Saturday, January 31, 2009
A New Treasury to Explore
I've got some friends from Team WETsy and Lest Team in this one, plus a few misc. pieces I just really like. Please go visit it and click and comment! Thanks!
Friday, January 30, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
One World ~ One Heart Give-Away
I'm giving away this lovely handmade lampwork glass organic old world blue bead. It has a couple of sweet hearts on it. Actually there are three hearts, one is kind of hidden. To some lucky person, yet to be determined. And if the winner just happens not to be the kind of person who knows what to do with a bead, I'll even turn it into a pendant for them if they wish.
Why am I doing this? Well, let me tell you! Have you heard about One World ~ One Heart? It's the biggest blogging give-away of the year! Well, maybe it is, I really have no idea, but it's totally fun. People are giving away things they made and making friends along the way. And so, I've signed up to be among the hundreds of people giving away an artful gift on my blog. Lisa, the woman who thought the whole thing up, puts it like this: "I planted a seed and hoped for a bloom....the first year there was a flower, the second year it became a garden and now this year.....well this year...it's as if I planted magic seeds. There are beautiful wild flowers everywhere and the magic from those seeds is still spreading like the down on a dandelion. I am filled with joy people, pure joy!!!" It's not too late if you want to join in the fun - you have until February 3rd to sign up. Click on the heart badge below for more information, and the entire list of people giving wonderful things away.
How does it work? It's super easy. All you have to do to have a chance to win my lovely bead is leave a comment on this post, sometime before February 12th, along with your email address or blog link, so that I can contact you if you are the lucky winner! So simple! Then, on February 12th, I will post the name of the winner here on my blog! Thanks so much for looking and good luck!
2-12-09 10:00 AM - Edited to add:
Just a quick note to say I will announce my One World One Heart winner this afternoon once my kiddo gets home from school to do the number work. I wanted him to do it this morning but he was so excited about his Valentines Day party at school I couldn't get him to stay still long enough. But if I do it without him, he will be crushed. So this afternoon... This is how is will go: he will pick a number and I'm going to throw a bunch of math problems at it... until either he decides enough is enough or I do. Then I'll email the lucky winner. In the meantime, comments are still open for entry... good luck and stay tuned for the winner!
Monday, January 26, 2009
Around the World
In the past month, my etsy shop has been visited by people in 39 countries around the world. I think that is pretty wild! And wonderful. I've shipped several beads to Germany, Great Britain, Canada and the US. Wouldn't it be cool to have my beads on every continent, in every country? I think so!
Here are a couple that got listed on Etsy today:
As always, thanks for looking!
Here are a couple that got listed on Etsy today:
As always, thanks for looking!
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Today's Loot
There is something about a whole mess of beads together... I like having a whole big handful of them. Or pocket full. And they make music when they bump into each other, even Luke agrees with me on this.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Meet Your Muse
Jennie Nash featured me in her blog "Meet Your Muse" - check it out!
She's just written a book that gets released next week or so - it looks really good, I've got it on pre-order:
She's just written a book that gets released next week or so - it looks really good, I've got it on pre-order:
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
I Love... the Beach
And the sun. Yesterday was a sunny beach day and it was wonderful. Even Frank, who hasn't been feeling all that well, enjoyed himself. Except for the ferry crossings... which made him sea sick. Poor guy.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
"Your Glass Pimp Called"
Frank: "Your glass pimp called."
Me: "What?"
Frank: "Your 'Glass Daddy' called. I asked him if I could take a message."
Me: "Oh! He sells glass, I bought some blue glass I'm out of. He's not my pimp. That's the name of his store."
Frank: "Right...."
Later...
Frank: "You bought those cigar boxes?"
Me: "Yeah...."
Frank: "But I told you I could make them."
Me: "Yeah...."
Frank: "But these are really nice...."
Me: "Yeah."
Me: "What?"
Frank: "Your 'Glass Daddy' called. I asked him if I could take a message."
Me: "Oh! He sells glass, I bought some blue glass I'm out of. He's not my pimp. That's the name of his store."
Frank: "Right...."
Later...
Frank: "You bought those cigar boxes?"
Me: "Yeah...."
Frank: "But I told you I could make them."
Me: "Yeah...."
Frank: "But these are really nice...."
Me: "Yeah."
