The Day That Got Away.

Hey, it rhymes!

At least I can laugh a little bit about it now...

We went to Canadian Thanksgiving at Rob and Jennie's house last night. It was our second Canadian Thanksgiving since Rob and Jennie got married, and the house was packed with the usual suspects, a lot of kids, and more food than we knew what to do with. Rob was making rum and cokes for Tom, and he made them so strong that Tom had to ask me to drive home!

This morning should have been my last farmers' market of the season, but we all woke up at 7:45, and since I was supposed to be out the door by 8, it wasn't going to happen. The car wasn't packed, I hadn't eaten breakfast, and Tom needed to go to work this morning. So I made breakfast and tried to get Colden to eat (humongous fail), and then I wound up staying in my pajamas and bathrobe until, oh, noon.

I got some beading done, and then around four 'o' clock realized that I had used the wrong damn color of red seed beads. They just looked awful with the ceramic art pendant and bead that I wanted to accent. The pattern with the black cube beads looked wonderful. But the red - I have been trying to find a match for these pieces for MONTHS now. Literally. I've ordered about a dozen different shades of red seed beads. None of them look any good when I get them up close to the pendants, and since I live about a gazillion miles away from anything like a real bead store... I should have gone to Beads by Blanche last weekend when I was down in the city.

It was hard for me to tear myself away from the beading and try to get dinner together for Colden. I couldn't have cared less about eating my own dinner, but Colden was just having one of those days where the kid would *not* eat, and it drives me nuts.

So then I've got a load of writing and editing and photo editing and graphic making to get caught up on, and Tom goes and just lays down on the bed with Colden. Now, I know that Tom gets tired too at the end of the day, but you've got to ENGAGE that kid of ours. And then Tom gets frustrated when Colden doesn't WANT to sit in front of the t.v. for more than ten minutes. Argh.

And then I uploaded the pictures I took this morning for my newest project - a peyote stitch bail with a beaded rope - and the pictures are TERRIBLE. I think it's the lighting in my new corner, and I need to do something about it.



















I mean, is this a shitty picture or WHAT?! And it's the lighting. My lighting in this new corner sucks, and I need to improve it. I used to have this great overhead light with three daylight light bulbs in it, plus the huge picture window that overlooked the mountains that just let the sunlight in... And while I love the new corner, it still needs a little tweaking. The colors of this copper stoneware donut from Artisan Clay are so rich and so subtle - and this photo just sucks all the life out of it.

Anyway. That's enough for now. I've got a little more writing to do, and then I'd like to get a little sleep before Colden wakes up at 2 a.m. again.

Vet appointment with Moose tomorrow. It's been nearly five months since his last round of bloodwork, so we've got our fingers crossed that the Imuran (chemo drug) and the prednisone are doing the trick and keeping his platelets at a normal level.

What I'm really looking forward to is a little alone time in the car with Moose and a little cup of peppermint hot chocolate from Starbucks...

The Best Little Bead Box

This is the exciting project that I've been meaning to write about on my blog since it started last week! I can't believe that it's taken me this long to get around to it, but here it is: The Best Little Bead Box.

Carol Dean Sharpe contacted me with the idea for putting together a box similar to the one that is currently circulating called The Sisterhood of the Traveling Beads, but this one is going for a good cause: Beads of Courage, a program that uses beads to help children who are dealing with serious illnesses and their families.

This is how it works: Carol, myself, and some other extremely generous sponsors all donated a large quantity of beads that were put into a box - and the box weighed in at 11 lbs! Then we chose a list of 12 beaders, most of whom are well known bead artists, some of whom are not as well known but who are no less talented and respected. Then Carol set up a schedule, and sent off the box to the first recipient, Marcia DeCoster.
























This is just some of what I donated for the first box: a few ceramic faces by Diane Briegleb, some brass embroidery blanks from Designer's Findings, gemstone beads, fibers, vintage Lucite, vintage seed beads, and some other goodies that I've collected over the years...

When Marcia received the box, she took out some of the wonderful beads inside and replaced them with some beads from her own stash. The idea is to leave the box bigger and richer than it was when it was received. Then Marcia will send the box on to the next person, and so on until the box is finally returned to Carol at the end of December.

Once Carol receives the box at the end of December, we will be auctioning off the contents in packages of 1 lb. All the money raised from these auctions will be donated to Beads of Courage to help them continue their work.

You can follow The Best Little Bead Box project on the blog, The Best Little Bead Box. You can also "Like" our page on Facebook, The Best Little Bead Box on Facebook.

Because of the incredible generosity of our sponsors, we are going to be able to do a second box sometime after January of 2011. And we've received even MORE interest in donating beads to the project, so we may even do a third box after that!

So make sure you follow the blog to see where the box travels next, and we'll let everyone know when the auctions are ready to go so that you can have a chance to bid on some of the amazing beads that will be collected in this box and help us raise money for an equally amazing cause!

Another Cool Giveaway from SandFibers!

Isn't this an amazing beaded bead? Wouldn't you love to win one of them? Well, click on that picture and it will take you to the blog of my very talented friend, Carol Dean Sharpe of SandFibers, who is having a giveaway on her blog for one of these absolutely beautiful beaded beads!

You can enter in a few different ways:
Leave a comment on the post on Carol's blog. Then you can Tweet it (referencing @SandFibers), you can Facebook it (and then leave a link to your post about it on Facebook) and you can blog about it (just like I'm doing now!) and then leave another comment with the link to your blog post. That gives you four chances to win!

Carol is also giving away gift certificates for patterns on her Etsy shop. I love Carol's peyote stitch cuff patterns - they are beautiful and so well-designed. I've bought several of them in the last couple of years from her, as well as a couple of her finished pieces, and they are just a delight to wear and a joy to stitch!

So what are you waiting for? Get to it!

Nostalgia...

This is the house where I grew up in Maplewood, N.J.

On my trip to Manhattan this past weekend for the About.com Guide Event, I stayed with friends of mine who just bought a house in Summit. After my event on Saturday, instead of going back into the city on Sunday like I had originally planned, I spent a nice, relaxed, laid-back day with my friends.

First, we went to Maplewood Village and had REAL bagels. I had a salt bagel with cream cheese. And no matter how much I love living up here, there are some things that folks up here just don't "get"... Like what a REAL bagel is.















We took the dog for a walk around the streets where I can remember riding my bike as a kid. And then we stopped and they let me get ice cream at the Magic Fountain, where we went damn near every night in the summer.















Going into the city for the first time in I don't know how long was an experience. I could barely contain myself as the train carried me from Summit through Milburn, Short Hills, South Orange, Maplewood, Newark and right into Penn Station. The people-watching was amazing. My iPod provided the soundtrack. And I even managed to find a helpful person on the subway who got me to my destination at the Metropolitan Plaza.

The conference itself was great. Very inspiring, very motivating, and I came away with a ton of great ideas. (Now I just need some ideas on how to find the time to do everything that I want to!)

The only thing that put a damper on the weekend was that the bleeding was unbelievable on Saturday, and it had me a little worried. I wasn't as present at the conference as I had hoped I would be - I was jumping up to run into the bathroom every ten minutes or so to keep an eye on things, as they were. And then I was just exhausted by the time I got back to New Jersey. I think it was just from all the blood loss, and I certainly hope that I won't have to repeat this experience next month.

