Another Day in Paradise

It's such a lovely sunny day that I had to take a quick stroll in the back 40, a.k.a. our yard. The osteospermum are loving it - and I think they're going to take over!


Niki loves it too. No matter where she is, as soon as someone opens the back door she flies out to join them. Our little explorer... the back fence is covered with ivy, no matter how hard we try to get rid of it. Niki loves getting between the ivy and the fence, no doubt discovering new smells and awful things to roll in. This morning she headed for her favorite corner where she can poke her face into a little hole in the fence and rub noses with the neighbor pup behind us.


I'd really like to extend my "wet lab" into the back 40, but setting up tables in the grass isn't ideal. Perhaps we can put down some hard scape out there this year. That would certainly help my mom - she's very unsteady on her feet and has a hard time traversing the bumpy grass. And I'd love to be able to sit in the fresh air while doing the bead work on my felted vessels. It would be a bit difficult to do that given our current back 40 situation...

Yes, there's definitely something missing. I had a bit of a shock last summer when mom brought her coffee and newspaper outside to spend the morning in the sun, and immediately came back in with her eyes like saucers and her jaw hanging down. The glass table top had exploded or imploded or... well, it was in a thousand pieces all over the grass. Come to find out, tempered glass tables do this on a regular basis. I had no idea! We still have the frame, but there's no way I'm going to put glass in there. Now that the weather is warming up a bit, it's time to do something about a table.

Until that time, I'll just have to continue doing my bead work in the evening in front of the TV. Last night while I watched Steve Wozniak do his best to get eliminated from the group of wannabe ballroom dancers, I put together the collar for the Milky Way vessel. But I'm not satisfied with it and I'm going to start over again. Here's what "release 1.0" looks like. And anyone who as ever developed software knows that you never put 1.0 into the hands of clients. So once I complete release 1.1, I'll attach it and Pam's bead to the vessel and give you the final update.


Tonight I'm teaching the final session of my 4-week bead making class. I'll work on taxes again before I leave - ugh! But first, a bit of lunch...

Have yourselves a lovely and creative day!

How Not To Get Taxes Done

Is anyone else like I am? When it comes to organizing all of my tax information, I'll look for just about any excuse to divert my attention. The fact that I haven't updated my blog in a while was today's perfect excuse, so here I am. But first, let me go put my CD player into sequential mode and get some tunes going.

Done! I've got an eclectic mix in there - "Hot Swing" by Mark O'Connor, "Time Out" by the Dave Brubeck Quartet, "Organ Grinder Swing" by Jimmy Smith (with Kenny Burrell and Grady Tate), Vivaldi - Greatest Hits (with Pinchas Zukerman and the New York Philharmonic conducted by Leonard Bernstein), and "Leyenda" by Karin Schaupp. That'll keep me entertained for the rest of the day!

First of all, I've added 4 new beads to my Etsy shop this week. It's about time - seems like I've been spending all my time either teaching bead making classes or doing fiber work. Not that that's a bad thing - but with 2 bead shows coming up rather quickly, I really do need to spend more time on my torch.

Here are the beads I added this week.

Frozen Fossils

Clearing Storm

The Deep

Bronze Age

But of course, I can't leave the fiber alone. No sireeeee! I've been working on the "Milky Way" vessel and I thought I'd give you another update. I added some fiber embellishment and started the bead work. It's looking more and more like Pam's Milky Way bead. I just have to bead the rim, add Pam's bead, and it will be finished! Then I can get some really nice pictures for you to see. This is the first vessel I've created where I've let the focal bead dictate the design of the vessel. I'm already excited about the next one I'll do like this!




That will have to do for today - mom and the fur kids are really wanting to go to Starbucks. Ah yes, Starbucks... another excuse to avoid working on taxes. Tsk tsk tsk! If I disappear for awhile, you'll know that I'm buried in spreadsheets.

OK Niki & Peanut - I'm coming! These girls always know where to find me when they're ready to leave.


Have a wonderful and creative day!

