Eight Things

The rules are:
1. Mention the name of the person who tagged you.
2. Do the lists of 8.
3. Tag 8 bloggers of your choice.
4. Let them know that they have been tagged!

I was tagged by Sue of Frangiacomo Glass Art or perhaps better known as glassymom :)

Here we go....This tag is the eights:
Eight things I am looking forward to:

1. driving to Minnesota in less than a month
2. relaxing & fishing in Minnesota
3. the month of July when the kids get spoiled by the grandparents & we have the house to ourselves to see if we can remember how to act like adults
4. more time on the torch
5. going on a cruise this fall with my honeys
6. seeing my kids grow, use their manners and watch their personalities evolve into kind beings
7. watching Todd play tennis
8. the day when I can say goodbye to telecom, melt glass all day until the kids get off the bus & then spend more time with them

Eight things I did yesterday:
1. housework
2. removed beads from mandrels, cleaned em & photographed em
3. etched some beads
4. took the girl child clothes shopping
5. picked up more dog food and a pee cup for the urinalysis I have to do on the cat
6. watched the kids have fun on their new Slip N Slide
7. enjoyed dinner/evening with my Mom & Grandma
8. took a nap

Eight things I wish I could do:
1. melt glass full time
2. meet my kids at the bus stop after school & spend the afternoon with them, instead of picking them up at after-school programs after work & rushing to make dinner
3. keep my desk & counters cleaner/better organized
4. move to Phoenix, but not away from my folks because they are here in Atlanta
5. get in better shape, but that would mean finding the time to get back to the gym
6. spend more time with my family and friends
7. learn to throw pots, on the pottery wheel, not at walls/floors
8. find more time in the day without feeling tired

Eight Shows I watch:
1. 24
2. American Idol
3. House Hunters
4. anything else on HGTV at bedtime, although I can't remember show names. I watch so little tv

Eight Blogs I'm going to Tag:
1. http://lorelei1141.blogspot.com/
2. http://heatherknitzdesigns.blogspot.com/
3. http://derondadesigns.blogspot.com/
4. http://fabfibers.blogspot.com/
5. http://summersstudio.blogspot.com/
6. http://rosebud101-fortheloveofbeads.blogspot.com/
7.http://www.coolzebras.com/
8. http://mbjewelry.blogspot.com/

Random

Here are most of the beads that have kept me busy this past week. I spent close to three hours in front of my sink this morning removing 75+ beads from mandrels and cleaning them. The girl child made sure to tell me several times that the sound of my dremel is HORRIBLE to her ears. I agreed and wished I could blink my eyes like Samantha Stephens and have them magically cleaned in an instant. Oh how my back & hands would love that!



Yes, there are two worry stone beads in there. The lower was an experiment with forest greens with a couple other colors. The other side of it is textured and looks like it is swirled in icing. The top is a variation on my Starry Night worry stone...this one has a little layering and depth between the spots which I think turned out pretty cool and sparked some new ideas on my mental To Do list.

There is also the start of a set of rounds to match my River Runs Through It worry stone bead because Lorelei asked to see what they might look like here. Whaddya think L, did I hit the mark? Be honest!




Positive feedback gives me such a warm, toasty feeling. After several tough work weeks with my real job, these comments were so nice to see appear in my shop!

Lorelei - Awesome! Wonderful and friendly customer service and super fast shipping. You can't go wrong with Kelleys Beads. The product is superb! These greenies are no exception! Thanks for doing this special order for me Kelley!




Jeune - Always a pleasure doing business with you. I really appreciate your willingness to go the extra mile for me....I know I'm a picky girl ha! These are yummy! Part of the thrill is waiting to see the extras you so generously include... Your the best Kelley!

Kindergarten Curriculum

Kindergarten has changed very much in the last three decades.  When I went to Kindergarten, it was a half day of fun, which included learning the alphabet & colors, graham crackers, Kool-Aid and a nap.  Now it is a whole day and they are taught so much more.  Nap time is ditched mid-year over the Christmas break.  And the sign language wasn't covered with me until the 6th grade.

  

May 29th is Owen's last day of Kindergarten.  He passed with a handful of awards for his efforts & smarts during the year.  He learned many things, but I'll keep the list short to the most significant.

