Week Night Eggs!

I have been getting so many requests for beads over this last week that I have started getting on the torch again in the evenings.  I thought you would like to see what came out of the kiln the last few mornings.

From left to right on the back row: light/sky blue, pink, olive green, pale lavender, wicked green and mosaic green

Next row: light turquoise, pajama blue, periwinkle and dirty martini (pale sage green)

I have also had a few requests for the baby raku on black beads, so those two sets are now in my shop.  And the oyster nuggets are now on reserve, pending approval of one of those focal beads up there that I made to match.  Another set of oyster nuggets are on the To Make list for next week.

Looking back over this past week, we saw our Henry boy make a full recovery.  Yay!

Little Horse is doing progressively better at 1) following commands correctly and quickly and 2) panting less at night in his crate.  One night last week I woke up to him panting at 3:30am and the whole bedroom smelled like dog breath.  Lovely, eh? :)

I have also been working on the yard, pruning the trees/bushes and clearing out all the brush.  One pile of branches sat in place for several days (ok, maybe more than a week. hush!) before I moved it towards the trash cans.  Underneath I found this big guy.  He was bigger than both of my fists put together!  I have never seen a frog so large in person before.  The kids thought he was cool and wanted to name him.  The girl child suggested we name the frog Dora, to which the boy child yelled NOOOOOOOOO.  He suggested we name him Cliff.  So now we have Cliff, the frog living under our hose box in the back yard.  I check on him every day and he just looks at me.  Check out his eyes!  Gorgeousness with all those orange specks!

This weekend will be busy with four soccer games (two are make-up games from previous rain-outs).  The forecast shows rain for both days, so we'll see if the kids get to play or if we end up dodging the raindrops.  If it rains, I think it will be a good weekend to drive downtown to IKEA and walk around.  They have such fun furniture, shelves and organizational things and it is a PERFECT large indoor area to let the kids burn off energy as we walk around the whole place.  It takes about an hour to walk through, which is perfect as the kids are about at the end of their time limit for good behavior (read as calm, controlled and quiet).

I'll also be trying to sneak as much time on the torch as possible to keep up with my egg orders.  AND I need to get my butt in gear making new beads and then jewelry.  I am one of the sponsors for an upcoming tennispalooza tournament in three weeks.  My logo will be on the T-shirts and banners AND I get to have a booth set up on one day.  I would really like to have more jewelry to set out.  I'm excited about this, although a bit disappointed.  I had hoped I would get to watch Todd play tennis, but now he is not going to this tennispalooza because......his men's USTA tennis team from last summer made it into the State Championships which will be held that same week/end in Augusta.  Phooey for me.  Yay for him!

Next week, I'll be showing a video of another part of the lampworking process.  The kids may make an appearance, as this is a part they can help me with getting done.  We'll see.  They may be too enamored with the camera on the laptop to be even remotely helpful and spend more time making faces (which is what happens on video chats with the grandparents).  

On good news notes, one of my friends got her mortgage payment lowered $200 each month.  Another friend found out that she can now write off her health insurance because she is self-employed as a massage therapist (she has been without health insurance for years).  And yet another is getting her photography displayed in a restaurant.  I am super excited for all three of these friends.  They deserve good things to come their way.

Tell me something good.  

What is going on in your corner of the world that is making you smile on this Friday?

Mother's Day is Coming! --> Jewelry Sale!

Mother's Day will be here in just a little over a week!  Are you ready?  Did you get your Mom something special?  Do you have a special card for her?  

 Lavender Intrigue bracelet

In honor of our mothers, I am offering 20% off everything in my jewelry shop through Mother's Day.  I will even split shipping costs on USPS Priority to get that great 2-3 day delivery within the US!  Refunds will come back to you through Paypal.

Lunar Sea necklace

Go see if you can find something special to make your Mom feel even more beautiful on Mother's Day.  Buy handmade, because Mom's ALWAYS love things that are handmade.  I know.  Because I'm a Mom. :)  Handmade is THE best!!!

Chocolate and Cream Polka earrings

All items will be packaged neatly in a black jewelry box complete with a silver bow.  I would be happy to ship directly to your Mom and include a note from you.

Look! Look! Look at my Nuggets All Grown Up!

Keirsten has had these nuggets for awhile.  It took time before they spoke to her.  But she was patient and then they just leaped into this design.

I love this double cross.  And the carnelian and agate offset the aqua nuggets nicely, don't you think?

Look! Look! Look at my Egg All Grown Up!

See what Lorelei did with one of my eggs?  I had wanted to show you a necklace she made, but that sold pretty quick.  This cool bracelet is still in her shop.  

More posts coming today showing more of my beads....all grown up!

Oyster Nuggets!

Over the weekend when I was making egg beads, I also made these little nuggets.  I pulled out my Ekho glass from Double Helix.  It is one of the glass rods that looks like a very gross color, but it does such beautiful things in the flame.  While I was making these, I kept thinking of oysters and what the insides of their shells look like.  Now my memory could be fuzzy.... I'm pretty sure it's been a good fifteen years since I have eaten oysters.  I just love the purply luminescence these little nuggets have.  They are in my shop HERE.

