Shipping Out

Got two packages shipping out.  One is headed up North as a surprise and another across town.

The across town package is a little sad for me.  It is a surprise ring that my friend Cas of Metallo Bianco made for me.  It was absolutely beautiful.  And it was two hairs too big to fit any of my fingers and three hairs too small to fit my thumbs.  Sniff.  So. Very. Sad.  Hmmpphh.  It is a size 8 and I'm betting it will end up her her Etsy shop soon enough for someone else to snatch up!

I held onto this ring for over a week because I loved it so and I just needed to look at it and hold it.  But now it is on its way back to its designer, along with some other goodies I packed inside that I hope make my friend smile.  Sigh.  Goodbye my beautiful ring.

A Metallo Bianco Giveaway!

Check out Cassandra's giveaway of her gorgeous Bliss necklace!  

All you have to do is go HERE and leave one comment about your favorite piece of jewelry.  She is choosing a random winner after the contest ends at midnight on Friday, February 26th.

How My Weekend Was Made

While I did run many errands this weekend, went to a rollerskating birthday party for a seven year old and zipped around the rink clicking away on my camera, the highlights were really bead related.

First:
Keirsten Giles of Lune Designs posted about my beads that she received as the surprise tundra recipient.  She had already emailed me her reaction in chronological ordered steps.  I LOVE this! 

1) (get package) mild bewilderment (what did I buy?) 2) (look at return address) deeper bewilderment (I bought that?). 3) (open package, read note, drop jaw.) Get out. GET OUT!!! OMG!! GET OUT!!! 4) (open box, look at beads) SCORE!!! I SCORED!!! SCORE!!! (stand up, do a little dance) 5) (sit down again) Awwww!!! She likes me! She really really likes me! 6) O. M. G. 7) (very) brief moment of stunned silence. 8) dawning admiration for sly and very effective crack dealer marketing scheme. 9) bead fondling. 10) Repeat #9 as necessary throughout the day.

Second:
Between the two days, I made over four dozen new beads. The sun peeped out on Sunday, which allowed a little photoshoot. I got more than a handful of new sets listed last night. Lorelei scooped up the nuggets before I even got them all listed.  To make sure no one else could snatch them out before she got them, she had me change all the listings for nuggets to RESERVED just for her.  :)

Third:
Lorelei left this feedback for me in my Etsy shop on these beads:

When I opened this box of beads, the bright and beautiful colors just about knocked me on badunkadunk. Gorgeous beads, one of the best lampworkers on etsy. thank you for your fast shipping and your willingness to create custom work. I thank you from the bottom of my beady heart.

Lorelei has been one of my regular customers from the very first month I opened my Etsy shop over a year ago.   Her blog and jewelry designs using my beads have most definitely generated extra traffic to my own blog and shop, as well as new sales (so cool!).  In the process of doing business, we have become friends.  She makes me laugh and I count on her as a sounding board for ideas and honest feedback.  Her feedback enthusiasm was part of what inspired me to sit down at the torch to make dozens of new nuggets this weekend.  But it also meant alot to me to hear that my beads were valued by a good friend.

Fourth:
I booked the hotel room for BeadFest 2010 in Philadelphia this August.  It will be filled with the major talent of Lorelei, Cassandra, Nancy and myself.  I'm so excited and CAN! NOT! WAIT!  I booked my flight and am waiting on Cas to book hers.  I'm hoping she can get the seat next to mine because her company on the planes will be FUN.  She's already talking about stuffing our pockets with earrings to use as bribes so people will move for us to sit together if that seat is taken when she books her flight.  A weekend away!  With GIRLFRIENDS!  AND BEADS!  WOO FLIPPIN HOO!!!!

Jewelry Designers

It's been awhile since I featured other artists on here, but I don't want to get away from doing that. Here are some very talented jewelry designers whose work I love. I also love the fact that they use my beads :D

Lorelei is my most regular bead customer and she challenges me to make new bead designs or color combinations to fit into her jewelry design ideas. She pushes me to be a better lampworker, photographer, blogger and shop owner. Out of this business relationship has grown a friendship that I treasure. I can't imagine not chatting with Lorelei every day. She makes the days go by faster and much more enjoyably!

