My Life In Idioms

I am is such a state of limbo here in the ole KAB studio. I am treading water. I am on tenterhooks. I am flying in a holding pattern. But I am not one to stand with curlers in my hair. My breath has been bated too long and I am starting to turn blue. A serious shade of sad blue. Suspense is killing me and I need to be put out of my misery. I am sure everyone comes to this place now and again. I took a big risk and I need to have patience, I have to wait. I need to have faith. I have to know that what is meant to be will be. All so easier said than done.

I wish I could create my way through this waiting, but my energy feels spread to thin and I just can't find the mindset to paint or bead or knit or sew or anything. I just pace and wonder and dream and sulk and have a random water gun battle and pace and hit refresh on my email a million times and debate internally and sulk and wish and dream and oh-woe-is-me a while and pick peas in the garden. It is a vicious cycle and it is messing with my head. I don't know what to do with myself. I can't hold a train of thought for long and I can't concentrate on anything. I just want to shake myself awake, but worry if I shake too hard my dream will slip away. I don't want to give up on it yet. *sigh*

Twisted Tuesdays - Artist Quotes

One of the parts I envisioned for my book, Totally Twisted, very early on related to the artists that would contribute their beads to my projects. I had this vision of quotes from the artists floating in fantastic fonts across the pages where their beads call home. Being who I am, I asked each artist to tell me something, anything, that related to how they use color.

Here is what my 8 lovely contributors said:










Unfortunately, these wise words were edited out of the book due to length restrictions. The book, as is, ended up being 20+ pages longer then anticipated. I am thrilled that I could share their words here though. Thank you Cassie, Sarah, Melanie, Libby, Anne, Donna, Carter, and Jill for helping me to make Totally Twisted such a visual feast! I love your beads, ladies!!

Randomly Thankful

:: for a fun family outing with friends to the Port Of Rochester for a boat ride and fireworks at Harbour Fest.
:: for a bit of calming finally coming with the end of baseball and lacrosse.
:: for Lauren's excitement at the start of summer soccer.
:: for drenching rain that relieves humidity.
:: for chocolate cake just because.



:: for getting to pick the movie for once and having a good laugh.
:: for a weed free garden and a clean garage. (though I grumbled while doing it)
:: for late night reading and finishing a cute book.
:: for fresh strawberries, and sweet cherries.
:: for stolen moments of quiet and the hope to have more.



:: for the flow of ideas and possibility.
:: for abundant daisy bushes.
:: for mornings to sleep in and nights for staying up late.
:: for phone calls with friends.
:: for making it through the first week of summer unscathed... let's hope the next 10 weeks move along as smoothly.

Mr. Jones & Me

Every freakin' stinkin' time I see a new pretty grey sweater on Ravelry, I want it. I think "why didn't I make my fill-in-the-blank sweater grey?" And another thing happens every time I see a grey sweater, the lyrics to a Counting Crows' (one of my favorite artists) song runs through my head.

“I will paint my picture
Paint myself in blue and red and black and gray
All of the beautiful colors are very very meaningful
Grey is my favorite color
I felt so symbolic yesterday
If I knew Picasso
I would buy myself a gray guitar and play"

So... I give you, my Counting Crows Mr. Jones Sweater...







Here are a few details if you are into knitting,
Pattern: Featherweight Cardi by Hannah Fettig
Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine (used about 2.5 skeins)
Mods: I added length, did twisted stitch ribbing on the collar and bottom band, and I decreased 5 times down the sleeves before k2tog all the way round and finished with 6 rows of ribbing.

I love the sweater, and yet *sigh*, I still find myself in pursuit of the perfect grey sweater. This one, it is a little itchy, honestly. I am wearing it with a tank top in these photos and my back was all red when I took it off. I will still wear it until it falls apart, but I thinking that may not happen until fall when the weather calls for layering.

You Should Smell This

I guess I don't have to worry about vampires for a while ;)

Twisted Tuesdays - Color Talk :: Inspired Combos

I think it is easy to see my love of color without ever having to actually hear me babble on about it. You look at my photos or my work and it is obvious. I.Love.Color. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. Yesterday, I opened up a new shipment of glass rods, died, and went to glass/color heaven. I spent hours just sorting, playing, combining, photographing, and arranging rods. Time never flew by faster, I tell ya. I hope you enjoy the color collections I am made and find a few of them inspiring!! Dash over to your bead stash, pull out some goodies to match your favorite, and I would love for you to share your creations.









To see any of these images on there own, just pop on over to my Color Combos Flickr Gallery. What colors are inspiring you these days?

Biking & Berries ~ Random Mondays

:: That's what I call a full weekend. Cleaning Friday, Lacrosse tournament Saturday, Baseball game Saturday, Father's Day bike ride with Dad on Saturday, family picnic on Saturday, plus company for the US Open Golf on Saturday evening, (my stars!), Father's Day berry picking and celebrating on Sunday!!
:: I keep getting the hiccups, yesterday and today.
:: Just two days of school left!! Time to plan some fun summer activities.
:: Hubby just came by my desk to give me a kiss :X (made me lose me train of thought! LOL)
:: Really really hopeful that things will be happening this week with my "secret project".
:: Gonna whip up some "Urban Ornaments" (a la my friend Cindy Wimmer in Easy Wire) for the kids' teachers. It's a great, last-minute project.
:: OH MY... it is serious berry season around here. We have cherries, and strawberries, and blueberries... Lauren is so excited to make jam with me this week!!
:: I finished knitting my Featherweight Cardigan, photos to come.
:: Did I tell you those top photos are from a bike ride with my Dad and sister? We rode the trail along the Erie Canal from Fairport to Pittsford NY.
:: Must find a good local swimming hole for the kids. Apparently there is a private pool on our street! But it costs $1300 to join and $550 a year to use. That is just crazy.
:: I love having all the windows in my house wide open.
:: is tomorrow really the last day of school?
:: OMG... go make this right now, in a blender: add a hand full of blueberries fresh from the garden, 5 strawberries picked by kids, 5 sweet cherries from the highest branch, some Simply Orange with Mango juice, and a few ice cubes... best breakfast drink ever. No sugar added.
:: I had a HUGE glass order come in on Friday, I can't wait to show you all the colorful goodness in that box.
:: Here's to the official start of Summer.