I know I sound a little drab this evening, but truthfully, I am still exhausted. I just don't seem to have any energy these last few days. And today was another day of crazy running - play group first thing in the morning, then grocery store, post office, dishes, cleaning up the living room from last week's play date, cooking dinner, and then finally sitting down to get a little bit of work done. It's also cold and damp and rainy, and we haven't turned the heat on yet for the season, something I'm hoping we change tonight. I'm sure if it were a little warmer in here, I'd feel a little bit better.

I'm Off to See the Wizard...

My bag is packed, my computer is backing up, and I've printed out all my directions and schedules for this weekend. I'm ready to hit the road for my first-ever Guide Event for About.com. And of course, I'll be driving 5+ hours in a tropical storm...

But in other news, I'm participating in a very exciting and top-secret project that I can't tell anyone about...until tomorrow! I'll make sure I put a post in here tomorrow to let everyone in on the fun.

And on that note, I still have to get a couple of pieces of content published to the Beadwork site after Colden goes to bed because I'll be spending pretty much all of tomorrow in the car. As much as I'm looking forward to going to New Jersey and seeing my friends and spending a couple of days in Manhattan, I still kinda wish it was going to be a beading weekend...

Things to Be Thankful For Today...

A friend of mine, Carol Dean Sharpe, regularly posts on her Facebook page all the things that she is thankful for, and not just around Thanksgiving. I love the way that she is so conscious of all the good things in her life, and I make a conscious effort to be aware of all the incredibly good things in my life, as well, from her example.

This afternoon, I have a few things to be thankful for...














...some beady goodness from Andrew Thornton that arrived in my mailbox this afternoon...




















...the amazing colors that I can see in the mountains (and my neighbor's back yard!)...















...and most of all, the crazy little man who fell asleep in my arms as we were playing "Feeding Frenzy" on Mommy's computer...

Yep. Life is good.

That To-Do List of Mine...

Just seems to get longer and longer, instead of shorter. Today's list is particularly daunting - since I'm leaving for the conference on Friday morning, I don't have as much time to get things done. I asked Tom if he could give me as much help as possible in the evenings after dinner this week, even though I know tomorrow is opening day for muzzle loading (deer) season. Things have to revolve around deer season when you live in the Adirondacks!

Another day of no sales at the farmers' market yesterday. Spent an awful lot of time on my feet, though, talking to visitors to my booth and handing out business cards. It started to pour rain almost immediately after we had all set up our tents, and it continued to rain until about noon.

On the plus side, though, I got another semi-embellished rope finished with the Lisa Peters Art bead, and I took a few quick photos this morning. I have one more embellished rope to finish, and then I have to get cracking on the beading for "work" - a custom order to finish, a couple of bracelets to stitch up, and a couple of project tutorials to photograph so I can publish them later this week.

New listings in my Etsy shop and photos of those listings later today, too... Maybe we'll just have Ramen and frozen veggies for dinner tonight!

Foiled Once Again... Sort of.

I tried again to photograph an African Helix tutorial for the About.com site, and it left me so frustrated that I chucked the thing into a drawer and just gave up. So, there will be no new beading stitch tutorials on About.com this week. There will, however, be new charted peyote stitch patterns, new hubs (collections) of holiday patterns, tips for counting rows in your favorite beading stitches, tips for holding your beadwork and maybe a new pattern using some of those delicious new Tila beads from Miyuki.

That said, while I was thrashing about in one of my drawers for a tube of glass leaves that were actually in the bag where I left them a week ago, I discovered the perfect color bead for my latest project using a Lisa Peters Art bead.














The clasp is one of the new stash of clasps that I got from Artbeads during their Labor Day sale.

I seem to be maintaining my level of productivity - I finished another embellished rope the other day. I haven't listed it on Etsy yet, but will probably take care of that later tonight or tomorrow.














I'm calling it, "Jungle Fever". I love this one - it's light and fluffy and feels like feathers around your neck when you put it on.

And then I decided to go ahead and embellish that sparkly rope that I stitched up last week. I was debating just hanging a pendant off of it and leaving it at that, but then I looked at that bag of beads sitting next to it. I made a compromise - I'm only doing short fringes on it so that I don't go totally over the top.













That said, I unleashed a fair amount of venom on some unsuspecting folks today when the topic of overpriced items on Etsy came up. One more reasonf for me to leave Etsy: it seems that they have successfully marketed the idea of handmade items being "cheap". I feel sorta bad about it now, but my opinions are still my own, and I still stand by the idea that our time as artists is valuable and should be priced accordingly.

And now, off to make some dinner...

The Biggest Toad in the World

That's what we told Colden this was when we found him in our driveway last night after dinner.

I Need a Wife.

I seem to remember back in high school, I read an essay by a woman writer that was titled, "I Need a Wife". I could use one of those today. It's been a day of trying to keep Colden amused, get the rest of the house cleaned up, get groceries, get to the chiropractor so that my neck doesn't start giving me migraines, do the dishes, cooking dinner... And of course, after Colden had four or five nights in a row of sleeping through the night, last night he was awake four times. I was not a happy girl this morning.

I had a bad day sales-wise at the farmers' market yesterday, and those days always send me into a tailspin. They always seem to come when my ideas are bubbling over, and I'm very motivated to bead, but there's this little voice in the back of my mind that keeps telling me, "Yeah, maybe you should concentrate on selling the inventory you already have!" Ugh. I hate that little voice. One of these days, I'm going to stuff a sock down her throat.

Last night was the first truly COLD night that we have had in a long time. It was below freezing, and when I got up at 2:30 to get Colden a small cup of milk, I nearly froze my toes in the kitchen since the kitchen door and the windows were still wide open! Gack. I finally made Tom get up and close all the windows and pull the curtain between the kitchen and dining room to keep some warm air in the house. It was cold.

Tonight, I'm debating getting into a hot bathtub for a few minutes before I go to bed... If I can stay awake that long.

More beading tomorrow, I hope. I didn't have much of a chance to do anything today except tear apart the stuff I did yesterday because it just flat out sucked.

If I Update This Blog Regularly...

Sometimes multiple times a day, does that mean that I've got too much time on my hands? Or am I using it as a procrastination for things that I SHOULD be doing?














Have I mentioned how much I love my son lately? Or how much I love working at home so I can be with him every day, despite the obvious challenges in time management and keeping my energy levels up?

This photos was taken on one of our afternoon sojourns in the backyard, under the big box elder tree. Every spring, Tom clears out some of the lower branches and undergrowth and we throw a couple of tree stumps in there with some candles and some folding chairs. This year, Tom built a wooden swing for Colden and hung it on one of the branches. Tom calls it our "Hobbit Hole". Colden loves it. He plays in the dirt, we look for caterpillars and bugs in the tree, and he "feeds" sticks to the glass and metal frog yard decoration that we keep under there for company.

Another Embellished Rope Begun...

I was bad. I finished another spiral rope base this morning in between everything else that I was supposed to be doing. I couldn't help it - I had to empty the bag of beads that I plan to use to embellish it out alongside of it...













But now I have myself wondering: should I even embellish this rope? Should I just hang a pendant off of it and leave it as is? The colors in the rope are so bold and crazy - metallic gold core with silver lined jewel toned beads in between black for the accents - that maybe accenting the rope even MORE with the crazy assortment of glass beads would just be too much.

Seizure-inducing necklace, anyone?