Cassie is another one of my customers, but first she was a friend and coworker at the phone company. To her, I owe starting up my Etsy shop to sell my beads. Without Cas, my beads would probably not have traveled all the way to Australia, Canada or the United Kingdom. Who knew a little internet site like Etsy would expand my bead horizons to other continents? We have been each other's sounding boards for shop and jewelry ideas, but what I enjoy most is our (not-frequent-enough) dinners, beadshow shopping days evenings sharing wine and making jewelry together. She is slowly rebuilding her Metallo Bianco shop on Etsy since putting most of her jewelry on display at a local day spa, so there aren't any current pieces using my beads. But that's ok. You should check out her rings. They are the absolute best!

Kat is another one of my loyal customers, buying up gobs of my beads on an almost monthly basis. Only over this last year did she open up Jewels by Kat on Etsy to sell her jewelry to the public. Previously, she sold only to the attorneys in the office where she works, but all of her pieces would sell out within hours. Can you imagine how great that must feel?

And for the last bit of eye candy, check out Sarah Skeen's Etsy shop for her jewelry, but also her wonderful Tie Bags! Sarah has a great eye for matching up earthy colors and catching extraordinary moments with her camera. I owe her so much for her unending willingness to share her knowledge on photography and editing experience. Sarah is also another wonderful friend in my daily life whom I can not imagine not talking to or sharing Scrabble boards. She also introduced me through Facebook to another wonderful human being named Tabitha who lives very close to me.

Thank you to all of these wonderful women for being my friend, making me laugh and putting my beads to good use. Hugs to all of you.

Now the rest of you out there in blogland, go check out these great Etsy shops and find something special for yourself to wear before Thanksgiving. Treat yourself.

I give you permission. You can tell your husband I said so ;)

Take Aways from BeadFest 2009

I normally stick to the local bead shows that come through Atlanta, although I did hit many bead shows in Tucson in February 2008. I never would have gone to BeadFest 2009 in Philadelphia had Lorelei not invited me a month ago. She has been one of my loyal customers since near the time I opened my Etsy shop in early 2008 and has always given me credit for my beads in her designs, which is so outstanding of her.

This year we have become friends. I enjoy chatting with her every day, which is awesome at helping the day go by soooo much faster. She often makes me laugh so hard that I cry. When she invited me up to Philly, there was no hesitation in my mind that I would go. I absolutely wanted to meet her to see if she was as cool in person as on the phone or in emails or instant messages. Before we had even made it out of the parking garage at the Philadelphia airport, I knew she was all that AND a bag of chips. Or beads. :)

My buying goals for BeadFest were to find some small, delicate chain and a few cool clasps. I had no intentions of buying much at all.

Seriously.

These are the cool donut beads I bought from Kristie. I would love to see Kristie in action while she's burning wood and Lord knows what else as she makes these smoky donuts. When I play with fire at my torch, it is totally controlled with a stationary flame because the torch is screwed to the table. When Kristie talked about her process for making fires and smoking out these cool beads, I had the evil scientist laugh going on in the back of my head. Because that's how I would be laughing if I was making big fires. But that's just me.
Or Marsha's pendants that completely captivate me with their scrollwork designs. I bought these with the intention of putting one at my torch table for added inspiration and sending the other as a gift. But I might need to hang on to both. At least for awhile.


Lorelei did squat to help rein me in and not buy beads. In fact she unknowingly encouraged me to spend a ton of $$$ by introducing me to all of these wonderful artists that she already knew through buying their beads. At one point, there may have been a little clapping combined with jumping up and down as she said "I'm so excited you are buying ART BEADS!"