Thank you all for so many wonderful comments/convos on the eggs.  I made ten new ones last night!  It was my first weeknight on the torch in MONTHS.  I had sooooooo much fun!  Hoping to get back on the torch tonight to make some more.

And.  Thank you for the kind comments on my hair.  :)  I am loving that it is short, although it hasn't totally sunk in that those six inches are gone.  We are having a little cold snap now and my neck is bare.  I constantly reach up to undo a ponytail that isn't there so I can cover up and warm my neck.  How goofy is that?!

How I Make the Eggs - Video

Enjoy!

Weekend Eggs

I made a video on Saturday showing how I make an egg bead and had planned on showing that today.  But I thought it would be unfair to make you all wait another day to see the new eggs.  So here they are :)

And a little sneak peak of the rest of the beads that made it into the kiln Saturday night with the newest fourteen eggs.

My weekend went by way too fast!  I still have laundry left to do.  I didn't get to changing out the sheets.  Gasp!  I didn't go grocery shopping, nor did I get to try out new recipes like I had planned.  I had more beads I wanted to make.  More stories I wanted to read to my kids.  Over 700 photos to inspect/crop/edit/post from the past week (mostly of the kids and over half from soccer games/practice).  Where did the weekend go?

Did your weekend disappear faster than normal? 

Happy Friday!

This is a great day and I am so glad it's Friday!  So many wonderful things happening after being a crazy, hectic week.

Monday night I noticed my Henry boy was peeing blood.  He had bladder stones two years ago and we almost lost him, so I was really worried.  Henry spent all day at the vet's office on Tuesday before they got a urine sample and found that he just had a very inflamed bladder.  They think he has Interstitial Cystitis (IC), which caused the inflammation and suggested putting him on Prozac for the rest of his life.  Because stress in cats causes flare ups with IC in cats.  Seriously?  Henry is the most laid back cat ever.  He bumps noses with Little Horse every day.  He is not a stressed cat.  And I don't need TWO pets on prozac.   After four days on anti-inflammatory meds, he is acting like his normal self again.  I was very thankful we wouldn't be going through another surgery to remove bladder stones. 

On Tuesday, my Mom's car started smoking.  The shop told her the radiator had cracked and needed to be replaced.  Thirty minutes later they called her to say, "Oh, by the way, the radiator leaked into the engine and now you need that replaced, too.  That's just another $4-5 thousand bucks.  K. Thanks. Bye."  Her little Civic had 120,000+ miles on it and was just done.   So we started talking about what should be her next car.  We started off thinking that Hyundais or Kias with their 10yr/100,000 mile warranty would be best.  But a friend's brother used to work for Kia and he said that that should really be the last car you would ever want to buy.  He should know, since he went to court for the company to dispute all the lemon law cases.  Sigh.  That returned us to our normal mantra: You get what you pay for.  Such a shame.  She test drove the Kia Forte and absolutely LOVED it.

On Wednesday, my 91 yo Grandma passed out at her neurologist's office in the exam room.  It took them a minute to find her pulse, which was really scary.  It earned her an ambulance ride to the nearest hospital and a one night stay.  She was discharged yesterday and will be getting one of those fun heart monitors to collect data for a few days before returning to the cardiologist's office for a follow-up.  She has a really low heart rate (it hovers around 50 or lower), which may be contributing to some of her problems.  They didn't run a bunch of tests this time (because they did that a week ago and didn't find much of anything wrong. sigh) and just kept a close eye on her.  Physically she is strong, but her parts are wearing out.  Basically, it's heck getting old.  I am thankful her memory is shot and she has no recollection of all these hospital visits or even how she felt a few hours prior to any conversation.  And I am thankful she maintains her overall cheerful and loving disposition.  She so enjoys being with our family and I'm looking forward to this weekend when we can have her over for dinner on Sunday.

On Thursday, Mom got over her bitterness with Hondas and Civics and test drove a 2008 Civic and was very enamored.  She found it at Carmax where they have the no haggle pricing and the price was only sixteen bucks more than the Kelley Blue Book suggested Private Party Value.  Yay for great deals and fair shakes!  She has the car on hold and will be going back today to likely buy it.

Mallory included me in one of her lovely treasuries.  Go check it out HERE!

Today we have sunshine and temps in the mid-80s.  Happy dance!  I'm also lighter by a good 5 to 6 inches.  I got my hair cut short and think I really like it.  :)  I showed pics of short cuts I liked and a jaw length cut that Todd liked and told her to do whatever she wanted, I just wanted it to be different and shorter than it was.  She chose super short!  I'll get pics this weekend to show you all next week.  Or perhaps I'll make another video.  We'll see what kind of weather comes our way.  Weather.com is calling for thunderstorms tomorrow, so we'll see.