My October Etsy Beadweavers' Challenge

I can't believe that I actually finished this so ahead of the deadline! I feel like I should get a prize or something... Ha ha ha!














My challenge piece for the August challenge was completed and listed at two minutes to midnight before the deadline. But this piece just came together so nicely - I started it on a Sunday and finished it on a Tuesday! Amazing!

I'm really getting into these embellished ropes. I love embellishment and fringe, and although I'm not a big fan of spiral rope making, I'm now finding that I can do all sorts of cool color palettes and my ideas for embellishing them are coming fast and furious.

Last night, as I was trying to fall asleep, I suddenly came up with the perfect designs for three of the Lisa Peters Art beads that I have! After I finish this next spiral rope, that's what I'll be working on next...

An Empty Beading Tray...

Is a very dangerous thing for me these days.















I haven't been this productive in MONTHS, nor have I felt this inspired. But so far this week, I have finished two hugely embellished beaded ropes and haven't done a heck of a lot else! And that empty bead tray is just calling to me... I can hear it taunting me with the drawer full of Lisa Peters Art beads and cabs that I just bought... And the Venetian glass beads with the matching Czech firepolished beads... The huge Swarovski stones just waiting for me to finish attaching the petals around them to make big flowers... My Catherine of Aragon face that is waiting oh so patiently for me to start embellishing her...

Yeah. And I'm still in my bathrobe, Colden is still in his pajamas, and the breakfast dishes are still sitting on the dining room table.

New in the Etsy Shop...

Is what I hope will be the first in series of embellished spiral rope necklaces. I called this one, "Breath of Spring", and I finished it as the sun disappeared one evening and the rain and the cold rolled in through the river valley down the road from our house...














I made it using assorted glass beads and freshwater pearls. The rope itself stitched up way faster than I remember, and the embellishment techniques bring me waaaaaay back to when I first started beading. One of my first "large scale" pieces was a netted rope that I embellished heavily with pearls, shells, crystals and fire polished beads with an ocean theme. I still have that necklace - I should dig it out and photograph it. When I wear it, I still get compliments on it!

If you want more details about the piece, just click on the picture and it will take you to the listing in my Etsy shop.

Lots of beading to do this week... A custom order that needs a neck strap to be finished, a couple of requests for tutorials, and I'm working on my piece for the October Etsy Beadweavers' Challenge! Woo-hoo!

Colden went down for a nap early today. He was awake early, too - the sound of Tom's motorcycle propelled Colden out of bed and onto the back porch where, for a full twenty minutes, he tried to look out the window and cried, "Come back, Daddy!" I think Colden is starting to feel Tom's absence in this crazy new work schedule of his...

Off my Chest

Tom came home last night with the news that the new mayor in Lake Placid thinks that the wastewater treatment plant is "overstaffed". Heart stopping moment. If he loses his job - if - where on Earth would we go??? We would lose the house, that's for sure. We'd have to sell it and pack up and...do what? Like I said, heart stopping moment, to think that if he loses his job, we'd have to pull up and move away and start over somewhere else.

And of course, along with that, it starts making me wonder about all the "stuff" we have around here that we could get rid of. So why not do it now, right? We could easily purge a ton of stuff from this house - I have been waging war on my closet since early spring, purging clothing that I have been hanging on to for God only knows what reason, and donating it to the thrift shop in Wilmington. I've started looking at things with a different eye - I've been looking for places where I can start purging, start throwing things away, and cleaning up. Slowly but surely, I've started cleaning off all the surfaces in the house and either putting things into storage (sentimental, like stuff that was my mother's) or throwing it away or donating it.

And from there, I start wondering about what I'm doing with my life. I start thinking about the changes and paths and twists and turns and... Why am I here at this point right now? Did I do something wrong to end up where I am? Or have I done something right? Some days, it's not such a clear line between the two.

Am I happier than I was when I was working full-time at a job that I hated? It wasn't a very good job, mind you - no benefits, low pay, and not a lot of support. Every month now is a gamble to see if I make a few sales on Etsy or from a gallery - if I do, it's great. If I don't, it's a tight, scary month where we have to decide whether or not to chip the credit card out from the bottom of the ice cube tray.

But now we have Colden - and he is most definitely the best thing that has ever happened to us. His laugh, his smile, his hugs and kisses, watching him grow and discover new things every day - that is priceless to us. There's no amount of money that could replace the experiences I have with him every day, even if I do drop into bed fully clothed every night.

I wonder about the things I've done in the past, the people I may or may not have hurt, the things that I know I did wrong, and the things that I know I did right.

Some days are just a constant battle for me, trying to balance Colden with work, spending time with Tom, taking care of the house and everything else that needs me... And just taking ten minutes for myself. Sometimes I actually feel GUILTY for having a job that I love and am passionate about, because you're not supposed to enjoy your job, right? I don't think I've had a job that I've loved as much as this since I left New Jersey. So that can't be a bad thing, right?

Tom is putting Colden to bed right now... When he is done, I will change into my pajamas, and we will cuddle up together for a little while before we fall asleep.

In the morning, I will shower, get dressed, and take my camera with us on our morning adventure in the backyard. I'll look up to the sky and into the trees, and I'll look down at the grass and the flowers. I'll take pictures of Colden pushing his wheelbarrow, and I'll take pictures of the chickens and the mountains down in the valley. And everything will be okay.

Is it Wrong...

That as soon as Colden went down for his nap this afternoon, I grabbed a piece of carrot cake and played Farmville?

Starting to Feel Like Fall Today

It was cold at the farmers' market today. Cold and wet and rainy and windy. It probably wasn't the smartest thing for me to go and sit outside today, since I still need to blow my nose every thirty seconds and I'm still coughing like I have the plague, but I went. Tom and Colden went out to Lake Clear so Tom could help his friend hand tree stands (in preparation for deer season) and Colden had a bit of a play date with Alice.

I came home, chilled to the bone, without a single sale. A little depressing, but a plate of hot mac 'n' cheese helped.

And even if I didn't make any sales, I did manage to get a spiral rope finished. I've been dreaming about doing a series of pieces using embellished spiral ropes, ever since I finished that brown piece last week.














They are so much fun, and they work up a lot faster than I had thought. This is about 3 hours so far, and that's including the time to stitch up the rope.

I'm waiting on an order of clasps from Artbeads, and I'm really hoping they arrive tomorrow. I've got three large pieces sitting on my work table, just WAITING for a clasp. I ran out of "good" clasps, and I decided to try some new styles. So I've got toggles, s-clasps and hook and eye clasps coming, all in some really cool metals - antique gold, antique brass, copper, silver and gunmetal. Oooooo...

Remembering September...

I don't think I've ever written my recollections of where I was on September 11, 2001, but this morning, I feel like I need to write it down.

I remember that I was on my way to class. I had a geomorphology class that morning, and as I was getting off the Northway to Plattsburgh, there was a little blurb on NPR about a plane crashing into one of the Twin Towers. I didn't think anything about it until I got into the Dunkin' Donuts to grab my morning bagel and hot chocolate - and that was where I saw the second plane hit the towers. We were all just stunned, standing there, and no one said a word. We just watched in complete disbelief as that second plane slammed head-on into the building.

When I got to school, people were talking about it. No one knew what the hell was going on. We sat through class - I don't think we were really thinking about geomorphology that morning - and when I got out of class and went to one of the school computers to check my email, I saw that there had been another plane that had crashed into the Pentagon, and reports of another plane downed in a field in rural Pennsylvania.

