Irene

The damage from this hurricane was devastating. I still can't believe it, even though I've seen the pictures on Facebook and heard from my friends who sustained major damages to their homes and businesses. The AuSable River, which runs in a valley about half a mile down the hill from our house, rose to its highest level on record: 19 feet. Flood stage is around 7 feet. Folks who made it through our crazy spring flooding with little or no damage were completely taken by surprise during this storm. There are still parts of our area that do not have electricity, and many people are running short on water and food. There are National Guard units working with the Army Corps of Engineers, the DOT and the DEC to stabilize and repair roads that were washed away by the floodwaters and to clean up the fuel oil and heating fuel that were spilled when fuel tanks were ripped away from homes and torn up by the river.

Tom and I drove on the bridge that crosses the AuSable River over on Stickney Bridge Road and saw the roof of a vehicle smashed up against the trees on the river banks. I've seen toilets, fuel tanks, tires, bicycles, shovels, mattresses and television sets among the debris along the river banks.

Our community library in Upper Jay was completely demolished. Because it was so close to the river, the flood waters got into the building and destroyed over 50% of their collection of books, along with all of their computers and most of the historical records kept by the library. At my favorite local bakery in Upper Jay, the entire front of the building was torn off and the owner's 12-day-old car was picked up and smashed against his home. Two antique stores in Upper Jay were completely destroyed by the flood, and one of them had a huge tree fall down through the center of the building. The Land of Make Believe, the first theme park in the United States by artist Arto Monaco, was completely washed away and no longer exists. In nearby Keene, that town is still cut off from the rest of the world because the roads have just been washed away by the flood waters.

I think what bothers me the most about all of this is that the businesses that were damaged were all locally-owned businesses. We're not talking about major conglomerates like Lowe's or Sears or Starbucks, where there are deep corporate pockets to repair damages and get business going again. Most of these businesses depend on locals and summer visitors, and with the Labor Day weekend coming up and most of the roads around here still closed, I don't know how they are going to be able to survive this without some serious help.

The community response to the floods has been overwhelming, and that's one of the things that I love about living in a small community like this. There are food stations set up for people who can't cook meals anymore because of the flood, and the local building supply company is offering a discount on all supplies for Irene-related damage. Gotta love the North Country...

Bead Soup Blog Party

Yes, I'm at it again: I signed up and am participating in the latest Bead Soup Blog Party! I got my beads from my partner the other day, and this is what she sent me:

My wonderful swap partner sent me this amazing mix of gemstone and natural shell beads, a toggle clasp, some fun brass filigree findings, a brass dragonfly (which Colden immediately fell in love with) and one of her handmade enamel rings! It's such a cool assortment, I don't know where to start! So many ideas, so little time... But the reveal is still a few weeks away, so I have a few weekends to get something made with this lovely stuff.

My beading projects seem to have gotten completely out of control lately. I realized at the beginning of this week that my Beading For a Cure project is due on MONDAY, so that means some serious bead-haulin' butt this weekend. And of course, I ran out of green Wildfire...

Lately I feel as though my head is about to pop. I can only take so much with all the crazy stories in the news and what's going on in Washington with all of our elected representatives acting like a bunch of immature, selfish children. There are things that I'd like to say here, but I'll refrain out of fear that my rants may become overly venomous. Instead, I've been turning my attention towards my blogging for Beading Daily and my beading projects and trying to spread some positive vibes and creative joy in the world. I'll leave the venom for another day.

This should be a good weekend to get caught up on beading. Some of those computer models show hurricane Irene passing directly over the Adirondacks. The National Weather Service is warning people to take their boats out of Lake Champlain this weekend ahead of the predicted 70 mph winds and heavy rain and flooding. Like we need more flooding...

Meeting the Universe Halfway

So, I'm going to steal this one from my sister:

There was a devout man who prayed to God every day to let him win the lottery. Every day, he prayed, "Please, God, let me win the lottery this week." And the weeks passed, and still the man didn't win the lottery. Finally, one day, while he was praying, he heard a voice: "This is God. I hear you. But meet me halfway on this one - buy a lottery ticket!"

I sort of got one of those "meet me halfway" messages a couple of weeks ago, just a few days after reading my sister's blog post with this little story. It kind of hit me on the head, and I thought, okay, the Universe is trying to tell me something. So off I go!

The result of me trying to meet the Universe halfway on this one was a set of amazing photographs of some of my favorite pieces of beaded jewelry that I've made over the last six years. As I was looking through my collection to see which pieces I wanted to have photographed, I realized that I don't have any really spectacular knock-out pieces of beadwork for myself anymore! It seems that I've sold pretty much every beautiful piece of beaded jewelry that I've made in the last five years. I've decided from now on, I won't be automatically selling every single piece of beadwork that I make. I need to keep something for myself, don't I?

That said, the photograph above was taken by Sherwood Lake, husband of the fabulous Nancy Dale of NEDBeads. She and her husband kindly offered their professional photography services to help me meet the Universe halfway on this one, and I couldn't have been more pleased with the results!

I'm feeling strangely motivated this weekend. While we're going to be doing lots of family stuff - farmer's market and playground - I'm taking a few minutes this morning to get a jump on my week. Something about meeting the Universe halfway...

Night

Before I had Colden, I used to stay up late to work and bead. I would easily stay up until 2 or 3 in the morning, watching movies, beading, writing and just letting myself be creative. Of course, the next day I was almost always able to sleep in - no getting up multiple times each night to change diapers and get milk and juice. And tonight, even though my back is hurting and my body is telling me that it is now time to get some rest, my brain just won't turn off. Tom and Colden are curled up and asleep on the bed in Colden's room, and I need to get to sleep because I have a jillion things to do in the morning, but my brain is trying to pull me into the living room where that big beading project is sitting on my table... Something to do with an imminent deadline, I think.

Let's just cross our collective fingers that my back is better in the morning. I was actually well enough this morning to go to Plattsburgh with Tom and Colden, and then after dinner I managed a walk around the backyard a few times. Of course, there were a couple of times when I missed a step or tried to walk up or down the little hill when I felt that awful twinge, but there was no way I could have done that on Friday!

Oh, well. Uploaded 100 photos of Colden to Flickr. Maybe I'll go set up another set and then get some sleep...

Catching Up

So, despite yesterday's inability to walk or move my legs without intense pain, I managed to get around a little better today. I also decided that I needed to cook something decent for myself for dinner tonight while Tom was out with Colden, so I chopped up a zucchini and a tomato and made a baked zucchini boat with some brown rice. It was the first "real" food that I've been able to eat all week without pain and nausea, and it tasted so good! (We're hoping that we can determine on Monday if this is either one heck of a nasty stomach virus or a real honest-to-goodness gallbladder attack. Yuck.)

When I went out to the herb garden, I saw that my beloved thyme plant has been completely overrun with garlic chives and oregano. I'll have to do something about that. My first thought was that I wanted to buy a thyme plant and keep it in the house all year, the way we do with the parsley and the rosemary. There's just something I love about fresh thyme - it seems so exotic and comforting, all at once. I love fresh leaves of rosemary and thyme when they've been chopped up and thrown in with a pot of chickpea soup in the fall. It's just a taste that I can wrap around myself when it gets cold like a big, thick wooly blanket.

