The Truth....

Okay. The truth is that I just haven't felt very "beady" the last several weeks. Maybe it was the stress of the trunk show, maybe I'm just tired. Maybe there's just too much other stuff on my plate. I will be the first to admit that it's hard to have a job and a job, so to speak. And a husband. And five dogs. And a house. Etc. etc. Not really moaning and groaning here, as I know many of y'all are in the same boat. I think that maybe the impending election has me a bit stressed, too. I actually did my early voting today. It's been a strange year, politics-wise. And, if you think for a minute that economics and politics aren't related, read the now somewhat dated but still amazing Secrets of the Temple: How the Federal Reserve Runs the Country. Wow. I have fears for a McCain victory. I have fears for an Obama victory. And I'm not your typical fear-laden person....

So, anyway - next weekend is the Houston Bead Show. One of my favorite shows to do, although I do so hate the travel, even though it's relatively close. I won't have anything new-new, even though I've taken a couple of classes lately (including a metals-light class from Bronwen Heilman) that I'll be incorporating into my stuff eventually. Stop by and see me, okay?

Al Janelle's Class

Was a rockin' good time. Got to see some of my most favorite people - Leslie, Jan, Amy, Antoinette, the two Vick-ies (they spell them differently, darn it!)...I know I'm forgetting somebody...anyway, a great time. And lunch Saturday was from EZ's - their poblano chicken sandwich is absolutely to die for. Jim grilled for us on Sunday - sausage wraps for breakfast, hamburgers/hotdogs for lunch. I think I always gain 2 or 3 when I'm there for the weekend.

Al shared lots of secrets - he's really the guy who came up with a lot of these canes in the bead world. Before that, they were pretty much in the purview of the hot glass shops. I totally love making complex cane anyway, and I definitely learned some new tricks. My only problem is that I can sit and make these all day and be perfectly happy - but I wind up the day with no beads to sell! Life is a balance, right?

It's quiet in the bead world

It's just been quiet in my bead world. I have been on the torch only one day a week, which, trust me, is not much. It basically means that I have time to 1) play, OR 2) produce. And, as playing is much more fun....well you get the idea. Need to think about the fact that I have a bead show coming up in a couple of months, I guess.

It's my weekly drive-by!

Seems like all I can muster right now is once a week - it will improve again, promise. Just got to get a few things off my plate. (Yeah, right.) Getting this in quick before I go outside to pack away lawn chairs, hoses, etc. etc. Anything that can blow away. Of course what will happen is that I'll pack everything away and Ike won't come near. That would be good news, though, yes?

I received a lot of new glass a couple of weeks ago - used some of the new purples - yum! Will take photos this week and get them up. What you get today is a little scroll bead - Triton on Canyon de Chelle.

September is NUTS!

Yes, I know, lots of silence. September at UT is beyond crazy. I go home at night so tired I don't know which end is up.

But, I had to check in for a second because I'M TAKING A CLASS FROM AL JANELLE later this month! I can still hardly believe it! Al has been absent from the bead world for a while...I got to know him a bit the year I was publicity chair for the Austin Bead Society, and that's been - gee - I don't even remember how long! Anyway, thanks to Jim and Rose Berry's hospitable shop and attitude, Al's decided to teach again. It's an entire weekend of twisties (yes, I know that wouldn't excite everybody, but twisties are one of my favorite things in the whole world to make - I don't even always use them in beads!). Here's a pic:



And here's another goddess:



One of the things I love about this goddess is that the glass I used is called Heffalump (don't have a clue why) and that's one of the many nicknames we have for Daisy-dog.

Won't get to torch this weekend, have to work. A victim of my own success, my boss says....LOL So, TA training for UT Signature Courses.

Goddess is....

As goddess does. Finally got around to taking a couple of photos - I'll put them up one by one...draw out the moment....I had a hard time picking a favorite. I just LOVE this opal yellow, how it goes pinky in some places. But, there's a lavender one that's yummy, too.

Yeah, yeah, yeah

It's an old picture, so sue me. Why, oh WHY, is it so hard to squeeze 30 hours of needs-to-be-done into a 24 hour day?! That's my official excuse for not being better about taking pictures. The truth? I went home last night and watched an hour of television - well, actually 40 minutes because it was DVR'd - instead of working like I should have been doing.