I went to my next class - environmental law - but all we could talk about was what was happening. It was just unbelievable. The professors and staff were all jumpy, too - no one knew what was going to happen next.

I had my lunch and called Tom, and he told me that they had watched the towers fall live on the news at work. They hadn't been doing much that morning - just watching the news coverage of this unbelievable, terrible day.

After lunch, I went to my next class - calculus - but we didn't talk about calculus that day. Instead, I distinctly remember my professor telling us, "I can guarantee you that once we find out who did this, they will be wiped off the face of the planet."

We found out after that class that the school was now in lockdown mode for security reasons. Students who lived on campus were supposed to return to their dorms, and those of us who lived off campus were ordered to go home. No one knew when school would re-open.

I drove home, listening to the radio the whole way. By some freak of the weather, we can get news radio 880 from New York City up here in the afternoons and evenings, so I listened as they talked about the devastation, the hordes of people walking home across the bridges, the road closures, the chaos, the confusion...

Tom and I went out to dinner that night. On the walk home, we noticed that many people had lit candles and placed them in their front windows or on the porch of their homes.

We laid in bed that night and didn't sleep. We left the radio on, tuning it back and forth between NPR and the New York City station. We listened to the mayor of New York City, the governor of New York, the emergency responders, the reporters, the residents, the employees who made it out alive...

I don't really know what else to say about that day. It's just one of those days where you can remember exactly where you were and exactly what you were doing. One of my professors compared it to the day that JFK was shot - she said that we would always remember exactly what we were doing and when we were doing it when everything happened.

So that's my way of remembering. And while I may not be remembering for the same reasons as everyone else, I remember.

Listings, Listings, Listings...

It rained hard last night, and this morning it is chilly and damp. I had to pull out a pair of wool socks because my feet were cold, and I hate having cold feet. I guess fall is here!

So last night, I did a little bit of listing on Etsy. As my (brief) farmers' market season comes to a close, I wanted to make sure that my Etsy shop is loaded to the gills in time for the holidays.

I had posted a picture of this piece on my Facebook profile and wondered if I should keep it or sell it. I wore it a couple times, and then while I was listing last night decided to put it in my Etsy shop - just to see what will happen. I'll probably put it out for sale at the market on Sunday, too. Just to see what will happen. If someone wants to give it a good home, then that's great. And if not, then it will definitely have a good home with me!

And since I was so inspired by just making this piece, I'm working on two new ones, both with Swarovski crystal centers. The flower petals are so much fun to make - I love the way they develop that curve all by themselves. And the colors of the two new pieces - woa. I never thought I had all those blues and purples in me!

I've also got loads more new ideas floating around. I'm going to do another Etsy Beadweavers' challenge - so I have to get cracking on that piece. And I've got a whole stack of unfinished cabochons that are begging me to get to them. And new beading tutorials for the About.com site. And new beading patterns for the About.com site. And a bunch of donuts that are crying out for peyote stitch bails and beaded ropes... I need like four of me to get all these projects done!

And on that note, Tom has started some crazy new schedule at work. We don't know how long it will last - we're hoping not terribly long - but as of yesterday, he and his co-worker are putting in 10 hour days (7 a.m. until 5 p.m.), five days a week, plus they rotate weekends. I think I'm mostly worried about him getting exhausted and burnt out. Good thing he has some vacation time saved up - I think he's going to need it.

The Camera

So, oh, wow, a few weeks ago, I decided to upgrade my camera from my little Nikon point-n-shoot (which has served me extremely well for the last two summers!) to a new-to-me digital SLR - a Pentax *ist digital SLR with a real macro lens.

When the camera arrived, it had no batteries, so I spent an agonizing week waiting for the batteries. (No one around here sells them, so it was mail order through the internet again!) And then once the batteries and the charger came yesterday, I discovered that the charger only charged one battery at a time. So it took me all day to get the batteries charged. And then finally everything started working!














I'm still sorta getting the hang of it, but I had to get a picture of this spider in the backyard yesterday afternoon. It was huge - about the size of my thumb - and was very busy building a web in between some of the weeds and wildflowers in the spiral maze that Tom cuts in the backyard every year.














And then I got this shot of the pole barn/chicken coop, with our humongous wood pile, the canoe, the tractor... And Colden in his little yellow raincoat, pushing his wheelbarrow up towards the chickens...

It amazes me what a difference a good camera can make!














I feel like I'm starting to see things differently... Almost like I've been bitten by the same photography bug that bit my mother once she moved to Texas and started taking pictures of the birds and the gators, snakes and spiders.

I haven't had a heck of a lot of time to do much else today. Colden has come down with the congestion that I've been dealing with since last weekend, and the poor little guy is just miserable. He didn't want to eat any lunch, but he had something to drink, and now he's taking a little nap. Nothing like walking around with a crying 40-lb toddler in your arms when he's begging you for something and you have no idea what the heck it is!

My New Work Space!

I finally did it! I went up to Target, blew some money on a couple extra folding tables, and moved my formerly cramped and completely disorganized working space from the dining room (where I was crushed in between the fish tank and a wall) to the living room.
















I've got a little more space to spread out without having to worry about burying the dining room table for days or weeks at a time. I can write, take my photos, print things out without having to dig for the printer, and get to my files and beads much easier!

I promised Tom that I would keep the chaos to a minimum, since it is still our living room, after all.

Now I am just patiently waiting for the batteries to charge so I can play with the new camera... Macro lens, here I come!

But first, I smell a poopy diaper that needs changing... Where's that kid o mine?

Sick, sick, sick...

That's what I am right now. I have an awful summer cold - like it's not bad enough being sick with a sore throat, stuffy nose and a bad cough, it's like 93 degrees outside. I've been miserable all week - and last night, I think I got a grand total of about 2 hours of sleep. Between the discomfort from the stuffy nose and the chest congestion and the gross heat outside, I was just the most miserable that I've felt in a long time. But the snot is making a mass exodus from my nose, so I'm hoping that means the worst is over and that I'll be better in time for the Sunday farmers' market. Like Tom said, leave it to me to get sick in the middle of the summer!

Once again, summer is bashing us about with these horrific temperatures - 90s during the day, 70s at night. Impossible to get comfortable. And I just finished this absolutely beautiful necklace, the one I posted earlier in the week, with a big peyote stitched flower and a pearl-embellished spiral rope, and it's so damn hot, I don't want to wear it.

Temperatures supposedly cooling off tomorrow. Maybe I'll wear it tomorrow...

Mondays

I love Mondays. No, seriously. Especially after a weekend of shows and running around and heat and craziness (it was 95 degrees when I left Marcy Field yesterday afternoon!!!!), it's nice to be able to just relax a bit, get organized and make a plan for the rest of the week.

Of course, then there's always Fridays, when I sit and panic at what I have not accomplished during the week...

But anyway. This Monday was particularly good. I decided to take a break from all of the custom orders and make something that I wanted to make! I started the flower for this piece a long, long time ago - pre-Colden - and it has been sitting in the top drawer of one of my bead cabinets since then.
















I was inspired by Laura McCabe's new book to add an embellished spiral rope to the piece, and then I found an old vintage button amongst my stash that works perfectly for a clasp! Since there are three loops on the back of the flower, I will also add a dangle of embellished spiral rope that hangs from the center. I worked the spiral rope with size 8 beads for the core, because I was a little nervous about breaking beads if I used size 11s. What I discovered is that the size 8 beads make the rope very, very loose - that's not necessarily a bad thing. And it worked up super-fast, too.