And yesterday, in desperation for something to do, I decided to try out the Kindle app for PC. Wow. I'm starting to become addicted to downloading books now. And here I am, the person who swore she would never get any kind of eReader. (We won't talk about my new iPad that is due to arrive on Tuesday or Wednesday next week.) I've been adding Kindle books to my Amazon wishlist, and I've got about 60 of them on there now. Being able to download a book in about three seconds to my laptop or my iPad is going to be as close to instant gratification as I can get! Oy, this could get expensive...

I went to the doctor Thursday morning to get checked out, since it was going on four days since I had been able to eat without feeling overwhelmingly nauseous. It was an odd visit. First of all, I couldn't see my regular doctor because I didn't have an appointment. So I got to see the owner of the practice who, while he is a very good doctor, is somewhat socially dysfunctional. While I was waiting in the exam room, I realized that they had left the door wide open. I didn't bother to close it, but while I was waiting, I heard him talking to one of the nurses about another patient who had just been given an i.v. infusion of something. Suddenly, I heard him say, "Oh, shit!" That just couldn't be good.

Then he comes in and starts to talk to me, and when he listens to my heart, he looks down at my toes and says, "Oh, wow, nice toe nails. I love purple nail polish." So, okay, what would YOU have said to that? I was like, um, okay, dude, just don't tell me you're wearing a thong or anything and we'll be okay. Then when we were discussing my symptoms and talking about what lab tests he wanted to run, he asked if there was any chance I could be pregnant. No, I told him, there is no chance that I am pregnant. "Well, we're going to do a pregnancy test anyway, just because I don't trust women." Okay. Now, I must have given him the hairy eyeball and but good, because a few seconds later he stammers, "Oh, well, I don't trust men, either." So, okay, dude, is there anyone that you DO trust?

Like I said, this is the reason that this guy is not my regular doctor. He's actually a brilliant physician in his specialty, but he's a social moron. No bedside manner. If he had been required to take one of those human-interaction classes that they now require of med students, he would have flunked out for sure.

But the good news is that he's not terribly worried about anything, he thinks this might just be one of those things that my body needs to kick off all by itself, so I'm just trying to humor it and take it easy. (Which isn't so easy when Colden pretty much relies on me for EVERYTHING from potty training to diaper changing to pajama time and meals.)

I can hear Tom and Colden in Colden's room right now, eating ice cream cones and watching "How to Train Your Dragon". Last night they did bedtime without me while I tried to stay comfortable in bed and get some rest, and when Tom cuddled up with Colden, the two of them started giggling like it was a slumber party. It made me a little sad that I couldn't be in there reading to Colden.

Truthfully, I have no idea what happened to my back. The only thing I can think is that it has something to do with me picking up Colden (who now weighs around 44 lbs and is about the size of your average 5 or 6 year old) and giving him piggyback rides. All I know is that after I got home from the chiropractor yesterday, I had to lie on the floor for a few hours with the ice pack on my back and that walking was so painful that it made me want to laugh. ('Cause I'd never had back pain like this before, and I didn't know what else to do.)

So. Tomorrow is Sunday. I hope to have a few pictures up of some of the work I've been doing the last few weeks. And I hope that I will be able to get outside (or at least onto the back porch) and enjoy some more of the summer while it lasts...

Vent

Maybe it's the heat. Maybe it's the heat and the fact that the air conditioner fell out of the window yesterday and cracked into two pieces in the side yard. Maybe it's the fact that Lake Placid (and Jay and Wilmington) have been overrun by the amazingly physically fit who will be competing in Sunday's Ironman triathlon.

This year, it seems like the bicyclists who are training along the race route are either dumber or more arrogant than they've ever been. And it seems to really be getting to the locals. There are have been complaints by local town supervisors about gaggles of bicyclists hanging out in the middle of the road at major intersections. I have seen them riding four and five across the road, which is not only illegal, it's stupid. And this morning, I saw the bicyclist to take the cake. This guy was riding down the hill in front of our house which is a two-lane road and a major route between Plattsburgh, Vermont, Montreal and Lake Placid. But he was riding down in the middle of the lane, with four cars puttering along behind him. Really. Way to take yourself out of the gene pool, man.

I don't understand why people get so hyped up over Ironman. I know it's only once a year, but it seems to be inconvenient for way longer than that. We locals have to deal with the arrogant bicyclists who don't follow the rules of the road for way longer than just one day. Not that every bicyclist is arrogant, but these folks either don't know or don't care about safe cycling when it comes to riding your bike on narrow, rural roads that aren't always in the best of shape. I worry when Tom takes the motorcycle to and from work, because the bicyclists seem particularly aggressive towards bikers. Not cool.

That said, I'm sitting in Starbucks this morning, trying to get motivated and stay cool because I know that if I go home, I'll just sit there and sweat and not be very productive at all. But this place is packed. I can't remember the last time I saw so many people in here. (This is definitely way busier than I've ever seen it in the winter, even during the holidays.) I might just grab my smoothie and head home for some peace and quiet. It'll be hot, but at least I'll have a cool drink.

Stuck

I'm just not feeling it lately. The beads, that is. I see status updates from my beading designer friends who are just awash in ideas (and time), and I start to feel a little worried. I know that dry spells are always part of the creative process - you just can't be tuned in all the time, every day - but I feel like this latest dry spell is lasting waaaaay too long for my tastes.

That said, I took a little break after receiving a fabulous order of gemstone beads from Lima beads and made myself two pairs of earrings from Marcia DeCoster's book Beaded Opulence:

I got the cubic zirconia teardrops from Lima Beads, too. (I'd been waiting for them to come back in stock over at Artbeads, and they finally just disappeared altogether from that website! Ack!) I love the black and fuchsia pair - it makes me want to take Tom out for dinner so that I can dress up.

We had a fabulous day for Father's Day yesterday. We all went to the Keene farmers' market for opening day, and Colden loved the kites from the kite festival and seeing all the dogs. I loved catching up with the friends I'd made the last few years, and we came home with way too much food - French breakfast radishes, homemade organic berry jam and gourmet cupcakes. Colden fell asleep in the car on the way home and let me tuck him into bed when we got back, so Tom and I had a quiet lunch and then we started cooking for dinner with his folks. Dinner was fun (again, way too much food!) and then we had a relatively uneventful evening as I put Colden to bed.

So this morning it was back to work (which isn't a bad thing, ha ha ha!) and in a little while I'll take a break and start throwing together some dinner.

I keep thinking about this huge ammonite necklace that I saw at the farmers' market yesterday. It was made by one of my favorite local silversmiths, a woman from St. Regis Falls. I bought a bracelet and a pair of earrings from her yesterday, but I might have to go back and get that necklace next week... It was at "old" silver prices, too, before all this madness with price increases...

How Long Has it Been?!

It has been a really, really long time since I worked in an office setting with  more than one person. I'm becoming painfully aware of that fact this week as I try to keep up with my deadlines and not drive my new co-workers completely bonkers.

I'm absolutely in love with my new job right now. I get to write - which I've always been good at and enjoyed - and I get to write about beads. I can't decide which part is better, the beading or the writing!

