.

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Trunk Show Tomorrow


I decided that I am going to a Bead Box Trunk Show tomorrow with leftover beads from this weekend's show. I was going through what jewelry I had left and found I had lots of neckwires. Rather then let the beads go to waste just sitting in a box for two months until my next show, I thought I would string 'em up for you all to use! This photo is a sneak peak of the beads that will be in the box tomorrow. And to mix things up I decided to add some of the ceramic disks that I got last week from Mykonos Beads to the sets.

I got a bunch of photos done before it started to rain a little while ago. And still have lots more to take. I will work on that tonight and tomorrow then hopefully get my website updated with that jewelry is actually left, lol. It is going to take a while to update the sold page, lol.

So, I will send an email tomorrow when I am ready to open up the trunk! Until then... go check out the latest free beads :)

Monday, September 11, 2006

You really won't believe this!


You really really won't believe my latest bit of amazing news, because I don't believe it! LOL! I just got an email from the editor at BeadStyle magazine, and this piece is going to be in an upcoming issue! AAAAHHHHH! Can you believe it?!?! How do I get so lucky?

I love being in Step By Step Wire and was so thrilled to have copies out at Clothesline this weekend. But it can be hard to find. Not everyone knows about it or can get it. But BeadStyle... it is in every grocery store! I will have to make another one of these. It sold this weekend, but I don't mind. I may play with the colors a bit and see how it comes out. I truely never throught I would ever have anything in Bead & Button or BeadStyle. I am so thrilled!

This week's free beads winner is Luisa S! Congrats Luisa! And as always thanks so much for you support, I do so greatly appreciate it. I will get some new beads posted soon :)

Sunday, September 10, 2006

My first...


~*Sigh*~ it's done. I got home from Clothesline a couple hours ago and it was such a relief. I had another incredible day. I met so many wonderful people, and had so many more pieces sell. It was just great, and by far, my best show ever. Then, I arrived home to a wonderful dinner made by Ron with a great bottle of wine icey cold. I couldn't ask for a more perfect ending to my weekend.

I had such a good day, that I made a bold move (bold for me anyway) and purchased my first true work of art. The photos tonight are of the piece I purchased. It is by an artist named Mark Groaning (he has a studio at Artisan Works click it to check it out) and his pieces are like nothing I have ever seen. He works in many different mediums (including lampwork occasionally) but at Clothesline he features his painted windows. These are salvaged windows that are reverse painted (meaning he paints the back of the glass not on the front, very hard to do) with a paint mixture that he designed. And he paints the frames as well. The photos are just appaulling compared the beauty of this piece. It is about 18inches wide and close to 3 feet tall. There is so much depth to the colors and detail to the image. The texture is just amazing. I spied this piece yesterday called "Leaning Bouquet" and I loved it. Then I saw it again this morning, still thinking it was too expensive (though worth every penny). At about 4:30 this afternoon, I went to his booth again and it was still there! I said "I want it, I am gonna get it." (To hell with my husband's moans about the cost.) When I took it back to my booth and stared at it, I actually started to cry. It moved me to tears. I have never bought myself a real work of art like this.


It is actually made to hang with the light shinning through it, again this photo is aweful! I wish you all could see just how spectacular the colors are! A few weeks ago, I mentioned to Ron an idea my Mom had for redoing the floor plan of your house. She had suggested moving our master bedroom to the finished family room in our downstairs/basement (she's weird, but it was a good idea, hard to explain). Anyway, Ron hated the idea, but said what he would really like to do is make the whole family room into my studio. And I think in the coming weeks, we are going to do it! In the center of one wall we have a large double window, and I am going to hang this painting in that window and my main jewelry making desk will be right under it. I am so so so excited about this! I will share photos all through out the project. I will have more desk space, shelving, an area to organize shipping things, and maybe (just maybe) we are talking about moving my torch inside.


