Sigh... after 15 hours trying to get home last night, this beach in Labadee, Haiti seems like such a dream. Going on less than 3 hours sleep, I'm a little woozie and still swaying like I'm on the boat!! After a proper nap, I'll get to editing photos and sharing all my adventures on Bead Cruise!

Until then...

Memory Lane Post #6

As you read this, I am cruising around the Eastern Caribbean with the crazy bead ladies taking part in The Bead Cruise. The travel agent putting on The Bead Cruise is an agency called Memory Cruisin'. I thought it would be fun to take a spin off that memory theme and take a stroll down memory lane here on the blog. Can you believe I've been blogging for more than 7, SEVEN, years?!? Wild isn't it? All week you'll find a blast from the past post. Who doesn't like to get a little sentimental?


Posted March 7, 2011
 
For the past week or so, I keep catching myself daydreaming. The daydreams are happening in a such a way and with an intensity that I am startled out of them with a moment of confusion. I can't remember where I am or what I was doing. Then, the daydream slips away and I am left with a sense that something is missing or not quite right. Things are a bit fragmented and much like a close up photograph. You can see with clarity the tiniest of details, but the world around the detail is hard to grasp.


Lately, in thoughts, I've...

:: sat in a rocking chair on a porch holding my husband's hand on a summer evening in old age...

:: leap from a cliff and felt the air rushing over me as I dove into water feet first...
:: rubbed sandpaper on a spackled seam and walked in a pantry in my home that isn't there...
:: seen the fabric of what feels like a favorite shirt on my arm out of the corner of my eye, yet I don't have that shirt in my closet...
:: bent wire in the same pattern over and over and over, but I don't know what I am making...
:: drawn birds and flowers...
:: cut off all my hair, again...
:: sat on cathedral steps with sun in my eyes and warmth on my face...
:: held babies that aren't mine and felt amazing amounts of love...
:: had my hands on the giant steering wheel of an old pick up truck on a curving road...

... and I have forgotten so many more. Where have your daydreams been taking you recently?

Memory Lane Post #5

As you read this, I am cruising around the Eastern Caribbean with the crazy bead ladies taking part in The Bead Cruise. The travel agent putting on The Bead Cruise is an agency called Memory Cruisin'. I thought it would be fun to take a spin off that memory theme and take a stroll down memory lane here on the blog. Can you believe I've been blogging for more than 7, SEVEN, years?!? Wild isn't it? All week you'll find a blast from the past post. Who doesn't like to get a little sentimental?


Posted March 11, 2010
 
I have been a bit of a space cadet mentally the past week and, obviously, very rightly so. Last week, I had all the Tuesday Tuesdays planned out in my head for weeks to come. I am finding I really should have written them down because... hello? are you there thoughts?... nope. LOL. So, forgive me today as I keep things kinda on the light side, rather frivolous and "behind the scenes" instead of "how to".

Before we dive into talk about the cover of Totally Twisted, I want to have a brief chat about the photography. I am going to be completely honest with you, when I first saw the proofs of the "beauty" shots (these are the large shots of each project opposite the project descriptions, tools, and materials lists), I had a bit of a panic attack. Okay, it was more than a bit of a panic attack, it was bordering a meltdown, lol. Why? Because I hated them. I don't know what exactly I expected, I just knew it wasn't what I was seeing. I was thinking "are you serious? chunks of broken glass? are those upside down ballet slippers? seashells with yellow water? what the heck?" I put in a frantic call to my editor, who tried put my mind at ease, and did a little, but not enough to keep me from putting another call into a different editor. Talking with the second editor (my acquisitions editor) was what ended really calming me down. She said something to the effect of "let's just wait and see what the book designer does with it. Maybe they will be able to pull it all together." She was right.

I should mention, I am going out of order here. When we waited to see what the designer would do with the photos, the first thing I saw was the BLAD (book layout and design) not the cover. I will definitely be doing a post about the BLAD, but the cover is what you see first, so I thought I would go with that.

Once I saw the BLAD and cover samples, I was able to get an idea of the direction things were going and I started to like what I was seeing. The opening shot at the top of this post shows the first six design ideas for the cover. For those of you that aren't familiar with publishing, it is really surprising just how many people are behind all the decision that go into picking the cover of the book. There is the art director, the acquisitions editor, the book designer, and even the marketing director (they want a cover they can sell after all). From what I hear from other authors, I am lucky to have been able to give input on the cover at all. A lot of publishers work into contracts that all design decisions are theirs to make. I specifically asked for a clause to be added to my contract so that I would have design input. Thanks Interweave, it is one of the many reasons I love working with you!

Marketing decided that two pieces on the cover was a must. So, we focused on layouts 4,5, and 6. I had my heart set on the cover projects showing beads made by me, so the Bang Gal! made with Cassie Donlen's lovely beads was in the end swapped out for Unhinged. When playing with the different fonts in the second round of revisions, the photo hadn't been reshot, so that is why you see the samples showing the Bang Gal!. Check out all those wild font ideas! I loved the curly dot over the "i" in "Twisted". I also loved the upper lower case combo of the second sample too. Ultimately it was decided to go with the simpler font, move the accent dots around, and change the colors. I love what we ended up with. And now I can't imagine it any other way!



