What's Going On ...

Is summer over yet?...

You all know of the 'wind chill factor' - figure in the temp, add the wind speed and that's how cold it feels...well there's also a 'heat index factor' - figure the temp add the humidity level and that's how hot it feels...our heat index factor today - 107 degrees...oh yeah, baby its summertime!! I saw in Denver the high was 64 the other day...how do ya'll do that? those mountains make a difference, huh...heh...

A few pendants are still available...i'm at the torch today working, playin...you know..Congratulations to Anissa for winning the Grape lentils...The new Freebie has been posted to...Franklin is just hanging out, waiting for you to take him home...

Hope you enjoy your day off...I'm enjoyin' my day eatin' some bananas for breakfast and having fun!!

Miss Bead Fairy has arrived

I figure most of ya'll are out doing fun holiday things w/ your families, but on the off chance you stop by looking for something new, I've loaded up the Pickings with pendants...enjoy!

and brought pendants for the taking....they'll be posted later this afternoon after class is over...organic, earthy, woody, groovy pendants (i haven't taken them out of the kiln yet, maybe they are really ugly, gross, stupid and freakish - i don't know yet !)...

Hope you're having a great holiday weekend, see ya'll later this afternoon (after 3:00, probably closer to 5:00CST)...

Class Day!

Brian is picking up breakfast tacos, my student Patsy is on her way and the studio is setup and ready...even my horoscope says "you will be a teacher today"...I rarely read horoscopes and when i do its always just for fun...i thought it was amusing that it would mention 'teaching' today, though...Next week it'll proabaly say I'm going to be an astronaut....

more later as the day progresses...

The Tour is coming up soon!!

the good news - I only have 1 more order to complete and I'll be done...this makes me VERY HAPPY!!!
the bad news - I have no new Pickings for ya'll today...
the ugly - me in the morning...well, what did you expect?

I have a groovy class that I'm teaching this weekend, and after that I expect to have some Pickings for ya'll...put that in the 'good news' category...

The closer July gets, the more you'll hear about my favorite sporting event - the Tour de France...

I've been follwoing it since 1999, when Lance Armstrong returned after his bout with cancer and won the damn thing...He's lived in Austin for awhile now (when not in Europe training) and we had a big parade and festival downtown in 1999. Gov Bush, Lance, his family, all the goofy Tx politicians showed up to blab, and then the music kicked in..We all wore yellow shirts and I have one that says "France, Who's your Daddy?"...

I used to have OLN and could watch it all, but alas - no cable (if you want me to get any beads made at all, taking cable away is a good thing, trust me! hee) so I listen on my computer to their live broadcast. Its like the 40's when folks would huddle around their radio to listen to The Shadow...quite amusing...Anyway, I visit Lance's site often and there are a couple of cool things ya'll might enjoy...

A commercial (has it been running? i haven't seen it) of Lance cruising through the countryside...called "Magnet"

And a yellow wrist band you can wear in support of cancer patients..I ordered 10 the other day and thought about offering them with some upcoming sets...They're cheap enough that everyone can order their own box of 10 and not go broke...

Its almost June...no way...way...

If you haven't read "She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named" daily chat about beadmakers checking out other's work on eBay, its a good read...i recommend it before she chats about something else...

I did get some play time in yesterday, made another pendant and some more Aztec beads, but only 3...i was also doing some detective work on a beadstyle that I'm curious about...5 attempts and its getting closer...I have so many avenues to try right now that I'm sitting at the torch just wondering where to start...but I know today I need to finish up a couple of orders, and then I have an insurance meeting (the last one was a disaster) and may have to run a friend to the Dr. cause her car is in the shop...what is it they say 'never enough time in the day'...well, I'll FIND the time today...