Creating the Milky Way

Well, I couldn't wait any longer. Pam's "Milky Way" bead was calling to me, so I spent the day in the wet lab yesterday. While I was out there, I happened to look into the family room. I guess I wasn't the only person who was in a creative mood. Here's my 85-year-old mom Yvette, crocheting away with our senior citizen fur kid Peanut keeping her company.


Here's a sneak preview of the Milky Way vessel. The body is mostly finished - I just have to add a bit of fiber embellishment after it's dry. Then comes the bead work, with Pam's lovely focal taking center stage. I haven't figured out how I'm going to bead the vessel yet, but I have lots of ideas floating around in my brain. And then I'll create a vessel with the other bead that Pam sent me, which you haven't seen yet. Thanks for all the inspiration, Pam!


After laying out all the fibers and felting the vessel flat, I took a break before I started the sculptural fulling process. I guess Peanut decided she didn't need to supervise mom anymore, since mom was trucking right along.


Now I'm going to switch gears and head down to San Jose to teach my bead making class at BAGI. Have yourselves a wonderful evening!

Tote Bag Progress

Today my arms are done, finished, wiped out, "gumbied". Know why? I just finished fulling my tote bag! I completely lost track of how many times I rolled it, and I also spent a lot of time rubbing it against the ridged mat. But it finally got down to its finished size, and is now drying on the rack after a thorough rinsing and towel-drying. Yay! I haven't decided yet what I'll use for straps or how I'll complete the closure. But I already have the bead that I'll include in the closure - this bead inspired the entire bag.

Here's the front side of the bag - still damp... The colors are a bit washed out in these photos, lots brighter "up close and personal".


And the other side of the bag...


... and here's the bead that started it all. This is from my "Brushstrokes" series.



I'm going to take a break from the tote bag for a bit and conjure up a few more vessels. I really like the beads that I make, but I'm certainly not a bead snob. I just purchased a lovely bead from Pam Brisse of The Blue Between, and I've already picked out the fibers to use in the vessel that her bead will adorn. Here's Pam's "Milky Way" bead:


Lovely, isn't it?! And here are most of the fibers I've picked out for the vessel. I'll add a few surprises as I go along. I just can't help myself... :)



But first... it's time to take mom for a Starbucks break. She and I are badly in need of a capuccino before I carry on with my delectable fibers. Have yourselves a wonderful evening!

Two More Pieces

I completed two more vessels, and they're just about ready to go into my Etsy shop. It's such a nice feeling, seeing these projects finished - the vessels have been on my table glaring at me for way too long! Yes, if I give them personalities and "facial" expressions, maybe I can guilt myself into embellishing them before they give up on me and leave home. Sometimes it takes me quite awhile to figure out how I'm going to embellish them. I started working on another one last night that had me stymied for awhile. As I was looking at it, an image came into my mind and I finally had my answer. I don't want the bead work to overtake the vessel, so I try to come up with an approach in which the two will complement each other. Here is the result of my latest efforts, which will go into my Etsy shop very shortly.


This afternoon was supposed to be a torch day, but time got away from me once again. I'm going to be teaching two new bead making classes soon, and I absolutely MUST make sample beads for these classes. That will be a fun project - perhaps tomorrow I'll get that one finished. After I run the rest of my errands today I just might spend a bit of time in the wet lab. That tote bag is still calling me...

Have yourselves a happy creative day!

Another Work in Progress

I have a love/hate relationship with large projects. The idea of creating something significant is so exciting to me! Why is it, then, that once I start a large project I end up getting sidetracked time after time? This happened with my second nuno scarf, and once again my table is being occupied by a tote bag that's taking up so much room that I can't do any smaller projects until the bag is done. I started this bag several weeks ago. Then I had to get ready for the Stitches West show. Then I was AT the Stitches West show. Then I got sick. I guess I need to kick my butt a few more times, go out to the wet lab, and JUST DO IT!

Here is the progress that I've made so far. I took this picture while I was laying out the 6th layer of roving.


I finshed that layer, put down 2 more layers, and turned it over to work on the other side. Once I wet the whole bag down and get it to almost pre-felt stage I'll be adding a few more elements. I'll also be adding a bead to the finished bag to use on the closure. Gosh, I had the bead picked out before I even started the bag - sure hope they work together once the bag is done!