Also, we're remodeling the kitchen, and the motif will be "Mexican restaurant meets Mexican whorehouse." Not that I've ever been in a Mexican whorehouse - hopefully the extremely large number of Mexican restaurants I HAVE been in will make up for that. Anyway, the remodel reminded me of this - really a pendant, not exactly a bead. Cute, though, huh?

So here are links to some of the rockin' stuff I've come up with for the kitchen:

Tiles - that I'm actually using for a small section of ceiling: I'm thinking either the copper fantasy or the verdigris, although I really like the brushed aluminum, too. The brushed aluminum would require new cabinet hardware, though, as the existing hardware is bronze.

Various and sundry stuff: a new cutting board

Probably a decorative tile or two or three .

And of course new switchplate covers.

The living room/dining room/kitchen is really kind of one big circle with a center wall. There's a wall between the entry hall and the kitchen, but I'm thinking of building a low wall between the dining room and living room with acrylic blocks.

Good torch day

I finally had a good torch day on Saturday, so hopefully there will be some beady pictures in a day or two. I guess it was just a lull after the trunk show. I spent a couple of days just "playing," which I rarely get to do. So, yesterday when I cleaned beads from the last several torch sessions, quite a few went right to the trash can! Playing leads to many more sad mistakes than happy accidents, which I would suspect is true for artists in any medium. This last Saturday, though, was back to buckling down, working with the one or two happy accidents as well as some tried and true. I'm only spending one day a week on the torch right now, as our home is sadly in need of some repair. I can't do it all, but I have found out that I'm hell with plaster and a taping knife - so, our kitchen is close to featuring all refinished walls. I've just decided that it's up to me - I won't know that I can't do it (whatever the "it" is) until I give it a try. So far, so good. I'm sure not looking forward to redoing that floor, though....

Nuthin' to say...

Haven't posted because I've had nothing to say. How's that for dismal? It's hot, I'm hot, the house is hot, even with the air conditioning on. The girls sit around panting. One thing we've done this summer to cut down on the electric bill (yeah, right) is to turn the central AC up quite a bit at night, and turn on a small window unit that's basically about a foot from my end of the bed. Which is where Ruby gets every time it's turned on! So, any heat-relief I'd get is blocked by her big self. And, no, I do NOT make her get down. And, to top it off, Piglet still thinks she's freezing, so under the covers she goes. Wants to sleep right next to my hip. And, no, I don't maker her move, either.

Hope to get some beads made Saturday. For whatever reason, last Saturday was not at all productive. I spent about 5 hours on the torch, and had a grand total of 8 beads - 2 focals and one set - when I finished. And, both of the focals, IMHO, look like crap, so you won't even see them for sale....

Where should I post?

With two blogs, it's sometimes hard to decide "where" to post - if I don't talk about beads, is it okay to post in the "bead blog?" If I don't talk about dogs, is it okay...well, you get the idea. The bead blog won today, as the dog blog was more recently updated. Logical thinking. Gee.

There's really nothing much going on in my world. I'm still very busy at work, which gives me a bit of the queasy with regard to the semester starting back - if I'm busy now, what's it going to be like when zillions of students descend on us?! But, it seems like I have a lot of August 1 deadlines, and I'm hoping that on August 2 I can breathe at least a tiny sigh of relief. And, of course, I'm busy at home, too. I always let a lot of stuff slide before a show, and this time was no exception. I dusted the bedroom Sunday, and it was so bad it took me a good 30 minutes. Most of the time I really hate having such a small house, but NOT when it comes time to do housework!

We went to the home-moanership stores on Sunday, to look for new kitchen flooring and counter tops. You want HOW much for that counter top?! Would you believe that the faux stuff - Silestone, etc., is coming in at $40 to $60 (and yes, even more) per SQUARE FOOT?! I figure I have about 32 square feet of counter space...and the square foot price doesn't include all the little extras like back splash and the front dooby thing and backer board and what-not. We're talking $1,700 EASY. There's just no blanking way. None. The flooring is a bit more reasonable - there's a chance I can afford it in this lifetime - as in without waiting for the life insurance policy to pay out...LOL And I don't even cook - how's that for irony?