I have my first in-studio class this weekend and I'm pretty excited about that...Only 1 person could make it for the Memorial day weekend, so it'll be nice and intense...I'm not sure she's ready for 2 whole days of Donner cracking the whip, but I'll try not to make her cry for at least the first hour or so...heh...no, i'm not REALLY a task master, but I have lots to cover and not a lot of time for fiddling around...unless of course she wants to fiddle, but i think that's such a waste of money. If you're paying $300.00 for a class, don't you want to know everything you can, until your ears bleed? Exactly! But I won't push her, I have an agenda and we'll do whatever she wants to do (I am flexible), but when I take a class, I want to absorb as much as possible...so I'm assuming ya'll do too...maybe I'm just too intense about beads and beadmaking...infatuated? obssessed? what's the right word?

Regarding the catalog, I've been doing some thinking - my goal is to of course get everyone's orders done by the end of the month...I don't really expect there to be a large crashing wave of orders coming in, but should I find that I can't handle everyone's orders, I'll post notice that I'll close the catalog early. I think a month's wait for beads is reasonable, I've waited over 4 months for beads from "She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named", and I know at one time "She" had a year-long backlog to her catalog...A Year...think about that...i'm not saying it's right, i'm just saying...it happens...so 4 weeks seems pretty 'not-too-bad', dontcha think?

Morning, kidlets

Today is torch day, yesterday was 'catch up' day...I'm at the torch all day - the kiln is ramping up for a 14 hour run - i won't be torching the *entire* time, but it'll stay on till at least midnight, so I'll have plenty of time to get done whatever I feel like today...which is always fun..

I'm thinking that I need to set aside at least 1 day a week as a 'Play Day'. I was having a chat w/ Corina yesterday (yes we do talk, yes we are friends, no, i'm not trying to namedrop, I've known her for years, so its nothing new for me to talk to her...) and we've decided that neither of us plays around at the torch enough...playing around always brings forth new ideas and I know that I need 'freedom' at the torch to just goof around and make messes...

I dunno if I'm going to schedule a particular day, or just pick one when the muse hits, but I am going to definitely work it into my weekly agenda. How's that for semi-committal? But really, don't you like to just goof around sometimes, go shopping in little second hand stores or thrift stores and aren't you happy when you score that great little tuxedo blazer or vintage watch for next to nothing? That's how I feel when I play around - I'm always excited with the day, even if the results aren't the best...fun is fun, right?

Another eBay auction, i'm going to squeak this one in under the May timeline, just cause i've been neglecting eBay for awhile...I dunno, 2-3 auctions a week seems pretty good to me..I'd rather offer the rest as Pickings to ya'll so you don't have to wait...I may have a set for ya'll later today...I gotta go see what I have in my secret stash...

I have more surprises to show you, but I'll put them up later too...don't want to make your heads 'splode this early in the morning...

I'm back at the torch

I picked up my beads from yesterday, here are the pics of my 2-day haul...I highly recommend a class from Jennifer if you can get one, she's really worth it!

I stayed up way too late last night and played with some of the new techniques from class...I'll be on the torch again today as well as picking up yesterday's goodies from the shop, etc...but I wanted to show you what I made last night...

Aztec beads...

These guys will be up on eBay tonight, for an 'extended' run...plenty of time to decide if you like this look or not...And look for more pendants coming - that was the 'click' that went off in class for me...If you like or need pendants, I'll definitely have plenty more of these babies...in all shapes and colors. So versatile, quick, fun and rewarding...I love taking classes!!!

Quick Monday Eve post

My class is over, I'm getting caught up on email, snail mail and just decompressing from being out of pocket for 2 days...I've posted my work from yesterday, along with a bead I bought from Jennifer...(and the Freebie beads are up)...
Tomorrow I go back to the shop, pick up my portable kiln (good thing there were two chili pepper kilns there, we loaded both of them up!!) and the rest of my beads...will get more pics posted when I can...
Tonight, i'm going to practice some of the techniques before they fly out of my brain through my ears...I'm really excited about using silver and copper foil with the enamels, and getting such great organic woody brown and stone colors... (more)

In the mail today - I received 3 Corina Bead presses - the sparkly madonna bra type cone press, the 'pillbox' press and a beta test press of smaller Saturn style beads...I'm going to be trying that one out soon and asking your opinions for what size you like...I'm really happy to have smaller Saturns, I think they'll be fun!!

