Okay so I love my new iPhone. Maybe (?) y'all will hear from me a bit more often. Although fat fingers suck.

Waiting, waiting, waiting

So, the people who know me best have already said it: I know when your work load at UT increases becuase you stop blogging. Well, YES, that is exactly the case. I can often sneak in an update at lunch, but I'm so busy right now that it's "what lunch?" Really sitting at my desk catching up on emails while I slurp down soup, usually.

But right now I'm waiting on the timer to ding telling me that once more I'll be able to face the world without gray roots. I do occasionally thinking about saying "oh to hell with it" and letting the gray come, but I always think the transition would be terrible. Kind of like on ongoing score: gray, 1/2 inch, blondish, 10 inches; gray 1.5 inches, blondish 8.5 inches - and so on. I just don't think I can do that. Maybe if I were a stay at home person and could just don a cap on the outside visits...anyway.

The bead show was terrific as always. I get to see everybody that I only see once or twice a year. I actually count them ALL as friends - I'm pretty sure I could call on any of my bead buds for anything and get it (exceptions, of course!). It's a wonderful, comfortable, loosely tight-knit community, if that makes sense. Sales were much better than I expected given this economy thing. So, if you bought or if you just stopped by to say "hi," thanks!

I'm taking a class with Holly Cooper next weekend at Blue Moon. Too lazy to do the link thing (how sad is that) but you can easily google her. I just LOVE her style of beads, maybe especially as I do a lot of scroll work myself.

Beep beep beep! There goes the timer - later!

Kim Fields

Got home late last night from a two-day Kim Fields class. Having Blue Moon Glassworks in Austin is a double-edged sword: I get to take from some of the very best bead artists, but I stay broke!

This class was on sculptural birds. We made a transparent beginning-of-the-class bird, an owl, a pudgie, and a bunting. Here's a photo of the owl steps - it's really nice when the beadmaker provides this kind of reference:



My owl came out pretty good, and my "gift" from the class was the owl that Kim demonstrated. I think I'll make it up for Tony because it's one of those few beads that can work as a "guy" bead. And, here's Kim working on it....



I'll try to get my ass in gear to get a couple of pictures of the ones I made, although the bunting is still at Blue Moon. Also, Jim is really good about posting pictures of the class beads, and you can see the ones everybody made, so if I don't get them up go check out Blue Moon for photos. Now, I need to get my butt up off this chair and go make beads!

The road to hell is paved with good intentions

but not with pictures of beads. At least not from my camera. The last few days have been completely nuts, so very few beads made Saturday, and absolutely no photos.

I'm off to Blue Moon in a bit to start a class with Kim Fields - my camera battery is charging right now, promise.

More later!

Bead pixs soon....

Good Saturday at the torch; pictures to follow.

Big honkin' beads

I’ve been reorganizing/rearranging the bead room a bit. It’s just so hard to find space for beads, books about beads, a table to use to photograph beads….and what’s really ironic is that beads – even the “honkers” – are really little ol’ things. Can you imagine if my hobby was cars?





Here are pictures of the two biggest (I think) beads I own. The purple one (a whopping 3.25 inches long) is by Jennifer Geldard (to the best of my memory…) and the red/purple one (over 2 inches long and more than an inch wide) is by Michelle Waldren, who STILL doesn’t have a website, but does have an Etsy shop.

What's funny is that 3" really doesn't seem that long - but when you see a 3" long bead...wow.

At last the weekend

The weekend again. I’ve really enjoyed working a modified flex time schedule over the summer. I was able to work 9-hour days, which “earned” me an afternoon off, and then work from home on Friday mornings. The upshot is that one blissful day a week I didn’t have to make the daily commute. I always get up early, so I could make coffee, feed the girls, and be on the computer by 6:30 or so. Which means that I could be through with work by 10:30 or 11 – and the rest of the day was mine. Alas, that’s not an option once the kids come back….It’s truly amazing how much longer three days feels than two….Anyway, gotta torch my butt off tomorrow. I have the Kim Fields class next week, and sometimes the first day on the torch isn’t particularly productive following a class….