Now how freakin' stinkin' cool is this?!? My sister and I went out to lunch and popped into the local Barnes and Noble to see if Totally Twisted was in stock yet. We looked and looked and thought is wasn't in. Then with a loud screech I saw it!! To continue the writing-a-book-is-just-like-having-a-child analogy I have used before... I swear, leaving the store without buying that copy was like leaving my child at the babysitter's for the first time. I seriously wanted to call the store every five minutes to check on it. I resisted though, LOL. Thanks to Bonnie for getting this shot for me. *sigh* I still can't get over it... I wrote a book and it is on the shelves!!

Memory Lane Post #4

As you read this, I am cruising around the Eastern Caribbean with the crazy bead ladies taking part in The Bead Cruise. The travel agent putting on The Bead Cruise is an agency called Memory Cruisin'. I thought it would be fun to take a spin off that memory theme and take a stroll down memory lane here on the blog. Can you believe I've been blogging for more than 7, SEVEN, years?!? Wild isn't it? All week you'll find a blast from the past post. Who doesn't like to get a little sentimental?


Posted March 13, 2009
 
The other day, I gave you a little snippet of the things I wanted to talk about this week. One of them was "reactance". I have been writing this post in my head for more then a week... ever since learning about this word. I think to myself that I will start this post one way or another, but it keeps changing. Anyway, I can feel a long babbling post coming on, so grab some coffee and settle in.


Last week, that day Lindsey and I conspired to take a fabric road trip and I learned about the quilt-along, Lindsey asked me something. I was complaining about some work I had to do and she asked "do you even enjoy making beads anymore? because it doesn't seem like it." That kinda took me off guard. Do I still enjoy making beads? That led to a talk about a few of the things I have been feeling lately.

First, this whole "state of the economy" crap is getting to me. Ron works in a corporate setting that just isn't stable. Any given day, he could come home early having been laid off. It is no way to go through life. It just sucks. What sucks worse though, is being an artist on the receiving end of that. Ron has never pressured me about anything, and he is extremely supportive of what I do. Lately though, he is giving me little nudges. Not in a bad way, but in a "don't ya wanna go make beads, you are gonna be the one supporting us if I loose my job"... and "is there any way you can kick things up a notch?" And this all started about six months ago when the company he works for announced they were laying off 5% of their work force.

So, one of things we agreed to was that if someone asks me to do something, I don't say no. For a long time, when I was asked to do custom orders, I politely declined, but now, I take them as they come. Custom orders have always been a struggle for me on so many levels. For one, I feel like the uniqueness of my work is one of the reasons it sells so well. People know that when they buy my beads or they buy my jewelry, they are getting something that is one of a kind. Never two the same. That is really important to me and if I opened myself up to taking orders, I don't know that I could keep things as individually unique as I do. For two, I have never been an assembly line thinker. It drives me mad. Think about it, in the past 6 years that I have been doing what I do, how easy could it be to have a website that shows a set of beads with an order button? I would have an endless supply of work. But I would go insane. I. Just. Can't. Do. That. For me, what I do is not about the money and I feel like the minute it becomes about making money, my work will suffer and my customers will see through me in a heartbeat.

To my rambling and sarcastic comments of "I just don't wanna do what people tell me I have to", Lindsey said "that is reactance". She explained that my creative freedom is being threatened so I am rebelling against the threat. And that right there has been stuck in the fore front of my thoughts since I heard it.

My creative freedom is being threatened.

The idea of that has caused a flurry of other ideas. First, and the thing nagging me the most, is how dare I act like such a little brat? Really, am I 31 or 3? Acting out and rebelling against what really is a responsibility shouldn't be an option. I am not an individual, I am part of a family of five. I need to be a contributor to this family. How could I let this go on for so long? By allowing myself to wallow in a subconscious rebellion, I am not only chancing losing everything I have worked so hard for over the past six years, I am also allowing a horrible insecurity creep in too. See, over the past few months, as I have been knitting instead of beading, sewing instead of beading, and painting instead of beading, I have felt my confidence in my beads falter. If I make beads, will everyone still think they are cool? Will they even sell? Why risk it?

Now maybe I have been good at hiding all this. Maybe you are thinking, Kerry where is this coming from? But I tell you, it has been sitting with me, worrying me, for a long time now. Now that I have a "label", so to speak, I can work through it in a more deliberate way. And the more I have talked about it this past week, with friends and with family, the more I have been able to process it. As I said in the start of this post, I have been writing this in my head for more then a week, and what I want to convey changes all the time. So much so, that I almost decided not to write this after all. Then I thought, no, I need to get this out.