I also received some new frit colors from Val - an opaque orchid pink and a white that doesn't burn out like one I tested for her previously...so I'll be playing with those...She sent 3 of the 12lbs of glass I ordered, so I'm setting this aside for my beadbuddy Cindy and will wait patient for my 9lbs of color and 5lbs of clear to arrive...soon I hope! I just LOVE the Gaffer glass...its brilliant!!

Corina sent me some Subtle Stripe beads and beadcaps in exchange for the SATC DVD I sent her...I've been asking for these beads for awhile, so I'm thrilled to get them and can't wait to make my very own bracelet with them...We'll be twins, how goofy is that? She and I are in cahoots together on a project right now, I'll tell you more as it gets moving...

Ok, then I guess I better get back to it...busy busy busy...!!!

My head is full of ideas!

I'm home from my first day of the Jennifer Geldard class..we've made a bunch of beads, large vessels and used enamels with copper foil to get really cool colors. I can already see 2 tips from class that I'll be using..i typically come away from a class with lots of new info - but I don't use most of it, cuase it doesn't pertain to my style of beadmaking. So i'm happy if I get 1 good tip from the class - and now I have 2, so tomorrow is just gravy...I learned early on that I should try and learn from the masters, and see how their techniques benefit me...For instance, i don't make murini and Loren Stump's class is mostly that...but I did learn how to make a paperweight and am working toward getting the equipment to make those down the road...but I don't make murini, even though 'murini is important'.

Artzee has reset to 0, but I had almost 200 votes in just 2 weeks - the best ever! ya'll are super groovy..

i'll post the winner of the Freebie later tonight - we have to go try to capture a stray kitty whose owner was killed recently. Its a long story, i'll tell you later...i have new beads set aside for this week's freebie too, just need to get a pic of them...

i was up till 12:30am last night working on orders...I managed to get 3 more done, so now i only have 2 customers from April to get done...and then I'll be pretty well caught up...

Next weekend I have my first official class here in my own studio - I'm looking forward to it. So far its been mostly local beadmakers who just wanted to come over and hang out and have an informal class...next weekend, I need to be on my toes...and the weekend after that too! its hard to believe the classes are already here, we were scheduling them back in February..wow...

back later w/ more info...

Are you having fun today?

It is Saturday after all...and I hope your day is full of Sun and Fun...!
I'm at the torch, which I love, getting more catalog orders caught up. I'm disciplined to a point - and then it all falls to hell...part of the reason that I've closed my catalog is that I am behind in getting my orders done and I need to get back to ground zero before taking on more orders...and part of it is that I keep playing with new stuff and not making catalog stuff...and that's not fair to ya'll...I do have a question for ya'll..(you can email me your answer if you like) - How would you feel if I opened my catalog for 1 week out of the month, took orders during that week, then closed it to work on those orders? It seems like a reasonable way for me to get work done from it in a relatively timely manner...

The tree is all planted, I have loads of pics and will post a page when i get a chance to...

Jennifer Geldard is in town this weekend, and i'm in her class tomorrow/monday...i'm looking forward to it - her work is completely on the other end of the spectrum from my work and I expect I'll learn a lot!

I bought a cool new powder yesterday...its a surprise, i'll post some beads when I get a chance to play with it...fun fun!

SATC Season 6 is out!

I spotted a blue parakeet at my wild bird feeder this morning..poor thing..i'm sure he escaped from someone's window and now he's trying to fend for himself in the 'wild'...how would I even go about catching him? I doubt that I could...I suppose I'll just leave food and water out and hope he comes back often. I wonder where he lives? Do they build nests in the wild? I mean, when a bird is born in captivity and only knows human conveniences, do they know how to survive outside that environment?

I made a few more Gaffer lentil sets last night, a nice emerald green, and a tangerine with blue and green...I started a purple set, but my cat took over my chair and declared I was done making bead for the night (it was 12:30am)...