Austin Bead Society Bazaar

I’m gearing up a bit for the Austin Bead Society Bazaar . The website says it’s the 18th ANNUAL – I’m not sure if they’re not counting last year or not…as they didn’t have one. Anyway, it will be at the Palmer Auditorium, which I think will be good. The first year they had it on Labor Day Weekend I thought they were nuts – but it was the best crowd ever. And, Saturday is also the first UT home game (yawn) so that usually ups the traffic. Maybe husbands stay home in front of the TV (YAWN) while the little ladies shop? Although as the husband-unit pointed out people will have to purchase parking – so maybe plan on carpooling if you can. I’ve made quite a few beads since the trunk show, and will of course have patterns for you to peruse….hope to see you there!

Just a blah blah update....

Almost finished with the special orders. Realized I had run out of one color of glass that I needed, so had to make that reorder. And of course that one color turned into $150 worth of glass! LOL I’m also working on one order that requires a special-sized mandrel, and rather than buy one (or two) more at a whopping $15 each, I’m just making one a weekend. Beth said she wasn’t in any hurry, so I’m taking my time (and taking her at her word).

So, Saturday was spent torching, Sunday was spent with my arms above my head, taping and floating the ceiling. To say I ran out of energy quickly would be an understatement. And it wasn’t even that hot. I think that what did me in was climbing up and down (and up and down and up and down) the ladder. I could only do a small area at a time without climbing down, moving the ladder, climbing back up, etc. Ugh. Too old for this shit. Oh well. The ceiling will look clean and pretty good, if not perfect. Although I will say that we hired a guy to do the dining room ceiling, and mine looks at good as his – and MUCH cheaper!

More home moanership woes

Got to work on the torch Saturday – special orders almost finished up. I had run out of a specific color of glass for one of them, so now I have to wait for that to come in. That’s okay – I LOVE getting packages in the mail.

Sunday was spent tearing down more sheetrock/putting up new sheetrock. Joy joy. I’m aiming for the end of August (hopefully) middle of September (conservatively) for me to have a living room to walk into where I don’t immediately shudder. The sheetrock probably won’t be taped/floated by that time, but it will be clean. Wish me luck!

Poblano mashed potatoes

I’ve been cooking a lot more lately, mostly because Tony has taken over most of the weekday cooking chores. Well, okay, I can see in re-reading that sentence that it doesn’t make a lot of sense. What I mean is that I’m cooking more real food when I DO cook. I actually make pork loin last weekend, with poblano mashed potatoes. Would you believe I had to go out and buy a roasting rack because I didn’t have one? See – told ya I didn’t cook much! And, yes, it was yummy.

Poblano Mashed Potatoes

2 1/2 lb baking potatoes; peeled and cut into 1" cubes
1 1/2 tb salt (for water)
1 c sour cream
1/2 c olive oil
4 poblano chiles, roasted and seeded, diced about 1/4"
Salt; to taste
Freshly-ground black pepper

Place potatoes in a sauce pan, generously covered with salted water. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook, uncovered until soft, about 20 to 30 minutes. Drain well and while potatoes are still warm mash with a potato masher or food mill. In another pot heat sour cream, olive oil and chiles; fold into potatoes. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately. Yields 4 to 6 servings.

It's almost August?!

Holy moly almost the end of July. On the one hand I’m glad – only 3 more months until it cools off. On the other hand, UT starts back in just a few weeks. When I started there, summers were slow (I’m on a 12-month contract). No more. I think there’s so much to do while the kids are here that piles of stuff get pushed back to the summer. Over time the piles that accumulate have become higher and higher. No complaints, though – I have a good job with health insurance.