So, here is my new plan. I am going to "fake it till I make it", lol. It is some advice Lori Greenberg gave me once. She gave it to me about a different situation, but I think it applies here. I feel like I need to pull my head outta the sand and get back to work. I can't keep hiding behind other projects. And I'll tell you the answer I gave Lindsey to the question "do you still enjoy making beads?" Yes, yes, yes, I do. When I sit at my torch, I have a sense of calm and all is right with my little world. It is getting myself to go sit down and do it that has been the problem. I. Need. To. Make. Beads. Even if I don't want to. I need to fake that it's what I want to be doing, until it is what I want to be doing. Ideas don't make themselves, so if I am feeling like I don't have any, then I need to work through that, not start knitting another sweater. Enough avoiding. I need to act my age.

I have spent time in my studio everyday this week. And that is my new pledge to myself. I will spend time in the studio. Everyday. I will regain my waning confidence. I will show myself that there is a reason I took the leap I did all those years ago and that I will not lose this. You know, for months now, I have felt like I have been floating. Like I have been treading water in between two places. (I think I have said that before) I have tried kicking my feet and swimming in one direction or another now and then over these past few months, but I was doing so blind. I feel now like the sun is rising over the water where I am treading and although it is still a little hazy, I can see a bit better what I want to kick towards.

*sigh*

Memory Lane Post #3

As you read this, I am cruising around the Eastern Caribbean with the crazy bead ladies taking part in The Bead Cruise. The travel agent putting on The Bead Cruise is an agency called Memory Cruisin'. I thought it would be fun to take a spin off that memory theme and take a stroll down memory lane here on the blog. Can you believe I've been blogging for more than 7, SEVEN, years?!? Wild isn't it? All week you'll find a blast from the past post. Who doesn't like to get a little sentimental?


Posted March 12, 2008
 
Hmmmm.... I am sitting here at my kitchen table on a freaking freezing morning. The snow is falling (add another 3 inches to the pile already out there), the kids are out the door on the bus to school, Lauren is vegging out on morning cartoons and feel like I am juggling too many thoughts at once. For this blog, I want to try to focus on just one part of the thoughts... beads.


Hmmmm.... my beads lately.... do you know, I can't remember the last time I wish I knew how to do a back flip because I was so excited about things coming out of the kiln. I know I have had that feeling before. The first time I did beads like "Picasso's Plantation" and "The Retro Dozen", I had that feeling. I knew I had created something totally wickedly cool. And I was so eager to come here, share them with you, then get back to my torch and see what new thing I could come up with next.

Hmmmm.... I wonder if it is because I have gotten to the point where I don't surprise myself. And maybe that is the cornerstone of this latest funk. (I feel like I need to dissect the funk to prevent future funks, although, as we all know, they tend to be totally unavoidable. Bare with me here.) I can still surprise myself with what I do jewelry wise. There are things I make that cause me think... "I didn't know I could do that!" But when it comes to beads, I think I have gotten to a place that I can pretty much sit down and create any design in my head. Unfortunately, new designs just don't seem to be flowing... so I am not excited... so I don't feel that surprise and excitement. I love surprise and excitement... who doesn't?

Take this little trio of beads... I was sitting at the torch on Sunday, making something or other, when the idea POPPED into my head that silvered ivory with turquoise plaids would be really cool. I made a few, just to see how they would turn out. When I got them out of the kiln on Monday, I thought "eh", (insert shoulder shrug here). I think they are nice beads... I think they are a good design... but I have done plaids before. I am over plaids. I want to know what comes next in my beady evolution!

Hmmmm.... I am suddenly reminded of something my friend said yesterday. We talked a little about living a more "mindful" life. Being in a moment, rather then letting thoughts wonder to what we are anticipating to come next. If you aren't mindful of the moment, then when that next thing comes, you won't enjoy that either... you'll have trained your mind to be away from enjoying/appreciating/understanding what it is right in front of you.

Is that what I am doing? Am I being a brat? Am I forgetting to enjoy this amazing thing I get to do everyday? Am I just being too hard on myself? Do I need to pop this virtual bubble I am in and get some more adult contact, lol?

Hmmmm.... My guess is it is some of all of those things.

I thought I would get to some point by the end of all this babbling. But interuptions, like sisterly phone calls and childrenly wants, have broken my train of thought in the past 15mins more times then I can count. LOL. Oh well, if you can make sense of my babble and form a good conclusion for me... please share. Heck... if you think I am off my rocker... please share. You all know how much I love comments!

Memory Lane Post #2

As you read this, I am cruising around the Eastern Caribbean with the crazy bead ladies taking part in The Bead Cruise. The travel agent putting on The Bead Cruise is an agency called Memory Cruisin'. I thought it would be fun to take a spin off that memory theme and take a stroll down memory lane here on the blog. Can you believe I've been blogging for more than 7, SEVEN, years?!? Wild isn't it? All week you'll find a blast from the past post. Who doesn't like to get a little sentimental?