Yesterday I had my appointment to re-check the cysts that they found on my remaining ovary 6 weeks ago. The good news is that the two huge fluid-filled cysts have totally disappeared and the remaining dermoid is still too tiny to really worry about. The bad news is that because I'm still having weird symptoms with the dizzies, arm pain, jaw trembling and other junk, it's time to go to the neurologist to rule out things like MS.

One thing that I did yesterday was to see my massage therapist. It's been way too long since I had a massage, and anyone who tells you that things like massage therapy, chiropractic adjustments and acupuncture don't work has obviously never tried any of them. The massage was wonderful - I left feeling refreshed and optimistic, and my other symptoms seemed to have eased up today. So I'm going to try to schedule a monthly massage and see if that gives me some relief, while I continue the chiropractic and acupuncture treatments.

The weather has been really weird this spring, too, and I feel like that's been throwing me a bit off balance as well. We had snow for what seemed like four months straight. Then it was freezing cold and rainy and damp for another month. Then for the entire months of April and May, it just rained - and rained and rained and rained. We had flooding like we haven't seen in over 20 years. Our basement (and my office) were completely trashed. And we have never had a problem with water in our basement. Ever. Now we're swinging back and forth between boiling hot temperatures in the 80s and 90s one day with dramatic drops back down into the 50s and 60s the next day. It's like my body can't figure out what to do next.

Maybe that's why the massage therapist recommended to me that I try to stay grounded yesterday. At one point before she started the actual massage, she was doing some energy/body work with me. At one point when she was down near my feet, I found my thoughts swinging violently back and forth between two extremes. It was sort of weird, but I just went with it and let my mind go where it wanted to go. After my mind had sort of quieted down a few minutes later, she said to me, "Are you feeling a little more balanced now? I felt your energy swinging back and forth between your left and right sides there for a few minutes." Totally weird. I hadn't spoken a single word during that time, instead allowing my mind to just go where it wanted to go and observing it. But somehow she had sensed that my thoughts were swinging back and forth between one extreme and the other. Sort of cool in a freaky kinda way.

Yoga tonight after dinner, and maybe a walk through the backyard with Colden and his little red wagon.

Blog, Take 2

Okay, so I tried to do my blog over on my newly-designed website, VanBeads.com.  And unfortunately, I got slammed with so much spam it made my head swim!  Oy!  What is with those spammers?!  Do they really think that there are people out there dumb enough to fall for those "Check out this website where you can marry a millionaire" links?  Double oy.

So, what I've decided to do is move my person blog back to this site and I'll maintain the blog on the Vanbeads site with stories about my work. 

What have I been up to since December?  Yikes, more than any one person should have to recap in the space of one blog post!  I've been busy.  New job, new projects, and we're almost ready to start a new farmers' market season.  We're now almost halfway through June, and I can't believe that it's been a year since I did any markets or shows.  I know there is probably no way that I will be prepared to set up shop at the first Keene Valley farmers' market on Sunday, so Colden and I may just head over there as buyers and peruse the vendors, visit with friends, and enjoy the sunshine.  (If the sun decides to come back out!)

For now, I have other blogging and writing to do.  Spent the morning working on two beading projects that just didn't turn out.  That's the nicest way I can think of to say it.  They just didn't turn out.  The good thing is that I can take that Fireline and stretch it out and reuse it for something else that hopefully WILL work out. 

Back to it!

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Beads

Okay, so I'm gonna try again for a shot at the Sisterhood of the Traveling Beads!  The box has so far traveled to Vermont, Utah, Texas, Maine, New York, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Virginia, and I would love to have this box sent back to New York so I can have a crack at it!

The box was conceived by bead artist Heather Powers, who cleaned off her work table one day and came up with the idea of sending this box of beads on a trip around the country to see how long she could keep it going. 

I've watched the box travel all around the country through Facebook and the blogs of the other artists.

If you want a crack at the box, you can leave a comment on the blog post of the current holder of the box, Cindy Wimmer of Sweet Bead Studio.

Wish me luck!

The Tree is Up!

Colden had a massive meltdown around lunchtime and was totally uninterested in anything like food.  He kept crying about "putting up my Christmas Tree", and we finally gave in, stopped trying to clean the house in preparation for putting up the Christmas tree, and just put up the Christmas tree...

I think it's the biggest tree we've ever had since we moved in together back in - yikes! - 2000.  And Colden had so much fun decorating it with us this year - and then knocking down the candy garland, and shaking the branches so he could see the ornaments bobbing about precariously...  Tom even took the little piece he had to nip off the top and stuck it in a vase so that Colden could have a "Christmas tree" right in his bedroom!  Too funny!

Another Big Giveaway from SandFibers!

Oooo, check it out - Carol Dean is having another big giveaway to celebrate her (well-deserved) 2,000th sale on Etsy!

 

It's so easy - just leave a comment on the blog post, and she'll pick someone at random using her trusty random number generator to win a $100 gift certificate!  Do you have any idea how many beading patterns that will get you?!  A lot.  Believe me.

Or maybe you'd rather have a custom-made peyote stitch cuff?  Carol's workmanship is truly incredible.  Her color sense is impeccable, and her stitching is immaculate.  

I was the lucky recipient of a lovely herringbone lariat of hers a few months ago, made with some satiny Delica beads, and it's a piece I wear as often as I can because it's just so well-made and so easy to throw on with pretty much anything.

What have you got to lose?  Leave a comment on her blog!  And while you're at it, post it on Facebook and Twitter it, and you'll get two more chances to win!  Oh, yeah, and you can blog about it, too, just like I'm doing!  ;-)

A Strange and Wonderful Day...

The Universe seems to be pointing me in a very distinct direction today.  I don't want to spill all the beans, but it seems like things might just be happening for a reason...

And on that note, in my blog post from earlier today, I mentioned something about a new project, and here it is: The Messy Beaders' Club! 

That photo I posted on Facebook of my messy bead table really hit a nerve - it seems that hobbyists and professionals alike all have issues with messy work areas! 

My favorite comment on the photo came from Jill Wiseman of Tapestry Beads.  She wrote, "Oh, Jen, this makes me love you." 

And the idea for the blog and the Facebook page came from Diane Hyde of Designer's Findings, who coined the name "The Messy Beaders' Club" and gave me the idea to start a blog about messiness, organization and creativity.

So, there it is.  Check out the blog at the link above, and submit a picture of your messy beading space so you can be featured on the blog!

Embrace the chaos!

Friday Again?! Already?!

I have no idea where the days are going lately... They just seem to slip right by me without any warning. All I know is that I wake up (usually sandwiched between Tom and Colden with Moose sprawled out on our toes) and get breakfast for me and Colden, and then BOOM! It's bedtime! Where do those hours GO?!

So, the first thing I want to share are these AMAZING beaded beads, called Blooming Beads, designed by my buddy Carol Dean Sharpe of Sand Fibers. She originally designed these for a birthday project for another beader, and then lucky for us, she decided to write up the directions. You can purchase the tutorial for these through her Etsy shop by clicking on the picture. She's got "Volume One" in the title of the tutorial, which makes me think - dear God, there are going to be MORE variations on these?!