Real live lampwork beads on Etsy

Woo hoo! I’ve actually got stuff up for sale on Etsy! Truthfully, for me making the beads – even cleaning the beads – is preferable to photographing the beads and writing descriptions. I guess if you don’t make beads and don’t have a huge stash, that seems funny. But at some point I just want to name them Bead 1, Bead 2, Bead 3, you get the idea. I mean, it’s a BEAD! What more can be said? If I start that yada yada yada crap about artistic vision, just shoot me, okay? I remember a long time ago working one day at Nomadic Notions…this woman comes in with an ugly rock and says, “this stone told me it wants to be wrapped in silver.” I didn’t know whether to laugh or call Shoal Creek (the local mental facility for you outside of Austin). And, yes, I digress….Just realize I didn't do a link thingy - my seller name is yellowdogbeads....

It's hot....(said with a whiny voice)

I did manage to get torch time this weekend, and whittle down the special order pile. Whew. Unfortunately, it’s just too hot to torch after about 3pm. Even with the AC running full blast, the house gets HOT. (And, I have NO IDEA how we’re going to pay our electric bill this month – if I set up a PayPal account, would y’all donate?) I’m absolutely a morning person, but as it’s the weekend, and I’m a work-a-day girl, I sometimes need to use Saturday mornings to run a couple of errands. It would be easier if stores opened at a reasonable hour – like 7am – instead of letting their employees sleep half the day and not open until 10! It takes the kiln about an hour to heat up once I’m home (I ramp it up pretty slowly, as it’s easier on the heat-thingy). Do the math – it might be noon before I get on the torch. I worked Saturdays AND Sundays when I was getting ready for the trunk show, but now I’m back to working on the house on Sundays. Someday I’d like to have a house that’s livable rather than craptastic, and that not-so-small feat is pretty much going to be up to me. I wish I had taken action when I was 30, not at the age I’m at now. Oh, well. They say that those who keep learning stay young, and I guess hanging and taping/floating sheetrock counts.

Don't drop dead

but there's stuff up on Etsy – at least a bit. I took a bunch of bead photos last weekend, and they all turned out looking like c-r-a-p. Probably because I was in a huge hurry, as usual….so I had to re-take them all.

Professional Development....

Otherwise known as lampworking classes.....If you ever wonder about how I spend the money you so graciously put in my pocket when you buy beads or beadweaving tutorials….

In August, I’m taking a class with Kim Fields. I’ve taken a class with her before (would you believe she’s an Emmy winner?!) but it was on your standard flowers etc. stuff. This time she’s teaching sculptural birds. I don’t always see very well in 3 dimensions, so I’m hoping she’ll have some tips on that.

In September, a class with Holly Cooper . The class is being taught on a hothead, although I’ve asked Jim if I can opt for a minor (yes). The class will focus on stringer control (which I don’t need) and design (which I feel like I DO need). You can see from her website that she has an artist’s background AND eye, and I’ve long admired her beads. Can’t wait.

I think that’s it for this year. It would be nice to pick up a beadweaving class – I wonder why we don’t have more “names” in that arena come through Austin?

What's next?

What’s next? Well, I’ll be at the Austin Bead Society show Labor Day weekend (September 5th & 6th). The show this year is at the Palmer Event Center (unfortunately the website says PARMER Event Center), which will definitely be a new experience. I’m pretty much used to bead shows being in little “odd-use” venues – so having it in a real, live convention center will be interesting. There are lots of amazing restaurants close, so maybe plan a trip to one of those when you come downtown.

I’m on the fence about doing the Houston Bead Society Show this year. The booth price has gone up the last two or three years, and it’s now up to $275 for an 8-foot table. Which, no, isn’t a TON of money, but I have to travel to Houston – which means gasoline, food, and hotel. Admittedly, I HATE to travel, so I’m trying to not let that negative emotion play a factor in my decision…anyway, the show last year was not good financially, and I certainly don’t expect it to be any better this year. So, just not sure….I try to keep the prices on my beads very reasonable, but I really just can’t (refuse to?) work for free.

