What's Going On ...

Spring fever...catch it!

Spring is around the corner here...our redbud is getting ready to burst, the roses are flowering and we have birds on their way north stopping in the backyard for some snacks...Brian worked in the backyard putting in plants and digging out tree roots...I'm glad he enjoys that...! But pretty soon it'll be too hot and humid to do much axe swinging, so he's getting the big stuff done now, and then I take over and plant flowers in March...some of my petunias are flowering now, they handled the colder temps just fine...Oh and the blackberry bushes are sending up shoots and volunteers, so I hope we have some nice vines coming in over the summer...i don't expect fruit, I just want the things to grow grow grow

So, did you manage the Oscars last night? I missed the red carpet and gown parade, but the show was alright...kinda predictable and watching the Johnny Carson montage made you appreciate how good he was...You know that Million Dollar Baby wasn't my fave movie, but I'm fine with it winning...I watched the Independent Movie Awards on Saturday and Sideways swept those, so I'm cool with it all...that's a better show anyway, folks are more relaxed and laid back...besides, John Waters is there - how can you go wrong?

So, on the agenda today are making beads, both old and new...and taking care of some much-needed business...I also have to get my taxes organized so I can turn them in to my accountant, so I plan on doing that later this week...shouldn't be TOO bad, but I always have a bad couple of days putting it all together...so bear with me on that...I've put it off for two months, I don't have any time left!

I want to say 'thanks' to ya'll who keep coming to read me and check out the site..I know I've been lax in updating my Italy pics and getting beads shipped (they should all be in transit by now, some of ya'll have received yours) and I know there are LOTS of other beadmakers out there, so thanks for checking in and seeing what's going on here...I try to make it fun and worthwhile, even if I don't have beads every day....and maybe I'll see what kind of *different* bees I can come up with for ya'll who are asking for spring bees...(we saw a black and white bee yesterday, that was really cool!)

I've been a busy little bee...

Such a punster I am...we learned to make cute little bees in Kim's class, and I thought I'd just be funny...but it is true, I HAVE been busy, last night I made a buncha new 'agate' beads that Kim taught us...the cool thing about these, other than the fact that they look like a real stone, is that each one is unique and the color combinations are endless...so using this technique will not make mine look exactly like Kim's, they will look like mine...I know ya'll aren't really into focals, but you might like these guys...I made them on large mandrels (1/8) so that you can string them on leather easily...My thought is that they would make great 'guy' beads as well as 'girl' beads...

I like the large lentil too, it is done in teals and looks like malachite. This is a really fun technique that although it takes awhile to achieve the look, I can see myself making more of these...

I learned some really important tips on shaping beads, so now I'm not so hesitant to make bicones or barrels...the ends are very nice and the shape is even...much better than I was able to do previously...I also learned some neat striped cane effects, can't wait till my beads get here so you can see...the leaf bead pictured is Kim's - I love these beads and had to have one of hers in my collection...

I will post these Agate beads in the Ready for Pickin' page...that way if you're interested great, and if not, perhaps eventually someone will mosey along and find the one their heart desires...I like that Pickin' page cause its all about laid back and contemplation...no pressure, no stress, no worries...

Today its finally sunny and somewhat warmer, so I'll be busy doing stuff, and getting my emails answered...I will be doing 'drive by' emails - answering quickly cause if I spend a ton of time, I'll never get anything new made today...I think Corina's idea of answering in 2 or 3 words is starting to look better and better...hee...

I'm back...Its Saturday!

I feel like I just HAD a weekend, being in class for two days....class was fun, I learned some really neato techniques for shaping and florals and a cool 'agate' style bead...I'll post pics as soon as we're back from breakfast (the only thing to eat in the house is soup - mm mm good?)...back later with cool stuff to show ya...oh, and the kiln will be on this weekend, i promise...so expect some fun stuff very shortly...

See ya'll tamale...

I'm off to learn, I'll be back tomorrow night...see ya'll then!

Shipping is done!

I've been doing lots of behind the scenes things today, cleaning beads, shooting pics, and helping Nancy with the rest of the shipping (all the freebie stuff has finally gone out, even stuff to Cananda, so everyone should be receiving their goodies in the next week or so)...