Posted March 11, 2007
 
I have been home for a few hours now and I am finally getting to the computer. I loaded up a big slide show of photo from this weekend's trip. Check them out!!


Cindy, Chrissie and I had a blast. I arrived Friday evening and I have to laugh because, the first things the girls said when I came in the door was "OMG, She's TALL!" Yep, for all those out there picturing me a shorter 5ft 2-4ish... I am actually 5' 9". LOL! We went to a great restaurant called "Mike's" where I had my first ever crab cake. Another shocker for my girls in Virginia, this northern hick had never had a crab cake. I was pleasantly surprised by how good they were. Next time you are in DC are and can get to Mike's, have a crab cake.

We stayed up late on Friday night, chit chatting away like we've know each other for years. I love those kinds of chats!! I don't get them much up here, because frankly stay at home Mom's don't get to go on sleep over parties like we used to, lol. Even though we were all up until after 1:00am, we were out to our torches by 9am for our day of beads. Thanks to Cindy's husband Randy for a great batch of pancakes with St Patty's Day sprinkles!! They gave us the energy to torch until around 5pm. (with a little lunch break too)

Technically, this was my first ever lampworking class. It was great having to flexible students. They were more then willing to go with the flow. We ended up working the lessons with me showing a few techniques and beads then the girls would try it. I showed them the way I pull stringers and twisties, how I make me beads oh-so-very round, I made them a mod dot, a plaid, a heart, an "iced" cube, some frit beads... we made lots of beads!! You can see how many in the photos above. I hope the girls got all they wanted out of my visit. They were making great rounds by the time I left :)

After torching for a while we worked on photography. Wait until you see Cindy's website in a few weeks. Her jewelry is gorgeous and she has an awesome style. You'll love it. And Cindy & I are going to keep pushing Chrissie to get a website too, cause her stuff is just as great. One of these days I will post a photo tutorial for you all here, but give me a bit. By the end of the day we were famished and headed out for some Tex-Mex at Austin Grill, yummy. But my favorite part was when we got back. I made the girls one of Ron's famous hot fudge sundae cakes... it is just to die for. It's ooowy-gooy-good. Sitting over big bowls of cake with vanilla ice crea, we started chatting away the night again. We made plans to wake bright and early again to make some more beads before my Sunday flight home.

I gotta tell you how sweet the girls were... they made me cry when it was time to go home. They surprised me with a wonderful tote monogrammed with my "Kab's" logo. Inside was lots of goodies, post cards from VA, gifts for my kids, a subscription to Adorn magazine, a Presidential coffee mug, frit and more. It was so thoughtful of them!!

I hope we turn this into an annual bead retreat. I am sure these gals will have something to teach me by this time next year :)

Memory Lane Post #1

As you read this, I am cruising around the Eastern Caribbean with the crazy bead ladies taking part in The Bead Cruise. The travel agent putting on The Bead Cruise is an agency called Memory Cruisin'. I thought it would be fun to take a spin off that memory theme and take a stroll down memory lane here on the blog. Can you believe I've been blogging for more than 7, SEVEN, years?!? Wild isn't it? All week you'll find a blast from the past post. Who doesn't like to get a little sentimental?

From March 11, 2006

There is a great thread on Bead & Button right now about placing an ad for a jewelry assistant. So here is mine...


Help Wanted: Jewerly Assistant

Job Requirements - Applicant must have at least 2 years jewelry making experience with knowledge of gems, crystals, glass and findings. Good colour sense absolutely required. Duties include sorting bead soups back into their individual components and picking up beads I drop or spill. Absolutely must be very patient, fun to talk to, and enjoy the same music I do. Non-smoker preferred. Must have clean crimping record - i.e., no mutilated crimps for at least two years. Strong calluses on fingertips useful also. Extensive knoweldge of packaging, addressing, and mailing multiple packages. Must also be a certified accountant and adept at sales and marketing, yes. Will also be required to research bead prices, using internet, phone, and footwork, taking note of interesting bargains along the way - thus saving me from being lead hopelessly astray by the bargain bins, close-outs, etc. Most love fire and not be nervous around exploding shards of glass.

Salary - Non-negotialable... non-existant... all money must go towards beads. :)

If you fit the description and want to work for free... send me an email! You are hired.

Anyway... credit to Joann at B&B for starting the thread. I did copy and paste most of her requirements with just a bit of editing. :D

The weather today is amazing! It is sunny and 65. Jacob Lauren & I picked up sticks for an hour and had a small fire this afternoon. I am feeling guilty about being inside now... it's just so nice out. I had a great workout this morning and then cleaned the garage too. The house is picked up and I will be folding approximately 10 loads of laundry later, LOL! Tonight my sister ans I are going to see The Libertine... gotta love Johnny Depp!

The 5th Annual Bead Soup Blog Party Hop

For those of you new to the blog and jewelry hopping world, today is the big reveal day for Lori Anderson's world reknowned Bead Soup Blog Party Hop. Across the internet globe, jewelry designers waited and waited to see if they were selected to be part of 200 people selected to be paired up for this unique excahnge. Once selected, partners put together a challenging collections of beads that must include a clasp and a focal bead for the other to design with. Now, it's the big reveal day, where everyone posts photos of their creations.