They are so much fun to make - once you get the basic idea, they go fast. I found myself sitting at the dining room table one evening while Colden was sick, exhausted and really craving sleep, but I had my Blooming Bead on my work tray and I kept telling myself, "Just one more petal...just one more petal..." I had to force myself to put them away for a few days while I get through this last show tomorrow at Keene Central School and then get caught up on the other beading that I need to get done!














And this is what my work table in the living room looks like these days. Am I in project overload? Definitely. Is that a bad thing? Not necessarily. I posted this pic on Facebook yesterday, much to the delight of my beading friends, and one of them gave me an idea which I will bring to fruition this afternoon after I get my work done... Stay tuned!

Boogers and Beads

Yup, that's where I've been for the last week. Boogers and beads, but mostly boogers...

It started on Thursday morning when Colden woke up with a fever of 103 and a runny nose. We took him to the pediatrician who didn't see anything obviously wrong with him, and we decided to cancel Thanksgiving with Tom's folks to let Colden rest. (I also woke up feeling pretty crappy that day with a runny nose and a sore throat, so I needed some rest, too.)

The next morning, Colden's fever hit 104.7 and I panicked. Sandy came over and held Colden and let him sleep while I packed a bag and we got ready to go back to the pediatrician.

The next few days are just a blur in my memory - trips to the pediatrician, my fever climbing and my sore throat getting worse and worse, and our frustration at the pediatricians' refusal to give us an antibiotic for Colden because they kept insisting that what he had was viral.

Finally, yesterday, I woke up with my throat so sore and swollen that I couldn't really swallow. I took some Motrin to take care of the pain and went to the walk-in clinic where I'd been a few times to have someone check me out and give me an antibiotic - I was sure that this was another round of strep throat, which I have had before, and which I seem to get when I'm under a lot of stress.

They tried several times to get a throat culture from me, but every time that swab went near the back of my throat, I threw up. I finally told the p.a. to just give me an antibiotic and send me home, because I was tired of the torture. She looked at me like I was five, shook her head and said, "I can't do that because that's just not good medicine." I nearly jumped off the exam table and strangled her with her own pony tail.

"Oh, but it's good medicine to let me go home with an untreated strep infection?" I countered.

"Well, if it is strep, then we need to quarantine you for 24 hours. You won't be able to go to work -"

"That's fine, because I work from home."

She said that she needed to go talk to her supervisor, the doctor who owned the practice. He's a bit of a horse's ass himself, but that's another story for another time.

I heard them conversing outside and then she came back into the room and told me that I had a few options, one of which was giving me an antibiotic without a throat culture.

"Give me the antibiotic," I said again. She sighed and sat down to write me out a prescription for Amoxicillan which I promptly took to the nearest pharmacy and had filled.

Later that afternoon, I sat down in the exam room with Tom and Colden and the pediatrician and told the pediatrician that we wanted an antibiotic for Colden and we were done waiting for the fever to go down. She FINALLY relented and gave us a prescription for Zithromax.

Now, as a former pharmacy technician, I understand the concerns with antibiotic-resistant infections and superbugs. But this, I think, is ridiculous. We've gone from giving antibiotics out like they were candy to restricting their use like they're controlled substances. Why is it impossible to find a happy medium here?

After just two doses of the antibiotics, the swelling in my throat went away, and I could eat and feel normal again. After just one dose of Colden's antibiotics, his fever broke. Coincidence? Maybe. But we probably could have had a much better weekend if the pediatrician had just given us the damn antibiotic on Saturday instead of making us wait all weekend.

Okay, getting off my soap box now.

Tomorrow, beady stuff, I promise!

Survived the Weekend and Back in the Game!

Tom left for his annual hunting trip downstate on Friday, leaving me along with the kiddo for the weekend. I managed to get all my work done on Friday and I got EIGHT - EIGHT!!! - new peyote beading patterns finished and published on the site. I was on a roll, and it felt great.

We spent Saturday running around in the morning, and then I taught a beading class in the afternoon while Colden took a nap at Oma and Opa's house. Then we had pizza for dinner with Oma and Opa.

While I was reading Colden his bedtime stories, I noticed a strange sound - kind of like the sound that the furnace made last weekend when we discovered that it wasn't working properly. Sure enough, I went downstairs after Colden was asleep and found that it had stopped working again. It was trying to turn itself on, but wasn't igniting properly. So, since I couldn't remember where Tom had hit it with the wooden board to make it start working again, I shut it off at the switch like he told me to and just waited for him to come home.

He arrived home a little earlier than he had planned, mainly because he wanted to see if he could get the thing working again so that we might have hot water intermittently until we could get the replacement part. He did manage to get it working again, but we have to keep an eye on it and as soon as we hear it making that noise, we have to shut it down for a while. Hoping we can get that replacement part sooner rather than later!

His hunting trip, however, was a great success, and he came home with his deer tags filled for the year. He was thrilled, and was even able to leave some venison behind with his friends as a thank-you for hosting him this weekend. I had to help him hoist one of the deer up in the garage yesterday afternoon, something I have to admit I never thought I'd find myself doing. But the good thing is that he now has enough venison to make sausage and jerky, and some really great tender cuts for roasts with is parents. And Colden, of course, looooooves those tender cuts of venison.

Tom took the day off today so that he could butcher and package the venison, so that means that I get to go to Starbucks and edit my newsletter, and that's where I am right now. Peppermint hot chocolate, egg white and feta cheese wrap, Jimmy Eat World, and the view of Main Street from the front window. I'm in heaven, and back in the game!

















Aaaaand I'm also having another great sale in my ArtFire shop - 30% off your total purchase by using the code HOHOHO30 at chcekout. That includes my newest piece, the Glamour and Goth beadwoven necklace, with a handmade ceramic cabochon by Marsha Hedrick and those funky onyx gemstone drops! The coupon code is good until December 15, because that's the last date I can guarantee shipping in time for Christmas, and you can use the code more than once.

Shop now for best selection - I have two holiday shows coming up in December and then I won't have any new inventory back in stock until January!

Poor little man...

My little boy was not in a good mood this morning. Everything that he tried to do ended with him in tears, and I could not figure out what was wrong. I finally abandoned my plans to do anything and just gave him my 100% undivided attention all afternoon, and he fell asleep on the bed with me while I was reading to him, just before Tom was going to take him to Plattsburgh.

Before Tom left for Plattsburgh (to get a replacement key for the car, which we lost back in July around the time I had the miscarriage), he asked if there was anything I wanted him to bring back. Considering all the b.s. we've been dealing with in the last 24 hours - health insurance company denying the claim from the hospital again, the ineptitude of the hospital billing department and claims manager, and the medical collection agency that called us on behalf of the hospital last night - I suggested something, ANYTHING, with chocolate.














So while I still have a chance, I'm stitching away on these tiny little beaded bezels for the typewriter keys for my beadpunk piece. I'm sorry to say that these two pieces have been sitting half-finished on my work table for far too long, and now that I can finally see the light at the end of the beading tunnel, I'm going to finish them in the next few days!

I Don't Know What it Is...

I don't know if it's the cold rain that started last night, the volume of work I need to do this week and next, the gray, sunless morning, the early nights, or the mounting medical bills and the idiots at the billing department at Adirondack Medical Center who decide to send us straight to collection without sending us a bill.