I'm heading South for the next 2 days to take a class...I'm going to take my computer, but I'm not sure how much time I'll have to get on it...my goal is to answer a fistful of emails that I've been reading, but just not giving enough time to answering...so if you're in that boat, expect a response eventually...email takes a TON of time, and well, I'd rather be making beads for ya'll than at the computer...heh...

Its warm here and the flowers are starting to come in...and my blackberry stems are full of little leaves, although I don't expect any fruit any time soon...but I'm glad they survived the few freezes and cold days we got...I'll get some pics of those too...we have a local woodpecker at our bird feeder, I bought him a suet cake, but he's busy eating the sunflower seed from the feeder...silly rabbit...

More Waxwing Pics

I've posted a page of the bird pics that I took the other day...no captions, I think the pics speak for themselves...it was quite interesting to watch them all, and so close...Amelie nearly ran out the door to say 'hi' (munch munch) to them so I had to close the door and so the pics look like I'm taking them with a filter on the lens...

Nearly everything was shipped yesterday, I still have the Gaffer Hearts going out today - I needed to make the spacers and that took a little while...and I forgot to include the crystals when I strung them, but I've put them in a ziploc, so you will get those, no worries...

Its shipping day!

Boy, I've been REALLY late in shipping stuff, I know!! And I apologize!!! Today has been set aside for nothing but shipping, which will take me a while, but its all good...I also have someone coming in to help me today and this might just scare her completely out the door...thanks for being patient, you have every right to be mad at me, and I'll take the heat...flame away!!!

Its a fat, lazy Sunday...

Like a cat who soaks up the sun through a window, its a fat, lazy Sunday morning here...smooth jazz on the radio, toast and the Sunday paper getting ready to be devoured while sitting our deck (its going to be in the mid 70's here today, what's going on people???)...

We watched The Big Lebowski (thanks Netflix!) and decided it wasn't funny...While we both LOVE Raising Arizona, this one just wasn't in the same park...at all...So then I stayed up on my own and watched What's Up Doc (thanks Netflix!) and it was just as funny as I remembered...LOVE that movie...So here we are, I have to clean up the studio and get some beads processed- ready to ship...YES you will see your stuff this week, oh yes you will!!

and just a note...Yes, I have been making stuff and putting it on the "Ready For Pickin" page...someone wrote and said she was sad that I hadn't let her know that I'd posted - well, that's the point of the page - I DON'T post the announcement because then it wouldn't be any different than the Pickings...the Ready page is for whenever I have something, perhaps just one set, or one LARGE set or a high dollar piece that *could* go on eBay but i'd rather make available to you...So, the moral of this story is, check that page periodically and see if something comes available...just in the past week i've posted 8 Gaffer caged hearts and a set of lozenge beads on it...you never know what might turn up...and there you have it...enjoy your Sunday...

Who was up till 3:00am?

Hmmm...I bet not many of ya'll would raise your hands...I guess this means I'm not on 'Italy Time' anymore...but I was having fun playing with new glass that arrived yesterday...so its all good...

I will be working on shipping EVERYTHING that ya'll have bought recently...I think Monday is an 'off' day for the mailman (president's day) so it'll all hit the outbox on Tuesday...Thanks for being so patient...If I haven't already mentioned here, I have someone coming in on Monday to see if she'd be interested in helping me out with shipping, ordering, cleaning beads, etc...So I have high hopes of being able to make more beads while she gets them in your hot hands...

Well, lets see what do we have here...

2:00pm - OK, all done...thanks for allowing me a few auctions and for bidding...and of course to everyone for buying the 'buy now' beads...today has been fun...time to get to 'work'...I have TONS of stuff to ship, I apologize for the delays...!! tsk tsk on me...

1:45pm - Bidding closes in 15 minutes...wow, this is kinda fun for the few of ya'll who are bidding... :)

11:55am - Pickings are Ready....yeehaw!

11:00am - pics are coming along...wanted to give you a preview of what I have so you can decide if you wanna stick around or go play...

10:00am - These go to Eleven! yep, I have 11 sets to offer...how about that? The Bead Fairy was berry berry good to me...
And, I've also been thinking about the auction option (thanks for your input, Elizabeth, even if your comment is in yesterday's thread) SOOOO, I will have SOME sets for sale immediately and a few others for auction...MOSTLY because they are NEW and I'm not sure if ya'll are interested in them or not, so why not let those of ya'll who are interested bid on them and see what happens...no pressure...
I've finished cleaning and stringing, now onto the pics...(its rainy and cold out, so i'll do my best to get good shots..not much sun, tho...still, its better than when it was 82 here on Monday..I prefer a little bit of Winter in February, so 48 is good!)