So i have to finish that set this morning...I wasn't going to post these for sale, but if you're interested, you can email me...I figured ya'll had enough of these for awhile, so I was just playing around with colors and experimenting for myself...I really enjoy that Gaffer glass (Gaffer is the manufacturer of the glass - in New Zealand), its softer and clearer than Moretti, the Italian glass I typically use...I also have some new Bullseye (new to me) to play with, maybe I'll drag that out and see what I can do with it. They have a pink and purple series that is not found in Moretti and is really nice!

I picked up copies of Season 6 Sex and the City for Corina and me yesterday...Target has them on sale...I try to keep Corina updated on the latest w/ the show...we used to talk about it all the time 'way back when' but not so much anymore...although I do have all the seasons on DVD and watch them over and over again...I hope HBO or someone comes up with another great chick show...otherwise, these DVD's will have grooves in them where i've played them over and over again...ha.

Pickings are ready

Oh, and a quick note - I've given in and bought 2 of the 'pillow' and 'diamond' bead presses that make beads in the shapes of chicklets...I've also got the 'madonna bra' CBS and the 'small tab' CBS on order, but nothing has arrived yet...so if you're tired of round and lentil shapes, i'll be with the 'in' crowd making various shapes soon...as soon as the stupid things arrive, that is...

12:30pm - see if you find anything you like...Pickings

11:00am - the beads are cleaned and strung, I'm heading out to snap photos, then I have to post them w/ the PayPal code....so, i'll post these at 12:30pm CST
must...hurry....

I found her down the street, with a sign "B&B or Bust"...but I lured her back to my place with chocolate chip cookies and milk...The *problem* is, she left beads that are more expensive than what she's left in the past...using the new Gaffer glass that is more expensive...I think she was trying to make it up to me for going AWOL, and the beads are pretty, but....

The Bead Fairy is MIA

I'm not sure where she is, but I'm pretty sure she's hitchhiking to B&B...cause she sure hasn't been to MY house lately....

I'm playing with the Gaffer cane and Val's frits lately...there is a new eBay set going up tonight, if you like Watermelon Tourmaline, you might like this set. I've ordered another 5lbs of clear so I can keep making my 'own' colors using Val's frits..I'm really enjoying this process, its very esoteric and organic for me, which is not something I tend to do...while I like organic beads, I have a hard time playing 'outside' the lines and my organic beads look too planned.

I seem to be in the mood to just 'let go' and let things fall where they may...I tend to go through creative moods like this - sometimes I just want to play with stringer and make dots, other times I want to see what magic comes from the torch...Right now is an organic time for me...I never know how long these moods will last, sometimes its only a day or two, but I can tell when I hit them and its a good thing to just let it take its course...

I'm also in the mood to make rings again...i think taking the pics of those rings yesterday got me back in the mood...so I plan to get a few of those made today...we'll see - I have a tree-guy coming at 10:30 to scout our backyard for the new tree we bought...he's going to deliver and plant it - its one of those trees that's so big its in a box...he's a professional and has all the tools to do the job...its better that way...!

Class is done, time for work!

Class is OVAH in 'Bead Stadium', the kiln is firing up (my kiln, not the student kiln, its actually ramping down) and I just ordered 9lbs of Gaffer glass from Val, so I'm feelin' quite fat and sassy...

I submitted some floral RINGS to Corina's floral challenge, check out ALL the beads here: Corina's Floral Challenge Amazing stuff...and they're making it into a poster, so you'll be able to have your very own...yum tummy otay...

actually, I'm teaching a class in my studio for a local beadmaking friend who was curious about the Metallica class...i've got my new chili pepper kiln firing up, i've setup the little studio and i'm all ready to go - until I find out that I've forgotten something...eek...I hope I haven't, but this will be a great 'dry run' for my upcoming classes with ya'll who are coming in from out of town...

I may have beads tomorrow, i hope to...i made 1 whole bead yesterday...bad bad...but we'll see if I can get anything done today...whooppeeee!!!

Pink flamingos

Austin has the phrase "Keep Austin Weird"..we like stuff that makes us laugh and keeps us a little off center...one of the 4 nurseries we visited yesterday is known far and wide in Central Texas as the 'Pink Flamingo' place...in the summer, they fill their front lawn with flamingos; in the winter its penguins...they have a lucious selection of flowering plants for hanging baskets - so much so that I had to leaven empty handed so I can go back with a plan of what I want/need...