1. Reading - the boy can now read billboards, magazines and books.  There is little he can not sound out on his own.

2. Writing - his printing has improved exponentially over this year.  Not only is it legible, it is neat.  Spelling needs work as he writes most words phonetically that have not appeared on his weekly spelling lists.  But that will come in time.

3.  Math - he is quick with addition, decent at subtraction and knows some basic multiplication.  Ask him what 30 x 30 or 40 x 40 is and he will correctly tell you the answer.  Like I said.  Smarts.

4.  Sign Language - aka. the Bird.....while brushing his teeth last month, he stopped and very carefully held up his hand with his palm facing him.  O proceeded to pull all of his fingers down to 90 degree angles, leaving only the middle finger standing.  "Momma, this is the middle finger."  Pause.  And another pause.  "But we don't do that," he added.  Owen continued brushing for another 30 seconds before stopping and asking "Why don't we do that?" complete with his head cocked to one side.  I explained because it is not very nice.  

I left it at that.

River Worry Stone beads

This is one of my favorite quotes, written by Norman Maclean in the book A River Runs Through It.  But like the movie, you must really only have Robert Redford's voice as the narrator in your head when you read it.  When I was making these worry stone beads, I had the sound of a steady rain outside of my open studio window and these words in my head.....

Like many fly fishermen in western Montana where the summer days are almost Arctic in length, I often do not start fishing until the cool of the evening. Then in the Arctic half-light of the canyon, all existence fades to a being with my soul and memories and the sounds of the Big Blackfoot River and a four-count rhythm and the hope that a fish will rise.

 

Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time.

 

On some of those rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs.

 

I am haunted by waters.

Memorial Day Weekend

My Uncle Mike flew in this past Friday.  He is my Mom's older brother who lives in Phoenix and it is his wife Gail who taught me lampworking in her garage studio so many years ago.  Since I was a little girl, I remember flying out there to spend a week or two every summer (yay for having a Dad who worked for Delta and had flight privileges!).  The weekend went quickly while he was here, before a jet whisked him back to the heat of the desert this morning.  We enjoyed spending the afternoons/evenings with him, as well as the delicious salad he made last night to go along with my Dad's savory barbecue ribs.  This picture of Mike with my Grandma is several months old (I was negligent with my camera this weekend & hope he will email me pics), but as I look at it I can see the similarities in facial features on my Mom's side.  It makes me wonder how different I will look when I am in my 50s or 60s or 90s.

Today was a day of relaxation.  We spent several hours hanging out with friends and neighbors in the street/sidewalk while our children played baseball, kickball, pokemon trading and sandbox digging this morning.  My good friend Wendy came over shortly after naptime and we enjoyed melting glass throughout the afternoon while it rained on and off.  The rest of the afternoon was spent in the backyard of another neighbor while our kids played in a few blow-up swimming pools, water slides and video games in the cool of an open basement.  

Todd and I were talking about the significance of this holiday over dinner with our children.  I remembered how both of my grandfathers fought in World War II.  I don't know anything about my Dad's Dad or where he was during the war.  But my Mom's Dad was a scout, among other positions and traveled throughout Europe...mainly in Germany.  He stood inside the Eagle's Nest, looking out over the landscape through blown out windows and he brought back a parchment paper declaring Hitler the Chancellor of some little village in Germany.  My Grandpa talked fondly about many of his experiences, but saved the haunting and gruesome memories for himself and sometimes the other men in the family.  He fought for the freedoms of our country and for the end of a horrid dictatorship.

We also talked about our most memorable Memorial Day that was close to five years ago when we drove up to DC to visit my good friend Mary and her family.  Her Dad, Henry achieved the rank of Colonel before retiring from the army in the last couple of years.  Henry and Mary's mom Kathy drove us around downtown DC on the Sunday night before Memorial Day.  We saw the Vietnam Memorial (oh-so-humbling), the Lincoln Memorial and had our own private tour through the Pentagon where Henry worked at the time.  We saw where Henry's office had been when one of the planes struck the Pentagon on 9/11 and how fortunate he was to have been on the other side of the building that morning.  We saw the pressroom where Rumsfeld regularly held new conferences.  