Yes, there are LOTS of beads...I was up till 1:30am, and now i'm up early, so gimme some time to assess what's good and what can't see the light of day...back with more info soon...

Beads tomorrow..

I must admit that I LOVE to hear what ya'll want - otherwise I would never have had Brian install his Blog for me...I'm laughing cause just when I think I have a bright idea (or even a borrowed idea) I find that its not the way to go...Steering this ship is definitely a combined effort - I don't always know the right way you want me to go, and while I'll occaisionally throw out an idea here or there, ya'll always let me know what way YOU'D prefer to go...and frankly I'd have it no other way...SOOO...scrap the auction idea, it'll be first come...I'm not sure when I'll post them, I plan to have plenty to offer, which means time to clean, shoot, etc...

I used the analogy when I was talking to Mandy, that when I offer the beads in my 'normal' style, it reminds me of everyone trying to squeeze through one small door - elbows flying, purses swinging, everyone turning red in the face trying to get through in time...whereas an auction seemed as though everyone could come in, take a few hours to look around, decide what they wanted and put a bid down..less pressure, less hurriedness, less squeezing...But I think my analogy (I am the Queen of Analogies, btw) must not be the way ya'll are thinking, so I shall bow to your will and do things as you request...after all, its EASIER for ME to just post the prices w/ the PayPal code and let ya'll scramble for the beads... so, next time I have another idea, I expect ya'll to speak up and tell me what you want, so I don't go zooming down the wrong path...'look out, low-flying donners ahead'...

I'm currently working on Pickings for ya'll, and I'm going to try something new and see if you like it...If you've ever visited Kim Miles site, you've seen how she offers her outstanding floral beads using a bidding system...The cool part of the system is that you can bid what you're comfortable paying (so no more 'I can't afford it' sadness) and you get 2 hours (!) in which to place your bids..so no more 'i didn't get to your page in time' crying...I'll post the rules (lets call them guidelines, rules are so unfun) and you'll have all day to figure out what to do..Its actually pretty easy, but anything new and different is always taxing...this will also make it easier for me to keep the beads updated, since my computer connection still drops intermittently and Time Warner is now blaming it on our router and not on their cable...It drops right when I'm trying to update sets that ya'll are buying fast and furiously and then I have to give 'sorry that's sold' refunds to you and it makes you sad...By bidding, you can tell me what you think the set is worth and there's no debate...$37.50? well, there ya go...

Kim has wonderful rules that I'm sure have come about from doing many of these auctions..(its the only way she sells beads on her site, I believe)...I don't want to just out and out copy her rules exactly, so I'll start out with rules for US and adjust them as needbe...(since I don't take credit cards, or have a secret club, those rules would not apply to us, of course)...So, read the Bidding Rules page and get familiar with it just so you know what to do...Its not going to be hard, but you might wonder about this or that...email me and I'll clarify (and probably post the info for everyone else) so we can get this down...

Bark Bark...

Who watched the Westminster Dog Show last night??? I love that show, I try to catch it each year, and missed Monday, but we saw the finale last night...I was in the studio yelling to Brian "I want a dog!" (he was in the living room fiddling around w/ some electronic equipment...so I wasn't 'yelling' in his face...). The final 7 dogs were all super, I would have been happy with any of the winners, but I was really tickled to see the Pointer win...She was wonderful, her gait was perfect, she struck a pose when needed and I think she was a great winner..How about that bloodhound? gorgeous! and that Co-Co terrier, she was a hoot...of course we all cracked up at poor little Jeffery having to run around the ring, with all that hair...he was so happy tho...

And I'm showing off the beaded brooch I made yesterday...this was the class I took Monday night, and I started the piece, but didn't bring enough beads to finish it, so yesterday I spent some time picking out stuff and completing it...I like how it turned out...I used chipped and knicked and 'bad' beads in it, cause I figure - what does it matter - most of them are hidden or going to get chipped from rubbing all the other glass beads! You know how I like the autumn palette- so what else would you expect? Suprisingly I found a bunch of beads to make another pin in purple and teal...will show you that when its complete, in about a gazillion years...

