A No-Beads Update

I know, no beads, does that make you as sad as it does me? Oh well... lots of life getting in the way of that.

Luke turned ten this year. Ten! Where does the time go? I can still see him all hooked up to everything in the NICU. He sure has come a long way. The kid is pure joy, when he's not driving me crazy. This year he requested a lobster dinner for his family party - and he helped me get everything ready - he's actually quite the project planner. I couldn't have pulled it off without him, but still, no more indoor lobster parties, no matter how cute the requester is.



Homeschool is swimming along - now that we are in a groove, it's not so scary and it's surprising how easy it is, most days. We are splitting our time with classes at the local homeschool resource center (which is kind of like college for little kids - we choose what classes to take and make our own schedule) and home work. We both agree, the home work is a bit on the boring side, and Luke informed me yesterday that I need to be better about the field trips. Apparently the zoo, Ikea, the Seattle Underground Tour and the Children's Theatre is not enough for him. It's not really enough for me either, I had planned more, but life has a way of getting in the way.

Like Frank's surgery - I guess Luke doesn't consider the days in the hospital a field trip. Oh well, we both learned a lot from that, I say it counts.

And we may be off on a very big trip soon, as his grandfather, my father-in-law, is failing fast and suddenly, after a long slow journey through Alzheimer's Disease. This, I'd have to agree, is also not a field trip. Though there are lots of life lessons to be had with a family trip like that - something we've been lucky enough not to have to learn yet. Sigh.

So... if my store closes down for a bit - you'll know why. No beads, no time. But maybe in a bit.

Still Playing with Kalypso

Still loving this glass! I saw some comments around the net from other lampworkers that it was just the new Clio - the same thing as Clio - which had not been my experience when I tried Clio last time... so I thought I'd give it a comparison run. I have to say.. they are very similar... but not the same. I still love Kalypso more. Can you tell which one is which?



Here, too, are my latest offerings, available on Etsy today :)

500 Beads for Alzheimer's

Twenty-nine! 29! bead sales left to reach my goal! The sooner the better. I am mixed with happiness at the thought that I can do *something* that might make a difference in the world about this, and sadness that my grandmother is soon to be moving into an assisted care home because things have just gotten so hard with her. It's very sad to me that it's come to this, and yet I feel great relief that my mother will soon be free to sleep and rejuivinate - she's given everything she had in her trying to do the right thing for Grandma - it's been so hard. In so many ways I have felt as if I were watching the two of them sinking deeper and deeper into this hell hole caused by Alzheimer's - watching my grandmother crash down and my mother getting pulled down with her.... and my 3000 mile rope just not long enough to pull either one of them up and out. So, this $500 - really, $1000 as it will be matched by my husband's work - is the least I can do. I want it to go to research so this disease can be stopped and countless families will no longer have to fall down in it's particular awful hole.

A big fat thank you to all of my customer who have gotten me this far, and for the next 29 of you who will help me finish this off!

Juicy Juicy

I am so happy to have braved up and figured out the scorpion's outer ring. It's my new happy place. The inner fire? - eh, it's just not enough, and I was beginning to think I'd made a mistake buying that thing... but then I turned on the outer ring, got the perfect flame almost instantly and have been convinced ever since that I got the right torch. It's big, yes, but that's what I needed. Fine control for stringers? I'll figure that out too, but for now all I'm playing with is Kalypso - and look! I got the bright juicy colors again!

Boom! Boom! Fire Powah!

Got the new torch hooked up yesterday - once I learned the dunk-the-hoses-in-scalding-hot-water trick, it went pretty smoothly. OH my goodness! Check it out!



That's with both rings burning - it's HOT. I managed to make three new beads with it, but I will admit, I was a little afraid to use the outer ring - as it is, I seem to be loosing some of the magical Kalypso pinks with just the center flame. I may need to crank down my propane a little to get more pressure - or just work a little cooler... not sure. Need more experimenting time!

Here are the new beads - all hearts, though... you might not know that about one of them if I hadn't told you.

Scorpion, Baby!

My new torch arrived! It's a GTT Scorpion - the newest coolest torch out there! Isn't she beautiful? I can't wait to fire her up!

A New Week, A New Bead

Or six, as it turns out. It was a very busy week, and no new beads got made, but these were finally photographed and listed on Etsy. Thanks for looking!

Another Thing to Add to "The List"

I'm talking about the list of things I said I would never do. How many things are on that list? Oh, too many to count. It’s a 10 year list, after all. What is it they say? You are a great parent before you ever have any kids? Then you have kids, and you realize you knew nothing. Nothing at all.

So... homeschooling. It wasn't my first choice - actually it was my second-to-last choice - but I'm quickly coming to terms with it and I'm starting to think it's the best choice. For now. For my kid. And it's so much better than the last choice, which was returning to one of two schools we had already tried and had not been thrilled with.