In looking for a picture to share, I came across one of the container planting I did a bit more than a year ago, as well as one of the same planting from last weekend. What a difference a year makes! Maybe there's hope for my kitchen after all!

Hmmmm....shiny.....

I'm pretty sure this bead went home with somebody...although I haven't really gone back through what's left. Anyway, it's SHINY! All the stuff you see "going on" in the bead is mostly reflections. One of those newer silvered glasses, ya know...in fact, that little circle looking thing towards the top right is actually the camera lens reflection!

It was great to see all of y'all!

Literally just two minutes to post a bit...first, OF COURSE, thanks to all of those who came by the trunk show! It was a BLAST! The store stayed pretty crowded all day Saturday and most of Sunday. Needless to say, I left the store with a LOT fewer beads. I'm sure they all went to good, loving homes. A couple of people stayed right in the store to make up bracelets, necklaces, even some earrings, and everything that I saw made up came out just gorgeous. It's a great deal of fun to see it translated from my torch to a little piece of temporary copper wire to a beautiful creation.

I'll fill y'all in on a few details later.

I'm here I'm here!

It's just been a crazy of couple of days. I actually AM ready for the trunk show - thank god. I can't imagine what my life would be like right now if I weren't! I do a LOT of academic counseling in my day job, and I get almost all the private appointments for time management/procrastination. And what I usually tell students is to 1) think how good it would feel to be ahead of the curve rather than behind the eight ball, and 2) what happens if you wait until the last minute to do something, then everything else goes to hell? (Yes, of course I tell them more than just this, but I always hit these two points.) Anyway, these are my words to live by. So, today finds me tired, but relatively calm none-the-less....and, as I've been absent a day or two, you get TWO blings! I used to worry that my style was all over the place - as you can see, these beads look completely different from each other. But for me, that's the fun. I'm easily - EASILY - bored, but the glass never disappoints because there's just so much you can do with it.

Later!

Bling!

Just a little bling today - one of the sets that will be at Nomadic Notions. I usually use a sage green with this purple, but decided to try a bit brighter green this time. I'm happy with the outcome.

Yum, pink and black

What more needs be said?

Hope everybody's holiday was great - ours was very low key - perfect!

Happy 4th of Julie!

Another bead made with DHG Terranova2! And, this - really - may be my favorite bead that I've ever made. Those of you who know me know I don't say that often...This glass is just delicious. I've always loved florals, and really thought that they'd always stay my favorite, but as I get older I find that I like simple graphics more and more. Even my clothes have started changing to reflect that - I'm much more likely to wear something "plain" as opposed to the "ditzy" prints that used to pretty much make up my wardrobe. Anyway, have a great "Fourth of Julie" (as my Uncle Scott used to say - and no doubt somebody in your family as well!). Stay safe, eat junk, drink a little, play with beads. That's exactly what we're gonna do!

Serious lick factor!

I made two focals last weekend using one of the new Double Helix Glassworks newest glasses, Terranova 2. I just can't even TELL you what serious lick factor this glass has - even at $100 a pound! Unfortunately, a camera just can't capture everything that's going on. Here are three pictures - while the decoration looks mostly blue or ruddy-blue, it varies from deep blue, to electric blue, to electric green, to an almost pigeon-blood red. Absolutely glorious. And, hands down, my favorite DHG glass to date.

Pictures, pictures

Gee, it's nice to have a choice of pictures to show y'all....I'll have to REMEMBER this feeling. Maybe it will prompt me to take pictures more regularly! Anyway, this is a bead made entirely of dark silver plum. In the rod, it's a blah gray, but in the flame turns iridescent.

I did take a collection of the big-holed beads to Nomadic Notions yesterday, and I'll have an instruction sheet available (with the purchase of a BHB) for how to make your own bracelet for this type of bead. Mick will have a couple of samples, made up, too. Trust me, it's not rocket science, and you can most likely figure out how to make one from just looking at the sample, but a little take-a-way instruction sheet will be nice, too, yes?

Enjoy the rest of your day! I'm working today and tomorrow, then taking off for a long 4th of July holiday - Monday off, too! Woo hoo!

I say hello.....

And I say goodbye....

(Sorry, you'll have to provide your own tune...)