Whew! I survived the day...

Another birthday has come and gone and it was a ton o' fun...I got presents for a WEEK (sweet) and last night I took a really groovy bead-pin class with friends, who brought a cake and some Lik-A-Maid...I got tons of good wishes from ya'll and emails from folks I didn't expect...it was 82 here and the sun was shining...i drove the Vampyre around w/ the top down and the goodies I've ordered from Amazon are starting to trickle in..(new Joni Mitchell CD's)...So all in all, a very successful day indeed...

I took my knitting project outside to take pics of it and well, guess who decided she needed to supervise...and of course, you know what happened next...

I'll bring the dancing Hippy Chick back - she was really cute..I just need to find a good place for her on the site..

The local radio station has invited us to come spend time with them tonight, telling them what we like (and don't) about local radio...we get pizza, 20 bucks, a tshirt and CD and spend 2 hours touring the facilities and giving them our opinion...should be fun, I think...

I've completed all the Gaffer Heart orders, am working on the spacers now and I'll get those and all the other Pickin's shipped soon...maybe i'll let my new assistant do it! I'm still working on that, sorry for the delay...I need to get some info together before I start interviewing...how weird to say that...

Time to fire up the kiln...

Happy Valentine's Day

Its a beautiful day here this morning...But what i want to know is - where is our Valentine's Day Snow??

My birthday week is winding down, yesterday my present was a wireless printer connection..that might sound mundane to you, but i'm thrilled with it - it means I can undock my computer and print from wherever I might be working...I've actually had a need for this MORE times than you might think...

Over the weekend we ventured to a really cool yarn shop in South Austin and I picked up a couple of balls of yarn and some bamboo needles...so yesterday after my class I taught myself how to cast on some stitches (using the Knitty Gritty video) and I've got about 6 rows of somewhat badly knitted stitches on my needles...what do I have in mind for this knitted garment? nothing in particular, I'm just being slowly drawn into the world of knitting after Katie sent me the COOLEST scarf and I decided that perhaps I too could learn how to knit one...is this a slippery slope I'm falling down? I don't think so...my focus is on beads and not fibers - I used to stitch and bead and have done some rughooking (which I love) but nothing has grabbed a hold of me the way beadmaking has...so no, I won't be squirreled away knitting instead of melting glass...but it is fun to be trying out a new thing...Brian said he'd even take a knitting class with me next month...I need to learn what to do when I slide 4 stitches off the needle (besides rip the whole thing out which is what I did last night)...'its not what you can make, its what you can fix'...boy, truer words have never been spoken...

I've got pics to take and post, so I'll be back...shortly...I'm still waitin' for that snow!!

Its 78 today...how about you?

Well, yes, I'm pretty sure its still February, but its going to be 78 today...that's actually not as good as it sounds - the last time it was that warm in Feb, we had a terrible drought all year and folks backyards were literally catching fire and burning...SO, I do wish it were 48 instead...

I got all the caged heart orders completed and have a few surprises as well..but alas, I'm teaching all afternoon so I won't be posting anything today...

And I forgot to keep you up to date - for Birthday week, Friday I got tix to see Lewis Black (from the Daily Show and HBO)...he'll be in Austin on Feb 20...and yesterday I scored a really cool shirt that looks like the state flag of Texas...todays gift is still in the stores, Brian was going to go last night to pick it up, but I told him to stay home and enjoy the evening instead...he fiddled with the new remote control and I made hearts...all in all a good evening...

i'm very much digging on my new menu buttons that Tony made for me...I spent some time fixing the menu items at the bottom of each page - takes a long time cause there are a lot of pages that need updating (if you know CSS and want to convert my site for me, lemme know!)...I'll be propogating the menu buttons to all the pages eventually...and updating the Italy pics, I promise...

I ordered some new glass and frit last night, should be fun to play with...OH, and I have a ton of frit to test for Robin Koza, so look for some new beads using her cool blends very soon...

Check out my new Menu images! groovy!!

I'm in the middle of incorporating some wonderful menu images that our friend Tony has designed for me...I'm teaching myself how to use the 'mouse over' code and trying to get this all worked out - SO - please bear with me and figure that for the next few hours my menu might not be working properly...groovy looking menu images, huh!! I love them!!