I did manage to pick up some 'basic' asparagus and boston ferns, and 2 bouganvillia for a splash of color...i'll get more pics as today goes... we've even started a (very small) butterfly plant collection...more soon...

A planting we will go

Filled up on breakfast tacos, and we're headin' out to some nurseries today...taking our landscape blueprints and local Texas native books with us, we're on a hunt to find elusive plants like petunias and roses...(not really)...

I'll draw a winner in the Freebie when I get back...enjoy your Sunday and get outside if you can...dirt is fun!

Who's going to B&B?

The Bead and Button show in Milwaukee begins next week (May 20-23)...I finally feel like I'm at a place where I could get a booth and not embarress myself, but it won't be this year...I'm going to try and shoot for next year...which means I need to make enough stuff for a 4-day national show..Oh, and some folks think I need to be doing Tucson as well..(and I have considered it)...could I handle 2 major shows in one year? i know others who do those shows AND ISGB and Lapidary Journal plus other small shows..I just don't have that kind of stock..pretty much everything I make, I offer to ya'll via eBay or Pickings...I like that 'instant gratification' feeling I get from it...So, my question is - have you attended either B&B or Tucson, what were your experiences and is it something you think I'd enjoy??? rock on little sistas...

What this? D'oh..

I have one last little set of Caliente beads to offer...and 2 very different styles of beads going up on eBay tonight and Sunday...so if you missed out on yesterday, there's still hope...help me Obi-Wan...you're my only hope...

Got lots of questions about what time I post the Pickings for the day...typically I post around 11:00am-12:00noon, but there's not a set time, because it all depends on how many beads I have, what's on my agenda that morning, when I get out of bed (did I mention I stay up till midnight/1:00am often?)...Yesterday was unusual - I had a LOT of beads to clean/prep and a haircut smack dab in the middle of the fracas, upsetting the delicate balance of my day. I tried to keep ya'll aprised of my progress by posting an update at 2:00 that i'd be publishing the Pickings at 3:30pm so as not to spring the Pickings on anyone...so sorry if you missed out, but I did my best to keep everyone updated...but there will always be more beads...eventually...
more....beads...beeeeeeeeeeaaaaadddddssss.......

Oh boy oh boy...

I plan to have Pickings ready to go at 3:30pm today..(Central time). 6 sets for now...some are destined for eBay, some are reserved for an upcoming show...i hope 6 sets will satisfy ya'll for now and if not....i'll figure something out...

I hope you were in need of beads, cause I got em! The BF left many many beads for me to clean...and I forgot I have to leave at 11:30 for a haircut - SO...I won't be ready for Pickings until this afternoon...I'll post a time later today when I have an idea when they'll be ready...plus its raining so I'm not sure where I'll be taking pics yet...heh...its all good...

I'm workin' at the torch, all the live long day

Time for me to shut down the computer and get some work done...i have the rods pulled, the stringer pulled, some twisties made and ready to go...its raining outside, I have no errands to run, and the kiln is warming up...Feel free to email or Comment, I'll be checking in later, but I'm trying to minimize distractions...I'm not even reading Angels & Demons yet, even though its in my house...

May the force be with you, young Skywalker...

OoooWeee...! We bought it all

Our trip yesterday was a blast a minute. We laughed the whole way there and back (about a 2.5 hr drive to the West side of Houston)...Our first stop was to Big Stone Inc (www.bigstoneinc.com) where they had a fabulous supply of Swarovski crystals, some nice pearls and semi-precious/precious stones and findings. I didn't plan on getting any Bali - I've avoided sliding down that slippery slope because its hard to keep it under control...

But we pooled our Bali consumption and came up with 500 grams and a very nice price break...I spent less than $100.00 on Bali and got a nice beginning to a very addictive habit...yikes, I tell ya...