Out There
My friend Andee from Germany (I like saying that, having friends on the other side of the world!) featured my beads in two treasuries today - you should go look at them and click around - not only because she designs beautiful treasuries, but because I want them to go to the Etsy front page and make me famous! LOL, seriously. I'm not kidding. No really, you MUST check out her etsy shops, she makes the most beautiful jewelry and takes the brightest most beautiful photos. Treasury 1, Treasury 2, Andeesigns Wearable Art, and Andeesigns Photos.
Another mention comes from my friend Shirley Cook from California. She is an amazing glass and felt/fiber artist, and she mentioned me in her blog, which was so nice of her! You should really check out her work. My favorite thing she's made recently is this incredible shawl:
Be sure to check out her glass and fiber stores too!
Another mention comes from my friend Shirley Cook from California. She is an amazing glass and felt/fiber artist, and she mentioned me in her blog, which was so nice of her! You should really check out her work. My favorite thing she's made recently is this incredible shawl:
Be sure to check out her glass and fiber stores too!
Friday, January 16, 2009
Purplicious
Today's beads, they had some surprise aqua appear, but I don't think that's a bad thing.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
The Bead That Survived
This is the bead that survived the glass attack I was talking about in my treasury. I'm glad it made it, I think it turned out pretty nice.
New Etsy Treasury
A whole bunch of my online friends in this one! Lucky me, I had just come in from the studio to bandage up some glass wounds and sat down at the computer just in time to snag a treasury. Made getting injured all worth it I tell you!
Clicks and Comments mucho appreciated!
Clicks and Comments mucho appreciated!
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Today's New Beads
I discovered this wonderful color combo today and was so excited to see if they were going to come out of the kiln half as wonderful as they went in... I kept checking every half hour to see if they could come out yet! They were every bit worth the wait, I love these! Maybe tomorrow will see one like these with an octopus on it, maybe :)
The Octopus Bead!
I love this bead! It came out just how I wanted it to. And a starfish bead too... both are on Etsy.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Octopus Prototype
I made this today, just to see if I could. There will be more coming on much nicer bases!
Then, when I knew what I was doing, I made this bead. The base started off beautifully, the perfect blue green color, perfect twisty, perfect millies. Then I picked up the wrong stringer for the octopus and in order to get it to turn blue, I had to reduce the heck out of it and the base got all gray and mucked up. I didn't put much effort into the starfish on the other side after that. But I will try again...
Oh, and this is what Zoe did all day long - she thinks Luke's bed is now hers.
Then, when I knew what I was doing, I made this bead. The base started off beautifully, the perfect blue green color, perfect twisty, perfect millies. Then I picked up the wrong stringer for the octopus and in order to get it to turn blue, I had to reduce the heck out of it and the base got all gray and mucked up. I didn't put much effort into the starfish on the other side after that. But I will try again...
Oh, and this is what Zoe did all day long - she thinks Luke's bed is now hers.
I love these!
Oh my, like there is not enough moss in my world already, moss growing on my patio, moss growing on my roof, moss in my lawn, I could be the Queen of Moss if I wanted to be... but here is someone who really is! I love these terrariums Made by Mavis!
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Something a Little Different
Luke and I were reading about Dodo birds the other day, and how they did such a service to the trees on their island that once they died out, the trees stopped reproducing... and for 300 years no new trees grew... until they figured out that if they fed the seeds to turkeys and then planted the seeds after they reappeared, the seeds would germinate and grow... interesting stuff I tell you! Just the kind of stuff an 8-year-old boy loves!
Anyway, the next day, he asked me if I could make him a Dodo bird bead. And I thought, well, why not try out Jennifer Geldard's puffin that everyone is making and just call it a dodo?
Luke dictated all the color choices here, but I think I did ok!
And then... he begged me to let him make a bead of his own. So I gave him a mini lesson and then he decided to take it a step or two further and did some marvering and shaping. Apparently he was going for a fishbowl shaped bead. Not too bad for an 8-year old! I hope he doesn't ask me to let him make another one any time soon though, he was making me very nervous!
Anyway, the next day, he asked me if I could make him a Dodo bird bead. And I thought, well, why not try out Jennifer Geldard's puffin that everyone is making and just call it a dodo?
Luke dictated all the color choices here, but I think I did ok!
And then... he begged me to let him make a bead of his own. So I gave him a mini lesson and then he decided to take it a step or two further and did some marvering and shaping. Apparently he was going for a fishbowl shaped bead. Not too bad for an 8-year old! I hope he doesn't ask me to let him make another one any time soon though, he was making me very nervous!