And with that, Random.org chose lucky number 10 out of the 18 commenters.  Cindy Higgins, please email me at kelleysbeadstudio@mac.com with your two favorite colors and your address.  I'll get your worry stone made this weekend and shipped out on Monday.  :)  Thank you everyone for commenting on my Giveaway!

Tonight we have a kids birthday party.  Tomorrow we have soccer games.  Sunday we have more soccer games and another birthday party.  Some time in there I will find time on the torch to make more/new egg beads, more nuggets and hopefully more worry stones than just the one for Cindy.  :)

This has been a long week, but with multiple happy endings.  I am thankful the weekend is here.  I hope you all have a most wonderful weekend to relax and do the things you want to do!  I will be posting pics this weekend of my visit with Cas of Metallo Bianco from last week when we went out for lunch and a walk through a local Antique Mall.  It was FUN!

Worry Stone GIVEAWAY!

Ok, I wasn't planning on doing another giveaway so soon, but I need some serious help.  Or rather, my Mom needs some serious help.  She is in possession of the biggest Honda lemon ever.  Boo hiss!  It has 120,000 miles on it and in the last year she has spent a fortune and replaced almost every piece under the hood.  Today, it started smoking while she was driving.  The shop said her radiator had cracked and needed to be replaced.  And oh, by the way, it leaked into your engine and now you need a new engine which will only cost $4-5K by itself.  Gah.  Not good.

So this weekend, I'll be going to help her car shop & negotiate the best deal somewhere between all the soccer games and other kids' stuff we have going on.  Thinking the cars with 10 year/100,000 mile warranties would be the best and in a budget of $15-20K.  Because at this point, she's all about the warranty.  She needs your suggestions, folks.  What would you recommend? 

Enter to win one of my worry stones (you choose the two colors!) by leaving a comment with a car recommendation and why.  A random winner will be chosen next week after she gets the new/used car.  I will make the worry stone after hearing color preferences from the winner and will get it shipped out within a week.

If you're commenting anonymously, please make sure your email is included, otherwise your comment will be deleted.

Eggs and Hollows

Here are the close-ups of the beads.  The eggs all got snatched up, so if you were holding your breath and crossing your fingers some extras would end up in the shop....well, you can exhale and wait until next week.  I need to make more now.  :)

And here are the hollows all cleaned out and ready to go.  Although they are simple in design and color, they were not the easiest to photograph.  So many reflections.

New Hollows and Eggs

I preferred to tell you about the beads I made in a video, rather than rushing to get them cleaned, etched and photographed.  Because I didn't want to make you wait any longer.  Because I'm just cool like that.

Happy Monday!

Lorelei is Having a GIVEAWAY!

Check it out!

You can win these cool pendants that Lorelei made!  And you get more than just one shot at it!

Click HERE to leave your comment on Lorelei's blog for your chance to win!

Fess Up

How much do you hold your beads before you use them?  Thy Hand Hath Provided asked that question yesterday.  She is not a beader and has no idea how fanatical some of us are about holding beads and not letting go.

Do you keep beads in your pocket(s)?

Stash them in your purse for easy retrieval and quick glimpses throughout the day?

Anyone sleep with beads under their pillow?  Cindy L?  Yes, I'm calling you out! ;)

I admit I have purchased handmade beads that I know I will likely never make into jewelry.  I realize that is sad and I am doing a HUGE disservice to the beads.  But I can't help it.  I just need to have them on my desk where I can look at them all day while I work. 

And I almost always have one of my worry stones in my pocket that I can reach down and grab and hold onto.  The ridges or bumps on the one side keep my thumb busy, although I found the smooth/flat side more comforting.

Feedback on Etsy: Part Two

Did I mention before that feedback makes me happy?  Especially when it is as lovely this!

"The earrings and worry stone I received from Kelley's Bead Studio are exquisite- lovelier than the photos by far.  There is no way to describe the way the light plays with these glass beads.  They are beautiful and it is obvious that Kelley loves what she does- her care and creativity shine through brilliantly." -GMG

These kind words are in regards to a custom pair of earrings and a special worry stone I made especially for a friend.  I had told her previously that I wish I could put cameras in my packages to capture the first reactions upon being opened.  But her words let me know I hit the mark and maybe, just maybe, passed it.  Her words are fulfilling and reassuring in that what I make with my own two hands does affect others. That what I create is appreciated.  Valued. 

It makes me think about the lyrics in a song Jewel Kilcher wrote called Hands:

I will not be made useless

I won't be idled with despair

..............

My hands are small, I know 

Feedback can be so validating.  That how my time is spent is worthwhile and was not wasted.   That my efforts are not useless.

Which brings me to Part Two, after writing Part One last month.  I'm curious about the feedback practices of other Etsy sellers.  Do you leave feedback immediately upon receiving payment?  Or do you wait to see what/if any feedback is left for you from the buyer?