Today was also a good day because my new (to me) digital SLR camera in the mail today!!! I'm so excited - I can't use it until the batteries and charger arrive late this week or early next week, but it came with a MACRO LENS. A REAL macro lens! I am so excited about the prospect of being able to take good closeup shots of my beadwork - at last!!!!

It's very late right now - about 10:45 - and Colden JUST went to sleep. I am near exhaustion myself, but the question remains: do I go to sleep and try to get more than five hours of sleep before we have to get up and start running around tomorrow, or do I stay up for another two hours and try to get everything finished today that I was supposed to do?! Hmmm...

2010 High Peaks Art & Antique Show

Well, the show was a little slow. A lot slow, actually. It started out as a gorgeous day as we were setting up - a little bit of wind gusting through Marcy Field, but I put up the back wall of my tent, and that took care of that. It was nice and cool, but as the day wore on and the sun came out, it got hot, and I was very glad for the shade under the tent and the cool grass on my feet when I kicked off my shoes around lunchtime.

Sales were just okay, but what was better was seeing all of my friends and customers from the last few years at the farmers' market. Since the Art & Antique show is held in the same place as the Keene Valley farmers' market, there were lots of friendly, familiar faces. I love that - my customers really know me, and some of them come to the market looking specifically for me.

One of the vendors is a husband and wife who are silversmiths and make and sell some incredibly gorgeous silver and gold jewelry. Lots of big, bold gemstones and beautiful Native American style work. I think the husband is actually Native American, but I can't be sure. Anyway, he came to admire my work this morning, and we chatted, since I'd only seen them once or twice this whole summer, and he mentioned that he had a couple of trays of cabochons for sale. On my way to grab a bite to eat, I took a peek at the trays - boy, oh boy. That was a mistake.
















This is what I wound up taking home with me. I was just in love with the cabs that had the druzy (crystals) in them, and the gorgeous green one in the upper right hand corner is actually a drilled bead! The big agate cab in the center is going to become the focal point for one killer necklace... I've got some beautiful agate beads that will match it perfectly!

Aaaaah, now to just find some time to bead them all up!

One of my customers today had emailed me a few days ago about the possibility of doing a jewelry party at her camp in New Russia in October, and she mentioned it again today when I saw her. If we can get it together, this will be my first home jewelry party! I was really excited about the idea - I may see about having a few of these over the winter. It would be a great excuse to get some people together, have some food and some wine and put out some of my new work...

And speaking of new work... I've been working on lots of new projects lately. I need to do some photos and some blogging about them, and then I need to actually finish them!

A Milestone...

The other day, I reached the 50th sale on my Etsy shop! It was the sale of one of my Back to Byzantium beading kits - a favorite of mine.






















Kind of a big milestone for me. I celebrated by giving the lucky buyer a nice package of goodies including some of the goodies I recently bought from Laura McCabe's eBay store!

Who knows what I might do for my 100th sale?

Big weekend this weekend. After spending 7 incredibly tortuous hours in the ER yesterday because my doctor's office said they couldn't give me an appointment until Monday, I am looking forward to setting up at the High Peaks Art & Antiques Show in Marcy Field. It's going to be a beautiful weekend with two days of sun and warm temperatures forecast, my friends Heather and Robin will also be setting up at the show, and I get to spend the weekend outside with my friends and my beads. And maybe a few customers, too.

Pardon the Name of This Post...

To those of you who may be offended by a swear word, I mean no harm, but I wanted to call this post "More Hormonal Fuckery", because that is what I am dealing with the last two weeks. Actually, the last two months, now that I think about it.

The doctor thinks I had a period about two weeks ago. Then I stopped bleeding for about three or four days. Then it started up again. Now it's stopped again, but I'm still passing uterine lining. Tonight I have a hormonal headache. (I know that's what it is, because it feels exactly like the headaches I get right before my period.) The bleeding isn't heavy or bad - it's just annoying. When I was having my period, or what the doctor thinks was my period, I was scared to death that I was going to start hemorrhaging at any second. I'm sick of wearing pads every single day. I'm sick of worrying about what my body is going to do next.

My hCg levels have gone back down to zero, which is a good thing, because it means that there is no more tissue left from the pregnancy. And we think that now it's just a matter of waiting it out to see when my body will get itself back to "normal", whatever that is for me. It's just the waiting that is driving me out of my bloody tree.

I have total faith that my body will do what it needs to do to heal itself. The acupuncture and the Chinese herbs are helping me tremendously, as are the antidepressants that I was given to help me get over the hump so that I stopped crying all day, every day. But my body has always been a bit slow in the healing process, so it's really just mind over matter at this point, I think. I know my body will heal itself. I just wish it would hurry the hell up.

That said, I've been taking my multivitamins every day and trying to eat lots of iron-rich foods with a side of foods rich in vitamin C to help me absorb the iron so that I don't become anemic or iron-deficient. (Think lightly steamed, tender leaves of kale with chopped up tomatoes and balsamic vinegar - one of my favorite ways to get more iron!) I don't want to take an iron supplement because frankly, I can't swallow those huge horse pills, and I certainly don't want to have to deal with constipation at this point.

I have definitely noticed an increase in my energy levels lately, even with all the crazy running around and my insane work schedule. So I think that's a good thing.

Maybe it's just a matter of giving myself some more time to relax and heal. And that's always been a hard thing for me - the waiting. I have always been terrible at waiting for things.

I did have a good post office day today, though. In my mailbox, direct from England, was my copy of the latest in the Adrian Mole series: Adrian Mole, the Prostate Years. I can't remember exactly when I fell in love with the Adrian Mole books by Sue Townsend, I can only remember them being a huge comfort to me during my times of unemployment and uncertainty. I can remember reading, in one day, the entire book "Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction", a book that I re-read several times during the course of my pregnancy with Colden when the nausea was almost too much for me and I needed something to take my mind off of things. I have all the other books in the series, too - including a hardcover copy of "Adrian Mole - The Cappuccino Years" which is one of the best-loved books in my little library. My original copy of "The Diary of Adrian Mole" is so worn by now that I should probably replace it.

There's something I just love about the character of Adrian. He's totally clueless - and he doesn't really know it. His love life is almost always a complete disaster. His family is the very definition of dysfunctional. And yet somehow, Sue Townsend has kept him as a disarmingly innocent, charming and intelligent man who loves his family and always finds a way to redeem himself throughout his misadventures in life.

So, there. That's my little book review for the evening. If you want to read more, start at the beginning and pick up a copy of "The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 3/4". I don't know if there are e-reader versions of it available - go for the hard copy. There's still something utterly comforting and satisfying about holding a real book in my hands...

Start the Music from "Mission Impossible"...

That's what I'm going to listen to all week, because I've got a ton of work to do and a very limited amount of time in which to do it!

I went to the farmers' market this morning in the pouring rain. When I got there, I debated just turning around and going home - I had Colden with me, it was cold and gray and raining - but at the last minute, I just decided to set up and see what happened.

Colden was such a good kid! He wore his raincoat, we walked up and down the market a couple of times, and then he started dancing to the live music that was being played by a two-man-band down at our end of the market. After Tom came and got him, I got four more cabochons bezeled and glued to Ultrasuede, so that's what I'll be finishing the rest of this week!