Beadweaving

I’ve heard from a lot of people since the trunk show. Some with questions, some with orders, others just to chat. I’ve enjoyed talking to everybody. I got to work on some of the custom orders this last weekend, and will put in some time this weekend, but it will most likely be the first weekend in August before I get everything finished up (TOTALLY not complaining, okay?). I’ve also heard from a couple of people asking about Loretta – her visit to the doggie ophthalmologist – yes, she seems to be fine, and there’s a bit more about the experience in my dog-blog, Heartbeats at My Feet. I’ve also heard from quite a few people who have visited the website about when I’ll have new beadweaving patterns. Believe it or not, I AM working on it. I sketch a lot (how do YOU spend staff meetings?!), I’ve just not been very good about translating the sketches into action, so to speak. I’ve decided that that’s gotta change. It’s really a matter of having something at hand to work on. With designing, that’s not always easy, but I’m going to give it a go again. Part of my reluctance has been that I’m not teaching, and I really like the idea of being able to road test a pattern before offering to the masses for sale….

Woo hoo! Trunk show is over!

Thanks so much to everybody who came by the trunk show! We all (I hope!) had a fabulous time. The store stayed pretty busy Friday and Saturday, a little less so Sunday. But, overall, the traffic was good. And thanks also to the FABulous employees at Nomadic Notions. They all have a talent for making every person who walks through the doors feel welcome without being pushy. I do know that their customers appreciate them.

I also had a chance to eat a couple of times at the next-door restaurant, Casa Chapala. Mick (Nomads’ illustrious manager) said that the Austin Chronicle had given the restaurant a slam review, which was definitely not my experience. The fish tacos were great – everything very fresh; the migas, although not typical of this Tex-Mex town were also very good. I asked for fresh chopped jalapenos on the migas – and got TONS of them. So, no, this is not a restaurant review, but if you’re in a Nomads for a class or whatever I do vote that you give them a try. Their service was also good, a relative rarity this day and age. Oh, oh, and the beer was cold. What else could you want?

Counting down the days

until the Trunk Show! YIKES! It's almost here!

Can you tell I'm stressed?! It's debatable whether the best use of my time (considering the trunk show only) was spending the weekend at Blue Moon Glassworks at a Kristina Logan class. As far as the best use of my time NOT considering the show - YES - absolutely. I'm totally a dot girl, and I came away from the class with a new appreciation of all things dots. And, Kristina is one of the most genuinely sweet people I've ever met. I just can't say enough positive about her personality or her art. She's coming back (hopefully!) next year to do a glass/metal class. Fingers crossed I'll be able to attend that one. I snagged a couple of pictures off Jim's (Blue Moon) website - didn't take any of my own...





I did drop off some tease beads at Nomadic Notions - go take a look!

Hot hot hot....

It's basically too hot to live. The girls are totally lethargic. Nights are an issue - we have the "big" AC, but at night we turn on a small window unit that's pretty much just inches from the foot on the bed on my side. As soon as one of us says something remotely like, "are you ready for bed?" or "I'm going to bed" Ruby immediately gets up and heads down the hallway, and yes, you guessed it, climbs up to lay RIGHT IN FRONT of the little AC. Within minutes Daisy is up there as well. Loretta and Rosalita typically wait until I come to bed (Tony is almost always in bed first as he's up so early) - but then they climb up there, too. That's roughly 300 pounds of dog (and me!) vying for the AC.

So, I found a recipe online for deer repellent. I'm going to try it this weekend and I'll let y'all know.

Heartbeats....

Is updated.

Okay, nobody drop dead now...

But I've updated/retooled the "real" home page - www.yellowdogbeads.com. It of course still needs some tinkering - good GRIEF this stuff is hard to get just right - but there are pretty pretty pictures to entice y'all.

Ummm....did I promise pictures?

No, wasn't me! LOL

I DID get the camera out, at least. Y'all just can't believe how focused I've been on making beads. June is very busy for me anyway - a conference next weekend (assessment - ugh), then I'm taking a class from Kristina Logan - whose beads I've LONG admired - the last weekend in June. Then it's the 4th of July weekend, then - EEK! - it's Trunk Show weekend!

Checking in...