I must say I was paired with a doll of a partner! A jealousy worthy partner... A partner I bet some of you wished you had...

Barbara's Website - Barbara's Etsy Shop - Barbara's Jewelry Shop - Barbara's Blog

This isn't the first time doing the BSBP Hop for me or Barbara, so we talked early on about ways to make this exchange a bit more interested. We had grand plans of doing a cool video but I was really too swamped to make that happen. Instead we decided to add a new layer to the challenge. Usually the challengeing part of this exchange is working we the soup that's sent.  We're old hats at working with challenging beads though! So, we decided to set a challenge to start earlier... with the beads that would in fact be sent.

Are you wondering what I'm babbling on about?

Are you saying to yourself "Kerry, I have 199 other blogs to visit today, get on with it!"?

Hold your horses, I think you're gonna get a kick out of what we did!

Pinterest is all the rage these days in the world of social networking. (If you aren't on it already, find a friend who is and ask for an invite, because it is just about the best time sink around!) Barbara and I both have loads of virtual pinboards where we post everything from inspiring color finds to cool recipes we want to try. To make things fun, we picked our favorite image on Pinterest at the time this exchange started and challenged the other to make a set of beads inspired of the colors in that favorite photo.

  Barbara's Favorite Image - SOURCE HERE  

  Kerry's Favorite Image - SOURCE HERE  

    Kerry's Beads Inspired by Barbara's Photo   

  What Barbara sent me!   

See! I told you that you'd like this!!

And a big oops on my part for not remembering to take a photo of Barbara's beads before I started working with them, but you can totally check them out up close and personal below.

And now... without further ado... here is what I made with Barbara's fantastic collection of beads!

Barbara's beautiful focal bead balanced with a wire link from my new book, Rustic Wrappings!

    sweet colorful earrings    

   wire link bracelet with BSBP clasp   

I absolutely loved working this Barbara's beads and our collaberation doesn't stop here. We have something exciting to share. You'll find us together, sharing a booth, at BEAD FEST PHILLY!! It's going to be the highlight of my summer, I know it! And I can hardly weight. I'll be there signing books, selling kits, and bringing beads too. Barbara will be bringing her fabulous goodies too. You won't want to miss it! On that exciting note, I want to say thanks again to Lori for hosting such a great annual event. Be sure to drop by her blog for the master list of all participants.  There are loads of great jewelry to be seen. (Special Note - I'm actually typing this days before the actually event seeings as how I am boarding a cruise ship today to teach on The Bead Cruise! So, forgive me for not visiting blogs and commenting.)

Rustic Wrappings PRE-ORDER Now!!

I can not begin to tell you how excited I am to finally be sharing this post with you. After more than a year and a half of prep, design, writing, editing, photographing, and then some, it is finally time to share with you all the details of my latest book, Rustic Wrappings: Exploring Patina in Metal, Wire, & Glass Jewelry.

The process of pitching this book began in the Spring of 2010. The idea for what I wanted to do for the follow up to my first, um, oh-my-gawd AWARD WINNING, book (Totally Twisted: Innovative Wire Work + Art Glass Jewelry) began well before Totally Twisted was even released. I knew that after months of working with my favorite bright and bold colors, I wanted to show people how to create beautiful, rustic jewelry that was still just as colorful and just as inspiring. I worked for several months with Interweave to craft a proposal that would give readers a wealth of new information in the form of awesome new techniques as well as stay true to my unique design style.

In the early stages, we talked a lot about depth and layers and the feel it would have throughout the pages. All throughout 2011, as I designed the projects and wrote the words, I pushed myself in ways creatively that I didn't know I could. The result is a book that I am so incredibly proud to share with you.

And now... drumroll, please...

It is officially available for PRE-ORDER on my website!! YOO HOOOO!!!

I was going to tell you all these details when I got back from Bead Cruise, but just yesterday I saw the first 50 pages of what will be sent to print in just a couple of weeks and I decided I couldn't wait another day. The first 50 pages have me absolutely busting at the seams with excitement and I can not wait for you to see this book and be inspired by the projects.

Here are a few of the things that you'll be finding in the pages of Rustic Wrappings:

* Basic Techniques - Get a refresher lesson in the basics. Wrapped loops, chunky wrapped loops, handmade headpins, and fabricated findings are just a few of these topics covered.

* Patina Recipes - Detailed step by step instructions are shared for creating colorful surface effects with traditional liver of sulfur, heat, ammonia, vinegar, and other handy household chemicals.

* Rustic Color - Learn to take emotions, places, seasons and the elements from your everyday life and translate them into beautiful color combinations that are care worn and aged yet modern and fresh.

* Wire Embroidery - I share an innovative new technique created just for Rustic Wrappings that shows you step by step how to stitch unqiue designes onto metal blanks with wire.