And we thought about all that had been given up by so many of our service men and women over the years.  The husbands of some of our good friends and our family who serve to protect our country, our rights and our freedoms.  They have missed the births of their sons and been rolled over by tanks.  They have been wounded and had their wills tested.  Their families have been tested.  But they have stayed true and voluntarily continued their service to our country.

.

Thank you to all of our veterans who gave so much and to our current service men and women who continue to give.

My Daughter - The Fashion Queen

Here she is in one of her better combinations.
Not her best where she combined plaid, polka dots AND stripes all in one outfit AND with clashing colors.
But this is close.
Stripes and more stripes with scuffed up rain boots.



Todd had to remind me before we left the house to take her to school that she is definitely not his child.
I smiled.
I know she did not get Todd's fashion sense
If you know Todd personally, you have to strike everything about his casual clothes and beloved t-shirts from mind & think about his work clothes.



Before Todd and I started dating, I suspected he was gay. If he wasn't gay, then he certainly lived at home with his momma.
Because he just dressed too nice.
He was too put together.
No straight man I knew pulled off dressing so well.
On his own.
Turns out neither of my initial suspicions about Todd's personal preferences or living situation were true.
Yay me!




As a child/teenager, I put together odd (at best) combinations.
But my Mom let me do it.
That freedom was nice.
To be able to make decisions.
When I couldn't really make THAT many decisions about my life.
It is important to me to give my own kids that same freedom.



So long as they won't freeze too death, put themselves in danger from tripping/falling when running from wearing princess high heels or flip flops (yes, that does pertain to both of my children, even the princess high heels) or be inappropriately dressed (I won't let them wear swimsuits, leotards or pajamas to school, unless that is a special spirit day dress code...gotta draw the line somewhere).

Decisions Decisions

Tonight I must submit a bead to Southern Flames for the annual postcard. The post card from last year is featured on the home page. See if you can guess which bead is mine!

Not only does my bead submission need to be my coolest bead I have ever made, but it also needs to photograph well. There are many beads that are super cool, but are a pain in the neck to photograph without major reflections or distortions in color or the texture of the bead doesn't quite translate into a two dimensional picture.

These are the four beads I have narrowed down from the masses (ha!) for my submission. Pictures show the back/smooth side and the front/textured side. I am leaning heavily towards two of them, but want your feedback. Which one is your favorite? Why?

I love the bubbly feel of the top. Kinda reminds me of the non-slip shower mats, but that probably isn't a selling feature I will use once I list this in Etsy.


And another with the same dotted/bubbly top side. I think my fingers like this texture the best out of all my worry stones. Some of the dots in this bead look a little swirly like boro, but it is all soft glass. I used StrikingColor glass on black and then lots n lots of clear. Such cool reactions!


I made smaller round beads with this color combination & design last August. I love the transparent, pale emerald glass on white and then silvered ivory wrapped around. Especially when it is etched, then it has this great sea glass vibe! I like how only little 'leaves' of the silvered ivory peek through to the surface on the front, coming up through the textured layers.


And lastly....I pictured this bead in a previous blog post, but wanted to show that it is in the running as a submission candidate next to the other choices. I like the back/smooth side better because it is easier to see the very fine, silver lines running horizontally through the stripes of blue/green. The top side shot isn't great for reflecting the colors accurately, but it was the best one I took where you can see the raised horizontal stripes of clear.

My Honeys

He turned 44 yesterday. He insists that he has another 364 days until he can be considered in his mid-40s. I asked if that meant since he's still in his early 40s now & mid-40s don't start until he's 45, if late 40s begin the day he turns 46. The very quick answer would be "No, late 40s do not start at 46." Good for me to remember in case he decides to give me grief in ten years when I hit 44 or 46. I like that he gets to feel out each year ahead of me so I know what to expect. ;)

This is the second year in a row where Todd was gone for the weekend of his birthday. Gone doing what he loves most, only second to his family. TENNIS. And not just TENNIS, but TENNIS at the STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS TENNIS! Todd won the tennis games he played and his team did well overall. Todd drove home Sunday afternoon, napped and chilled. He had his birthday off yesterday and spent a very relaxing day on the couch surfing the web & sneaking in a late afternoon nap. We went out to Five Guys Burgers for lunch, which was nice. For dinner, we had Papa John's pizza and then Ghiradelli brownies with hot fudge and vanilla ice cream....all at his birthday request. The brownies were fresh out of the oven, so some of the candles were falling over before we sang. After getting the kids to bed, we watched the two hour season finale of 24. I'm not sure if Todd felt his day could get any better. Perhaps if tennis was being played in there at some point. Maybe. But he may be all tennis-d out after playing so much in preparation for the state championships.