For those of ya'll who have asked, YES!I will be at the Bead&Button show this year from Tuesday through Sunday...I WON'T have a booth, I'll be a student in 4 classes, but I do hope to be able to meet as many of ya'll who are going that I can...I have a little idea of how to make myself more obvious - an alien helmut!! no, not really...but I will try to put a Jack ball on my antennae so you can spot me a mile away...

I made some of the caged hearts yesterday - sweet...can't wait to get a picture of all of them...have some errands to do this morning but will be back in action this afternoon...and then tomorrow I'm teaching an Intermediate class at Bluemoon...stinger pulling and application, making 'latinos' as a friend of mine called them (love that) and doing some florals and other various goodies...should be fun...see ya'll later...!

Hello Miss Mehnert - Here's your wake up call...

Someone was nice enough to send me today's horoscope for Aquarians -
"It seems that the heavens have decided to pass out coupons, redeemable toward a veritable arsenal of verbal weapons. Interestingly enough, the offer is only good for your sign. Needless to say, you should be very careful if you decide to accept the offer -- and even more careful when deciding where and when to put them into use. Basically, you'll have the verbal ability to decimate anyone who even mildly disagrees with you." Ok Ok I get it - I should keep my mouth shut and watch what I say...what'd I do?? ha...

Here's my favorite way to startt the day...Who calls you at 7:30am to ask about beadmaking classes? A very determined beadmaker I guess! I know I should be up by 7:30am but seriously - we all know that I'm still asleep around that time...cause I am up late making beads...I thought it was Brian calling to tell me he had been in an accident or something, so I get out of bed to check the message and its about 'how I teach'...I'm not even sure what that means...! Vedddy interesting...

Birthday present from yesterday (the third one, if you're counting along) - a Joni Mitchell CD! Very sweet...I watched a PBS American Masters show all about Joni (I have it in my Netflix queue to watch again) and she's just so cool...her Night Ride Home is one of my favorite CD's and this new one is called "Dreamland"...need to crank this one up and make a set of beads from it...

computer connection - still bad...but it turns out, its not the cable this time (as it is all the other times)...seems that there must be a router out somewhere and its causing my signal to bounce all over the country...when we did a trace route we found that my connection is going through Houston, Dallas, Chicago and Kansas city before coming back to me...therefore, its taking me TONS of time to download email and my images on my site...so if you don't hear from me, its probably because I haven't received your email...hope this is fixed soon...

Is it Friday yet??

I can tell I'm back in the swing..

Cause I don't have anything exciting to share with ya'll and I can't come up with a witty Title...that means that things are back to 'normal' in my world..However, I DO have tons of Italy pictures that I've been lax in posting, so I should work on those...

I've got a lot of caged hearts to do for ya'll- shouldn't be a problem, they are fun and I hope to get them done and out so you can have them near Valentine's Day...

I'm looking for an assistant to help me in the studio - amazing isn't it? I feel so decadent getting an assistant, but I find that I spend hours shipping, ordering and other various things that someone else could do for me while I make BEADS...I've got one person so far to talk to, but if you're in the Austin area and think you'd be interested in coming by a couple of mornings a week to help me out, email me and lemme know...

For my second night of Birthday Week, I got some fun UT sandals so that I can stop stealing Brian's and he can find them when he needs them...I wear sandals 90% of the year and 100% in the studio (yeah, who worries about burns and cuts on their feet - sometimes I'm out here barefoot...kids - don't try this at home) and so today I'm breaking them in...I'm diggin' on this Birthday Week thing...each gift is a suprise and it lasts longer than one night!

Did you watch American Idol? we missed the first hour (had to do some mexican dinner after a stressful work day in San Antone bummed Brian out) but the second hour was fun..How about those idiot dudes who completely blew their song at the end - and they were still allowed to go thru to the next level...I thought they were all done for...good for the judges to let them stay another day...Next week looks just as crazy!

I am about to kill my cable company..they came out Tuesday and replaced a piece of cable and now my connection is horrible...my email says it'll take 60 minutes to download my incoming mail - and I cannot get some pages to even load on my own website...I guess I need to make yet ANOTEHR call to them...I'm ready to ditch them - Time Warner in Austin has been really terrible for us...SO, if you have trouble getting thru to me, or getting an image to download - I'm working on it...argh!!!!!