Whatever it is, it is really ruining my mood today. I think today is going to be a day to get as much beading done as possible, maybe some blogging and article writing, and basically doing whatever I can to divert my attention from the feeling that we're drowning.

I'm very much looking forward to yoga class tonight.

How to Train Your Dragon

This is, without a doubt, my new all-time favorite scene from a movie. And in particular, my new favorite movie.

To me, this is a movie about trusting yourself and earning the trust of others. It's about knowing who you are and using that knowledge to the fullest. It's about following your heart and doing the right thing.

And mostly, it's a story about a boy and his dragon.

More than once, Tom and I have watched this movie with Colden, and then turned to each other and sighed and said, "Don't you wish that dragons were real?"

Beautiful Cabochons by Marsha Hedrick of Amazing Porcelain

Marsha Hedrick really picked the right name for her business: Amazing Porcelain. I finished another piece using one of her beautiful cabochons this time:




















I chose the blue and gold cabochon because I don't work with blue very often, and I wanted to see what I could do with it. I was also interested in beading around the cabochon because of it's unusual shape - definitely not your everyday round or oval cabochon!

The fringe and the strap were a bit of a challenge for me. As I wrote previously, my original plan to attach the piece of a brass collar covered in leather didn't work when I discovered that I didn't have the right color of leather and that I lacked the necessary glover's needles for stitching through leather. (The glover's needles have since arrived and worked perfectly for finishing the leather collar!)

I decided to use a variation of flat spiral for the strap, using Czech fire polished beads and some inverted onyx drops from a project I made years ago. The fringe repeats the colors of the cab and uses more of those onyx drops. I tried the piece on and found that the fringe hangs wonderfully from the strap and the cabochon, and the strap is so comfortable to wear that I almost forgot I was wearing it!

The cabochon itself is truly a miniature work of art from Marsha. I love it. It's thin and lightweight, but substantial. The raised texture on it feels wonderful to the touch, and the colors are true and vibrant.

Marsha has some of this style available as slides for beaded and kumihimo ropes, and she'll have some available soon as cabochons. She also has them in red and gold, and has a set available with some of her yummy porcelain cones. Check out her website for all the options, including some other beautiful art nouveau styles of slides and cones!

If I'm Too Busy to Blog...

Then that's a good thing, right? It means I'm doing what I love to do - beading, writing directions, photographing tutorials, making beading pattern graphics or chasing after Colden, or going to playgroups and play dates or cooking...













In case anyone has been following the adventures of the first Best Little Bead Box, we are now taking applications for the second round of The Best Little Bead Box! You can find the application on the blog by clicking on the tab at the top of the page. Applications should be sent to both me at vanbeads@yahoo.com and Carol Dean Sharpe at sandfibers@yahoo.com. You also have the option of including a picture of your very best beadwork.

The applications are all due by December 1, and the announcement of the next 12 beaders will be made on December 15. The next round of the box will start sometime after New Year's and last for 12 weeks.

A big thank-you so far to everyone who is supporting our little project!

Beadwork Exhibit at the North Country Cultural Center for the Arts

I just finished taking over 200 photographs of some of the most amazing beadwork I have ever seen in my entire life. Many of the pieces I've seen in advertisements, online and in books, and it was an incredible experience to be so close to them.

The colors and the forms and the beads were enough to take my breath away. I loved seeing the pieces by Sherry Serafini, Jeannette Cook, Carol Cypher, Robin Atkins, Melissa Grakowsky, Laura McCabe, Suzanne Golden, Jean Campbell, Diane Fitzgerald, Kelly Angeley, Huib Peterson, Carol Perrenoud...















I've seen this piece by Carol Perrenoud for many years, and I think it's one of the first pieces of beadwork I saw that really inspired me to learn how to stitch. It's made with size 20 and 22 seed beads, and the beaded fringe really resembles twisted cotton cord.

It's the kind of beadwork that makes part of me want to go home and just stitch for the rest of the day and the other part of me wants to curl up under the bed and whimper at my lack of talent.

How Time Flies...

What was all that stuff about Saturdays and Sundays being days of rest? Ha! Not in my world!

Saturday was full of our usual stuff - housecleaning, cooking, running errands. We were invited to an appetizer party at our friends' new house, so I made a HUGE batch of hummus and we brought along some crackers, carrot and zucchini sticks. We met a lot of cool new people, and got to catch up with some others that we hadn't seen in a long, long time. Colden had a great time playing with some of the other kids, and when we saw him getting cranky around 9, we decided to call it a night. Which was smart, considering that I had to get up early the next morning, and we had that daylight-savings-time thing to consider, too.

Tom woke up on Sunday morning in a full-blown panic. "It's 7:30! You have to get out of here by 8:15!" I asked him if he had set the clocks back before we went to bed, and since he hadn't, we got to relax a little bit.

I came into the kitchen after I got dressed and found my little dude sitting on the kitchen counter, eating an egg sandwich and drinking from a big boy cup! He looked so grown up!

I spent Sunday morning at the annual Hanukkah bazaar up at the temple in Plattsburgh, and it was so much fun. I made some new friends, got to catch up with folks I haven't seen in months, and brought home some yummy lavender salt scrub. It made my hands feel so nice that I actually bought some new nail polish and cutesy, sparkling little flower decals!

Who am I, anyway?!

On the beading side of things, I have FINALLY finished the last two projects for Marsha Hedricks! I wish I could show them to you now, but we've had nothing but rain, snow and sleet for the past 48 hours, and I can't get any decent photographs. The sun is supposed to come out tomorrow for a peek - we'll see what I can do then.

Tonight, I talked to a very old and very dear friend on the phone for a few minutes before The Toddler dragged me away. I miss her so much, I decided that after I finish whatever else I need to do for the evening (blogging, etc.), I am going to set aside all my other work and start on a necklace for her. It features a pendant of Frieda Kahlo that I got from Andrew Thornton. It should be a good necklace.

Plan B

So, here is the start of Plan B for the cabochon by Marsha Hedrick:




















I found these awesome onyx upside-down drops that I used a few years ago on a piece I donated to the local PBS station's art auction and thought that they would just look perfect with this handmade porcelain cab. I was right, eh? And I found the perfect shades of turquoise and gold to go with the colors in the cab. I can't help but feel like it's a little bit Goth, a little bit Art Nouveau.

I've got the rest of the beads for the strap laid out in little piles, but I have been having the worst time getting that strap started! I've had about six false starts, fraught with split thread, cracked seed beads, and difficulties with tension in getting the beads to lie just right. I've got another idea in my head for how to execute this strap, I just need to find some time to do it.

And here's the other Plan B:














These turquoise pencil-shaped beads that I got at the Syracuse Gem & Mineral show last summer have been floating around with my "current projects" for a year and a half now, and when I realized that the leather-covered collar was just NOT going to work for the cabochon, my mind instinctively went to this strand of beads. I've also got some turquoise scarab beads leftover from a project I did five or six years ago that have been languishing in a plastic bag in one of my bead cabinets - and they shall languish no more!

Last night, I thought I'd start edging the collar with brick stitch and seed beads and discovered the reason why I don't usually use real leather. (I usually use Sensuede, Ultrasuede or another type of synthetic suede fabric.) When I tried to push my size 12 beading needle through one piece of the leather, it went right into my finger and up underneath my fingernail. If I hadn't been so worried about waking up Colden, I would have screamed in pain. That HURTS.