Birthdays always make me take a step back and appreciate others a little more. For Todd's, I realized that I have celebrated his birthday for the last ten years. I have seen him start off in the world of telecom barely knowing how to operate a computer or send an email to being able to talk in-depth about the latest technologies of how data and video can be sent at the speed of light from one side of the country to the other. He has moved up from a lowly billing specialist (an entry level position at Sprint) to a Service Director and now a Sales Engineer at Level 3 Communications in this past decade. Todd became a husband, then a homeowner, two years later a father and a father to two kids two years after the first. After close to a twenty year hiatus from tennis, he picked up the sport again and quickly regained his passion for being on the court & getting in better shape.

Todd is kind and compassionate. He is fair (both on the tennis courts and in his personal life) and a good sportsman. He is respectful of others' opinions & beliefs. When Owen was first born, Todd worried non-stop that he wouldn't be a good father, that he didn't know what to do or even how to hold Owen. By the time Chloe was born, it was old hat. He held her with one arm and no worries. He can take my kids from their grumpiest and stubborn mood to fits of giggles in milliseconds with just a few words and shaking his body.



Todd and I are very like-minded. We share the same parenting, political, spiritual and interior decorating ideas. We don't argue (I could probably count on one hand the number of fights we have had since we met in 1998). He has been endlessly supportive of my career choices and hobbies. His trust in me that I would not burn the house down and kill us all by moving my studio inside from the garage was phenomenal. I could not have asked God for a better husband, father to my children or best friend.


I hope you had an excellent birthday honeys! I love you so much!

New Worry Stone beads

I got more time on the torch than I expected this weekend and had fun making more worry stones!

I etched this one last night for a velvety smooth finish and now need to take new pics before listing in my shop. The other side is riveted with raised swirls, which my fingers totally dig! You'll just have to wait for the listing to pop up before you get to see the other side :)

And here is my favorite of all of the worry stone beads I have made so far. The base is black with a swirl of silver glass wrapped around the bead from one hole to the other. I encased it in clear and left one side raised. Fabulous blues & greens came out of this glass and the really cool part is upon close inspection, there are fine silver lines running horizontally through the blue/green swirls. These are easier to see on the back/smooth side of the bead. I also snuck a few bubbles in on the front/bumpy side for a little more visual interest.

Check out Lorelei's Birthday Giveaway!

Happy Birthday To Lorelei! Yippee! To help her celebrate, she is hosting yet another, BLOG GIVEAWAY! This week, Lorelei is giving away this awesomely cool and hip set of lampwork glass beads that were donated by Magda. Check out more of Magda's work here

These beads have an approx. value of $85 usd.

To enter to win, leave a comment on this post, and if you want to be really sweet, pass the word along on your own blog or twitter, or Facebook pages.

Worry Stones

I wanted to make something for one of my friends after she knitted two cool winter hats for me (they got so much use this past winter!), but she doesn't wear jewelry. So I decided to make her a worry stone. During many attempts to get just the right color combination and texture for her, I realized how much I enjoyed making a larger bead like this.



This particular bead has a base of black, with silver glass spiraled around it, smidges of raku coming out from each hole/end and is decorated with white frit that reminds me of moonlight in the areas where it is encased (covered) in clear and stepping stones where I allowed it to surface. One side is melted smooth and the other has a spiral of clear growing out from the center. Like any good worry stone in a pocket, your fingers will immediately know which side they are touching.



This is the back/smooth side of the second worry stone. I twisted a deep, black hole into it between the stripes of blue & tan. It took a little swim with me last night when I had to jump into the pool fully clothed to save my kids from drowning. Debating on whether to list it in my Etsy shop or keep it as a good luck charm.