It's only been a week, but he's happy. As in: smiling and agreeable happy. Which makes me realize, his teachers have been getting the best part of my kid, and when they handed him back over to me, it was the tired and cranky kid who was not at all interested in telling me about his day. I like this child of mine much better. He asks questions, shares what he's thinking about, makes funny jokes, bounces around, hums and chants when he's doing his math... it's a whole new side of Luke.

The other cool part is that we are kind of free. Free to make our own rules about how we want to live our lives. Not sure what that really looks like yet, but it's going to include lots of field trips, ski days, and art. Sleeping in if we want to. Baking cookies or whatever else we come up with. Lots of soccer. Guitar lessons for the both of us. Travel. Plus some really fun classes at the home school resource center - right now he's taking a clay animation movie making class, and next week starts a science/literature combo class based on the book "How to Eat Fried Worms". (No worms will be fried or eaten, we have been assured.) There are Spanish classes to take, and drama productions to be a part of… lots of interesting things to choose from. Or not, because we are free to choose now.

Not that he isn’t going to be learning the regular stuff: math, reading, writing, history and science – there’s lots of that too, but I’m amazed at how quickly he gets through those things. He’s happy because he’s not sitting around waiting for the rest of the class to finish up before he can move to the next thing. And he’s happy because he got to choose Ancient Greece and Greek Mythology as a subject to learn about. I also let him choose his science subjects: magnets, electricity, energy, and weather too.

You may be wondering about one other important thing: beadmaking. It’s still going to happen! I don’t know how yet, or when, but it will. On a somewhat regular basis. This is *one thing* I’m not going to eat my words about. That is one thing that is not going on the list. There’s glass to melt after all!

Eight

Eight new beads listed on Etsy tonight! Here are a few you have not yet seen:









Thanks for looking!

New Inspiration

The Bash, we love The Bash! In case you don't know, it's Frantz Art Glass's customer appreciation day - free demos, fantastic sales, lunch, glassy friends, the works. This year I got there in time to see Kimberly Affleck's demo for once and it was worth the drive and then some.

Her demo bead can be seen here - it's her seahorse, but done, this time, on a silver glass background bead. HUGE. I had seen her demo the seahorse a while ago, it was the base bead I was into. HUGE. Biggest bead ever! Like 4 inches by 3 inches or so. And gorgeous.

So, that was the best thing about The Bash this year. The next best thing was Double Helix. I spent a LOT of money on their glass. Plus I got the t-shirt. Why not? Kalypso is the glass of the month - if people thought they liked Clio, they are are going to go ga-ga over Kalypso. Mnnnnnnn.

Here are my Kalypso/Kimberly inspired beads. I'm heading to the studio next to make some more!

In Limbo

What's up? Not much. It's the time of summer where I'm either dreading summer ending, or planning my fall. Usually. Neither one is happening so much for me right now. For one, I'm still waiting for summer to arrive. It doesn't feel like it really has this year. And for two, I have no fall plans.

Don't get me wrong, I want to have fall plans... it's just that it's not in the cards for me right now. Instead of fall plans, I have potential... lots of it and nothing I can act on. I'm waiting to hear from a school to see if my kiddo got in or not, because if he did - onward! :: glass, beads, galleries, etc. If not... well, onward! to homeschooling - which could be fun, or not... but where to start? And do I really want to start if the lottery school is just going to call us any day now? (No, I don't.)

Ug! I'm in limbo. Which is one of my least favorite places to be.

I'm thinking by the first week in September, I'll know two things: summer will have ended before it ever really got here... and whether or not I'll be melting glass again or teaching 4th grade to the kiddo instead. (But if that last thing happens, I'm extending summer vacation for another month. How's that for a plan?)

Vote for Beads of Courage in the Pepsi Refresh Project!

In Love With the Desert

Here is something I never thought would happen as I'm a junkie for all things ocean and all things green and lush.... but it did: I love the desert! The colors and textures and sunshine - it's amazing. So much better in person than any photograph will ever show. I can't wait to go visit it again.

Valley of Fire in Nevada:











Western Washingon/Columbia River Valley:










Petrogylphs from two desert places we recently visited - Nevada, and the Columbia River in Washington.

Published!

The Blue Between Studio is in a book! How exciting! Page 84 - I can't wait to get my copy to see it for myself. If I remember correctly... Zoe and a pumpkin are on the porch. It's been awhile since Alex asked me for a photo.

Vegas, Baby!

My birthday gift this year (which was months ago, but we waited until school got out) was a trip to Vegas and Cirque tix. We just got back - it was a blast. We had way too much fun, all G-rated of course, except for the first day when the pool was full of drunk party-goers, and I had to fight the urge to cover my kid's eyes every two seconds. What a place. We will go back someday, for sure.