I normally leave feedback after receiving payment to both thank the buyer for their purchase and to provide confirmation of when their item shipped (sorry LE, I realized today I didn't do that on your last two sets.  where was my mind?!).  But sometimes there is a nagging worry at the far reaches of my mind.  Particularly on custom orders.  Will the buyer be pleased?  Is it what (s)he had in mind?  What if I missed the mark?  Will the customer allow me the opportunity to make it right?

What if?

Because any type of negative, or even neutral, feedback would be devastating if I was not given the chance to make things right if I failed to meet someone's expectations.  And let me tell you, there are some people with extremely high expectations (some, I fear, that are higher than my own!).

My entire working life has been, in one form or another, delivering customer service.  As a teenager, I began as a courtesy clerk and then a cashier at the local grocery store.  I moved onto waitressing for several years before entering the world of corporate America to pay off the credit cards I had so horribly abused.  I have moved up that working chain over the past two decades from interfacing with the general public and standing on my feet all day while wearing an apron to partnering with directors and VP's of Fortune 100 companies.

I know which paycheck and which position my feet like better, but the responsibilities are very similar.

I nurture customer expectations and perceptions about the company I work for on a daily basis.  It is through my performance and my work ethic that I shape those perceptions.  It is how I have built my reputation.  I have worked hard to get to where I am.  Not just with the phone company, but with my beads, jewelry and Etsy shops.  I strive to create quality and unique products and make my customers so happy they come back for more.  That they have nothing but good things to say about me.

As the first-born and only child, I suffer from that overpowering drive to succeed, to care for others and to receive validation.  In that spirit, I can't foster the "What if?" mentality or the option of retaliatory feedback.   At the end of the day, as I close my eyes with my head on my pillow and am buried under countless covers and layers of clothing (because even in the summer, I freeze), I know that I tried my best.  That I gave my all.  And I hope that that is good enough. 

My hands are small, I know

I do love what I do.  GMG, I'm glad it is obvious to you.  I hope it is just as obvious to others.

Between my bead and jewelry sales on Etsy and selling my work at craft or bead shows, I have near 750 sales behind me.  It sounds like a lot, doesn't it?  It doesn't feel like it to me.  I have collected hundreds of comments of delight about items I have made with my hands.  Many of those comments are visible via etsy, but others are held carefully in email folders, special drawers or my own memories of conversations followed by hugs.  I always think back and wonder if I could, or should, have done more.  What else can I do differently/better going forward?

I have worked hard to build and earn my reputation.  And so, I will continue on in this same path, for it has worked well for me.  Using my hands and inspiration to melt glass and shape expectations.  To trust that what I have put out in the world will come back to me.  That I can leave positive feedback for others upon receiving payment and trust it will not make me feel sorry later.

Fellow Etsians, what are your practices on leaving feedback for your buyers?  Do you wait?  Why/why not?

Weekend Eggs

Last weekend went by quickly.  Torch time came and went on Saturday.  It was sucked up by a surprise three hour nap on the couch and a bad stomach ache.  But Sunday afternoon brought a successful session at the torch. 

I made a bunch more of these pearly green nuggets.  One set is reserved for Tari of Pearl and Pebble.  The other is up for grabs.

I also tried making some robin's eggs.  I made them in varying sizes and shapes, as well as with different colored speckles.  I like how they turned out and am excited to get back on the torch to make more in different base colors that might not be so bright.

I also made several clear hollows.  One of them is permanently attached to a robin's egg.  I'm still gnashing my teeth over that.  So there are no photos of the hollows.  Yet.

Your Favorite Etsy Shops!

Here is a list of all of your favorite Etsians from the comments left on my April Fools Giveaway.  I checked out each and every shop, just to make sure the hyperlinks would all work.  Thank you again to everyone who left comments and helped contribute to this wonderful list of Etsians!

Click on the shop name and the hyperlink will take you to it.  Check out all of these shops.  So many wonderful sites to visit!

Out of 150+ comments, you guys named 68 shops as your favorites.  So many wonderful handmade items can be found in these shops with extraordinary artisans running these sites.   I have received outstanding service through shopping on Etsy and have been delighted with what arrives in the mail.  Personal, heart felt thank you's written on lovely note cards and sometimes extras that go above and beyond what I ordered.  I LOVE buying handmade and am always thrilled when I receive an email notification that something in one of MY etsy shops has been purchased.

I sorted the list of blogs with the most votes being at the top and then alphabetically.  The number of votes is in parentheses for multiple mentions.