How Charming by Michelle

Michelle found me through Twitter last week and checked out my Etsy shop before deciding to buy these beads I made with some fun silver glass. Yay for my first Twitter generated sale! Woot!

Check out Michelle's Etsy shop and blog to see her cool jewelry designs!

And oh yeah, she blogged about these beads, too *blushing*

Sneak Peek at my Newest Beads

Really like these beads. They are a base of clear and swirled in Cezanne, which I did not melt in completely. My fingers really like to play with these!

Here is some of Brad Shute's StrikingColor glass encased in clear. This does such fun things!

More clear base beads, but swirled in Terranova 2 this time. These feel very industrial to me with their copper overtones and then purples coming out are an added bonus :)

And finally a worry stone that I am happy with the end result. I have been working on beads like this for close to two months now for a friend through work. She knitted TWO most excellent winter hats for me that I wore ALL winter and then some. She is not much of a jewelry gal, but her eyebrows raised when I asked if she would like a worry stone. This bead covers most of the palm of my hand and only one side is heavily encased in swirls so her fingers will know automatically inside her pocket which side of the bead they are touching. I hope she likes it!

Mother's Day or Just Another Day?

The day started off not with breakfast in bed, but with my bulldozer of a 4 year old climbing on top of me at 6am. I made my own breakfast later and ate at the counter between prepping the barbecue ribs and chopping up sweet potatoes for the big Mother's Day dinner. A 10am trip to Publix brought home flowers and cards from the kids, which they very proudly watched me open so they could point out their particular artsy drawings of hearts and their names. I loved their strong little hugs & kisses.

During the day, I marked a couple of items off of my mental To-Do list, like trimming the cypress trees in the backyard so they don't attack me every week when I cut the grass and writing up the annual Wenzel letter to put in the Christmas cards I had addressed & stuffed with pictures at the beginning of December (finally mailed them out today...who doesn't like getting Christmas cards in May?!). I thought about how nice a massage would be and maybe a pedicure, since it has been months for the former & years for the latter, but realized most places would be booked and I'd just have to make an appointment for another time.

My Mom and Grandma came over for dinner and Todd's Mom was in town from Minnesota for the weekend. While I was setting the table and turning the ribs, I got to listen to my Mom tickle the ever-loving snot out of my kids, which sent them into fits of giggles that drifted downstairs. God, how I love listening to them giggle and giggle till they can't breathe! Todd's sister was kind enough to clean up ALL the dishes and the kitchen counters after dinner, which was much appreciated.

As we sat around the table, I thought about how our mothers and grandmothers have impacted my life and how I am in turn shaping the lives of my children. My Grandma is 90 years old and for the last 33, she has been a source of unconditional love in my life. She has seen alot in these nine decades and is always smiling or laughing. Todd's Mom helped him grow into a compassionate and fair man, qualities which I admire and sometimes draw on when I'm lacking.

But mostly, I thought about how my Mom has shaped and changed my life. Without her, I surely would never have cultivated such a strong love for reading and learning. And for crafts, she was ALWAYS helping me start new art projects that my little fingers could handle as a child and advancing as I grew. From painting, to needlepoint, to crocheting, to quilting, to building shelves to believing in me beyond any realistic realm, I grew up believing in myself that there really wasn't anything I couldn't do if I put my mind to it. I have very little self doubt in my abilities and know I can teach myself how to do something new if I can't find a teacher. I only hope I can instill the same belief in my children as they grow up.

At the end of the day, I realized that Mother's Day for some is about being pampered and given a break from the daily routine of caring for everyone else (I won't lie, I would have liked it if that had been my day, too), but that wasn't my day. Instead, I think what I found was a deeper appreciation of my Mom and the other mothers in my life who have helped me become who I am, who shaped my husband and who put love and laughter into my own children's lives. And for that introspection, I don't think I should be disappointed in the day.

That. Was. Priceless.

Excited for Lorelei --> she's getting published AGAIN!

Check this out! Lorelei's necklace is on the cover of this new book.