This last photo is of the view of the museum I had all weekend. Isn't it awesome! As far as weather goes, we really really lucked out. Saturday we had on quick shower that lasted about 10 minutes and then it was just menacing and threatening the rest of the day. Today was spectacular! It was a little cold but not unbareable. My sister and I kept breaking out in goose bumps when the breeze would blow. By noon the sun was out (though it stayed cool) and people were out in hords. I love the crowds at this show. This show has a cover charge so I think it ends up drawing a much more appreciative crowd. They know they are looking at ART! And not just your everyday street show crafts.

I will need to take a couple days off to recoup. Tomorrow while Lauren is at school, I will unload the van and access what little inventory I have left. But really, now that Lauren is in school, I have 6 hours every week I can devote to bead making. Which is actually a lot more then you would think. It is more then I usually have quiet and to my work. (Except right before a show when I have help from my Mom, THANKS MOM!) I am excited! I am going to start to try my hand at adding enamels to my beads. HEY, maybe I could do a Mark Groaning "Leaning Bouquet" inspired set with enamels.... So hopefully, you'll be seeing new beads soon.

Lastly, I just want to say thank you so much to all of you who have been sending me such uplifting and supportive emails. You all are amazing and so good to me. Thank you so much for caring so much about me. I love y'all right back!

Saturday, September 09, 2006

And the results are in....


You know, I thought I was on cloud nine when I got my magazine issue on Tuesday... but I was wrong, I am even higher with excitement now.

Today was my best day ever! I feel terrible that I don't have many photos for you but there just wasn't the time. I actually had a line in my booth at one point. I had some of my favorite pieces sell, I am kinda sad to see them go. "Autumn Threads","Fiesta", "Breeze", and "At The Playground" are all off to new homes. Out of two dozen bangles, I am down to 5. I am trying to mark things as sold on my website. I am so relieved I didn't spend a ton of time putting everything up on my website just to have to take it down. I will have to make updates this week with what pieces are left after the second day of the show, tomorrow.

I had a WONDERFUL helper today. Lauren's speech therapist, Susan, who I have really gotten to know over the past year & a half, was there to be my buddy first thing in the morning. She was such a great help. She has many years of retail sales experience under her belt and was busy rearranging/straighten/boxing/writting up jewelry with me. She even got some Hoilday shopping done too. We filled up with lots of roasted cinnamon almonds and a crepe for lunch.

I am really tired so I hope this makes sense and that I haven't made too many spelling errors, LOL. My sister will be with me tomorrow! I will try to make one or two things tonight to fill in gaps but for the most part, I think it will be a pretty easy day.

Thanks so much for all the supportive emails you all have been sending! I really appreciate it!

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Avoidance Maneuver




I didn't think I would have time to post anything today and technically, I don't, put I am avoiding my responsibities, lol. Here is a bunch of photos of what I made yesterday!

I had a great day today with my Mom and Lauren. We went and go tthe Blueground jewelry, no idea why it wasn't moving... this stuff is gorgeous! I am so excited to have it back for this weekend. Then we surprised my sister with lunch, then scouted out my location at the show. PRIME SPOT! I am talking awesome! Then we stopped into a cool little place, that I am going to try and get into after the show. Awesome jewelry at this place. I will let you know details when I know more.

Now I am supposed to be doing all that cleaning, sorting, pricing and boxing but I am not. I am just not in the mood, lol. But I will get my backside in gear soon. I don't exactly have a choice do I?!

Oh alright... I will go get my stuff done, ugh.

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

PUBLISHED!


Did you all get the email I sent out yesterday? Check it out! I got my magazines yesterday and I am so so excited. It doesn't seem real seeing my name in print. Like these are some kind of joke and someone just made them on their home computers, lol. But no, it's really real. I have even got an email with an offer for discounts on wire if I will mention them in my next article. It's pretty crazy! I have had another article excepted for next year, too. "Sandy Lanterns" will be a project in an up coming 2007 issue! YOO HOO! I hope I can continue to come up with tutorial worthy projects.