Still no pictures. But, I left work early today (we're actually able to take some flex time over the summer - woo hoo! - Friday afternoons off!), and I'm hoping to at least get out in the garden for a few pictures this afternoon. The Texas Star has starting blooming in a big way - FINALLY. Actually, everything's pretty much in bloom, but we had drive-by deer a couple of nights ago (argh! with 5 dogs you'd think they'd pass our place by!) and the tops are gone off of everything. Even the jalepeno peppers. Hope they felt that one after-the-fact, so to speak.

I made a couple pair of cute cute earrings earlier this week - hope to get those photographed, too.

Driving by....

No pictures or nothing.

Very busy weekend. Lots of beads made, probably 6 or so bluebonnets. I also made quite a few earring sets. Now all I have to do is make earrings! LOL

Theresa said she'd help me, but she's gone for the week to B&B, lucky girl. Hopefully I'll have a few pictures in a couple of days.

Bluebonnets...

ready for picking soon:





It's funny, because in these pictures these canes look HUGE. In reality, they are about 3mm, or about 4 times the diameter of the lead in an automatic pencil. I'll leave the blue canes pretty much as they are, as they'll be stippled on, but the green striped canes will be pulled down quite a bit smaller. "Pulling them down" involves reheating the cane, and stretching it out a bit, so it's thinner in diameter. I also use this reheating/pulling process to make the cane look more random when applied - rather than the nice, straight, neat cane you see here, it will be bumpy, wavy, more like mother nature intended. These will be painted on to the bead - think about making a long comma stroke, but with glass.Of course, it's not all naturalistic - if you look closely at the striped cane close-up (the cane closest to the bottom), you can see the tiny stripe of goldstone I added...in the picture, it looks kinda like pixelization, but it's not - it's sparkle!

I made most of the blue canes last night - all except the darkest blue. I made those and both sets of green cane, light and dark, at 5:30 this morning. I'm ready to make bluebonnet beads first thing Saturday morning!

So what have I been up to?

Here I am, sitting waiting for my class to start. It's actually every afternoon this week - and yesterday was really good. With all the stats classes I took, SEM wasn't one of them.

I have been making beads - like crazy! I'm doing a trunk show at Nomadic Notions in July, so I've been torching, torching, torching. Probably cranking out 6 to 8 sets every weekend. During the week, I try to take an hour after Tony has gone to bed and make materials - twisties, complex cane, encased case, etc. - to use in the weekend's work. It might not seem like it, but this saves a LOT of time when it comes to actually making the beads. People at bead shows invariably ask, "How long does it take to make a bead?" Well, once all the parts have been made, not very long. But a single complex cane or twistie can take 15-20 minutes to make. And, if I'm lucky, I get enough usable cane to use in three or four beads. Maybe.

This weekend I'm going to concentrate on focals. I've got a few goddesses, a few thimbles, but absolutely no bluebonnets and very few other type focals. So, tonight I'll probably start pulling the encased case for the bluebonnets. I use three or four different blue (basically very light to very dark) color combos on each bead to mimic the bluebonnet colors; I've also got to make a complex striped cane for the stems and leaves. And then the canes for the background paint brush. I'll be busy!

Not too proud to admit it....

Okay, how sad is it that I'm updating - while I'm sitting in a class on Structural Equation Modeling! LOL Nothing like jumping back in in a wacko way.

I HAVE been contemplating getting back in the saddle, so to speak. I just got so busy - home, work, home, work, Tony, the girls, home, work...you get the idea. Judging from the last update, which was right before the Houston bead show, I was busting butt getting stuff ready for that, then there was the end-of-semester at work, and working on the house. A new floor - finally! - and I didn't have to do any of it! But, I was without a kitchen for 2 or 3 weeks. Gee, that was fun. Although I can't say it was all bad having the refrigerator in the living room.

Anyway, to those of you that have emailed or that I've seen at bead shows - YES - everything is fine. I think I just needed a break. Truthfully, I still need a break, but I guess I'm beginning to realize that I'm not gonna get one.

Class is resuming - I did post on a break - what! you thought I posted DURING class!? Gotta go.