And she used one of the first focal beads I ever sold in my Etsy shop! :)

Now available for Pre-Order via Amazon.com!

I can't wait to get a copy & see her other designs in this book!

Needed to Share

My day was totally made yesterday by one of my good customers. I never heard my phone ring and was treated to a long voicemail of squeals, oooohs, ahhhs, look at THIS! and I got my beadies, I got my beadies in a sing song voice. She sounded like a kid on Christmas as she inspected each set of beads and commented on the extras I sent. The appreciation continued for an hour long conversation after I called her back. Ok, mebe the conversation ventured away from beads during the majority of our call. But still. My anal retention was laid out on the line as she noted that I had created a pattern from one end to the other. And no, I will not post pics of my alphabetized cd or dvd library.

Ok, she made my week. Completely erased the bumpy ending I had to last week. She wouldn't be terribly appreciative if I posted her message on here (plus, I wouldn't even know how to transfer a voicemail file to my computer), so you'll just have to trust me. It was the best voicemail I have had in a long, long time.

I've been tagged

Lorelei tagged me, and I had fun searching out pics & thinking of my answers!

THE RULES:

Rules of the game: Respond and rework. Answer the questions on your own blog; replace one question that you dislike with a question of your own invention; add one more question of your own. Tag some friends to keep the flow going, let them know they've been tagged.


THE QUESTIONS:

What is your current obsession? Paying off bills (including a car note!) to get closer to the point where I can say goodbye to corporate America and just melt glass all morning until my kids come home from school. I want it so bad I can taste it! Really, how could I not want to spend as much time as possible with these two cuties?!



What was the last thing you bought? These have really been a lifesaver in giving our oldest cat his twice daily hyper-thyroid meds. No more putting him in a head lock to shove the pill down his throat. Woot!



What are you listening to right now? I am really ashamed to admit this because I have never been a Miley Cyrus fan, but I love her song the Climb. I'm not at the point where I'm ready to post a picture of her on my blog, though.


Favorite vacation spots? We went here last November w/o kids & can't wait to go again!
Ocean Isle Beach, NC is a favorite for taking the kids along. We normally stay with friends I have known since the late 80s and have always felt like my second family.


Arizona has been one of my favorite vacation spots since my folks would fly me out there by myself ever summer as a child (LOVED those Delta flight privileges!) to visit my Uncle Mike & Aunt Gail.
And Minnesota is an annual vacation we always look forward to because we get to see Todd's folks and watch the kids have fun getting spoiled.


What are you reading right now? A Vince Flynn book that my Dad bought for me last summer, but it is slow going. The little spare time I do find is normally spent behind my torch. Come June, I'll have time to read when we're driving up to Minnesota & back.


What is your current guilty pleasure? After spending numerous 50-60+ hour work weeks taking training courses in preparation for being a field tech as a contingency assignment if our union had gone on strike, I bought an iPhone at the beginning of April. I think Todd is still grinding his teeth. He has wanted one for months, but must wait until August when his contract expires & can upgrade. I wasn't very interested in the iPhone until after he had talked & talked & talked about it. Now I think it is one of the niftiest things ever!



Where are you planning to travel next? Minnesota at the end of June. We'll spend a few days in Rochester with Todd's Mom and then head Up North (to Nevis) to spend time with Todd's Dad and his wife (the kids can't wait to be spoiled by Grandma Sharon!). This is my favorite part of the vacation...we can spend as much time as we want fishing on the boat, looking at the lilly pads or just chilling out doing nothing!



What was the best thing you ate or drank recently? I am so addicted to avocados and had them chopped up in my shrimp salad last night



What flower are you most anxious to see bloom this spring? My oleander bushes, but I'm worried they won't be coming back this year. We had multiple freezes that I think may have killed them. :(



Where do you get the most inspiration for your work? New color/glass combinations tend to lead me in many new directions & inspire new designs. I also get weekly requests from my kids to try new textures, shapes & combinations. As you can see from my glass cabinet, I don't have many choices ;)



Care to share some wisdom? Be happy with what you have because as my husband says, "the grass isn't greener on the other side. It's just different poop."

I've tagged:
Metallo Bianco
2ifbySea
glass & fire