I have been holding some really important secret news close to my heart since mid-February. It’s been KILLING me to not be able to share with you! Because you guys know, I share everything! But today I got permission to announce it….
… Read More “Simple” Designs
The simplest of designs are often the hardest to accomplish. When there’s not a lot of layers and extra beads to hide behind, every single stitch counts. The beads must lay just so. Be exactly right. And sometimes it’s easy to mistake an elegantly conceived piece as simple.… Read More
Whirl & Twirl
At last, I arrived back home Wednesday afternoon. It seemed like twice the distance I drove getting to Santa Fe! The strong pull to be home home home was the culprit, I’m sure. I spend much of the next 10 weeks getting to BEAD!… Read More
Bead Fest Santa Fe: By the Numbers
766 – miles from my front door to the Santa Fe Convention Center
14 – hours it took me to drive nonstop on Thursday to get there
12 – the time of night I arrived
2 – the time of morning I went to bed because I was glued to the Japan earthquake/tsunami coverage on tv
6 – the hour the alarm clock went off
3 – number of curse words used when the alarm clock went off
20 – happy students who now can make Kumihimo with Beads
4 – vendors from whom I made purchases (Beyond Beadery, Alacarte Clasps & Wirelace, Oak Grove Studio, Artworks by Cathy J.… Read More
Packin’ up the suitcases again
One more big trip to get through, and after that, while I do have a quick overnight trip to Lake Jackson, and a vacation weekend visiting a friend in Phoenix, I will be HOME until the beginning of June.
And what do I plan to do while I’m home, you might ask??… Read More
Pretty Tucson photos
I still owe you the STORY of Tucson Tales, The Finale, but in the meantime, here’s some fun photos!
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| We have a LOT of fun in Tucson! |
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| The top photo is an overview of the loot I brought home. Smaller photos are close-ups. |
Beading Shortcuts
I’m probably about to disappoint you. Because I’ll bet you read the title of this post and got all excited to learn some tips to make your beadweaving faster and more efficient. But guess what?? Nope.
Instead I felt compelled to tell you all that I’m not a big believer in beadweaving shortcuts.… Read More
Writing the Blog
From June:
I know it’s been a while since we’ve updated the blog. That’s partly because life is comparatively calm right now, and I can’t think of anything to write. Well that’s not exactly true, stuff is going on, but it’s stuff I can’t talk about yet.… Read More
Tucson Tales, Part II
The buildup before coming to Tucson is immense. So much planning and creation and anticipation. The appointed day finally arrives and it’s instant and pure joy! Seeing my beady friends from across the world, vendors and customers alike. I miss them mightily between shows.… Read More
Tucson Tales, Part I
I sat down tonight to write an email to Mom to tell her all about the craziness of this day, but then I decided y’all would want to hear it all too. So now it’s a letter to ALL of you!… Read More
Same Song, Same Verse
From June: It seems like no matter how much we try, we can’t seem to get ahead when getting ready for a big show. Originally we weren’t going to do a show at Tucson this year – Jill was just going to shop.… Read More
Happy 2011!
You know, I was thinking last night, wasn’t Y2K just a few years ago? How did we end up in the double digits of this century so fast??? It kind of makes my brain hurt!
You know what else makes my brain hurt?… Read More
Participating in The Best Little Bead Box project!
Please forgive me for cross-posting, but I wanted y’all to know about this cool project I got to participate in if you don’t know about it already!
I really don’t know how he did it, but my postman managed to get both GIGANTIC Best Little Bead Boxes stuffed into one of our community mailbox lockers.… Read More
Holy Cannoli
Man, when I owe you a blog post, I REALLY owe you a blog post! I have yet to tell you all about the fun and interesting Beaducation video shoot (went great – I’m known as One Take Wiseman there!) And I do have stories and photos.… Read More
BABE report
Bead people are SO MUCH FUN! I’ve discovered it over and over again as I travel to new places from coast to coast and it makes me happy. We share passion for color and texture and beautiful things. We have a joie de vivre that shows in our faces and interactions.… Read More
The annual technology meltdown
At least once a year you get one of these blog posts, don’t you? The sad, frenzied madwoman, trying to cobble together a host of printers and faxes and scanners and whatnot to get her danged job done! Where’s my IT Help Desk when I need it??… Read More
A little of this, a little of that
I think I’ve mentioned before that while I used to be a great multi-tasker, age is taking it’s toll, and I now function best doing one thing at a time. I don’t actually hate it. I do think my focus is much better that way, and I don’t make as many mistakes.… Read More
Sluggin’ and Chuggin’ Along
Somehow I thought I’d be done moving back in the house by now, but I certainly should have known better. But massive progress is being made. Tonight I was up all night working on the monster known as The Bead Room.… Read More
Blues Clues
From June:
The day before we were having the laminate floors done in the house, Jill convinced me to paint the bead room. I’m not sure which of us is crazier. She picked the Tapestry Beads turquoise as the main color.… Read More
Picking a class for the Texas Bead Retreat
I need your help again! It’s time for me to pick a project to teach at the Texas Bead Retreat in January 2011. I’ve got a number of ideas, and I’d love to know what y’all think! So I created a poll over there <--- to the left. Please vote! I’ve been wanting to do my own gorgeous version of a grapevine bracelet/necklace for years now, but I never finished the sample I started in 2007. Yeah – really 2007. In all the house ruckus, I rediscovered it, sitting sadly in a box, waiting for some attention. And now I’m reinvigorated to work on it again – especially since there are more options for drop beads these days and I will be making the grape clusters with several different sizes and shapes for a textured look. Tila beads are all the rage at the moment, of course, and I’d love to have an excuse to play with them! I’m thinking of a layered 3-dimensional type of bracelet. One of my Austin students has been pestering me for an all-earrings class. What do y’all think?? It would be three completely different styles of earrings. I think we could accomplish that in the time frame allotted there. If you have something entirely different you’d like to propose, I want to hear it! Send me an email or a comment, okay? On a different note: a further update with photos of the house renovations is coming soon! I can’t believe what a change has gone on in this house in the last 30 days. Don’t pinch me….I don’t want to wake up if it’s a dream!
… Read More