Just a quickie

This morning. I seem to be having one of those incredibly low-energy days - y'all ever have one of those? I think it may be allergies...or maybe just "allergic to Monday morning!" LOL

After previewing the upload of this picture, I see that it's kinda crappy. Sorry about that, and the original is already deleted. Anyway, it's very pretty in person. It's about 1.5 to 1.75" long, ivory base, with a long spiral wrap of goldstone. I then tarted it up with leaves and vines in one of those silvered glasses (you know, the ones that are $100 bucks a pound?!) that turns all kinds of colors in the flame. One of the things I love most about the silvered glass on ivory is how it kind of mottles the ivory in places...

It's Friday!

So, I've spent every evening this week working with beads - last night I finished pricing the sets and focals. At least this is something I can do with a glass of wine in my hand. Well, I can't price and drink at the EXACT SAME TIME, but you get what I mean (although, hmmm....maybe with one of those bendable straws?). This afternoon Tony and I are driving out to Theresa's to pick up my leftovers from her show, then hitting Herbert's for dinner and Eskimo Hut for dessert (said with an evil grin!).

Here are today's beady pictures!

Bead pix as promised!

Remembered to take my camera card home last night - battled my way through a battery disaster - all to bring pictures to YOU! LOL

Today's is just a "teaser:" Here are a couple of shots of the sets I made up on Monday evening. I didn't count, but I'd say somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 sets, maybe? I'll be showcasing some of the sets individually, and I'll also have pictures of the most recent focals in the days leading up to the trunk show at Nomadic Notions. Don't forget - I'll have my torch set up there, and will demo beadmaking most of Saturday and Sunday - please try to stop by to say "hi!"

I hate beads....

I start saying this within a couple of weeks of every show I've ever done. I was sitting last night with a huge pile of beads, ready to be made into sets. When I say huge pile, I mean huge pile - probably around 300-400 beads. Not sorted in any way - "good" beads, "bad" beads, orphan beads, focals, oh my. I've told myself time and time - and time - again, that if I just took care of making sets within a day or two of torching them, my life would be SO MUCH easier. For some reason this is something that I just seem unable to learn. They get torched, they get cleaned, then they sit there. Until a couple of weeks before the show. And on the subject of things I can't learn - to make spacers as I go, too. Now, I ask you. What's hard about sitting down at the torch and making, oh, say a periwinkle and purple set, with touches of goldstone and maybe little yellow flower centers. THEN making a couple of bead-kabobs full of periwinkle and purple beads to use for spacers. Next morning, everything comes out of the kiln and ready to go. But, oh no - I find out when I sit down to make sets that I have to spend the last weekend before the show making dozens of friggin' little, BORING TO MAKE, spacer beads. Sigh. I hate beads.

Finally Friday

It's been one of those weeks - busy busy busy. Work's been crazy, home's been crazy, you get the idea. And everything I've done this week has involved MORE MONEY. Filled up with gasoline - yikes! Got the electricity bill - uh oh. Went to the grocery store - you've GOT to be kidding. I heard a couple of days ago on the news that Prez Bush is sending $1.8 billion in aid to the areas that have been absolutely devastated by floods. Now, that sounds like a pretty good chunk of change, yes? But I decided to see how much Iraq war that same amount would "buy." Wanna take a guess? Try ONE WEEK. So we have hundreds - if not thousands - of Americans without homes, without crops, people whose lives will never be the same - and they're worth about one week of sending money to a foreign country. How would that make YOU feel? The next time you hear somebody (or you yourself) talk about the fiscal irresponsibility of the Democrats, or that only Republicans are "for" the good hardworking Americans of this land - STOP! No, the Democrats may not be any better (hopefully we'll be able to find out in the New Year), but you certainly can NOT say that the Republicans ARE.

Two sides of the same

bead.....





Ivory "guts" with copper mesh, encased with ivory and clear, a little bit of Canyon de Chelle stringer. I fumed the ends with fine silver to give them a little antiquing.....

An almost drive-by post....

I had a couple of emails asking me what to do with the large holed beads - well, they're the "hot thing" in jewelry right now, and go on a "Biagi," "Troll," or "Pandora" bracelet. Do a Google on those terms, and you'll see lots of cute big hole silver "charms" for this type of bracelet as well. Anyway, here are most of the beads from my "I'm trying to get that wispy look" torch session - on my Biagi bracelet.