Hence, my first-ever order to Shipwreck beads this morning included a package of Glover's needles, which are super-sharp, triangle-tipped needles that are designed especially for stitching through leather.

So the turquoise collar is going to be put on hold until I get those needles, because I'm not into self-torture. Not even for my beads!

And on that note, I have to get back to work... Colden is at Oma and Opa's today, and I am trying to get as many patterns, tutorials and articles published on the About.com site as I possibly can before Sunday and my new Starbucks-on-a-Sunday-morning ritual!

Sometimes, Designing is HARD.

Seriously. There are times when I sit down to write or design a pattern, and it feels like my brain is just a total blank.






Like tonight, for instance.

I had a wonderful morning, but a very trying afternoon that included several joyful utterances of the sentence, "Mommy, I made a BIIIIIIIIIIIG mess!" So when Tom came home and Colden decided to grab a handful of my hair and yank on it for the umpteenth time, I was ordered to take my laptop and go to Starbucks so that I could work and decompress for a while.

But once I got here, I found that working was harder than I had thought it was going to be. Armed with my list of about fourteen articles and hubs that I could publish and put together for the site this week, I found my attention drifting and wandering... I thought I'd catch up on emails to "warm up". Then I thought maybe I'd try to design some Christmas and Hanukkah and winter holiday patterns.

But nothing seems to be flowing right now. I got two bracelet designs finished, and I can publish those tomorrow.

I got one beading stitch tutorial done for tubular netting, to go in the beaded ropes hub and set of articles that I want to publish.

I started writing my review of Jean Campbell's new book. But that stalled when I realized that I could just not find the right words.

It's just not working tonight.

So what I'll probably end up doing is knocking off a couple of blog posts and editing a set of photos or two and then heading home to do the real work tomorrow while Colden is at Oma's house for the day. And then maybe some more on Friday, and maybe some more on Sunday when I come back to Starbucks for my Sunday morning ritual.

Meanwhile, I'm getting into some good old John Mayer. Whatever you might say about John Mayer, I love his voice and his tunes are catchy.

Price Increases

Nobody likes 'em, and it seems that everywhere you turn, the price of things is going up, and sadly, that's the case with my Venus Necklace as well.

I went to place an order for some more pearls from my usual source and found that the price of these pearls is now three times what they were when I ordered my last batch earlier this year!

So, unfortunately, I have ONE of these necklaces left in my inventory right now at $95. After this one is gone, the price is going to go up to $115 to cover the cost of the pearls. You can find this piece in my ArtFire Shop by clicking on the picture, and everything in my store ships for free via Priority Mail.

Tomorrow: pictures of the ceramic cabochon that I posted yesterday. I spent all evening covering a brass collar in turquoise leather only to discover that it was the wrong shade and clashed terribly with the turquoise in the cabochon. On top of that, I didn't have nearly enough of the light turquoise blue seed beads to put an edging on the collar. But as I was laying in bed trying to fall asleep (which shouldn't have been that difficult, seeing as I was completely exhausted), I came up with a better design idea that involves a whole bunch of these cool upside-down teardrops in black onyx that I've had for several years. I won't have much time to work on the piece tonight, but maybe tomorrow...

Oh, and the brass collar that I covered in turquoise leather? Turns out that it's a perfect match for the gorgeous turquoise pencil-shaped stick beads that I bought in Syracuse last summer! So there's another project half done!

Well, This Just Sucks.

I just found out that there is going to be a major contemporary bead art exhibit that opens this Friday at the North Country Cultural Center for the Arts in Plattsburgh, a mere forty five minutes from my home. This is probably the first time that beadwork of this caliber and by so many major artists is going to be shown in the North Country, and I would love to go to the opening and check it out, take some photos and do a writeup for the About.com site.

Unfortunately for me, I also just found out that the show organizer is someone who is so highly toxic to me that I can't stand even the thought of being in the same room with her again, even for just a few minutes. She has said some incredibly hurtful and demeaning things to me in the past, and when we were business partners together in Plattsburgh, she threatened me with legal action and financial ruin when I left the partnership, at her request.

Part of me is saying, well, come on, now, you're a big girl - just go up there, take some photos, and get on with it. The other part of me is saying, forget it - it's not worth the stress of seeing this person again, and there's always the option of taking a quiet Saturday morning or mid-week trip to the gallery to see the exhibition when no one will be around except for me and my camera.

So, that'll give me something to chew on for the next few days.














In the meantime, just in case I do decide to go to the opening, I'll need something beaded and fabulous to wear. So my goal is to have this beaded cab finished and attached to a leather collar before Friday afternoon. Can I do it? Stay tuned!

What I'm Reading This Week

When we were at the library last weekend, I stumbled upon a few books for Colden by Ezra Jack Keats, whose work I remember from when I was a kid and just learning to read.

I told the librarian how I had forgotten how much I loved reading these books when I was kid, and how excited I was to introduce them to my son. She asked me if I'd read this biography about Keats, written several years after his death. She said that it was actually written for middle-schoolers, but that it was a great read, and she was right.

This is the story of Ezra's life, written from interviews and essays that he left behind, and I enjoyed reading about the life of this wonderful artist, from his upbringing in Brooklyn, N.Y. to the time he spent painting in Paris to his first paying job as an artist for a comic book company.

I don't think I ever realized what an important children's author he was - I just loved reading his books. So now I get the fun in introducing my own son to his books. I think maybe "The Snowy Day" will be our next bedtime story as we head into winter!

Winter

It's the day before Halloween, and earlier this week, it was in the high 70s - warm enough that I had windows and doors open and was spotted wearing a tank top with my cargo pants while Colden and I ran around the backyard in the autumn sunshine.

Today, though, it's cold. It was raining in Jay when I left for Lake Placid, and as I approached Whiteface, I saw that it was capped with snow. There's snow on the ground in Lake Placid, and most of the rooftops are covered, too. The cars sitting idle at the gas station have snow collected at the base of their windshields.

So, it's winter.

And while some people might despair that the warm weather is gone for another seven or eight months, I'm actually okay with that. Yes, I love the warm mornings and the smell of the breeze coming through the windows in the house, but I also love the cold. I love the warmth of a fire in the wood stove. I love a steaming hot bowl of butternut squash and apple soup, and I love the feeling of snuggling down under a fleece blanket at night.

I think I actually need the cold. I don't feel complete without it. I've been to warmer climates during the winter months - places like Houston and Los Angeles - and it's always left me feeling off-balance until I get home to where it's cold.

Some days, I feel like I wrap that cold around me like a cocoon to comfort me. It gives me a reason to spend time with family and friends. It gives me inspiration to find color in the grey, rainy afternoons.

And when it snows, well, that's just magic. Seeing the world on a bright, sunny winter morning after a snowstorm is just pure magic.

I don't think I could live in a place without being able to really see the changing seasons. Being able to watch the world changing around me gives me a real sense of place, and it makes me feel like I'm really a part of this Earth.

Another Beaded Rope!

I finished another piece, but not so happy with the photographs...