This Saturday, the 28th of August, is the annual High Peaks Art & Antique Show at Marcy Field (where the farmers' market is held), and I need to replenish the inventory that has been selling so well this summer. It's a big show - it literally takes up the entire airfield - and I've always done very well there, so I want to make sure that my tables don't look quite as empty as they looked this morning.

So this week, before Saturday, I want to finish the four cabochons (plus the other three that I have had sitting on my work pad), make three more Venus necklaces in different colors (I am consistently selling those every single week at the markets), and get a couple of new beading project tutorials done for About.com.

It is most definitely going to be a challenge. But I can do it, oh, yes I can!

How Much is an Artist's Time Worth?

I've been contemplating this a lot lately. Ever since I made the decision to not do the fused glass this weekend, I've been thinking about the prices I put on my beadwoven and bead embroidered pieces.

Back when I owned a fine craft and bead shop, I wanted to try selling my finished beadwork. When one of my business partners saw the price that I had put on one piece, I was told:

"You can't put that price on your work because you don't have any name recognition."

Huh? So, just because no one knows my name, my beadwork isn't worth anything?

I hate to admit it, but that's a comment that still stings when I think about it. It implies that my time is worthless because I am, for all intents and purposes, a nobody.

When I was set up at the Jay Day festival a few weeks ago, there was a goldsmith set up across the green from me who was selling her handmade gemstone jewelry. She came up to my booth and looked at my prices and then asked me if I had sold anything and if anyone was complaining about my prices.

I told her that I hadn't sold anything, and that I didn't let the complaints about my prices bother me anymore. If someone complains about my prices at a show, then they aren't going to buy from me, anyway.

She told me that she had people who were complaining about her prices so badly that she was beginning to feel like she was trying to steal money from them.

I've probably said this on here before, and I'll probably say it again, but this is how I feel about including a charge for my time in my work:

If I worked in an office or in a place like a hospital, I wouldn't work a 40 hour week and then tell my supervisor, "Hey, that's okay - just pay for the gas I used to drive here and my lunches this week and I'll be okay with that." But by not including a charge for my time in my work, this is exactly what I would be doing.

My time is precious. If I sit and put in the 10 hours it takes to make a handmade piece of beadwork, why shouldn't I be compensated for it? Is the time of an artist worthless when compared to the time of a secretary or a nurse?

Maybe you can't compare beading for a living to being a doctor or an attorney or working to save the rainforest. But I feel like I am still doing something worthwhile with my time when I sit down to bead. I'm creating a piece of art, something of beauty. In some cases, I'm designing a project that may appear in a magazine or as a pattern in my Etsy store - and in those cases, maybe I'm helping someone who uses beadwork as a way to relax. I'm making someone feel special and unique when they wear my one-of-a-kind pieces. Maybe I'm even teaching someone about the significance and history of beads and how they make the human species very unique. (We're the only species on the planet that creates and uses objects purely for self-adornment.)

Whatever the case, I am tired of the stereotype of the "starving artist". Artists shouldn't have to be poor if they choose to pursue their craft - they should be encouraged to create and compensated fairly for their time, just like anyone else who holds down a job.

I hate when I go on Etsy and see someone selling a peyote-stitched bracelet or a hugely intricate beadwoven necklace for a pittance. I understand that some people consider themselves hobbyists, and they "don't care" if they make any money selling their work. I don't think they are doing anyone any favors, least of all those of us who are trying to earn a living with our craft.

My advice to them? If you "don't care" about making any money from your work, then don't sell it at all.

I know that my feelings on that matter are hardly going to win me any friends, but it's how I feel about the whole thing. I ask for what I feel is a fair price for my work, and that includes a charge for my time.

What I really hope for is that more artists will follow suit and start to treat their work like it's the precious commodity that it is.

Hard Work

I know it might sound crazy, but on my way home from the Salute to the Arts Day yesterday afternoon, it occurred to me that beading for a living is hard work. Now, don't get me wrong - I almost feel guilty when I need to make time in my schedule to sit down and work on a beading project, mainly because I love beading so much and I find it so relaxing (most of the time) that it just doesn't feel like "work".

But after the beading is finished, there are other things that need to be done...

Photographs need to be taken, uploaded to the computer, cropped and adjustments for light and color levels need to be done. If the piece is for sale, I need to list it on Etsy. If it's a project or tutorial for About.com, then I need to include that on my work list for the week. If it's for a magazine or pattern that I intend to teach or sell, there are directions that need to be written and diagrams drawn.

There are the shows and markets where I sell my work. That's a lot of physical activity - hauling around a 65 pound tent and setting up and breaking down all require a lot of energy. If I'm lucky and it's a busy day, I will be on my feet most of the day talking to customers and handling transactions. Then when I get home, there's the time it takes to process the credit card payments and preparing the bank deposits. There are taxes to be filed and paid. Inventory needs to be taken periodically so that I don't run out of important things like business cards, boxes and bags. (And beads, of course!)

Back in 2008, I had a great re-design done of my website, a beautiful portfolio created and new business cards done by Stellar Marketing Solutions. But since I've sort of changed my focus from the glass work and the beadwork to just the beadwork, I think a new set of designs should be done this winter. Since I can't afford to hire the wonderful folks at Stellar Marketing again (it was part of a business mentoring program that I am involved in), I'll be doing that this winter as well.

So there's a lot more to it than just sitting around making pretty things all day. Of course, in between everything else, there are diapers to change, dishes to wash and laundry to be done. And with Colden running around, some days, things just get put off until we can't put them off any longer. (Like getting and installing a new dishwasher.)

That said, I wouldn't trade this job for anything in the world. I love being able to stay home with Colden, even if my days are a little more stressful than they used to be, and I love what I'm doing now to earn my income. I wouldn't change it a bit!

Another Piece Gone to a Good Home!

So there I was last night at 10:30 p.m., stitching away on the last of seven new Swarovski crystal bracelets for the Salute to the Arts event at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts. I was making them because I didn't want my bracelet tray to look empty - with only four bracelets, it was looking pretty empty - and because I wanted to make some lower-priced items, just in case.

Imagine that swooping in my stomach when this petite, funky woman with beautiful blonde, spiky hair came over to my booth, picked up "The Thief", wore it for about thirty seconds, and then asked me if I could make it smaller. I almost didn't know what to say! But of course, it was just a matter of removing some of the bamboo beads on the back of the piece to make it smaller, and I had it all done within an hour.




Once again, when she tried on this necklace, it looked as though I had designed it just for her. It matched her coloring, her style and her hair perfectly. It was one of those moments when everything just sort of...clicked.

Of course, I was a little sad to see it go. I made that piece for a wedding that I never got to attend because it was the summer that I was sick when I was pregnant with Colden. And I finished the fringe after I found out that I was pregnant with Colden, when the exhaustion was so bad that it was hard to just lift my arm to thread the needle. It was also the piece that resulted in many lovely emails and convos on Etsy from admirers, including Carol Dean Sharpe of Sand Fibers.




















As a little gift to myself, I picked up this ultra-funky, long chain necklace from Edison Collections. I wasn't planning on buying anything for myself today, but when I saw this necklace, it just reminded me of all of the pieces of my grandmother's jewelry that I used to play with when I was a kid. It's made with vintage chain and a recycled watch face that still keeps time! And of course, there was that cool, sparkly Swarovski crystal hanging from the bottom...