After spending a few hours in Big Stone, we hopped in the car, downed a few HoHos for lunch (nice) and then were off to Oriental Crest (www.orientalcrest.com)...This store in much more disarray, stone strands just dumped in boxes, pearls everywhere, findings in file cabinets - it was a blast a minute! The prices were very sweet - the little seed pearls you see in the pic were 1.80 a strand in the 'sale' bin...the large strands of pearls were 10.00 and 12.00 a strand. How could you beat that? I have no idea what I'm going to DO with this stuff, but that's not the point. Buy it when you see it, cause you may never see the same thing again...

My friend Mick who's 4 months pregnant was getting light headed (probably the lack of 'real' food) and so she was given some Chinese cookies to settle her low blood sugar...After the beadstores, we hit IKEA (www.ikea.com) on the way home and I picked up a Swedish candy bar (very tasty, like Toblerone, only no nuts)...and some wicked cool curtains with animals on them - who have fake fur tails that you velcro right onto the curtain...I dunno where I'll put them, but aren't they cool?

Out of town today...

I'm in Houston hitting some beadstores with friends all day today...I'll be back later tonight, possibly with pics of my bounty of goodness, but my plan is NOT to spend money, but just go and have fun with the chicks. We're hitting IKEA on the way back, tho, so I might end up with some weird light or table that won't fit properly in the back of the volvo...who knows?

Being that I won't be here to update the Pairs page, if a set doublesells, i'll offer the option of a refund or remake of the set. So if you buy a set and don't see the 'buy now' button disappear, don't worry...I'll sort it all out when I get home...

See ya'll later...i'm tired...do they still make 7:00am in the morning? this is too early to get up...ugh...

New Pairs today...

I have been working all morning - no rest for me on Sunday....there are plenty of new sets of earrings for you, and I even matched the beads with crystals this time...if ya'll decide you'd rather have 'just beads', let me know. My thought was to help provide some matching crystals, but if you don't use them or don't want them I will happily provide 'just beads' and let you go crazy..."Just Jack!"

I still need to draw the name for the freebie winner...I've posted the new set for this week....for all you purple people eaters out there - this week's set is a sampling of purple beads...i'll be back w/ a winner's name shortly...

Time to play...work later!

Well, where can I start? I guess as long as you go into Van Helsing realizing its an unintentional comedy...or that all the cheese in LA was used to produce it....or that its 2 hours of your life you better be ready to completely give away...then I still wouldn't recommend it...ugh. 1 star is generous...and it had *such* potential...I love a good Dracula movie as much as anybody...but this is not a good Dracula movie...don't say I didn't warn ya...

we're heading to the movie and to run some errands..I have some emails to respond to - so never fear, i'll get responses to you this afternoon...Its 'chore' time - vacuum the kitchen, studio, clean dishes, blah blah...isn't that what weekends are all about? play first, work afterward...hee....

Lentils? I got your lentils...

We are going to see Van Helsing tomorrow around noon...I'm already hearing reviews for it like "Van Helstink"...our local Austin paper gives it 1 star (5 being best). Granted, our paper doesn't like anything, but still...I have terrible feelings that this will be another League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and lemme tell ya, that movie sucked big lima beans...at least the theatre will offer pizza and Smirnoff, so we'll have a nice lunch and laugh at the stupidity of it - assuming its stupid...but I think I already know the answer to that...

Pickings are open, hope you find some you like...

I was up very early today...(5:00am)...so early in fact that my kiln was still ramping down and I was unable to get to the beads inside to clean them...i just took them out and they are still toasty to the touch, so i'm going to let them cool before cleaning them...look for Pickings later this morning, dunno when exactly...if you're looking for lentils with stripes on them, this is your lucky morning...

Good news, bad news, good news

The good news - I finished the Da Vinci Code yesterday...The bad news - I spent all day reading and not making beads....The good news - I'm making beads all day today!

The book was a lot of fun, and when I like a book, everything in the world stops until it's done. When Harry Potter IV came out last July, we picked our copy up at midnight and I spent all night reading it...It throws my schedule all outta whack, but eventually I get back into the groove...So now I'm back and ready to work...