Here is some very cool Rhyolite that has wonderful colors coming out in different patterns on every bead (thanks Lorelei for splitting this strand with me!).
Cool magnetic clasps and toggles. Lorelei also bought some of Sara's beads...can't wait to see what she does with them!

I bought these two silver rings that I thought were really neat. I have been wanting rings for my thumbs for a long time, although not with the intention of wearing both at the same time.

Lorelei also introduced me to the Bello Modo shop that had tons of cool Vintaj Brass beads and toggles, although I fought hard against the impulse to buy any since all of the metal I use is sterling and I really don't need to get into another metal. Really. I'm sure my husband would agree. But it was sooo hard. They had turtles. Turtles! Reminded me of my Aunt Judy's turtle collection from when I was a child.

And humblebeads made out of polymer clay by Heather Powers. Such great color combinations! The set on the left perfectly matches Van Gogh's Starry Night painting, which I have hanging in my daughter's room.

LOTS of silver bead caps and cones (the cones are wonderful for finishing the ends of multi-strand necklaces!) that I loved for their carved designs and geometric shapes.

Beads and charms from Green Girl Studios and two copper bezels that Andrew threw in as an added bonus if I promised to slump some of my broken beads inside them to make super cool pendants. I promised I would try. Please Lord, let me be hit with beginner's luck for glass slumping in my kiln and make him proud!

And the flip side of all these lovelies. I really like the inspirational words or quotes on each one of these!

And the last of my loot are a few cabs that I purchased from Gary. He was a knowledgeable guy and most friendly. If only all vendors were so congenial. although these are not for me, but for my friend Cas. Happy early birthday and merry Christmas, Cas!

Cas, I'll be getting these in the mail to you this week. :) Cas makes the coolest rings ever....I can't wait to see what she does with these! Check out her Etsy shop and click on the Rings section over to the right.

Besides going to BeadFest on Saturday (ALL DAY LONG and boy were my feet sore!) and Sunday morning, we made it out to dinner on Friday night and saw Julie & Julia on Saturday night. Beth joined us for our evening activities, as well as returning to the hotel with us for wine, Mississippi Mud Cake that I made the day before I left and bead/jewelry talk.

I don't remember the last time I had a Girls Weekend, but I was long over due and this weekend could not have been any better. Aside from sitting on the tarmac for over an hour before taking off in Philly or the hour and a half on I-75 coming home because a really bad accident closed all four lanes. But at that point, I didn't even feel the smallest amount of frustration with either delay. I had had a simply fantastic weekend and nothing was going to take that away from me.

Nothing.

I feel rejuvenated from the weekend. I am filled with inspiration to make new beads. I'm excited about making jewelry again after taking a year off from making ANY jewelry. My store of patience, which had felt rather low before the weekend, seems to be overflowing now. I feel more at peace with my life, my husband, my kids, my work and my torch.

Amazing what girlfriends can do for the soul without even knowing it.

Take Aways

1 hotel room
+
a flight to Philadelphia
+
weekend with Lorelei
+
new friends
+
TONS of beads
=
PRICELESS!

Husbandless and Kidless ALL Weekend

I have a confession to make. When I was driving home from the airport yesterday afternoon after dropping off my husband, the 17 second mark of this commercial was what was resounding inside my head. More than once. I won't embarrass myself by putting a number out there. It's not that I don't love my husband and children dearly. I do. I can't imagine my life without any of them, nor would I want to. But this is the first weekend I have had to myself alone at home in close to a decade. And I am appreciative.

I am enjoying the peace and quiet, with the exception of the barking hound after the random passing mail truck or suddenly mobile tree. I am enjoying listening to....nothing. To the birds (because all of the windows are open). To the ceiling fans (again, because the windows are open and the AC is off). To the thoughts inside my head that aren't being drowned out by the chatter that comes from a 4 year old, 6 year old or even my beloved 44 year old. To the purr of Abbiekins who was my best friend this morning and wanted to become one with my thigh while I sat and read.




What does a temporarily single woman do when given such an opportunity, you ask? She invites her good friend Cas over to share a quiet evening over dinner, beading and some good wine.