And it's getting very late now. 10:30, and we finally just got Colden to sleep, so I need to go write a couple of blog posts and then get some sleep!

Finding a Good Home

Well, it was a crazy day at the farmers' market yesterday. When I arrived at 8:30 to start setting up, the wind was already tearing through the valley. I guessed that some of those gusts were pushing 35mph or more. The canopies on the tents were flying right and left. Anything that was rubber-banded together, under a rock, or glued down was being knocked about in the wind. The woman who had originally started to set up next to me was selling stationary and paper goods - her metal racks were falling down, her inventory was being scattered everywhere, and she finally decided to pack it in at 9:45. (The market opens at 9:30.)

We kept seeing these dark gray clouds to the south, blowing over the mountains. We all kept waiting - hoping that once the rain came, the wind would stop. But the rain never actually got there. Just those dark, gray, threatening clouds and lots and lots of wind.

Early on in the day, a young woman came by my booth and was absolutely in awe of my piece, "A Distant Star System". I originally made this piece for a science fiction art show, and it used some of my best black onyx and carnelian cabochons, with some little 4mm amethyst rondelles. Well, this young woman came and tried it on and she was wearing a little black dress - and with her dress and her coloring, she totally rocked this pendant.




















What I didn't realize was that she was another jewelry vendor at the market! She makes some incredible recycled and up-cycled jewelry - I'll have to post a link after I find her business card. She came back at the end of the day and told me that she had had a good day at the market, and she decided to buy the necklace as a 30th birthday present for herself. Good choice!

Now the race is on for my next show - I decided, at the last minute, to do the Lake Placid Center for the Arts' "Salute to the Arts" day and market this Wednesday. It will be great if I have a few sales - but now I have to stitch up a quick couple of necklaces and finish a couple of bracelets to replace what sold at the farmers' market yesterday. Could be worse - if I can't make enough to keep my table from looking empty, I'll just work on my custom orders and skip the market on Sunday!

What? Friday Already?!

I can't believe the week is GONE. Just like that - GONE! Last I remember, it was Tuesday, and I was trying to keep my head above water while keeping Colden amused and get some work done. Next thing I know, I wake up this morning and it's Friday again! I think the nice weather makes the days go by faster, too... Just sayin'.

Anyway, my farmers' market weekend last weekend was great. On Saturday, I set up at the annual Jay Day festivities down the road from my house. Like, literally thirty seconds by car down the hill from where I live. I didn't really expect to make any sales, and I didn't, but it was still a nice day to sit outside and bead. I got to hang out a little with my friends who live in Jay, saw Colden's friends from playgroup (and their Mommies!), and got to hang out with my friend Heather, who also makes jewelry, and who was also set up on the Green with us.

Sunday morning, I headed over to Keene Valley for the Keene Valley farmers' market. The weather was beautiful, and I felt very optimistic about setting up without my fused glass inventory. And I was right to feel that way - I sold a whole bunch of pieces and took deposits for two special orders. It was a wonderful day, and my other vendor friends were all glad to see me back in action. It didn't hurt that it was the 20th anniversary of the Adirondack Farmers Market Cooperative and they were handing out free cake, coffee and tote bags!


















This is my new display, using risers that are actually wall shelves that I found at Bed, Bath & Beyond. They work perfectly for displaying the smaller necklace busts that I have, and they stayed up nicely in the wild wind that sweeps across Marcy Field where the market is set up.

Oh, and I should also mention that two of my sales were to repeat customers who come to the area every summer for vacation and who come to the farmers' market to look for me! Wild, huh?

I have other things to write about last weekend, but they'll have to wait. I'm feeling absolutely exhausted tonight, and even though I wanted to at least give a brief update on the blog here, I really think I need to go home and get some rest. It's been a crazy week of trying to balance Colden, work and housework, and I need to just go chill out with my boys for a little while.

More farmers' market goodness this weekend - I can't wait!

My Day Has Gone Like This:

I was going to write this nice blog post about the farmers' market this weekend, but I have been so stressed out today, I just need to vent. Anyone who is a work-at-home mom or a stay-at-home mom, I know you've had days like this:

• Woke up way too early, but couldn't fall back to sleep. Figured I might as well get up and going, so got up and went.

• Colden woke up and wanted waffles, again. No problem. I made some waffles for us. He ate about four bites and then decided that he had had enough. Cleared off the breakfast dishes and sat down to get some work done. "Beads!" Then, "Piggyback!" Numerous requests for juice and milk, which was okay, since it's about 90 degrees and humid again today. Numerous diaper changes. Huge, smelly poop in Colden's diaper less than five minutes after a diaper change.

• Colden takes a small Ziploc baggie of small cabochons and empties it onto the beading mat he's put on the floor under the dining room table. Then he dances in them. Cabochons are flung into every corner of the house.

• Finally decide to have pizza for lunch - have to go to the store for cheese and sauce, but that's okay. It will get us out of the house for a few minutes. Put on shoes and get buckled into the car.

• Two minutes before we reach grocery store, Colden falls asleep. Really asleep. Eyes closed, hands limp kind of sleep. Make u-turn and go back home. Remove sleeping child's sandals and unbuckle car seat. Sleeping child opens eyes for a second when I remove him from car seat, but he snuggles into my shoulder and I think he will go back to sleep. I am wrong.

• Colden lies in bed and asks for a cup of milk. Give him milk. Asks for blanky. Give him blanky. Asks me to lie down with him. I lie down with him. Colden finishes milk. Colden opens eyes wide and starts giggling.

• At this point, very hard not to lose my shit and start throwing things. Go back to store and end up buying pizza fixings, Nutella, chickpeas, crackers and tahini. Get home and realize do not have any tin foil to cover pizza pan and no olive oil to make hummus.

• Call from doctor's office regarding my hCg levels: levels are going down, which is good, but they are at 7. Need to be at 5 before they are considered normal. Need "one more" blood test next week. (This is, oh, fourth time I have heard, "One more blood test". Veins in arms cry whenever I go to Plattsurgh.)

• Come home and make pizza. Colden doesn't want pizza - takes box of waffles out of chest freezer. Make Colden a waffle. Eats two bites and doesn't want any more. I have 1/4 of pizza that I have just made. (Too much pizza.)

• Pile of work is still sitting where I left it this morning when diaper changes and piggyback started.

• Colden asks for milk. Give him more milk. Moose eats remainder of Colden's waffle and tries to eat fork as well. Wrestle kiddie fork out of dog's mouth.

• Realize that dishes are still piled up in sink, where they will remain until either Tom washes them or a miracle occurs and they wash themselves.

• Hang laundry from this morning outside to dry, thinking maybe Colden and Moose will run around a bit. Moose runs into neighbor's yard. Drag Moose back. Moose runs towards street. Drag Moose back. Finally give up on hanging laundry and lock Moose on back porch while hanging laundry.

As of right now, I have given up on doing anything that resembles work. I am going to just clean the dishes and kitchen and wait until Tom has come home, showered and changed before I sit down and try to get anything accomplished. It's just been one of those days...

So Much Beady Goodness!

It was a crazy weekend. First, I set up at the annual Jay Day community celebration sponsored by the Jay Entertainment and Music Society. I didn't expect to make any sales, but I figured since it was right down the hill from me on the Jay Green, I might as well. Then on Sunday, I FINALLY got set up at the Keene farmers' market in Keene Valley. That was a great day, too, and I'll write more on that tomorrow, but for now, this is what was in my post office box this morning...