This is another one of Marsha Hedrick's new designs. This dragonfly slide is lightweight, but substantial enough to hold the necklace together. And it works perfectly for the right angle weave rope that I stitched for it - it felt like a soft mesh necklace when I tried it on to check the length.

These slides by Marsha come in other colors - check out Marsha's website for more options.

As with Marsha's other pieces, I was once again truly impressed with the quality of the workmanship. The piece was well-sculpted and lightweight. It hangs perfectly on the beaded rope that I made for it, and it looks fabulous when worn.

I'm working on finishing up the last rope that uses a triangle-shaped slide and cones - maybe this weekend I'll have it done.

As I stitch up each rope, I'm photographing tutorials that will eventually go on the About.com site as part of a big hub about beaded ropes and how to make them.

And, of course, I'll have this one listed in my ArtFire shop soon!

The First Part of the Secret - Revealed!

I finished the first of the beaded ropes!



















Porcelain artist Marsha Hedricks contacted me a couple of weeks ago and asked if I'd be interested in seeing some of her newest designs. I've loved Marsha's work ever since I saw her adorable little snow babies beads at Beadin' Path, and I jumped at the chance to design and create a series of beaded ropes with her newest components.

Marsha's work is truly extraordinary - her pieces are so thin and lightweight, but extremely durable. Her colors are beautiful (and easy to match with my seed beads!), and the textures of these pieces make them just a delight to hold in your hand.

I chose to do beadwoven ropes with her pieces, but they'll work just as well if you like to do kumihimo.

There are so many things about these pieces that I like - but the thing that I like the best is that there are holes in the cones so that you can wire-wrap your pieces instead of just gluing them on. I've never had a very good experience when it comes to gluing jewelry components together, and I always prefer to use wrapped loops when it comes to assembling pieces. With these cones, you can stitch the beadwork (or kumihimo) to an eyepin and then pull the eyepin through the hole in the cone to fasten it with a wrapped loop! I think that makes for a much better constructed piece of jewelry.

This is the first of four pieces I've designed using her components - three beaded ropes, and a leather collar that showcases an incredible porcelain cabochon!

You can see all of Marsha's newest slides and cones in her online store, Amazing Porcelain, and you can read her blog at Marsha's Porcelain Art.

She's got more new designs coming in the next few weeks!

And if you like this piece, you can find it in my ArtFire shop by clicking on the picture.

Work

Work is what I'm doing this morning, mostly to the soundtrack of my favorite tunes by Jimmy Eat World. This is one of my new faves.

I'm kickin' ass and takin' names. Got a new set of graphics done. They're not sparkling, but they are a hell of a lot better than what I've been able to do in the past. I'm working on editing my newsletter, editing my user paths and landing page and other site maintenance stuff, and gathering thoughts for some new articles.

Oh, yeah, baby. I'm in the zone.

This is what solitude does for me, and I enjoy it.

Revel in the Solitude

That's what I'm doing this morning. Safely ensconced at Starbucks in Lake Placid with my peppermint hot chocolate, and I treated myself to an egg white wrap for breakfast.

I was the only car on the road for most of my drive through Wilmington Notch. It is dark and grey and cold and raining this morning. It's exactly what a Sunday morning in the Adirondacks should be in late October. I saw one car at one of the parking areas near some trailheads, and I thought about the person who parked their car there and then trekked off into the forest there. I know there are a couple of lean-tos up the trail, and I wondered if that person was alone in the lean-to, if they had spent the night there, and if they were feeling the same wonderful feeling of solitude that I felt.

A lot on my mind this morning before I get down to work. I have a tutorial to write and publish, and then some site maintenance to do, and then a newsletter to edit before tomorrow morning.

I started working on a piece last night that I will be auctioning off to help raise money for Andrew Thornton's medical bills. While I am amazed and encouraged by the huge outpouring that has occurred since Andrew announced his diagnosis a few weeks ago, I'm still so sad and disheartened by the fact that this kind of thing is still necessary in this country. We still have no public option for health care, and that means that an independent artist like Andrew has to rely on the good hearts of so many people for his medical care. I've said it before and I'll say it again - I would gladly pay extra taxes to make sure that people like Andrew have access to decent health care in this country.

Last night, I finished the first beaded rope for the projects I'm working on for Marsha Hedrick. I stayed up way past my bedtime working on it, because I just felt the piece pulling me towards finishing it. It's been over a week since I started it, and I was really worried that I was going to run out of seed beads before I finished it. I was torn between going to bed and getting some much-needed sleep or finishing the piece - lucky for me, Colden let me sleep for about two hours before he woke up and needed a diaper change.

And so that made me think about one thing that's been on my mind lately, how I worry about Colden growing up with a crazy artist for a mother. Mothers aren't supposed to play their music too loud in the car when they're alone, or get up at 2 a.m. to sketch out design ideas before they disappear...

I want to raise my son to be happy, creative, well-adjusted. I want him to have the confidence in himself to pursue in life what is going to make him happy. I want him to have a good set of values and morals to guide him. I want him to delight in diversity and marvel at everything the world has to offer.

It's a pretty big job.

The Only Thing Good About Today...

...is that I'm going to Starbucks tomorrow morning. No, okay, the sushi I had for dinner was pretty good, too, except that Tom forgot to order my sweet potato tempura roll and instead got me some kind of slimy pickled vegetable roll which wasn't bad, but it wasn't my sweet potato tempura roll.

I'm nearly finished with the first beaded rope for the projects I'm working on for Marsha Hedrick. Colden looked at it last night and said, "Oh! Mommy's making a big, green worm!" and then he wanted to hug and kiss the worm while I was working on it. Which was adorable at first, but then wasn't so adorable when I couldn't tug the worm out of his hands...

No energy tonight. Colden had a fever the last two nights, and it was all I could do to keep him comfortable. The Motrin helped, and the pediatrician said that it was probably viral since the fever disappeared during the day. They also told us that they have seen lots of weird viruses, colds and flu going around, and it's not even the end of October yet. Still on the fence about getting Colden his flu shot, we'll have to talk about that tomorrow...

Focus

It's what I need to do today, and I'm having a hard time doing it. I had absolutely nothing photographed for publishing today, so I stitched frantically this morning and for part of this afternoon, finishing two new Tila bead projects. Colden was an hour late going to Oma and Opa's house because everybody slept late this morning. (Which wasn't really a bad thing because Colden was up pretty much all night last night, and the little sleep that I did get was when I was curled up in bed with him.)

So now it's about 2:30 in the afternoon. The sun has been playing hide and seek all day. (Which has wreaked havoc on my photographs.) The wood stove has the house at a comfy 72 degrees, and I can see the snow flurries coming down outside.

I'm in the middle of resizing and upload photos, writing out materials lists, and trying to get the needle crafts newsletter edited. I'll try to get the blogging done this evening, and maybe get a few tutorials and maybe a few quick articles up this evening, too. But it's going to be another looooooong night...

I also had an idea for a piece I want to make and auction off to help raise money for Andrew Thornton. Andrew is an artist and writer who was recently diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, and since he is without medical insurance, beaders and jewelry artists are banding together to help him cover the costs of his medical bills. I may start it tonight after Colden goes to sleep... The focal point will be this bead that I bought from him back in August as part of my retail therapy binge after the miscarriage...














I'm hoping that I can turn it into something good for someone else.