..A Wonderful, Magical Bead Fairy...

Ok - here we go...Pickings are UP!

Its that time again....Time to see what the Bead Fairy has brought...I figure I'll have these guys up and ready by 11:30am CST - that's Central Time and if you aren't sure what that means, please check this site: What time is it?

I will have 5 sets, but because I anticipate these will be popular, I will leave the sets up for a few extra minutes - but not all day..so you'll want to be here to 'get in and get out' with your loot...Also - these beads are more time intensive than my normal beads, so they are more costly than what you might be used to...(most of them anyway)...

Yesterday was the first day of my Birthday Week...I'm unfamiliar with this ritual myself, but we are trying it this year - you get a gift for the 7 days prior to your birthday...So from the 8th to the 14th, I get schwag!! Last night I got my first present - the Season 1 and 2 DVD's of Pee Wee's Playhouse...his movie is one of my favorites, I quote it all the time and Brian rolls his eyes..."I'm a loner Dottie...a rebel". "What? WHAT?" "Mr. Herman...paging Mr. Herman"...
So, now i get to scream when the secret word is mentioned and listen to Jombie say "mecha lecha hi, mecha hiney ho"...sweeeeet....

Are we all watching American Idol?? I caught that last night, it was nice to see the bad ones get booted and the good ones move through...I've found a girl I think is good, can't remember her name, but lets all watch tonight and continue the pain...oh yeah, I'll be teaching the Bead Press class tonight...oops! and no TiVo - i'm so 1980's technology...heh...

Ok, time for me to 'get to work'...see ya'll shortly...bring your pennies...

I have good news - yes there shall be beads...

Afternoon: Brian has built a new Designer Gallery page - please check the link and lemme know if you find anything wrong...right now its only linked in the Index page, but if all goes well, I'll propogate it to all the other pages in my site...check it out...

I've been working very hard, I have some sets ready, but I still have more ideas and plans, so the beads will be ready *tomorrow*...Yes, I shall have beads for thee...hard to believe, I know...I hope you are looking for sweet, pink, romantic kinds of beads cause that's what I've been working on...WAAAAYYYY outside my normal realm, I dunno if ya'll will want to see this or not, but hey - its only Valentine's one time a year (thank god, or I'd be a LOT older than the rest of you...guess who turns 42 on Monday...yeeesh)...and I'm going nuts with the pinks and purples...so get ready...what TIME will this all occur? hmmm...I suppose it depends on how long it'll take me to
get today's beads cleaned, strung and shot tomorrow morning...I HOPE it'll be in the morning, but I will certainly post the time tomorrow when I know more...

So, there ya have it...beads beads the musical loot...hey!

I am WAY behind in responding to emails - SOOO, I will get that done today - BUT the answers will be short so I can get thru them all...

Raise your hands if you've been buying and eating Valentines chocolate...(!) I vow not to have a single piece today, I'm pretty sure my blood has turned chocolatey brown and if I gave blood, a pint of milk chocolate would be my donation...geewhiz, why is it that EVERY holiday is chocked full of candy? Easter is just around the corner - more candy...run away!!!

Argh! I lost all my typing

RATS!! I hate when this cable connection goes down - i had a great chat written and boom, its gone...

I have pics to show - we've moved our Armoire into my studio to give us more space in our tiny living room...it looks great out here, and I'm psyched about having it - it makes the studio look a little 'warmer' and not so 'garage-like'...I'm also trying to keep from loading it with all the crap that I have so it may end up being donated...that's my favorite thing to do - donate stuff to get it out of the house...that's one of the great things about having a small house - no room to keep junk around!!

Corina's Address

I'll update more later, but I know a lot of ya'll wanted to send stuff to Princess C (i love that term for her and call her that to her face and she laughs, so don't think I'm being sarcastic - she knows she's a princess and that's why we love her)so I've put her address on my site for ya'll...now, I must go move some furniture in the studio so the moving company can relocate a big armoire for us...and I'm already behind for the day...yikes!

back shortly, after I've snapped all my fingernails and bruised my shins...

aHA! I bet you thought I was slacking...