Lorelei (11)

Jade Scott (4)

Kelley's Beads (4)

Miss Fickle Media (4)

Earthenwood Studio (2)

Humblebeads (2)

Patina Queen (2)

SueBeads (2)

Summers Studio Pottery (2)

A Treasure Forever

Adornments for Tarts

amanda davie

Another Country Beadworks

Art and Whimsy

Art by Lisi's Lampwork Beads

Artisan Beads Plus by macarroll

ArtworkbyKD

Barefoot Maiden

Bead Happliy Ever After

Beaded Bird design

Bella's Beads and More

Bijoux d’Odalisque

Blue Seraphim

Bousky Arts

Brainstorm Studio

Broken Teepee Designs

Candy Thief

Cinnamon Jewellery

Danagonia

Element Clay Studio

Gabriel Studios

Gypsy Moon Designs

H Kellogg handcrafted

Indigo Flameworks

jpolka

kathi roussel jewelry

Kelley's Bead Studio

Ladybug Designs

LaTouchables

Lavender Cottage

Lilith Evy

LOVEARTWORKS

maire dodd

Mermaids Dowry

Mindy Kuen

my lavaliere

Nature's Art Melbourne

Noisy Plume

Norajane

Perles & Co

pink supply

Polarity

popcorn tree

Potty Mouth Gems

Purple Cat Jewels

Reduction Nation

Round Rabbit

SandFibers

Sarah Blank

Silver Sun Alpacas

Sparrow Salvage

Spitfire Pottery

Star Burst Jewels

stone studios too

Time2cre8

TotusMel

Vaisto clothing & accessories

White Earth Studio

 

Your Favorite Blogs!

Here is a list of all of your favorite bloggers from the comments left on my April Fools Giveaway.  I checked out each and every blog, just to make sure the hyperlinks would all work.  Click on the blog name and the hyperlink will take you to it.  Check out all of these blogs.  So many wonderful sites to visit!

Out of 155 comments, Lorelei's blog got 33 votes.  Thirty-three votes!  WOW!!  Go Lorelei!

I sorted the list of blogs with the most votes being at the top and then alphabetically.  The number of votes is in parentheses for multiple mentions.

Lorelei's Blog (33)

Kelley's Beads (7)

Nina Bagley - Ornamental (6)

Kate McKinnon (5)

Art Bead Scene (ABS) (4)

Cerebral Dilettante (4)

A Bead a Day (3)

Daily Art Muse (3)

KAB's Creative Concepts (3)

Pioneer Woman (3)

Silver Parrot (3)

the writing and art of Andrew Thornton (3)

Beading Gem's Journal (2)

Belinda Saville (2)

Julsbeads (2)

Mad Designs - Marcia Decoster (2)

Mes illusions Baroque (2)

One Pretty Thing (2)

Vintaj Natural Brass Co. (2)

(The Customer Is) Not Always Right

adventures in dressmaking

AMMJEWELRY

Ana's Chronicles

Artbeads.com's Blog for Beaders

Artgirl Island

Artisan Beads Plus by MaryAnn Carroll

Attic24

Bead Happily Ever After

Beadwright

Beverly Ash Gilbert

bob's bs - by Bob DeLong

Bodacious Boomer

Café Cartolina

café creativo

Carmi's Art/Life World

Catie's Blue

Celie Fago

Chile Cats

Clover Lane

Cynthia Thornton of Green Girl Studios

DebsCraft

Deerwoman Designs

design*sponge

desire to inspire

Dogmaw Blog

Dooce

Dottie Angel

Dove Designs

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles

Enchanted Revelry

Etsy Treasury Team

Farming on Faith

fleur fatale

French Press Knits

Gaea

Impronte

Jane Thornley

jbarrett5

Jennifer Jangles

Jumping Off the Processed Food Chain One Box at a Time

Juniper Moon Farm

Kathy Van Kleek

Live Wire Jewelry

LLYYNN

Lo and Behold

Magpie Gemstones

mairedodd

Midwest Parents

Miss Fickle Media

Miss Marys Mayhem

Molly and McGee (live owl cam/feed)

Mommy PR

my happy little life

Nesting Place

Noisy Plume

Pacing the Panic Room

Plays With Needles

Polymer Clay Daily

Pretty Things

Purr Prints

Rosa and Josie's

Rosi Jo'

Sand Fibers

Simple Things Small Joys

Skull a Day

Slipcast- The Ceramics Blog

Smitten Kitchen

Something Sublime

Soule Mama

Sue's Beads

Summers Studio

t and h Photography

Three Trees Art

Thy Hand Hath Provided

Time2cre8

Tollipop

TotusMel

Treasures Found: Inspiration is Everywhere

Urban Natural History

Writings of a Gypsy Soul

Get Lathered!

My iMac is sick and is in the shop today.  Sigh.  So along with that, the list of favorite bloggers and etsians from my giveaway is off limits.  Tomorrow, I'll get them up.

But today, I wanted to tell you about one of my favorite Etsians named Rhonda.  She is the shop owner of Get Lathered.  Rhonda makes shampoos, conditioners, hand soaps and lip balms.  Her shampoos and conditioners are unique in that they are hard, just like the hand soaps.  They are shaped perfectly to fit in the palm of your hand.