As far as the actual prints... I have to say, I am extremely disappointed with the photos that the magazine took. The colors are ALL wrong. The "Berry Wine" beads look red when they are purple and the "Harvent Moon" beads look blk wht & yellow when they are lavander and amber, weird. I showed my Dad last night (he has been a pressman for 20 yrs) and according to him it is the printing not the photos, but oh well. That's what's in there, no changing it now, lol.

Lauren had a great first preschool day this morning. She had no issues what so ever leaving me, jus ttook right off to play. And her teachers said she had so much fun. I got lots of beads made while she was gone, yoo hoo. And the kiln should be ready in another hour or so. Great thing about morning beads is that they are done by dinner :)

On a somewhat disappointing note, I spoke with the owner of Blueground Jewelry today and it doesn't look like my jewelry is the right fit for his shop. I am going to go by tomorrow and pick up my pieces. But never fear, I will find another shop where the fit is better. I am thinking I will look into the Museum Store this weekend while I am at the show. Plus I could really use the extra inventory for the show this weekend!

You probably won't hear from me tomorrow. I need to clean price and package all the jewelry, then get the van all loaded for Friday's show set up. But if I come up with something I can't wait to tell you, you might hear from me then, lol.

Lastly, did you see I added MyOhMy Shops to the voting buttons. Please, don't feel like you have to vote everywhere. I think three places is really over kill and I feel bad asking. But this is a new ranking place that doesn't just rank bead sites but ALL sorts of internet shops. I am trying to decide which of the three I should drop, give me a week to figure it out, k? In the meantime, vote where ever you want :) And I tried to hunt down a good set of free beads for ya but just couldn't come up with any I could spare so we are making this week "Winner's Choice". The winning voter gets to pick the color combo and I'll make the beads! How's that sound?


Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Bouquets of Sharpened Pencils


It's today, it's today, it's today! THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!! I think I am as excited as the kids are. The gang got on the bus this morning with out a hitch. Jacob was by far the most excited. He didn't sleep a wink last night. He was up at 11pm when I went to bed and up this morning arounf 6am. He says he just stared at the wall all night. He is so nervous about 4th grade. Rumor has it that 4th is the toughest year with the most homework and hardest state tests. Andrew, always the opposite one, couldn't get out of bed this morning. He said he would go to school tomorrow. LOL. But once his juices got going he was ready to go. Lauren was a hoot. She thought she would get to go to school on the bus too. She was really bummed when she had to wait and have Momma drive her. Today was an open house style day for the preschoolers. We went just for an hour. Tomorrow starts the regular 9-11:30 days. She will be going M-W-F. I am a little nervous about the preschool I chose. It is new and it is a blended classroom. Most of the children are special needs. She is one of the mainstream students. I worry that since she doesn't need special attention, she won't get any at all. But there are 5 teachers for 15 students, so I hope that doesn't happen.

Did everyone have a good Labor Day? We went to a baseball game and had a blast! I had time before the game to string up the Vintage Romance beads. Check them out!



The coral pink was very very tempermental this time around. So a bunch of the beads that turned a gross flesh color went into the bad bead jar. But these were usable. You like?

This was about all I got done yesterday. But today should be very very productive. I am expecting deliveries from Mykonos Beads, Jewelry Supply, Heritage Glass and BeadShop. Plus I got some tips on frit beads I want to try out. I may have been melting the firt too fast, I want to see what colors I can get melting it slower. Frit beads are FUN! Simple, colorful, and great in everything.