Here's side two after 2 layers - just 6 more layers to go! Sigh...


I finished embellishing one of my felted vessels a couple of nights ago, and last night while I was watching "Dancing With the Stars" I completed about 3/4 of the embellishment on another one. I'll finish that one up today so that I can get photos - then they'll go out into my Etsy shop.

Tonight I'm teaching the first night of my 4-week series of Beadmaking 1 in San Jose. I'd better get to work on finishing that vessel NOW, or it will remain in an uncompleted state for another day.

Have yourselves a happy and creative day!

Finished Work - Finally!

Well, having spent most of this week being sick with a cold I never made it out to my wet lab OR my glass lab. But I finally added 4 new felted vessels to my Etsy shop! I had them at the Stitches West Show, so those of you who saw them up-close-and-personal have a better feeling for what they look like. Pictures don't give you all the little details that you notice when you hold these creations in your hands.

Here are my latest vessels available at Flames & Fiber. If you go to my shop, you'll see bigger and better pix.



Tomorrow I'll be teaching a torchworking survey class at BAGI. These survey classes give you a taste of what glass beadmaking is all about. If you happen to be in the San Jose area and want to learn about what us lampworkers do, come on by and take a class with me!

Have yourselves a happy, creative Saturday!

Post-show Ups 'N Downs

First, the "Ups" - a great big THANK YOU to all of you who came to visit us at the Stitches West 2009 Show. I had a wonderful time! It was great seeing old friends and meeting new folks. Thank you for your patronage, fun conversations, and great feedback. And I want to personally thank Carin Engen for getting me hooked on roving a year ago. At Stitches West 2008, Carin had a booth kitty-corner to ours and I couldn't stay out of it. I'm a color and texture fanatic, and her booth kept calling to me. I went home from that show loaded with wool roving, silk roving, and a pack of felting needles. Carin, you created a monster! But a very happy one at that.

I had so many inquiries about teaching felting workshops that I'm in the process of organizing materials, procedures, and other logistics so that we can get started. And it looks like I might (not definite yet, still in the very early talking stages) be teaching a felted vessel workshop up in Vancouver, BC later in the year.

Unfortunately, and despite the wonderful chair massage that I indulged in on the last day of the show, I caught a nasty cold. It hit me on Tuesday, so I've been trying to keep a low profile and get over it as quickly as I can. I'm teaching a bead making class in San Jose this Saturday and I don't want to pass out at the torch - yikes!

Speaking of bead making classes, I've been scheduled out to the end of the year! And there are 2 new classes for those of you who know the basics and want to expand your glass repertoire. I've added a couple of "Beadmaking: Working With Metals" classes. These are classes that explore adding metal to the hot glass while making the bead, not metal smithing classes. They're broken down into 1a and 1b - 1a for the folks who have completed Beadmaking 1 and 2, and 1b for the folks who have completed Beadmaking 2. It's a series of classes, so if you're interested you should take Metals 1a before you take Metals 1b. To see my class schedule, go to the BAGI website for the Torch Working classes - click HERE.

And now I'm off to feed my cold a cup of tea and work on my new classes. Let's see, instructions for the felted vessel or samples for the Working With Metals class? I'll let my cold dictate what I can accomplish today.

Have yourselves a happy, creative day!

Pre-show Frenzy

Well, the last few weeks have been a whirlwind of activity here in the glass lab and the bead lab! Tomorrow is the first day (preview day) of the Stitches West 2009 show. If you are in the San Francisco Bay Area, come by our booth over the weekend! The show is at the Santa Clara Convention Center, and I will be in booth 935 - Cook & Young ~ Flames & Fiber.



And next week, after the show is behind me, I'll be cooking up some new items in the glass lab and the wet lab. You'll also see a lot more of me out here. When I'm in pre-show mode I tend to disappear into my labs... and my teaching schedule doesn't slow down a bit!

Speaking of teaching, I'll be teaching 2 new classes at BAGI in the upcoming weeks. These classes are all about using metals in your glass beads. Come take a class with me, we have loads of fun!