Todd and I have used her Shampoo That Rocks for almost a year now and absolutely love them.  I saw her Conditioner That Rolls stocked in her shop last fall and have been using that ever since.  I have thrown out all of my other shampoo and conditioner bottles (or really just moved them to the guest bathroom) and haven't looked back.  Goodbye Aussie.  Goodbye Garnier.  Goodbye Aveda (gasp!).  Goodbye Suave.

Seriously.  

Love. These.

Rhonda touts them as being perfect for travel or to throw in your gym bag, but I love using them every day.  Love the smell.  Love how they lather and foam.  Love how good my hair feels afterwards.  Love that they last.

And her handsoaps.  Oh.  Her handsoaps. 

That circular cream and green one on the left is Spearmint Eucalytpus.  It is my absolute favorite!  Rhonda has a batch of that curing now, so it should be in her shop soon.  When we went to Arizona last month, there was nothing but Bath & Bodyworks soaps at every sink.  The scents brought back memories of when Todd and I first lived together.  We went on shopping sprees every weekend.  And we always had B&BW soaps at the sinks.  They smell so good.  But by the end of our week in Arizona, my hands were so dry and chapped.  I couldn't wait to get home and use my soaps that Rhonda makes.  In just two days, my hands were back to normal.  Yay!

And her lip balms.  I have gone through over a half dozen flavors in this past year and my favorite is Thai Coconut.  It is a mild scent, which is good for me because anything strongly scented tends to not go over so well with my nose or stomach.  And it is so smooooooooth!  I always have a tube in my jeans pocket to go with me.  How cute are these tubes?!

Rhonda is quick to ship, uses fun packaging, always includes a little extra something and above all else, creates excellent products & provides outstanding customer service!  I would love to see her set up for creating all these different products and a step-by-step picture journey of what goes into making these because, well, I'm just a nerd like that.  I love to know how things are made.  So until I get a personal invite to stop in on our way through Indianapolis this summer when driving home from Minnesota, I will just wonder.  And enjoy my shampoos, conditioners, lip balms and hand soaps.

*Dear FCC, neither Bath & Bodyworks or Get Lathered requested or paid me to blog about my opinions on these products.  So there.

We Have a Winnah!

Although I did hear much begging and received a few threats "IT DANG WELL BETTER BE ME!" from a few, un-named friends (I am envisioning them shaking their fists at me right now).....I couldn't bring myself to rig the contest.   There is a lot of loot at stake here.  One and a half pounds of beads, people!  That is serious business.  :)

I have been excited all morning about finding out who would win.  The Random.Org site had to wait a little longer because I was driving the kids across town and back.  On Fridays when there is no school with the strict 7:30 start time, we treat the kids to Dunkin Donuts.  I'm sure their camp teachers are loving us this morning with them jacked up on sugar.  I got a glazed doughnut, but it only re-inforced for me that I just need to stop buying doughnuts for myself because they no longer taste as good to me.  I have silently been following a handful of bloggers for several months who have eliminated sugar from their daily life and I do feel better for it.

I truly enjoyed reading all of your comments and literally laughed out loud.  Cindy's was my favorite.  She has such enthusiasm which always brightens my day, but this comment has had me laughing every day since she posted it!

OMG! I just died and went to heaven girl! And I'm not a beader - BUT OMG Imagine the possibilities of combining these with my silver!! OMG OMG OMG..

NOW... I don't feel right doing this on YOUR blog... but my absolute FAV blog... in the whole world... is Keirsten Giles ~ cerebraldilettante.blogspot.com OMG she's so talented and funny ... omg FUNNY...sometimes I pee myself!!

Thank you all for taking the time to leave the names of your favorite blogs and Etsians.  It took me a few hours last night, but I got them all in a list and verified names/addresses.  Since there were 99 different blogs noted and 68 shops, I will be doing two posts to keep them separate.  Out of 153 commenters, 32 of you name Lorelei's blog as your favorite.  She was also the top favorite shop.  I do owe her big thanks for alerting so many of you to my giveaway and will be sending Lorelei her own goody box of beads for being at the top of the list of favorites for blogs and shops by leaps and bounds beyond any other blog or shop named.  Yay Lorelei!

But enough of my morning and other ramblings, you folks want to know who is the Lucky Winnah!  So here you go.

Count with me folks.  Twenty two was easy.  Not too far down on the list at all.  When I count down to commenter 22, I get to Nicole Campanella of Beadwright.

Congratulations Nicole!!!!

You are the winner of all these luscious beads :D

Thursday Ramblings

Last night I found a bunch of my business cards in the wash.  Specifically after they had been through the wash.  I was surprised at how well they held their ink. 

They rolled up tightly, so now they can easily be held in a closed hand.  How bout that?

I am waiting for the rain to roll in and wash away all of our pollen that is coating our sidewalks, streets, cars and everything else.  The pollen count has been over 2000 this week and the weather experts say that a high pollen count is 200.  The pollen has prevented us from opening our windows over the past two weeks, which is a shame because the temperatures have been so lovely.  But then it got hot (up in the 90s!) and I was pushed into turning on the air conditioning on Easter Sunday because we couldn't have family and friends come over and sweat themselves into puddles at the dinner table.  With this rain comes cooler temps and the hopeful promise we can turn off the air conditioning for the next week.  Maybe later today I can open the windows if the rain stays awhile.   