As always, I invite you to orangize your random thoughts for the week in my comment section. Happy Random Monday.

Where We Spend Our Days

June 13th marked the two year anniversary of our closing on this old house of ours. Today I spent a solid 12 hours cleaning every square inch of it. Yeah, LOL, "Carrie" went on a spree and couldn't be stopped. She was a mad woman, just mad I tell you, mad. As I cleaned today, I thought it would be fun to do a home tour of humble dwelling. Hop over to my Flickr Gallery to see larger photos.

Props & Beads

Thanks to all of you for the cyber hugs and well wishes yesterday. Today is a new day and although things aren't 100% better, I am hopeful. Really, that is all I can ask for. Hope that each day has the possibility of being a good day. Now, enough wallowing. I never was one to wallow for too long. On to brighter things!!



Check out these goodies!! Yes, a pile of rusty old house junk is all sorts of goodness. LOL. Last Friday afternoon, during what was the worst day of that cold I had (I am all better now, thanks), I went on an adventure with my Mom and sister. They wanted to hit a few of the city thrift stores, so I tagged along. I literally hated every minute of the thrifting. The two of them like to go to the inner city, shady neighborhood VOA stores, and Salvation Army stores. To me, that is not thrifting. It causes me to panic, and all I see is nasty ghetto garbage along with the bums and paper bags outside the stores. Ugh, I just shuttered even thinking about it.

Thankfully though, while driving down Main Street in the city, I spotted a gem of a spot I have been dying to visit. REHOUSE!! Oh it is heaven. Instantly I was happy as a clam, seriously. Buckets of door hinges, row upon row of old windows, *sigh*... antique claw foot tubs, sheets of patina-ed ceiling tile tin, *gasp*... knob plates, stripped moulding, and light fixtures too!! Who knew? I scoured the aisles and made my choices...

Brass drawer pull plate


Metal door knob back plate


Claw foot from an old tub


Piece of wall candle sconce


Part of a painted ballister


Instantly I knew why I was in the store and what I was looking for. These make fantastic photo props!! I have been quietly working on pieces of jewelry for book 2 and these props are going to help me take some killer photos of the finished designs. I can't wait!! Unfortunately, you are going to have to wait. I can't share any details of book 2 just yet. I haven't even submitted the proposal. But Oh.My.Stars, it is gonna be out of this world. I am so excited and inspired by the "twist" I have on this one. The concept is like nothing you have ever seen. You are going to flip through the roof when you see this and say "why didn't I think of that?" and then you are gonna thank my for doing all the work on figuring out just how to do it. LOL. Yeah, it is that cool. :)

I can't leave you completely hanging though. So here are a few beads I played around making yesterday. Of the group, that "LOVE" bead is the only one that made the cut. It is going to be used in one of the book samples. Intriguing, no?

It Was A Dark And Stormy Morning...

... and I decided to wallow in the rain.







The past few nights have been rough around here. If you are new to my blog, you may not know that my middle child struggles with bi-polar disorder. Others of you will know just what I mean when I mention rough times. After a talk late into the night with my husband, waking to this dreariness didn't do much for my mood or spirits. I decided I needed time to embrace the sadness and frustration, to wallow for a bit. I let myself get drenched in that big field I visited last week, there wasn't a sole in site and I let the rain coat me. I wish I could say that I came home refreshed and hopeful, but life can't be rainbows and butterflies all the time. I am still feeling rather somber. I am going to stow away in the studio for the afternoon, put a David Gray cd on repeat, and know that tomorrow is another day.

There is always the chance tomorrow will be a better day.

Twisted Tuesdays - Beading With Friends Part 2

Check out the second half of The Lorelei & Kerry Show, where we show you how we pulled together and finished our collaborative necklace (photo below). It is so so much fun to have girly beady time with friends. I can't wait to do this again with Lorelei!! Hmmm.... wonder when my next free weekend is?

Weekending Randoms

:: just 7 school days left... must use time wisely this week
:: was not wise yesterday, photo evidence below
:: Jacob played in his first lacrosse tournament ever this past weekend!! He scored twice!! (Ran coast to coast from his defensive position to the shoot on other team.)
:: The team made it to the Championship game, but lost to a team called Six Nations.
:: I am one proud Momma.


:: so excited to see my tea roses in bloom
:: hop over to my FLICKR gallery if you want to see other growing garden goodness
:: baseball season is almost coming to a close, next week is the last week (photo of Andrew feilding leds this post)
:: ugh to kids tracking in wet mown grass all over the house... add sweeping to that to-do list
:: must fight time sinks today


:: the above is evidence of my stupidity... my boy had sunscreen on, I did not... I thought my long jeans and long sleeve shirt would save me (and my spf30 face cream didn't work).
:: LOL, just remembered something from our time in the car this weekend. Just Jacob and me for a total of 6 hours driving over two days... he said "Mom, let's talk", I say "okay, what do you want to talk about?", he says "lets talk about life and death." LOL
:: maybe you had to be there
:: note to self: don't laugh, it hurts your sunburn
:: here is to remembering to apply extra sunscreen during the tournament this weekend