Until next week - or when I see you at Stitches West - have a fun, creative, productive weekend!

Starting a New Week

This is it - my last full week to "make stuff" before I do all the prep things for the Stitches West show. Pressure? You bet! I've got so many ideas floating around in my head that I don't know what to do first. And there's no way I'm going to be able to do it all. I guess I'd better start prioritizing.

During my blog-hopping, I came across this tarot quiz several times and decided to check it out just for grins. I don't put much stock in these sorts of things but it was fun to see what my card looks like from each of the available decks. Turns out I am the Star. Here are my cards from the various decks - which is YOUR favorite? I'm rather partial to the card with the cat.

You are The Star

Hope, expectation, Bright promises.

The Star is one of the great cards of faith, dreams realised

The Star is a card that looks to the future. It does not predict any immediate or powerful change, but it does predict hope and healing. This card suggests clarity of vision, spiritual insight. And, most importantly, that unexpected help will be coming, with water to quench your thirst, with a guiding light to the future. They might say you're a dreamer, but you're not the only one.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Well now that I've been told that I have clarity of vision, I'd better go out to the glass lab so that I can realize that vision and bring it with me to the show! Unexpected help would be much appreciated but I'm afraid that for the time being I'm on my own. Hope you all have a creative, productive day!

Still On the Planet

Contrary to popular belief, I haven't dropped off the planet. I've been in the glass lab, the bead lab, and the wet lab getting ready for my next show. Why do I do this to myself? The show starts in about 2 weeks and I've got so much to do I don't know which end is up. I guess you really can't teach an old dog new tricks...

If you happen to be in the San Francisco Bay Area on February 27, 28, and/or March 1, come to Stitches West 2009 in Santa Clara! It's an amazing show - you'll be overwhelmed for sure. I remember the first time I attended Stitches West. It reminded me of the first bead show I ever attended. I walked around all day with my eyes like saucers and my jaw a bit slack. So if you need an eye candy fix, come check it out! I'll be in Booth 935 with my part-time biz partner Nanette. Our collaborative business is called Flames & Fiber and we'll have lots of handmade glass beads, jewelry, and fiber creations. I'll be selling my felt work, beads, and jewelry - Nanette will be selling her beads, jewelry, and glorious hand-painted silk scarves.

Here's Nanette at the show last year, getting her morning caffeine before the doors opened. You can see some of her scarves hanging on the wall behind her.



Nan and I began collaborating about 4 years ago, quite by accident. We were at one of our monthly beadmakers' meetings, sitting at a table chatting. She spread her beads out on the table, I spread mine out, and then we just looked at each other with our mouths hanging open. Unbeknownst to each other, Nan had been making flower beads and I had been making leaf beads. Immediately we started matching up leaves with flowers, having a grand old time. She gave me a few flowers, I gave her some leaves, and we went off on our merry way. A few weeks later, Nan asked me if I would be willing to collaborate with her on a jewelry kit. She had designed a gorgeous slider, incorporating one of her flowers and three of my leaves. That was the start of our creative explorations together along with an ever-deepening friendship.

Here is our Flames & Fiber postcard.



So come on down to our little garden - booth 935 - for a visual feast and some fine shopping.

And now I'm off to the glass lab to clean yesterday's beads. Have yourselves a creative day!

Imagine, if you will...

...a table piled with glass rods just waiting to be turned into something new, something organic, something wild and crazy...

That's the picture that I had planned on posting today - my new glass stash. Unfortunately, my hard drive decided that it wasn't going to happen. Nope, not today. No pictures for you, Shirley. Not gonna happen. I'm done. It's over. Sayonara!

Some days I just hate computers. Since my torch is being much friendlier than my non-bootable laptop (I'm borrowing another one to write this little rant), I'm heading out to the bead lab to put that new stash of mine to good use. And maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to get pictures of today's creations and show you the real deal. I mean hey, words just can't describe the little nuances that happen in the torch and the kiln.

I'm off to create... Have yourselves a wonderful day!

As Promised...