Lisa D was this week's free beads winner! YOO HOO LISA! Thanks so much for your continued voting support! I will get new free beads posted this afternoon :)

Sunday, September 03, 2006

Another Progress Report

Are you the least bit bored yet with my life? LOL! I sure am, it's noting but beads & jewelry, beads & jewelry, beads & oh yeah, more jewelry. You have to be thinking "doesn't she have a life?" Well, as a matter a fact, I don't! This is all I do... but you know, it's all to get ready for next weekend. Then I will make a point of doing something interesting other then jewelry, just to have something juicier to share with you all. In the mean time... it's just another blog post full of my latest.

First up... "Follow Your Bliss"... my friend Lindsey reminded me that I haven't done a "sayings" bracelet in a while. So I pulled out my stamps, hammer and anvil today and started banging out new sterling disks. My alphabet kit came with a bunch of phrases and words to help inspire you. I liked this saying a lot. Did you gasp when you saw the beads? I DID! They are by bead artist Melanie Moertel. I am a HUGE fan of her beads,unfortunately I can't afford them. But I was lucky enough to win this set a few weeks back. (Only $81 can you believe that?) They are just gorgeous and I have been waiting for the right project to use a few on, this was it. I have more sterling disks ready that say "Live Love Laugh", "Happily Ever After" and "Dream Believe Hope" just waiting for their beads to come along.


Do you remember me mentioning some very special (aka expensive) glass called Kronos & Olympia Rain? Well it is handed made rods of glass and is impossible to get. But there is a smaller less well known company making 4 very similar hand pulled colors known as R4 glass. It costs $100 a pound! (Moretti costs about $15 p/lb). I decided to spludge and got a half a pound, just 8 rods. These beads were made with that glass. I am still practicing and trying to figure out how to pull the colors out of it. But man is it beautiful when you can get it to work!

I took one of these beads and decided to try somethign different. I would really like your opinions on this one...

It is one of the sterling disks as a pendant with a single bead. I like it, it feels great on and I can make it say anything. But do you like it? The lighten was terrible to see the beads beauty but you get the idea of the concept. Let me know your thoughts!

Last but not least... Western Denim neckwires & bangles. These were beads I made late Thursday and early Friday. I had been forgetting to show you them. It is a great color combo for fall! Really rich and warm. Ivory and transparent turqoise are very reactive when used together. The ivory makes the turquoise look like a swampy green ( but a good swampy green, lol). You all had better be keeping track of the color combos you really really like. Once next weekend is over, I will be back to making bead box beads. You can say "I really liked your Western ones... do some of those for us." And I will!



One of my favorite color combos is cooking in the kiln right now. I call it "Vintage Romance". It is a twist on red & pink & white... it's ivory, dark red brown and coral pink. I can't wait for the kiln to be down! I also worked on some fun focals for more disky pendants and I was playing with that R4 glass more too. I will let you know how everything turns out!

Saturday, September 02, 2006

NEWS FLASH!!

HURRY! Go check your mailboxes! I just heard the subscriptions for Step By Step Wire have been sent out and some are being received already! A member of LampworkEtc.com sent me a note congratulating me on the articles. I HAVEN"T EVEN GOT MINE YET!!

Let me know if you got it!

Rainy Day Results


Who got their October issue of Bead & Button? Do you recognize this project? It is the tutorial by Nancy Sells Puffer. Nancy has a very unique style that weaves liquid silver beads in and out of her lampwork beads. I love it. Reminds my a lot of the work of Cassie Donlen. Cassie's beads are what made me want to learn lampworking. Cassie's beads are very different from Nancy's but Cassie weaves seed beads in and out of her bracelets. So here is my version... "Coffee House".

I am not very good at following directions so I don't think I actually did what the tutorial said. But I really wanted to give it a try. Then I wanted to see how I could incorporate into my own style. So, since I am a wire woman... I decided to try and weave the liquid silver in and out of wire winks. I LOVE the results! This is "Ripples". You don't quite get the effect of the silver winding in the photo but trust me, it is beautiful on your wrist.

Anyway.. that is how I have been spending my rainy day. I tried to make beads but wasn't in a good mood so it didn't go very well. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. I will let you know!