Who took the prop wax?

Thought I needed to start whetting appetites for the trunk show at Nomadic Notions, so I'm trying to take and post a few pictures. This one came out nice, but it really needs to be displayed "standing up," and the prop wax was nowhere to be found...



It used to make me just crazy to not be able to find something. I'm well-organized, and our house is tiny. So, my thinking was always, "Okay, how hard can it be to find in a house this small - even IF I didn't put it away where it belonged?!" It finally dawned on me that the reason things go missing is precisely because my house is so small. Essentially, there's no room for error (no pun intended). I have tiny designated spaces for things, but it's just too easy for whatever I'm working on at the moment to encroach on the space designated for something else...and whatever it is that I'm looking for gets covered up, pushed aside, etc. etc.....And that prop wax container is about 1" square....Poor me - right?

When is copying okay?

I open with that question today because I have a copy for you:



I truly love Amy Kinsch's large holed beads - particularly the wispy little "clouds" she gets. (Here's a link to her Etsy: AK Designs.) I posed a question on Lampwork Etc a couple of weeks ago, asking for tips on getting those cute little wisps. No answers. Well, not any answers that were helpful. So, last weekend, I sat down and experimented, and came up with this - which is pretty darn close. Today on LE there is a huge discussion on copying....in this case REAL copying, as the copy-er is posting and selling on eBay essentially the same beads as originally sold by the copy-ee on eBay. I'm sure you can imagine the discussion - if you're an artist, or even follow bead and/or bead-related forums, then you've seen the same discussion over and over again. But, these discussions always interest me. I remember taking oil painting lessons from a woman who was quite well known in this area. In her studio was a magnificent "copy" of Van Gogh's Sunflowers, which she displayed proudly. Why? Well, in her day as an art student (and she was close to 80 when I took from her, so we're talking a quite a few years here) they would let art students go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and copy the masters. If the copy was good enough - as judged by the museum's curators - they would "certify" it as an acceptable copy. Which Della's was. And, in fact, this is exactly the way most masters learned - from copying. EXACT copying. I guess the difference is that Della wasn't offering the painting up for sale...anyway, I wound up making quite a few beads in the "Amy-style," which I'll wear with delight. I'll try to put a twist on them, and perhaps even sell them as large-hole beads....Here's something else I did with what I'd learned from my experiments, and it's very different:



Pretty, isn't it? The wispies are only in the center row - it's a pretty big bead, probably close to 25mm to 30mm....

Metals 101

Pictures today are some of the stuff I made in the class I took with Lydia and Gwen of Hill Country Artisan Retreats. It was the first class of this kind I've taken, and I really enjoyed it. I can't see myself using it a LOT, but I definitely took away some useful things...and you might see a bit of it popping up in my bead sets.

This will be a pendant (sorry, still haven't gotten around to purchasing findings...). Note the CUTE CUTE CUTE little paw prints on the inner piece!



Next is what will be a pair of earrings, which I'll never wear...LOL I envision some kind of little dangly things on the bottom...



Last, but certainly not least, is a ring. The only "catch" here is that it's assembled with a very long, very tiny bolt...for which there is essentially no source. Don't you just HATE that?! Anybody have any tiny bolts they want to part with? Anyway, too bad, because this definitely has possibilities, especially as it can use a lampwork bead.



If anybody has any questions about how any of this stuff was made, let me know, and I'll answer as best I can.

Feast or famine

I know I've been promising pictures forEVER - and finally had a chance to take some this weekend. The problem now? Do I flood you with pictures, or do I dole them out, one or two at a time? As it may be a while before the camera comes out again, I'm betting you know the answer!

So, first, I'll post a couple of pictures from the class I took at Heritage Glass a couple of weeks ago. These are from the "Mick class." Really just some simple wire wrapping, but I like the way they came out. As a lot of the stuff in my closet is pink and black or pink and brown (and is truly determined pretty much by the color pants that I choose to wear LOL!), I made two bracelets, one in each color. Got one on today - brown pants, peachy-colored linen tank and shirt - can you guess which one I'm wearing? And, it's makes a lovely jangly noise...