It's finished!  Yes, I have another felted vessel finished - and I'll give you a preview picture of it.  I just snapped this picture outdoors in the front of my house.  I'll have a professional picture done later this week for my Etsy shop.

I also managed to get in a few hours at the torch last night, and here's one of the beads that came out of the kiln this morning.  This will also go into my Etsy shop.

I SO want to go out into my wet lab today and whip up another felted item but I have to get dinner ready to put into the oven, then get ready to go to San Jose to teach my lampwork bead making class.  This is the last night of my 4-week class, which is both gratifying and sad.  I love seeing how far the students have progressed but I hate saying "so long".  Maybe they'll come back for my Beadmaking 2 class!

Hope all of you have a great evening!

Some New Works In Progress

In several posts now, I've shown you my latest works in progress.  I keep wondering when someone's going to ask me, "Where the heck are the finished pieces?!".  I promise, in my next post I'll have something finished - in fact, I'm going to finish a piece tonight while I park myself in front of the TV with mom.

But in the mean time, I thought I'd give you a peek at all the vessels waiting for me to embellish.  I've got tons of work to do here, but I just can't seem to stop messing around with wet wool!  I've got several more vessels in mind - I'll need a clone to do all the bead work on them.  Any volunteers?  

And here is the vessel that I made yesterday.  I'm not quite sure how I'm going to embellish this one, but I've got the beads picked out for it.  I just love going through my stash of seed beads, looking for just the right colors and finishes for the vessels.  And sometimes it gives me an excuse to head over to my local bead store so I can add a new color to my ever-growing palette.

I was planning on heading out to the torch today to make some beads.  Instead, I got hung up creating and submitting the artwork for my next batch of postcards as well as hunting up my ad for last year's Stitches West show book so I could change the booth number for this year.  I'm hoping to get to my "bead lab" after dinner, it's been WAY too long since I've been on the torch.  But now I'm headed to the kitchen so I can do the dinner thing.  I think it will be pork chops, whipped yams, sauteed mushrooms, and asparagus.  How does that sound?

Until next time...

Another WOW!

In my last post, I included some comments about and pictures from the inauguration.  The crowd picture made me think, "Wow!".  I received this link in an email, and was so amazed by this that I had to share.

When you click on the link to this picture, use the zoom tool to zoom in on the crowd.  You can pan through the crowd, and you can really get lost in that crowd!

Amazing Photo of the Inauguration

I'm off to the "wet lab" for now.  Enjoy your Friday!

A Time of Hope, a Bit of Reflection...

I watched the ceremonies today with tears in my eyes, a heart full of hope, and a feeling of wonderment.  I thought back to my childhood when things were very different, and reflected a bit on how much change has occurred since that time.  We are still on a journey to overcome the injustices that happen in our country, but if we work together we can continue to make progress and help make our country and the world a better place.

And regarding this image, all I can say is... WOW!

I found some very old pictures from my childhood - they were taken back in the... dare I say it... 1950's (ouch!).  When we moved into our first house, the first neighborhood kid I met was Nancy.  I didn't understand why her parents never allowed me into their house, but despite that situation we became really good friends.  I have often wondered whatever became of Nancy - we moved to a different town when I was 12 and I lost touch with most of the "old gang".

Here are me and Nancy, sitting at the table in my back yard - and then a subset of us kids in the 'hood.  Many many happy memories from that time in my life...

And now I'm heading to my "wet lab" to sink my fingers into some wool.  May you all have a happy, productive, and creative day!

  

Another Week of Color Inspiration

In my never-ending pursuit of color inspiration, I bring you my second Etsy sampler based on the Pantone Fashion Color Report for Spring 2009.  This sampler contains the second group of 5 colors that I randomly picked from Pantone's selection of 10.  If you missed my first sampler, you can see my picks for the first 5 colors HERE.  This is the group of 10 colors that Pantone has chosen for Spring 2009.

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We'll start with Dark Citron, one of my favorite colors!

First up is a bar of soap by The Pig And The Peacock - delight in the scent of brown sugar and figs!