This silky, soft, beautiful lariat from Sand Fibers! I won this piece in a giveaway that Carol Dean Sharpe had on her blog to celebrate her 1,500th sale on Etsy! (I had hoped that it would have been there on Saturday, but Saturday is such a weird day for our little rural post office, since they close at 11:00 a.m., and mail doesn't really get put into the boxes until Monday morning, anyway.)

And then there was another package stuffed full of beads for me from Laura McCabe's eBay store:
















Four big sandwich bags stuffed full of Czech beads, each in a different color palette; a few bags of some funky peach and gold Czech glass beads; and a huge hank of black and silver peacock "petal" beads. (Wait 'till you see what I do with THOSE!)

Lots more to write about, but it will all just have to wait until later this week. I have finished the bezel for Catherine of Aragon; I taught two bead classes at JEMS; and I'll share everything about my first farmers' market of the season!

Etsy Beadweavers' Challenge Piece - Finished Before the Deadline!

And I am so happy with the results! I stayed up late, way past my bedtime to finish this piece - lucky for me, Colden decided to make that night one of the rare nights when he sleeps straight through without waking up, so I actually got six full, uninterrupted hours of sleep after I finished it.

The gorgeous Red Magma Swarovski crystal stone in the center as well as the Red Magma rounds were courtesy of Artbeads "Blogging for Beads" program. I have been trying to find a project for them for MONTHS now, seriously, and when I found this bag of leftover Czech glass pearls in my stash, well, it finally hit me. (Took long enough, right?)

I was absolutely thrilled to be able to post the piece in my Etsy shop before the deadline of August 5th to enter it in the Etsy Beadweavers' Challenge! I've been a member of the Etsy team for quite a while, but have never been able to get a piece in for their monthly challenge. Now the fun part begins - the piece will be posted as part of a blog post on the Etsy Beadweavers' Blog, and you can go vote for your favorite piece. The winner gets to pick the theme for a future challenge.

The theme for the September challenge is "Bollywood" - and boy, does that sound tempting! I'll have to dig back into my stash of Swarovski and gold-plated Delicas and see what else I can come up with!

I am Going to Make a Deadline for Once in My Life!

Wow! I decided that this month, I was absolutely positively going to make the deadline for the Etsy Beadweavers' Challenge - the theme is "Silver and Gold", and the idea is to try to make a piece of beaded jewelry that resembles more traditional fine jewelry.

This is what my piece looked like last night:
















And today, while Colden was busy amusing himself with his toy cars and his bubble machine, I managed to get the Swarovski stone attached to the pearl strap and the crystal rounds stitched on as embellishment. I started the clasp while he was taking his nap, but didn't get a chance to finish it - but I will when I get home this evening.

I have absolutely no idea what to call this piece, but I'm thinking about it. It was inspired by the Renaissance and the opulent jewelry worn by the wealthy and the privileged of that period. The gems, the pearls, the gold - all of which make a feast for my eyes when looking at the portraits from the 1500s and 1600s.

Once that piece is done, I am going to start working on some of the other unfinished pieces I have sitting on my work table. I actually decided to declare this month "UFO Month" on the About.com Beadwork site, hoping I could inspire other beaders to pick up an old UFO and finish it!

Look What I Won Today!

This incredible lariat by Carol Dean Sharpe of Sand Fibers!










































Carol gave away this gorgeous Ndebele (herringbone) stitch lariat to celebrate - ready for this? - her 1,500th sale on Etsy! What a cool way to celebrate! I had entered the drawing by posting about the giveaway on Facebook and on my blog with links to Carol's blog. I never really expected to win, but I thought, what the heck, and gave it a shot. Sure enough, Carol's random number generator pulled up number 37 - and that was me!

Ironically, 37 was the street number of the house where I grew up as a kid. Weird, huh? Maybe I should go buy a lottery ticket...

I stumbled across Carol's Etsy shop, SandFibers, looking for beading patterns. She designs the most beautiful peyote stitch cuff bracelets - and finished jewelry, too! - and I have become completely addicted to her patterns. I love that most of them are in 2- or 3-drop peyote stitch, because they seem to work up much faster than just single drop peyote. And the designs - Carol definitely lets her sense of humor come through in some of them! When I'm feeling completely burnt out from my own designs, Carol's designs are beautiful and soothing to stitch. I'll wait for Colden to go down for his nap or to go to sleep for the night (or for a few hours after dinner, anyway!) and then I'll sit down with a pile of Delicas and one of Carol's patterns and I'll just go at it. Her patterns remind me of everything that made me fall in love with beadweaving ten years ago when I first discovered how relaxing and meditative it was to stitch those tiny little beads together...

So later this week, I'll have two packages from Carol waiting for me at the post office! Hooray! (Now, if I could just find my post office box keys to actually get into the post office box...)

And speaking of the post office... Carol and I are cooking up something fun in the next few weeks. I can't say what it is just yet - but you will definitely want to stay tuned to my blog and/or my Facebook page to find out just what it is and how you can be a part of it!

And that's all I'm sayin'...

An Idea for a New Project!

I had about ten minutes of free time today, and in that ten minutes, I managed to come up with enough new beading project ideas to keep me busy for, oh, the next six months.














These little ceramic faces were made by Diane Briegleb, and they are leftover from a wholesale order of them that I placed years ago when I was part-owner of a bead shop and fine craft gallery. They have been sitting in a little plastic drawer for the last five years, waiting for me to fish one out now and then and use it for something. Well.

Like I said a few weeks ago, I've been reading a ton of books about British history lately. And I'm reading some new books about British history and important figures in British history. Today, I got to thinking about the six wives of King Henry the VIII, and the whole annulled/beheaded pattern that arose from his quest for a male heir. Ironically, his second daughter became one of the most influential leaders in human history, while his sole male heir, King Edward VI, only ruled for about six and a half years.

So while I was thinking about these six women and their lives, and then I started thinking about some of the other great queens in British history - namely, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth I, the aforementioned daughter of Henry VIII - and I thought how I would love to do beaded "portraits" of them using these ceramic faces.

I went and sat down with my little drawer full of ceramic faces, and then I wrote down a list of names on a couple of pieces of paper. I looked up some official portraits of the women online and then went back to my ceramic faces and found the faces that I felt connected with the names and the portraits. (The internet can be a wonderful thing!)

Now my challenge is to actually find the beads and stitch each one of these faces into a beaded portrait of one of the queens of England. I'm giving myself a deadline for each one - I want to complete one beaded portrait per month.

I know who to start with, too - Catherine of Aragon, the first wife of Henry VIII. The woman who was first married to King Henry, who believed she was still his rightful wife until the day she died after a 24-year marriage. She carried six children, but only one lived to adulthood. She was, many believed, unjustly ousted as queen because Henry VIII wanted to marry Anne Boelyn, who had been one of her ladies-in-waiting.

The ceramic face that I thought would be perfect to portray Catherine was one that I had glued to a piece of Stiff Stuff a long time ago with no particular project in mind. She looks almost virginal, and indeed, there are portraits of Catherine depicting her as the Virgin Mary as well as Mary Magdalene.

What's going to drive me nuts now is that I will have absolutely no time to start on her until maybe Sunday at the farmers' market. Monday at the latest. I've already got the Delica beads picked out to start stitching a bezel around her...