She reads, because there is quiet to be found. She takes pictures of flowers in her garden.

Love these little pink flowers!


My one Hydrangea that is actually happy.


My hanging herb baskets that I filled with basil, chives and cilantro on the back porch


An old Halloween decoration that never got put away because whenever I see it, I start singing "I See the Moon and the Moon Sees Me"


Phlox


A pumpkin in the making!



She runs the boy cats to the vet to be told this one is a pound fatter than last year.



She takes pictures of her latest beads and then lists a few on Etsy.












She reads some more. She sends encouraging texts to her husband when he is quickly reminded how much work two children can be before they have even gotten out of bed in the morning. She makes a vow to carry her camera around more to capture every day moments that sometimes need a little more appreciation because that's the stuff that makes up her life. She plans the rest of her day around running errands to pick up bridesmaid & flower girl dresses that are now ready for the September wedding of her surrogate sister she has known since the 8th grade, as well as scope out Hobby Lobby for supplies (anything better than gift ribbons for tieing up my beads?). She will play with fire and likely read more of her book in the hopes of finishing it before the weekend is over.

And she will sleep another fitful night in an empty house as she looks at this picture for the one hundred thirty seventh thousandth time since it was received the night before when Todd landed in Minneapolis.

Atlanta Artist - Metallo Bianco

Cassandra Procopio is the jewelry designer behind Metallo Bianco.  She is an extraordinary metalsmith with a great eye for keeping her designs simple, but elegant.  I even had the privilege of visiting her studio & seeing first hand how she uses her torch (yay, another pyromaniac!) to learn how she twists, hammers, solders, tumbles & polishes her work to perfection.  When I was cutting up copper pipes to make my own jewelry stands, I was calling Cassie multiple times for guidance on tools, supplies and guidance on how to not burn the ever-lovin snot out of myself as I am so not used to weilding a mobile torch.  I like my fire stationary, thank you very much!

Although mainly dedicated to jewelry, she is branching out into dog tags (below), paper weights (very cool, my SIL bought one for Christmas with our kids pic inside which was a BIG hit!) and journals which you can find in her Etsy shop at http://mbjewelry.etsy.com

I also felt it necessary to include a gratuitous pic of her beautiful cat Sasha :)

You can find Cassandra's blog at http://mbjewelry.blogspot.com/

And her main website at http://metallobianco.com/

Trunk Show on Saturday

I am excited about this Saturday and showing off many of my new pieces of jewelry.  I have been working hard over the past month to create many new items with different sets of beads.  Many new colors and designs!  Cassie has added several collections to her inventory and will be displaying those as well.  Come to our trunk show on Saturday and mention this blog to get 15% off any one item of your choosing from my shop!

Playing with Fire

Very happy the work day is over with and I was able to move on to the business of being a family. An escalation came in just after 5pm (of course!), so we ended up getting Chloe late from school. But we went out for Mexican and it was absolutely delicious....chips/salsa, margaritas, carne asada and the kids behaved as good as angels (I LOVE it when they do that!). After dinner, we rewarded the kids with movie night and Kung Fu Panda (I have absolutely no desire to watch this and don't want to know why/how it held the attention of my 6 year old the entire time) and Todd ran up to the tennis courts to watch his mixed doubles team play. I met him up there, but too late to see his teammates mop up on the other team. However, I did get to hang out with the guys and enjoy a mug of bailey's & coffee to keep warm. Then back home to get the kids in bed and fire up the torch. I finished one order for big-hole beads and then moved on to playing with Brad's glass again and keeping Wendy's standard operating procedure in mind....the more time in the flame the better. I think I pulled out more creams, blues and greens tonight, but I'll find out for sure in the morning.

I've been wanting to show you how I melt glass, but the video I have is a little too big. So until I make a newer/smaller video, click here to see it on my other website. And here to watch an awesome video of Chloe falling asleep while eating strawberries when she was still just a little bean.