A few questions came in about 'how do I know if I've voted?"...I DO appreciate all the votes, ya'll rock! In order to vote for me, you *must* click on the link in the right column - the one that tells you that you'll get curly hair for your vote..If you simply click on my link when you're already on Artzee, it will add a tick to the 'out' column, but not to the 'in' column. Other than that, i can't tell who's voted and who hasn't...which is why you have to email me and tell me that you've voted...and yep- i add your name to my Hat everytime you vote.

More later...

The Da Vinci Code

i've been staying up way too late and reading this new book (new to me)...Its full of exactly what I like - codes, puzzles, murder mystery, car chases, high-speed getaways, secret sects and a lot of interesting information about the Pagan religion and how it was stomped out by Christianity. Not that i like a lot of books about that, but it is interesting to find out about a lot of the symbols and names we use today and how the were derived from centuries ago...

Like did you know about the PHI number? 1.618. Its called the 'Divine Ratio' and it occurs everywhere in nature..If you measure from your shoulder to your fingertips, then measure from your elbow to your fingertips and divide the numbers, you'll get PHI...the URL shows some examples that might make more sense...I like puzzles and I'd hear of symmetry in the face as being pleasing - why we think George Clooney is attractive and Lyle Lovett is not...Did you know the names meaning 'Left' in Italian and French (also representing Woman) are 'Sinistra' and 'Gauche'...they've come to mean 'bad' and 'sinister' over time...Women's role in religion has been squashed and men's role has taken over. I don't want to get into a great theological debate, but I do find it interesting how our words and symbols have changed meaning over time...

So, I was up very late reading...I hope to finish the book today, so I can get back to other things... :)

Where'd she go???

The fairy was generous...Pickings are ready...enjoy!

I stayed up till 1:00am looking for the fairy, but she's quick and stealthy...i'm cleaning up her handiwork and will have it ready for you shortly...stay tuned...

Are you having fun????

You know, I really love my job...its the best thing to get up each morning, especially on Monday mornings and just enjoy the day...contemplate what new beads will be made today...I've had jobs that I enjoyed, that were a blast a minute, but never one that I've loved as much as this one...Ya'll are a great group of people that keep me in business and I'm thankful you enjoy my beads as much as I do...The kiln is warming up, the generator is chugging, I have to go get some glass from the post office and then *I'll* be chugging too...listening to my acoustic jazz and making some groovy beads...I'm having fun, and I hope you are too....

Super Sunday

This is the Bead Fairy...She needs chocolate...Dove chocolate...

Pickings are GO...! Hope you like shiny, wear your sunglasses when ordering! :)

All the evil weather moved away and we are beautiful today! its sunny and cool and a wonderful day to get out and play....I made loads of beads yesterday, so its Pickings time! i'm on my way to clean/prep them, so if you're in the market for shiny beads, come back in a little while and see what the Bead Fairy left for me last night...

see ya'll in a bit...

Dance around the MayPole

Oooweee...its rainy and 53 here today..that's a winter day for us, what's the deal? Its rained the past 6 weekends in a row. All of last weekends rained-out festivities were rescheduled for this weekened...heh...But you know what that means...indoors is where I'll be...I played hookie from making beads the past 2 days, so I have to make up for it by working this weekend..and with the weather like this, I have no desire to go out at all...

I've got all sorts of new glass coming in from all over...yesterday I played with some new 'lead' glass - yes - it has lead in it and no - i'm not going to grow a third ear from using it...There are some colors in this palette that I'm really excited about..a tourmaline that is really green tourmaline...very pretty! loads of cool greens and pale gray blues....I'm thinking of making hollows or hearts with them. I only have a little of each color, its a sampler pack, so I don't want to get too carried away - my 'hoarding' nature won't let me use up everything I have...must...keep...some...reserves...

More Gaffer glass (the compatible gold stringer glass), more silver foil and leaf, some new Corina tools to make new shaped beads, and a new kiln...the delivery people just keep bringing the boxes like we're Santa's workshop here...ding dong..."I'll get it!"...whee, more bubble wrap and peanuts to pile through to get to the good stuff...

email, comment, whatever ya wanna do...i'm here all day hanging out, melting and having fun...