Busy, busy

It's been one of those weeks - actually, one of those months. I can truly say that I'll be happy to put May behind me.

I'm out of the office most of this week, taking two statistics workshops. Categorical data analysis in the mornings, and factor analysis in the afternoons. Thirty-two hours of statistics in four days. What possessed me, you ask? If you know me at all you know how much I hate crunching numbers, despite that Master's in Program Evaluation. But, it had been quite a while since I'd had a refresher, and I will admit that both classes have been useful for that purpose at least (and the FA beyond that, even). The most intriguing thing for me about statistics is its potential for, um, creativity? If that piques your interest, check out these two books: How to Lie with Statistics (Huff) and The Mismeasure of Man (Gould). You'll never read another "fact analysis" in the same way again. And, both books are very readable.

Face of the earth

No, I haven't dropped off it! LOL Just been a very busy week. The classes last weekend were fab, and I do have pictures to show, but I want to finish the stuff up a bit first. We used copper and brass in the cold connections class, and all the earwires I have at home are sterling or GF, so won't really work. Thinking about making some copper earwires, but they're so cheap to buy, ya know? Both classes were great, and I do have two bracelets finished from the "Mick-class." Lovely, jangling, full-of-beads bracelets. One is pink and black, the other pink and brown. Well, not really pink-pink in the brown one, but pink over opal yellow, which gives a wonderful peachy-blushy pink. And, in staying on a roll, I restrung a Dustin Tabor bead necklace that I wore once and wasn't happy with; also wire wrapped an awesome Brad Pearson bead that I bought a couple of months ago. I've just GOT to be better about doing this, and wearing things....I know a lot of beadmakers will only wear their own stuff, but I think that's kinda like only eating Mexican food. I LOVE Mexican food, but I think I'd tire of it pretty quickly. So, with a three-day weekend, I'm hoping to get the camera out for a bit.

Gathering the beads for ME!

I'm off to take a class - actually two classes - at Heritage Glass this weekend. On Saturday, I'll be doing wire work with Mick McNulty (of Nomadic Notions fame). It's really all pretty much stuff I know how to do, but I do so little wire work that I'm really looking forward to a refresher. And, of course, a lot of the stuff I taught myself, so I'm sure I'll learn some easier ways of doing things. Here's a promo picture of what she'll be teaching:



I've got my pink and black beads ready (yes, Juls, I made more) as well as a set that's in brown, opal yellow, and pink. I still need to pull together a few crystals, and maybe some pearls...gotta go through my stash. I wear so much pink - and I just LOVE pink with brown - that I thought I'd shoot for two bracelets. Even if I don't get both finished in class, maybe the muse will stay with me long enough to get two done...I'm also taking a pretty good handful of my beads to leave with Mick - they'll be on display at Nomadic Notions to promote the coming trunk show (July 12th and 13th).

On Sunday, I'm taking a class with Lydia and Gwen. That class is called Jewelry with a Bang. No promo pictures, but the description says we'll be working with copper, silver, and some patinas - something I've really wanted to do. I'm actually trying to look at the weekend as a "for me" weekend, rather than a "business" weekend. When what you do for pure enjoyment turns the corner into a bona fide business, well, the distinction is sometimes hard, ya know?

Good intentions...

Where do they lead? Well, in my case, to the Amazon bookstore where I found several really interesting titles.

The journey started while looking for a witty quote to address how, while I did make lots of beads this weekend, I never managed to get any of them photographed. Again. I wanted something along the lines of "good intentions - not worth the paper they're printed on" or something profound like that....that led me to a couple of really interesting titles on Amazon: Woman's Book of Creativity (sadly, no longer available). Which then led me to The Twelve Secrets of Highly Creative Women, and This Year I Will....Both of these are very highly rated, and the fact that I added them to my cart says, I guess, something about my current state of mind. I think I'll also throw in The Life Organizer: A Woman's Guide to a Mindful Life.

My intentions to read them are really good....

You CAN go home again!

Back home from a FABULOUS bead show! I didn't take my camera - just one more thing to keep up with - so there are no pictures. But, as expected, I did see many MANY wonderful friends. Even better because a LOT of them bought beads! Perhaps they read the blog and just took pity; even so hopefully they really love the beads they took home.