I've been up early and working behind the scenes all morning...back in the habit of cleaning, stringing, shooting the beads (three times I had to shoot these pics before I realized I forgot to turn the Macro on - didn't I do that before? man, I never learn...). I know, I know..."wHy eBay???" Well, I haven't put anything on eBay since November(!) and I knew that if I put these two little sets up on my site, they'd be gone so quickly that I'd have a lot of folks mad at me, so I thought that eBay would be the 'most diplomatic' of all options...I considered just doing an auction directly on my site, but I've never felt that ya'll enjoyed that - like you thought I was gouging you or something, so I just went the eBay route...

I'm happy with the results of both sets...I wanted a chi-chi black and white bracelet with just a hint of red accent, so I'm tickled with how that set turned out...perfect for a 7 1/4" wrist, the earrings can be disassembled and strung on the bracelet if you need it larger...two crystals are included! I try to think of everything...heh...

So, today is sunny and wonderful, right before the dreary rain this afternoon...I have an appt at 1:30 to hand off some beads and I'll be working between then...still have to build the eBay pages and all, that will be interesting since I'm so out of practice...

Who's excited about the SuperBowl tomorrow? I love football as you know, but the SB is normally a pretty crapola game..the pre-game festivities are fun and the commericals are always fun...I could care less about the teams, really (no offense my Eastern friends), but i'll still be watching and making beads...I remember making beads a few years ago when the Patriots won..I still have those beads...and boy are they BAD!! But its the memories and that's whats fun about them...remembering how I thought 'boy I hope I get better one day"...and now here ya'll are reading my page and hopefully enjoying my beads...who would have guessed...!

How'd the beads turn out?

Have you ever bought new shoes that hurt your feet and wished you could salvage your old, soft, comfortable (beat to hell) shoes - even though you know they've been tossed out and you'll never wear them again? Well, I made beads yesterday, 5 beads...they actually turned out better than I thought, but I found that I was trying to make too many changes in my work space...I had a new rod rack, a new arm rest that moved me 6 inches back from my comfort zone, and I'd hooked my Lynx back up after not being on it for well over 5 months...too many new things to try to overcome at once...SOooo....I've unhooked the Lynx, taken the arm rest apart, and removed the rod rack...the Minor is back in place and I think I can get some REAL work done today...I was so hoping to have plenty of beads for ya'll, but it was like riding a Unicycle over a pit of Aligators - not comfortable...

I do like how the beads turned out, though...I'm working in some Valentine colors, but I want to surprise you when they are done, so that's all I'm going to say for now...heh...

Today should be a great day for beadmaking, tho...After a quick trip to the nursery to pick up some rose bushes we've been waiting on, I'll be home all day..no dinners with friends (last night was Sushi night with my buddy Jim), no friends coming over (Letha had to leave town) and no cable installing (they set the cable install for the 8th by mistake, so I don't have to deal with them till then)...Just a dark and dreary 39 outside...we are getting lots of birds looking for food, tho...I hope to pick up some suet cakes for our woodpecker who's been trying to get food from the sunflower seed in the feeder..I learned they need fat in their diet when they can't find insects in the winter, and suet helps supplement that...

I watched some of my Netflix DVD's yesterday while making my 5 little beads, and have sent those back...am waiting for my next movies to arrive...I can't remember whats in the top of my queue, as i've added and changed it so many times now...so this will be a surprise...at least it'll keep me from watching 'crappy craft' tv where they use glue to attach rhinestones to lampshades and crap like that...For some reason I find those shows hypnotic - repulsive, yet I can't look away...Carol Duvall is my favorite 'cc' leader of the group...I also enjoy Jackie Guerrrrrra on DIY's Jewelrymaking..her stuff isn't so crappy, actually...but when they start doing 'add this jumpring to this chain' business, I tune out...I missed her show yesterday, there was a lampworking segment on, but I was at Target picking up Valentine candy (Love that Dove) and some new pajamas...Its so fun when you find flannel jams for 2.48 on sale...now THAT's shopping!!

What? No propane smell?