* 25 All New Projects to Inspire

* Meet a collection of wonderfully talented lampwork glass bead artist creating incredibly beautiful beads to be used in the projects shown and more.


That last bit about the artists whose beads I had the pleasure of working with just has me grinning from ear to ear. I wrote up a dream list of contributors and sent out emails and to my delight every single one of them said YES! The cover project shows Kelley Wenzel's ever popular egg beads and inside you'll see beads by Mika Collins, JC Herrell, Yee Kwan, Anne Lichtenstien, Claudia Pagel, Melissa Rediger, Ali VandeDrift, and Aja Vaz. I could not have asked for a more willing and able group of contributors. Their beads second to none!

Below you can see the BLAD ( Book Layout & Design) that shares a sneak peek of a few of the projects that I show step by step instructions on how to create. Take a look:

Rustic_Wrappings_BLAD_web

My editor tells me I'll have copies of the book to ship to all you eager readers in mid-July. So just 4 short months from now you can have this newbie from me in your mailbox. As usual, you can find pre-orders on Amazon.com and Interweave.com as well as any of your other favorite online retails. If you want a signed copy from me though, I'll have to get it on my website!

(Pre-ordering gives me the best idea of how many copies to order, so best get your orders in early. Last time around I didn't have enough to fill demand and I had to reorder leaving people hanging for a couple extra weeks.)

If you want to share my excitement, I would love for you to share this news on Twitter and Facebook! THANKS!

Let The Packing Begin

Yesterday in the studio, I started the tedious process of packing for the Bead Cruise. It is quite the undertaking. I had the option to ship things in advance to the hotel where some other instructors are staying the night before disembarking. I decided I didn't want to make someone else responsible for making sure my materials make it to the ship, though I'm sure they would have been very happy to do it for me. I checked with my airline and the checked bag fee for my second bag is only $40. Heck! I would have paid at least that in shipping... so why not just pack it all and bring it myself?

Um, ya'd think jewelry supplies would be little and lite... not so, people. Not so.

My first attempt at packing yielded a 57lb suitcase with about half of the things I needed to bring. Basically, here is what I am attempting to pack:

* kits - for students and extras to sell at the evening Bead Bazaar (about 100 kits total)
* wire - several spools of various gauge copper for practice projects in class and extra silver wire for any oops in class. I also want to bring sets of colored wire for students to purchase at the Bead Bazaar.
* tools - mine and extras for students that forget any of the important ones (ex, extra coiling tools)... pliers, cutters, hammers, a bench block (I'm leaving home the bracelet mandrel, it's just too heavy). My lovely friend Lindsey made me custom tool bags for all my goodies! That's what the purple and white fabric is.
* display - I realize that I can't bring much for display, but I thought I should at least bring a piece of my swirly fabric for a table cloth.
* books - copies of Totally Twisted. As an author, of course I want to bring copies of my book for students to purchase. I planned to bring 20 copies, but quickly cut that to 5 and knocked 18lbs out. Sigh... I guess I will offer to ship the book when I get home if anyone wants to order one!!
* loose beads - about 40 little packages of beads for students and the Bead Bazaar.
* lights & poster board - I'm teaching Snaptastic while on the cruise and need to figure out a way to get two lights into this already full and over weight suitcase.




I think I am getting ahead of myself here. I should explain exactly what my suitcase options are. My parents bought me a matched set of luggage years ago. I'll be bringing one decent size bag (the one shown), another that is smaller but the same shape, a carry on bag, and a purse. One of the challenges I'm having it the security process on the ship (oddly enough, not the airport!). Our Bead Cruise fearless leader, Heather Powers, was telling me that I should give my bag with clothes to the porters to be taken under the ship for security screening and my bag with tools needs to be with me for boarding security. We have special clearance to have our tools but if they go to the under-the-ship security it may be delayed longer as I won't be there to explain my clearance. At least, that's my understanding. At this point though, I can't figure out a way to put it all in one bag without going over weight (over 50lbs that is). Which means I will have to bring everything with me through security if I spread the weight out over all of my bags. I'll have to check with Heather to see if that is allowed.

Other challenges... there are two formal nights on the cruise, so I need to back at least 2 nice dresses and shoes. I also need to figure out how to get me beautiful fascinator on the ship without destroying it! Plus, um, I'd like to do my hair and whatnot while on the ship, so like, it might be nice to have my hair dryer and curling iron. All takes up space. (I just have to say... saying "matched luggage" always makes me think of the MOG on the movie Spaceballs... just saying... and my hair dryer is not industrial strength, but like Princess Vespa, I can't live without it.)