I sold two pink and black sets to Julie that had my name on them....boo hoo for me. LOL She wore a really cute pink and black blouse to the show Sunday, and I'll have to say the beads went GREAT with her outfit. GG got the really cool opal yellow/terra focal....when I etched it, the opal yellow went more pinkish and the terra didn't etch at all, so it was a really cool look. Cat got the DSP shards on red. I think those were the three sales that "hurt" the most! Like I need more beads....

So, back to my torch for the impending trunk show at Nomadic Notions in July.

The bags are packed...

I'm literally ready to walk out the door. The bead cart. The other two carts holding various sundry items such as table covers, display signs, and all the sales-related stuff. I have my just-in-case chair sitting there; the small TV tray that becomes a work table. The floor mats.

So of course now the burning question is, "What did I forget?" LOL Hopefully nothing, I'm a pretty organized person. I do have to get by the market to get some fruit, and I guess something for sandwiches. Although maybe I'll just say "screw it" and eat the unhealthy, expensive stuff there. One less thing to carry, to worry about. I do remember, though, the ONE YEAR I decided to do this - they were out of everything by 10am the first day, had nothing the second day! So, I guess I'd better plan for those sandwiches.

See y'all soon!

Almost ready....

for the SABOS show!

So now I'm going to launch into politics for a minute. IF YOU DON'T LIKE MY POLITICS, OR DON'T FEEL LIKE POLITICS SHOULD BE AIRED IN PUBLIC, THEN DON'T READ ANY FURTHER. Also, do NOT email me to tell me you don't like my politics. I don't really give a flying fig, okay? (And, yes, I do get emails from people telling me this, as if they thought they could make me see the error of my ways.)

Gee, that paragraph is almost politics in and of itself, isn't it? LOL

The SABOS show is coming at a time when I could really use the money. Those of us who do "art" do it first for the love of it, but also because we really don't have a choice, if that makes sense. For me creative enterprises are as natural and necessary as eating, sleeping, breathing. Many artists do try to eek a bit of money from it - if not profit, then enough to permit us to continue to do it (remember, it's like food for us, just as necessary). My "bead" bank account is depleted from supplies, tools, and, of course, classes. Classes are not a true necessity, I guess, but the other half of me is all about education, and I guess I take it seriously. But, I digress. I know that many of you don't have extra money to spend. The bead forums are full of chats about Ebay sales, Etsy sales, craft show sales. As in there are NO sales. And, no matter how you (or I) slice it, beads just aren't a necessity. I would never expect you to buy beads rather than food, or gasoline. So, as much as I'm looking forward to SABOS, I don't expect it to be a financially good show for me. I'm afraid it won't be a good show for many of us, and many of the people there make all or part of their living selling their art. If you can't afford to spend money at the show, don't. But, please DO stop by to see me, and to see all the other vendors you know. Tell me my beads are pretty. Tell me that "that woman 3 booths over has wonderful things for sale." Tell me about the new artist on the back row with so much talent for beadweaving. If you can spend a few dollars at the show, do it with glee and thankfulness. If you spend some with me, I'll appreciate it, and know that it's hard-earned money for you, not to be taken for granted.

Beads, beads, and more beads

Beads have truly taken over my house. This has been the case for some time, of course, but I think I'm more acutely aware of this fact when I'm preparing for a bead show. I keep everything in those nifty little semi-disposable Glad containers, clearly labeled, of course. Yes, scoff at me for my Monk-like (as in Tony Shalub)tendencies, but I'm an organization freak. Anyway, now I've got little containers of "sets," "earring pairs," "vertical focals," "horizontal focals," - an almost unending supply of those little marked containers. So, what's the problem, you ask? Well, none of them - NONE of them - are priced yet. There's even the "to be etched" and the "needs additional finishing" containers - which contain beads which have to have other things done to them BEFORE they can even BE priced. Believe it or not, I actually begin to think I'm tired of beads at this time point before every show. It's their "everywhereness," I guess....

Can't wait to be home tomorrow to work on the "have possibilities" container!

Sounds of silence....