I have good news...Brian and I have fixed the slight propane leak in my quick disconnect, so you know what that means - Beads are in the making! I've received so many emails from new folks who have just discovered my site (hurray new folks!) and I bet you think 'how come she just talks and never offers any beads?' I'm sure a lot of my regular customers (Vanda!) are thinking the same thing..Normally there are more beads than chat here, but lately I've been redesigning my studio space, and I've had these little connectors for MONTHS but just never got around to getting them crimped onto my torches/hoses...I knew there would be downtime with it, and sure enough there have been some bumps along the way...But now - everything is ready to rock...I have a new armrest to show you too, its very high tech and space age - it looks like I'm flying an airplane at my desk...so groovy...

its 8:30am and I need to get dressed and brush my dragon breath teeth...Brian said "I think I smell propane- oh no, its just your breath"...gee whiz...I guess I shouldn't have eaten those 15 jalapenos and had the Mogan David wine for dinner last night...heh...

Thanks for validating my confusion about Million Dollar Baby..I'm not saying you shouldn't see it, I'm only saying that I just never get Clint's movies...but you might like it and think its wonderful...so don't take my word for it...I've just subscribed (well, resubscribed) to Netflix (again) and I have over 50 items in my queue...mostly original Star Trek episodes - I discovered that they make wondeful background 'noise' for when I'm making beads..and i can't find them on my local tv stations (they are playing Next Generation and I can't handle Deanna Troi and her weird voice)...and when I looked at buying the original series, each set was over $100...and I don't like ST THAT much, so renting them are the way to go...I'm also excited cause there are Cadfael and Campion British detective (from the series Mystery!) episodes that I can rent as well...Oh, and I can finally see the Office...I am such an Anglophile, I had a blast watching Brit TV while I stayed over in London on my way back from Venice...i'm dying to go back, but till then, I'll just watch BBC America and rent DVD's to get me thru...

Groundhog Day!

I'm pretty sure we won't have 6 more weeks of winter here in Austin...and I hope your winter is not as severe as its been so far...I tried to find decent groundhog animated gifs and this one was the best I could find...sorry...

OK, I have a question....we watched Million Dollar Baby the other night..and I guess I just don't 'get' it...I like Clint, I like Hilary, but what is the big deal..I didn't 'get' Unforgiven either - all the critics just LOVED these movies, and gee whiz they just don't DO anything for me...its not that I didn't like them, I just walked away after watching them and thought 'eh'...what am I missing? what is all the hubbub about? why are folks fawning over themselves? I preferred Sideways MUCH more than MDB...and I consider myself pretty 'movie-savvy'...I took a movie appreciation class in college, I get Entertainment Weekly, I've played Scene It? over Christmas and could answer a lot of questions...if you have any ideas what I'm missing, please enlighten me...

I took all my torches and hoses to Jim at Bluemoon yesterday and he fixed me up in no time...alas, there is still a leak on the propane connection, but I think we can fix it...it wasn't leaking at the store, we tested it and it looked great...oh well...I got one whole bead made yesterday...I'm on a roll huh!

I'm getting a lot of emails asking about classes and if I still teach them - why yes I do! I've changed my agenda a bit, so that the class is more customized for YOU, and if you have any questions feel free to email me...I've got the Classes page updated (and the Artist page has been updated with my workshop timeline of classes that I've taken or are signed up for this year)...So, if you're interested, lemme know...

Where are the beads?

I've been firing up the kiln the past few days, but I've also been dinking around with my torches, trying to get the quick disconnects attached (they will let me switch torches quickly at any time, instead of tearing down and reinstalling them), and well, I should know better than to attempt this on my own...my friend Mick came over yesterday and smelled propane - which I had no idea since I can't smell - and this morning Brian tried to mash the crimps down on each connection, but to no avail... SOOO, I'm taking two torches and all my hoses to the shop around the corner, and hopefully Jim can get me up and going..In the meantime, I'll fire up one of my class Minors and see what I can get done... I have a set in mind, and I have the rods pulled, but I just haven't had a chance to get on it...

I'm still going to bed early - 9:15p last night, and getting up early - 5:50a this morning...its actually kinda cool to be up in the dark, and I don't mind...I haven't been to bed after 9:30p since I got back...heh...that's like unHEARD of for me...but its kinda fun...i imagine eventually I'll get back to my normal sched, but this isn't so bad...course, I haven't tried to make many beads yet - you know that I can't make beads during the day - my best work comes after 5:00p...hmm...we shall see...

its cold and rainy here...the cats keep zipping in and out, they aren't happy about getting wet...then they jump up on me and get me all wet too...i've learned to just keep a towel on my lap and dry them off as best as I can...idiot cats...

more later...time for breakfast...!