Here is what I'd like to pack for myself:

* dresses - 2 formal, 3 sun
* capris - at least 3 pairs (I don't do shorts)
* jeans - 2 pairs (I'll wear one pair and pack one)
* tops - a variety of shirts both t-shirts and blouses, let's say 5-7
* a light sweater - for cooler nights
* toiletries - all the usual... shampoo, conditioner, mouse, hairspray, make up, toothbrush, toothpaste, etc...
* shoes - flip flops, high heels (for formal), and sneakers
* camera & lenses - and all the chargers and cords that go with
* laptop & cords - I really only need to bring my laptop because my camera will only hold so many photos, I'd like to get pics off my camera, process them in my down time, and then take more pics!
* my Nook - for reading
* knitting - of-freaking-course!

Am I missing anything? If I am, it will have to stay home because this bag below is so small I don't think even my clothes will fit in it!

even shooting this suitcase at a creative angle doesn't make it any bigger!!

Okay, I am gonna keep at it for a while more this morning and see if I can make it work. Otherwise, it might be time to start calling friends to borrow another larger suitcase. Sigh... at least I'm figuring it out now instead of Friday night, ha! That's good, right? Wouldn't it be grand if we could put everything in a giant trunk like the old days? I have one... it'd fit everything... but it weights almost 50lbs empty! HA!

friday

:: as promised, Ron took today off work so I could get things done in the studio.
:: as soon as I walked through the door, I felt the weight of just how little time I have left until Bead Cruise and all the other stuff I need to do too.
:: deadlines, new designs, and studio times... oh my
:: you can easily measure my stress level by watching how I tidy things... high stress = more meticulous piles and lining things up.
:: to calm myself and organize my thoughts... I cleaned off my desk... it helps calm me.
:: I need to find a BIG suitcase that is less than 62 total inches to pack for the cruise... ugh, that might be a tough one.
:: after 3 measly hours, I took my work home
:: banana bread hot out of the oven with melted chocolate chips is the best snack on a rainy (why isn't it snowing in February? was yesterday a fluke?) afternoon.
:: just a couple more hours of work and I think I'll be able to call it a day.
:: deep breaths... it will all be fine.

thursday

:: Lauren and I fascinator-ed the evening away yesterday... I went with a headband over a hair clip.
:: Her's is purple... and she wants to wear it to school when she does her next book report... hmmm, might be too distracting.
:: sometimes I know I should change my camera lens before taking photos, but I'm so into what I'm doing that I don't... and alas, there is a total lack of awesome fascinator photos... but I loosely followed this tutorial I found on Pinterest.
:: I finally bought myself my birthday present yesterday... I now have an iPhone 4s and I freaking stinking love it.
:: last night when all the lights were out and I looked out the window as I was falling alseep, it had snowed.





:: in the stillness of the morning, I walked in my yard turned to a black/white/blue wonderland... Rusty the cat was happy to have company for his morning walk... I was happy he didn't wake us last night.
:: there wasn't the slightest whisper of a wind or tweet of a bird and I couldn't feel the cold as we walked.
:: just the other day Lauren bounced on a little trampoline under the apple tree saying "Momma, it smells like Spring".
:: as the sun has started to rise and the golden hour of morning shown, I tell you, the world turned to sepia... the beauty of it was impossible to capture in a picture, so I took a picture in my mind.
:: I think we aught to go for a winter walk today before the snow melts again.
:: first I think I'll knit a few more rows on my sweater while the house is still as quiet as the morning outside.

wednesday

:: Lindsey and I checked out the vintage consignment shop, Panache, and I wished my feet were just a half size smaller.
:: oh how we laughed at the pants suits!
:: Lola Boomer Jane is suddenly feeling lovey and just raced across the room to curl around my feet... she is such a silly cat.
:: $79 for the perfect vintage leather wide band belt that fit like a glove... *sigh* I just couldn't pull the trigger on that price, but OH how I want it so!
:: Simply Crepes is a favorite spot for our birthday lunches.
:: so very thankful for the thoughtfulness of her handmade gifts... a tea (or coffee) mat with a reminder of something I'm striving to remember will be a wonderful way to start my mornings.



:: my toe hooked around the ankle of my pajama pants this morning and I slammed to the floor... I put a bag of frozen broccoli on my swelling knee.
:: I have fascinators on the brain today (ha ha, no pun intended)... I need/want one for the masquerade party on the Bead Cruise... Lauren and I will make some today, I think.
:: headband or hair clip... headband or hair clip?
:: when the sun rose this morning, it looked like a blazing fire... I burned it into my memory.
:: Ron says he'll be home from work on Friday for me... I'm looking forward to the studio time... packing needs to start.
:: I'm just 2 rows away from adding the pocket lining to my sweater.

tuesday

:: sometimes I get a hankering to sew something... this urge had been growing for while now.
:: I'm so thankful for the friends the kids have across the street... "can you play?" and "YES" were the best words I heard all day yesterday.
:: back and forth, from our house to theirs
:: between the quiet moments, I started a sketch...
:: oh how I love my beautiful stash of fabric. I hoard it and love it and save it for just the right project. With this, I'll be able to see my most favorite one so much more often.
:: if you have ever taken a class with me, you'll know how bad I am about keeping track of my tools... long deep pockets aught to remedy that.