Things are (hopefully) returning to a bit of normal today. We've interviewed about 150 undergraduate tutor applicants in the last three days. I feel every single one of them this morning....We have to do the interviews in the late afternoon, after classes are over, and of course the Center's business continues as usual. Which means my workdays for the last three days have averaged 11-12 hours. We do group interviews, but between the introductions, the competency exams, the "mock tutoring" exercise, and the debriefing/selection process, we're talking 3 hour interviews at a minimum. I'm tired. I'm cranky. I feel old! LOL

Still getting ready for the SABOS bead show. I have pretty good amount of stock, although no new bead weaving patterns as I had intended. I've said, "maybe next time" so often that I'm not even going to say it again!

Beyond swamped...

But there are pictures! No time to "talk" today, so enjoy. Oh, I may put these in Etsy - not sure yet - but if you see something you want, email me. You KNOW my prices are reasonable! And ya know ya want 'em....

Last of the dot face

Here's the dot face, pretty much finished. Truthfully, I can't remember if he tinkered any more after I took this picture. He probably did, as it's in his nature as a perfectionist. This definitely falls under the category of "something I'll never do," but the experience of watching is well worth it. Just knowing what CAN be done if you want to badly enough (and, practice enough, too!).

It's a gorgeous day here. The nights have been exceptionally cool, the days pretty cool, too - in the high 70s. I know that summer is right around the corner, but I'm enjoying this while I can. I'm off to Blue Moon tomorrow, so don't look for another update until Friday or Saturday.

Later!

Ha ha - fooled ya!

Told y'all I was going to take a few pictures over the weekend. You didn't really BELIEVE me, did you? As always, my intentions were good, but peeps, there's only so many hours in the day. Even though Tony was gone, and I had the house to myself, I still had to do a little laundry, a little (very little) gardening, a little vacuuming. Friday evening I spent pricing beads; Saturday morning the gray had to be covered - again. (I'm thinking (not very seriously) about just letting it go - now really, don't you think that having to cover roots every three weeks is just ridiculous?!) So, the little of this and little of that turned into a LOT of stuff. I did get quite a few sets of Theresa's cow and cow-titty beads made (you'll have to ask her...). Also some killer pandora beads for ME ME ME.

Anyway, I'm at work today and tomorrow, then off to Blue Moon Wednesday and Thursday. I'm actually gonna pick up the paperweight I made in Loren Stump's class. Andrea is a hoot, looking forward.

More face

At this point, the face is really starting to come together. I chose this photo, even though it's a bit out of focus, because it shows both the face and the back of the skull. Remember that the entire underlying structure was formed out of clear glass.



Tony is off doing bowling stuff this weekend, so I hope to get a lot done. I have most of the sets I've made strung up, but they need to be priced; all of the focals need to be sorted and priced. I also want to etch a few, because there are always customers who prefer that look. I also bought a nice little bottle of wine....for after torching, of course! My best intention is to take a few photos, too. We'll see where that goes....

Dot face, two...

Time's limited today, so I'll just let the picture do most of the talking.



At this stage, the skull is fully formed (gee, I sound like a physiologist, don't I?). In this step, the base is being coated with pink. The reason the glass looks so "wormy" is because Loren swirls the glass as he's applying it - almost making tiny brush-like strokes. This prevents regular or organized-looking streaks from forming, as would happen if the glass was just swiped on. Basically, it makes the glass look more like skin and less like glass.

Have I mentioned that he has a commission to do a life-sized Cher in glass? Yes, THAT Cher.

The "dot" face and other stuff

Over the next few postings, I'll share pictures of what Loren Stump calls the "dot face." Why dot face? Well, I'm not sure, because there weren't any dots used that I could see! Here's the face as it's just beginning to be formed - at this point all you can see is the vague shape of a skull. And, yes, it's formed completely in clear - it will be overlaid with color in the next steps.



On MY bead horizon, I've been busy busy busy making beads. I have a show coming up next month (yikes!) and a trunk show - I think - in July. This whole weekend I had to do mostly "production" work, which for me means spacers to go with all the sets. Every time I spend a weekend this way, I PROMISE myself that "from NOW ON I'll make these little buggers as I go." But, I never do. It's just so much fun to make pretty beads....but, really I think the spacers make the set. So, from now on....