I had an ocular migraine this morning.  It sounds bad, but it's not painful.  Just a nuisance because I have to stop everything I'm doing and rest my eyes.  My vision does funny things with ocular migraines.  Similar to how the pixels freeze on a tv when bad weather blocks a satellite signal and then the pixels move in splotches, but slower than they're supposed to while others stay frozen.  That's what happens to my vision, no matter what I look at or even if my eyes are closed.  I saw my eye doctor about this several months ago and he said I just need to rest to let them pass.  They last anywhere from 20 minutes to a few hours and then are followed by a dull headache behind my eyes for the rest of the day.  What worries me is that they typically come in multiples, one day after another for 2-4 days.  I'm worried that I will miss my kids' soccer games on Saturday or time on the torch.  Crossing my fingers this one has no follow-ups.

Yesterday I wrote about what I would do if I could sit at the torch all day, instead of my full-time gig with the phone company.  What I would pursue.  Techniques and artists whom I admire.  Julie Nordine emailed me back and challenged me to a little exercise in finding my own voice in lampwork.  A style all my own.  I am thinking on that now so I can take the time this weekend to do what she suggested.  I'll make a little photo-journey of it and then blog about it later to share with you all.

I am really super excited about how many comments have been left on my GIVEAWAY for one and a half pounds of beads.  I'm thrilled I have gained new blog followers over this past week and am still going through all the links of shops and blogs you all have left.  I am working on compiling that list for a post next week because I think it will be so fun to have everyone's favorites listed in one place.  Complete with hyperlinks to those sites.  :) It may take me awhile to get it all together, but it will publish once I have everything sorted through.  One more day left to leave comments on the GIVEAWAY!  I'll be going to random.org tomorrow to choose the lucky winner.  Be patient, as I will be counting through the comments multiple times to make sure I'm counting correctly and don't miss anything.....there are sooooo many comments!

Dream Job

A little while ago, Keirsten of Lune Designs commented: I imagine like the rest of us you have a to-do "wish list", like all the things you would do with your art if you didn't have a day job. So! IF you were suddenly liberated from the day job, and were able to spend all that time doing your art, what projects/new skills/designs would you pursue?

I'm now off in a warm daydream of being liberated from corporate America, escalations, 3am conference calls and all the office/PC catch phrases like "the net net is..." or "piggybacking off what she said..." or "it's not that she's lazy and doesn't do her job worth a flip, but is really just a little less than exemplary."  If I had the equivalent of a regular work week filled with torch time every day, I would do more things that I don't find as much time for now.  Right now, while I do enjoy making the beads I make, I spend the majority of my time making beads I believe will sell.  I can't have a bead hobby if it doesn't pay for itself, right?  As a result, I don't spend as much time making focal beads or worry stones because these take significantly longer to make (both in the pre-planning of what colors/design to work towards, but also in the whole melting/bead creation process time at the torch).

I would love to master the Double Helix colors that are filled with silver and other metals to elicit beautiful reactions and metallic finishes.  Julie Nordine and Karolen Dupree are two lampworkers that I greatly admire for their abilities to control Double Helix and other high-dollar, silver glasses.  Compared to the $11-30/lb cost of much of the glass I use, the silver glasses are $80-100/lb.  Significantly more expensive, so I tend to hang on to them and use them much more frugally than the vast majority of my glass inventory.

I think Julie Nordine of Credit River Art Glass does a wonderful job bringing out a large spectrum of colors using the silver glasses.  I had the pleasure of meeting her last August in Philadelphia at Beadfest 2009.  She has only lampworked for a few years, but her work is absolutely amazing.  I am in awe of her talent for the designs/patterns she creates, the colors she brings out of the glass and the colors she chooses to use together in new and interesting combinations.  But then, this should be expected when you bring a previous interior designer into the world of lampworking.  Here is a picture of some of her beads that I think are so phenomenal. 

I admire the beads of Karolen Deupree of Bead Abundant and her ability for showing off metallic lusters of silver glasses or encasing them to highlight stunningly brilliant purples, blues and greens under layers of clear.  She has an incredible control of her reducing flame with these special glasses that I have yet to even remotely control.  I am in awe.  See these gold beads?  I can get the metallic/mirrory finish over the belt of the bead and then it pretty much just disappears on me the closer I get to the hole or it's just plain splotchy.

And these blue and purple beads. Gorgeous.  Karolen is so consistent in her ability to reduce silver glasses and either leave them all cool and mirrory (yes, mirrory is a word in my world) or encase them and get these delicious colors.  Again, this boils down to flame control that I do not have.  I intermittently lose the bold colors in the encasing process.