:: between my seams, she decided to sew a few of her own... "Momma, help me... how do you make a pocket?"
:: I French seamed a ruffled edge and I felt so proud!
:: it's was so hard to put things down, clear the table, and set it for dinner... so so hard to leave a project so close to finished.
:: at 4am the cat flipped the ironing board over... four...a...m...
:: sun was pouring in the project/dining room this morning as I finished the last stitches.
:: I <3 headpin bokeh.
:: with that finished, today we'll be having a playdate with some more friends on vacation this week.
:: this Momma and that Mama will have a playdate too... thrifting and lunch.

 

Fabric is a mix of those by Anna Maria Horner.
I used the waist band pattern from the book Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross,
but the skirting of the apron is my own design.

monday

:: February Break is upon us... no school for the kids until the 27th... weren't they just off for Christmas? Wasn't that just the other day?
:: wonderful Buckeye Muffin recipe from JCasa Handmade... the absolute best way to guarantee Lauren will eat some breakfast.
:: I finally broke down and tried Greek yogurt... I'm head over heels for it... why in the world did I wait so long to enjoy it?
:: I've been contemplating cutting my hair... we'll see.
:: so very sad that Downton Abbey Season 2 ended last night... I'll be lost on Sunday nights without it.
:: I started a new sweater on my birthday... this one: Jaina... with the yarn Woobu, in the color Deep Unrelenting Grey, by Blue Moon Fiber Arts.
:: this morning I switched from French Vanilla creamer in my coffee to Hazelnut... gotta mix things up sometimes... I'm enjoying the switch.




:: I spent 5 hours packaging kits for the Bead Cruise on Friday... so much wire cutting and sticker stickering... so much more still to do.
:: am I really setting sail in just 12 days?
:: somehow, someway, Andrew needs to get to his dentist appointment today at noon... it is going to be a challenge.
:: new studio daydreams continue at full pace... I have a new/old yellow chair from an estate sale this weekend.
:: Saturday my sister and I went shopping... like at the mall and stuff... and it so totally SUCKED.
:: why is it that when I want to shop, and spend, there is nothing worth getting?
:: LUSH is lovely though and I have some BB Seaweed mask in my fridge.
:: there was a very intriguing/interesting/challenging/scary/exhilarating opportunity in my email on Friday... we'll have to wait and see what comes of it.
:: I've had to referee 3 sibling fights already this morning... deep breath

#348

Sigh, what a week it's been. To say that I have been on a roller coaster would be a HUGE under statement. Andrew had an adverse reaction to a new medication, we hosted a dinner party for a friend, I celebrated a birthday, we enjoyed Valentine's Day, two of my kids have been home sick, I've worked a ton, I've missed a ton of work, and all the while I've been day dreaming about this place. Yes, while all this life has been going on, my mind has been lost in a daydream in a rather dingy, albeit diamond in the rough, of a new studio space.

Remember when I mentioned a few weeks back that I had been hounding the building manager at The Hungerford Building to find me a room with a view? After 4 months of pestering, Friday he stopped by and said "come here, I gotta show ya something". Down the hall and around the corner... almost directly across from the elevator... and right next door to Delish Glass... is #348. The lock is busted, there is a giant hole in the wall, an odd rim of an old drop ceiling clings there still, and dried up spilled something or other is on the floor... but oh, can you see it? Can you see the potential there?

I just got the call a little while ago. My studio (#307) already has a new tenant ready to sign for it. While I'm away teaching on the Bead Cruise, magic will be worked inside these walls. The 15x35ft room will have the walls repaired, new sinks put in, the floors replaced, and a fresh coat of paint will go up. I can't wait to see it when it's finished and start the move!

In all honesty, I had started to contemplate a lot of sad/necessary/scary/unsettling/grown up things over the past few weeks. Not the least of which was possibly moving my studio back home. My brain was trying to do all the practical convincing one does to one's self in such situations... as it does when contemplating things the heart doesn't want to hear or deal with. It told me things like "a brick wall isn't much different than a basement one...", "no one stops and visits you very often down this empty hallway anyway...", "maybe Ron will build something outside at home, like a shed..." and worst of all "it'll save money if you give up the studio". That last one is the real kicker. The one that really ate away at me last week in particular while Ron was getting news that nearly 200 people in his group of 1200 at work were laid off. (Thankfully, he still has his job... at least for now.)

I'm still struggling with those voices. My heart has dealt with a little too much lately, so it is on the tender side... but the day dreams are rebuilding the strength of it. Bringing some reserved excitement back that has been missing. I close my eyes and I can feel the warmth of the sun streaming in from those 3 big windows, I can hear the train whistles in my ears, and it feels right. It's gonna be a good thing.

the view from those big old windows

Bead Cruise Kits

ATTENTION BEAD CRUISE STUDENTS!!

Please take a moment to hop over to my website and purchase your class kits.

They are for the Bang A Rangs class kit and the Frameworks class kit.

Happy St. Valentine's Day