We Have a Winner!

Thank you so much to everyone who followed my blog over the last few days. I'm really, really thrilled to announce that not only do I have 100 followers now, I also have some cool prizes to give away!

First, I have a surprise for Beki Haley of Whimbeads - she was my 100th follower, so she gets a special runner-up surprise.

So, I ran my trusty random number generator and came up with number 76:



















And that number 76 corresponded to Eva Maria Keiser!

















So congratulations to both Beki and Eva!

And I have to apologize for the delay in getting this post up. I had an extraordinarily long day yesterday, which is going to result in another long day today while I get caught up on (ew) housework.

The Last Flower of Summer

...is what Tom presented me with when he came back inside from feeding the chickens this afternoon. This was the last hollyhock from the plant next to the house. He came back inside a few minutes later with some of the seeds, and he's going to plant them all around the house so that maybe next year, we have some more of these beautiful blooms.

The colors in this flower just make me want to bead! Light pinks and greens... It's not even winter yet, and I'm already dreaming about spring...

We Have....

A new washing machine! The day that Tom was installing the new dishwasher, we heard a horrible noise and smelled smoke coming from the kitchen closet where we keep the washing machine. Sure enough, our old washing machine decided to give up the ghost the same day that we got the dishwasher going.

So with Tom working those 10 hour days (insane), we managed to save up enough money for a new set of snow tires for the Matrix (which we will need when he has to commute into Lake Placid at 6:15 a.m. all winter) and on Saturday, we went up to Plattsburgh and picked out a new washing machine. It wasn't a hard choice - the one we got was the only one in our price range.

We did manage to set aside twenty bucks and went out to lunch that day, too. It had been a long, long time since the two of us sat down to lunch together in a restaurant. I think the last time we sat down and ate a meal at a restaurant, just the two of us, was my birthday in 2009. Yeah. Something like that.

It was a good day. We got to talk about everything that's going on - the stress, work, the house, Colden - and it felt like we started to re-connect a little bit.

Of course, as relieved as I am that we actually have all the major appliances in the house functioning again, this means that if there's a load of laundry sitting around, I actually have to DO it during the day. At least Colden likes to help!

Tubular Right Angle Weave...

It is NOT for the weak!














I'm about 5 1/2 inches in on an 18" beaded right angle weave rope for a top-secret project for a designer/artist friend of mine. I wanted to do a series of beaded ropes for this project, because I love beaded ropes and I haven't made nearly enough of them lately. But you know what? I am still trying to figure out what made me think that doing an 18" tubular right angle weave rope would be a good thing.

It started out as something fun: ooo, a new challenge! Then it was like, holy crap, this is taking a long time. Now it's like, I am determined NOT to let this thing beat me! I WILL prevail! Yes, I will! I'm going to finish this rope!

Of course, I might take a break and do a nice and quick and easy Dutch Spiral rope for one of the other projects just to give myself a break. Too much more of this round and round stuff with the right angle weave and I'm going to lose my mind.

Anyway, lots of great new stuff up for this week: another Tila bead project, some beaded maple leaves, some charted patterns for fall (and a few for Christmas and Hanukkah, too!) and who knows what else... Might even start my series of articles on photographing your beadwork.

As of this posting, I have 95 followers! Wa-hoo! 5 more, and someone is going to win a free embellished beaded rope necklace from me... I'm really excited about this!

Want to Win an Embellished Rope Necklace?

Nancy Dale of NEDBeads (and now of the wonderful new blog, Bead Mavens) did a giveaway not too long ago on her blog, and I hope she forgives me, but I am now going to do something similar!

It's been a long time since I did a giveaway on my blog, and now that things have sort of settled down with my life, I think it's time for another one.

So, here's my giveaway:

As of this post, I now have 75 followers on my blog. When I get to 100 followers, I will randomly choose one of those lucky followers to receive a custom-made embellished beaded rope necklace. You can choose the colors, the beads, the length, and the clasp.










I'm going to set the deadline for October 31 at midnight EST. If I hit 100 followers before that date, I'll do the drawing (via random number generator) the day after I hit 100 followers. This way, the winner will receive the necklace in time for the holidays - wouldn't it make a great holiday gift for yourself or for someone very, very special?

PLEASE make sure that when you follow my blog, you check your profile so that it includes a valid email address - I need to know how to contact you!

And remember, I still have that ArtFire coupon special going until October 31 as well - 25% off every item in my shop if you use the coupon code WELCOMEARTFIRE. That includes finished jewelry, beading kits and beading tutorials!

My New ArtFire Store

In all the craziness that has been going on this month, I have completely forgotten to write about my new shop on ArtFire! I had an ArtFire shop for about a year back in 2008 and for part of 2009, but then decided to close it down. After some of the "improvements" that they have been making over at Etsy (things like messing with the sales tax, which has been proving to be a complete nightmare for those of us who live in New York state where the tax rates change depending on your street address), and after seeing the special deal on ArtFire (flat fee, $5.95 a month for life, no commission fees, no listing fees!), I thought what the heck, I'm going to give it a try again.

So I transferred all my items over to my new ArtFire shop - you can find it at http://www.vanbeads.artfire.com. And while I'm still working on finalizing my edits to my items and re-arranging my shop, I did manage to create a coupon code, good on any item in my ArtFire shop until October 31, 2010.

Use the code WELCOMEARTFIRE and get 25% off any and every item in my shop!

That includes this fun bead embroidered cuff bracelet. One of my favorites, I called it "Green Meadows", and it's one of a series of embroidered cuffs I created over the winter. (I've got lots more in production right now, I just need to get to them!)




















So, if you've had your eye on a piece on my shop and have been waiting for an opportune time, this is it! The coupon code only lasts until October 31, 2010, so you still have about two weeks to take advantage of it.

I'll also be listing some new items in my ArtFire shop early next week. I've got several bracelets, three necklaces made with stoneware donuts, and three new bead embellished ropes. I have been one busy beader!

A Better Photo

So, even if it is a tad washed out, this is a much better photo of the same piece that I posted earlier.

I bought these three copper fired stoneware donuts from Kristie Roeder of Artisan Clay. I had absolutely no idea what to do with them, but I loved the colors and I loved the feel of them - soft, satiny and extremely light. I had two smaller donuts and one larger donut, and I wound up giving one of the smaller donuts to a friend of mine. I had no idea what to do with it until I found myself stitching peyote bails for other beaded necklaces this summer - I realized that I could just stitch a piece of shaped peyote and string a beaded rope through it!

I made the twisted herringbone rope with a technique I learned from a kit/design by Leslie Frazier. It is super-easy to start, makes a wonderful, twisty rope, and really works up quickly. (If you're stitching in the right direction, that is - but more on that later!)

I'll be working this into a tutorial for the About.com site later this week - as soon as I can find a time to sit down and wrap my head around writing out the directions for all fifteen steps. Yowza. It's really an easy project, I just wanted to break it down into manageable steps for someone who might feel a little intimidated by odd count peyote.

Freezing cold here again tonight. Tom just let the dog out, Colden conked out at 5:30 after skipping his nap this afternoon, and I'm really, really, reeeeeeeeeeaaaally hoping that Tom comes back inside with an armload of wood and fires up the wood stove...