The Beadboxman Boxes
I've been looking at these cool cigar boxes turned bead storage boxes for a couple of weeks and originally asked Frank to make one for me. But then I was thinking, I'd rather the remodel got done first, and the boxes are great prices, it would cost that much to buy a box and mandrels and wood and never mind the waiting time for it to be made... and so I ordered this one last night, I can't wait for it to come! I got the one that says Java on it since I'm such a coffee lover. Hah!
This is where my "for sale" beads will sit waiting for their new homes. So if they come smelling like the inside of a cigar box, you'll know why!
Check out the BeadBoxMan - he's got some really great choices!
This is where my "for sale" beads will sit waiting for their new homes. So if they come smelling like the inside of a cigar box, you'll know why!
Check out the BeadBoxMan - he's got some really great choices!
Saturday, January 10, 2009
99 Things
There’s a meme going around the blogosphere where you go through a list of 99 things, indicating the ones you’ve done, the ones you haven’t done and never ever want to do, and the ones you haven’t done but would like to do. Here’s my take on the list, with
* Things I’ve done in bold.
* Things I haven’t done but would like to do in italics.
* Things I haven’t done and never, ever want to do in plain text.
1. Started your own blog.
2. Slept under the stars.
3. Played in a band — or musical.
4. Visited Hawaii.
5. Watched a meteor shower.
6. Given more than you can afford to charity.
7. Been to Disneyland. (Disney World, technically).
8. Climbed a mountain. (Several, the last one was Mt. Si and I couldn't get off the couch for 3 days.)
9. Held a praying mantis.
10. Sang a solo.
11. Bungee jumped.
12. Visited Paris.
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea.
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch.
15. Adopted a child.
16. Had food poisoning.
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty.
18. Grown your own vegetables.
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France.
20. Slept on an overnight train.
21. Had a pillow fight.
22. Hitchhiked.
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill.
24. Built a snow fort.
25. Held a lamb.
26. Gone skinny dipping.
27. Run a Marathon.
28. Ridden a Gondola in Venice.
29. Seen a total eclipse.
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset.
31. Hit a home run.
32. Been on a cruise.
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person.
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors.
35. Seen an Amish community.
36. Taught yourself a new language. (Does HTML count?)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied.
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person.
39. Gone rock climbing.
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David.
41. Sung karaoke.
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt.
43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant. (Does Starbucks count?)
44. Visited Africa.
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight.
46. Been transported in an ambulance.
47. Had your portrait painted.
48. Gone deep sea fishing.
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person.
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling.
52. Kissed in the rain.
53. Played in the mud.
54. Gone to a drive-in theater.
55. Been in a movie.
56. Visited the Great Wall of China.
57. Started a business.
58. Taken a martial arts class. (Does Tae Bo count? LOL, probably not.)
59. Visited Russia.
60. Served at a soup kitchen.
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies.
62. Gone whale watching.
63. Gotten flowers for no reason.
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma.
65. Gone sky diving. (Almost, the wind came up and it got canceled, and I never went back.)
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp.
67. Bounced a check.
68. Flown in a helicopter.
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy.
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial.
71. Eaten Caviar.
72. Pieced a quilt.
73. Stood in Times Square.
74. Toured the Everglades.
75. Been fired from a job.
76. Seen the Changing of the Guard in London.
77. Broken a bone.
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle.
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person.
80. Published a book.
81. Visited the Vatican.
82. Bought a brand new car.
83. Walked in Jerusalem.
84. Had your picture in the newspaper.
85. Read the entire Bible.
86. Visited the White House. (No, but the Capital Building)
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating.
88. Had chickenpox.
89. Saved someone’s life. (Does pushing someone out of the way of a speeding car count? Yeah, probably.)
90. Sat on a jury.
91. Met someone famous.
92. Joined a book club.
93. Lost a loved one.
94. Had a baby.
95. Seen the Alamo in person.
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake.
97. Been involved in a law suit.
98. Owned a cell phone.
99. Been stung by a bee.
* Things I’ve done in bold.
* Things I haven’t done but would like to do in italics.
* Things I haven’t done and never, ever want to do in plain text.