In addition to yearning to improve my abilities with silver glasses, I would spend more time honing my skills at detail work.  A lot of this is working with stringers (really, extremely thin rods of glass that are about as thick as toothpicks) and making sure they don't melt all over the bead while in the flame and make a mess.  But also using them to pull and move the glass in order to make the design.

Caitlin Hyde has awesome stringer control for making geometric patterns and a gift for simplifying designs into the bare minimum.  Caitlin taught classes in Atlanta (which I couldn't attend) in February and then did a demo at our monthly glass meeting (which I did see).  She clearly explained how she made each component of the bead and sent me home so inspired to try new techniques. See the curvy black/white lines at the top and bottom of this bead below?  They don't bleed into each other.  They are perfectly laid out on the bead and just making that portion of the bead before going into the animalian or geometric designs took close to 30 minutes.  Such patience!  And then Caitlin spent an almost equal amount of time making the crow, moon and geometric design appear on this bead.

Each one of these ladies has created a style that is easily recognizable in her own beads, no matter the color or shape. They are all cohesive because each lampworker sticks to mainly the same color palette and/or technique. Without their names associated with the beads, I'm fairly certain I would know who the lampworker is with any of their beads if they were spread out on a table in front of me, along with hundreds of beads from other lampworkers.  

I feel like right now, I'm all over the place and I don't know that anyone would really know by looking at my beads that they are KELLEYSBEADS.  Perhaps with my nuggets?  I'm not sure that many other lampworkers are into making nuggets.  Or worry stones.  But then I don't spend much time surfing Etsy for other lampworkers to see how I compare or what (if any) are the latest trends.

I'm interested in what you all think of when you hear Kelley's Beads.  Do you think of my beads?  If so, which beads?  Or do you think of my blog?  My photography?  My Little Horse?

Another GIVEAWAY!

I made a special pair of earrings for my blog friend (she is known as Thy Hand) to give away on her blog.  Go see HERE!  You'll need to check out one or both of my Etsy shops in order to leave a comment (on HER blog) to qualify for her giveaway.  She is randomly choosing a winner this Friday.

You might want to surf around a little more beyond just her giveaway post.  She has great (and HEALTHY!) recipes.  Tons of em!  And I am fascinated with her stories and pictures of how they grow much of their own food, home school their children and make ends meet as her husband completes his pharmaceutical degree.  The determination she and her family shows to reach their goals is so inspiring to me.  What a wonderful example they are setting for their children in a society that is so full of entitlement issues! 

I first found her blog when Sarah of Clover Lane interviewed her about her Mennonite faith and being a mother.  I have been glued to Thy Hand's blog ever since.  I would love to share a morning with this woman, chatting about the similarities and differences in our lives.  Our joys and challenges in parenting.  And how she thinks she will react when her kids are older if they want to wear combat boots and shave their heads. :)  

Unfortunately, I don't think that will happen any time soon as I believe she is a good day of driving away from Atlanta.  Now shoo.  Go check out her giveaway!

Bead Talk #1

Some of you have asked about how the glass looks in comparison to after it has been melted into beads.  Here is a video clip discussing how I use the glass and what it does in the flame.  I also show you the glass rods in the video with the beads.

Here are the greenish nugget beads that have that wonderfully ethereal quality with the mother-of-pearl appearance.  The inner core of the bead that was unexposed to the reducing flame maintains the original green appearance.  The exterior took on a metallic finish until I encased (covered) it in clear.  That's when it turned to this lovely mother-of-pearl coloring which I love!  These will be added to my shop tonight.

Here is the same green metallic luster glass on ivory.  I love how I can see into the depths of the green in some areas (like the bead on the left) and the crackling of the ivory underneath is visible, like the bottom of a creek bed.  I love the dark outline that surrounds the green where it meets the ivory.  This is a typical reaction with any silver glass on ivory.  And then that fun metallic, mirrory finish created from the reducing flame is seen on the bead on the right.

Lastly is the pic of the striking glass on rubino (pink) and teal glass base colors.  It changed from the clearish color to yellowish greens and blues.  I need to work with this more to see if I can get any purples out of it. 

Popped Kiln

Here's a glimpse at the beads that came out of the kiln yesterday afternoon.  The morning was so busy with Easter baskets and church I completely forgot to run into my studio to check my kiln for all the beads I made on Saturday afternoon/evening.  Can you believe that?  That's not like me at all.  Especially considering I had the time to play around with new colors and techniques!

And this little guy kept a close watch over me while I was taking pics.  He'd fly up close to get a better view and then dive bomb any other insect that flew remotely close.  He chased off the other bugs and let me shoot in peace.  Wasn't that sweet?

I'll have posts up later this week with more pics and information on the individual beads that I made.  I'm really excited about those blue swirly nuggets in the middle.  I used a faux-boro technique for those and am pleased with how they turned out.

If you haven't already, don't forget to check out my GIVEAWAY for one and a half pounds of beads.  You just need to leave a comment about your favorite blog or Etsy shop on the giveaway post.