Next we have a carved porcelain bowl by Shoshona Snow - have your breakfast cereal in style!

On the end is ceramic pendant by Slavko - very elegant with a rim of gold!

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Our next color is Lavender, fresh as the fields in Provence.

First we start with this luscious faceted glass bead necklace by Shy Siren - what a statement!

In the middle is a ruffled scarf by Janice Rosema - keep your neck warm with plenty of style!

Lastly, we have the Maya Angelou peace crane by Local Colorist - I have this one in my collection!

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The third color we have is Vibrant Green, full of the vitality of nature.

On the left is striking pair of earrings by Pink Owl Jewelry - get lots of attention when you wear these!  Yes, I know... but they CONTRAST beautifully with vibrant green!  :-)

In the center we have a skein of hand-dyed sock yarn by Yarnspider - knit up a pair and stand out in the crowd!

On the right is a lovely little ACEO by Art By LMR - a beautifully vibrant reproduction of the original pencil painting, with some Palace Blue from my the first 5 color samples.

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Slate Gray comes next, to soothe your soul.

First we have a stoneware mug by Page Pottery - share a cup with a friend.

Next is a great little wallet and key fob set by Mushy Bug - Amy Butler rocks!

We end with a gorgeous bracelet by Bella Tu Jewelry - for that "beautiful you"!

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We'll end with Rose Dust, a neutral with some warm colorful undertones. 

First is a delicate mohair tweed scarflette by Phydeaux designs - perfect for those chilly spring mornings.

In the center is a lovely pair of rose bead earrings by MayIdeas - very romantic!

Finishing up the colection is a beautiful beadwoven bracelet by time2cr8 - jazz up that new spring outfit!

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This wraps up my Etsy picks using the color inspiration provided by Pantone for Spring 2009.  With the deep freeze that's been going on in many parts of the country, those of us who create can take pleasure in the promise of spring that these colors bring to us.  

I started working with the spring color palette in my "wet lab" last week, Lucite Green being my starting point.  This is my latest felted vessel, which still hast to be embellished.  I mean, hey - what's a vessel without the appropriate beadwork, right?  I've already picked out the beads, I just have to get to work.  Perhaps tonight's project?

OK folks, now that you have more examples of work representing the colors for the upcoming season, go to your studio and Make Stuff! - as Fred Babb would say.

Friday Wrap-up for 1/16

I don't know where the time goes, but the end of the week is here again - yikes!

I managed to get out to my "hot lab" yesterday and make a few beads.  It felt good to be back on the torch again, and rather than make the beads that I should have made (works in progress waiting for specific beads), I played around with some very expensive glass that does really interesting things when you change the flame atmosphere.  This is one of the beads that came out of the kiln this morning.  I'm going to turn this into a pendant - I have an idea about an unusual way to embellish it, since it's such an unusual shape.  I just need to decide which part of the bead will be the front.

I'll be working in the "wet lab" this afternoon.  I was out there for awhile trying to figure out what I have, what needs to be embellished, and what I'm going to make next.  Here's what my work table looks like at the moment.  The bowls and trays are projects I completed last year.  The vessels are waiting for me to embellish them, the "bullseyes" in the box are components that I made for my next scarf, and I've decided that the flower will go on a bag.  Perhaps I'll dye the silk for the bag today.  I need to make more vessels for my upcoming show and a few more flowers for my bag.  It's going to be a busy day in the wet lab for sure!

All About Treasuries

I have a few  Etsy Treasuries to show you today. I was featured in 1 Treasury this past week and I created 2 of my own.

Blue Between featured my Golden Peacock Felted Vessel in her "Injured by GLASS" Treasury.

Thanks, Pam! Visit her shop for beautiful handmade glass beads, such as this Organic Heart Focal Bead.

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Here are the two Treasuries that I created over the last week.
The first is "COLOR POPS", which was in Treasury West.

And on a much lighter note, the second is "Warm OATMEAL on a GRAY Day".

Hope you all enjoyed this round of Etsy Treasuries!
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Now I'm off to the wet lab to see what pretties I can cook up today.  Have yourselves a wonderful weekend!