1. Started your own blog.
2. Slept under the stars.
3. Played in a band — or musical.
4. Visited Hawaii.
5. Watched a meteor shower.
6. Given more than you can afford to charity.
7. Been to Disneyland. (Disney World, technically).
8. Climbed a mountain. (Several, the last one was Mt. Si and I couldn't get off the couch for 3 days.)
9. Held a praying mantis.
10. Sang a solo.
11. Bungee jumped.
12. Visited Paris.
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea.
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch.
15. Adopted a child.
16. Had food poisoning.
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty.
18. Grown your own vegetables.
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France.
20. Slept on an overnight train.
21. Had a pillow fight.
22. Hitchhiked.
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill.
24. Built a snow fort.
25. Held a lamb.
26. Gone skinny dipping.
27. Run a Marathon.
28. Ridden a Gondola in Venice.
29. Seen a total eclipse.
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset.
31. Hit a home run.
32. Been on a cruise.
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person.
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors.
35. Seen an Amish community.
36. Taught yourself a new language. (Does HTML count?)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied.
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person.
39. Gone rock climbing.
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David.
41. Sung karaoke.
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt.
43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant. (Does Starbucks count?)
44. Visited Africa.
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight.
46. Been transported in an ambulance.
47. Had your portrait painted.
48. Gone deep sea fishing.
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person.
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling.
52. Kissed in the rain.
53. Played in the mud.
54. Gone to a drive-in theater.
55. Been in a movie.
56. Visited the Great Wall of China.
57. Started a business.
58. Taken a martial arts class. (Does Tae Bo count? LOL, probably not.)
59. Visited Russia.
60. Served at a soup kitchen.
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies.
62. Gone whale watching.
63. Gotten flowers for no reason.
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma.
65. Gone sky diving. (Almost, the wind came up and it got canceled, and I never went back.)
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp.
67. Bounced a check.
68. Flown in a helicopter.
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy.
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial.
71. Eaten Caviar.
72. Pieced a quilt.
73. Stood in Times Square.
74. Toured the Everglades.
75. Been fired from a job.
76. Seen the Changing of the Guard in London.
77. Broken a bone.
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle.
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person.
80. Published a book.
81. Visited the Vatican.
82. Bought a brand new car.
83. Walked in Jerusalem.
84. Had your picture in the newspaper.
85. Read the entire Bible.
86. Visited the White House. (No, but the Capital Building)
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating.
88. Had chickenpox.
89. Saved someone’s life. (Does pushing someone out of the way of a speeding car count? Yeah, probably.)
90. Sat on a jury.
91. Met someone famous.
92. Joined a book club.
93. Lost a loved one.
94. Had a baby.
95. Seen the Alamo in person.
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake.
97. Been involved in a law suit.
98. Owned a cell phone.
99. Been stung by a bee.
Friday, January 09, 2009
Murrinis
I've been messing around with some murrini chips I got from Jet Age Studio - they are pretty fun. I have some of her heart chips coming soon.
The Best Cat Toy
I got this on Etsy the other day for Tyger and Luke to play with - they both love it and it's not a total eye sore when it's laying around the house either - cute!
The woman who sells them is local to me and on one of the street teams I belong to called Etsy Rain. If you want to see some other Seattle area shops, click here. Have fun shopping!
The woman who sells them is local to me and on one of the street teams I belong to called Etsy Rain. If you want to see some other Seattle area shops, click here. Have fun shopping!
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Beads for Sale on Etsy
Sorry, that took longer than promised, what with the snow crashing tree branches on our roof, power outage, etc. etc. 2009 is off to a great start at our place. Hope things are smoother for you!
So anyway, these are on Etsy now. What do you think of the new photo layout? I'm not sure about it... or, I like them... but I'm not sure they are going to work for Etsy...
So anyway, these are on Etsy now. What do you think of the new photo layout? I'm not sure about it... or, I like them... but I'm not sure they are going to work for Etsy...
The Crunch
This is one of my favorite lampworking tools - called a "crunch" - it's what makes the flat but rounded shape of most of my focal beads. But I learned something cool about it recently that has changed my whole bead shaping experience and I thought I'd share with some of my beading peeps! It's kind of a "duh" thing, and you may all know of it already - but just in case... If you pick up the top part, and hold the handle with the brass side up, it makes a great marver/shaper for barrels! The same goes for your lentil presses - you can use the rounded molds for shaping round beads and to help press your encasing into place. See, duh! But so helpful to know if you didn't ever see someone else do it or think of it yourself!
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